Affinity
Jack O'Neill waited with a determined lack of anxiousness as he stood in the control room with Daniel, Teal'c, and Weir. The stargate sat dormant, with the iris shut tight.
At last, a point of green light flared into being in the middle of the gateroom. Sharp lines of green light snapped outward from the point, unfolding to form a complex counter-rotating circular design in the air. The light erupted upwards, obscuring the view for a moment, and when it faded, six figures were standing on the glowing circle like it was a solid platform. The only common theme among their clothing was how wildly elaborate it was.
Jack recognized Carter in the middle and stared, slowly tilting his head to one side. Her outfit looked like what you might get if a mad scientist's lab coat and an Air Force dress uniform could have a baby, and that baby grew up into a rebellious teenager. He glanced over at Teal'c and saw his jaffa buddy was doing that eyebrow thing he liked to do.
The green circle design evaporated, leaving the six exotically-clad mages to drop lightly to the concrete floor.
Weir hurried out of the control room. Jack followed her down, stepping through as the blast door whirred open.
"Welcome to Stargate Command," Weir greeted. "Major Carter, it is a relief to see you well."
Carter nodded and stepped forward. Her eyes caught Jack's and held on as a moment of mutual relief passed between them.
"Doctor Weir, Colonel O'Neill, this is Captain Chrono Harlaown of the TSAB dimensional cruiser Arthra," Carter introduced.
She indicated the young man with jet black hair that was almost blue when the light caught it, wearing something that looked like biker leathers had mated with a wrought iron fence.
Jack took the opportunity to size up the rest of the group, and had to work to keep an excessively deadpan expression off his face. With the exception of the blonde in the white tabard and green dress, they were all teenagers. After dealing with a number of ageless aliens, and then the frikkin' perfect figures of the Fae, he was somewhat inured to it, but it still made him wonder what the hell was wrong with the universe. He didn't know which was worse; that it was fashionable for military officers on their world to look like kids or if they were actually that young.
The young-looking Captain nodded seriously. "Thank you for the welcome. Know that Major Carter was an exemplary asset while she was with us." He gestured to the girls flanking him. "These are Investigator Hayate Yagami, Lieutenant Nanoha Takamachi, and Madoka Kaname. This is Shamal, our ranking medical officer."
Hayate was a rather ordinary teenage girl who looked Japanese. He didn't even know how to begin to describe her white, gold, and black legless outfit. The Lieutenant was vaguely asian-looking too, but it wasn't as obvious with her copper-brown hair and blue eyes. The third girl in the ruffled hoop skirt had what he hoped was dyed hair, cotton candy pink, and the most unnervingly vivid gold eyes.
"So!" Hayate chirped, skipping to Chrono's side and holding up a perfectly ordinary plastic jewel case. "I have a gift for Major Carter to share with you guys."
Carter took the case. "What's this?"
Hayate smiled serenely. "I had the Lyrical Nanoha As movie translated into English and converted to the Region One DVD standard. Had to cut it in half and put it on two discs, but it's all there."
What.
It was still a little unsettling to leave her slayer powers behind in the real world as she arrived in the false world, the shared dream Xander called a virtuality. She was at least getting used to arriving naked by default. Kendra blinked at what she found there, having no idea how she was supposed to react to such a sight.
A wide field of Fae grass stretched before her. In the distance, breasts the size of mountains formed a horizon of fair skin and rosy nipple. Closer, giant male erections as tall as a house grew straight out of the grass, glistening in the sunlight and throbbing in the breeze. The scent of sex was on the air, not overpowering, but present.
Xander walked out from behind the closest giant penis and smiled in greeting as he came towards her. "Hey there."
Kendra didn't manage to say anything before he reached her and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her into a kiss. Kendra swayed and moaned softly into his lips. She arched into him, pressing her belly against his firm length, and felt her body respond as his hands played with her butt. It didn't take much to make her ache to have him inside her.
"Wat... is all dis?" Kendra asked curiously, indicating the surreal landscape.
Xander shrugged. "Just something fun I found in the archive. Look behind you."
Kendra turned around in his arms and gaped as she found herself staring into a vagina the size of a two-story building. She barely even noticed Xander's cock pop down between her buttcheeks and nestle up against her perineum. Rich brown skin rose out of the grass on either side of them, converging on the gargantuan womanhood and framing a small pool, like a waterfall overlooking a cove.
