|
I apologize in advance if you received this twice. I wasn't sure it made it the first time. At long last, here's part three of the first ep! Kirayoshi Disclaimers; Joss gave us the lemons; I'm just making the lemonade. And don't worry, I'm using sugar. Spoilers; through the series finale, "Chosen". Keep in mind that I'm basing this on spoiler reports, not the actual episodes, so I may be wrong on some points. Rating; PG-13. Warning; there are some ugly descriptions of an ugly act at the beginning of this story. Sad to say, sometimes humanity trumps the Hellmouth for sheer evil. Author's Note; This is my pilot for a virtual Buffy-spinoff. Someone's gotta be first, right? Better me than some B/S-er! Pairing; None yet, but knowing me, Buffy and Willow are gonna start noticing each other at some point... Feedback; Please do. Flames will be subject to brief scorn, then deleted without ceremony. Summary; Buffy Summers, for the first time in her life, is free of her calling as the Slayer. But there is still evil in the world. Was 'Chosen' the end, or a new beginning? written by Kirayoshi ======== (Author's note; many props bestowed upon Greywolf for helping me with the reintroduction of a relatively new yet potentially (pun intended) important player in our ongoing storyline.) "After all of the stealing and cheating You probably think that I hold resentment for you But, uh uh, oh no, you're wrong 'Cause if it wasn't for all that you tried to do I wouldn't know Just how capable I am to pull through So I wanna say thank you 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter Made me learn a little bit faster Made my skin a little bit thicker Makes me that much smarter So thanks for making me a fighter" --Christina Aguilera "Fighter" Faith adjusted her black muscle shirt and ran her hands through her hair as she exited the locker room at the YMCA after her daily regimen. Passing through the halls, she glanced at the window of the racquetball court, and smiled as she watched Sophia Myers deliver a wicked serve against Robin Wood. You go girl, she mentally cheered the once-skittish young woman as she raised her racquet in victory. Six months ago, she was running scared, having killed the sexual predator that had dated her mother and tried to rape her. Now she was more confident, more sure of herself. A fighter. "She's coming along well, isn't she?" Giles spoke gently as he stood beside her, watching the competition. "Sophie?" Faith beamed with almost sisterly pride. "Oh yeah. She's a tough girl, that one. And a lot happier since yesterday. Her mom called her, apologizing for letting that sleaze Chuck into her life." "Hmm," Giles peered down at the young Slayer in an amused smirk. "You called her 'Sophie'. Not 'S'?" Faith chuckled, blushing slightly. "Yeah, that's something the prison shrink talked to me about. I tend to refer to people by their first initial as a distancing thing, to keep people at arm's length. I'm trying to change that, Giles. So," she added suddenly, hoping to change the subject. "Any word on the new Council building?" "A plan has been approved," Giles announced. "I spoke with Robin and Wes about construction firms the other day. I'm hoping to hear from Xander about heading construction once he recovers from his surgery." "Yeah, Angel told me about that," Faith mused. "I dunno, I kinda liked the eye patch look. Made him look tough, like he had a dark past or something. Sort of a Nick Fury Jr." "Yes," Giles muttered, pretending to understand the dark-haired woman's pop-culture reference. "The real problem we have now is one of manpower. The magic that Willow and Buffy unleashed during that final battle with the First caused every potential Slayer in the world to be called, and most of them are as confused and scared as Sophie was when we first found her. We've located nearly a thousand of them so far, and succeeded in contacting well over one hundred, convincing most of them to accept our offer of schooling and training. That leaves hundreds of young women still in need of assistance. And we simply don't have enough people working with us to aid them all." "Hey, how about that military outfit that Buffy used to hang with in college?" Faith suggested. "Y'know, ol' Beefstick's group." "If you're referring to the Initiative," Giles winced slightly at the memory of that fool Maggie Walsh and her hulking creation ADAM, "most of them have been reassigned by whatever military branch they belonged to. I have contacted Riley Finn and his wife Samantha, and they've pledged to help any way that they can. Even so, we need more than simply a building to house the Slayers. We need teachers, trainers, an entire infrastructure to provide for them and to educate them." "In other words," Faith supplied, "we need Watchers." Giles shook his head slightly. "I'm not comfortable with that term anymore, actually. There's no longer a Council of Watchers, perhaps that's for the best. We're rebuilding from the ground up, maybe we should abandon the archaic systems of the Council in favor of a more liberal policy." Faith nodded solemnly, hearing the wisdom of Giles' words. Blowing at the lock of hair that dangled in front of her face, she said, "Face it, Giles. We know who we need right now more than anyone else. We need the old gang back. Xander, Willow, and Buffy." Giles shook his head rapidly. "No, Faith. I vowed that Buffy could live out the remainder of her life in peace. I will not renege on my word." "So don't." Faith regarded the former Watcher with an uncharacteristic calm. "Tell her what is happening, tell her we want her back, but let her make the choice. Look, I've chatted online with Willow since we left Sunnydale, and she told me that she's in Seattle now and she's hooked up with Buffy. So we can contact them both with one trip." "Seattle?" Giles raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Perhaps not a bad idea. There are areas of white magic around the Pacific Northwest that she can tap into on a regular basis, without the negative effects of dark magic." Giles raised his eyes in solemn thought. "Anyway, I have too much on my plate to fly out to Seattle on a moment's notice." Faith paused for a moment. "I'll pack a raincoat, then." Giles turned his head suddenly toward Faith. "You're not going to Seattle alone, Faith. Bring one of the younger Slayers with you." "Will do, G-Man," Faith regarded Giles with a sly wink before she rushed out of