Disclaimer: Buffy and Torchwood universes are not mine. I'm just playing with them ^^

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Here's the next chapter. Hope you'll like it.

Chapter Four

Don't spoil my fun!

The next day, she decided not to wait for night to search for the Sire. She was fairly certain he would live near his hunting grounds. As far as she knew, the demon population wasn't aware that a Slayer had come to Cardiff. It was too soon, and this was the first real case she had had since she moved here. They were unaware of the danger and weren't hiding really well. Or at least this guy wasn't. Thinking about it, Cardiff was a relatively calm city. Maybe these Torchwood guys were like the Slayer, giving demons a good reason to keep a low profile.

Whatever it was, Buffy was determined to find the Sire. She had studied the areas around where the bodies were found, thanks to the maps Cadogan had let her borrow. It was nice to work with the police instead of against them. And a little weird. But she liked it. She spent her day wandering the city and all the abandoned buildings she found.

It was near five pm and she was getting bored when she found it. It was an empty three-story building being rebuilt. It was only fifteen minutes away from where the third victim had been found. Her spidey sense woke up and she immediately went into Slayer-mode. She looked around the outside and found an open window on the first floor. For a human, it would have been unreachable. But not for a vampire or for her. She jumped up and caught the bottom edge of the window which she used to pull herself up noiselessly. She sneaked into the room and let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She used that time to listen. She heard mice somewhere above her but nothing more. She closed her eyes, concentrating. That's when she heard it. Steps below her.

She took out her stake and walked soundlessly. The air was thick with dust and it made her eyes water. She wanted to cough as it invaded her throat and her lungs. It was no problem to a vampire; after all, they didn't need to breath, but it was making her job a little harder. She had just gotten to the top of the stairs when her right foot sank into the floor, making an awful sound. Everything went still. She tried to free her foot discretely, slipping her stake in her pants and holding her ankle. Stupid building!

Then, he was there. This was a joke, right? Alive, the man might have been a bodybuilder. How the Hell someone could be that thick was beyond her. He was wearing dark pants and a beige shirt that was threatening to explode under the muscular mass. She couldn't help but comment.

"I don't think you chose the right size. I mean, I think I just heard your shirt scream in agony."

He growled and ran up the stairs. Using all her Slayer strength, she pulled her foot out of the floor. Unfortunately, it wasn't quick enough to block the punch that sent her flying into the wall behind her. Ignoring the stars in her eyes, she grabbed her stake. The battle was rough and violent. The vampire was really angry and experienced enough to be a good opponent. Her right ankle was sending out a jolt of pain each time she used it, be it for walking or hitting. She also felt blood pouring out of a wound. She was getting frustrated. Was she so out of shape?

Finally, she ended the fight. Unbalancing him using his own momentum when he ran toward her one more time. She sent him flying and before he hit the ground, she sank her stake into his heart and he disappeared into dust. She settled down on the ground and looked at her ankle. She hissed in pain when she saw the bit of wood sticking in her ankle. She pulled it out, clenching her teeth and breathing heavily through her nose. The wound was deep and she cursed the building. In her bag, she found her first aid kit and bandaged the wound as best she could. Finally she limped out of the building.

On the way back to her apartment, she received many glances. Some people even offered to drive her to the hospital. No one had ever offered to do something like that in Sunnydale! You could have bled to death and people would have looked the other way. In her apartment, she took a shower and tended to her injuries. Her ankle was the more serious one but it would be completely healed by tomorrow morning. She had two or three cracked ribs thanks to her meeting with the wall and she had a broken lip. Nothing serious.

After patching herself up, she made her way to the police station. She received many curious and concerned glances but nobody tried to talk to her. She arrived at Cadogan's office just when an officer was leaving. Cadogan spotted her and swore.

"Holy shit Summers! What happened to you?"

She answered while entering his office.

"Nothing serious."

She waited until he closed the door to continue.

"You don't have to worry about the murders anymore. I took care of it."

"What do you mean you took care of it?"

