*Checks notes* Wow. Has it really been four months since I posted anything? Nine months since posting anything Arrowverse-related? Seventeen months since anything Buffyverse-related?!
Well, I guess one good thing came out of being stuck inside while Hurricane Lee blew through. I had been stuck on the last thousand or so words for months on end, but I finally got to sit down, find some inspiration at long last, and pound this thing out to completion. Waiting for the internet to come back online was torture! But HERE IT IS!
Timeline notes: For Nyssa, this takes place about a year after Laurel's funeral in 'Canary Cry', and a month before Oliver recruited her for the rescue mission in 'Lian Yu'. For Willow, this is obviously several years post-'Chosen'. I am not really taking the BtVS comics into account.
As I mentioned in my oneshot 'Time Slayer' in 2018, an organisation as shadowy and old as the League of Assassins is bound to know about demons and vampires and Slayers. It's probably very far-fetched to think that they don't know about there being multiple Slayers (as this is fic set in 2017 and 'Chosen' was in 2003). But for the sake of this story, it's new to Nyssa.
DISCLAIMER: I own neither 'Arrow' nor 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', nor any of their characters. Terezinha is my OC.
WORD COUNT: 5,061
Wednesday, April 19th, 2017
Life had changed quite a bit for Nyssa al Ghul since she dissolved the League of Assassins. How could it not, now that the ancient order in which she'd spent her entire life was no more? She travelled the world, trying to find a new place for herself within it. For a while, she tried ordinary vigilantism, the life that her Beloved had chosen, but it lacked the challenge, failed to cure the restlessness she'd been feeling lately. And nothing seemed to help fill the hole in her heart left by her Beloved.
She and Sara could no longer be together. She knew that, understood that their lives had never been fated to stay intertwined forever. Their time together had helped each woman become what she was now, but Sara was on her path, and Nyssa was on hers. She only wished that she didn't have to walk it alone any longer.
And maybe she also wished that she knew where her path was headed.
It was in Brazil that Nyssa finally got the answer to both of her wishes. She was patrolling the streets of the latest town she'd come across, looking for criminals and other scum that needed smacking down, when she heard a scream. Nyssa quickly found the source: a young woman being pinned to the wall of a back alley by an unmistakably large man with long, scraggly, black hair. His face was buried in the crook of her neck; he was most likely 'warming up' before he committed an even worse violation of her body.
Nyssa drew her dagger and ran forward, stabbing him in the back and right through his heart. Such filth deserved no second chances, in her opinion.
But to her complete shock, her blade did not fell the man as it should have. He did howl in pain, but then he twisted around and snapped his pointed teeth at her, death in his unnatural, yellow eyes. Nyssa immediately recognised his twisted features for what they were: the signs that this man was no longer human, but a vampire. She had learned of the foul creatures while growing up, and had encountered enough during her assignments with the League. But she had not brought with her the specific tools designed to kill them tonight, a foolish decision that would have had the assassin in question killed for their carelessness, had the old laws still applied.
She had her sword, still, and since it would not be daylight for many hours yet, decapitation would be her best strategy. Even as she stared the creature down, she planned out her attack. First, sever the tendons in the arms and legs; vampires could recover quickly from such injuries, but not in the mere seconds it would take her to rend its head from its neck while it was unable to fight her off. Perhaps she could even sever the entire limb if possible. Vampires were naturally stronger and faster than even League-trained assassins, so it would be in her best interest to deprive him of that advantage before going in for the kill.
This plan was already formed when the vampire lunged at her, only to be met with air as she side-stepped and struck with her sword, neatly cutting the back of its right leg (and the muscles and tendons therein) and following up with a kick in the middle of its back, sending it face-first into the pile of garbage lining the opposite wall. She spared its would-be victim a glance while it was recovering; a hissed "Corre!" had the poor girl breaking out of her shock and stumbling away.
By then, the vampire had pulled itself from the garbage and was ready to try again. Nyssa met its charge with a slash across the chest and the arm, all but completely cutting the limb off. The creature howled in pain, then turned and ran as its survival instincts finally kicked in. But Nyssa would not just let the creature escape. She chased it down, quickly catching up thanks to her training and the handicap she had forced onto the vampire.
