A/N: Once again, sorry for the serious delays. To sum up: hard drive - crashed; my fics - into the black void; me - demoralized and unhappy. And on top of that, RL is really crazy right now, and it will be for the next, oh say nine months, and then for 18 years after that. ;) I'm going to do my best to update, but it may be slow for awhile. Thanks for hanging in there!
As always, thanks to my awesome betas, deiticlast, leathon, murg, SariLane, and Satsuma, to you for all the reviews, and to aygul, clockworkorange, and ebelitha for the recs!
The room was absolutely silent as everyone digested Sookie's words. It was probably for the best that Collins was still in a state of semi-consciousness, because he would have found three deadly gazes aimed in his direction.
Buffy was the first to speak. After all, this was all about her, wasn't it? Although if the Council knew about Sookie…
It made sense that they would have an idea of the players in the supernatural world, whether they tied directly to the Slayer or not. But Sookie in particular? Why? Her mind whirled with theories, questions, guesses – and none of them were good.
"I'm a slayer. THE Slayer, actually," she explained distractedly, her eyes never leaving Collins as she tried to figure this new puzzle out.
Sookie blinked in confusion. Was it just her, or did that clear up almost nothing? She could see that Buffy was deep in thought, but frankly, all things considered, she didn't care.
"But what does that mean?" she pressed.
"Cliff notes version? If it's supernaturally evil or evilly supernatural, then I kill it," Buffy summed up.
At first, Sookie almost laughed. How the heck could Buffy kill anything, let alone something with supernatural strength? Then again, there had to be a reason Eric was deferring to her. That's when the full implication of what Buffy said hit her and her eyes widened with alarm.
"Wait, what if they aren't evil? What if they're just… supernatural?" she asked.
At the same time, she scooted closer to Bill, though she wasn't sure whether it was to draw comfort or protect him. She also glanced up at him to see if she was the only one alarmed here. To her frustration, he had that stoic look on his face again. Honestly, she was getting sick and tired of not knowing what the heck he was thinking in times like these. They were going to have to work out some hand signals or something.
Buffy tore her gaze away from Collins and looked at Sookie. Not surprisingly, the telepath looked freaked. She shook her head, forcing herself to focus. First things first, time to make with the explaining. Then she could let her imagination – and maybe her fists – run wild.
"Honestly? If they don't kill humans, I've got no problems with them," she said slowly, inadvertently casting a quick glance over at Eric as she spoke, who merely gave his most angelic look back at her. She gave a snort of derision. "Please, just because I drank some of your blood doesn't mean I'm going to start drinking the Kool Aid, too."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Eric said with a small smile.
Despite herself, and the situation, Buffy rolled her eyes in amusement. He definitely kept things interesting, didn't he?
Because they were looking at each other, they didn't notice Bill's tiny jerk of surprise. Eric had a blood bond with the Slayer? Bill had severely underestimated the Sheriff, something which was extremely unsettling. Still, he said nothing, merely continuing to observe.
Sookie felt Bill flinch and wondered at it. Why did this, of all things, get a reaction from him? She had drunk from Bill. Sure, it made it more interesting because Buffy was supposed to kill Eric, not get healing from him, but it was hardly the most astonishing revelation of the night.
Knowing she wouldn't get any answers from Bill – at least not now – she looked over at Buffy with great interest. Since she had first met her a whole half hour ago, she had changed her opinion of the mysterious blonde no less than a million times. And now that she knew Bill was safe – mostly – she was really interested in learning more.
"How do you become a slayer? Are you 'made', like vampires? Or are you born one, like shifters?" she asked eagerly.
Buffy hesitated; she was a little reluctant to get into the whole 'one girl, the world is older than you think' speech. It bored her the first time, and now it just left a bitter taste in her mouth. She would have to tell Sookie something, though; it would help her understand Collins' thoughts. She took a deep breath.
"I'm one girl in a long line of girls who's been 'chosen', given special powers to fight the baddies," she said slowly. "We're called, one at a time, fighting the good fight until we're eventually killed. Then the next one's called."
Sookie gasped. She hadn't expected that. It was so… brutal. She immediately felt a wave of sympathy for her. And she thought being a telepath was difficult.
"Why just one girl at a time? Why couldn't the people handing out powers give it to a bunch of girls at once?" she asked.
Buffy looked down for a moment before answering. When she looked up at Sookie, there was a trace of sadness around her eyes for a split second before it disappeared completely.
"That's the million dollar question, isn't it? We tried doing that, but…" she trailed off for a moment before shrugging as casually as possible, though the movement felt stiff and contrived to her. "It didn't take."
