AN: Hi there. Okay, I know it's been awhile since I updated, so I decided I go ahead and give you guys two chapters this time instead of just the one. Hopefully *fingers crossed* the next part will come out sooner than this last one.
Also, I wanted to say thank you to whoever nominated this series over at the Spuffy Awards. *hehe*
And one last thing before I go, I have a slight warning about this chapter, it will allude to a rape. It doesn't go into detail or anything, but it's there none the less, just to let you guys know.
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Part 6: His Story
Jonah walked through the park, pushing the cart that held every one of his belongings silently through the night as he searched for a trash can he hadn't gone through once already. He had to get to them before the garbage collectors came in the morning and took away his only source of income now.
A humorless snort passed through his nose as he thought back to a time when he would pass men on the street like himself, stick up his nose at them, and hurry off to whatever business meeting he was surely late for. He never had time to bother with them, or enough human compassion to take pity on one of them and drop a few dollars into their hands. The only time he ever bothered with them would be when they were standing too close to his car or would get up in his face to beg for his change, and then they were just met with annoyance. Funny how just a few years, a down-sizing, a divorce, and some not-so-pleasant brushes with the law, and he ended up just like them. Karma really could be a bitch.
After picking through one of the trash cans and finding nothing of use to him, he sat down on the park bench next to it, stared up at the dim street light overhead, and sighed. This really wasn't how he pictured his life would turn out. He didn't spend years and years working to end up living in a park. But fate could be cruel sometimes, and the streets that he now called home even crueler.
One learned fast the type of people to avoid, especially those of the nocturnal and demonic kind. Jonah could still remember the first time one of his new 'friends' had warned him that a cross and some Holy Water from one of the Catholic churches were just as important as a warm blanket and knowing what streets were good or bad. He had laughed in that man's face for believing in such superstitious nonsense. And then Jonah was attacked by his very first vampire. The one time businessman had gotten away thanks to the man who had warned him in the first place, but he still had the scar on his neck to remind him to never forget his cross or some Holy Water or the crude stake he had made out of a board from an old moving create.
The man's ears perked up when he heard the sound of someone running coming towards him and he quickly scrambled for a place to hide. If it was the cops, they would probably have him arrested or, at the very least, tell him to get out. But usually the cops were on the other side of the park this time of night, so the only other people Jonah could think of would be either a) a drug dealer, b) some gang member, or c) the guys with the really sharp, pointed teeth. Any which way it went, Jonah didn't like it.
The man went around behind the bench and crouched down low to the ground to where he was peering through the small spaces between the boards. As one his hands steadied him by holding onto the bench, the other rested near his trench coat pocket that held both the cross and a small switch blade he had found a couple of years ago. Of course, his main defense was to high tail it out of there as fast as his legs could carry him, but these were his backups.
Jonah watched as an African-American man rounded the corner and came into the light that shown from overhead. He took a few steps into the light, turned to look behind him, and fell into a fighting stance as if he expected to be attacked at any moment from anywhere. To Jonah, he looked rather ridiculous standing there, his fist raised as his baggy clothes hung loose on his thin body, waiting for whoever had been after him to pounce. Repressing a sigh, Jonah moved his hand away from his pocket to hold onto the bench better. Really, why couldn't these stupid gang members find better ways of torturing their enemies than by chasing them down in the park to beat the-?
A childish giggle filled the air, drawing Jonah's attention away from the man that stood before him. It was a strange sound, not one that someone would expect to hear this time of night at this place. And there was something else to it. Something the middle-aged man couldn't place his finger on. Something that made it almost sound…like whoever was laughing was having fun.
The wannabe gang member heard it too, and growled at the sound as he began to scan the shadowy area around them. On the other side of the brush, the lake sparked with the reflection of the buildings that towered around the park. A small wind blew up some paper and dust that had been resting quietly on the walkway the man stood on. And Jonah suddenly became very aware that his heartbeat was pounding in his ears as he picked up the mood that this definitely wasn't right.
