Part Three
"You think I've changed, but I'm the same"
How I Got This Way, Taxiride
"Do we have any mushrooms?" asked Andrew.
Dawn looked up from where she was completing her homework on the kitchen table. "What do you want mushrooms..." She stopped and stared. It appeared that while she'd been buried in homework Andrew had decided to empty half of the kitchen out. Pot and pans littered the bench; bags of vegetables filled the other end of the table. Good grief, how had she not noticed this? How into her homework had she been? "Andrew, what are you doing?"
He looked pleased to have her attention. "I'm going to cook a stew. I figure if I do it now and then cool it down, I can snap-freeze it into convenient one meal packages for reheating at a later date."
She blinked at him. "What? Why?"
"Well, for people to eat, obviously. I've kind of noticed that no one here has actually been eating that well since everyone came. There's been a lot of takeout and because there's so many people here they've been kinda crowding everywhere and everyone's so busy and... so I thought that I'd kinda designate myself as the cook."
This time she looked amused. "You're going to be our cook?"
"Yes! I mean I'm really not doing anything else..."
"That's because you're a hostage."
"Well, yeah, about that term. I mean, I don't know whether it's exactly what you should be using. Isn't a hostage someone that you're keeping so you can get something in return or stop someone from doing something to you? Like in Die Hard where..."
And again with the films. Dawn shook her head. Constant exposure to Andrew had softened her initial aversion even despite the fact that she knew about the blood on his hands. But god, he so needed to step into reality. "Andrew. You're a hostage. That's what we choose to call you, that's what you are. Deal with it."
He looked miffed. "Well, can't I be the cook too? I mean, you may not think it's important, but what if everyone gets malnourished or something? They'll be all weak and unable to fight."
Her memory twinged. "An army marches on its stomach", she said.
He looked a little confused. "I don't think that can be right. I mean, if they're on their stomachs then they can only kinda wiggle... Oh wait, you mean like what Napoleon said."
"Yes! I mean like what Napoleon said. Geez, don't be so literal."
"Last night Spike told me I had to be more literal."
"Be more sensible. That'll cover it all."
Andrew paused and bit his lip, thinking about this. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "So, are there any mushrooms?"
Dawn sighed, opened her mouth to answer, and then shut it again when the front door opened and people started crowding into the house. Instead she said, "Sounds like everyone's back."
"Guess so. Oooh, I wonder if they went to the grocery store on the way home?"
She jumped up to go and greet them. "You can ask, but I don't think they're gonna have mushrooms. Hey, just put in some of the tofu that Willow's got at the back there. It's got the texture."
"It's not the same!"
"Whatever." She left him to it, walking into the lounge and into the middle of a conversation.
"...and there were these little fin things on the side, kinda like a Socat's only, y'know, it obviously wasn't." Clem was making circling motions in the air as he talked, presumably to indicate what the 'fin things' looked like.
Molly was closing the door behind her, the last of the group to enter. She was still listening though, because she asked, "How do you know it wasn't?"
Clem turned to her. "Well, it was more human sized, " he said. "Whereas Socats are really small. Like a few inches small. This thing looked almost human."
Rona frowned. "No way was that thing human. It had claws and fins..."
"And it was breathing fire!" Vi added.
Clem looked vaguely miffed. "Well, yeah. I meant in a general way. It's weird though, that I can't figure out what it is. I mean, usually I'm really good at that kind of thing... Oh, hi Dawn!"
Dawn grinned at him. She liked Clem. Sure, he was a bizarre looking floppy skinned demon, but, as someone who'd once been a large glowing blob of light, she'd learned not to judge by appearances. "Hi Clem! You guys are back early... Oh wait, where's Buffy and Spike?"
"Yeah, well, there was a bit of a fight, actually."
Rona snorted "A bit nothing! We were in the middle of the lesson when this weird-ass demon thing decided to wail on all the non-evil-demons that we were listening to!"
Dawn frowned at her. "Hang on, you're saying you had some creature jump out and start trying to eat the demons instead of the girls?"
Clem nodded earnestly. "Yeah, it was pretty weird. We were sitting around listening to Gaserack's speech..."
"Snoring along to it, you mean," cut in Rona.
