Immortality's Gift (The Alternate Version)
A/N: You know, I hadn't even realized it until now, but we passed the fifty page mark in the last part, and are now past page sixty. Yay me!
Dedication: This part is dedicated to my Beta, Harry, because he was crazy enough to review some of my older works part-by-part recently!
Part 25: Evasions & Confrontations
Quentin Travers was not a happy man as he walked out of his hotel room, a satchel filled with magical supplies and a few weapons on one shoulder. He had gone to the Slayer's room that morning to "talk" with Faith, only to find the room empty, the bed not slept in, her belongings gone, and a note for him.
Thanks for the room, but I've got a place to crash now.
FHoFaHopFaiHope TrYou know who
P.S.: I'm not your bitch, so don't treat me like I am.
He had been furious. What he had been planning now needed to be drastically and swiftly changed. They would have this Slayer under their control. She had a debt to pay them, and she would pay it...and if she didn't, she was dead.
He had called Rupert when he had gotten back to his room, knowing the resident Watcher would most likely know where the wayward Slayer had decided to live. The man had proven less than helpful.
In the end, he resorted to a locator spell, only to have it hindered in a strange and somewhat alarming fashion. The crystal had exploded, and the map burst into flames. Luckily, he had had a bottle of water nearby to douse the flames before the fire alarm could kick in. After that incident, he decided that to vacate the premises might be a wise thing to do.
That decision had led to now: the Head of the Watchers Council walking the streets of Sunnydale in search of the Slayer. This was work completely below his station, and someone would be paying for it!
Quentin was taking a shortcut through one of the parks in this city, when he spotted two somewhat familiar faces ahead: Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay. The redheaded witch seemed extremely nervous, while the other calm. A strange switch in personalities, he knew, and one that bore closer scrutiny.
Using the vegetation about him to hide his presence, the Watcher discretely drew closer to the two, until he could clearly hear them, yet they not see him.
"Do you really think this will work," Miss Rosenberg was asking of her companion.
"It worked on our apartment, didn't it?" The other stated quietly. "We carefully worked out what we needed the spell to do, and you saw how well it settled when we did it at our place. It'll do the same thing at the other locations."
The redhead wrung her hands as she said, "I know! But what if he notices the spell? Giles said that Watchers are supposed to be observant like that."
A gentle smile and a faint hint of amusement were in the slightly taller one's eyes as she replied, "What if he does? Willow, he's likely only to go to the Magic Box out of all the places we're warding. The others are just a precaution. Also, it's a magic shop! It makes sense that there would be spells happening there."
"But, but, what if we haven't set the distance right? W-what if we haven't given them enough time to hide and stuff before Quentin shows up? That would be really, really bad!"
"Willow. Breathe! Everything'll be fine. Come on, Giles said Mr. Travers won't be there right now. So we should get over there and do this while we have the chance," Miss Maclay coaxed.
Nodding in reluctant agreement, Willow followed Tara, saying just before they were out of Quentin's hearing range, "I still say we should've made the spell mobile, and centered on them."
Tara's response was barely heard, as she commented, "Only if we had been able to work out the counter charm last night. Which we didn't."
The Watcher remained where he was as he watched the two witches move out of sight, his mind carefully going over what he had just heard. So, they are keeping something from me, Quentin thought. Not very smart of them...especially now that I know of it. Now, what was that spell that would allow me to get past detection spells undetected?
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
It was noontime at the Magic Box, and Rupert Giles was ruing the fact that Anya was not there as he went over the monetary accounts. The girl might be an ex-demon and not know how to behave in human society well, but she sure knew her numbers. That and her knowledge of demon lore were invaluable.
Looking once more at his calculations, and wondering how they were not adding up correctly, he at last shook his head and gave up. He would just have to wait for Anya to return. Hopefully, she would be able to sort out this mess. As he was putting the account book back under the counter in the vault there, the doorbell jingled as the door opened. Looking up, he saw Adam enter, Faith trailing behind the Immortal at a leisurely pace, alert eyes darting quickly about the shop.
Standing up straight as the Slayer's eyes focused on him, Giles inquired, "F-faith, Adam, I hope everything is well?"
"Peachy-keen, Watcher-mine," Faith answered flippantly as she went up to the counter opposite him, and leaned sideways against it.
Giles' gut twisted at those words, unsure if he should take them at face value, or as something else. Taking off his glasses and pulling out his ever-present handkerchief, he began to clean the lenses as he asked Adam, "How goes your search?"
