Chapter 4- Surprise
I wake up in the middle of the night, kind of. I'm still, like, 99% asleep. I reach over to my night stand to grab a glass of water for a drink, but the glass is empty. I climb out of bed and walk out of my room, forgetting about the water.
I walk down the hallway, feeling like there's something behind me the whole way, but I don't turn to see what it is. Something tells me to keep going.
I can sense whatever it is stalking me reach for me, but I still don't acknowledge it. Instead, I turn a different direction. I'm looking for something, but I don't know what. Whatever I'm looking for, it's not in the place I just looked, so I tun towards the bathroom.
I walk through the doorway of the bathroom into the Bronze for some reason, still wearing my pajamas, but I don't really think anything about it. I see Willow at a table having a cup of coffee with a monkey. Or is that Xander? I don't know. It's too confusing to think about right now, when I'm still pretty much asleep. Willow waves at me, cheerily, and I return the wave before I keep walking.
I turn and see my mom, who's also drinking coffee, while holding a large plate. I'm taking all this coffee around as some sign from the universe that I need some. And universe, I think you're right.
"Do you really think you're ready, Buffy?" Mom asks.
"What?" I ask, thoroughly confused.
Her expression goes bank as the plate slips from her hands and shatters on the floor.
I look back up, but my mom is gone. I turn around, looking for her, and everything is in slow motion.
I see the dance floor is packed, people pretty much having sex right there on the spot. The sexual tension is so thick, the metaphorical knife wouldn't even be enough to cut it. More like some kind of metaphorical chainsaw.
But then, time freezes when I see her. Kendra. I smile at her and start walking towards her. She smiles back at me, but my smile turns to horror when I see Drusilla right behind her.
I break into a dead run, trying to get to Kendra, to save her, but it's too late.
I see Drusilla's sword plunge through Kendra from behind, the tip stabbing through Kendra's shirt, her blood pouring freely.
"Kendra!" I cry out, pushing the dancers aside. Everyone around us just keeps dancing, and everything is moving in slow motion.
I just manage to touch Kendra's hand before it drops to her side and Kendra's lifeless body slides off the blade.
Drusilla smiles wickedly at me, leering at me hungrily.
"Happy Birthday, Buffy." She says.
And I bolt up in bed, gasping for air, sweat soaking my skin. It was all just a nightmare.
...
I walk across the hall and knock on Kendra's door. I step back and wait nervously for a few minutes, then knock again.
"Kendra?" I ask, and I can hear her stirring in her room. I hear her groan sleepily, and I call her name again, trying not to wake my mom up.
"Hold on." I hear her mumble, and I can hear the sheets shifting as she slides out of bed and makes her way over to the door.
How is it that she can be pretty much sleepwalking, her hair frizzy from having just climbed out of bed, her clothes all rumpled up, and she still manages to look breath-takingly beautiful?
"Is everyting okay?" She asks as she takes me in. I know what she sees. I saw it in the bathroom mirror a minute ago. My eyes are bloodshot, tears welling up, my face is red because of my crying, and I'm still drenched with sweat. My hair looks ten times worse than hers does right now, and I'm still breathing harshly.
I walk into her bedroom without waiting for an invite. She closes the door behind me.
"I was going to ask you that, actually." I breathe. "You're okay, right?"
"Yes. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
She pulls me to her and holds me.
"I... I had this dream." I start to explain after a few minutes of collecting myself. "Drusilla was back. It was awful."
"What happened?" The concern in her voice just jumped to a whole new level, and I know she's wide awake now.
"She... She killed you... Right in front of me... I saw the whole thing..." I say, choking up.
"It was just a dream." She says, stroking my arm soothingly. "It wasn't real." She says that, but I can feel her tenseness. Drusilla was bad enough in her weakened state. But now, after the successful completion of the restoration ritual, she'd be back to full strength. It's still got everyone on edge.
"But it felt so real." I protest softly.
"It wasn't. I am right here, Buffy." She assures me.
"But this happened before." I point out. She's heard the story. "That dream I had about the Master, it came true."
"But not every dream you have comes true. I mean, what else did you dream about last night? Can you remember?"
I think for a minute, then sigh as I respond. "That Giles and I opened an office supply warehouse in Las Vegas." I admit, it does sound silly now. Still, might not be the worst investment ever made.
"You see me point?" She asks.
"Yeah." I admit. "But still, I mean, what if Drusilla is back? She's still out there, and stronger than she was before."
"Even if she is, we'll deal." Kendra promises me.
I nod, slowly relaxing. "But what if-" Kendra silences me in the best way possible.
Her lips capture mine in a gentle, passionate kiss that slowly relaxes me.
"What if what?" Kendra teases.
I draw a blank. "Sorry. Were we talking?" I ask, only half-joking.
Our eyes are drawn to the bed in the corner of her room. We both look into each other's eyes. We both want to. We both really want to.
But-
"I-I... have to go to school." I say.
We're not really ready for it. We've come close before, of course. Several times since the egg attacked me, we've come close.
But since then, we've both realized that we're not ready. So, we force ourselves away from each other, and I know I'm going to need a very, very cold shower this morning to cool me off.
"I know." She says regretfully.
I kiss her again, even though I know it's a bad idea. It'll only make saying no more difficult.
"God..." I whisper. "You feel..."
"You must go." She says, interrupting me, her eyes clenched shut, and her breathing even more ragged than mine, if that's possible.
"Alright... This is me." I say softly, still very much wanting to give up on being mature and responsible and push her down on her bed. But, instead, I open her door to step out, only for her to put her hand on my shoulder and turn me back around to face her.
"You still have not told me what ya want for your birthday." She points out.
I smile at her. "Surprise me..."
"Okay. I will..." She smiles back.
"This was nice. I like you first thing in the morning." I say, still smiling.
"I'm goin' back to bed." She says softly.
"Then I like you at bed time." I correct myself, then I deadpan. My mouth falls open, and I stammer. "I-I mean... You... know what I mean."
"I tink so." She says teasingly, but she's fidgeting uncomfortably, and I very much know why, because I'm feeling it, too. "What do ya mean?"