She was just about to swing her sword and cut off its head when she got the feeling of someone coming at her from behind. Instinctively, she turned and thrust her sword in the direction of her would-be attacker, feeling a jerk as their body was impaled on her blade. But then she saw yellow eyes and realised with a gasp of horror that it was another vampire.
The second monster pulled back its lips in a predatory grin, and its hand grabbed her by the throat, using supernaturally quick reflexes, too quick for her to stop. "Really, Thiago?" it asked the first one in Brazilian Portuguese, "You can't even face a normal human woman with a sword? I don't think this one is even a Slayer!"
Nyssa had heard many tales of the Slayer line – and even more numerous wild rumours of their growing numbers – and found herself wishing that she had the strength of one as the vampire lifted her into the air. She gasped and tried to pry its fingers off her throat; while she had the training to hold her breath for exceptionally long periods of time, she hadn't drawn in enough air to begin with.
Black spots were beginning to appear in her vision when something else came out of the dark and struck her assailant in the back. The vampire yelled in pain and loosened its grip, and by the time Nyssa's feet hit the ground, it was crumbling to dust. Out of the shadows came a slim blonde girl, still just a teenager from the looks of it, wielding a crossbow in her right hand – a crossbow that should have been too heavy for a girl of her size to lift, even with both hands. She quickly reloaded the weapon from a quiver on her back with practiced ease, but the nearly-armless vampire, Thiago, had already turned and fled, so she chased after it.
Nyssa only spared a moment to pick up her sword before following.
She followed the vampire and the girl down into another alley, one that had a dead end. When she turned the corner, however, she only saw the girl, looking around in confusion. The girl whipped around upon Nyssa's arrival, and stared at her. "Who are you?" she asked, foolishly lowering her crossbow.
Nyssa kept her guard up. "Have you already killed the vampire?" she demanded back.
Before the girl could reply, however, the answer made itself apparent when the creature jumped out of the mound of trash in which it had been hiding, wrapping its good arm around her and sinking its fangs into her neck. The girl screamed and reached up, pulling its hair, of all things. The vampire snarled and shook its head, pulling its teeth out of her neck as it did so. It looked more annoyed by her hair-pulling than anything else.
Nyssa took this opportunity to lunge forward and strike the monster in the face with the hilt of her sword. It let go, stumbling, and Nyssa pushed the girl out of the way and swung her sword once more.
The vampire's head bounced off the ground once before dissolving into dust, along with the rest of its body.
That taken care of, Nyssa gave her surroundings one more sweep with all her senses to ensure that there were no more threats in the area before turning to the girl. "You would do well to not let yourself become distracted when there is still a threat in the vicinity," she scolded the child, "Although you have my thanks for killing the other one. You are 'Al-Qatil min Masasi Alddima', the Slayer of Vampires, are you not?"
The girl shook her head, pressing her fingers against the wound on her neck. "No, I'm Terezinha the Vampire Slayer. Aaliyah the Vampire Slayer is from the UAE."
A low chuckle from above drew Nyssa's attention to the rooftop of one of the buildings they were standing in between. "It's 'Vampire Slayer' in Arabic, Terezinha," the beautiful red-haired woman standing there told the girl in English with a clear American accent. How had she arrived without Nyssa noticing?! Where had she come from?! "And she's completely right, by the way. You got distracted, and if she hadn't been competent enough to help you, you could have died tonight, at the fangs of a vampire with a really bad limp and one useless arm."
"You would have stopped him," Terezinha protested, switching over to heavily-accented English, as the redhead made her way down to the street level via the fire escape.
Nyssa noticed that she had a certain grace in her movements, if not at the level of a highly-trained assassin or the natural co-ordination of a Slayer. "That's true. I would have. But as much as we emphasize teamwork in training, you also need to be prepared for situations where you're fighting on your own. I'm sorry, sweetie, but I don't think you're ready to patrol alone, just yet."
Terezinha pouted. She'd pulled a small, red package out of one of the pockets of her cargo pants, and was now pressing a wadded-up piece of gauze to her bite wound. "But I've reached all the right levels in all my classes, and I'm eighteen years old! That should be enough!"
"Not without passing your field test, which you didn't. I'm sorry, but that's my final decision." The redhead turned to face Nyssa. Her disappointed expression shifted into a grateful smile that made Nyssa feel unexpectedly warm inside. "Thank you for helping her, really. We already lose too many Slayers to unpreparedness, as it is."