Sookie didn't need to read Buffy's mind to know that there was a story behind that – one that obviously didn't end well. Though she was dying of curiosity, she didn't feel like it wasn't any of her business to ask. Besides, she had a dozen more questions running through her mind. Before she could ask a single one, however, Buffy spoke again.
"Did I miss anything?" she asked, her voice cold and hard as she rose to her feet.
Sookie was startled at the change in tone. Then she realized that Buffy was talking to Collins. She had been so focused on what Buffy had been saying, she must've unconsciously blocked him out of her mind. Now she could hear him trying to get his bearings, still mumbling bits of what she presumed to be British swears in his mind as he assessed the situation as best he could.
Collins cracked open his eyes, immediately giving Buffy a baleful look. "You're bloody right you did," he spat out. "You forgot to add that part where the Slayer forgets her duty and sleeps with enemy - repeatedly."
Sookie blinked in surprise, thinking at first that she had simply heard the man incorrectly. Bill must've doubted it as well, because he gave his second flinch of the night, possibly making it a world record. But Buffy's answering scowl told them both, however, that their hearing was just fine.
A person who was supposed to kill demons that also slept with them? It sounded like a soap opera – one that she would probably watch, curled up on her couch in her pj's with a big bowl of popcorn.
And Sookie thought she was dying of curiosity before.
The room was still silent after the man's scathing reply. Sookie saw her opportunity to ask another question – and she took it.
"What does he have to do with all this?" she blurted out, inwardly congratulating herself that a question involving vampire sex didn't accidentally worm its way out. Of course, with the way Buffy was still glaring at the man, it wasn't too difficult to exercise a little self-preservation.
At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, Collins whipped his head around to stare at Sookie. Surprised recognition dawned in his eyes, though he quickly tried to mask it.
In a room with two vampires and a slayer, however, it was a futile attempt. Buffy's eyes narrowed suspiciously while both Bill and Eric stood and took a menacing step toward him, Bill purposefully putting himself in between the human and Sookie.
Sookie could hear the man gulp in fear, and honestly, she didn't blame him. She gave a start, however, when she realized that he wasn't afraid of Eric or Bill. He was afraid of Buffy, or at least of what she would find out.
She peered around Bill to look more closely at the stranger. She could hear him chanting something over and over again inside his mind. Though the words sounded foreign, almost like a spell, she suspected that it was more to keep her out than anything else. And it was working.
Buffy watched this exchange closely, wondering what Sookie was hearing. She knew better than to ask, though. No, her job was to allow Sookie to do hers. Since Collins obviously recognized the telepath, there was no use beating around the bush, either.
"Slayers are guided by an organization, one that he belongs to. We had a, er, falling out, though. And, well, can you tell the trust is gone?" she said with a smirk as she eyed the ropes binding him. Then she grew serious. "But all the girls who are like me, or at least have the potential to be once I die, are missing. And I think he knows what's happened to them."
"And you want me to find out," Sookie finished, to which Buffy nodded. "Well, first you'll have to get him to stop chanting. He's saying some phrase over and over again in his head so I can't get in."
Sookie looked at Collins again, who was glaring hatefully at her. Too bad she was used to it, being the resident freak. It didn't have nearly the effect he probably hoped it would.
Eric was also studying Collins with interest. The human had to realize what an untenable position he was in. By not speaking at all, it only made his actions seem very suspicious. And yet he was clearly showing his hostility toward them. And Eric was glad. It would make this whole experience much more interesting. So he waited patiently, staying quiet to see what the Slayer would do.
With a grim expression, Buffy walked up to Collins until she was directly in his face. "Then I'll start," she said. "I think that you not only know exactly what happened to the Potentials, I think you had something to do with it. So what, are you taking them all back to merry old England so you can set them up with Watchers again – and away from me?"
Collins made no movement, gave no indication if she was correct – not that she expected anything else. She thought that this was the most plausible explanation; though why this rated for a slayer dream, she didn't know, and that made her uneasy. She plowed on, determined to get to the bottom of this, no matter what.
"Makes sense why you wouldn't tell me. But seriously, you guys need power that badly? Couldn't you just, you know, run for office or something? Or better yet, start a transnational corporation?" she said glibly.
Then she waited… and waited.
"We're taking care of the Potentials. That's all you need to know," Collins finally said before setting his lips in a thin line.
Eric raised an eyebrow at this. Perhaps the human did realize his position after all. Pity.
Buffy pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Then why were you leaving Shreveport?" she wondered aloud. At Collins' shocked look, she gave a small, satisfied smile. "What, you didn't think anyone would figure that out, Uncle Al? Not quite as covert with the ops as you thought, huh?"
