Chapter Three
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Author's note: Buffy has actually met Shippou, but it was very brief, in the middle of a fight, and she was going, "Oh, shit, it's Spike!" at the time, while Willow and Faith dealt with 'Sailor' ... she hasn't made the connection, Kagome's forgotten, and Inuyasha was a bit occupied at the time. (That's the official explanation, anyway ... LOL.)
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Buffy still wasn't used to seeing Angel and Spike in the same picture; seeing them together and not trying (most of the time) to kill one another was still worthy of a double take. And it had both its advantages and disadvantages, really.
On one hand, the eye candy was wonderful -- Buffy stepped into Angel's office to find Angel behind his desk and Spike seated in a chair on the other side with his feet propped up on top of Angel's paperwork. Angel looked annoyed bordering on pissed; Spike was smirking at something that she'd missed in the minutes before walking through the doorway.
Yeah. Eye candy. And the pissed look from Angel and the smirk from Spike ... well, she'd gotten used to that dynamic over the last six months. Occasionally, they came to blows. Spike provoked, Angel reacted. Consistently. But the two could present a remarkably unified front when they agreed on a subject -- which was surprisingly often, even if they'd never admit it.
And sometimes, that unified front is a pain in the ass. Both of them turned twin frowns in her direction as she entered. "Oi! What's this ..." Spike began.
"... about you inviting Inuyasha here?" Angel finished.
Okay, that's just weird, she thought, with a mental laugh.
"I thought you liked Inuyasha?" She scowled at Spike, then transferred the dirty look to Angel on general principles.
They had developed an alarming tendency to present that unified front when they disapproved of her decisions as leader of the Slayers. Oh, neither of them challenged her (much) in public -- Spike, in particular, was sensitive to anything that might undermine her authority. But the vampires ganged up on her in private whenever she was in LA. Regularly. And half the time, they were right ... the other half of the time, they were just annoying.
"Don't look at me. I've never met him." Angel held his hands up.
"I like Rapunzel, don't get me wrong." Spike frowned at her. "But he's kindof ..."
"Harsh, abrasive, macho, and makes a terrible cup of coffee?" Buffy sighed. "Kagome seems to be able to keep him on a leash, though."
Spike made a strangled, snorting noise through his nose. "Yes. And I can tell you what that leash is attached to."
"Ya think?" Buffy shook her head. She couldn't quite get the image of Inuyasha, shirtless, wearing only a pair of cut-offs, out of her head. Bad girl, she thought, One, he's taken, and two, he's more of a bad boy than even I like ... though the expression on Giles face would be entertaining ... he'd clean his glasses until they dissolved. And three, I'm in love with Spike.
Spike sighed, answering her question even though it had been rhetorical. "No, not really. Inuyasha would die for Chibi, but it's because he truly loves her. And Kagome would do the same for him."
"And Kagome's condition for helping us was that Inuyasha watch her back." Buffy ran a hand over her face. "I can't say it's entirely a bad thing; Inuyasha isn't going to go away, he is a good guy -- in a certain odd flavor of good -- and I figure we need to at least build a working relationship with him. Because I for sure as hell don't want to lose any more of my people to his claws because they were stupid."
"It's stupidity on your side that I'm worried about." Spike pointed a finger at her. "What if someone gets the bright idea to get a little bit of revenge for the slayers he's killed?" Spike gestured at himself. "Been there, Slayer."
She was silent. She'd promised Kagome that nobody in her inner circle would try to hurt Inuyasha ... but Giles and Robin had conspired to try to kill Spike in a room full of crosses, not too many years ago. And Spike had been emphatically under her protection and needed to win the fight with the First. He'd been their strongest fighter after her. And in the end, without Spike ... would they have won?
"And he's going to be a source of conflict among your rank and file -- people haven't forgotten about what he did. And they are already pretty divided, Buffy," Angel pointed out. "I'm just saying, it may be that Kagome and Inuyasha have more drawbacks than advantages ..."
"And speak of the devil now," Spike pointed with his chin towards the hotel's front door.
Buffy turned around in time to see the young slayer and hanyou enter.