"Well yeah, he was a bit... Anyway. We were sitting there listening to it and I was kinda whispering to Buffy and Spike and then she goes all bloodhound and says there's something watching us. And then I go 'where's Ned?', and we all go 'uh oh' and she sorta indicates for all the girls to stay there while we go to look for him."
"Leaving us with good old Gaserack." Molly made a face.
"And so we go off, and there's this weird creature dragging off poor Ned! Buffy does the whole 'stop what you're doing or I'll hit you', but then he goes all snarly and starts trying to rip into her. I mean, I went off to stay with the girls and all, but they weren't far away, and then they kind of got out from the cover of the trees and we could all watch from a distance."
"It was cool!" Amanda piped up enthusiastically. "Spike and Buffy were completely tearing into this guy, and then he started to go nuts and do things like breathing fire..."
"...and spitting out these darts from his fingertips!"
"And he had fangs!"
"And his skin grew all hard and lumpy..."
Clem nodded along. "Yeah, and he had these little fins on his neck. Kinda like a Socat sprite." He paused and gathered his thoughts. "But anyway... they fought him for a few minutes while we all watched and I went and made sure Ned was okay, and then the demon thing, he just pauses and looks at them like 'what am I doing this for?'"
"And then he turns around and runs away," finished Rona.
Dawn flopped down on the couch. "Well, at least he isn't completely stupid."
Clem sat down next to her. "Not stupid, no, but he was really fast. Buffy and Spike ran after him but they just lost him completely."
She arched an eyebrow. "That thing's still out there?"
"That's where Buffy and Spike are," explained Amanda. "They helped us to take Ned back to his place and made sure someone was with him and then they sent us back here while they went to see if they could find it. I mean, him. The demony thing. Though you probably already guessed that, so I'll shut up now..."
Dawn gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay."
"Oh... thanks." A tiny smile in return.
"Anyway," said Clem. "I just hope that they find whoever it is. All the guys were completely freaked out. I mean geez, it's not often we get targeted by this kind of thing. Makes you scared to go out at night."
Dawn patted him on the back and tried to look positive. "Hey, I wouldn't worry. Buffy and Spike are complete experts at this. They'll find him."
**************
"We're not going to find him." Buffy kicked the kerb in frustration.
Behind her, Spike nodded in resignation. "Looks like that, pet. We've been looking near two hours now, and not a peep."
"Maybe we should go back to Willy's."
"I don't think it'll do much good. You ask me, they didn't have a clue what you were talking about. I'm betting this one's a new player in town."
"Great, another one. This is not what I need right now."
"Well, y'know. It's a job."
"And lucky old me gets to do it." She sighed. "Let's just get back. This is hopeless."
He turned obligingly towards the Summer's residence. "Bit of a glass half empty kind of mood there?"
Buffy glared at him. "I'm tired. I'm irritated, and I'm just had my sparkling lesson plan shot to hell. Also..." she hesitated.
"Yeah?"
She chewed on her lip. "I keep having this nasty feeling that I should have recognised that thing."
He considered. "By species, or do you think you've actually met him?"
"I don't know. Met, I think. There was something so familiar... but I just can't think of it. It's like... familiarity but something new added to it. Do you know what I mean?"
"Seriously? You're being a bit hazy there."
The kerb got another kick. "I can't be any clearer. It's like I've got it on the tip of my tongue. It's driving me crazy."
"Can tell."
"Thanks for the multitudes of help."
"Glad to be of service. Why are you so worried, anyway? Seems like this thing is more into targeting demons."
"And I shouldn't care about that?"
"I'm just saying..."
"I do care about that. This thing is in my territory and it nearly killed someone under my protection. That is definitely classified as a bad thing."
"Ahhh, I see. Not good for the reputation if it gets out."
She stopped and gave him a nasty look. "That is not the only reason..."
Spike held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry."
She held his gaze for a few seconds before nodding. "Right. But you're right about that too, I'm not going to deny it. It isn't good for my reputation, and I need my reputation to hold this place together."
He nodded in understanding. "Folks start getting rowdy when they think you can't deal with them."