Kendra's eyes got even wider. "Dat's not just a giant pussy! Dat's my pussy!"
And it was, as though a giant version of Kendra was buried under the grass, lying on her back with her hips thrust up to the point of strain so that it was the only part above ground.
"Yup, and the cocks are all me," Xander said into her ear in cheerful tones.
He pinched her nipples, and Kendra was suddenly very aware of his hard body pressed up against her back and his hot pole sliding wetly and suggestively through her crack. Kendra shuddered, slamming her butt back against Xander's hips.
"Come on," Xander said, pulling away and taking her hand.
He led her down to the pool and dipped a foot in. Kendra watched the way the 'water' moved and noticed it was too viscous to be water. She stared at Xander.
"Is dat...?"
"Your own sex juices, yup," Xander told her with a grin, and jumped in.
The pool was only a few feet deep, but with a gloopy sploosh, Xander's feet slipped and he nearly went under all the way. Because, of course, lubricant, not water. Kendra started sniggering as Xander carefully stood up and held out his hand to her.
Kendra took his hand and stepped down, only to fall in herself as her hand slipped out of Xander's. She gasped as the warm fluid instantly soaked into every crevice of her lower body, slithering heavily over her skin as she moved. It really didn't feel anything like water.
"Oops," Xander chuckled. "Over here, there's a platform in the center of the pool we can lay on."
Hidden a half-inch under the surface, there was such a platform. Xander climbed up and Kendra followed. Following Xander's lead, she laid down on her side facing her giant self. Xander's arm came around her waist and she slid back against his chest. Kendra suddenly understood what he'd been going for with all this. Pressing together with their whole bodies wet and frictionless was a whole new sensation. It was a glorious sensation that demanded movement. It made her want to wriggle and writhe against him and never stop.
Xander's cock slid into her canal, and Kendra shivered in pleasure. He pumped his hips, spearing her to her core, and the sounds, the feelings, all of it got to her. It was so excitingly lewd and her body surprised her with an orgasm almost immediately.
As she gasped and shuddered, Kendra watched the giant vagina quiver and clench in imitation of her own. Its fluids drooled out to join the pool.
"Neat, huh," Xander said as he kissed her neck. "The big parts all mimic what our parts do."
"Does dat mean...?" Kendra asked slowly.
Xander chuckled. "Why don't you find out?"
It was easy to slide themselves around so they faced the other direction. Kendra wiggled in Xander's embrace as his hands slipped and slid over her breasts. She pressed back until he was as deep inside her as he could get and started swiveling her hips, sliding him in and out of her and milking him with her inner walls.
Xander groaned into her neck and twitched. Off across the grassy fields, the towering penises were all dripping wet and visibly throbbing. Xander spasmed against her, and she moaned as she felt him erupt inside her. Then her eyes widened as the sky was suddenly filled with jets of white fluid, shooting up in time with the pulses she felt inside her pussy.
Kendra yelped in surprise, covering her head with her arms as gallons upon gallons of semen rained down into the pool, drenching them in Xander's warm goopy fluid.
"Well, that was different," Xander said, sounding amused.
Kendra twisted to look at him and felt a laugh bubble up inside her at what she saw.
It wasn't quite the same as the real thing, once she returned to her body some hours later, but a very strong echo of that feeling of satisfaction did follow her back to the real world. Kendra felt wonderfully sated as she headed into the school building that morning.
There was a suspicious crowd gathered in the lounge and Kendra paused on her way to the library to investigate. She spotted Oz on the fringes and went to ask him for a situation report.
"Hey," Oz greeted.
"Wat is happening here?" Kendra asked.
"Seems that Billy Crandal's chained himself to the snack machine again," Oz commented.
Kendra frowned in confusion. "Who is dat, and why would he do such a ting?"
"Apparently he's offended by food," Oz said. "Taking the way of the vegan a bit far if you ask me."
Kendra wondered awkwardly if he was joking. She could never tell.
"Oh, there you are," came the annoyed tones of Cordelia Chase. "Have you heard?"
"Heard wat?" Kendra asked as Oz merely quirked an eyebrow.
"About the girl who was totally shot dead on the second floor balcony just now," Cordelia told them with a grimace.
"Shot?" Oz repeated thoughtfully.
Kendra stepped forward. "Show me."
Cordelia sighed and led the way. The three of them arrived where another smaller crowd had gathered. Kendra pushed her way through just in time to hear the high-pitched electric ringing sound and see the body vanish in a flash of white light.