"He's hurt." Spike's feet slid off Angel's desk and hit the ground with a thump. "Looks like they found a spot of trouble."
Angel's phone rang at that moment; he answered it impatiently, then said with the mouthpiece covered, "I've got to take this one, guys ..."
Most likely, news from his contacts about the Unseelie, Buffy thought; probably someone he couldn't say later to. They left Angel at his desk and hurried out to meet the new arrivals.
"Is that Shippou with them?" Buffy regarded the blond man walking behind Buffy with surprise. The guy was drop-dead gorgeous, even if he was walking stiffly and in obvious pain.
"I don't think so," Spike shook his head.
"I thought you knew him?" Buffy gave him a surprised look.
"Shippou's a shapeshifter; he's got a million different looks. That's not one I've ever seen, though, and it doesn't look like his style." Spike headed out the office door and towards the trio.
Buffy followed, assessing the damage with almost clinical detachment. Three and half years of leading a virtual army of Slayers and their supporters; she knew injuries. The blond guy was walking cautiously, stiffly, and taking very shallow breaths -- broken ribs, she guessed. He was wearing chain mail; she suspected that the way he was moving meant he'd been hit in the chest with something heavy during a fight.
Kagome wasn't hurt. Somehow, Buffy wasn't surprised by this.
Inuyasha was bleeding; the sleeve of his jacket was soaked through with gore, and it ran down the back of his hand in a slick red tide and dripped on the floor. There was a tear in his sleeve, and she could see an ugly gash in the skin underneath. Sword, probably, or an axe.
"You know, Rapunzel, you're not suppose to stop the sharp, pointy weapons with your flesh," Spike said.
"Fuck you," Inuyasha flipped the vampire off with a bloody hand.
"Oh, that's just nummy looking," Spike licked his lips.
Kagome sighed, rolled her eyes, and muttered something about testosterone just loud enough for Buffy to hear that one word -- which meant both the hanyou and Spike heard everything she'd said. They gave her twin looks of disgust.
"Do you have some sutures and something we can splint that arm with?" Kagome asked Buffy. "Inuyasha heals so fast I don't think there's need for a doctor, but it's probably best if we stitch him up or it will take a lot longer for the scar to fade."
"Um." Buffy was a bit startled by the matter-of-fact way that Kagome asked. How often had she repaired her hanyou, to be so blasé about it? "Yeah. I can get that for you. What happened?"
The blond man answered before Kagome could and said quietly, "They saved me from those who would have killed me simply for who I am and not for any offense I have done them. -- Milady, I am afraid I haven't had the honor of your name."
His words were oddly accented, cultured, dignified. And her instincts were telling her he wasn't human, even if he wasn't the kitsune that Kagome claimed for a friend. Warily, she said, "Buffy Summers."
He obviously recognized her name; his eyes widened, flicked over her, and he said hesitantly, "I beg pardon; you are not what I expected. I expected you would be older; you must be truly brilliant to lead so many, so young ..."
To her surprise, and a bit of embarrassment, he stiffly dropped to one knee, bowed his head, and said gravely, "My name is ..." she hadn't a prayer of remembering that long string of liquid syllables, "... prince of the sidhe, grandson of Oberon."
"Uh." Buffy stared at him. Truly brilliant my ass, she thought, I never set out to lead this crazy army of Slayers, it just happened that way. And I'm still not sure that Giles isn't really the one in charge; he just lets me think I'm boss.
"You might find it easier to call me Kavan," he said, with a trace of amusement, evidently having registered her dismay at that very long and complicated name. "Miss Summers, I seek your protection in exchange for my knowledge of the enemy we both face."
She blinked. Blond elf hottie asking for asylum from the Slayers ... didn't compute. "My protection?"
She wondered if he had pointy ears. His hair covered the tips; it was pulled back in a low, loose pony tail that hung to the middle of his back in a wrist-thick mass. Pretty golden hair. She followed that thought with a firm mental, Down girl! You have a boyfriend.
"From mine own people as well as the Unseelie, alas. I am a prince in exile, and I have little hope for survival should you turn me away."