The man suddenly pivoted on his feet towards Jonah's cart that had gone unnoticed until then; his once normal looking face now rigid, lumpy, and baring a set of burning yellow eyes. Jonah turned the best he could to see what had the vampire's attention and was surprised to find a young boy standing beside his cart, causally leaning up against it with his arms crossed. The kid couldn't have been over ten, maybe eleven, but was showing no fear whatsoever of the creature of the night before him. In fact, the boy seemed almost bored with him.
The vamp growled at the kid and bent down low to the ground, like he was about to pounce. The kid, however, didn't blink.
"Not the one that you should be worried about," the boy said, nudging his chin towards the vamp's direction.
Both Jonah and the creature turned to see what the kid had meant, and found a small girl standing directly behind the vampire. She was even younger than the boy, with long, curly blond hair that was pulled back into a pony tail. She held her arms behind her, like children often do when meeting someone new, and a large, childish smile rested on her face.
"Hi," the girl said in bubbly tone. "I'm Dylan. Wanna play?"
In a second, the vamp seemed to fly off the ground and go after the child.
Jonah didn't know what it was that made him yell for the girl. Maybe it was the fact this was a small child that should be defenseless in such a situation, and he was a grown-up and felt the need to protect her. Or maybe it was the fact that she kind of reminded him of his niece from way back when he was still part of society. Or maybe it was the fact that he was a complete idiot who didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Whatever it was, he surely didn't expect to see what he did.
The small girl, who was as calm as the boy who was still watching quietly, stood there until the vampire was right upon her. Then, with a quickness Jonah had never seen before, she spun on the ball of her foot so the vamp was right where her body had been, but she was now beside him as he leaned forward. She then stuck out her foot as the vampire stumbled from missing his mark and sent him to the ground hard. When his body hit the pavement, her arms swung out from behind her to reveal the stake she had hidden there, and she sent it crashing down into the vampire's back. His whole body jerked upwards for a second as he yelped in surprised then turned to dust.
The whole thing had last less than ten seconds, and Jonah was left standing behind the park bench gapping at the girl. She tucked the stake away and then brushed her hands together like they were dirty, as the young boy began to walk towards her.
"Oh, that was cute," he said, keeping his arms crossed, but smiling at the same time. He then raised an eyebrow and repeated, "'Wanna play?'"
Dylan shrugged slightly. "You know me. Besides, not all of us can be 'kill vampire, kill vampire, make no sound for three days, kill vampire.'"
"What can I say? I'm a simple man," the boy answered, sounding half serious and half joking at the same time. His tone then turned completely serious. "Just don't let Grandfather catch you doing that. You know how he feels about us speaking to them."
The girl's good mood deflated the instant he mentioned the man. "Yeah, I know," she responded solemnly. They then turned and began to walk away.
Jonah stood there, continuing to gaze at the children until they disappeared around the corner and left him behind in the light. When they were out of sight, the one time businessman looked at the spot the vampire had been, back up to where the kids had gone, and then to where the vamp had been. The guys were never going to believe this.
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Lindsey gave a dry laugh as she began to stir her cup of tea once more. "Everything? You do realize that is a lot of ground to cover. Don't you, Ms. Summers?"
"We've got the time," Buffy answered. A thought crossed her mind so she clarified, "The boy. Who is he?"
"I think the better question would be 'what'," Lindsey corrected with a sigh, taking the red stick out of the cup once more before bringing the drink to her lips.
"He's like Dylan. Isn't he?" Spike spoke up, keeping his eyes on the woman that sat just to the right of him. "A damphyr?"
The secretary raised an eyebrow at him, a small smirk playing on her lips to let him know he was right. Blinking from the information, Buffy began to stutter out, "What? How? When? Who?"
Lindsey laughed softly at her before saying, "His name is Sebastian and he's ten." Her face fell after that, and she became interested in staring at her coffee once more. "He's the first."
The three stared at the woman, listening carefully to what she had to say about the young boy. With a sigh, Lindsey continued.