It was expected, by now, and the small crowd dispersed with the air of a concluded spectacle. In true Sunnydale fashion, anything that made it easier to ignore a disruption of the routine was quickly embraced.
"Well, that was pointless," Cordelia complained.
Kendra glanced at Oz, but the short boy seemed lost in thought. Kendra scowled and looked around for some kind of sign of the killer.
"Oz," Kendra said. "Burn your tin."
Oz blinked, coming out of his thoughts, and glanced around as he nodded. His body rippled and suddenly he was a she, an even more petite girl with straight black hair. Cordelia folded her arms and looked bored, turning to keep a lookout.
Kendra stepped over the bloodstain, remembering the short glimpse she'd gotten. "De shot came from dis way, I tink."
Another gunshot suddenly rang out in the distance. Kendra's and Oz's heads both whipped around in the direction of the sound. Kendra shot the weregirl a look and nodded.
"Hey, did you guys hear - hey wait!" Cordelia called.
Oz launched down the hall like a shot, ironpulling on the metal in the walls. Kendra sprinted after her at top speed and followed Oz to a nearby classroom. Kendra skidded to a stop and caught the door Oz was holding open.
The classroom was full of music stands, and a turntable was scratching out an old love song from the fifties. Kendra moved in and spotted the body of a boy sprawled in a chair in front of a mirror, with a bloody hole in the side of his head.
Cordelia finally caught up. "Oh god, another one? Ick. Looks like he shot himself."
"There's no gun," Oz pointed out.
"Huh?"
Kendra frowned and held her hand out over the dead boy's head wound, spreading her aura... her Utility Cloud from her skin. Xander had mentioned to her that the common word for it in faelin did actually translate to 'aura', but in a world where magical auras were a thing it was better to stick to the technical name to avoid confusion.
"What're you doing now?" Cordelia asked.
"Xander taught me how to feel out materials and topography," Kendra explained, frowning at what she was sensing. "Dere is no exit wound, but dere is no bullet in his head."
"No bullet? Ew! You mean someone shot him and picked the bullet out and made it look like suicide?" Cordelia demanded.
"Ah do not tink so," Kendra said, feeling out the shape of the wound as fast as she could, before this body was taken as well. "It does not seem like dere was digging."
Oz rippled, transforming back into a boy as he extinguished his metals. "Giles?"
"Indeed," Kendra agreed, stepping back from the body.
The three of them stood by for a moment, before Cordelia suddenly asked, "Hey, why isn't he disappearing?"
"Headshot," Oz said softly. "He's, y'know, dead-dead. Scrambled brains. Nothing there to revive."
Kendra stared wide-eyed.
"Oh," Cordelia said. "Well fuck."
Carter sat back in her chair in the briefing room and let out a long breath. "Are we still treating the Fae as a foothold situation?"
It was good to have SG-1 reunited once more. The tension from that missing note in their dynamic had been a pall over all of them, even if Carter was still reeling from how much things had changed while she was gone. They sat on one side of the table, with Weir at the head. The Childan contingent sat opposite, their backs to the window overlooking the gateroom, now wearing clean-cut uniforms or plainclothes instead of their elaborate Barrier Jackets.
"Well that's the thing now isn't it," Jack said. "As the Fae are so fond of reminding us, they didn't come through the 'gate, and they couldn't care less about the SGC."
"The problem is, this is an unprecedented global event," Weir said. "There simply are no appropriate protocols for contact with an alien civilization that ignores the proper authorities in order to publicly provide a service, however dubious, to the population, directly and on scale that no one has the manpower to regulate, and both refuses to communicate and is able to ignore all practical military action. We're making it up as we go, and every other country is doing the same."
"Well, it looks to me like this is one catgirl that's gotten completely out of her gag," Hayate said.
There was a brief pause as the words she'd actually used were parsed.
"Don't you mean... the cat's out of the bag?" Daniel asked slowly.
Hayate just smiled. "I know what I said."
"The Fae indeed move openly," Teal'c put in before Daniel could start blushing. "They exploit the fact that we must hide our existence and our actions by standing in plain sight without fear."
"They have no reason not to," Carter pointed out. "I still find it unfathomable that the Chinese actually fired a nuke at them."
"In my opinion, it says something meaningful about these Fae that they did not retaliate," Chrono mused.