Buffy contemplated that for a moment. It wasn't the first time a nonhuman had approached the Slayers for protection, by far; sometimes it was a genuine request, sometimes it wasn't. They'd picked up a few good allies that way, and been betrayed a few times as well. She had no real idea which category he fell into -- genuine request or bad guy trying to get inside information. And if he was a prince of the Seelie, he likely had powers on par with Mab and her crew. This could be good or bad, depending on if he was for real or not.
"Sounds like you've got a good story to tell. Why don't you fill us in after we fix Inuyasha up so he's not leaking all over the floor? It's pretty gross and given the number of times this floor's seen arcane spells drawn on it, spilling Rover's blood here makes me nervous." Buffy stalled for time, and wished she'd caught his whole name so she could have Willow hit the books for research on him.
To her surprise, that comment earned her a surprised snort -- almost a laugh -- out of Inuyasha, as well as Spike, behind her. She gave Inuyasha a startled look; she'd expected a snarl about the Rover bit. Huh. The dog-demon actually has a sense of humor.
He suddenly gave her a wary look, shut his mouth, and she watched as his expression shut down. Guarded, cold, suspicious. He glanced down at his blood-covered hand, then wiped his palm on his jeans and made a fist. Coldly, he said, "I'll pay you for the medical supplies."
"That's really not necessary," Buffy sighed.
"I'll not take charity from ..."
"Inuyasha," Kagome said, "Be nice."
"I'll just shut my mouth, then," Inuyasha gave her a dirty look.
"Well, you know what they say about not saying anything all if you can't say anything nice ..." Kagome gave him a smirk. "Though in your case, if you followed that rule, you might as well take a vow of silence."
"Hey!" Inuyasha glared at her.
"It's true, dog-boy," she grinned at him.
"I do so say nice things!" Inuyasha might be seven centuries old, Buffy thought, but he sounded about seven.
"Do not." Kagome promptly met him at his own level. Or lower. Kindergarten, Buffy thought.
"Do so!"
"Do not!
Buffy met the elf's eyes. Kavan's quirked an eyebrow at her. Buffy shrugged. Definitely kindergarten. The next thing I'm going to hear is, 'Teacher, he's looking at me!'
"You're picking on me!" Inuyasha protested. She'd been close in her assessment of the maturity level of this fight, apparently!
"Am not."
"Are too!"
Kavan smirked. Buffy felt a grin tugging at her own lips. This was the half-demon and the Slayer who were so handily clearing out most of the LA basin's vampire population?
"I am not!"
"Yes you are!"
Buffy giggled, causing both of them to look at her. Inuyasha's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Oi! What are you laughing at, wench?"
"I am not a wench!" Buffy protested, trying to decide if she should be insulted.
"Yes, you are!" Inuyasha shot back.
"Am not!" She realized she'd been drawn into the argument, and at Inuyasha's level. She shut her mouth, met Kavan's eyes again -- he was smiling -- then said with as much dignity as she could muster, "The medical supplies are this way. Follow me."
Behind her, as she led the way up the stairs, Kagome said, "Are too ..."
"Am not!"
"Inuyasha?" Kagome said, sounding amused. "Am not what?"
"Umm." Inuyasha had clearly forgotten what the argument was about. "I don't and you do and I stand by my statements." He paused, "Don't ask me to explain what I just said, because I can't."
Kagome snickered -- Buffy almost did as well, remembering what had started the verbal spat. Then, sweetly, Kagome said, "Inuyasha?"
"Oh, fuck."
"Osurawi!"
Behind Buffy, Thud.
She whirled in time to see Inuyasha, sprawled on his face on the floor, lift a middle finger up in Kagome's general direction.
Oh, shit, he's going to be furious when he gets up ... Buffy's heart doubled in time. Was the other Slayer deliberately trying to provoke the hanyou?
Memories of this same creature in a homicidal rage surfaced ... she remembered overwhelming power, blinding speed, snarls, eyes that raged red, teeth, and heat and pressure as claws raked across her back, then gunshots ... Buffy fought down panic as she automatically assumed a defensive crouch, hands coming up. She found herself wishing for a weapon ... he'd killed Slayers.