"I mean the three victims-turned-vampires and the one that made them are just four piles of dust now."

He sat down behind his desk, a strange expression on his face.

"Vampires…"

She frowned.

"Yeah. Remember that nice little conversation we had?"

"I remember perfectly. But it's a little more real now that you're in my office telling me that the murderer I was searching for was a vampire you reduced to dust."

She looked around his office as she let him adjust to the idea. They were a lot of medals and awards around, both professional and personal. It seemed he was a tennis player. There were pictures of him with different

people, several of whom were politicians. There was a woman called Harriet Jones. Buffy knew the name should have meant something to her but she couldn't remember exactly.

"You're injured. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. You need a lot more to take me down."

She looked at him and smiled.

"Don't make that face! You should see the other guy."

He relaxed.

"How long have you done it?" he asked.

"What? Kill the bad guys?"

He nodded.

"A long time. Too long."

She couldn't hide the weariness and she hated it. She didn't like it, it made her looked weak.

"Why are you doing it then? Can't you stop? You seem tired of it."

She smiled and focused her gaze on a picture of a younger Cadogan receiving some kind of diploma.

"I don't know what else to do. It's more than a job. It's who I am. And I'm really good at it."

His look told her she hadn't entirely convinced him, so she changed the subject.

"Torchwood didn't seem too happy at the crime scene."

He smiled widely at her.

"Oh they weren't. Captain Harkness paid me a little visit, wanting to know what the INC was and why they took his body."

"What did you say?"

"That it was some kind of new agency which will be active in Cardiff from now on."

"You're mean."

"You should have seen his face! It felt so good!"

"Let me rephrase it: you're evil!"

"Don't spoil my fun! Torchwood thinks they own this city. It's time someone knocks them off their pedestal."

After a few minutes of discussion, Buffy decided it was time to leave. She had the afternoon left for herself and was determined to take it easy; relax. She was in the hallway when she heard her name called. She turned

to see Andy coming toward her, wearing his near constant smile.

"Hi! What are you doing tonight?"

"Hi Andy. Tonight? Nothing. Why?"

"I'm off duty. We could go out for a drink and I could show you one or two interesting places."

"That's sound great. If I stay shut up in my apartment much longer, I'm going to start hating it!"

"Will you be okay? I heard that you were injured and you do kind of seem injured."

"What makes you think that?" she asked innocently.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the broken lip or the limping."

She glared at him. "I don't limp."

"If you say so."

"Thanks. I'm fine. That's not a problem for tonight."

They exchanged addresses and agreed on a place and time to meet. That night was the first of many others, and soon they called each other friends. Buffy liked Andy because he was nice, happy and funny. He was a breath of fresh air in her life. Being with him was so simple! No questions, no duty, no expectations… She could just be herself, plain old Buffy. They went to movies, clubs, even walks.

At work, he was a great ally. He had told her about Gwen Cooper, their friendship and how she had changed since she left the department for Torchwood. His resentment for the agency was clear. However, underneath it, Buffy could feel his envy. He was jealous of her. Maybe he hated Torchwood, but like everyone else, he had understood that they were doing an important job. Working for them was a big deal.

At the same time, she had barely heard from Willow. Giles had told her that Xander was somewhere in Africa. He was calling her weekly and sometimes, she was the one to call. They had talked a lot about the past, confessing things they had never dared to share. She had let him know how hard it had been for her to be brought back, how she had struggled every day after that. He had talked about his past as Ripper and the mistakes he had made. Somewhere in their long phone calls, they had made their bond stronger than ever. Dawn was sending her e-mails. They were avoiding phone calls. Buffy was torn between severe protectiveness and resentment. Dawn's betrayal had been the one which had hurt her the most. She couldn't forget the way she had sided with the Scoobies when they had kicked her out of her home. She was her sister, her blood! She had died for her! It was still hard.