The Immortal grimaced, before saying, "Not well. I can't seem to find a demon willing enough to pull this off, and all my old connections aren't working either. Angel is having similar difficulties, as well."
"Blast," the Watcher muttered, a brief scowl appearing on his face, before he resolutely brought his mind to other matters. "Willow and Tara were here this morning. The wards are functioning as intended."
"Ya sure 'bout that, G," the Slayer asked seriously. "I don't want nothin' bad happenin' to D and B because of a goof up."
Giles withheld a wince at the nickname, thinking to himself that it was a lot better than Xander's, and replied, "I know it works, as an hour ago, Quentin was here." He then paused, and looked at Faith. "He's quite cross with you at the moment."
Faith scoffed as Adam inquired, "How will we know when the wards are active? As this is a public business, I would imagine it would not be too obvious."
The Watcher nodded in agreement, before saying, "You are correct." He pointed to the top of a tall bookcase set almost midway between the checkout counter and the table where they did most of their Slayer-related research. Where he pointed was a crystal dragon glowing a steady forest green. "When Quentin triggers the wards, it will glow red. They also added the, ah, effect of smoke coming out of its mouth when it activates."
"Huh, and if no one's looking at it," Faith asked.
"It will give a steady whistle, that will grow louder the closer he gets, like a teakettle blowing. When it does that, you need only say 'finite' to stop the sound."
"Clever," the Immortal commented, before pulling out a cellphone and flipping it open. He quickly dialed a number on speed dial, and waited for the line to be picked up on the other end. A moment later, he said, "Come on it."
As Adam did that, the Slayer asked while gesturing toward the crystal statue, "Where'd those come from?"
"Uh, well," Giles stuttered for a second while fiddling with his glasses, not expecting the question, before saying, "They were already in the shop before I bought it. I'm just glad to finally find a use for them."
"Cool," was Faith's absent response as she watched Dawn enter the store, her back now against the counter. "Hey, Brat."
Dawn rolled her eyes at the nickname, and came to stand beside her fellow Slayer.
Giles put his glasses back on as he said, "I am assuming that Buffy will be joining us shortly?"
Dawn looked over at him and nodded, saying, "Yep."
Making a humming sound of understanding, the Watcher turned to Adam, who was studying the magicked statue, and asked him, "What do you have planned today with Buffy, Adam?"
The Immortal looked towards Giles, and answered, "Just a basic overview of what she already knows, and then I'll teach her the more advanced forms of swordplay based on her performance."
"Sounds good," Buffy said as she stepped out of the training room. Stopping and leaning against the study table, she said to her daughter, "You ready for your first day of Slayer training, Dawn?"
The teenager's face lit up with anticipation as she nodded her head enthusiastically. This caused Faith to laugh lowly, and throw an arm across Dawn's shoulders.
Squeezing the girl in a one armed hug, the middle Slayer commented, "You'll feel otherwise when I'm through with you, D."
Dawn just rolled her eyes at that.
Giles cleared his throat to draw everyone's attention to him. Once he had it, he suggested, "Perhaps it is best to get started? I still need to man the store, but will step in periodically to see how things are progressing."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
A bone-jarring thud sounded over the clashing of swords within the training room. Silence quickly descended as the two Immortals stopped their swordplay to stare at Dawn's now prone form, Buffy looking concerned. Faith walked a slow circle about the breathless teenager while wiping sweat from her brow.
As Dawn groaned and reluctantly began to get up, the middle Slayer said, "Damn, D, I haven't had this much fun since B and I sparred for the hell of it."
Dawn stopped getting up, and glared up at Faith from her sitting position. The reinstated Slayer just smirked, before extending her hand.
When Dawn didn't take her hand, and remained where she was, Faith rocked back on her heels, crossed her arms, and asked, "Ya bring that knife I gave you?"
"It's in Adam's car in my backpack," the young Slayer mumbled in reply.
"It's not going to do you much good there, Brat," Faith commented lightly, before saying a little more seriously, "Tell you what: we'll take a short break. You go get that knife, and I'll give you some fine pointers on how to use it, as well as teach you a few tricks that've come in handy for me a few times. How's that sound?"
Dawn looked intrigued, and silently extended her hand to the other Slayer. Grinning, Faith took the offered hand, and hoisted the girl to her feet with ease. Once standing, Faith gave her a light push, and said, "Get going. Clock's ticking."