"Kagome," Inuyasha propped himself up on his elbows, and said with a saucy grin, and completely ignoring Buffy's panic -- she thought he might have given her the very slightest glance, "Are too."
"Osuwari!"
Thud.
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"Sit still." Kagome slapped Inuyasha on the back of the head, a casual cuff in response to his attempts to flinch away from her ministrations. "Stop fidgeting."
The hanyou sat (somewhat grumpily) in a chair in the room on the second floor they'd taken over for use as an infirmary. Shirtless, he had a physique that rivaled a classical roman statue -- pale skin unmarred by scars, chiseled muscles, and not a spare ounce of fat. Only his the dog ears and the amber in his eyes -- and his claws and fangs -- marked him as not human. That, and the sheer power that radiated off him. Any Slayer could tell he wasn't mortal.
"It hurts," Inuyasha complained, as Kagome washed the cut out with betadine soap and water.
"Whine, whine. I remember the time Sesshomaru put his fist all the way through your gut from the back to the front and you said it was just a scratch. Sit still anyway."
"I never said it was just a scratch!" Inuyasha protested, as Buffy had a startling revelation of just how tough Inuyasha might really be. All the way through his guts? He doesn't even have a scar!
Unrepentant, Kagome added, "And then Shippou and Miroku and Kaede had to use ofudas to seal you in a shed so you'd stop moving long enough to heal."
"Meh." Inuyasha said, in a tone that indicated a blatant lie, "I don't remember that."
"I do." She set the basin down that she was using for the washing, and said, "Buffy, I'm going to need some help here. You up for it?"
"Not letting her touch me," Inuyasha said, sullenly, before Buffy even had a chance to beg off -- because stitches were icky and she couldn't imagine helping with them. She was boggled that Kagome was so casually contemplating sewing Inuyasha's cut up like it was a bit of casual mending.
"Fine, I'll go find Spike." Abruptly, Buffy remembered that she didn't like this creature much, didn't trust him at all, and she still wasn't convinced that killing the hanyou might not become a front-burner problem at some future date. He was violent, dangerous, and ... now he was viewing her with a bit of a smirk.
"You know I can smell people's emotions," Inuyasha said, with a sneer. "You're scared of ..."
"Knock it off." Kagome swatted him again. His ears flattened and he ducked his head. "Sorry, Buffy."
"Don't apologize to her," he said, in a tone that was sullen, hurting, and somehow very impulsive -- utterly unplanned. He blurted out, "She hasn't, to me, for what happened."
About Amelia, he meant.
His tone was fare more serious than it had been a minute before. Kagome didn't hit him again -- instead, she squeezed his shoulder silent and gave Buffy a searching look. Likely seeing what her reaction would be, Buffy .
And what was she supposed to say? She wailed silently, But I didn't do it. Kennedy did. And then you attacked me and damn near killed me after killing her!
And what are we supposed to do when faced with snarling demons -- say, "Gee, are you good guys?"
She really wished Inuyasha had calmly and coherently told her, "Hey, I'm a friend of the owner!" instead of, "Get the fuck out of my face, bitch, and go sit down!" Because things might have gone very, very, differently if he had.
It's not my fault. Why should I have to apologize ...
"Feh. Thought so." Inuyasha turned his head so he was staring away from her. His jaw was set angrily.
"Buffy, why don't you go get Spike. It's probably best." Kagome said, quietly. She glanced over at Kavan. "We'll need a bunch more bandages than you have here to strap up his ribs, too."
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After Buffy left, Kavan spoke up for the first time -- he was seated on the hotel room's bed, back very straight, obvious lines of pain in his body. "Is there a problem between you and Buffy Summers, Elder One?"
"Fuck yeah," Inuyasha snapped, then took a deep breath, and said, "Look, you're new, you don't know. Buffy's friend killed my wife about three and a half years ago. We'd been married four and a half centuries. Then she sicced a bunch more little girls after me ..." He paused, then added with considerable annoyance, "And don't call me Elder. Call me Inuyasha -- shit, call me dog-boy or even gods-damned Rover. Just don't call me Elder. I'm not some damned old grey-bearded man sitting in a hut and dispensing bad advice."