"And considering what we're all going to be facing in the coming months, I so don't need anyone else getting rowdy."
"Point taken." He tilted his head to the side, noticing that she was looking frustrated again. "Might try sleeping on it. Maybe it'll come to you."
"Either that or it'll drive me completely insane." She sighed again. "Okay, you're right. I'm not going to think about it."
"Good."
"Definitely keeping it out of my mind."
"Right then."
"...Maybe it was at Willy's. Do you think I might have seen him at Willy's before?"
**************
He huddled in his coat and sunglasses in an alleyway just off from the Bronze and looked cautiously around. He was pretty sure he'd lost them, but it couldn't hurt to be careful. He did doubt they'd be looking here, though. After all, they were chasing a weird demon looking thing. People would be screaming if he hung around the Bronze, right? He smiled to himself, feeling smug. The fact that he could make himself look almost like the human he used to be was still an asset he wanted to keep. Very, very useful. Have to be careful not to eat anything that would mess with that.
He pulled the coat tighter and sat on an upturned trash bin. Still tired, still hungry, and he'd really been pretty stupid back there. Getting into a fight with Buffy Summers? Was he just asking to get his butt kicked? He wasn't in this time period to deal with Buffy Summers, he was here to kill his stupid little brother. Of course, he had no idea where his stupid little brother might be at this time, but if he didn't continue to act extremely stupid like he had tonight, he should have plenty of time to find out. Honestly...
"Tucker?"
He jumped up and swung around. What the hell?
The man walking up the ally way looked to be in his early twenties and wore clothes that suggested he'd just stepped out of the Bronze. The guy was staring at him in surprise and...delight?
"Tucker Wells?"
He stared at the guy. Huh?
"Tucker? It's me, Steve! You know, we were in Calculus together at Sunnydale High! Geez, I haven't seen you in like, forever!"
He blinked at the intruder. Steve? Did he know a Steve? Actually, come to think of it...
"Sssteve Campbell? The one who dated Janet Pearssson?"
Steve beamed. "Yeah, it's me! Geez, how have you been? I heard you got into some kind of trouble at the end of the year, and them you just disappeared. Not that that's anything strange in Sunnydale..."
He smiled weakly, still slightly taken aback. "I guesss not. Uhhh, ssso. How are you?"
"I've been great! Still hanging around and all. And how are you? I mean, you look really...." Steve hesitated and took a closer look. "Actually you look kinda... older. And a little wacky... you okay there?"
He frowned. This was probably a bad conversation to be having. He settled for being abrupt. "I'm fine."
"You're speaking a little weirdly, too. Hey, have you been sick?"
Well, technically... "I've been... abnormal."
Steve looked mostly unfazed. "Geez, that's too bad. So, you here alone?"
Good grief. He idly thought about cutting Steve to shreds, just for the fun of it. He was really starting to get irritating "Yesss...."
"Well, that's good!" Steve smiled brightly, and suddenly Tucker had a strange feeling that he may have misinterpreted the situation.
He played on the feeling. "I think I'll be going sssomewhere now."
And Steve continued to smile as telltale ridges sprung up on his face, and he bared his fangs. "Oh, I don't think you'll be going anywhere."
To Steve's surprise, Tucker smiled back.
Momentarily taken aback, he frowned and tried again. "I said, I don't think you'll be going anywhere."
"Fair enough."
Steve deflated slightly. "Fair enough?"
"Fair Enough."
The vampire looked at him, puzzled. "Look, you do know I'm going to kill you and drink your blood, right?"
"Oh, I don't think ssso."
"I really do think so! Geez, I'm a vampire here, y'know?!"
"I know." Tucker took off his sunglasses, blinked his lizard eyes and smiled again. "And I'm hungry."
**************
When the door opened, Clem jumped up from where he and Dawn had spent the last few hours eating chips and watching bad monster movies while the potentials trained in the basement. "Buffy, Spike, you're back! Any luck?"
Buffy winced and looked apologetic. "Sorry Clem, I think he got away."
"Aww, no."
"Hey, it's okay." Dawn patted him on the shoulder. "If you're really worried you can stay here for the night. I mean we've already got ten thousand potentials, a witch, a slayer, a vampire, and a hostage crowded into here, what's one demon more?"
