Sorry about the massive delay but I had a hideous case of writer's block (really, really bad), I rewrote this chapter about a dozen times and this is the final product, hopefully it's good enough for you to be interested in the story. And as always please review!
Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, the rest of Joss's (unfortunately)
Emptiness WithinChapter 2: The new me
Los Angeles
May 6, 2005
9:06 P.M.
"I still don't see why I have to be here," a high-pitched whiney voice shattered the silence, "I mean I'm pretty sure when I took this job, body-guarding was so not on the job description."
"If you do not cease, I will tear your head off," another voice spoke, this one filled with raw fury and a coldness that made a blizzard like warm and inviting.
"I still don't see why we have to protect him."
Harmony wrinkled her nose and shot the hapless demon they were dragging in between them a disgusted look.
"I mean honestly, those clothes… ewww… can you say Payless?" Harmony continued chattering away ignoring the silence waves of fury that rolled off her companion, "And the stench? Obsession for Road Kill not a good scent."
The demon snarled at her as Harmony's companion gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to punch her fist through both their heads.
"The only reason you are still alive, half-breed," Illyria spat out the word like it was something filthy, "Is because you know the location of this… 'safehouse' and if you want to keep your pathetic life you will be silent or I will rip out your spine and make it my trophy."
Harmony saw the cold fury in Illyria's eyes and immediately closed her mouth not wanting to incur the demonic warrior's wrath. The demon they were dragging struggled wildly cursing at them in his own bizarre language.
"What is it saying?" Harmony asked promptly forgetting Illyria's threat, "Cos god, it's more confusing than French."
Illyria glared at Harmony but manage to beat down the urge to kill the disgusting half-breed. Instead she diverted her fury onto the demon she was clutching.
"Silence!" Illyria snarled.
To demonstrate her displeasure, she gripped the creature's arm tightly exerting her strength into her already iron-hard grip. The demon whimpered as something in its arms broke.
"What does Angel want with him anyway?" Harmony complained, "And why couldn't we go into the limo? My new dress, which by the way cost me a grand and looks so cute on me, is going to get dirty in this filthy alleyway!"
Illyria's grip tightened on the demon's already broken arm as it whimpered loudly.
"The vampire wants this demon for questioning," Illyria muttered coldly, "It's a secret, you pathetic creature. That's why we must be swift and silent."
"Oooo…" Harmony perked up, "This is a secret mission! This is so cool! It's like James Bond or something except we both chicks! I love James Bond, he's just so dreamy…"
Illyria was slightly confused by who this 'James Bond' was but her quickly thinning patience for the frivolous half-breed she was forced to work was easily overpowering that feeling. Perhaps for the billionth them since she was reborn in this pitiful shell, Illyria wished for her powers back. Oh, if she had them the sky themselves would tremble, she would rule over the world like the queen she was, she would wreak vengeance on everyone that dared to evoke her wrat…
"Hey! Smurf-girl!"
Once again Harmony's screeching voice tore into her ears like a thousand knives.
"Do you want to move a little bit faster?" Harmony demanded, "Sunrise is in half an hour and I so don't want to go up in flames."
"And that's supposed to concern me, how?" Illyria muttered dryly.
She froze, those words, this behaviour… it wasn't her. It was so frustrating! It felt like there was another person inside her head making her act differently. It just slipped in and for a few moments Illyria would find herself acting like one of those… humans she had to associate with. It was disgusting! It was below her! These emotions… these words… they were… mortal.
Illyria shuddered at the thought but quickened her stop if only to get rid of Harmony as soon as possible.
"Phwip!"
Illyria whirled around in blur of movement and caught the crossbow bolt flying straight at her. Snatching the arrow from midair, she snapped it with a flex of her finger and threw the now useless pieces of splinter onto the filthy alley ground.
"Who dares?" Illyria roared, "Who dares attack? Show yourself!"
A slight movement in the shadows overhead made Illyria and Harmony looked up, wreathed by the light of a nearby streetlamp a blonde-haired figure clutching a crossbow stood one of the nearby roofs.
"You're quick," the woman stated.
"Oh, you so don't want to mess with us," Harmony smirked, "I'm Harmony, you've probably heard of me… I'm like this super villain vampire with her own minions and Illyria here? She can crush you like a bug. If you take us on, you are so going to be dead."
"Harmony, shut up," the figure on the rooftop snapped, "You were annoying in Sunnydale and you are still annoying me here."
The woman threw the crossbow down onto the alley below before performing a nimble back flip sailing off the edge of the roof and landing nimbly in the alleyway, several metres in front of them.
"Oh my god!" Harmony shrieked, "Buffy?!? I heard you we…"
Before Harmony could finish her sentence, Buffy leapt into a flying kick that threw the vampire backwards and into a stack of crates. She landed amidst a shower of broken wood and remained there, out cold.