Nyssa eyed the woman. "You are her Watcher, yes?"
The woman shrugged. "Not exactly, but I know enough to evaluate Terezinha's final exam. I'm actually a witch, employed by the Council, though I've been involved with Slayer business since high school. My name is Willow."
She held out her hand, but Nyssa wasn't going to take it just yet. She didn't know this Willow woman well enough, just yet. "I am Nyssa al Ghul, Heir to the…"
She faltered in her usual introduction. She had ceased being Heir to the Demon when Oliver Queen had presented her with the Demon's Head Ring, and then ceased to be the Demon's Head when she disbanded the League and proceeded to throw that very same ring into the fire shortly afterwards.
So, what was she, now?
Willow waited for a while for her to continue, but after a few seconds, she kept talking like nothing had happened (but there was no doubt that she noticed Nyssa's hesitation). "Well, nice to meet you, Nyssa. What brings you down to this lovely neighborhood?" Was it Nyssa's imagination, or did her tone sound a bit like Sara's did when she was flirting with her?
Nyssa re-sheathed her sword. "I believe my reasons are similar to yours. I was sweeping the streets for monsters of a more human variety… well, technically human."
Willow's face darkened. "Yeah, we've run into a few of those on patrols, too. Usually our girls just knock them out and leave them there."
Nyssa snorted. "You would leave them alive and able to attack someone else the next day?"
"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" Terezinha asked, "Sometimes we drag them to a police station, but they get let go by morning."
"So, you finish them – permanently."
"No," Willow disagreed firmly, "I don't believe scum like that deserve to live, but the Slayers are meant to kill non-human threats. Slayers killing humans… it leads to bad things. I know two Slayers who've killed humans; Dana was already insane to begin with, and for good reason, but Faith… she went more than a bit off the rails afterwards, and it took her four years to come back to us. We – the Council – have had to kill humans before, but only those who would have done something to kill a whole lot of people, or end the world… that sort of thing. And we do our best to keep that burden from falling on the Slayers."
Nyssa huffed at that. "I imagine you and your people would get along quite well with my husband. He has a similar aversion to taking human lives, even the ones who deserve it."
"You're married?" Now Willow sounded… disappointed?
"Only in name. He and I never held any such feelings towards each other, and neither of us will stand in the way of the other in regards to relationships with other women."
"'Other women?'" Terezinha questioned, sounding confused, "Don't you mean 'other people'? I mean, you're a woman-"
"Oh, you're gay!" Willow cried, sounding positively gleeful, "Hey, me too!"
Nyssa blinked, mostly at how open and excited Willow was over the whole matter. She had been raised in an environment in which she was strongly discouraged from mentioning her preference for women rather than men. (Not that she was anything less than open of how important her Beloved was to her.) Her father had never approved of her relationship with Sara, and not just because he claimed to have known that it was doomed to end in heartbreak. How could it not, when he was planning to be the one to break her heart by ending it?
Terezinha looked startled as well, glancing in between the two of them. "Oh."
Willow checked her phone. "Well, we really do need to get moving. Betânia will cover the rest of this section on her patrol tonight, Terezinha, and we'll debrief and talk about your performance tomorrow morning, after you have that bite looked at and get some rest. You did pretty good until that last slip-up; keep up your situational awareness training, and I'm sure you'll ace it next time."
That bit of news didn't seem to cheer Terezinha up, but the young Slayer didn't protest. Merely, she trudged off, heading for the exit of the alley.
Willow went to follow her, but paused when Nyssa called after them: "Wait!"
Her mind was swirling with questions. The rumours of multiple Slayers were actually true? How did it happen? How many were there? What did Willow and Terezinha mean by 'classes' and 'field tests'?
Willow turned around. "Yes?"
"I- I have many questions. I've always known of Slayers growing up, but I had only heard rumours that there were more… How is it possible?"
Willow merely smiled understandingly. "I see. There's a nice little hole-in-the-wall spot just off the main street." She pulled a small notebook out of her pocket, and a pen, and scribbled something down before tearing a piece off and handing it over to Nyssa. It was a business name and an address. "Whaddaya say, around noon-ish?"
