A/N: A big thanks to my betas, Jason, leathon, and satsuma!
Buffy followed the vampires through a store room into a corridor. They then turned into another room. She walked through the doorway, preparing herself for whatever or whoever was on the other side. She was vaguely disappointed to find that it was just an office, complete with a desk, chairs, and piles of paperwork.
She quickly took stock of her surroundings, immediately noting that there were only two doors; the one they came in and one behind Mr. Big Shot, who was now casually leaning against the front of the desk. The blonde stood next to him while the other vampire stood behind Buffy off to the side.
The office itself was small and with all four of them there, it was a little crowded. To Buffy, however, it felt downright claustrophobic.
She tried to put as much space between her and everyone else as much as possible, but it was a difficult task in the confined space. The best she could do was stand in the center of the room. At least she had a straight path to the door, even if it was closed now. All her senses were on high alert as she felt a familiar rush of adrenaline. It felt wonderful. She felt alive.
She forced herself to give the outward appearance of calm, however. She had already all but waved a stake in front of them out in the bar with her refusal to kowtow to the Sheriff in all his fangy glory. There was no need to escalate the situation – that is, any more than she already had – just because she was itching for a good slay. Besides, she was much more vulnerable there.
And she had to admit, for all their intimidation, they really hadn't done anything besides annoy her, which sadly wasn't a crime.
Eric's perceptive eyes picked up on her strategic positioning as well as her demeanor. He said nothing, however, and just looked at her expectantly, obviously waiting for her to speak first.
At his unyielding silence, Buffy rolled her eyes. Not this again. The first time was to make a point, but again? Hadn't they moved past that? At this rate, she was going to need eye drops before the night was through.
"So, like I was saying, I- hey!" she exclaimed, for now she had a face full of vampire chest again.
Eric had waited until she became distracted with talking to take two very large steps toward her.
Buffy felt her palms twitch, but she did nothing. Although he was purposefully crowding her way beyond her comfort level once again, at the end of the day, she wanted information from him. They both knew it. He was really pushing his luck, though.
"Is this a habit of yours? Cuz I gotta say, it's not one of your more endearing qualities," she said as coolly as she could.
He ignored this and looked down at her. He used his proximity to push his glamour onto her, his blue eyes gazing into her green ones.
"Now tell me. What are you doing here?" he asked intently with an almost seductive tone to his voice.
"Obviously not soaking up the Southern hospitality," she retorted almost immediately.
So much for calm. It wasn't her fault, though; she tried. Apparently he just brought it out of her. Really, he had a gift. And what was with the come hither look in those gorgeous blue eyes of his anyway?
Eric was shocked; he quickly glanced at Pam, who also looked surprised.
Buffy saw this and quickly deduced what had happened. It seemed as though Blondie didn't have all the power over her he thought he did. "What, were you trying to thrall me? Because I am so over that. Two years, thrall-free," she smirked.
Up until that very moment, Buffy hadn't been 100% positive she would be able to resist a vamp's glamour, especially one as powerful as he obviously was. Sure, she had managed to overcome both the Master's and Dracula's powers of hypnosis, but that was only after she had fallen under it.
When she drank Dracula's blood and understood her 'true' nature, however, she felt… different, like a part of her had finally woken up. She could feel the change, and she was grateful for it, once she got beyond the ick factor. She had delved into the essence of the Slayer and came out stronger for it.
Because her situation was so unique, she knew that she was probably one of the few slayers, if not the only, who was able to build up her thrall 'immunity'. Consequently, she knew that resisting a glamour wouldn't necessarily mark her as a slayer. It would, however, definitely raise the alarm. She braced herself for the fallout.
Eric studied her closely. He didn't know what to make of this entire situation. He didn't know what to make ofher. There weren't many humans who could resist a vampire's glamour. In fact, Sookie was the only one that came to mind. Just who was this girl? Could she also be a mind reader?
He had gone into his office with every intention of using his glamour and perhaps a little force to make the girl talk. But now… His mind raced with the possibilities.
