Still the Slayer
They both walked side by side down the poorly lit alleyway reminiscing about the past. It was the long way home, giving Dawn a chance to fill Buffy in on the life she missed while buried underground.
"It's great you know? Having them around. They aren't too picky about the things I do . . . come to think of it, they pretty much let me do whatever I want- oh not whatever I want, you know 'cause Willow and Tara are really responsible. Did you know Tara makes delicious French toast? I'll ask her to make you some in the morning. Oh yeah, I bought a gerbil . . . ."
Buffy's hand stroked the arm of the coat she was wearing. Spike's scent, which was 20% musky and 80% cigarette smoke, was actually an alluring smell. Honestly, if this stuff was on the shelf, an uptown straight guy could smell like a bad boy without having to act like one. Spike Azzaro, the new fragrance by Azzaro. Buffy giggled.
"It's not funny Buffy!"
"Huh? What's not funny?"
Dawn looked confused. "My gerbil? Dying?"
"Oh . . . What happened?"
She sighed. "It got really fat. So when it crawled inside its play tube, it got trapped and suffocated."
Buffy stopped, her attention fixed on the silhouette of a man standing twenty paces in front of them.
"Well, well," a voice said from behind. Buffy spun around seeing another person stepping casually towards them. He was a black man wearing the clothes of a street punk and harboured a wide smile. "Don't you just hate them traps?" By the looks of them and the lack of weapons, Buffy could tell she was in for a vampire fight.
Dawn leaned back against the brick wall and crossed her arms. "You guys don't have a clue what you're getting into."
The vampire snorted. "Why is she the new slayer? Is the pretty girl in the pretty dress a slayer? Hear that Jed? I think we should be shaken in our boots."
Buffy remained perfectly still with eyes focused on him as he walked closer reaching out with a hand. He grasped her chin and scanned her features. "Such pretty grey eyes, or are they blue?" His smile faded and his eyes leered. "You remind me of someone." He paused. "You're Spike's girl aren't you?"
"Ex." The vampire named Jed said from his unchanged position.
"Yeah. Dru . . . sillla. Mind if I take your midnight snack over here, I'm starving." He gestured his head to Dawn who was still leaning smugly against the building wall.
Buffy was a bit curious to hear what else the vampire knew about Spike and Drusilla. After all, knowing more about Drusilla's life could have its advantages, especially if she needed to network in the vampire community. It was an interesting thought, but there were more important things at hand, like getting Dawn safely home. She smacked away the man's arm and instinctively went to perform a front kick which failed because her gown fell tightly around her legs. The vampire quickly took advantage and punched her in the face, knocking her to the pavement. She found it strange that she could not recover as quickly compared to her Buffy body. Her head was spinning as she heard Dawn yell her name.
"Turning on your own kind huh? Just like Spike. Stupidity's contagious, right Jed?"
Buffy gathered herself and made a short but hard kick to his shin then swung her fist upwards into an uppercut that connected with his jaw. He flew backwards in the air and landed hard but got up right away, his face wrinkled into a demon's. With great speed he ran towards her and started throwing a flurry of hooks that Buffy dodged, but not easily. Buffy could not keep up with his speed and eventually a fist knocked her sideways and she spun into the brick wall. She grabbed a man sized wooden board that was leaning against the building and smashed it over the vampire's head. He flinched as splinters of wood fell to the ground. Buffy spun around expecting the other vampire to join the fight, but he remained standing at a distance with his arms crossed. She turned back and saw a giant fist flying towards her face. She ducked to evade it and rolled across the ground while picking up a large wood splinter. With smooth transition, she flung her hand out releasing the splinter and it buried itself in the vampire's back. In a dusty explosion, he was gone.
Buffy's gaze swung to Dawn who was pointing down the alley way. "Buffy!"
Jed was charging at Buffy like a loosed bull. His body came into the dim lighting and she could tell this guy was double the size of the previous vampire, his white tang-top stretching around his large chest. With quick hands, she picked up pieces of broken wood and flung them at the charging man, but the pieces simply bounced off his chest. One piece nearly deflected into Dawn's face. He was close enough now that Buffy could see his wrinkled face, which held a humoured expression.
"Thanks doll. I always told him he'd get dusted if he didn't pay me back. Too bad it wasn't me."
Meters away in his charge, he lowered his arms and squared his left shoulder towards her. Buffy could have either dropped to the ground and tripped him or attempted to drive a wood spike through his face as it was the only vulnerable spot she could see. She knew she made the wrong decision when he accelerated in the final steps and struck her in the chest before she could impale him. The wind was immediately knocked from her and she went flying backwards into a pile of garbage bags.