the Y. "'Scuse me while I make travel plans." ======== Doctor Miranda Teng set up a stool in front of Xander Harris, a tray of tools beside her as she removed the bandages from his face. "Okay, Xander," Doctor Teng announced as she removed the bandages from his left eye. "Keep your eyes closed for a minute while I remove the stitches." Xander sat quietly as Doctor Teng carefully clipped the sutures that marked the reconstructive surgery necessary to repair his eyelid. As she worked, she commented, "Whoever gouged out your eye also severely damaged your lid. Nearly split it in half. Fortunately there was no significant nerve damage to the lid, so it should close properly. You must have seen some serious action." "Yeah," Xander answered glumly. "Goes with the whole stopping the apocalypse gig." Miranda Teng gently pulled out the last of the sutures. "Hmm, there's still some faint scarring on the lid. Sort of a pale hairline. Looks kind of like a dueling scar." "Cute," Xander smirked slightly. "Something to impress the girls with." "Okay," Doctor Teng announced. "Open your left eye." Xander's eyelid flickered briefly, then opened slowly. Xander gasped as a blurry light flooded his mind. "My God," he whispered as the light slowly clarified itself and his eye rested on the face of Doctor Teng. "It's working...I can see..." "Very good, Xander," she smiled as she fished a penlight out of her jacket pocket. She flicked the switch on the side and shined the tiny light in Xander's eye. She nodded approvingly as she observed Xander's reactions. "Dilating, good. Now then, Xander, follow my finger." She moved her finger slowly in front of Xander's face, first across, then up and down, finally in a circle, smiling as Xander's eye followed the moving finger. "Excellent, your eye is tracking. Now then..." She moved to a projector behind Xander and flicked the switch, projecting an eye chart on the far wall. "Okay, with your right eye closed, would you please read from line ten to the bottom of the chart?" Xander focused on the chart, reciting; "E-B-D-C-R-A-A-E-C-D-X-W-R-T-C-A-W- D-E-T-M-A-D-E-I-N-U-S-A... Oh, sorry, Made In USA." "No problem," Dr. Teng smiled. "Now, open your right eye and we'll see if both eyes work together in synch." Xander did as he was told, and Dr. Teng performed the finger test on both eyes. "Tracking in unison. Yes, it looks like the operation was a complete success." "Yesss!" Xander nearly shouted, jumping out of his examination table. "Thank you, Doc, thank you! You've pulled it off!" "I'm certainly relieved to hear that." Dr. Teng looked closely at Xander's face for a second. "One more thing, though. Hold still please." She waved her hand in front of Xander's face, pursing her lips in concentration. "There we are," she added. "The donor eye was gray, so I performed a minor permanent glamour on it, so it matches the chocolate brown of your original eye." She passed Xander a hand mirror, smiling. "See for yourself." Xander slowly lifted the mirror to eye-level and looked into its surface. For the first time in months, he saw his own face without flinching, without seeing the scars and the eye patch that he was forced to wear after that terrible first battle with the mad Caleb. There was still some faint scarring around his left eye, but not nearly as bad as he feared. A thin white line down his eyelid, nothing more grotesque. "Wow," he whispered in awe. "Doc, I have to say, this is incredible." Lowering the mirror to the table next to him, Xander smiled hugely, saying, "I owe you for this one. If I ever become a father, I'm naming my kid after you!" "Then let's hope it's a girl," Miranda chuckled. "Now, all we need to do is fill out the paperwork. Don't worry about hospital bills, Angel's made arrangements for his company to take care of them." After the necessary forms were filled out, Xander left Dr. Teng's office, gazing at the hospital halls around him intently. "Man," he breathed as he glanced down one corridor, focusing his eyes as far as he could, "I will never take depth perception for granted again." "So, how did it go?" Xander turned around and saw Angel and Cordy standing in front of him. "Hey, Angel," Xander greeted the vampire. "Ain't it past your bedtime?" "Sewer system," Angel explained. "Cordy was in for a check-up and I wanted to be there for her. And I remembered that today was when you were having the bandages off, so..." "Thanks, guys," Xander nodded. He noticed that Angel and Cordy were holding hands, and started to wonder how that happened. "So, Cordy, what was the checkup for?" "Oh, just an MRI," Cordy admitted. "A few months ago, I was in a coma for a few weeks. Don't remember all the details myself, just that I was under some demonic influence. It was just before that whole Jasmine thing. The docs wanted me in today for some scan or other. Really boring, but at least I got a clean bill of health." Cordy's eyes glanced up and down Xander's lean strong frame. "Gotta say, Xander, you're looking good." "Yeah," Xander smiled, "and out of both eyes now." "So, Xander," Angel asked, "any plans?" "For today?" Xander pondered for a second. "Y'know what I want to do right now? I'd like to see an old 3-D movie. Y'know, with the funky glasses? Wasn't there a 3- D segment in that new Spy Kids sequel?" "I don't know if it's playing right now," Angel admitted, "but I think there's a revival house on Hollywood Boulevard that's showing House of Wax." "Call Moviefone, I'm so there!" Xander announced. "Mind if I join you?" Angel asked. Xander raised his eyebrows in obvious humor. "Why, Angel. Never took you for a movie buff." "Are you kidding?" Angel joked. "It's got Vincent Price in 3D, what's not to love?" After a moment's friendly laughter, Angel's facial _expression_ hardened slightly. "Before we go, though, there's something I wanted to ask. Have you given any thought to Giles' offer?" Xander paused, regarding the serious _expression_ on the vampire's face. "You mean to help rebuild the Council? If I can get a construction crew together, count me in." ======== "Friends are the DNA of society. They are the basic building blocks of life. If you have a couple of good ones, treasure them like gold. There's nothing better. Ever look at that MCI ad they have, "Friends and Family"? Who do they mention first? Your friends help you carry the big weight in life. That big burden we've all got called, 'What the Hell am I doing?'" --Jerry Seinfeld |