"It started a little over ten years ago," she looked up at Buffy and stated, "right after you arrived in Sunnydale. I do not know if Mr. Giles ever told you about his training, but, when a Watcher is nearing completion of his schooling, he must spend a certain amount of time in the archives translating ancient text from several different languages, both human and demonic."
Buffy glanced over to Giles, who had a strange look that was a cross between fondness and gratitude that that was over with. "Yes," he added. "I do remember that. Tediously boring work."
"If Rupes is bored, we can imagine," Spike added, earning a glare from Giles.
"Yes, well, the texts that they are given are not meant to have anything important on them. They are mostly scrolls that have been translated a thousand times before, but it is supposed to give them practice for later on."
"Those bloody things had already been translated?!" Giles exclaimed, horrified by the information.
Ignoring him, and the twin smiles that rested on the slayer and vampire's faces, Lindsey continued. "That year, however, the Council came into possession of some news scrolls. Instead of having fully registered Watchers translate them; Mr. Travers gave the job over to one of the students. He did not think that there was anything important about them, but the young man returned with a translation that mimicked one from the Codex that, at the time, Mr. Giles had just come into possession of."
"That passage about the angel," Giles supplied, earning a nod from the secretary.
"Yes, that's the one." She adjusted in her chair to make herself more comfortable; the secretary reached over onto the table and began to play with the red stirring stick, turning it between her fingers. A humorless chuckled escaped from within her throat as she said, "Any other time, the text would have been completely dismissed as being mistranslated or a false prophecy. But there was a woman, a geneticist. She was working for the Council at that time, and because of her research, Mr. Travers didn't find the prophecy so laughable anymore."
"Lang," Buffy answered, venom dripping from the word as if it was some sort of ancient curse.
Lindsey, however, simply shook her head. "No. Her predecessor. A woman named Cassandra Miller.
"Dr. Miller had done research for the Council on demon genetics, trying to discover a way to possible use it to the advantage of the slayer. She had break through discoveries, namely that there are latent genes in slayer DNA that are strikingly similar to those of certain demons. She was studying these matching DNA, trying to see if, perhaps, one day she would be able to activate it somehow and give the slayer the abilities that these demons possess."
"Whoa, wait a minute," Buffy said, holding up her hands, trying to understand what she had just been told. "Are you saying that I have demon DNA in me?"
Blinking, Lindsey answered, "Not exactly. It's similar DNA. Most remain dormant indefinitely, but some are activated and that's what gives you your slayer strength and endurance." She glanced over at Giles and said, "I thought she knew this."
"This is not something we go around advertising, Ms. Baron," he answered in a warning tone as Buffy stared at him in disbelief.
Giles knew and didn't tell her?! How could he not tell her?! This was huge! This was colossal news to her! And, what? He just forgot to mention it?
Nervously, the watcher glanced over to the young woman sitting at his side that was staring at him. He offered her a weak smile, but it did little ease the shock of finding out like this. When he saw it didn't work, he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Lindsey, gently reminding Buffy what exactly they were doing there. The slayer gave him one last look, then turned back to the secretary also; but if Giles thought this was the end of this, he was sadly mistaken.
"Please continue, Lindsey," Giles encouraged.
"Yes, well, um," she said, shifting in her seat again. "Dr. Miller's program had always been a controversy in the Council, so, when Mr. Travers finally did discontinue it, the news came as no surprise. However, Dr. Miller's services were not terminated, just…rerouted. Instead of working for the Council, Mr. Travers hired her for his own personal experiments; namely for her to try and prove that the prophecy could actually come to pass and that damphyrs really could exist.
"Since it would not be possible to bring in an actual slayer at the time, even though there were two of you, Mr. Travers contacted the watcher he felt had the SIT with the greatest potential."
"SIT?" Buffy repeated. God, at this rate, they'd never get through this.
"Slayer In Training," Spike answered. No one at the table questioned how he knew that, not even the secretary.