"It makes a lot of sense, culturally, I mean," Daniel said. "They would be used to conflict where defense vastly outweighs offence, and no actual harm can come of it. They were engineered to have personal durability in frankly ridiculous excess of their ability to do damage, and I think that decision reflects the core of their culture. I've been trying to understand their perspective, and I think they might actually regard fighting back as bullying a cripple."
"You think they're, ah, not dignifying it with a response?" Shamal asked. "That seems worryingly dismissive."
"I... don't think that fits, though," Madoka ventured. "If they were dismissive of Earth, why do any of it? Why try to help?"
"If that's even what they're doing," Jack snarked. "Sure, the benefits are great, but in the end there are more of them and less of us."
"Willow Rin and her companions did not appear to care if others adopted their way of life," Teal'c said. "They valued personal freedom highly, did they not?"
Carter frowned and checked her notes. "At last count, more than twenty thousand people in the United States alone have completed their bouts in the pods and rejoined the population. Has there been any indication of influence, overt or passive?"
"Nothing concrete," Weir admitted. "And believe me, plenty of people are looking."
"That's what we need to find out, then," Nanoha concluded. "If this is a gift freely given, the price is already paid and there isn't any reason I can see why everybody shouldn't embrace it. I know I would love to get away with not sleeping!" Nanoha got serious. "However, if this is a ploy to subvert innocent people for some nefarious cause, we will convince them to stop, one way or the other. Right, Chrono?"
Chrono nodded. "Unless there is any more pertinent information we're not aware of?"
After a moment, Teal'c spoke up. "If the Fae can be trusted, I believe they can offer the Free Jaffa true independence."
"Teal'c, buddy," Jack started.
"Tretonin goes only so far, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "It is a salve, but it is not a cure. It allows us to fight, but all our victories will ring hollow if the jaffa race cannot be secure in their right to life, afterward."
Joyce shook her head as she parked in the school parking lot. A student suicide, with a gun even! Speculation was rampant about why a body remained behind, unclaimed by the aliens. And a backed up sewer that led to a cafeteria full of snakes. There was a small twinge of shame that not so long ago she would have accepted the news story as presented without question.
Getting out of the car, Joyce straightened her jacket and checked her hair before heading in. She wanted to check on Giles and the Scooby Gang 2: Electric Boogaloo. Joyce shook her head in amusement at the name Buffy had given the group. Hopefully they were all okay, and she wanted to know if they thought the incidents were somehow supernatural. With Buffy moved out and on her own years early, Joyce was yearning for more of an insight into her life before.
Joyce arrived at the school library and heard Giles speaking.
"...the spirit is plagued by all manner of worldly trouble. It has no way to, to make its peace. So it... lashes out, growing ever more confused, ever more angry," Giles lectured. "If this is what has happened, then what we are dealing with is a fully formed poltergeist."
"A poltergeist?" Cordelia repeated. "Does that mean there's going to be slime? I hate when there's slime."
"How do ah stop it?" Kendra asked.
Oz saw Joyce first and gave her a nod.
"The only tried and true way is to work out what unresolved issues keep the, the spirit here and, and resolve them," Giles said, turning and blinking as he noticed Joyce. "Ah, Mrs. Summers, what, what brings you here?"
"Joyce, please," Joyce told him, feeling slightly awkward. "So... I take it there's a spooky thing?"
"Even more literally than usual," Oz contributed, idly fiddling with a small vial with some kind of metallic dust swirling in liquid.
"I see," Joyce said. "I, um, suppose it has something to do with the boy on the news?"
"Well," Giles began, before pausing. "Actually, it might. Oz, would you perhaps look through the file of old school newspapers for any other students who died under similar circumstances?"
Oz nodded. "No prob."
Giles polished his glasses. "So, ah, what can I, I do for you, Joyce?"
"Actually, I was wondering if," Joyce hesitated. "Can I help, somehow?"
"I'm not sure if..." Giles stopped again. "Ah yes, you, er, took Buffy up on her offer, I recall." He nodded. "I suppose there is no harm in it."
Cordelia gave her a pitying look. "Welcome to the den of crazy."
Nanoha hurried happily down the sidewalk of the familiar Uminari suburb just as the sun peeked out over the horizon. Her family's house looked just the way she remembered it. They were expecting her, so when she rang the bell, the door was yanked open almost immediately.
Her mother, Momoko, lit up with a proud smile. "Welcome back, Nanoha."