"Slayer," Illyria hissed coldly pushing the demon she held behind her.
"Demon," Buffy said just as coldly.
Slayer and demon circled each other, eyeing each other warily preparing themselves for the fight to come.
"Are we going to do this?" Buffy asked suddenly smirking at Illyria.
"Lets."
Illyria threw the first punch.
Location Unknown
24 hours before
May 5, 20059:06 P.M.
"DUCK!"
Buffy threw herself onto the ground and prayed for the best as a flash of heat and light roared through the air. She grimaced as she felt hot chunks of debris and no doubt demon flesh fell onto her back.
"You better have not ruined this!" Buffy yelled as she jumped up, "I just got this yesterday!"
"Oh please," an Asian girl snapped back at her as she dodged a demon swipe but grimaced as it knocked her sawed off shotgun out of her hand, "Like you can't afford to buy the factory that made that."
The girl leapt backwards as the roaring blue-scaled and green-horned demon, dressed bizarrely enough in a stylish classic tuxedo, threw a wild punch at her. She landed nimbly on her feet and with a simple flick of her wrist magically called the gun back into her hand. She clubbed the demon in the face with the butt of the gun before expertly spinning it around in her hand and firing.
Fleshy chunks sprayed through the air as the now headless demon collapsed. Buffy grimaced feeling blood splatter her oh-so-ruined coat.
"Damn!" she hissed as she kicked a demon away.
It tried to punch her but Buffy grabbed its fist and calmly broke its arm with a violent twist. She kicked the demon away before spinning around just in time to cleave another demon in half with the katana sword she held in her hands.
"How are we doing on time?" the Asian girl yelled out the scream of pains and furious bellows.
Buffy risked a glance at her watch parrying a demon's clawed swipe with her sword as the Asian girl was thrown violently against a wall.
"Ten minutes!" Buffy yelled, "Ying, stop being polite and just blast these damn things!"
"But that's no fun," Ying-fa complained with a mock sigh, "There's no artistic value in that…"
With a wild smirk, Ying-fa gestured at the demons barking a single word in a strange guttural voice that tore through the air like a devilish knife. Flickers of blue flames exploded everywhere consuming the few remaining demons who had no time to react before they were reducing to glowing embers.
"But then again," Ying-fa smirked observing the damage she had done, "Incinerations leave the prettiest patterns."
"You've got a problem," Buffy muttered shaking her head before running across the room towards a pair of large wooden doors as Ying-fa followed closely behind her but before they could reach there, the doors flung open.
"Who dares?" a piercing feminine voice shrieked.
"That's her?" Ying-fa muttered completely ignoring the woman standing in the doorway.
The bright light streaming in through the doorway, framed the woman in brightness causing her to be little more than a silhouette, a shadow in the light.
"That's her," Buffy replied softly.
Ying-fa snorted.
"That's it?" she muttered.
The woman strolled towards them, her movements liquid and predatory. Her face was completely white, her lips a dark blood red. Vicious green eyes eyed them warily as her clawed white hands smoothed the dark velvet of her form-fitting dress.
"Who dares attack Zakura?" the woman hissed, a forked tongue poking out from her rows of razor sharp teeth, "Who dares defile my domain?"
"Jeez, egoistic much?" Buffy muttered.
"Is she powerful? Cause circus freaks usually aren't," Ying-fa murmured in a stage whisper allowing Zakura to hear her quite clearly.
"Apparently," Buffy shrugged, "But source was kinda vague."
Ying-fa eyed Zakura.
"Okay, Queen of the Damned," she sighed, "Hit us."
Zakura snarled at her and threw her clawed hands outwards. Twin streams of shimmering air flew at the two women but both of them held their ground looking at the incoming magical attack unworriedly.
"Oh, please? You think you can beat us with those?!?" Ying-fa sighed and gave a casual wave of her hand.
The shimmering air faded, Zakura's shocked face now staring at them through undistorted air, the demonic woman slowly backing away.
"Oh, come on," Ying-fa muttered, "I was so psyched about this hit. I thought we were up against some kind of major mojo mystic mama but instead we get some loser Charmed-villain reject."
"Just kill her already," Buffy muttered, "I want to go home and wash this new demon hair rinse off."
Ying-fa threw a last smirk at the still stunned Zakura before making a wild gesture with her hand. Buffy got a vivid flash of Willow flaying Warren alive as Zakura's clothes and skin were magically ripped off her flesh. The bloody skinless body flopped onto the ground with a wet squelch.
"Are we good or what?" Ying-fa threw her friend a wicked grin, her eyes glancing around at the mayhem they had caused, "What's this? The third hit this week?"