"That I- I like seeing you... And the part... this part... when I have to say goodbye for school... it's getting harder..."
"Yes... It is." She agrees after a few minutes of silence.
Then, I face palm because I realize that today is Sunday, and I don't have school today.
And Kendra comes to the same conclusion, because her eyes grow wide and her breathing quickens again.
"It's... Sunday..." I say, and she nods, groaning. You wouldn't think what day it is makes that big of a difference. But somehow, knowing that we're not under time constraints because of school today, without having that excuse to fall back on, it's infinitely harder to say no.
So, I don't say no. Not really, anyway. We're not ready to go the whole nine yards, but maybe going the first two or three wouldn't be so bad...
I push back on her shoulders, pushing her further into her room, and I close the door behind me again. I pull her into me, smashing our lips together as I lead her back over to her bed.
I lay down and pull her down on top of me, still kissing, and I hold her close.
She's trying to avoid actually putting any weight on me, but I pull her down, and she just lets go. Her hips press into mine, and we groan. The pressure our cores are making against each other through our pajamas is delicious, yet frustrating at the same time, because both of us want nothing more than to get rid of the barriers between us, but if I even see a hint of flesh that wasn't exposed before, I'll lose control, and I have the feeling it's the same for her.
Still, she can't help but grinding down on me to relieve some of the tension between her legs, and we both groan into our kiss.
My hands fly to her waist and pull her hips down harder on mine, arching my back into her at the feeling.
Our chests are pressed just as tight together as our hips, and I can feel how hard her buds are through our tops, and mine tighten up even more at the thought.
I pull away from her to gasp, and then I realize how big a mistake that was, because I groan out loud. And I mean loud. If my mom is awake, then she definitely heard that.
The sound of me groaning has Kendra grinding down even harder, and I know that I need to put a stop to this, or we won't be able to stop at all.
"Gah!" I gasp, and I put my hand on her chest and push. She agrees immediately and rolls over onto her back beside me.
Both of us struggle to catch our breath.
...
"I like you at bed time?" Willow asks incredulously the next day as we're walking up towards the school together. "You actually said that?!" She's grinning like an idiot.
"I know... I know..." I groan, and not the same way I did with Kendra yesterday morning.
"Man... That's... I don't know, that's moxie or something!"
"Totally unplanned. It just came out."
"And she was into it? She wants to see you at bedtime, too?"
I stop walking and stare at Willow for a minute, thinking. Kendra's reaction to me... all signs point to more than "yes", they all point more towards "Um, duh!"
"Oh yeah." I say.
"You sound confident about that." She teases.
"Well, normally I wouldn't be... I'd be more insecure about it, of course, or at least act insecure about it, but... You should have heard her, Will..." I flinch at that, then correct myself. "Actually, on second thought, no, you shouldn't have. But just take my word for it. She wants me every bit as much as I want her. But, I mean, other than that lapse in judgement on our part yesterday, she's so cool about it. She acts like it's not affecting her as much as it really is, but I can tell she's not doing it to put me off, it's more to reassure me that she's willing to wait."
"Of course she does!" Willow agrees enthusiastically. "'Cause she's cool. He would never... you know..."
"Push." I agree.
"Right. She's not the type." She smiles.
I groan. "Willow... What am I going to do?"
"What do you want to do?" She retorts.
"Well... Want isn't always the right thing... To do, I mean. To act on want can be wrong."
"True." She agrees.
"But... to not act on want... You could watch your whole life pass you by."
"Carpe diem." She agrees again. At least, I think she does. Not sure what "carpe diem" means, though. "You told me that once."
"Seize the fish?" I ask.
She giggles. "Not "carp", "Carpe". It means seize the day."
"Oh. Right." I smile in embarrassment. Then, I come to a decision. "I think we're going to... seize it, Will. Sooner or later... Once you get to a certain point, seizing is sort of inevitable." And only now that I've said the words out loud do they sound real.
"Wow..." She says after a few minutes.
"Yeah." I agree.
We fall back into silence again.
"Wow..." She reiterates.
I turn my head and see Oz walking just ahead of us a bit, then nudge Willow.
"Speaking of wow potential, there's Oz. What are we thinking? Any sparkage there?"
Immediately, Willow's glowing, and her eyes twinkle a bit.
"He's nice. I like his hands." She blurts.
"Ooh, fixation on insignificant detail. Definite crush sign."
"I don't know, though." She deadpans. "I mean, he is a senior."
I scoff. "You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. My last boyfriend had a bicentennial."
Willow shrugs. "That's true, I guess... I just..."
"You can't spend the rest of your life waiting for Xander to wake up and smell the hottie. Make a move. Do the talking thing."
"What if the talking thing becomes the awkward silence thing?" She's panicking now.
"You won't know unless you try. Come on, Will. Seize the fish!" I joke, but then nudge Willow with my hips, bumping her over closer to Oz.
...
I'm walking with Ms. Calendar towards Giles and Xander, who are whispering to each other conspiratorially. I have a feeling I know what they're talking about, especially since they both fall silent when I get close enough to hear.
"Buffy!" Xander exclaims, grinning. "I feel a pre-birthday spanking coming on!" He says, and I glare at him.
"I'd... curb that impulse, Xander..." Ms. Calendar warns.
"Check." He says, wiping the smile away, then speaks into an imaginary radio. "Cancel spanking."
"What's the matter, Buffy?" Giles asks. "You look fatigued."
"Rough night." I explain. "I had a dream that Drusilla was back... and she killed Kendra. It really spun me. I even had to go over to her room at, like, two in the morning yesterday to make sure she was okay."
"There's a line I haven't tried.' Xander quips. ""I just dropped by to see if you're dead." It says caring. Concerned. Smoochies guaranteed."
"Please. I didn't go over there for smoochies." I say, then pause. "Okay, so... When I found out she was okay... I was relieved, so naturally... Please, someone stop me." I plead.
"So Kendra's fine, then?" Ms. Calendar, remind me to send you a gift basket for that.
"Yeah, but... I've just got this bad feeling. This wasn't a normal dream."
"You feel it was more of a portent?" Giles asks curiously.
"I don't know." I admit. "I don't wanna start a big freak-out over nothing."