A half-hearted glare was all Dawn gave before leaving the room, grabbing a hand towel on the way out the door.
Buffy came to stand beside Faith. Gazing the way her daughter had gone, she asked, "How'd she do?"
Glancing briefly at the eldest Slayer to see if the question was genuine, Faith responded, "Not bad. You sure she's never had training before this?"
Buffy shook her head, and answered, "Pretty sure. The only thing I can think is that she picked up some stuff from hanging around me. That, or Spike's been giving her pointers behind my back. They like hanging out together for some strange reason."
Faith gave a short amused laugh, and said, "Probably both. Also, there's Slayer instinct to think about. Us Slayers learn pretty fast when it comes to fighting."
Buffy nodded, and said in agreement, "Yeah."
"Even with all that to aid her, she has much still to learn," Adam commented as he walked over to the two Slayers, sword held so that it was point up behind his left shoulder.
"Ain't that the truth...for any of us," Faith said, before facing Buffy and asking, "You wanna help set up what I have planned next for D, B?"
Raising an eyebrow, Buffy asked wryly, "And what's that?"
Grinning, Faith answered, "Just some knife throwing. Nothing big."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Giles looked up from the box of herbs he was inventorying to see Dawn exit the training room and head outside at a quick pace. To his eyes, she looked like she had received a thorough workout with Faith, and from what little he had seen of them sparring, he knew it to be true.
Putting the box he held down when Dawn reentered the shop with a backpack over one shoulder, the Watcher inquired, "You are done for the day?"
Neither noticed the door closing slower than normal as the young Slayer shook her head, changed course direction, and came towards him. She replied once she was standing beside him, "Nah. Just needed to get something for what I'm doing next."
"And that would be," Giles asked of both the item and activity.
Anticipation lit the girl's eyes as she said with some excitement, "Faith's going to teach me how to use the knife she gave me yesterday." She then paused, looked at him consideringly, and made a gesture towards the training room, and asked, "You wanna come and watch?"
Giles internally winced as he took off his glasses and began polishing them; images of all that could go wrong with the activity just described flashing through his mind. He decided, then, that it might be a good idea to oversee this exercise...supernatural beings or not something could happen!
The Watcher nodded and said in response to the young Slayer's request, "Perhaps I will. I just need to put the Out to Lunch sign up, and I'll be in there."
Dawn grinned widely in pleasure, her expression blinding in its rarity, before practically skipping to the training room. Shaking his head in bemusement, Giles went to do as he had said he would.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The first thing he saw upon entering the training room were Faith and Dawn, their heads almost touching as they quietly talked where they stood together. The older Slayer was pointing to various places on the knife she held, obviously explaining what each part of the weapon could accomplish to the younger.
Seeing that those two were preoccupied to the point where he shouldn't interrupt them, Giles viewed the rest of the room, and saw Buffy putting up a target on the wall farthest from the other Slayers. There was a frown on her face, and he decided that it was best if he did not disturb her. Looking further, he saw that he was not the only one watching the room.
The Immortal stood off to one side of Buffy, arms folded before him, his expression indulgent. It was a look that clearly said that he was only a spectator in all this as he gazed at the various Slayers.
As Giles came to stand by Adam, he asked, "How did the sparring go?"
Adam glanced at him, before answering, "She has a solid understanding of the basic forms, and a rather ingenious method of combining various moves when needed. Whoever taught her should be commended."
Giles adjusted his glasses, and said, "Ah, that would be primarily Angel...with I and Buffy's previous Watcher giving her some understanding of the sword. The rest is purely her."
"So I noticed," the Immortal agreed. "She has a great deal of raw talent, and is well on her way to controlling it. From what I've been able to glean about her before coming here, that ability, coupled with her Slayer duties, has made her quite the formidable foe...and kept her alive."
The Watcher nodded, not too surprised with Adam's assessment. He was startled, though, by the Immortal's next comment.
"Dawn, though she looks to equal her mother's skill level, will most likely go beyond Buffy's capabilities...given time."
"What makes you say that," Giles asked, his curiosity piqued by what this particular Immortal would have to say.
Tilting his head to the side in contemplation, before turning memory leaden eyes on the Watcher, Adam answered, "In my life, I've trained and watched over Slayers, and no, I will not tell you how many. Each one had areas where they excelled, but it was always where they were weak that was their downfall. Buffy, she is aware of where she is not as skilled, and can adequately compensate when needed. Dawn, from what I've seen of her, knows where she is weak, and seeks to push through and make it a strength instead. In other words, Buffy is complacent with where she is, while Dawn is not. This will eventually show which is the better Slayer, as it were."