"We're good," Buffy confirmed replying with a smirk of her own, "And with that demon Godfather-esque thing going down in Boston…"
"Please, if all of them were as pathetic as skinless wonder here," Ying-fa rolled her eyes, "We'll be cleaning them up in no time."
Buffy glanced at her watch.
"It's late, I'm tired and oooo… Stargate is on," Buffy sheathed her katana sword in the scabbard strapped across her back, "I hope Tori's taped it."
"You mean if she's not too busy having her freaky hormone-induced mood swings," Ying-fa muttered before whispering a few quiet words under her breath.
Her shotgun instantly disappeared with a flash of bright light allowing Ying-fa to dust her hands on her jeans before glancing around them again.
"Leave a message?" she asked.
"Hallmark it," Buffy nodded.
Ying-fa flicked her hand towards Zakura's flayed body before pointing at one of the slightly less singed walls. Red blood hit the pale concrete and began shifting, forming words.
"Ring was here," Buffy read and rolled her eyes, "Jeez, originality much?"
Ying-fa glared at her before flicking her fingers at it again.
"From Ring, with love," Buffy stared at Ying-fa incredulously, "You've actually seen a James Bond movie?"
"Who hasn't?" Ying-fa shot back.
"But you never watch action movies, you bitch about every single little detail they get wrong! Wrong guns to use, wrong fight moves…"
"Yeah, and you keep silent during kung-fu movies," Ying-fa muttered sarcastically.
"That's different."
"Sure."
Ying-fa threw Buffy a final smirk before strolling out of the building, the blonde Slayer sighing in frustration and running after her friend. As she reached Ying-fa, Buffy couldn't help but remember Zakura's face before Ying-fa had magically flayed her. It reminded her so much of Warren and… Willow…
"Where are you?" she whispered softly catching up with Ying-fa.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Buffy glanced up at the immense brick wall that stood in front of them.
"Home sweet home," she murmured.
"Traka," Ying-fa whispered waving her hand.
The wall rippled as though the bricks themselves had become a thick liquid. It continued to wobble, red bricks away and revealing a completely new façade. Buffy reached forwards and opened the door that had just formed in the wall. She jumped as the door swung opened, streams of bright light and loud music flooding out into the cold night air.
"Looks like a party," Ying-fa noted wincing at the loud sound.
"And I'm wondering why Tori hasn't ripped their heads off."
"They drugged her?"
Buffy rolled her eyes and stepped into the furnished warehouse she now called home. Ying-fa followed but stopped at the threshold and turned around.
"Akart," she murmured closing the door.
The front of the warehouse faded, blue energy rippling over the building as the illusion of red bricks appeared again hiding the building from view. Inside, by stark contrast to the darkness outside it was bright, warm and comforting. To both Buffy and Ying-fa's surprise, nobody was around even though the stereo system in what was roughly their living room was on blaring out music at top volume.
"Hello?" Ying-fa called, "Where the hell are you guys?"
One of the doors on the second level of the warehouse, now their temporary home and base of operations, swung open. A blonde-haired man with vivid blue eyes stuck his head out and beamed when he saw the two girls.
"Hey, it's my favourite sex kittens!" he cheered as he walked down the stairs towards them.
"Ryan," Buffy retorted, "Get laid and get over it."
"Oooo… kitty likes to scratch."
"Kitty likes to kill pathetic man with her bare hands."
"Come on girls, let's not get into a hissy fight," Ying-fa sighed, "Because Buffy would win hands down."
"Armed or unarmed?" Ryan challenged, his blue eyes flashing.
"Awww… manly Ryan's ego is all bruised," Ying-fa taunted in a sickly sweet voice, "How cute… and pathetic."
"What's with the music?" Buffy asked, her eyes flicking over to the stereo.
"The two little honey bunnies are going at it again like…" Ryan blinked, "Bunnies. Ying, can't you do a silencing spell? These walls are awfully thin."
"You don't mean?" Buffy turned green.
Ryan nodded, a wicked smile on his face.
"Yeah."
"Ew…" Ying-fa wrinkled her nose, "How? Tori's Goodyear blimp impersonation is a bit off-putting to me and I'm not the one who's doing it."
"It's called true love," Ryan teased, "Something your black, cold witch's heart cannot understand."
"Bite me," Ying-fa snapped.
"So you want to hear about it?" Buffy asked breaking in before Ryan and Ying-fa got stuck into each other again.
"How did it go?" Ryan asked leading them towards the kitchen.
"Push-over," Ying-fa snorted, "Big time."
Ryan glanced at Buffy.
"We came, we saw, I slayed, she flayed. Hence we conquered," Buffy quipped.
"Flayed?" Ryan frowned in confusion staring at Buffy, the Slayer jerked her head towards Ying-fa as she stepped around him.