"My apologies," he said smoothly, stepping back to lean against the desk again. "So tell me about this friend of yours, the one you are willing to… throw yourself to the lions for."
Buffy narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Why was he Mr. Helpful all of a sudden? Shouldn't he be angry that his glamour didn't work? Maybe he had something to do with Vi's disappearance after all and was treading carefully. Then again, he was like a broken record asking her why she was there, which indicated that he had no clue.
"Do you care this much about all missing humans?" Buffy asked, blithely ignoring his request.
"No," he replied bluntly. "But I care when someone implies that it is because of vampires."
Pam nodded. "It's bad for business," she added.
Buffy was momentarily taken aback, not so much by the blonde vampire's complete lack of concern for missing people but by her candidness. She meant it. And in some weird, twisted way, Buffy appreciated her honesty. It was probably one of the few completely true things that had been said all night. Still, she had an image to protect. And a moral stance.
"Yeah, because that's what's most important here," she said sarcastically.
The blonde vampire just smiled serenely.
Buffy knew she wasn't going to win this argument, so she moved on. It was time to get down to business anyway.
"My friend came here, and I want to know if anyone's seen her or knows what happened to her," she said frankly. She pulled a photo out of her back pocket. "Here, I've got a photo. She's the redhead."
Buffy resolutely avoided looking at it. She had already committed every detail to memory anyway. Vi and Dawn were laughing at some prank they pulled on Xander.
She was lucky she had it at all. Andrew had taken a bunch of pictures while they were training the potentials, insisting that there needed to be a record of the momentous event for posterity. He had e-mailed the best ones to her in hopes that the large file sizes would encourage her to look at them and give them her slayer sanction before her inbox imploded.
She never did manage to look at them; there was never enough time for something as seemingly superfluous as that. After all, they were focusing on defeating the First; it hardly seemed the time for scrapbooking. Now she couldn't have been happier that she didn't; it was all she had left in the way of memories. She just wished she had showed the tiniest bit more patience with Andrew when he was taking them. He did have his moments, and this definitely rated up there.
This photo in particular was one of her favorites. There was nothing slayer-related in it, just two teenage girls acting like teenage girls. It was nice to pretend.
Eric studied her for a moment before taking the photo from her. To Buffy's surprise, he really looked at it, and not just to humor her. Then he gave it to Pam, who just gave it a cursory glance before handing it back to Buffy.
Buffy carefully measured their reactions. She didn't expect them to start jumping up and down in excitement, but she had hoped for something, whether it was a flicker of recognition, suspicion, or, hell, even satisfaction. To her disappointment, though, they showed no reaction whatsoever. That would've been too easy and she couldn't have that, could she?
"Well?" Buffy asked with as much patience as she could muster. "Do you remember her?"
Eric shrugged. "No. Pam?"
Pam pursed her lips in thought. "No, but then again, all you humans tend to blur after awhile," she said.
And again with the brutal honesty. If Buffy didn't know any better, she would've sworn this vampire was starting to grow on her.
"What about you?" she asked the vampire behind her. She turned and held out the photo to him. She purposefully made it so he had to walk to her to see it, pulling him away from the door.
He looked at the photo. "No, sorry," he grunted.
Buffy carefully tucked the photo back into her pocket and turned to the Sheriff and his gal pal. What she really wanted to ask was whether any hybrid vamps lurked around Shreveport. Their existence wasn't exactly common knowledge, however, so her mention of them would only raise difficult questions. She would have to find that part out on her own.
It was time to cut her losses and run, for tonight anyway. She had done what she needed to do. They knew she was looking for Vi. If they did have something to do with her friend's disappearance, she would know soon enough. And they had given her plenty to think about otherwise.
"Well, er, thanks. I'll just get out of your way then and leave you to your morally ambiguous ways," she said as she backed up to the door. At Eric's voice, however, she stopped.
"Wait. We haven't discussed what you're going to do for me," Eric said with a small smile. He had let her take control of the conversation for awhile, but now it was his turn. And he had her right where he wanted her.
Buffy was so surprised by this, all she could manage was a 'Huh?' She inwardly winced at her stunning comeback.