Giles nodded his understanding and agreement, then looked over at Faith as the Slayer called, "Yo, B, ya ready on your end, 'cause we are?"
All watched as the eldest Slayer made one last adjustment, stepped well away from the target, and said with a decisive nod, "Go ahead."
Faith nodded back, before turning to Dawn. The teenager looked nervous, but determined as she fiddled with the knife in her hands. Her tone soothing, yet instructional, the middle Slayer said, "Now, remember what I said: don't push it. Let it come naturally, and you'll be fine."
Dawn nodded jerkily, and eyed the target as if afraid it would move suddenly. Slowly raising the knife with a look of concentration, she then threw it swiftly. The knife imbedded itself into the target...an inch away from the upper-right edge.
After a pause and shake of her head, Faith said somewhat sternly, "What'd I tell ya?" She caught the knife Buffy tossed her and held it by the hilt, the blade resting along her forearm. Extending her arm to offer the weapon to Dawn, she ordered, "Take a deep breath, think about your target, relax, and when you're ready: throw it."
Nodding with a frown, Dawn closed her eyes. Slowly taking the required breath, she held it a moment, then just as slowly released it. The youngest Slayer's shoulders relaxed on the second breath, and on the third, she extended her hand for her knife. Faith placed the hilt in Dawn's hand, and the teen firmly wrapped her fingers around it. Dawn opened her eyes. There was a look in the blue depths that caused a shiver to run down one's spine, before she turned suddenly ninety degrees, and threw the blade.
Just before the knife reached the wall, there was a sharp cry of alarm, followed by a bone-jarring thud as the weapon slid firmly into the wall at roughly shoulder height on the average man.
Stunned silence fell, before a conglomeration of voices filled the air. Above them all rose Faith's voice as she yelled, "What the hell, D?"
Everyone seemed to agree with that question, and quieted to hear the young Slayer's response.
Dawn fidgeted, before saying somewhat defensively, "Well, I did what you said, and when I was calm enough, I sensed something wrong over there. When I felt that, I just knew I needed to throw the knife that way. And, anyway, shouldn't we be worrying about what I caught and not how?"
This galvanized people into action, as Giles quickly made his way into the shop to find what he needed to make the invisible visible. Faith and Buffy went to stand intimidatingly in front of whoever it was that had been captured, Dawn hovering apprehensively behind them. All three could hear and see the effort their "guest" was making trying to get the knife loose to escape.
The Immortal had a different method of ensuring their prisoner stayed put, as he went to stand near the wall and raised his sword. He rested the weapon on top of the knife hilt—though it did not lay on it, before moving the blade back slowly until it would go no further. Once that was done, Adam commanded in a dangerous tone that promised pain or even possibly death if not followed, "Be still."
Almost immediately, there was a sharply drawn breath from the unseen person, followed by the sword blade landing solidly down onto the hilt of the still embedded knife.
All were silent and still after that as they listened to Giles moving around the shop. After what felt like hours to some of the occupants in the training room, they heard Giles exclaim in triumph, "Aha!"
A minute later, their "guest" was revealed, and the crystal dragons shrilled loudly, smoke blowing from their mouths, as their bodies glowed an angry blood red. A quick cry of "finite" silenced the statues, as Giles hurried back into the training room, his expression cross.
No one seemed able to speak as they all stared at the one revealed, who starred angrily back at them. It was finally Adam who broke the stalemate by saying in disgust, "Quentin Travers," before removing his sword from the man's throat, and re-sheathing the weapon.
What Buffy said next pretty much summed up the thoughts and feelings of the others, as she said bitterly, "Well, there goes that plan."
Faith snorted, before reaching over and pulling the knife out of the wall with a sharp jerk. The Head Watcher could not hide a flinch as she did this, which caused the middle Slayer to smirk before handing the knife to Dawn. The youngest took the weapon, her expression clearly stating that she wanted to use it somewhere else on the man before her.
Giles, with what could be called a growl, reached decisively up, took off his glasses, and placed them in his shirt pocket. Stepping forward, he placed a hand on Buffy's shoulder, and firmly-yet-gently moved her out of his way. A dark glance in Faith's direction caused the reformed Slayer to retreat to where Dawn and Buffy now stood together.
Glaring, the resident Watcher said, "You couldn't leave well enough alone. What was your plan? What did you hope to accomplish here?"