"Yep, Zakura pelt coats for sale," Ying-fa winced as she glanced down at her clothes, "But the blood kinda went everywhere."
Buffy walked over to their fridge and yanked it open grimacing at the state it was in, gingerly pulling out a can of beer from amongst the half-decaying food inside she threw it at Ryan who deftly caught the can even though his back was to her. She made to throw another one at Ying-fa but the witch shook her head. Shrugging, Buffy pulled out a Coke and walked back towards the counter where her friends were sitting discussing their latest hit.
"Coke? My god, don't you ever drink?" Ryan smirked, teasing her about this for perhaps the millionth time.
"See?" Buffy opened the can of coke and tipped it towards her lips, "Drinking. See Buffy drink."
"That's not drinking," Ryan argued.
Ying-fa snorted.
"Oxford dictionary just rang, that is drinking," she muttered.
Ryan rolled her eyes.
"No, this is drinking," he informed them taking a swig from his can.
"No, that's boozing," Buffy shot back.
"Aww… no beer for Buffy?" Ryan threw her an easy smile, "Celibate and a non-drinker, if I didn't know you better I would've thought you were a priest."
Buffy froze for a few microseconds, her mind shooting back towards the night she had killed Caleb. The night she had been kicked out of her hou… Buffy shook her head dispersing the thought as she frowned at Ryan.
"You're just jealous because I refuse to sleep with you," Buffy muttered sipping her Coke.
"Ouch," Ying-fa observed.
Ryan opened his mouth to shoot back a retort but was abruptly stopped as the front door swung open again. A willowy young woman with light brown skin walked in, pulling her long brown hair out of a ponytail as she walked towards them.
"They still at it?" she asked arching an eyebrow.
Ryan nodded.
"Oh god," the girl whispered sitting down at a stool beside Ying-fa.
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked frowning, "How long?"
"Just after you left."
Buffy did the match, she and Ying-fa had left about three hours ago so that meant…
"They're like Energiser bunnies," Ying-fa muttered wrinkling her nose.
"So how did it go?"
"Fine," Ying-fa scoffed, "Took us ten minutes to take them out."
Indy frowned.
"How come it took you so long then?" she asked confused.
"Took us a while to track her down," Buffy explained.
"Locating spell?" Indy enquired.
Ying-fa shook her head.
"Anti-locating spell spell. I had to use an anti-anti locating spell spell… spell" she paused, "If that makes sense at all."
"Like Buffy's necklace?" Indy frowned, "The anti-locating spell I mean."
Indy glanced at the sapphire necklace hanging around Buffy's neck. Buffy fidgeted nervously after her friends' gaze but shrugged lightly.
"Yeah," she replied slipping the gem under her shirt.
She had gotten the necklace around two weeks after she had left Sunnydale realising that Willow would probably try to locate her using a spell at some point. It had taken her a while to track down a witch powerful enough to create something like this but she had. As long as this gem was around her neck most locating spells of any variety would bounce off her making her non locate-y.
"Took me a while but I managed to dismantle the spells and track her," Ying-fa snorted breaking the awkward silence, "Then it kinda got anti-climatic from there."
Indy shot a look at Buffy.
"Why does everybody do that?" Ying-fa muttered.
"What?" Indy looked at the witch, a confused look on her face.
Ying-fa rolled her eyes.
"I tell the story and then you look to Buffy for confirmation."
"Ying," Indy sighed, "You have enough power in you to destroy ten blocks of buildings without breaking a sweat so anti-climatic for you is kinda underrated."
"God, I destroy ten blocks once and everybody thinks I'm some power-crazy over-kill trigger-happy freak," Ying-fa muttered disgusted.
"As opposed to a psychotic trigger-happy freak?" Ryan asked mockingly.
"As opposed to a pathetic quivering cowar…"
The rest of Ying-fa's sentence was cut off as one of the doors up on the second storey of the warehouse swung open.
"You're back," Tori smiled down at them gently as she smoothed her shirt over her obviously pregnant stomach.
A tall lanky man with dull auburn haired appeared behind her, wrapping his arms around her stomach as he smiled over her shoulder at them.
"How did it go?" he asked.
"Took you guys long enough," Buffy teased with a gentle smile.
Tori had the grace to blush but her boyfriend just grinned wickedly at them.
"Making too much noise, hey?"
"Not something to be proud off," Indy called up to them, "In fact horrifically wrong."
"Amy Yipp and Casey Donovan finally comes up for air," Ryan noted, "The video must be finished."
"She's not Asian and I'm not gay," Horace pointed out, "And Ryan, you're a pig."
"You sound like a girl," Ryan taunted.
"Stop it," Buffy smacked Ryan gently across the head as Indy and Ying-fa sniggered, "It's romantic."
