RENEE
By: Tezza1502
Disclaimer: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer, BtVS: Season Eight', it's characters or it's stories do not in any way belong to me, nor do I seek or am I making any monetary profit from this fanfiction. It is © Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB, Dark Horse Comics, plus various other people and business entities. I also don't own any of the other copywrited series' mentioned in this fic. So there.
Notes: This is a little outside my usual genre. Anime is more my normal forte, along with the odd side trip into Harry Potter. Plus, it's somewhat more experimental than my other stuff. And about ninety percent of it is in the First Person Perspective. So if that annoys you, it's best if you turn back now.
And from this chapter on, it starts to be more about what appeared in the comic series. Not exactly, mind you, just my personal spin on what was happening in between panels.
Set after Issue 15 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight. So if you haven't read the comic, this will make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
CHAPTER 4
After that night, Xander and I slowly started becoming better friends. Nothing spoken, but we became closer. A couple of the others noticed, but no-one really said anything about it. I was honestly surprised that the other slayers had stepped back like they did, but no less grateful. Maybe they figured that since I had somehow managed to crack his shell where they couldn't, I'd earned a free run at him. Who knows. I certainly wasn't going to jinx it by drawing attention to it. Having said that, a couple of the girls did try to flirt with him a bit more, just for the heck of it.
Heh. It's funny what injuries can happen on the training mats, isn't it.
Then came the mission to an abandoned monastery. Two humans dead. Three demons soon after. And that strange symbol the victims had carved onto their chests. That seemed to be the starters gun for a new level of weird stuff. I.E.: zombie Scots climbing the walls and attacking us, for a start.
That was freaky. Especially since we basically had to hack them into small pieces to put them down. Man that was a shitfight and a half. We lost some good girls on that one. I even copped a rusty cutlass to the back.
It finally got sorted out when Willow showed up to take down the Wicca who was responsible for the attack on the castle. She waltzed in out of nowhere and changed the rampaging zombie Scotsmen into waltzing zombie Scotsmen.
(And people say my sense of humor's weird!)
After I was patched up, I curled up in a corner for a while. Running the battle over in my mind. Trying to figure out what I could have done different. Damnit, I should have done more. I don't now what, but something. Anything!
Basically, just sulking and feeling sorry for myself.
That's when he found me. Xander, that is.
I was a mess, I was covered in blood and bandages and there were zombie flakes all over me, oh my god my shirt was missing somewhere, what's he gonna say what's he think of me now that I'd screwed up so badly-
-and there he was, trying to get me out of my funk and cheer me up a little.
Actually, he went off on this weird, rambling monologue first. After he got me paying attention to him, then he set about letting me know that I'd actually done a good job, and that I should be proud that I'd held the line like I did.
Oh damn, Xander actually thought that I'd done a good job out there. He was actually proud of me!
I think it was then that I really started to fall heavily for him.
Well, after that mess, we found out who was behind it, and went and kicked their collective asses. Turns out a hidden section of the American Military was behind it. Sometimes, I'm not so proud of my countrymen. Word is, they think of us Slayers as being terrorists.
Oh joy, yet another problem to deal with in the future.
Back in slayer-land, I decided to up the ante a little between me and Xander by asking him to be my sparring partner. I mean, it has to mean something that he went looking for me after that battle, and only me. None of the others got an impromptu pep talk. So, I figured it was time to get all hot and sweaty on the mats, as it were.
It went well.
I mean, I didn't mean to toss him over my shoulder and sprain his back in the first five minutes. Really! It just happened that way.
The big baby wouldn't even let me carry him down to the medical bay. Something about 'retaining a minute shred of masculinity in an ocean of oestrogen,' I think. Wrapping an arm around his chest was, however, perfectly acceptable.
Faith is gone.
Not 'dead' gone, just 'adios' gone. Apparently, Giles had her doing some wetworks for him, and Buffy got wind of it. She didn't react well to the news. And since I didn't want her taking her bad mood out on me just because I'd spent some time with Faith, I'd made myself scarce. Or so I'd thought.