"Still. We should be on alert. If Drusilla is back, then we may be facing a cataclysmic state of affairs." Giles says in true-Giles fashion.
"Again." Xander says. "So many words. Can't you just say we'd be in trouble?"
Giles rolls his eyes. "Go to class, Xander."
"Gone." Xander agrees, then starts to walk away, but turns back to get in the last word.
"Notice the economy of phrasing. "Gone". It's simple. Direct."
Giles takes his glasses off to clean them as Xander walks away.
"I guess I should get gone, too." I say.
"Don't worry yourself unduly, Buffy." Giles suggests. "This could be nothing."
"I know. I should keep my Slayer cool and all, but, it's Kendra. Which automatically equals maxi-wig." I say before I turn and head off to class.
...
The next morning, mom is clearing the breakfast dishes away from the table while I'm getting ready for school. She just gave me a birthday card earlier this morning.
"Mall trip for your birthday on Saturday. Don't forget." She says.
"Space on a mom-sponsored shopping opportunity?" I say with my eyebrows raised. "Not likely."
Kendra smirks at me. We managed to make it through the morning without any extreme sexual frustration. Well, no more than usual, anyway.
"So, does seventeen feel different from sixteen?" Kendra asks, and I sit down in her lap, casting a glance towards my mom. We'd rehearsed this opening earlier before we came downstairs.
"Funny you should ask. I actually woke up feeling more mature, responsible and level-headed." My mom tenses up. She knows exactly where this is going.
"Really?" She asks suspiciously. "That's uncanny."
"And yet, true." I nod as I say this, looking back at Kendra as if this were just any other conversation. "I now possess the qualities one looks for in a..." And here I look pointedly at my mom, "licensed driver."
"Buffy." My mom looks at me in exasperation.
"You said we could talk about it again when I was seventeen." I point out.
"You've been seventeen for forty-eight minutes." She says, looking at her watch.
"And...?"
"But... You behind the wheel? It worries me."
"It worries all moms. It's biological imperative. But I'm going to drive sooner or later, so we might as well deal sooner, right?"
"Do you really think you're ready, Buffy?" My mom asks, picking up another plate to put it in the sink.
I freeze, hearing that line. My mom drops the plate, and time seems to slow down as it falls and shatters on the ground.
I'm out the door before she even looks up again...
...
"And then my mom broke the plate!" I exclaim. I'm talking to Giles now, sufficiently wigged out by the deja vu-yness of this morning."It was exactly like I saw it in my dream, Giles. Every gesture. Every word. Beyond creepy."
"Yes. I'd imagine." Now Giles sounds concerned, like he's actually considering that my dream might actually be true.
"Hey! The woman of the hour!" I hear Xander exclaim as she and Xander walk into the library.
"It's happy Birthday Buffy!" Willow shouts gleefully. They move in to hug me, but flinch when they really see me. "Not happy birthday Buffy?" Willow asks.
"It's just... A piece of the nightmare Buffy had the other night actually came to pass." Giles explains.
"Something happen to Kendra?" Xander asks worriedly.
"She's fine. For now." I say. "But if part of what I had a dream about came true..."
"Then all of it might." Willow completes my sentence.
"And Drusilla might be back." I nod. I turn back to Giles. "In the dream, I couldn't stop her. She blind-sided me, Giles. Kendra was dead before I knew what happened." I have to borrow Giles' handkerchief to wipe my tears away.
"Even if she is back, we can still protect Kendra. Dreams are not prophecies, Buffy. You dreamt the Master had risen, but you stopped it from happening." Giles points out.
"You ground his bones to make your bread." Xander quipped.
"That's true." I admit, then grimace. "Except for the bread part. I guess we're one step ahead, but Giles, I'd like to stay that way."
"Absolutely." Giles agrees. "Let me read up on Drusilla, see if she has any particular patterns. Why don't you meet me here at 7:00? Map out a strategy."
"Okay." I agree. "What do I do until then?"
"Go to class... do your homework... have supper." He suggests.
"Oh right. Be that Buffy." I say before I grab my bag and leave.
...
I'm walking towards my meeting with Giles in the library when Ms. Calendar jumps out at me suddenly, and I almost end up giving her a roundhouse she'd never forget.
"Buffy." She says.
"God, I didn't see you there." I say, clutching my chest in relief.
"Sorry. Giles wanted me to tell you that there's been a change of plans. He wants to meet you somewhere near his house. I guess he had to run home and get a book or something." She says, and there's something fishy about her tone, but I don't really pay any mind to it.
"Yeah, 'cause heaven knows there aren't enough books in the library." I quip.
"He's... very thorough."
I nod. "Which is not to bag. It's kinda manly in an obsessive/compulsive sorta way, dontcha think?"
"I have my car. I can drive, if you want." she suggests.
"Okay..." I agree hesitantly. Something's off, I can feel it."
...
"So where are we headed, anyway?" I ask as she drives.
She doesn't reply, which has me worried.
She starts to slow down and pulls into the alley behind the Bronze.
"We're going to the Bronze?" I ask, recognizing my surroundings.
"I'm not sure." She admits. "Giles gave me an address. I'm just following his directions."
"Uh oh." I say as I see three guys sneaking something out of the Bronze in a box. My Slayer senses are screaming "VAMPIRES!".
"What?" Ms. Calendar asks before she sees what I'm looking at.
"This looks funky. Stop for a sec." She does.
"Buffy, maybe you shouldn't."
"Sorry." I say. "Sacred duty, yadda, yadda, yadda."
I open the door and step out of the car, stalking towards the vamps slowly.
I walk towards the vampires and see the same vampire I saw a while back, stealing the Du... Du-something-or-other-Cross.
"Every time I see you, you're stealing something. You should talk to somebody about this klepto issue." I say to the vampire.
Slam! A huge vampire attacks me from behind. I easily fight him off, but Dalton's getting away in the back of the truck.
I leave the huge vamp behind and run to the front of the truck. I jump onto the truck and stake the driver through the window before he can start driving, then I go back around to the back. The glasses vamp holding the box smiles in terror, drops the box, then runs away just as the huge vampire tackles me.