Buffy gave her a look and then realised Dawn probably had a point. "I suppose if you really want to..."
Clem brightened slightly. "Well, I wouldn't mind staying just for tonight. I guess it's kinda paranoid but..."
"Not paranoid if they really are out to kill you," remarked Spike dryly.
Buffy smiled at Clem warmly. "It's okay. Make yourself at home. We'll take another look around tomorrow, in any case."
Dawn perked up. "Do you want me to do some research? I could see if we can find out what it is."
"Buffy thinks she already knows."
She deflated a little. "Oh. So, no need then."
Buffy shot Spike an annoyed look. "No! I mean, yes, there is. I kinda think there's something familiar, but I don't what it is. Research is still needed."
Dawn looked happy. "Will do."
"Just make sure your homework's done as well..." She frowned. "Is someone cooking?"
"Andrew's decided to designate himself cook." Dawn giggled. "He thinks that the First might be able to win over us by malnutrition."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "For heaven's sake."
"Ahh, leave the boy alone. He's just trying to be useful."
"He's just trying to act as if he's one of our trusted allies instead of the guy we're keeping hostage! God, he's never going to grow up, is he?"
Spike smirked. "I'd be surprised."
***************
Rebecca Hallows sat at the counter and flicked through another magazine. She was bored silly. It'd been a desperately slow night at the tiny all night convenience store she worked at, and things didn't look like they were going to get any busier.
When she'd first taken the job she'd been pretty scared about working nights in Sunnydale at a one person store. In fact she'd almost decided to quit two seconds after she'd gotten the job. She needed money, but not that badly. However, the little old lady who owned the store had not only been incredibly persuasive, she'd also demonstrated the powerful magical Sigel that was carved above the door preventing anyone who intended violence from entering. Rebecca hadn't believed it at first, but now that she'd seen the thing keep out bikers, demons, sleazebags and an awful lot of drunks, she actually felt safer at the store than at home.
It was because of this, then, that she wasn't really worried about the guy who stumbled in looking like he was completely off his head. She did groan inwardly, however. Junkies sucked.
She pulled together a bright fake grin. "Can I help you?"
He looked up and stared at her vaguely. "wha..."
Teeth gritted, she tried again. "I said, can I help you?"
"oh..." He swayed and grabbed hold of a nearby stand. "I... can I have a chair?"
She glared at him, annoyed. "You know, considering that you did this to yourself I really don't see why I should help you."
He looked confused at this. "did this... Oh, wait... You think... I'm not... I've got this migraine, it's really... really..." He winced and grabbed his head.
Rebecca hesitated at this. She'd had an aunt who'd suffered from migraines and they had spaced her out completely at times. And come to think of it, the guy did actually look more in-pain out of it than in-pleasure out of it. She grabbed a stool and came out from behind the counter.
He sunk into it gratefully, head in hands. "thangyou..." she heard him mumble.
Rebecca knelt down next to him, now worried. "No problem. Look, if it's really this bad do you think you should go to the hospital? I can call a..."
"No!" He looked up at this, and managed a watery smile. "ids... it's okay, really. I just need... I didn't have any painkillers and I thought I'd go and get some and then it sort of came over me and... can I have some painkillers please? And...and also a paper..." He fumbled at the backpack he wore and, with a mammoth amount of effort, managed to produce a wallet .
She jumped up and grabbed a glass of water and the strongest painkillers she could find. Poor guy. Now that she could get a good look at him, he really looked very pale and drawn. She hoped he wasn't going to collapse in the store.
He accepted the pills and water gratefully, downed then, and sat for a few minutes with his eyes closed taking deep breaths.
After a bit she asked gently "How do you feel now?"
To her surprise he opened his eyes and looked almost amused. "I feel", he said, still slightly wavery, "like I've just hitched a ride with a rare demon through a portal ten years into the past to chase down a madman."
She blinked. "Hell of a migraine."
He gave a faint bark of laughter. "It really is."
She stuck out a hand. "Rebecca. Nice to meet you."
He blinked in confusion for a few seconds and then smiled. "Andrew" he said. "Andrew Wells. Nice to meet you too."
