The Gift

AN – I have to be honest, this chapter has been a pain to write! It's so very action filled, and I've never written a fight scene really before and certainly not on this scale. I can only hope I do it justice! I'll be interested to see your thoughts (good and bad!) – feel free to PM me if you would rather not leave a review.

Apologies for the lateness, it's been hard to write plus as ever sometimes real life gets in the way a bit.

Disclaimer – I don't own Buffy or Star Wars. Out of necessity, some lines of dialogue in this chapter come from Episode I.

Chapter Sixteen – The Apprentice

Buffy followed the younger Jedi closely through the tunnel, trying not to think about what might be going on at the surface. She had hugged goodbye to Captain Tarpals, telling him to stay safe, but she was very worried about him. The gungans were actively trying to draw out the droid army, so they had chosen a poor position on the plains at the foot of the mountains in the hopes that it would goad the federation into attacking. Buffy hated any plan that put the gungans in danger, but there was nothing she could do about it other than to tell Dawn to stay as far away as she could and Roos to look after himself. She, meanwhile, was creeping through sewers again. Some things never changed.

One of the Queen's guards – Panaka, Buffy thought his name was – started to climb a ladder in front of her. Soon a shaft of light was beaming down into the tunnels and he was waving them up. They slipped behind a building, crouching behind some low bushes. The young Jedi was crouching in front of her whilst the older one was behind with Anakin.

Buffy had no idea why they had brought a child into the middle of a dangerous mission. Or why, indeed, he had come with them to the planet at all. They were in the middle of an invasion, for Heaven's sake! But even then, he could have stayed with Dawn and the Healers back at the Sacred Place – it would not stay safe if the Gungan Grand Army fell but the gungans had a lot of bolt holes they could have taken him to. But no, instead the Jedi had chosen to bring the boy with them straight into the heart of the enemy's lair. Buffy shook her head, she was getting distracted. Her mission here was to help them succeed. "Focus, Buffy." She whispered to herself, clutching the electropole she had brought with her. Her scythe was strapped to her back for emergency situations, but as ever she could barely feel it was there.

They were waved forwards by Panaka again, scurrying through the streets of Theed and trying to stay undetected by the droids. Every now and then Buffy spotted one in the distance, but they hadn't yet been seen.

The group split up. Buffy stayed with the Jedi and the Queen whilst Panaka took some of his men in a different direction. It was a sensible move, as they got closer to the palace there were more and more droids about, less places for a large group to hide. Eventually they reached a sheltered avenue that led to the palace main gates. Large droid transporters were parked in formation down the street while their owners were stalking around the square.

The Queen sent a signal through one of the arches that led to a courtyard, receiving a light flashing back. It was a clever system and Buffy was impressed by their efficiency. She felt rather than heard the older Jedi crouch down to speak to the child.

"When we get inside, you find a safe place to hide and stay there."

"Sure," Anakin replied.

"Seriously?" Buffy muttered under her breath, earning a glare from the younger of the Jedi. She rolled her eyes at him and focussed on Panaka, who was about to engage the droids in the square to let them reach the palace gates.

Obi-Wan was trying not to react too strongly to the small, blond Slayer that the Gungan leader had insisted accompany them on this foray. But she was being openly rude to his master, and when he tried to communicate with her that she should show some more respect she just ignored him. The whole journey she had been following him, first muttering about sewers and then seeming to give herself a motivational speech. It was really very distracting and he needed to be focussed at the moment. Not to mention the strange thing on her back – he would catch a glimpse of it out of his peripheral vision but when he tried to focus on it to see what it really was it seemed to slip away.

The Queen and her guards moved forwards, engaging the droids in the square with their blasters. Obi-Wan followed, making short work of another one with his lightsaber as he slipped into the palace behind the Slayer.

"Nifty," she commented, looking at his lightsaber. Obi-Wan felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny and sheathed his weapon. "Where can I get one of those?"

"Lightsabers can only be made and wielded by trained Jedi," he replied stiffly. She rolled her eyes at him again.

"Sure, you tell yourself that. I bet if you let me have one I'd be able to use it."

"Focus!" His master snapped at them both, even as he was following the Queen as she strode through the palace. Obi-Wan felt immediately chastised. He was a grown man, a Jedi Padawan that had nearly reached the end of his training. He shouldn't be letting himself be goaded by a young girl.

Padmé was taking up a defensive position outside the large doors that led to Theed's hanger. Captain Panaka joined them from where he had been securing their rear, bringing several fighter pilots with him. He and Padmé exchanged a glance before she punched the hanger doors open.

Immediately the Naboo were firing on the droids occupying the hanger, with the pilots running for their craft. Qui-Gon guided Anakin to the side whilst Obi-Wan was deflecting shots that were coming towards him. He could see the Slayer taking out droids using the long pole that the gungans seemed to favour. Obi-Wan hadn't thought it would be that effective against the droids but the Slayer was carving through them like they were made of paper.