I kick out, knocking him down, then roll to my feet just as he stands up. He throws a punch, but I sidestep it, using his momentum to throw him to the ground. He gets back up and tackles me again, and we smash through the back wall of the loading dock, into the main part of the struggle for a bit, but I come out on top and stake him.
I stand up and dust myself off, then notice everyone standing around in party hats.
"Surprise!" Cordelia shouts as she stands up.
"That pretty much sums it up." Oz says, looking back at Cordy.
"Buffy, are you okay?" Kendra asks as she walks up to me.
"Yes, what happened?" Giles asks.
"There were these vamps in the alley. And one of Dru's guys was... What's going on?" I ask, motioning to the party stuff.
"Surprise party." Giles mutters under his breath, feeling like the atmosphere was ruined.
"Yeah, happy birthday." Cordy grumbles.
"You guys did all this for me?" I ask, and they all look up at me, beaming. "You are so sweet!"
"You're certain you're okay?" Kendra asks.
"I'm fine." I answer with a smile, totally in the mood for a party.
"Are you okay?" Willow asks Oz, and I realize that they must have come together. Like, as dates.
"Yeah..." He says, stunned. "Did everybody else see a guy turn into dust?"
"Uh... sort of..." Willow admits.
"Yep." Xander confirms. "Vampires are real, lot of 'em live in Sunnydale, Willow'll fill you in."
"I know it's hard to accept at first..." Willow says.
"No, actually, it explains a lot." Oz says, really cool about everything. Willow, he's a keeper. Don't let him get away.
"Can somebody give me a hand here?" Ms. Calendar asks, struggling to carry the box that the vampires were after.
Kendra and Giles take the box from her and set it down on the table.
"Those creeps left this behind." She says.
"What is it?" I ask.
"I have no idea." Giles admits. "Can it be opened?"
I walk over and feel under the edge of the box. "It feels like there's some kind of release... There." I step back as the box opens, and reveals... an arm?
We all look inside, then the arm shoots up and grabs me by the throat, choking me.
Kendra reacts on instinct and pries the arm away from my throat, shoves it back in the box and closes it.
I pull away, gasping for air, and not in a good way.
"Clearly, the Hellmouth's answer to "What do you get the Slayer who has everything?"." Xander quips, trying to break some of the tension.
"Good heavens, Buffy, are you alright?" Giles asks.
"Man, that thing had major grip." I choke out.
"What... what was that?" Willow asks.
"Looked like an arm." Oz says matter-of-factly.
"No..." Kendra says in disbelief. "Not even Drusilla is that insane." She says. "She wouldn't..."
"Kendra?" I ask.
"Care to share?" Xander asks.
"It is a legend. I remember reading about it with me Watcher. Hundreds of years ago, a demon was brought forth to rid de Earth of de plague of humanity. To separate de righteous from de wicked, and burn de righteous. Dey called him de Judge."
"The Judge? This is he?" Giles asks, incredulously worried.
"Well, obviously not all of him." Kendra says.
"Uh... still needing backstory here." I say.
"No weapon forged could kill him." Kendra explains. "An army was sent against him. Most of dem dies, but dey were finally able to dismember him, but not kill him. De pieces were scattered, buried in every corner of de Earth."
"You think they left his heart in San Francisco?" Xander asks, and everyone glares at him.
"I had that thought, too." Oz says to Xander, who nods.
"So all these pieces are being brought here." Ms. Calendar speculates. (That's right, I know the word "speculates". And people say all blondes are dumb!)
"By Drusilla." I confirm. "The vamps outside were Spike's men."
"No. Not even Drusilla is crazy enough to do it." Kendra shakes her head.
"On the contrary..." Giles says. "It may be that she's just insane enough to do this." He says, taking off his glasses and wiping them clean with his rag.
"Do what?" Willow asks. "Reassemble the Judge?"
"And bring forth Armageddon." Kendra nods.
"Is anyone else gonna have cake?" Cordy asks, and everyone glares at her.
"We have to get this out of town." Giles says after a beat.
"Kendra." Ms. Calendar says, and Kendra refuses to meet my eyes.
"What?" I ask.
"You've got to do it." Ms. Calendar continues, ignoring me. "You know the most about the Judge, besides Giles, plus you've got the Slayer strength. You're the only one who can protect this thing."
"What about me?" I ask, everything falling apart around me.
"You're just going to skip town for a few months?"
"Months?" I whimper.
"She's right." Kendra mutters. I must hide de box in de most remote region possible."
"But that's not months..." I point out, my voice barely above a whisper.
"I can catch a cargo ship to Asia, maybe head for Nepal." Kendra says to Giles.
"You know, planes are faster, and safer..." I beg.
"You really tink dat airport security would let me get by with dat?" Kendra nods to the box. She says it like a joke, but I can tell she's breaking inside. She doesn't wanna leave me any more than I want her to leave. "I don't like dis any more dan you, Buffy. But dere's no other way."
"When?" I whisper.
"Tonight... As soon as possible..."
"But... It's my birthday!" Tears well up in my eyes and Kendra pulls me in to hug me.
"I'll be back, Buffy... I will. I promise..." She says, choking up.
Everyone else stands around, the party mood definitely ruined now.
...
"I should go de rest of de way alone..." Kendra whispers to me as we walk up to the ship. Ms. Calendar drove us and the box here.
"I'll be back." She assures me when I try, and fail, to smile. "I will"
"When? Six months? A year? Who knows how long it'll take. Or if we'll even..."
"If we'll even... what?" She asks hesitantly.
"Just... if you haven't noticed, someone pretty much always wants us dead."
"Don't say dat. We'll be fine."
"But we don't know."
"We can't know, Buffy. Nobody can. Dat's just de way it is." We stand there in a pained silence before Kendra starts to move. I look back up at her and see her pull her stake out of her pocket. "Here. Keep dis. Someting of mine to keep with you while I'm gone. I'll be back for it." She smiles half-heartedly.
I take Mr. Pointy from her and return the smile. I fish my own stake out of my jacket and hand it to her. "Here. Keep this. Something of mine to keep with you while you're gone." I return her words, and she smiles again, tears glistening in her eyes as she tries to stay strong and make the right choice.