"What's wrong Spike's ex? Not feeling the demon today?" He laughed harshly.
"Buffy!" Dawn yelled. "You have to turn!"
Buffy shook herself and rolled out from the garbage. She grabbed the bottom of her gown and ripped it all the way to her thy. Standing up, she glared at the large vampire and started sprinting towards him. As good as it felt going into full vampire mode, she wanted to finish this without it. She wanted to do this as the slayer.
She ducked to the right, avoiding his hook and side kicked him in the chest. He stepped back to recover his balanced and swung his leg at her head. It was a surprising move coming from an upper body fighter and the force of his kick could have broken her neck, fortunately his movements were slow enough to read and she grabbed his leg with both hands. Kicking away his standing leg, he fell to the ground with a thud. She climbed on top of the giant and started punching his face ruthlessly.
"Here!" Dawn tossed a wood splinter at Buffy. She grabbed it and raised it above his chest. Giving a proper farewell quip was like second nature in the slayer business, but Buffy was in no mood to make vampire jokes. Jed was smiling at her and about to say something, but before he could, Buffy plunged the stake into his heart, and he disintegrated beneath her.
Buffy looked at Dawn, and Dawn looked at Buffy. She didn't have to let loose the demon inside to win. It didn't matter if her power was the slayer or the vampire but reduced in human form. The only thing important to Buffy was that she didn't have to resort to an greater power. A power that could forever change her human nature.
. . . . .
The nostalgia of seeing her home filled her with joy and anticipation of stepping inside. She would lie down in her warm bed and sleep, not having to think anymore. Everything would just go away, however brief the notion would be.
"Home," Dawn said sounding relieved. "Oh good, we didn't get robbed."
Buffy assumed she was referring to the lack of broken windows and fires that were observed for the other houses in the neighbourhood. Dawn walked up the front steps and then opened the door. She stepped inside and smiled, then beckoned her.
Buffy walked up the steps and looked through the doorway. It looked like they had gotten a new door mat, a flowery one. The smell coming from the house was like spring with hints of herbs like the ones from Willow's magical formulas. Buffy went to step through but she felt something push her entire body backwards as a strange sound vibrated in her ears.
"Buffy? What's wrong?"
She tried stepping through again but the same force pushed he back.
"Oh, um, I think I have to . . ." Dawn said losing her cheerful composure. "Buffy come in and let's have a big dinner," she said happily.
Buffy stepped through and closed the door gently.
. . .
She waved the hair brush in front of the mirror like it was floating on water. Not having a reflection was quite disturbing, but it was oddly amusing to see objects flying in mid air. Buffy's room was how she remember it. It was a small thing, but it did score her friends some brownie points. She set down the brush as Dawn walked through the bedroom door.
"Hey you." Dawn stood beside Buffy and looked into the mirror. "That's freaky." She paused. "So, you sleepy or did you want to take a relaxing bath? Or whatever you want. I think you need to get out of that thing though for obvious reasons," she said tugging at her gown. "That's strange. Didn't you tear the gown there?"
Buffy looked down at the area where she made a large rip in the black dress. It seemed it was no longer there.
"Yeah, I did. Wanna know what else is strange?"
"Huh, nothing would surprise me after today."
"I can't take off this dress."
Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Um, what do you mean?"
"Look." Buffy reached back and pulled down the zipper. She then proceeded to pull it off her shoulders but it was like the dress was glued onto her skin, it wouldn't come off.
Dawn grabbed the gown and tugged but to no effect. "Okay. Freaky."
"You ain't seen nothin yet."
Dawn gave a small whimper.
Buffy stepped back and then closed her eyes. She shook her head wildly for a good five seconds and then stopped, feeling slightly disoriented. Buffy's hair no longer carried the style from the Victorian era. The roundness at the top was gone, her hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, the tips forming inward curls. She looked at Dawn who continued to have a baffled expression. Buffy smiled and then shook her head again and stopped. The top of her hair was rounded as before.
"I don't know," Buffy started, "maybe it's more than just: me in Drusilla's body."
"I . . . it's late Buffy. Get some sleep. I'll talk to Willow and Tara about it when they get back." A smile broke through her bafflement and she gave her big sister a hug. "Good night."
As Dawn left the room and closed the door, Buffy moved to her bed and slid under the covers. There were more and more questions she was starting to ask herself and it was starting to give her a massive headache on top of the bruises on her face and everywhere else. She wanted Willow to find the answers, but after what happened back in the crypt, she wasn't sure how far Willow would go to find them. Her mind started to point all causes of her problems to Willow, but it seemed her mind couldn't handle anything else and she drifted to sleep. She dreamed, a very strange dream.