************
"You think I've changed, but I'm the same"
How I Got This Way, Taxiride
"Do we have any mushrooms?" asked Andrew.
Dawn looked up from where she was completing her homework on the kitchen table. "What do you want mushrooms..." She stopped and stared. It appeared that while she'd been buried in homework Andrew had decided to empty half of the kitchen out. Pot and pans littered the bench; bags of vegetables filled the other end of the table. Good grief, how had she not noticed this? How into her homework had she been? "Andrew, what are you doing?"
He looked pleased to have her attention. "I'm going to cook a stew. I figure if I do it now and then cool it down, I can snap-freeze it into convenient one meal packages for reheating at a later date."
She blinked at him. "What? Why?"
"Well, for people to eat, obviously. I've kind of noticed that no one here has actually been eating that well since everyone came. There's been a lot of takeout and because there's so many people here they've been kinda crowding everywhere and everyone's so busy and... so I thought that I'd kinda designate myself as the cook."
This time she looked amused. "You're going to be our cook?"
"Yes! I mean I'm really not doing anything else..."
"That's because you're a hostage."
"Well, yeah, about that term. I mean, I don't know whether it's exactly what you should be using. Isn't a hostage someone that you're keeping so you can get something in return or stop someone from doing something to you? Like in Die Hard where..."
And again with the films. Dawn shook her head. Constant exposure to Andrew had softened her initial aversion even despite the fact that she knew about the blood on his hands. But god, he so needed to step into reality. "Andrew. You're a hostage. That's what we choose to call you, that's what you are. Deal with it."
He looked miffed. "Well, can't I be the cook too? I mean, you may not think it's important, but what if everyone gets malnourished or something? They'll be all weak and unable to fight."
Her memory twinged. "An army marches on its stomach", she said.
He looked a little confused. "I don't think that can be right. I mean, if they're on their stomachs then they can only kinda wiggle... Oh wait, you mean like what Napoleon said."
"Yes! I mean like what Napoleon said. Geez, don't be so literal."
"Last night Spike told me I had to be more literal."
"Be more sensible. That'll cover it all."
Andrew paused and bit his lip, thinking about this. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "So, are there any mushrooms?"
Dawn sighed, opened her mouth to answer, and then shut it again when the front door opened and people started crowding into the house. Instead she said, "Sounds like everyone's back."
"Guess so. Oooh, I wonder if they went to the grocery store on the way home?"
She jumped up to go and greet them. "You can ask, but I don't think they're gonna have mushrooms. Hey, just put in some of the tofu that Willow's got at the back there. It's got the texture."
"It's not the same!"
"Whatever." She left him to it, walking into the lounge and into the middle of a conversation.
"...and there were these little fin things on the side, kinda like a Socat's only, y'know, it obviously wasn't." Clem was making circling motions in the air as he talked, presumably to indicate what the 'fin things' looked like.
Molly was closing the door behind her, the last of the group to enter. She was still listening though, because she asked, "How do you know it wasn't?"
Clem turned to her. "Well, it was more human sized, " he said. "Whereas Socats are really small. Like a few inches small. This thing looked almost human."
Rona frowned. "No way was that thing human. It had claws and fins..."
"And it was breathing fire!" Vi added.
Clem looked vaguely miffed. "Well, yeah. I meant in a general way. It's weird though, that I can't figure out what it is. I mean, usually I'm really good at that kind of thing... Oh, hi Dawn!"
Dawn grinned at him. She liked Clem. Sure, he was a bizarre looking floppy skinned demon, but, as someone who'd once been a large glowing blob of light, she'd learned not to judge by appearances. "Hi Clem! You guys are back early... Oh wait, where's Buffy and Spike?"
"Yeah, well, there was a bit of a fight, actually."
Rona snorted "A bit nothing! We were in the middle of the lesson when this weird-ass demon thing decided to wail on all the non-evil-demons that we were listening to!"
Dawn frowned at her. "Hang on, you're saying you had some creature jump out and start trying to eat the demons instead of the girls?"
Clem nodded earnestly. "Yeah, it was pretty weird. We were sitting around listening to Gaserack's speech..."
"Snoring along to it, you mean," cut in Rona.