"I helped you, but we haven't discussed what you're going to do for me in repayment," he repeated.
"You've got to be kidding," Buffy said in disbelief. "You looked at a photo and gave me no useful information whatsoever."
He shook his head. "No, I let you question me, I let you question my staff, and I ignored your insinuations that someone here had something to do with this. You owe me," he insisted.
She frowned, not liking where this conversation was headed one bit. "Okay, I'm outta here," she announced. "Have fun with those delusions of yours."
She whirled around, not caring anymore if she put her back to them. In fact, part of her wanted them to attack. She had walked into a trap, just not the kind she was expecting. She got as far as yanking the door open before he called out to her.
"You owe me, and if you don't figure out a way to pay me back, then I can make finding your friend extremely difficult for you, if not impossible. And not just here in Fangtasia." He kept his tone light, but the threat couldn't have been clearer.
For the first time since she walked into his stupid bar, Buffy felt rage boiling within her. No annoyance, no irritation, just tear your head off rage. It was one thing not to be useful; but to get in her way when her friend's life was at stake? Not in this lifetime. She turned around and fixed him with a blazing look, her eyes becoming pools of green fire.
"Let me make myself clear," she said in a low, dangerous voice. "If I find out you had something to do with this, or if you get in my way with finding out who did, I will personally tear this whole goddamn building down… with you in it."
All the vampires in the room were astonished. She was threatening them, and for some reason they believed she would follow through on her threat. They finally got a glimpse of who she really was, and it was a real eye opener. She radiated sheer power.
Eric was fascinated. Now more than ever he wanted to know who she was. He wasn't afraid, either; he had lived far too long for that. Besides, at that moment, she was a Valkyrie incarnate.
"I want to know. Who are you?" he asked forcefully. "What are you?"
Buffy froze, his words inadvertently stirring a distant memory. An image of Tara flashed through her mind as words from a dream came back to her.
You think you know, what you are, what's to come. You haven't even begun.*
She had been so sure of herself then, so sure of her place in the world. She had scoffed at the prophetic words, thinking that they only referred to her lack of knowledge about the Slayer inside her. Now the words seemed to mock her.
Who was she? What was she? And most frightening of all, who would she be if she failed to save Vi and the other girls?
"I don't know," she said, almost in a whisper. The walls were closing in on her. She needed to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Eric was not ready for her to go yet, however. He grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving. Acting on pure instinct, Buffy lashed out with her other hand, connecting solidly with his jaw.
The next thing Eric knew, he was flying through the air. He crashed into Pam, who was already moving toward them, and they landed on the floor in a heap. Buffy dodged under Chow's reaching arm, and then she got the hell out of Dodge.
With a snarl, Eric jumped to his feet. But the human was gone. So was Chow, presumably chasing after the girl.
Eric rubbed his sore jaw as he waited for Chow to return. No normal human could hit with such power, especially not a tiny girl. It could mean only one thing.
She was the Slayer. It all made sense now. And it changed everything.
Pam stood up with a slightly disgruntled look. "What was that?" she asked.
"A Slayer," he replied tersely.
Pam's eyes widened in shock. She had assumed that she was a junkie, gaining her abnormal strength from drinking vampire's blood. But a Slayer? That little human was the Slayer?
Some vampires even doubted she existed, including many in Fangtasia. They thought the Slayer was just a story told to newly made vampires to impress upon them the importance of discretion. And the girl before them was not at all like the stories she had heard.
Slayers were… feral. They went after the mongrel vampires for a reason. They didn't talk with vampires, they didn't reason with them, and they definitely didn't come into a vampire's territory to ask them questions about a missing human. It was probably why Eric hadn't realized who she was sooner. Pam wasn't even sure if he had ever faced one before.
Chow came back and shook his head. She had escaped.
"Make some discreet inquiries about the Slayer, Pam. I want everything; her name, her last known location, her current location, her favorite color, everything," Eric ordered. He turned to Chow. "Chow, come with me. We have some matters to discuss."