The weeks after her first case were uneventful. The cops were always calling her right away on every weird case. Sometimes, she was the first to arrive. There wasn't much in the way of supernatural activity. Many times, her little computer had gone crazy because of this residual rift energy. She would quickly leave those crime scenes, shrugging at the cops and telling them, "Sorry, it's Torchwood's jurisdiction". She came across two deaths by vampires' bites and a small group of amateur witches who had inadvertently summoned a demon. They had been hurt and shocked, and most of them had sworn to never again play with magic.

That case had been fun but strenuous. The demon had been stupid but really strong and she had left the fight victorious but beaten. Andy had been at her side during her recovery and Buffy knew that he was starting to get suspicious. He had made several comments about how fast she healed and had asked what exactly her job was. She was thinking that maybe, she could tell him her secret. He could help her and she was pretty sure that he could handle the truth.

Cadogan had told her that Torchwood was beginning to get angry with her. He confessed to her that every time she went to a crime scene, he was manipulating the CCTV cameras, hiding her how he could. That had surprised her because she hadn't even been aware of them. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Torchwood unmasked her. They were arriving at crimes scenes faster now and she had barely left the previous crime scene unnoticed.

Right now, Andy and Buffy were enjoying a nice evening out. They were enjoying a walk before going home. It was near midnight and the moon was high in the sky. It was a little cold for the Californian. But she was getting used to it. She was laughing at one of Andy's anecdotes, clinging to his arm with tears rolling down her cheeks. He had a way to tell a tale that was hilarious.

"You should have seen his face! He had all this weird stuff all over him! Then Torchwood came by and when they saw him, they asked him to hand over his clothes because it was part of the case. It was freezing and he had no other clothes!"

"You know, I love your accent."

"Thanks."

"Really. When I arrived, you have no idea how hard it was to understand you."

"Because you think it was easy to understand you? And all your Buffyness!"

"That's not even a word!"

"Please! You invent half your words."

"That's not true."

She just glared at him, trying to keep her face serious. She let go of his arm and walked away.

"Come on, Buf-arrrgh"

She turned around and saw Andy on the floor with a dark shape on top of him. Without thinking she ran. Grabbed the collar of the thing that appeared to be wearing overalls and threw it away, sending it flying a few meters.

"Andy!"

He was on the floor and there was blood everywhere. He was pale and clenching his jaw, hard. He had protected himself with his arms and his left one was a mess. She took off his scarf and used it as a tourniquet. Everything had taken barely a minute.

"Hold on Andy!"

She looked back just in time to see the thing jump at her. She met him in midair, grabbing him by the throat and taking him down with her. He freed himself and she grimaced when she saw his face. His head was huge and ugly, and his skin looked like some really thick parchment. His teeth were huge and all bloody now. In his eyes, there was no intelligence. He seemed more like an animal, a hungry one. She realized he felt off. He wasn't sending her a demon vibe. That was why she hadn't felt him. He didn't felt like a human either. He was cautious, staying at a distance. His eyes kept moving to Andy who was moaning on the ground. But he wasn't attacking. He roared before running away. She could have followed him but she didn't want to leave Andy.

She ran to her friend, helping him to stand up, using all her Slayer strength. She nearly carried him to his car while talking to him, keeping him conscious. She rummaged through his pocket. Finally finding the car key, she helped him inside and got behind the wheel. Sending a quick prayer to whoever was listening, she started up the car. With one hand, she grabbed her cell and called Cadogan. She quickly explained to him the situation and asked him to warn Torchwood. This thing was their problem. She arrived at the hospital without any accidents but with a few close calls. She had never been more grateful to have Slayer reflexes.

Andy was unconscious and she yelled for help. Doctors and nurses came running and took care of him. She answered the questions, saying he was a cop and she was some kind of special agent. Then, she found herself in a waiting room, shaking. The Slayer in her was calling for violence and blood. She wanted to hunt so badly! This thing had attacked her friend! But she couldn't do it. It wasn't her field. And she needed to be here for Andy. Swallowing her anger, she began to pace the room. And it had been such a nice evening…

¤ ¤ tbc ¤ ¤