She kisses me like we'll never kiss again, and who knows, we might never kiss again. Happy thoughts like that fuel the passion and we both finally let our tears fall.
"I don't want to do this." I say when we finally pull away.
"I don't, either." She says, squeezing my hand.
"So... let me come with you, then." I know that the box needs to be separated from the others, and two Slayers will make a better guard than one.
But Kendra shakes her head no.
"You need to stay here, Buffy. Dey can't fight off Drusilla and Spike without you. And if Drusilla and Spike aren't beaten, den I won't be able to come back. Stay here, kill dem, den call me, and I'll be back here in days."
"Please... don't go..." My voice is so small.
"Buffy... I-" But Kendra's interrupted by three vampires that jump out at us from nowhere, knocking us to the ground and sending the box sliding away.
The glasses-wearing vampire runs after the box while the other two take us on.
"Kendra! The box!" I shout. Kendra gives her vamp a nice thrust kick, pushing him away, then tackles Four-Eyes, sending the box sliding again.
My vamp knocks me into a bunch of wood, stunning me, then sweeps my legs out from under me, sending me falling into the water far below.
I hear a splash soon after mine, and I know it's Kendra by the way she pulls me to her. It's a good thing, too. If she hadn't saved me, then, in my daze, I'd have drowned.
...
"That's just the beginning." Xander's talking to Willow when Kendra and I walk back into the library in different clothes because of our unplanned bath. "You wanna hear the part where I fly into town in my private jet and take Buffy out for prime rib."
"Xander." Willow warns when she sees us.
"And she cries?" Xander finishes, then looks behind him, flushing when he sees us. I don't really care, though. We're btoh too tired to fight with Xander about his ridiculous fantasies.
"What happened?" Giles asks.
"Dru's guys ambushed us. They got the box." I explain.
"Where's Jenny?"
She dropped us off at the dock, and I told her to go on home. That was before the ambush. We would've been back sooner, but we had to stop by the house and get a change of clothes."
"And we were needing clothes because...?" Xander asked.
I glare at him. "We got wet. Giles, what do we know?" I turn back to Giles, not in the mood for Xander's antics.
"The more I study the Judge, the less I like him. His touch can literally burn the humanity out of you. A true creature of evil can survive the process. No human ever has."
"So what's the problem?" Xander asks. "We send Cordy to fight this guy and we go for pizza."
We all ignore him. "Can he be stopped? Without an army?" I ask.
Giles turns back to his book and reads. "Erm... Ah, here. "No weapon forged can kill him." Not very encouraging. But if we can keep them from assembling him..."
"We need to find his weak spots. And we need to figure out where they'd be keeping him." I say.
"This could take time." Giles points out.
"We better do a round robin." Willow suggests. "Xander, you go first."
"Good call." I agree as Xander gets up and walks over to the phone.
"Round robin?" Giles asks.
"Everybody calls everybody's mom and tells them they're at everybody else's house." Willow explains.
"Thus freeing us up for world savage." I finish.
"And all-night keggers." Willow says with a nod. We all stare at her. "What? Only Xander gets to make dumb jokes?"
"Hey mom. Listen, Willow and I are studying, I'm gonna stay over here... uh huh." Xander says on the phone. "Yeah. Yeah, no, probably gonna be an all-nighter. Got a big test coming up in Algebra, and Willow's got me studying... Uh..." Xander looks up at Willow and calls out so his mom can hear. "What are we studying tonight, Will?"
Willow panics, and I have a feeling that he did that just to be mean.
"Uh... Pythagorean theorem!" She blurts.
Xander puts the phone back up to his ear. "I don't know, something I can't really pronounce, so I'm not even gonna try. Anyway, I'll just let myself in if we get done early. Yeah. Okay, Mom. Bye." Xander hangs up and grins wickedly at Willow.
"That was just evil." Willow says as she stands up and walks over to the phone.
"Sorry. Couldn't resist." He said, grinning.
...
I'm dressed for a party for some reason. I don't know why, my birthday party was earlier, and it was ruined. Plus, it was a surprise party, so I didn't even know to dress up. I'm wearing a nice black dress, though, obviously a party dress.
I recognize this place. It's the factory. Just an old abandoned factory. Black party decorations are all over the place, and I have to move them aside so I can keep walking.
"Hello? Who is that?" I ask when I see someone ahead of me. She turns, and I see it's Ms. Calendar. What's she doing here? Is this her party?
She ducks back into the shadows, however, and I'm very, very confused. On a quick inspection, I see that she's no longer there, so I just keep walking. Eventually, I see all of the Judge pieces in a circle, still in their boxes. I reach out for one, but a voice stops me. I recognize it.
Drusilla.
"Now now. Hands off my presents." She says. I look up at her and see she's holding Kendra, who's looking at me with fear in her eyes. Drusilla's got a knife to Kendra's throat, and I choke as I see the knife drawn slowly across her throat, red blood slowly seeping out through the cut.
"NO!" I scream.
Then, they're gone.
"Buffy?" I hear Kendra's voice somewhere.
I sit up abruptly and look into Kendra's eyes. Then throw my arms around her neck and sob into her shoulder.
""No! Kendra!" I scream, and her arms wrap around me tightly.
"It's okay..." She whispers, and I sob into her shoulder some more. "I'm here. I'm right here." She whispers soothingly.
After a few minutes, I stand up, determined not to let my dream happen.
"Buffy? Are you alright?" Giles asks after I walk out. Everyone's staring at me.
"Another dream." Kendra explains as I start gathering my weapons. I'm going to kill Drusilla and Spike, but first, we need to stake out the Factory.
"I think I know where Drusilla and Spike are." I say, not even looking at any of them.
"Very good. However, you need a plan." Giles says, standing in front of me. "I know you're concerned, but you can't just go off half-cocked."
"We have a plan." I say, and Giles rolls his eyes like "Here we go." "Kendra and I go to the Factory to do recon. See how far they've gotten assembling the Judge. You guys fan out and check places the boxes may be coming into town. Ship yards, the airport... We have to stop them from getting all the boxes in one place."
"Yes well..." Giles starts, then thinks for a minute. "That's... quite a good plan, actually."