"Well yeah, he was a bit... Anyway. We were sitting there listening to it and I was kinda whispering to Buffy and Spike and then she goes all bloodhound and says there's something watching us. And then I go 'where's Ned?', and we all go 'uh oh' and she sorta indicates for all the girls to stay there while we go to look for him."
"Leaving us with good old Gaserack." Molly made a face.
"And so we go off, and there's this weird creature dragging off poor Ned! Buffy does the whole 'stop what you're doing or I'll hit you', but then he goes all snarly and starts trying to rip into her. I mean, I went off to stay with the girls and all, but they weren't far away, and then they kind of got out from the cover of the trees and we could all watch from a distance."
"It was cool!" Amanda piped up enthusiastically. "Spike and Buffy were completely tearing into this guy, and then he started to go nuts and do things like breathing fire..."
"...and spitting out these darts from his fingertips!"
"And he had fangs!"
"And his skin grew all hard and lumpy..."
Clem nodded along. "Yeah, and he had these little fins on his neck. Kinda like a Socat sprite." He paused and gathered his thoughts. "But anyway... they fought him for a few minutes while we all watched and I went and made sure Ned was okay, and then the demon thing, he just pauses and looks at them like 'what am I doing this for?'"
"And then he turns around and runs away," finished Rona.
Dawn flopped down on the couch. "Well, at least he isn't completely stupid."
Clem sat down next to her. "Not stupid, no, but he was really fast. Buffy and Spike ran after him but they just lost him completely."
She arched an eyebrow. "That thing's still out there?"
"That's where Buffy and Spike are," explained Amanda. "They helped us to take Ned back to his place and made sure someone was with him and then they sent us back here while they went to see if they could find it. I mean, him. The demony thing. Though you probably already guessed that, so I'll shut up now..."
Dawn gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay."
"Oh... thanks." A tiny smile in return.
"Anyway," said Clem. "I just hope that they find whoever it is. All the guys were completely freaked out. I mean geez, it's not often we get targeted by this kind of thing. Makes you scared to go out at night."
Dawn patted him on the back and tried to look positive. "Hey, I wouldn't worry. Buffy and Spike are complete experts at this. They'll find him."
**************
"We're not going to find him." Buffy kicked the kerb in frustration.
Behind her, Spike nodded in resignation. "Looks like that, pet. We've been looking near two hours now, and not a peep."
"Maybe we should go back to Willy's."
"I don't think it'll do much good. You ask me, they didn't have a clue what you were talking about. I'm betting this one's a new player in town."
"Great, another one. This is not what I need right now."
"Well, y'know. It's a job."
"And lucky old me gets to do it." She sighed. "Let's just get back. This is hopeless."
He turned obligingly towards the Summer's residence. "Bit of a glass half empty kind of mood there?"
Buffy glared at him. "I'm tired. I'm irritated, and I'm just had my sparkling lesson plan shot to hell. Also..." she hesitated.
"Yeah?"
She chewed on her lip. "I keep having this nasty feeling that I should have recognised that thing."
He considered. "By species, or do you think you've actually met him?"
"I don't know. Met, I think. There was something so familiar... but I just can't think of it. It's like... familiarity but something new added to it. Do you know what I mean?"
"Seriously? You're being a bit hazy there."
The kerb got another kick. "I can't be any clearer. It's like I've got it on the tip of my tongue. It's driving me crazy."
"Can tell."
"Thanks for the multitudes of help."
"Glad to be of service. Why are you so worried, anyway? Seems like this thing is more into targeting demons."
"And I shouldn't care about that?"
"I'm just saying..."
"I do care about that. This thing is in my territory and it nearly killed someone under my protection. That is definitely classified as a bad thing."
"Ahhh, I see. Not good for the reputation if it gets out."
She stopped and gave him a nasty look. "That is not the only reason..."
Spike held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry."
She held his gaze for a few seconds before nodding. "Right. But you're right about that too, I'm not going to deny it. It isn't good for my reputation, and I need my reputation to hold this place together."
He nodded in understanding. "Folks start getting rowdy when they think you can't deal with them."
"And considering what we're all going to be facing in the coming months, I so don't need anyone else getting rowdy."