Setting her shoes aside, Nanoha hugged her mom and then her siblings and dad. Her mom yawned as she led Nanoha into the kitchen and started on breakfast. Nanoha's heart swelled in... whatever the opposite of homesickness was. She didn't often think about how much she missed her family while lived on MidChilda, but she really did miss them a lot.
Her parent's congratulated her on her promotion and her first student. Nanoha told them all about Madoka and how far the other girl had come. Miyuki wanted to know about Fate. Nanoha sheepishly admitted that she and Fate were in love, and together 'like that' now, and that she had Madoka to thank for opening her eyes to it. Miyuki pulled her into a whispered conversation on the way to the Midori-ya, enthusiastically prying details out of her until Nanoha was beet red.
At the Midori-ya, Nanoha fell into her old routines of helping out. Half the conversations were rampant speculation about the Fae.
Back by the ovens, Nanoha asked her mom, "The way people are talking, it seems like they approve of the Fae, doesn't it?"
"I have noticed that," Momoko replied. "Is that good or bad?"
Nanoha lowered her voice, becoming serious. "We don't really know yet. Chrono's insisting on the cautious approach, since the situation seems stable. We're trying to learn as much as we can before we make contact, but I'm hopeful that they'll be friendly. Fate's in America right now tracking down a lead, and Hayate's gone digging through the internet."
Momoko nodded. "Other countries aren't being nearly as positive about it, are they."
Shiro paused to add, "Few countries other than Japan are reacting in a way that is positive at all. I'm just not sure if that means we're more rational or more gullible. Did you know they're talking about an incentive program to encourage people in the more heavily populated districts to use the pods? It's more or less common knowledge now that the changed people can live comfortably without food or sleep, and the potential reduction on food and housing pressures is a significant temptation."
"It is an appealing benefit," Nanoha admitted. "I know there have been times I would have really liked to not have those interruptions. Are you considering it, Dad?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact," Shiro said. "Your mother and I both, but we're waiting for your organization look into it, first, just in case."
Nanoha nodded firmly.
"Dru," Spike said patiently. "I'm just going to find you a nummy treat. I'll be back right quick."
Drusila swayed from side to side as she shook her head. "You can't, Spike. You can't. Zip. Zap. Stings like the lightning bug."
Spike frowned. "Something's out there, pet? What if I send the boys?"
Drusila whined, "Nmmmmmmmmmmmh. Zap. Zip. Time's all tangled, Spike."
Spike pulled her close and made soothing noises. "There there, pet. What're minions for?"
In the fading light of evening, Oz perched at the highest point in the school, holding herself up by the small metal spire at the peak of the sharply sloped roof tiles. A low simmer of pewter made the physical exertion trivial.
Taking a breath, Oz ignited her bronze. Oz didn't like burning bronze. It let her sense magic in a very viceral way, and sensing magic like that directly on top of a hellmouth was kind of like enhancing his senses with tin and staring into the sun. It hurt.
As usual, a sensation that wasn't quite pressure and wasn't quite sound crashed into her from the direction of the library. It was a powerful throbbing hum like the five-tone beat of some gargantuan alien heart.
For several very long minutes, Oz just held tight to the metal spire and controlled her breathing. The beat of the hellmouth pounded in her head like a bad headache, but she found she could tolerate it. Oz paused. There was something else. Something new. Two notes, one a blazing hum so strong it was obvious even with the hellmouth nearby, the other was softer but it was deep, even deeper than the beat of the hellmouth. Both were clear across town, some distance apart.
Making a note to mention it to the gang later, Oz began to look for their poltergeist.
Even though the bronze-sense wasn't sound, his musician's skill at picking individual sounds out of a complex composition translated enough that Oz could pick out other magical activity even with the hellmouth's presence. It wasn't easy, or Oz would have done this to begin with, but now a teacher had been shot and they'd come within seconds of losing the school janitor to an ectoplasmic bullet to the brain, so here she was resorting to desperate measures.
There. Two points of simple harmonic over by the gym.
Oz ignited her iron and steel, lighting up all the metal in the school in a soft blue second sight. Oz let go of the spire and steelpushed, shooting into the air like a bolt. She ironpulled on a girder to change course, then steelpushed off some underground structure, sharply halting her fall.
Oz pulled a walkie-talkie off her belt and clicked it. "Guys? I've got them. The gym."