Clearing her throat, she went on, "Yes. The potential he called for was a young girl from New York. She was only fourteen at the time, but she definitely showed the signs that she could very well be called should anything happen to Ms. Kendra. Of course, we did not know of Ms. Faith, but that is beside the point. The girl's name was Kennedy O'Connell.
"Ms. Kennedy was put through some rigorous test, but she proved healthy enough. And she was quiet smart as well, and very loyal to the Council and the teachings her watcher was instilling in her. She never once questioned why she was there or what Dr. Miller was doing. Poor girl should have.
"It took a bit longer to find a suitable male. While access to vampire DNA is fairly easy to come by for the Council, what was needed is not. And even if Ms. Kennedy and a vampire were put under the same lust spell that you two were, it was fairly certain that she would be killed during the, um…"
An awkward silence passed as Lindsey looked around from person to person at the table. It was obvious she was raised not to discuss such things openly, and even Giles had a slight tint to his cheeks.
"Yes, um, continue," Giles pushed, hoping to get on with the story.
"As I said, it took longer to find a male, but it was finally Dr. Miller who was able to obtain one that would not be able to harm Ms. Kennedy during the act; or, at least, not that much. She contacted her old mentor, a woman who developed the technology that hindered you from harming humans," Lindsey said, glancing over at Spike.
Buffy's eyes widened. "Wait. Maggie Walsh was in on this? God, who else was part of this whole conspiracy? British Intelligence? The KGB? Santa Clause?!"
Ms. Baron blinked from the slayer's outburst, then said, "I'm not sure what you mean, Ms. Summers, but I do know that Dr. Walsh, and Dr. Walsh alone, was contacted about sending a chipped male; preferably one that was a master and more than a hundred years old. She sent the one she had at the time, and promised to send the names of anymore later on should one be needed, as long as Dr. Miller kept her updated about the progress of her research. Apparently she had her own agenda as well."
"You can say that again," the slayer muttered under her breath. "So, Maggie sends you a nice, chipped vamp. Then what happened?"
With a small shrug as if it should be obvious, Lindsey said, "The experiment. Like with you, they waited until a time when Ms. Kennedy would be able to conceive a child and then they placed the spell over them." The secretary became very quiet for a moment, as if the information she was able to share with them was weighing heavy on her. "There was an unexpected development from the spell, though. It seems that Ms. Kennedy did not exactly care for the opposite sex, but…" There was a tense pause that passed over the table, all of them knowing what she was getting at but hoping they were wrong. Finally, she said, "Mr. Travers let the experiment continue."
"Oh, God," Buffy said softly, covering her mouth with the tips of her fingers. From beside her, Giles looked even more disgusted, if that were at all possible, and Spike just looked angry.
With a small nod, she let them know that what they were assuming was true. "Dr. Miller was horrified at this. She had tried to stop it, but, of course, Mr. Travers wouldn't allow that. I believe that she even tried to leave because of what happened, but that did not occur either.
"It wasn't long after that that they discovered that the experiment was a success, and Ms. Kennedy was indeed about to have the first documented damphyr. The first thing Dr. Miller did after hearing the news was to have the vampire destroyed, and then put in to Mr. Travers that the child should be as well since the whole project was just supposed to see if one could actually be created. He refused, and said that the project would not be deemed successful until the child was born so as he could be positive that there would be nothing wrong with one. It wouldn't do to have the child come out with ridged forehead, yellow eyes, and fangs, now would it?"
Buffy glared momentarily at the woman that sat across from her, the slayer's hand slipping down beneath the table and placed over her stomach from her description of how the baby might look. She knew better, of course. After all, Dylan had been the prettiest child she had ever seen when she born; but still, she didn't like the way Ms. Baron had described a possible child.
"Ms. Kennedy didn't have it easy during her pregnancy," Lindsey went on, either not noticing Buffy's glare or ignoring it. "It quickly became obvious there was something wrong, and more tests were conducted on the poor child. It seems that there is a reason why there are not any of these children that have ever successfully been created. Somehow, I'm not completely sure how, the child…feeds off the mother, and not like regular children do. As they get closer to their due dates, the child is slowly killing the mother from the inside to allow it to be born. It either kills both the mother and itself before it's able to be born, or has to be born prematurely to save its life at the cost of the mother's."