Nyssa nodded. She truly wanted to know more, and she had the distinct feeling that the answers to her questions would be well worth some hours' wait.
"Oh, and thanks again for helping tonight. Terezinha might not be showing her appreciation, but I'm really glad that no one got hurt tonight."
Nyssa allowed herself a smile. Two innocent lives were saved tonight, and no innocent blood was spilt. This was work that she felt her Beloved would be proud of.
Thursday, April 20th, 2017
Willow had always liked this little restaurant. She'd first discovered it while touring the country with Kennedy, looking for demonic hotspots. Her ex-lover hadn't hated it, but hadn't loved it, either. So, Willow often went there alone, both before and after the breakup. It was a good spot to relax and have a good bite to eat, while also being far enough away from the tourist hotspots to not be crammed with people all the time. The food was all freshly-cooked from scratch, made with love from locally-sourced ingredients. The staff had been a bit wary of her at first, mistaking her for a tourist, but as her visits became more regular, they started remembering her by name, and the cook was more than willing to recommend new dishes for her to try every so often.
The restaurant also had a quaint, little open patio area that had good sightlines to the cobblestone street and almost always had direct exposure to sunlight, which made it a great spot to relax and not worry about vampire attacks as long as the sun was up. That didn't rule out attacks from the more human-looking demons or actual humans, but it was worlds better than some of the other popular places in the city. The owners had also been in the neighbourhood for a long time, and were more than willing to occasionally pass on some information about shady events that she and the Slayers might have to deal with.
Willow had only been sitting there for about twenty minutes or so, occasionally taking a sip of her drink, when she looked up and saw Nyssa approaching her table. The other woman was wearing light clothing appropriate for the Brazilian heat, topped off with a stylish black fedora that she removed in a single smooth, swift motion once she was a few steps away from the table. Another thing Willow took note of was the fact that all of her movements were smooth and deliberate. She didn't quite have the same talent for reading a person's gait or movements as some others, but after over a decade of working with Slayers, she'd developed a good eye for spotting someone who had incredible self-awareness and control over their own body.
She was even more beautiful in the light of day than in the dark.
"Hello again," she said smoothly as she sat down. Her accent was an interesting one, Willow thought. British-sounding at first, but more like the kind of English that someone learned as a second language from a British teacher. Since most of the old guard of the Watchers' Council had been British, Willow had heard it quite often from the Potentials they had trained.
"Hello again," Willow echoed back, starting things off with a friendly smile. It was always good to begin on a positive note.
The server came over very quickly, and Nyssa ordered a Chimarrão with a brisk, but not impolite attitude. As soon as the worker left and disappeared back into the interior of the restaurant, the woman immediately started asking questions.
"So, there truly are more Slayers, now?"
Well, she clearly wasn't one for preamble. "Yep. Have been since 2003."
"How?"
Willow sipped at her passionfruit Vitamina, thinking of how to word it. "Many people know that the Slayers have been around since before the first written language, and if there were any oral traditions that told of their origins, they didn't survive to the present day. However, that year, we came across an old artifact that told us the truth of it: the short version is that a bunch of Ancient African sorcerers – all men, of course – decided the that best way to deal with the demon attacks on their villages was to forcibly infuse a little girl named Sineya with the essence of a demon and send the poor thing off to the front lines."
Nyssa curled her lip in obvious disgust.
Willow snorted in agreement. "Yeah, our thoughts exactly. Now, more recently, some fifteen years ago or so, there was this really Big Bad and its followers that were deliberately targeting the Slayers and all the girls who could potentially become the next Slayer, killing them and their Watchers off, one by one. So, my friend Buffy, the first Slayer I ever met, followed some other clues with our help to find a really old weapon that dated back to the same time period as when the First Slayer was created."
"Truly? It must have been ancient-" Nyssa cut herself off as the server returned, carrying a steaming cup of Chimarrão.
Willow smiled at the server, and both women declined when they were asked if they wanted anything to eat. As soon as the coast was clear again, she resumed her explanation: "This weapon was crafted by a group of mystics known as the Guardians, specifically to be used by the Slayers, and its magic was tied directly into their line. With some research and a very exhausting ritual, I was actually able to tap into that magic and activate all of the Potential Slayers' Slayer powers, just in time to help the ones we'd gathered to fight the Big Bad and its army actually live through the fight."