"It looks like you're not as daft as I thought," he conceded, though it obviously pained him to say even this.
Buffy rolled her eyes. This conversation was going nowhere fast. A quick look to Sookie told her that Collins' mind was still closed, too.
Buffy was stuck. She still wasn't convinced that violence would break the man. He was like a soldier in that way. Not to mention the fact that she didn't want to shed blood, as Bill and Eric already looked pretty thirsty.
No, the best way to get to him was psychologically – and she knew the best way to do it, too. He obviously had one obvious hot button when it came to her. And, as far as he knew, she and Eric were together. She could use that.
Still, she hesitated as she glanced over at the blonde vamp. It wasn't a question of whether he would play along. She really didn't have any doubts about that. Nope, it was more a question of whether she could do it. But if it would give her some answers…
Mentally steeling herself, she slowly walked over to Eric, all the while keeping her eyes on Collins.
"Where did we go wrong?" she asked him in mock contemplation. "Was it when you tried to capture me when I was in Faith's body and I beat you senseless? Or was it when Angel kicked your asses? Or maybe it was when I quit being a puppet to the Council's petty little dictatorship?"
She quickly sidled up to Eric, resting one hand lightly on his chest. If he was surprised, he didn't show it.
Stupid, arrogant vampire, she thought. And what the heck did he do before he was a vampire, because wow.
Eric looked down at her, a small smile playing on his lips. He knew exactly what she was doing; she was using him to get to the human. Did he mind? Not one bit. Was he going to take advantage of the situation as much as he possibly could? Of course.
He put his hands on her hips and pulled her flush against him, enjoying the way she let out a small squeak of surprise. And yet she didn't pull away. No, instead she gazed up at him, allowing her hand to travel further upward until it rested on his shoulder. He returned the gesture, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear before letting his fingers trail down her neck. His eyes widened slightly in delight as he felt her pulse race under his fingertips and heard her slight intake of breath.
Buffy frowned as she felt herself react to his touch. Was she enjoying this? That was… really disturbing.
It's just the blood bond, she rationalized.
Deep down, she knew that this wasn't totally true. As if she would let something like that overpower her free will. Of course, that meant that a part of her was enjoying the up close and personal time with the Sheriff. And that was just unacceptable.
She mentally shook herself. Now was so not the time to worry about this. Focusing on the task at hand, she twisted around so that her back was to Eric and faced Collins, who was grimacing in disgust. It probably didn't hurt that Eric wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her backside against him.
"Nah," she said lightly. "You seem to be stuck on my choice in lovers."
As if on cue, she heard the faint click as Eric's fangs extended. And was he smelling her hair?
Okay, enough was enough.
She pushed back against him in warning - and instantly regretted it. Yep, because now she could feel his excitement, both literally and emotionally through the blood bond, which probably meant that the arrogant vamp could tell that she wasn't exactly unaffected by all this, either.
She could only hope that this little display was getting to Collins as much as it was getting to her.
During this entire exchange, Sookie kept her eyes on Collins. Well, almost the whole time. She did sneak one tiny glance at the two blondes, but she quickly looked away with a sudden need to fan herself.
Besides, Buffy's... tactics were working. Sookie could feel the man's mind slip and falter as he watched the two. It looked almost as if he loathed the sight before him and yet couldn't look away.
Suddenly, a single thought burst in Sookie's head.
I wish you were in the alley instead of Violet, he spat out hatefully in his mind.
This seemed to open the floodgates, and Sookie was suddenly overwhelmed with a rush of images. She could see why the guy was chanting – he was a broadcaster. Sookie saw everything he was thinking in high definition.
There was a girl in Fangtasia, a red head. He was stalking her, preparing to attack her. She disappeared as she left the bar, however, and by the time he caught up, she had ducked down an alley. He quickly followed but stopped when he saw that she was being attacked by vampires – though Sookie had never seen vampires that looked like them before. She heard him think that this just made his own job easier and left her to die.
Then the images abruptly stopped as the chanting filled her head again. But it was too late.
"Who's Violet?" she asked.
Buffy jumped at this, breaking out of Eric's embrace as she automatically took a step toward Sookie. "She's one of the girls I was looking for," she replied slowly, wondering where this was leading.
"He was sent to kill her," Sookie blurted out. "But she was attacked by vampires so he didn't have to."
All the color drained from Buffy's face at these words. She forced herself to remain still as she looked at Collins, who merely looked defiant.
"You're- you're trying to kill them," she whispered, still unwilling to believe that the Council would ever take such measures. "But why?"
Collins didn't answer; he didn't have to. She saw the answer written on his face. Because of her. Because they really did want power that badly.