"Gag me," Ryan made loud choking noises as Buffy glared at him.
"Gladly," Ying-fa waved her hands at him and a band of bright green light wrapped itself around his mouth effectively silencing him.
Everyone laughed wildly watching Ryan as he clawed at the magical bond around his mouth.
"Ahhh… so much better," Ying-fa glanced up at Tori and Horace, "You want to hear all the juicy parts?"
"Love to," Horace gently led his pregnant girlfriend down the stairs as Ying-fa continued talking.
"But if you do the confirming thing, I'll have to flay you," Ying-fa warned.
Tori and Horace frowned in confusion.
"Forget it," Indy advised.
Tori sat down at a stool beside the still struggling Ryan, Horace standing protectively behind her.
"So, there was this anti-locating spell thing…" Ying-fa began.
Before she could continue, a splitting tune filled the air even overpowering the loud music pumping out from the stereo. Everybody's hands instantly flew to their mobile phones checking if it was theirs.
"Not mine," Buffy announced holding up her silent phone.
Ying-fa and Indy shook their heads, Ryan mumbling something through his magical bonds. Ying-fa snorted but cancelled the spell drawing another round of laughter from the gang.
"Mine," Horace announced.
He put the phone to his ear but winced.
"Wait," Horace pulled the phone away from his ear, "Ying?"
Ying-fa flicked her fingers at the playing stereo and it instantly turned off.
"Thanks," Horace put the phone near his ear again, "What? Now? Uh huh… oh, I see. Yep, right. Okay."
He sighed and disconnected the call.
"I have to go," he said smiling apologetically at Tori, "Sorry."
"Who was it?" Indy asked.
"Some contacts," Horace replied distractedly, "I've been looking for someone lately and my contacts came up with something. I've got to go and check. I'll be back as soon as I can, promise?"
"Just don't do this when your baby decides to pop out," Tori warned him, a small smile on her lips.
"My baby?" Horace arched an eyebrow, "So, it's my baby now? Cause I think you have 50 to do with it as well."
"TMI," Indy muttered, "TMI."
Horace kissed Tori gently and left as Buffy smiled, musingly. They seemed so normal, just like a bunch of friends living together. Looking at the pregnant Tori now, it was hard to see this seemingly gentle woman as a hired killer but she was. It had only been three months before, Tori was out with the rest of them killing whoever they were hired to kill. Ying-fa, Indy, Ryan, Tori, Horace, Gil and her; they made up the infamous Ring, a group of highly skilled and efficiently ruthless assassins. Buffy was basically doing the same as she had before, killing demons, but this time for money… and working for other demons.
But she ended up killing her former bosses anyway, so it kinda made sense… in a very twisted way.
It had been kind of a shock to her leaving Sunnydale and entering a completely new world: not all demons were medieval, let's-destroy-the-world mindless morons. The Master, the Vahrall demons, Sisterhood of the Jhe… all those demons were small fries in the wider community. Under the very noses of humans, many major cities were underground demon war zones and not in a Saving-Private-Ryan kinda way more of a Soprano theme working. In a city the size of Chicago alone, there maybe up to a dozen powerful demon crime syndicates battling each other for city supremacy. These fights were vicious and since secrecy was a prime issue, demon assassins were often called and that's when groups like Ring came in. It had taken Buffy a while to realise that perhaps although Sunnydale was the Hellmouth, many cities were even worse. She had killed some pretty ruthless demons since leaving good ol' Sunnyhell and it gave her the wiggings sometimes to realise that there were many others like or even worse then them.
It had been through chance she had met with the other members of Ring, the people shehad quickly come to call her friends and even her family at times. Combining their unique skills they had quickly shot up in the assassin world making a name for themselves. She had even taken on the codename of Glory, simply because the psycho goddess had been cold-blooded, ruthless, powerful killer.
Exactly what she was right now.
Buffy was jolted out of her musing as another door up on the second storey opened, the last member of their group walked down the stairs and joined them, an excited look on his violet-scaled face.
"Hey, Gil. What's up?" Ying-fa asked easily.
"New job," Gil informed them.
"Already?" Indy raised an eyebrow, "Wow, we're getting popular."
"Oh come on, our 100 kill ratio must be doing wonders to our reputations," Ryan smirked.
"Who? Where? When?" Buffy asked getting straight to business.
"Olario," Gil threw a blurry black-and-white faxed photo onto the counter, everyone leaning in to have a looking, Tori having more difficulty than the others, "Nothing special. Your run-of-the-mill lackey demon. Los Angeles, as soon as possible preferably now."
"What's so special about him?" Indy asked.
"You know the Frashar gang in L.A.?" Gil asked.