"What I had planned doesn't matter. What matters is you dared to fabricate your reports again, Rupert," Quentin snapped furiously. Pointing an accusing finger at Buffy, he asked, "Why did you lie and report her dead, when she is clearly standing here alive?"
"Because she did die," Adam stated quietly, causing Quentin's attention to snap to him. "She is Immortal. It is the reason I am here."
Teeth clenched, the Head of the Watchers Council declared succinctly, "That's not possible. The spell that created the first Slayer would make sure of that!"
Buffy scoffed at those words, before saying scathingly, "Oh, I'm sure it did! What better way to control the Slayer than to make sure she never gets old enough to realize that you don't have her best interests at heart, huh? You must absolutely hate how women are finding that they can think for themselves and choose what they want to do in their lives in this day and age! Newsflash, Quentin: we're not your slave, and we won't be treated like one. Get with the program and change with the times! Your organization will soon find yourself without a Slayer if you don't."
Eyes shimmering with fury, Quentin gave forth a short and harsh laugh. In a near mocking tone, he said, "Oh, really? The Watchers Council knows how to kill an Immortal just as well as you do. You aren't invincible. Remember that. As for not having any Slayer, I see three right before me. As for that: I'd dearly love to know how you kept your sister from being detected at her activation! Was it your witch friends? If it were, I'd love to recruit them. And if they refuse, they'd just be unnecessaries that should be gotten rid of before they cause further harm with their good intentions!"
A wordless cry of fury escaped Buffy, before she lunged towards Quentin. The two Slayers on either side of her quickly grabbed her to keep her from her goal, their expressions clearly stating how much they wanted to let the elder Slayer attain what she wanted. At the same exact moment, Giles reared back and punched Quentin square in the face. The Head Watcher staggered back from the force of the blow, and fell to the floor when he stumbled over Adam's foot..., which happened to suddenly be in the way.
Just as the three Slayers fell to the floor in a tangled heap and Quentin began cursing as he held his nose, a male voice bellowed at the top of his lungs, "THAT IS ENOUGH!"
Everyone froze, and turned their attention to the one who had spoken to see the Head Messenger for the Powers That Be glaring at them all. Whistler stepped further into the room, and growled out, "I swear that dealing with you lot is worse than dealing with the Powers sometimes! Act like the Champions you are, people! You are better than this!"
With those words spoken, the demon crossed his arms and watched as Buffy and Dawn quickly scrambled to their feet, both breathing heavily, their ire still up despite their efforts to calm themselves. They immediately pulled Faith up as well at the Messenger's pointed look. Giles rubbed his knuckles while glowering, and Adam merely leaned one shoulder against the wall, eyebrow raised in silent challenge.
Quentin remained on the floor, trying to stave off the nosebleed he had, quietly gloating at the chewing out he expected the others to get. Therefore, he was shocked to suddenly find himself on the receiving end of the said lecturing, when Whistler snarled while glaring solely at him, "And you have gone too far!"
"What? I'm the one wronged here," Quentin exclaimed.
"Like hell you are," Buffy snapped. "You're the one that's throwing threats around!"
This finally motivated the Head Watcher to his feet as he spat out, "Only because of the actions of those here! If you behaved like a proper Slayer, I wouldn't have to resort to such maneuvers. As it is, we now need to report that you are still active, and that your sister is a Slayer as well. Don't you even begin to comprehend the amount of paperwork that must now be done because of this?"
"You leave Dawn out of this," Buffy retorted, just as Whistler stepped between the two and shoved them apart.
The demon glared fully at the eldest Slayer until she stepped back and Dawn latched herself forcefully onto her, before turning around and laying said glare on Quentin. In very clipped tones, he said, "Buffy and Dawn Summers are no longer the concern of the Watchers Council. The Powers That Be have personally claimed them as Their Champions...Their Slayers. That is the reason your group did not recognize Dawn's activation. As for Faith, she is still your Slayer, but if you abuse or 'unintentionally' cause her or her successors any undue harm, your people will quickly learn what having the wrath of a god aimed at you means."
Silence descended, as all watched as Quentin Travers shook with the force of his rage and impotent fury. Jaw firmly clenched, and lips barely moving, he hissed out before storming out of the shop in his wounded dignity and pride, "This is not over."
Next Part: Hehehe! The shit hits the fan. (smirk)
Part Finished: 2/14/08 - Happy Valentine's Day!