"Ah copy," came Kendra's reply. "Moving to position."
"Yes," came Giles' voice. "Um, did you say, them?"
"Them," Oz repeated. "Definitely them. Two spirits."
"Oh dear."
"Does that... mean this triangle thing isn't going to work?" came the question from Joyce.
"Erm, so long as the spirits are, are both together, it should," Giles hedged.
Oz waited for Giles to elaborate, but when he didn't, she shrugged and let herself into the gym, igniting her copper. "Going in."
It was dark inside, but with tin Oz barely noticed. Decorations for the up-coming Sadie Hawkin's dance were hung up all over the walls. She couldn't see any indication of the spirits, but this close, they were clear to her bronze sense. With her copper burning, the spirits didn't seem to notice Oz.
Shrugging in a here-goes-nothing way, Oz ignited her brass and flared it as high as she could. She focused the power of the emotion-dampening metal on the two spirits and soothed them totally.
Both spirits buckled like Oz had punched a hole in a balloon. The thrum of their presence warbled and weakened, diffusing...
"NnnnNNNNOOOOOOOO!"
Oz staggered back as a very real scream of animal pain and rage roared through the gym, rattling the windows and decorations. The spirits suddenly exploded with power, brushing off Oz's soothing like it was nothing. Reacting with the quickness of Vin's instincts, Oz extinguished all her metals except brass and then burned duraluminum.
All of Oz's brass evaporated in an instant, and the unnatural roar cut off all at once. Oz's body rippled and became male again. He reached for his walkie-talkie.
"Guys, start the chant - "
"GET OUT!"
An an invisible force struck Oz and blasted him back out of the gym. He ignited pewter just in time to keep from breaking half the bones in her body, and belatedly reignited copper. The spirits immediately lost track of her.
Oz grabbed her walkie-talkie. "Guys! Abort and retreat."
There was no reply. Oz flared her tin and the sounds of the night filled her ears.
"...elp me, help! Lemme go you stupid ghosts!"
And it sounded like Cordelia was in trouble. Oz raced through the halls and got there moments before Joyce did. Cordelia was up to her ribs in the floor, which had apparently developed a case of linoleum quicksand vortex thing. Together, Oz and Joyce hauled Cordelia out of the trap.
"What do we do now?" Joyce asked fretfully.
"Get the heck out of here! Duh!" Cordelia replied.
Giles and Kendra joined them from opposite directions and together they retreated.
"So much for Plan A," Oz commented.
Theresa was still kind of new to the whole being-a-vampire thing. She had the questionable honor of being among the very last vampires to rise before those freaky aliens showed up and fucked up the whole system. It really ticked her off that she'd been working for Spike for a month now and she was still the new chick. She'd always be the new chick. There weren't going to be any newer vampires unless someone somewhere pulled a star destroyer out of their ass and blew up the freakin' aliens' mothership.
Following along with their little hunting party, Theresa at least got to enjoy the terror when they cornered their prey.
And there was tonight's handy happy meal on legs. Theresa brought out her vamp face as the other minions spread out to surround the lone girl. Theresa started to grin in anticipation when the girl glanced over her shoulder. She was expecting the girl's eyes to widen in fear, for her to pick up her pace and make a run for it.
Instead, the girl stopped and calmly turned around, running one hand through her long, flowing midnight black hair, tossing it out behind her. The girl's clothes were strange. Too nice. Too clean. Grey skirt, white jacket, grey collar and black trim, with something skintight and black under it. Theresa started to get a bad feeling.
"Hey there, girly!" Big J called out as they closed the trap.
The strangely dressed girl calmly studied their faces. "I see."
The wall of muscle that was Kenta stepped up to the girl and loomed over her. "Little girl should run away from the big scary monsters." He growled softly. "Tastes better that way."
"You don't want to do this," the girl said flatly.
"Oh I think we do," Big J said with a menacing grin. "Your fate was sealed the second we saw you, girly."
"My name is Homura Akemi, and fate is my bitch." Then the girl paused and winced, like what she said had come out wrong, but Theresa couldn't figure how - it certainly sent chills down her spine.
Big J reached out to grab the girl, and it all went wrong. Homura's hand snapped up and caught Big J's wrist. Big J screamed in pain, and the girl didn't even react. She just crushed his wrist and watched impassively as he fell to his knees.
"Slayer!" "No way! We saw the slayer!" "Shit!"