"Point taken." He tilted his head to the side, noticing that she was looking frustrated again. "Might try sleeping on it. Maybe it'll come to you."
"Either that or it'll drive me completely insane." She sighed again. "Okay, you're right. I'm not going to think about it."
"Good."
"Definitely keeping it out of my mind."
"Right then."
"...Maybe it was at Willy's. Do you think I might have seen him at Willy's before?"
**************
He huddled in his coat and sunglasses in an alleyway just off from the Bronze and looked cautiously around. He was pretty sure he'd lost them, but it couldn't hurt to be careful. He did doubt they'd be looking here, though. After all, they were chasing a weird demon looking thing. People would be screaming if he hung around the Bronze, right? He smiled to himself, feeling smug. The fact that he could make himself look almost like the human he used to be was still an asset he wanted to keep. Very, very useful. Have to be careful not to eat anything that would mess with that.
He pulled the coat tighter and sat on an upturned trash bin. Still tired, still hungry, and he'd really been pretty stupid back there. Getting into a fight with Buffy Summers? Was he just asking to get his butt kicked? He wasn't in this time period to deal with Buffy Summers, he was here to kill his stupid little brother. Of course, he had no idea where his stupid little brother might be at this time, but if he didn't continue to act extremely stupid like he had tonight, he should have plenty of time to find out. Honestly...
"Tucker?"
He jumped up and swung around. What the hell?
The man walking up the ally way looked to be in his early twenties and wore clothes that suggested he'd just stepped out of the Bronze. The guy was staring at him in surprise and...delight?
"Tucker Wells?"
He stared at the guy. Huh?
"Tucker? It's me, Steve! You know, we were in Calculus together at Sunnydale High! Geez, I haven't seen you in like, forever!"
He blinked at the intruder. Steve? Did he know a Steve? Actually, come to think of it...
"Sssteve Campbell? The one who dated Janet Pearssson?"
Steve beamed. "Yeah, it's me! Geez, how have you been? I heard you got into some kind of trouble at the end of the year, and them you just disappeared. Not that that's anything strange in Sunnydale..."
He smiled weakly, still slightly taken aback. "I guesss not. Uhhh, ssso. How are you?"
"I've been great! Still hanging around and all. And how are you? I mean, you look really...." Steve hesitated and took a closer look. "Actually you look kinda... older. And a little wacky... you okay there?"
He frowned. This was probably a bad conversation to be having. He settled for being abrupt. "I'm fine."
"You're speaking a little weirdly, too. Hey, have you been sick?"
Well, technically... "I've been... abnormal."
Steve looked mostly unfazed. "Geez, that's too bad. So, you here alone?"
Good grief. He idly thought about cutting Steve to shreds, just for the fun of it. He was really starting to get irritating "Yesss...."
"Well, that's good!" Steve smiled brightly, and suddenly Tucker had a strange feeling that he may have misinterpreted the situation.
He played on the feeling. "I think I'll be going sssomewhere now."
And Steve continued to smile as telltale ridges sprung up on his face, and he bared his fangs. "Oh, I don't think you'll be going anywhere."
To Steve's surprise, Tucker smiled back.
Momentarily taken aback, he frowned and tried again. "I said, I don't think you'll be going anywhere."
"Fair enough."
Steve deflated slightly. "Fair enough?"
"Fair Enough."
The vampire looked at him, puzzled. "Look, you do know I'm going to kill you and drink your blood, right?"
"Oh, I don't think ssso."
"I really do think so! Geez, I'm a vampire here, y'know?!"
"I know." Tucker took off his sunglasses, blinked his lizard eyes and smiled again. "And I'm hungry."
**************
When the door opened, Clem jumped up from where he and Dawn had spent the last few hours eating chips and watching bad monster movies while the potentials trained in the basement. "Buffy, Spike, you're back! Any luck?"
Buffy winced and looked apologetic. "Sorry Clem, I think he got away."
"Aww, no."
"Hey, it's okay." Dawn patted him on the shoulder. "If you're really worried you can stay here for the night. I mean we've already got ten thousand potentials, a witch, a slayer, a vampire, and a hostage crowded into here, what's one demon more?"