To what had to be a complete and utter embarrassment for her, Nyssa's jaw dropped open in shock, spilling the Chimarrão currently in her mouth down the front of her previously-pristine white shirt. Willow couldn't blame her. Even if Nyssa didn't not have much experience with magic, anyone with even a passing amount of knowledge of the subject would know that the type of spell Willow was describing must have taken an immense amount of power. And Willow knew that she rarely came off like the immensely powerful and wise wielders of magic like in the movies.
As Nyssa hastily wiped at her chin and shirt with a napkin, Willow sat back and went over what she had seen of the woman currently trying to clean tea off herself in the alley last night. Nyssa had been very quick to recover from nearly getting throttled to death (although now that she was looking, there was evidence of that bruising around her neck), and Willow felt safe in assuming that the nearly-severed arm of the second vampire was her handiwork with that sword. Not many people used swords, nowadays, but Nyssa had moved like she'd been born with one in her hand.
She also hadn't hesitated to point out Terezinha's mistakes as soon as it was safe to do so. Observational skills were key in this line of work, after all. And she had kept her cool the entire time. Willow had seen too many newbie Slayers excel in training in a controlled setting, only to lose their heads once dropped into a real-world scenario. (And sometimes, that situation occurred far more literally than anyone wanted it to.)
By the time Nyssa finally decided that her shirt was as cleaned up as it was going to get without the aid of an actual washing machine, Willow had made up her mind about the decision she had been pondering all night.
"After that huge battle, we took a moment to rest, but we had to get back to work pretty quickly, because all of a sudden, there were about eighteen hundred Slayers worldwide. And the old Watcher's Council had been all but decimated by that Big Bad, so the Slayers' usual support system – for lack of a better word, because I hesitate to call what they did 'support' – was pretty much gone. We had to rebuild everything from scratch."
Nyssa was quiet. "I have heard of this Council before. My Father had had dealings with them in the past. I do recall those dealings suddenly drying up around that time."
Willow took a moment to wonder just who her father was, and just what those 'dealings' consisted of. But then she continued. "With the rising population, there are now about twenty-one hundred Slayers worldwide, and we have roughly five hundred and eighty working directly for us. In Brazil, we know of almost sixty, and we have sixteen active agents, with some part-time girls on-call for backup or just living their lives. With so many Slayers out there, most of them can afford to do that, but we strongly recommend basic training to all of them just in case the local monsters notice them and go after them, or if they come across any supernatural badness by chance. You know, so that they can handle themselves in a pinch."
Nyssa nodded. "Not everyone wants to fight their entire lives…" Her voice held a sad note, the kind that blared: 'TRAGIC STORY ALERT – DO NOT TOUCH'. The slightly-haunted look in those beautiful brown eyes only added to the warning.
"Of course not. I would like to eventually sit back and retire knowing that I've prepared the next generation for the battles ahead. But that would be years from now, when I'm old and gray and can't see five feet in front of my face without my glasses. Until then, I'm doing my part. I can't personally do the combat training, but I can oversee some exams like the one you saw last night, and instruct the recruits on the more academic side of things, such as demon species identification and ancient languages. I also provide aid of the magical variety, like locator spells or telepathic communication for large-scale operations. And I can use my magic in combat situations, but only at a certain distance, with fireballs and some telekinesis and such. I mean, I have been taught hand-to-hand, but the most I can handle with that is a few vampires or lesser demons at a time. That said…" Willow paused, uncertain of how to say what she wished to say. Then she took a quick breath and continued. "We're always looking for new instructors. There are only so many people out there who are properly trained in using a sword, and the ones we have are always looking for new techniques to learn."
Nyssa blinked at her. Twice. "Are you… offering me a job?" She sounded hesitant, disbelieving.
Willow nodded. "Yep. You did really well out there – Like, really well. Even if you don't want to teach, having another fighter on our side is always of the good, you know? You don't have to make a decision right away, but the offer's always open."