Buffy was having fun. She hadn't really realised how much she missed the slaying part of her life until she got a chance to do it again. She danced and spun around the droids, dodging their blaster shots and taking them out with the electropole. But all too soon it was over. The ships taking to the skies distracted the remaining droids and they were quickly dispatched by the Queen's retinue and the Jedi. Buffy watched them swinging their glowing sticks around in awe. Those swords were amazing, they even folded down really small so they would be able to be hidden in most outfits! If she had had something like that back in Sunnydale she would even have been able to fit it in her clutch when she went to the Bronze. Not to mention it could deflect shots back at the droids. Sure, her scythe could do that, but she'd only done it one and mostly through sheer luck.

Panaka was directing his groups around, Padmé standing next to him. A small figure emerged from the top of one of the spaceships.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Oh great, so now the boy was in a spaceship? Still, Buffy thought it could be worse, at least he had some shielding if he stayed in there. The old Jedi obviously felt so too, as he effectively told the boy to put up and shut up.

Buffy took the opportunity to look around the hanger when Padmé and Panaka led them towards more huge doors. It was an impressive room, seemingly open to the air although the slight shimmer when the spaceships passed through it spoke to a force field. It was elegant and beautiful, not grey and functional looking like she could imagine a hanger on Earth would be.

She was so distracted by looking around that she nearly didn't catch the slight itch that signalled a demon in time. On Earth, where demons were numerous and there was a constant presence she would never have been able to tell this one. It was so faint, it was barely there – but it was the first time in months she had even so much as felt a tickle. Buffy spun to face the hanger doors.

"Wait!" She cried out, but it was too late. The doors swung open to reveal a cloaked figure. They lifted their face and grinned, red and yellow eyes staring out of a red and black head. But it wasn't his appearance that initially rooted Buffy to the spot, it was the waves of demonic energy rolling off him. He must have been concealing his presence before, presumably for the Jedi's benefit, but now there was no hiding.

"We will handle this." The older Jedi said, moving forward with purpose and beckoning the other Jedi through.

"We'll go the long way around." Padmé directed, gesturing with her blaster. Buffy looked at the Queen once before making her mind up and bouncing alongside the Jedi.

"What are you doing?" The younger one hissed at her.

"My job," she replied, watching the demon as he first turned on one side, then the other side of his flashy double ended red light sword.

"This is a task for the Jedi!" He retorted, even as the older one leapt forward and struck out with his own light sword. Not wanting to be left behind, the younger followed suit so Buffy trotted after him. She hung back for a while, unfamiliar with this type of demon and wanting to assess its strength and weaknesses while the Jedi distracted it. In the past she had been much more impulsive, but extensive training with Roos Tarpals had paid off and she was becoming more tactically aware.

Despite the obvious fighting skills that the Jedi possessed, the demon was obviously more than capable of holding its own against them. Its red light-sword flashed and parried more quickly than any normal human would be able to follow. It led the Jedi on a dance, slowly drawing them into a huge room that dropped away beneath them, narrow gantries cross in it sporadically. Still Buffy stalked them all, not getting involved until the younger Jedi was knocked off a platform and down onto a walkway below.

The older Jedi was distracted momentarily and Buffy leapt forwards. The demon leered at her, spinning his light sword around and bringing it down towards her. She flung up the electropole to block it, only to watch in amazement as the sword cut the electropole in half like it was made of butter. The demon grinned before delivering a kick to her unprotected stomach, causing her to backflip off the gantry. As Buffy flew into the pit below, she stuck out one end of the broken electropole and snagged one of the walkways in a gap between metal struts. She hung on for dear life on as she swung forcefully underneath it, somehow she managed to both keep her grip and avoid slamming into the underside of the walkway. With a heave she pulled herself to the surface and stared up at the battle still raging about several floors above her.

The demon was retreating backwards, Buffy couldn't work out why as he clearly had the upper hand in his fight. That was, until she spied the doorway behind him and realised what he was doing. The younger Jedi was still recovering from being tossed down a level or two himself and was quite some distance now from where the fight was taking place. Making a split second decision, Buffy ran to the wall directly under the demon's target and started to scale it. Using the half of the electropole she had left, she jammed it in between panels on the wall like an ice pick to create handholds for herself, relying on the ice work and other protruding elements for her other hand. She made it up to the same level as the demon just as he disappeared into the corridor, the older Jedi hot on his heels. Buffy followed, dimly aware that behind her the second Jedi was also racing towards them.

They were in a tunnel of some description that led to a larger space. A sixth sense trickled across Buffy and she skidded across the floor to a halt just as a red barrier came up in front of her and behind her. She could see the demon pacing about four barriers away. The older Jedi was separated by him by a single barrier, and he sank down into a meditative pose. The second Jedi was several barriers behind her.