Buffy gave her a look and then realised Dawn probably had a point. "I suppose if you really want to..."
Clem brightened slightly. "Well, I wouldn't mind staying just for tonight. I guess it's kinda paranoid but..."
"Not paranoid if they really are out to kill you," remarked Spike dryly.
Buffy smiled at Clem warmly. "It's okay. Make yourself at home. We'll take another look around tomorrow, in any case."
Dawn perked up. "Do you want me to do some research? I could see if we can find out what it is."
"Buffy thinks she already knows."
She deflated a little. "Oh. So, no need then."
Buffy shot Spike an annoyed look. "No! I mean, yes, there is. I kinda think there's something familiar, but I don't what it is. Research is still needed."
Dawn looked happy. "Will do."
"Just make sure your homework's done as well..." She frowned. "Is someone cooking?"
"Andrew's decided to designate himself cook." Dawn giggled. "He thinks that the First might be able to win over us by malnutrition."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "For heaven's sake."
"Ahh, leave the boy alone. He's just trying to be useful."
"He's just trying to act as if he's one of our trusted allies instead of the guy we're keeping hostage! God, he's never going to grow up, is he?"
Spike smirked. "I'd be surprised."
***************
Rebecca Hallows sat at the counter and flicked through another magazine. She was bored silly. It'd been a desperately slow night at the tiny all night convenience store she worked at, and things didn't look like they were going to get any busier.
When she'd first taken the job she'd been pretty scared about working nights in Sunnydale at a one person store. In fact she'd almost decided to quit two seconds after she'd gotten the job. She needed money, but not that badly. However, the little old lady who owned the store had not only been incredibly persuasive, she'd also demonstrated the powerful magical Sigel that was carved above the door preventing anyone who intended violence from entering. Rebecca hadn't believed it at first, but now that she'd seen the thing keep out bikers, demons, sleazebags and an awful lot of drunks, she actually felt safer at the store than at home.
It was because of this, then, that she wasn't really worried about the guy who stumbled in looking like he was completely off his head. She did groan inwardly, however. Junkies sucked.
She pulled together a bright fake grin. "Can I help you?"
He looked up and stared at her vaguely. "wha..."
Teeth gritted, she tried again. "I said, can I help you?"
"oh..." He swayed and grabbed hold of a nearby stand. "I... can I have a chair?"
She glared at him, annoyed. "You know, considering that you did this to yourself I really don't see why I should help you."
He looked confused at this. "did this... Oh, wait... You think... I'm not... I've got this migraine, it's really... really..." He winced and grabbed his head.
Rebecca hesitated at this. She'd had an aunt who'd suffered from migraines and they had spaced her out completely at times. And come to think of it, the guy did actually look more in-pain out of it than in-pleasure out of it. She grabbed a stool and came out from behind the counter.
He sunk into it gratefully, head in hands. "thangyou..." she heard him mumble.
Rebecca knelt down next to him, now worried. "No problem. Look, if it's really this bad do you think you should go to the hospital? I can call a..."
"No!" He looked up at this, and managed a watery smile. "ids... it's okay, really. I just need... I didn't have any painkillers and I thought I'd go and get some and then it sort of came over me and... can I have some painkillers please? And...and also a paper..." He fumbled at the backpack he wore and, with a mammoth amount of effort, managed to produce a wallet .
She jumped up and grabbed a glass of water and the strongest painkillers she could find. Poor guy. Now that she could get a good look at him, he really looked very pale and drawn. She hoped he wasn't going to collapse in the store.
He accepted the pills and water gratefully, downed then, and sat for a few minutes with his eyes closed taking deep breaths.
After a bit she asked gently "How do you feel now?"
To her surprise he opened his eyes and looked almost amused. "I feel", he said, still slightly wavery, "like I've just hitched a ride with a rare demon through a portal ten years into the past to chase down a madman."
She blinked. "Hell of a migraine."
He gave a faint bark of laughter. "It really is."
She stuck out a hand. "Rebecca. Nice to meet you."
He blinked in confusion for a few seconds and then smiled. "Andrew" he said. "Andrew Wells. Nice to meet you too."
************