"Oh fuck," Theresa whispered.
"Thank you for volunteering," Homura told Big J.
And a deep masculine computer voice came out of nowhere, declaring, SLIDER DRIVE.
Big J and Homura vanished like they were never there. No sound, no flash, no poof, just gone.
"What the fuck!"
"Where'd she go?!"
"What happened to Big J?"
A sudden explosion of dust and the dying scream of Big J came from all the way across the street. Theresa and the others spun, snarling. Homura was there, standing on top of a fucking broken parking meter like it was a stage, and there was now some kind of fancy metal shield strapped to her arm.
Theresa blinked and suddenly the witch was right in front of her. Theresa jumped in surprise, but Homura's hand drove forward into her gut, doubling her over, and suddenly Homura was behind her pulling her off balance. The others shouted and attacked.
SLIDER DRIVE.
All the noise except her own heels strapping on the pavement went dead silent. The world had gone greyish, and the others were all frozen like statues mid-lunge. For a moment, Theresa forgot to struggle.
A delicate hand entered her field of vision, two fingers wreathed in a shard of deep purple light.
"What is your name?" the witch asked calmly.
Theresa was too scared to do anything but answer. "Theresa."
"Hello, Theresa," she said. "Since we're here, there are some questions I might as well ask you. First, do you recognize any of these people?"
Three images appeared in the air in front of her, and her eyes widened. "That's Buffy Summers and her friends."
"Good," Homura said. "Tell me everything you remember about them."
"Or what?" Theresa asked shakily.
"Or I will kill you, obviously," Homura replied without feeling.
"You, you'll do that anyway," Theresa accused.
Homura paused thoughtfully. "Maybe, but you're no threat to anyone I care about, and the longer you talk, the longer you'll live."
Theresa gulped and complied. She wracked her memory and told Homura pretty much what was known about Buffy, Willow, and Xander among the students of Sunnydale High.
Once she was done, Homura nodded. "Thank you. That is consistent with my findings so far."
Theresa watched Homura's free hand aim forward at the frozen forms of her fellows and that computer voice spoke from the shield on her arm. WARP SPLINTER.
A complex magic circle design drew itself on the ground under their feet and dozens of jagged arrowheads made of purple light appeared in the air before firing off like bullets, only to freeze in place and turn grey before they got halfway to the others.
Suddenly, Theresa felt herself being lifted and with renewed terror she fought frantically, but Homura was too strong. The witch threw her over the magical blasts. Theresa flailed and screamed and then suddenly color and noise returned to the world and the Warp Splinters weren't frozen anymor -
Hovering high above the glimmering coastal town, Fate frowned in concentration. Her search spells were arrayed in a grid as she mapped the town. Bardiche wasn't set up to operate on a hellmouth, and the interference was slowing things down, but Fate was starting to think it wouldn't matter.
She'd already detected seventy-six people with the exotic non-biological physiology, with more showing up the longer her spells ran. Scrying for magical activity was giving her even less useful information.
Fate dismissed the spells with a small sigh. It looked like she was going to have to rely on the SGC's information. She had a small list of points of interest around the town, but she was worried. It was easy to imagine her presence being taken as a threat.
Fate opened a telepathic link with Homura. I'm moving on to the first point of interest. How are things at street-level?
There are an absurd number of vampires in this town, Homura replied. Even with a hellmouth here. Do you want me to go to the second address?
Yes, alright, Fate agreed.
Fate turned and flew towards the first location, a nightclub called the Bronze. She swooped over the building and briefly considered landing on the roof. No, there was no need to sneak in. Fate circled outwards, gliding silently through the night as she looked for a good place to land without being seen.
Shooting down into an alley that was just out of sight, Fate landed lightly and dispelled her Barrier Jacket. She checked her appearance. She wore a black skirt and thigh-socks with a wine-red tanktop and a black leather jacket. Bardiche settled as a triangular yellow crystal pendant in her cleavage.
Fate stepped out and headed for the door.
Inside, it was surprisingly staid. A cozy collection of tables and chairs were gathered under a railed balcony, over by the bar and opposite the billiards tables. A trio of girls in white dresses crooned out a slow song up on the stage that overlooked the dance floor.
Fate's eyes landed on a dark haired beauty who was bent over and busy lining up a shot with a cue stick. Her tight leather pants and minimalistic shirt showed off a body without flaw, and Fate might have taken her for one of the upgraded if not for the dark circles under her slightly manic eyes. Fate also noted something that was probably a knife strapped to the other girl's shin.