"Yet you work with her?" Kavan completely ignored Inuyasha's rant about being called Elder.
"Kagome agreed to help her out." Inuyasha glanced at Kagome. He sighed. "Probably, it's the right thing to do. She agreed we'd help Buffy with the Unseelie, and Kagome's a lot better equipped to deal with them most Slayers."
"I sensed you are a witch -- you are a Slayer, also?" Kavan asked curiously.
"Miko, actually. It's kindof like a witch -- I can sense youkai and demons, and I can purify things. I don't do spells -- though I'm hoping I can learn." She studied him curiously. "You feel almost exactly like a youkai to my senses -- one of the higher types."
"Mm. I'm not surprised; our people are related fairly closely." Kavan closed his eyes.
"You want to lay down a bit?" Kagome suggested. "We'll get your ribs taped up as soon as we get Inuyasha to stop bleeding."
"They'll be healed by nightfall," he said, tightly. "It's really not necessary."
"Yes, but you'll feel better with some support around them until them. Trust me, I know about broken ribs. Occupational hazard for Slayers." Kagome smiled at him. He's got the same accelerated rate of healing that Inuyasha has. "No sense in hurting more than you have to."
"I suppose you are right," he said, and returned her smile with a nod of acknowledgement. "You are kind of heart."
"Yeah," Inuyasha reached his good hand out and ruffled her hair. "I haven't been able to break her of that. Still working on it."
She snorted, and ducked away from his fingers. "I'd have to be kindhearted to put up you with you, asshat."
"Hey!"
The room door opened at that moment, admitting Spike -- plus a dark-haired vampire, and a dark haired girl behind the vampire. Kagome realized this must be Angel; her assumption was confirmed when Spike hooked his thumb over his shoulder at the man. "'S here's Angel, and the kid's Dawn. Angel, Dawn -- Kagome, Inuyasha, and Prince ..." Spike managed to say Kavan's full name. Somehow, Kagome wasn't surprised; Spike was a good bit smarter, better educated, and more perceptive than he let on.
"Kavan," corrected the Seelie prince. "Please. Otherwise I'll feel responsible when you dislocate your tongues."
Dawn giggled. Young, Kagome diagnosed, seeing the covert glances the girl was sending the Seelie's way. Had she ever been that young? Yeah, probably. She gave Dawn a second look, and noted ruefully that young meant they were almost the same age. And age is relative; I swear, Inuyasha is still a defiant teenager at seven-hundred-something years old.
"Hi." Angel extended a hand out to Inuyasha to shake, earning points in Kagome's mind -- most of Buffy's people acted like Inuyasha was a carrier of the plague, at best. But according to Spike, Angel's really not Buffy's 'people' -- they were lovers once, friends still, but he doesn't take orders from her and they don't always see eye to eye. And her people don't trust him, something about him losing his soul once ...
Inuyasha grasped the hand with a grunted, "Hey."
Angel offered his hand to Kagome as well. It wasn't until she touched his cool fingers though that it occurred to her that she knew this vampire from somewhere. He apparently came to the same realization at the same time, because casual interest turned to a hard stare. "We've met," he said, frowning at her. It wasn't a question.
"Where?" She asked.
"I'm not sure." There was suspicion in his voice; he was another hero who'd had a hard life, Kagome suspected. How well she knew that type ...
"Oi, you know the Boss Puppet, Kagome?" Spike asked.
There has got to be a story behind that nickname ... I wonder if Spike would tell it if we got him drunk enough some night at Take Two, Kagome thought, with amusement.
"Spike!" Angel protested, clinching Kagome's hunch of story there. "Don't call me that. And ... I'm sure of it. Where ...?"
A flash of memory: a dark haired man with a sword, fighting shoulder to shoulder in an alley, against an endless horde of demons. "Oh! That was you in the alley. I always wondered. I figured you were dead!"
"Alley?" It was taking Angel longer to place her. And she guessed alley wasn't particularly descriptive or helpful, given both their occupations.