Okay, why do they all look so surprised? That's insulting. Sure, my plans sometimes aren't exactly the most strategic... And, okay, so maybe they don't always work, but I do have them. Most of them just involve a lot of kicking, punching and slaying. But that's what makes them brilliant! They're simple and to the point without a lot of wasting time, letting the enemy figure out what I'm doing.
Instead of saying that, though, I just say, "This thing is nasty and it's real, Giles. We don't have time to wait for it to come get us."
Kendra and I walk out the door before any of them can get out of their trance and react.
...
Kendra and I walk up to the front door with no resistance.
"Kendra... Maybe I should go in alone. I mean, if my dreams are so true-" I begin, but Kendra interrupts me.
"You're not going in alone, Buffy. Don't even try it."
I give in and nod.
"Okay, what do we do if the Judge is already put together."
"You're de one dat had de idea. I tink dat means you're automatically de leader in dis. You tell me what to do."
I nod and think. "If he's assembled... we retreat. Together. Get the others and work out some kind of strategy."
Kendra nods. "Den we have a plan."
"Deal."
We walk into the Factory and step out onto the balcony, looking down over Dru's party.
"I saw this." I whisper. "In my dream, the party..."
Kendra nods, then tenses up. I look at where she's looking and see some kind of blue demon guy in armor. Armor that looks very similar to the armor that was on the arm in the box.
The Judge looks around, sensing something, probably us.
"What?" Drusilla asks him. "What is it?"
"We have to get out of here." Kendra whispers urgently. I nod in agreement, then we slowly start to back up, only to run into a group of vampires cutting off our escape.
They grab us and drag us downstairs to the Judge.
"Well well. Look what we have here. Crashers." Spike says with a grin.
"I'm sure our invitations just got lost in the mail." I fire back, not wanting them to see how scared I actually am. On the bright side, I know now that my dream isn't going to come true. Drusilla won't be killing Kendra, the Judge will kill us both. Yay.
"It's delicious." Drusilla says as she runs a finger across my cheek, and Kendra struggles against her captors to get to me and get Dru away.
"Get away from her!" Kendra snaps.
"Yeah." Spike says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "That'll work. Now say pretty please."
"The Slayers." The Judge says, stepping forward and glancing from me to Kendra, then back again.
"Chilling, isn't it?" Drusilla asks gleefully. "They're so full of good intention."
"Yeah, they just reek of humanity, don't they?" Spike asks with a sinister grin that makes him look like an idiot.
The Judge steps forward to touch me, and Kendra whimpers before slamming an elbow into one vampire's face, sweeping the legs out from under another. She runs right up to the Judge and stands between him and me.
"Take me." She pleads. "Take me instead of her."
"You're not clear on the concept, Slayer." Spike says, hanging his head in disbelief. "There is no "instead". Just first and second. Though, if you go first, that means that Blondie over there gets to watch..." Spike contemplates for a minute. "Right then. Do here first." Spike nods to Kendra.
"NO!" I scream, and I flip over my captors' heads, then slam them in the spines with my elbows. They crumple to the ground and I run up to kick the Judge.
"Don't touch him, Buffy!" Kendra shouts.
The Judge grabs me, and I start to shake. The seizure wrecks through my body, and my eyes roll up into the back of my head.
I feel like I'm burning from the inside out. I'm getting weaker. Then, it stops. I collapse to the ground, gasping, then stand up with Kendra's help. I look around and see that she's managed to drop a ton of TVs on the Judge.
I see that the crash smashed through the floor, revealing an entrance to the sewers, so I drag Kendra over to it.
"This way." I say weakly, and we jump into the sewer, then take off running as fast as I can. Eventually, Kendra just picks me up and carries me, taking advantage of her Slayer strength.
She runs over to an alcove and sets me down, sitting down across from me. The shadows hide us, and the vampires that Dru and Spike sent after us run right past us.
We wait for a while, allowing me to regain some of my strength, then we both find the nearest exit out of the sewers.
It's raining outside now, so we're quickly drenched to the skin as we run down the streets towards my mom's house.
"I think we lost them." I say as we walk up the walkway.
"Come on, Buffy. You need to get inside." She says, and I finally feel a large cut on my back, and notice how badly I'm shivering in the cold.
I nod as I open the door, and we walk inside.
"M-m-mom is g-g-gone... Out of t-t-t-t-t-town." I stammer, shaking. She hurries me up to my room.
"You're shaking badly." She says as she closes my door.
"C-c-c-c-cold."
"Let m-me get you something." I look over at Kendra and notice that she's shivering, too, and her lips are almost purple, but she's more concerned about me. She walks over to my dresser and digs through my drawer, finding a pair of flannel pajamas and bringing them over to me.
She turns around to let me change, but I wince when my shirt rubs against my cut.
"What is it?" She asks, very worried.
"I-I think I g-g-got c-cut... On m-m-my b-back or s-something."
She doesn't say anything, just turns me around and slips my shirt off to look at the cut.
"It's not very big, and it's already closed." She says in relief. It certainly feels big, though.
I nod and stand back up, slipping my jeans off, then turn back towards my bed to grab the pajamas, never minding that I'm now facing Kendra in nothing but a bra and panties.
"B-B-Buffy..." Kendra whispers, still shivering. I'm now certain that she hasn't noticed how cold she really is.
"Shh." I say, putting my finger to her lips. "You're freezing." She finally notices, then nods frantically, allowing me to help her remove her own shirt and jeans.
Only then do I notice that we're both now standing next to my bed, almost completely naked.
Kendra notices, too, and she turns and shies away, nervous. The temperature in the room just rose enough to warm us back up again.
I remember my talk with Willow, the one about "seizing". I remember how I told her that I'm ready.
I remember how I always used to imagine my first time. I wanted the romantic movie. I wanted the scented candles lighting the room, the rose petals leading up the stairs, over to my bed, covering the blanket, deep, romantic music playing. But now, I know that none of that matters. I'm never going to have a more perfect moment.
I walk over to Kendra and put my hand on her shoulder. She tenses as I turn her back around to face me. I pull her down towards me and kiss her. She melts into it, and our lips and tongues move against each other, dancing for what feels like hours, though I know it's only a few seconds.