Buffy had fallen silent at the mention of L.A…. Angel's home ground. She felt saddened remembering the rumours she had heard of how Angel (the souled traitor, the demons had called him) had supplied the Scooby Gang with an amulet to help wipe out the First and how it had ended up killing Spike (the chipped traitor) in the process… Buffy's throat momentarily tightened at the thought of that but quickly composed herself reminding herself she had a task at hand.
"The group that was harvesting those Fyral demons?" Tori asked with a small frown.
"The time Ying-fa blew up ten blocks of buildings," Gil reminded them.
"Hey!" Ying-fa exclaimed as everybody snorted, "If I didn't do that you guys would've been mucus-ed!"
"Power-crazy," Ryan muttered.
"Over-kill," Buffy joined in.
"Trigger-happy freak," Indy reminded her.
Ying-fa narrowed her eyes at them.
"Continue," she nodded at Gil.
"Olario was selling secrets from the Frashar gang to that gang of vampire mobsters in downtown L.A.," Gil trailed off.
"And the Frashar boys hired us to Olario," Buffy finished off.
"It's not that easy," Gil warned them, "Wolfram and Hart…"
"The only law company in the world that's not evil?" Ying-fa rolled her eyes, "What are they up to."
"They've got Olario and are promising to protect him from the Frashar gang if he tells them everything he knows about both groups," Gil winced, "Now there's two bounty on his head."
"We kill him, we'll get the double the pay check," Ying-fa grinned, "Nice."
"They're going to move him to a safehouse tomorrow night," Gil told them reading from a sheet of paper he held in his clawed hands, "That's probably the only time he's going to be vulnerable. We need to figure out how they're taking him there and who's protecting him."
"Okay," Ying-fa grinned at them, "We've got a road trip to L.A."
Los Angeles
18 hours before
May 6, 20053:06 A.M.
"So what's the plan again?" Buffy demanded looking down at her skimpy leather costume she was wearing.
"You and Ying-fa make contact with the owner of this club, who happens to be a high placed employee of Wolfram and Hart and Ying-fa hits him with the whammy that makes him talk," Indy summed up for them again, "You get info, we go on our merry way, kill the idiot and collect the money. Got it?"
"Why do I have to wear this?" Ying-fa demanded glaring at her own equally skanky disguise.
"Because you let Ryan pick out your outfits," Indy told them, "Which by the way, here's a swelling chord from the I-told-you-so symphony. Now go, we need info fast!"
Buffy and Ying-fa glanced at each other and sighed.
"Into the belly of the beast we go," Ying-fa whispered in a singsong voice.
"With almost nothing on," Buffy added.
Both of their appearances had been magically altered, Buffy was now a tall brunette with sultry amber eyes whilst Ying-fa had changed her eyes to a sapphire blue and her hair was now slightly shorter. Tugging uncomfortably at her tight-fitting leather clothing (she was going to skin Ryan), Buffy stepped through the doorway of the Caritas club and was instantly immersed in its boisterous surroundings. Outwards, she seemed calm and composed and inside she was almost overwhelmed with panic. With Wolfram and Hart involved, it was extremely likely she was run into Angel and that for her was a world of pain and anguish she was not willing to go into. With a deep calming sigh, her eyes scanned the crowded club searching for their target.
"There," Ying-fa whispered spotting the red-horned, green skinned demon standing near the bar.
Buffy followed her friend's gaze and spotted the demon who was leaning relaxedly against the bar chatting idly with the bartender whilst at the same time listening carefully to the immense she-demon crooning out a Celine Dion ballad on stage. Buffy idly wondered how on earth Lorne, as the demon was commonly known as, could wear a bright orange suit with sapphire blue silk shirt without it clashing horribly with his green complexion. Pushing that erratic thought out of her mind, Ying-fa and her pushed their way through the bustling club towards the demon.
"Hey, ladies," Lorne tossed them an easy smiled as they made it towards the bar, "What can I help you two wonderful girls with? A drink? Wanna sing? I bet you two will do a lovely duet. How about a little Mariah Carey? Poor girl, she's going through a rough match but I bet she's going to make a stun…"
"Leave," Ying-fa said firmly to the lingering bartender, a note of power behind her voice.
The bartender immediately scuttled off towards the end of the bar as Lorne stared at Ying-fa worriedly.
"Well, aren't you a delightful Wicca. I'll bet you'll make some lovely magic on sta…"
Before Lorne could say another word, Ying-fa held her palm outwards, her fingers pointing towards his face. She sucked in a breath and blew it out across her palm, a cloud of sparkling crimson dust gushing forwards and hitting Lorne straight in the face. The demon blinked in confusion, the dust rushing into his nostrils as he sucked it in.
"Now Sabrina, what was that little dust and light sho…"
"Silent," Ying-fa ordered.
Lorne immediately shut up, his red eyes glazing over.
"Sit down," Ying-fa continued.