Nyssa pursed her lips, looking rather uncomfortable. "I… I am flattered. However… I am uncertain if I would be the right fit for your Council." She took another sip of her Chimarrão, as if to stall for time. "Last night… You said that you and your people don't deal with the human monsters. That you don't kill humans if at all possible. I am uncertain as to whether I would be able to hold to that restriction. Allowing… people like that to just go free…"
If Willow was honest with herself, she herself wasn't at all pleased with seeing rapists and serial killers running around unchecked. And she knew that many in the Council felt similarly. However, she knew how it could turn out if they acted on those feelings and then took it too far. Willow herself was a living example of that.
"I understand. Years ago, one of those monsters killed my girlfriend. Right in front of me. He hadn't even been aiming for her, but for someone else… it was all so sudden, and completely senseless. And it sent me to a very dark place. I wanted him dead, and his friends who'd had nothing to do with my Tara's death. But I became ruthless, willing to hurt anyone who got in my way…" She shivered. Those were not good memories.
"I'm sorry," Nyssa murmured, "I… I, too, have lost someone dear to me. And I went to lengths that I now regret, in order to get my revenge for the murder of my Beloved."
Willow briefly considered asking for more details, but she ultimately decided against it. It might be a bad idea to ask for too many background details in what was, essentially, a job interview. "Well, we try not to allow our pasts to dictate our future. There are a lot of people on the Council who have their own skeletons in their closets. As for the other issue… I think there are many who would look the other way if certain scumbags somehow ended up with two broken kneecaps, or the like."
A brief flicker of both corners of her lips was the closest that statement got to drawing a smile out of Nyssa, but it was something. "I'll admit, I don't have much experience with teaching children," she admitted.
"I do," Willow offered, "Well, teaching high schoolers… while I was still in high school myself. I kind of took over teaching the computer class after our teacher… after she passed." And dear Hecate, it still hurt to think of Jenny. "And I tutored some students in history, too. I could give you a few pointers." She paused when she realised she was getting just a bit too far ahead of herself. "Uh, I mean, if you want. If you even decide to take the job."
Nyssa stirred her Chimarrão thoughtfully. "I must admit, I've been at a bit of a loss, this past year, about what to do with myself. Growing up, I always envisioned myself as spending my entire life in my father's organisation, and even leading it after he was gone. But now it – and he – are no more. It goes without saying that I have been floundering, somewhat. My Beloved… she had such a strong desire to do good in the world. To help those who cannot help themselves. I have been travelling the world, trying to do that all on my own. It has been satisfying, at times, but lonely at others. You and the Slayers… you seem to be doing the kind of work of which she would be proud. And… I must admit, I do like the sound of not having to act alone, anymore."
Willow didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it sounded like… "Are you saying you would like to join us?"
The expression that followed was definitely a smile, even if it was a small one. It was beautiful, though, making the already stunning woman look even more lovely and causing Willow's heart to flutter a little. "Yes. I am. I would. I think this would be good for me, and I would be happy to aid in defending humanity from demons."
Willow smiled back at her. "And we would be happy to have you. I think this will be the start of something wonderful."
And if she couldn't decide whether it would be just wonderful for the Slayers or wonderful on a more personal level… well, that would be her own little secret.
THE END
Nyssa's fedora is a nod to the nice one she's wearing in her very first scene back in 2x13.
I literally Googled what kinds of drinks are popular in Brazil, and found Vitamina, which is a fruit smoothie, and Chimarrão, a type of tea popular in southern Brazil.
Yes, 'friendlily' is a word. I Googled it, and spell-check didn't flag it when I typed it into the story.
Although I said that I don't take the comics into account, I have used some information for mathy purposes, using the Buffyverse Wiki for reference. At the beginning of the comics, which I think is a year after 'Chosen', it's stated that there are at least 1800 Slayers worldwide, with 500 being part of the Slayer Organization. In 2004, the world population was estimated at 6,461,159,389 according to . In 2017, it had risen to 7,547,858,925. Brazil's population that year was at 207,833,823. The number of Slayers would probably be more specifically affected by the number of females in a certain age range, but that would make the research more complicated. Using the 2004 ratio, that gives me an estimate of 2103 Slayers worldwide in 2017, 58 in Brazil, with 16 of those being active members (and 584 members worldwide).
Nyssa's action that she regrets is taking Thea hostage and threatening her to lure Malcolm out of hiding. At the time, she thought Thea was completely innocent (and in many ways, she still was).