"Buffy..." She whispers. "Maybe we shouldn't-"
"Shh." I hush her. "Don't. Just... Just kiss me."
She looks at me with wide eyes for several minutes, and I begin to wonder if maybe she's the one that's not ready. But then, she nods, and our lips meet again. I lead us back over to the bed, laying down slowly. She lays down on top of me, still kissing me, and our cores meet again, through our panties.
I don't mind the barriers this time, though, because I know they're going to be gone soon, and I'm content to take it all slow, savoring each moment.
I believe Kendra feels the same way, because she makes no move to remove anything. She just relaxes, settling onto me, though keeping herself up just enough to not crush me.
Her legs move to either side of mine, and she gently grabs and squeezes my hands as we still kiss.
Even though we just got out of the sewers, and we were inches away from death less than an hour ago, none of her kisses have ever been sweeter. She starts to pull away, but I don't want to lose her lips on mine, so I sit up with her, continuing the kiss.
She moves my hands around her back, and I smile as I feel her bra clasp under my fingers. I slowly undo the clasps, and I feel her bra loosen up as the last one comes undone. She pulls away just enough for her bra to slide down her arms, then she drops it to the floor.
I look down to see her newly revealed breasts, and my breath hitches.
She looks at me nervously, but I smile reassuringly at her, then gently push on her so she'd roll to the side, laying on her back, and I straddle her. I lean down and kiss her again, my hands sliding up her sides, grazing the sides of her breasts, and she shivers in anticipation. I let my lips slip away from hers, trailing kisses along her jaw, then down her neck. I bite down gently on her pulse, and she moans quietly, the sound reverberating to my core. I cup her breasts, feeling her hardened buds firm up even more under my touch. They feel like they're so tight right now, it should be almost painful.
I squeeze gently, and her eyes drift down to look into mine as I trail my kisses across her throat, sucking on her pulse on the other side of her neck.
My hands slide down just enough so that the tips of my fingers brush against her nipples, and she lets out a quiet moan again that's only a little louder than the one earlier, but it affects me almost twice as much as the one before. I roll her buds between my fingers, pinching gently, and she arches into my touch, her breathing becoming ragged, her moans becoming a little louder and more high-pitched.
I suck hard on her pulse as I pull away, pulling the skin on her neck with me, until it snaps away from my lips with a pop. She stops breathing for a second, and her hands finally slide up my back, holding me close.
I manage to loosen her hold enough that I can slowly slide down her body, trailing kisses down her throat, her sternum, then down one of her breasts until my lips come into contact with her nipple, and she moans again. I love the way she moans no matter how I touch her. It shows me that whatever I'm doing, I'm doing it right.
I place a kiss on her bud, then open my lips enough for it to slip into my mouth. The moan that escapes now lasts much longer than the ones before it, and I want to draw it out as long as I can, so I flick my tongue across it, then tighten my lips enough that her back arches again, and her eyes clench shut.
My other hand continues to roll her other nipple, and I start to suck on the one in my mouth, loving the sounds I can get her to make. My teeth graze across her rock-hard bud, and she gasps. I think I like that one the best, so I do it again, the sound sending shivers down my spine.
I release her nipple, dragging my tongue across her dark skin, down the valley between her breasts, up the inside of her other breast, then around the area around her other nipple. My right hand returns to her other breast and I massage it, rubbing her nipple in circles with my palm. I can hear her heart beating rapidly. It's thudding against her ribcage, beating a hundred miles an hour, the speed contradicting the speed I want to take this. I want to worship her, taking in everything, making every second last all night.
Her hands are gripping the back of my head, holding me there, fisting my hair, showing me that she's very much enjoying what I'm doing.
"Buffy..." She whimpers when I pull back on her nipple with my teeth, gentle enough to not actually hurt.
I sit up slowly, staring down at her. Her chest is rising and falling as she struggles to catch her breath, and her nipples look like little balls of rock on top of her breasts.
"Buffy..." She whispers when she finally calms down enough to speak. She reaches up and pulls me back down to her, hands sliding around to my back and undoing my bra clasps, the garment joining hers on the floor.
She flips us over so she's resting between my legs, our centers meeting nicely, still separated by our panties, but I don't have time to think about how frustrating the barriers are becoming, because her lips immediately attach themselves to one of my nipples, her tongue wrapping around it as she starts sucking, spurred on by her desire for me. She's struggling to maintain a slow, steady pace, even though it's what we both want, and I understand. I'm almost at war with myself, part of me wanting to savor this, the other part wanting to ravage her, to be rough with it and dominate her. I'm betting that the rough, dominating part, though, is the demonic presence that lies inside all Slayers, though, the part of us that gives us the strength to fight the forces of darkness.
But we manage to force that part down right now, and love each other, rather than dominate each other. We both want to savor this, so savoring it is exactly what we're going to do.
Her tongue draws circles around my nipple while she sucks on it, and I have to force myself not to cry out in pleasure, instead only letting out a small whimper as my hands grip her head, pulling her closer, almost deeper into me. I hold on to her as an anchor, like if I don't hold on to something, anything, then I'll float away, leave this world behind. And if I leave this world, then I won't be feeling what I'm feeling right now.I won't be feeling her. I won't be feeling what she's doing to me. No, what she's doing for me.
"Kendra..." I whine when I don't feel her lips on my nipple again, and I start to open my eyes again when I feel them on my other nipple again, repeating everything she did to the other one. She rolls my first nipple between her fingers, just like I did hers, and it becomes harder and harder under her touch, til it's almost painful, but a good kind of pain. A kind of pain I wouldn't mind feeling for the rest of my life, as long as it's her that's doing it to me.
Finally, though, I want to move this along, even though I really love the sensations she's making me feel, so I flip us back over again so I'm straddling her waist. I lean back down and place a kiss between her breasts, then start sliding down her body again, trailing kisses as I work my way down. Her eyes grow wide as she realizes what's happening, and she throws her head back and groans when I finally place a kiss on top of her drenched, now see-through, white cotton panties.
I taste her wetness on my lips and I have to sigh. She tastes so sweet, and I can't wait to taste her for real.