Buffy kept a careful eye on the people around them just in case one of them noticed something was wrong with their host but the demon and human patrons unlike were too caught up in their own conversations and their drinks to notice two young women magically interrogating the owner.
Lorne jerkily sat down, his movements unnatural as though he was a wooden puppet and someone was clumsily manipulating his movements, which when Buffy thought about it was an adept analogy.
"Olario, where are you taking him?" Ying-fa got straight to the point.
"Safehouse," Lorne said, his voice mechanical and devoid of emotions.
"Address."
Lorne gave it to them.
"Who's protecting him?"
"Harmony and Illyria."
"Harmony?" Buffy gasped unable to stop herself.
Ying-fa shot Buffy a curious look but quickly continued to grill Lorne before the spell wore off.
"How powerful?"
"Illyria, she's the one to watch out for," Lorne told them passively.
"How are they taking them?"
"On foot," Lorne quickly outlined their intended route, Ying-fa nodding in satisfaction.
"Okay, in ten seconds you'll snap out of this and you will have no memory of us or anything concerning this certain event," Ying-fa commanded, "Ten… nine…"
Lorne suddenly jerked upright.
"Hey, something wrong boss?" his demon bartender asked worriedly.
"No," Lorne shook his head, "Nothing… just… I don't know…"
The Host shrugged it off and returned his attention to the demon on stage who was belting out an Elvis classic.
"Now that Larry," he informed his bartender warmly, "Is magic."
"I wanna take this job," Buffy said firmly to her two friends once they were outside and safely in their car, "Alone."
"Are you sure?" Ying-fa asked worriedly, "He said Illyria, whoever that is, was kinda powerful."
"Who is she?" Indy asked curiously, "I've never heard of her."
"Call Gil," Buffy commanded, "Get him to figure it out."
Indy nodded and pulled out her mobile phone punching in a series of numbers. She passed the phone to Buffy as it began ringing.
"Hello?" Buffy asked as someone picked up on the other side.
'What?!?' Tori's annoyed voice blared down the line.
"Umm… Gil there."
'Yeah, I'll get him,' Tori snapped.
There was a short pause as Tori transferred the phone to Gil.
"What's with her?" Buffy asked worriedly.
'Horace, still isn't back. Tori's getting a bit antsy,' Gil explained.
"Oh," Buffy took a deep breath, "Gil, who is Illyria. Apparently she's protecting Olario."
'Illyria. Oh god,' Gil gasped.
The line fell silent.
"Gil?"
'Sorry, it's just,' Gil sighed, 'Illyria was a powerful demon warrior back in the ancient times before humans. She was basically a goddess but like all pure demons she lost her grip in this reality and her essence was sealed away. About a year ago, her essence was released and it infected a host… Illyria was reborn but her human shell couldn't handle the full powers she possessed. She was stripped of them…'
"So she's powerless?" Buffy asked hopefully.
Gil snorted.
'Not likely. Whilst she's lost her ability to create vortexes and manipulate times, she is still super-strong, invulnerable to weapons, ruthless, cunning and a skilled fighter. Bottom line, she's tough. Bruce Lee tough."
"A demonic goddess with super strength," Buffy mused, "Been there, done that."
'Pardon?'
"Nothing," Buffy said hurriedly, "Thanks Gil."
'Good luck.'
Buffy hung up. Ying-fa and Indy looked at her waiting for her answer.
"I'm doing this alone. You guys head back to the warehouse and I'll find my own way home, okay?"
"But…" Indy began, Ying-fa half a second behind her.
"No buts," Buffy snapped, "Go back."
Recognising the look on Buffy's face (which looked extremely similar to Willow's resolve face… if they happened to know what it looked like), they realised it was impossible to change her mind.
"Fine," Indy sighed. "Oh, Ying?" Buffy asked.
"What?" Ying-fa said curtly. "I'll need the knife."
Los Angeles
May 6, 2005
9:12 P.M.
Slayer and demon circled each other, eyeing each other warily preparing themselves for the fight to come.
"Are we going to do this?" Buffy asked suddenly smirking at Illyria.
"Lets."
Illyria threw the first punch.
The demon warrior blinked in confusion as her fist completely missed the slayer who had nimbly sidestepped the blow. Buffy grabbed Illyria's outstretched arm and kicking her twice in the ribs, Illyria grimaced and tired to break away but Buffy yanked her back punching her in the face before finally letting go and sending her stumbling backwards with a spinning roundhouse kick to the chest.
"How dare you strike me, you tainted mortal!" Illyria hissed, "I will rip out your spine…"
"Grind my bones to make your bread?" Buffy shot at her, "Please, Blue Ranger not exactly new or threatening."