She looked up and saw Buffy's disbelieving face.
"I did not happen to you because you are the slayer, Ms. Summers. You have the slayer ability to heal and regenerate; therefore your child did not harm you and continued on like it was a regular pregnancy. Being the Chosen One actually saved your life in this case." Lindsey dropped her eyes again to her cup that was nearly empty now. "And not being chosen cost Ms. Kennedy hers. Not long after she entered her eight month, she had a son, Sebastian. She died a couple of days later.
"The boy was small and weak from being born early. Mr. Travers didn't like this, but now knew what he needed to know, that one could be created and brought to full term. So, he ordered that the child be terminated and that Dr. Miller prepare for you, Ms. Summers."
Buffy felt her anger continue to rise at everything she was being told. After what Travers put that girl through, he was going to kill her child because it wasn't up to his standards?! She was so going to enjoy killing him.
"Dr. Miller couldn't do it, however," Lindsey went on and then clarified, "kill the child. Even though she knew how it came to be, she knew it was just a child and didn't have any control over that. And she knew that he wouldn't always be small and weak. He was just a primi, but he would grow. So, late one night, she took him. Walked right out of the building with him and was never seen again.
"Mr. Travers put some people on it, to try and find her; but his main concern was turned to trying to find a suitable replacement for Dr. Miller and preparing for you two. I really thought that that would be the end of the whole horrid thing because I did not believe he would be able to find someone to replace Dr. Miller as quickly as he needed. I was wrong, as you well know."
She let out a puff of air that sounded like a cross between a snort and a sigh.
"He didn't tell Dr. Lang about Dr. Miller or Sebastian or what she had done. He was too afraid of a repeat of what happened, I suppose. Of course, after meeting Dr. Lang, I do not believe that would have been a possibility.
"After everything that happened with you and the demon and Mr. Travers' stroke, I retired and tried my best forget the whole mess. Then, one day about two years ago, Dr. Miller contacted me out of the blue. She was looking for Mr. Travers.
"Apparently, after leaving with young Sebastian, she changed her name to Samantha and married some man in the United States military service. They were raising Sebastian and had the boy believing that she was his mother's sister and she had left him to her to take care of. As far as I know, her husband believed the same thing
"Then, two years ago, Sebastian went missing and they found out that Mr. Travers was the one responsible. He had found them and found that the boy was most definitely worth keeping around. I told them I didn't know anything, which is true enough. I did not know anything more than Dr. Miller did, and that was the end of it. A few days after that happened, someone sent me an e-mail with an article about Dr. Miller and her husband's 'mysterious' deaths in a car crash. I got the message clear enough, and have never spoken of about these things to anyone…until now."
With a sympathetic smile, Giles reached over and barely touched Lindsey's arm. "Don't worry. We'll keep our promise to protect you."
The humorless snort from earlier returned. "It doesn't matter if you try or not, Mr. Giles," she said solemnly, leaning back in her chair once again.
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Sebastian knocked gently on the door and waited for the old man on the other side to answer. Upon arriving home, Grandfather had requested that he speak with the boy alone after receiving their report on how they had done slaying wise that night. He had been pleased with the numbers. Since Russia, Dylan's ability had greatly improved, but Bastian knew that it had more to do with the fact she was trying to take out some of her pain and guilt onto the bad guy. He always knew she would do better if she got emotional, he just wished it didn't have to be over something like this.
"Enter," came the gruff reply as the boy turned the knob and let himself inside.
Grandfather was sitting behind his desk, reading over something and hardly paying the boy any mind until he was standing right before.
"You wanted to see me?" Sebastian asked properly, his arms behind his back and his feet spread as he stood at what his uncle had called parade rest.
Grandfather placed the file he had been reading onto his desk, rested his chin against his locked hands like he was about to say a prayer, and looked up at the boy across from him. "I have a job for you."
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