"With all the demons. About two and a half years ago. There was a dragon -- I shot it -- and then a million demons and you were there and we fought together for a bit. I thought you'd gotten dusted." Kagome grinned. "Glad to see you didn't; I might not be alive if not for you."
Angel said, after a moment's startled silence, "... still not sure how I survived that fight -- that was you? I can say the same for you. We must have fought back to back for a couple of hours."
"That was you that shot the dragon?" Spike was suddenly staring at her with uncomfortable intensity. "Then I owe you as well, Chibi. I think that thing was about to swallow me whole."
She remembered ... the dragon had been carrying a blond man who she'd assumed had already been dead. Man, not vampire, and so he had survived.
"You were both there?"
"More to the point, why were you there, Chibi?" Spike said, curiously. "That had to have been pretty close to when you arrived in LA."
"It was my 'Welcome to LA' greeting, actually," Kagome said, with a short laugh. "I'd just arrived that night. Some idiot of a vampire tried to make a snack out of me -- first vampire I'd ever seen -- I dusted him in that alley and then the next thing I knew I was in the middle of that fight." She scratched her head. "I sort've found out about being a Slayer by the sink-or-swim method."
"Oi," Inuyasha spoke up, "You knew how to be a Slayer before you ever were one."
"True. But the super powers sure make life easier," she smirked.
Spike snorted; Angel smiled faintly; Kavan grinned. Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Dawn asked curiously, "You were Slaying as a potential?"
"Pretty much. It's a long story involving following dog-boy around half of medieval Japan." Kagome eyed the younger girl -- she had a distinctly odd aura that wasn't even remotely human. It took her a minute before realizing that the girl's aura reminded her of the power emanating from the Bone Eater'sWell, of all things. Doubtless, she was some sort of witch. Not a Slayer.
"Love to hear it," Dawn said sounding highly interested, then nodded at Inuyasha. "You needed help stitching him up?"
"Yeah. Let's get it done." Kagome grabbed a sterile pack of sutures and needles from the tray of supplies that Buffy had provided her.
"Joy." Inuyasha presented his arm, complete with gaping, bloody three inch gash. "It's amazing: you can't sew a button back on a shirt, but you think you can fix my ..."
"Wuss." That came from Dawn, not Kagome. "Big scary demon boy's frightened of a little bitty needle?"
"No!" He gave the her a sideways look, then shut up. He presented his arm for the sewing.
Heh. She figured him out in about two seconds. Smart girl.
Kagome grinned behind his back. Inuyasha was so predictable -- he'd bitch, whine, and moan to her all day, because she was safe. Put him in front of strangers, particularly strange women, and he was suddenly a tough guy. "Here." She handed Dawn a pair of latex gloves. "Put those on, then hold the lips of the wound together for me."
It took them only a few minutes to patch Inuyasha up. By the end of it, Kagome had concluded that at least one of Buffy's people had people-handling skills; Dawn had Inuyasha eating out of her hand by the end with a combination of flattery and friendly teasing.
Arm stitched up, Inuyasha favored her with one of his shy, wary smiles -- the one that said, Hey, you might be okay.
Dawn clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Okay, he is as tough as he looks."
"Tougher," Inuyasha bragged.
Kagome poked him in the ribs, skillfully finding a ticklish spot. He promptly bent double with a startled, girlish, shriek. Dawn chortled in amusement. Kagome poked him again. "Uh-huh. Tough guy."
"Hey! That wasn't necessary!" He held his hands up defensively.
"No, but it was fun .." she wiggled fingers in the direction of his chest, and Inuyasha shot across the room and out of tickling distance, nearly colliding with Spike.
Spike quirked an eyebrow. Kagome snickered at Inuyasha's horrified reaction. Inuyasha pointed a finger at him, "Don't even try it, man. I'll bite your fingers off if you do."
The other eyebrow rose to match the first.
"Fuck this, I'm going to go feed the parking meter for the Jeep," Inuyasha growled, fleeing out the door.
Dawn said, with an amused laugh, after he was gone, "He's not what I expected."
Kavan's light chuckle made them all turn to face him; he was so quiet it was easy to forget he was there. "I could say the same thing."