Illyria moved faking a right hook before swinging in with a left clipping Buffy across the chin. The Slayer stumbled backwards, Illyria pressing the advantage coming in with a combination of left-right jabs and wild kicks. Buffy sidestepped a kick, blocking a hook before elbowing Illyria in the throat, the demon fell backwards clutching her injured neck as she gasped for breath.
"Illyria, I faced demonic goddesses before and compared to her, you're not remotely scary," Buffy snapped, "I grinded the last goddess to paste so what do you think I'm going to do with you?"
Illyria retorted with a flurry of ancient curses before flinging herself at the slayer. Buffy blocked one blow but was knocked backwards by another. Illyria leapt into a back flip kicking Buffy in the stomach and head in the process before landing nimbly and hitting the slayer's chest with an open palm. Buffy fell backwards gasping for breath as Illyria stared coldly at her.
"Mortal," she hissed, "My powers are a star to your mere spark. I will crush your neck and use your skull as my drinking cup."
"Okay, descriptive threats. Ew," Buffy hefted up the crossbow she had dropped before, "But are we going to talk all night? Let's just get this over and done with, I haven't slept in a whole day and I for one like to get this wrapped up quickly cause my skin dries up if I don't get my beauty sleep."
Illyria came at her again, Buffy slipped another arrow into the crossbow and fired but the wooden missile merely broke once it hit Illyria's skin. Buffy's eyebrows shot up in surprise but had no time to ponder this as Illyria rushed at her. She ducked Illyria's wild punch making, cracking Illyria in the chin with the crossbow. The blue demon's head snapped back as Buffy hit Illyria's head again with the crossbow. Her next swing slammed into the other side of Illyria's face before jabbing the crossbow into her stomach and pushing her away. Illyria steaded herself before slowly and calmly turned her neck side to side, a few gentle cracks could be heard as she moved into a defensive stance, one which Buffy had never seen before.
"If I had my powers," she said coldly.
"You'll cheat?" Buffy finished loading her crossbow with a fresh arrow.
Illyria narrowed her flashing blue eyes at the petite blonde before charging her again. Buffy blocked her kick with the crossbow before hitting the ground and leg-swept Illyria. The demon stumbled as Buffy jumped up and pushed her against a brick wall roughly, in a fluid movement she swung around and fired.
The arrow whistled through the air before coming to an abrupt halt as it slammed into the cowering Olario's throat. The demon gave a choked cry before collapsing, his lifeblood oozing over the dirty alley straight. Illyria gave a howl of rage before leaping into another back-flip using the wall as leverage and throwing herself at Buffy. They fell in a tangle of limbs, Buffy desperately trying to get up but Illyria dragged her down choking the slayer with her bare hands.
"I think I will rip off your head," Illyria hissed in Buffy's ear, dragging both of them up until they were standing, "And display it in my kingdom as a warning to all."
Buffy swung the crossbow and hit one of Illyria's knees; she winced at the loud crunching sound as metal hit flesh. Illyria roared with pain and let go of the slayer, Buffy pushed Illyria away before throwing the crossbow at the demon's face.
"Keep with the times," she growled, "Monarchy is so the dark ages."
She reached into a special leather holster under her jacket and pulled out an ornamental dagger. Light gleamed off its razor edge highlighting the runes and symbols carved into the metal.
"A weapon?" Illyria spat favouring one knee, "You think that'll stop me?!?"
Buffy lunged at her, batting Illyria's arms away as she swung the dagger at Illyria's stomach. It hit the thick crimson leather armour Illyria worn and suddenly the dagger blazed with an inner emerald light, the air around the point where blade hit leather warped and twisted, Buffy bearing down on the dagger with all her strength. Finally with a huge flash of light, magic shattered Illyria's godly defences, the dagger plunging through armour and flesh alike. Buffy smiled up into Illyria's stunned azure eyes.
Buffy pushed Illyria away as the demon staggered backwards staring at the dagger sticking out from her gut stupidly, blinking in confusion.
"The answer to your question?" Buffy taunted, "Yeah, I think I can stop you."
Illyria stared up at her with her bright blue eyes before collapsing. Buffy stared around at the chaos around her, Harmony lying knocked out amongst a pile of shattered crates, Olario dead on the floor and Illyria with a dagger in her gut. Taking on last look, Buffy whirled around and sprinted away from the alley.
As she ran, a single word burst from her lips unwanted and yet inevitably uttered.
"Angel."
A flood of memories rushed back, Buffy beat them back stuffing them back in the corner of her mind where she kept her memories of her old self. That wasn't her anymore. This is what she was now: a ruthless, cold-blooded, a killer.
This was her.
She was Glory.
A/Notes:
Okay, this chapter was kinda long and low on the action but a whole bunch of it was needed to set up Buffy's new life. But now worry! Plenty more action on the way!