I lick her panties along her slit, which I can clearly see through the wet material, and a very loud moan escapes her lips as she grips the blanket below her. I sit up again, then hook my fingers under the edge of her last article of clothing, then slowly slide them down her hips, freezing when her sex is finally free.
I gasp when I can just about see my reflection in her dripping wet core, then shake my head so I can regain enough composure to finish what I started. I finish sliding her panties down and off her legs, tossing them somewhere behind me. I nudge Kendra's legs further apart with my hand, then sit back, staring down at my stunning, gorgeous, beautiful, perfect girlfriend as she tries, and fails, to catch her breath.
I slide off my bed, my feet hitting the floor, then stand up. She looks up at me, panicking, but I once again smile reassuringly down at her. I bend over and slide my own panties down my legs, stepping out of them. I join her back on the bed, laying back down on top of her, our clits finally meeting with nothing between them, and we both exhale shakily. I lower myself some more, and our sexes press into each other, causing us to arch into each other. Her arms wrap tightly around me, and she buries her face in my neck. I relax again, and press more firmly into her, finally allowing my weight to settle on her almost completely.
"I love you." I whisper into her ear, and I can feel her shiver at the sound.
"I love you, too, Buffy." She whispers in response, her voice dripping with as much desire as we are. We both moan together as I start to slowly move back and forth, grinding my hips into hers, rubbing our clits together with such delicious friction. I set a slow pace, not worried about the end result, only the journey there. I'm not worried about anything, actually, I'm just enjoying being with Kendra, loving her, feeling her love for me, and making love to her.
Her hips move opposite of mine, making the friction between us that much sweeter, and we both whimper. We want more. But we don't press any harder, or move any faster. It's almost like we're teasing each other with it. Which, actually, I guess we kind of are, but it's not about teasing, it's about what everything up until now has been about, relishing in every moment, every movement, making each second last forever. Because the climax isn't important. It's everything leading up to it that matters. I almost never want to find that ending, because that's what it'll be: an ending.
I can feel the ending slowly building inside me, but I try to fight it down, wanting this to last as long as possible. Kendra must be able to feel it, too, but she's eager for the climax. Feeling her grinding harder and harder into me, I get more and more excited, and suddenly, I can't wait for it, either. I want to experience it with Kendra.
I start to gradually increase my speed. Only small bits, like when you're riding your bike down a gradual hill, not pedaling, you just let gravity do its job and your bike speeds up on its own. I just let myself speed up, rather than force the speed. I just let my body control itself, let it set the speed, like I do when I'm slaying. I just let my body take over, not thinking anything.
We're both panting heavily now, gasping for air, never slowing down or relaxing our grip on each other. Instead, we press harder into each other, as hard as we can, and we start moving as fast as we can once our orgasms slam into us, to prolong them, and we're crying out in ecstasy.
We grind harder and faster. Faster and harder. And harder. I feel the liquid fire deep inside me surge outwards and erupt, spilling out and drenching Kendra below me, and the bed below her. I feel her clit throbbing beneath me, and finally, she lets loose, too, her own sweet nectar coating my sex and inside of our thighs, dripping down onto the bed.
When our orgasms finally fade, and we come down from our high, I feel my hips aching, and I realize that the pressure we'd been putting on each other's hips was enough to almost bruise ourselves and each other. My legs feel like jelly, and I can't hold myself up anymore, so I use the last of my strength to roll off of her. We lay there, beside each other, trying desperately to catch our breath, while actually enjoying the breathlessness we've given each other. I turn my head to look into her eyes, and our lips surge forward, meeting in the middle as we kiss lovingly, passionately, yet gentle and lazy.
We scoot up enough for me to pull the blanket up to cover us, then we relax into each other's embrace, one of my legs slipping in between hers, my hip pressing nicely into her still throbbing and dripping sex, and her hip pressing into mine. We both groan at the contact, but we're too tired to go again, so we just press our bodies into each other and fall asleep in each other's arms. And I've never had a better night's sleep in my life.
...
[Omniscient POV]:
"You lost them." Dru snaps angrily at her minions. Spike sits off to the side, grinning. He loves seeing Drusilla angry. "You lost my favorite play things. Now I won't get to hear them scream."
"Oh, come off it, luv." Spike says half-heartedly. "You'll still hear them scream. Just get to have some more fun trackin' 'em down first, is all."
"Promise?" Dru asks, smiling her crazy smile at Spike.
"I promise, pet. We'll make sure you get to have your fun with them before we feed them to our friend here." Spike replies, nodding towards the Judge.
"I'll make them beg for it." Dru says dreamily, smiling again.
Spike clears his throat. "Um, Dru, you're forgetting something though, aren't you, pet?"
"What?" She asks disappointedly.
Spike glances towards their minions, the ones who'd lost the Slayers in the sewer, and they whimper. "They did fail you, luv. Aren't you going to discipline them?"
Dru glances towards them as well, then makes almost a clucking sound with her tongue. "What should I do?" She asks Spike.
"Do whatever you want. Dealer's choice an' all that."
Drusilla walks up to her minions and looks each of them in the eye. She holds up two fingers and points at one of the vampires' eyes. She circles his eyes in the air with her fingers, then plunges forward, stabbing him in the eyes with her fingernails, screeching gleefully when his blood started dripping down onto his shirt. She twists her fingers in his sockets, and he screams in agony. She pulls her fingers out and licks them clean, moaning at the taste of blood.
"That's enough fun now, pet." Spike says, and Drusilla pouts at him.
"Pretty please?"
"No, luv. Unfortunately, as useless as they are, we still need them if you want to catch those bloody Slayers again."
Dru whines disappointedly, but walks over and sits down in Spike's lap.
All of a sudden, lights start shimmering on the floor.
"What the-?" Spike asks, then Dru gasps when she sees someone lying on the floor, wearing nothing as the lights die down. She recognizes him immediately.
"Daddy?" She gasps.
Spike's eyes widen. "Angelus?"
AN: By the way, for those of you who are imagining him this way, Spike is NOT in a wheelchair in this chapter. Remember, he and Dru got away from the church before it collapsed on top of him in this story.