The leather-clad girl took her shot, sinking one of the colored balls into a pocket in the table. She grinned at her opponent, a curly-haired boy in a letter jacket, and did a little victory dance.
"Hah! That's game, stud," she crowed. "Pay up."
Grumbling, the guy handed over a few bills. She snatched them up an stuffed them into a pocket as she grabbed a can from the edge of the table and took a swig. Fate thought she recognized the label as some sort of energy drink.
"Alright, who's next?" the girl asked, looking around in challenge.
When everyone else hesitated, Fate stepped in. "How do you play?"
The other girl gave her a predatory grin and explained the rules. Fate offered her name, and the other girl introduced herself as Faith.
"Fate and Faith," Faith laughed. "Maybe its a sign."
The game was very close. Fate had never played before, but the rules were simple enough. Once she understood them, it was all geometry and hand-eye coordination. Fate missed her first shot, and winged her second, but from the third on each ball went exactly where Fate wanted it to go. Sadly for Fate's pocket change, Faith never missed a shot either.
"You pull a lot of all-nighters?" Fate asked softly as they played.
Faith twitched in irritation but covered it with shrug. "Now and again."
"Sorry," Fate murmured. "I'm new in town, but I've heard the nights here can be dangerous."
Faith shrugged carelessly. "Yeah, well, ya never know what's lurking in the dark do - you!"
Fate blinked as Faith suddenly straightened up and pointed over Fate's shoulder with a furious jab of her cue stick. Fate stepped aside and looked to see a tall redhead with chiseled muscles on display through a fishnet shirt.
He scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Oh, hey babe."
Faith stalked around the table and hurled the cue stick at Fate without looking. It slapped solidly into Fate's hand despite the fact that Fate wasn't looking either. Faith marched up to fishnet boy and yanked him down to eye level with her.
"You!" Faith snarled. "You think you're funny, huh? You think you can dupe me like that and I'll just let it slide?"
"H-hey! It's not my fault," the redhead protested, trying to straighten up and failing as Faith held on. "I told you I was fae-touched."
Fate hmm'd at that term. Fae-touched? So far everybody seemed to be calling them 'upgraded' or just 'changed'. Maybe it was a local thing. It was a bit misleading, but catchy. Fate kind of liked it.
"Yeah," Faith scoffed. "You just forgot to mention one important detail, when we made the bet."
"Well, um, come on, how was I supposed to know you didn't know?"
Faith wrenched him down a little further. "And you didn't think to mention it once during the whole eight hours we were fuckin'?"
Fishnet boy definitely would have been sweating at that point, if he was still human. "Ah... I was gonna, but you passed out?"
"After eight fucking hours!" Faith roared in his face. "After I'd been doin' all the work! You played me you son of a bitch!"
"N-not all the - "
He didn't get a chance to finish his protest. Faith released his shirt and slid forward in a powerful lightning-fast uppercut. Her fist hit his chin so hard his teeth clacked shut with a sound like a gunshot, and his head snapped back with a spray of saliva that reached the rafters. He sailed through the air over the stage, and the music cut off with a yelp as the singers ducked for cover from the flying body. He tumbled through the backstage equipment and smashed through the tall frosted window in an explosion of glass.
The redhead's friends rushed outside to check on him as more than a few people gave Faith plenty of space. Fate wasn't worried about the guy. If he was... fae-touched, he was probably fine. No, what had Fate wide-eyed was the power behind that hit. Fate didn't think she could punch that hard unless her Barrier Jacket was in overdrive mode.
Fate frowned. The SGC had mentioned this 'slayer' who had the kind of enhancement that would let her do something like that, but she was supposed to be a girl named Kendra Young. Maybe this was similar, though.
"Faith," Fate said softly.
"What?" Faith snapped.
"Does the word 'slayer' mean anything to you?" Fate asked.
And just like that, she had Faith's full attention.
(This is one of those cliffhangers where you can't see the bottom but it's like two inches under you feet.)
(I spent like an hour trying to figure out what to name this chapter. Every chapter since Lie To Me has been named for a canon episode with only one exception, while kind of thematically mirroring the canon plot arcs. Sort of. If you squint. This one touches on some of the events in I Only Have Eyes For You, but this arc isn't really about what that episode was about, so I finally just picked a name almost at random.)