It was almost laughable, how they were in the middle of a fight for their lives and these red barriers forced them to stop entirely. Buffy could think of no reason why they should exist and thought about just running forwards, but one prod with her broken electropole soon dissuaded her as it disintegrated in front of her eyes.

The demon was still pacing and the Jedi was still meditating. By contrast, the Slayer was hunting. She stood and watched her prey with enough intensity that even the demon noticed, pulling his lips up in a snarl towards her.

After what felt like an indeterminable time, the barriers began to open again. As soon as she could, Buffy sprinted forwards. She didn't want to be caught out as the barriers closed again. Ahead of her the fighting continued in a circular room with a large hole in the centre. It was so deep it didn't appear to have a bottom and was surrounded by a ledge that could only have been a couple of yards wide. Behind her, the second Jedi skidded to a halt as the last barrier closed before he could make it through.

This time Buffy didn't wait around. She leapt at the demon, aiming to kick it forwards towards the Jedi. But the demon sensed her coming and flung a hand out towards her – she found herself sailing across the room and into the side wall despite not being anywhere near him yet. Her head cracked backwards and she slid down, stunned for a moment. Stars danced in front of her eyes.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, trapped as he was by the plasma barrier, could see the point at which the battle turned. He could only watch helplessly as the Sith decided to stop playing and go on the offensive. Clearly before it had been luring the Jedi into this chamber and now it rained blow after blow on the Jedi, forcing him backwards until eventually, with a savage swing, the demon severed the Jedi's hand holding his lightsaber. It was close to taking his life, for at that moment Qui-Gon had been knocked backwards and was open for a death blow, but something caused enough of a distraction for the Sith that Qui-Gon was able to protect his torso. His protection only delayed the inevitable though, as the sword clattered to the floor while Qui-Gon slumped to the side of the chamber. He cradled the stump of his arm, staring up at his opponent who raised his lightsaber to deliver the blow.

"No!" Obi-Wan cried out, utter despair washing over him that he was unable to save his master. Despair that turned into bafflement as the lightsaber never found its mark, but was instead held strong by an axe-like weapon being wielded by the young girl.

Buffy grunted at the strain of holding the force the demon was putting through his light sword. He was strong, stronger than nearly anything she had ever faced before.

But not quite. After all, Buffy had faced down a Hell-Goddess. And won.

With a final heave she pushed upwards, flinging the blade away and using the opening it created to kick the demon across the room. Satisfyingly, this time he was the one to go flying backwards and hit the far wall. He leapt nimbly to his feet, snarling at her.

"You are no Jedi." He stated it almost as an accusation. Buffy crinkled her nose up at him.

"Ew, no way."

"Then what are you?" He began to circle the room so she did likewise, making sure she kept the gaping hole between them. "And why do you carry a Mandalorian axe?"

"A what now?" Buffy shook her head. "This is my Scythe, and I am a Slayer. The Slayer."

"Ssslayer." The demon drew out her title sibilantly. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Me Slayer." She said slowly and enunciating every syllable, pointing to herself. "You Slayee." She pointed at the demon. "Are you getting it yet?" The demon still looked confused, so Buffy thought the time for trying to talk to it was over. Obviously not an intelligent type of demon, then.

Instead, Buffy leapt towards it, swinging her scythe. She was vaguely aware of the red barrier opening and the second Jedi joining the fight. He was fighting sloppy, obviously letting his emotions affect his fighting. Buffy sniffed to herself disdainfully, emotions were useful but only if you could channel them positively.

Between the two of them, they were beginning to wear down the demon. His movements were slowing, until Buffy managed to dodge his swing and bring the scythe down hard on the centre of his double edged light sword. One of the blades spluttered and died, leaving the demon with a more conventional light sword. He growled his anger and flung out his hand again – Buffy braced for an impact like the last time but instead found herself choking as a vice-like force closed around her neck.

Through her rising panic she was aware that the younger Jedi had somehow fallen down the central shaft. There was nothing left to save her from this demon and his telekinetic powers, she needed to break free somehow. Except she couldn't, and her vision was just beginning to black out when with a blur the Jedi leapt back up from the shaft he had fallen into.

Obi-Wan caught his master's lightsaber in midair and, switching it on, spun and cut the Sith in two. The surprised look on the Sith's face was an image that would stay with Obi-Wan for the rest of his life. As would the sight of his head tumbling away down the shaft, followed by his body in two pieces. The Slayer stood by him brandishing her axe, still covering in blood.

"Always cut off the head," she croaked out, the bruising around her throat indicating why. "Honestly, what do they teach you at that Jedi school thing?" With that, she sunk to the floor as her eyes rolled up into her head.