"Renee? Can I have a minute?"
Damn. And here I thought no-one came up to the eastern tower.
"So, what's what?" She asked as she hopped up on the battlements and kicked her legs over the side.
I hate California-speak. "Nothing. Why?"
"I just haven't seen you in the Op-Centre for the past week." She looks at me slyly. "I think Xander's getting withdrawal symptoms."
Huh! "But we talked just…" Oh damn, the cats out of the bag.
Buffy of course, got giddy at the thought of confirming some vague gossip. "I knew it! You guys are dating, aren't you."
While I doubt that Buffy Summers The Vampire Slayer is easily intimidated by just a glare, I tried my best. "No, we aren't."
Well, that popped her balloon. "You aren't? But I thought-"
"I can't believe that I'm actually going to talk to you of all people about this, but…" I took a deep breath, and prayed that Xander wouldn't hate me too much for spilling the beans to one of his best friends. "There is something between us. At the moment, it's pretty vague. But it's there. We both feel it."
"So what's the prob?"
"You tell me, Buffy. You know every bad thing that's happened to him before now. You tell me what's holding him back!" I was almost shouting at her by then. "It's so damn frustrating. I know he lost someone important to him in the final battle of Sunnydale. And I know that Faith hurt him, too."
That got her attention. "Huh! How-?"
"She told me. I don't know why."
We both fell silent for a while.
"Can I say something?"
Now what. "Sure."
"Don't give up on him."
Okay, pretty much near the last thing I was expecting.
"You've been good for him. He's more open than he's ever been since he lost Anya."
"You've got that right. I can really see the difference in him since the last time I was here."
Guhwhatdahellwhere'dshecomefrom!!
"Hi Wills." Buffy says, calm as can be. Like it's normal for a twenty-something Wicca to be floating in mid-air three metres away from a battlement, high on a castle.
"Hey. You giving out best friend warnings?" She smiled at me as I picked myself up off the stone floor.
Buffy shook her head. "Nah. Xander's all grown up now. Besides, he'd just ignore us if we tried. You know how stubborn he can be."
"Look who's talking." I heard Willow whisper under her breath. I was close enough to hear it, but I doubted Buffy had.
"Back at'cha Red." Or not. "I was just wondering why Renee had been avoiding me. That's all."
Willow had pondered that. For all of a second. "Probably because she's done a bit of field work with Faith, and you've got the snarks with our dark slayer right now." Ignoring Buffy's scowl, Willow floated onto the battlement in between us. "So, I'm guessing that she didn't want you taking it out on her."
"I wouldn't do that!" She sputtered indignantly.
"Uh-huh." Willow countered sarcastically. "So why have the other slayers who did time with Faith scarpered for their own hiding places as well?"
"Um…" Buffy had the grace to blush. "Am I really that bad?"
"Do you really want an honest answer?" Not waiting for a reply, Willow turned to me. "So, ya had Xander-smooches yet?"
Oh great. Time for a grilling.
It didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would be, being cornered and interrogated err…having a civilised conversation with those two. I even managed to find out a couple of his more embarrassing moments from the 'Dale.
Despite Buffy being a bit crabby that I don't hold the same attitude to Faith as her, we still got along after our little bonding moment. The same with Willow after a couple of dire threats about calling her Miss Rosenberg while I'm on the clock.
It was weird, knowing that because I'm helping bring back the Xander that these two knew and missed, I was starting to become a part of their inner circle. And I even got a matching uniform, courtesy of one of them. The same style as Xander's, in fact.
...my money's on the Slayer coming up with that idea. She strikes me as someone who used to like dressing people up in costumes on Halloween.
The whispers have started.
To be expected really, (both Buffy and Willow are incurable gossips, I'd found.) but annoying nonetheless. Luckily for me, a rumour even juicier has been doing the rounds lately. About Satsu and Buffy, of all people. I think I'll wait for proof on that one.