FF - Graile - Intermission II

[Connor MacBeth <connor_macbeth@xxxxxxxxx>]

Graile
Chapter Seven - Intermission II
By: MacBeth
Disclaimers: Slight underage drinking. Not full-blown
alcoholism, I simply enjoy a scotch now and then.
Joss' creations remain his. Amanda Montrose is the
"property" of Davis/Panzer. 
Author?s Note: I've had this on the back burner for a
while. Gave it a polish. 
Archive: Paradox761?s FF Archive.
Supporting Cast:
Casper Van Dien as Jack Covington (Modern Vampires,
Timeshifters)
Mark McGrath as Pike St.Cross (Sugar Ray)
Gabriel Byrne as Lucius Carter (Bedazzled, Modern
Vampires)
Alicia Keys as Akivasha Tutuola (VH1, MTV)
Terri Farrel as Deanna Covington (Star Trek: DS9,
Becker)
In Memorium: A.I.L.

* * *

Jokovich Breadworks
Manhattan, New York

Jack Covington pulled into the parking space
between Aki?s Jeep and Deanna?s vintage 67 Mustang. As
he turned the key to kill the engine, the muscular
Irishman stretched long and hard. Sighing, he slipped
a faded photograph into his pocket and pulled his
knapsack and bomber jacket from the passenger seat.
Looking up at the old brick building, he grinned.
?Home.?
Opening the front door of the renovated
Bakery/warehouse, he dropped his keys into a wide
Ojibwa bowl set on a pedestal adjacent to the coat
rack next to the front door. Jack hung his bomber
jacket on a peg by the key bowl and walked forward
through a side doorway into a very well appointed and
well-used kitchen. Lucius looked up from his newspaper
and smiled at the arriving Irishman. ?Hey Jack.?
?Luc.? Jack nodded and walked to the glass-fronted
refrigerator and peered in at the contents. ?Nice
shopping. How?d the Yankees do??
?They won. 6 to 4? The smirking chocolate skinned
man looked up from the paper and resumed perusing the
sports page. ?And how was California??
?Excruciatingly painful.? Opening the door, Jack
reached a hand in to grab a drink when a slim pale
hand reached brusquely past and snagged a plastic
baggie of O+ from a little rack set into the side of
the colder section of the refrigerator. ?Hello
Deanna.? He said, pulling a bottle of dark red wine
from a special wine rack set in a lower area beneath
the blood.
?How was California?? the Vampire nearly sounded
interested, ?Was ?She? there?? Deanna emphasized,
wiggling her eyebrows in an obscene manner. The lanky
vampiress perched her black leather clad hips onto a
well-used butcher?s block and leaned over with her
hands against her knees. A stray lock of inky black
hair drifted in front of her eyes, which Jack pushed
back over her ear.
?Yes. She was there, and as beautiful as ever,
though still a bit young.? Jack nipped the cork out of
the bottle and drank deeply, as Deanna bit through the
rubbery plastic and drained the packet.
Simultaneously, they sighed in deep satisfaction.
?Could you please not do that? We have glasses.?
Lucius looked sick ?Because of you two I can't stand
to drink wine.? He stood, folded his newspaper, and
walked to the espresso machine in the corner for a
refill.
Deanna smiled devilishly, ?What about Cherry
Kool-aid?? She winked over at Jack.
?And V8?? Jack asked, starting to relax from his
long drive.
Lucius looked calmly at them both before shaking
his head and leaving the room, ?I hate you both so
much.? Once he was out of sight, he smiled. ?It?s like
living in a madhouse around here.? He mumbled, heading
for the spiral stair in the corner. 
The two friends shared laughter as a wiry thin
goateed young man wandered in, his eyes bleary from
twelve hours of deep healing sleep. ?Hey Jack. When
did you get in?? he yawned, slipping his hand into his
unbuttoned shirt to press softly on the wide swath of
bandages wrapped tightly around his midsection.
Shuffling over, he leaned close to Deanna and kissed
her cheek softly.
Jack ignored the almost blushing vampire and nodded
to the man?s waist. ?How?re the ribs?? 
?Healing.? Pike shrugged, sliding his free hand
around Deanna?s waist. ?How was California?? Feeling D
tense slightly, he squeezed her tenderly.
?Painful, as always.? Jack smiled, lifting the
bottle to his lips for another drink. ?Oh, Pike, your
Cds are in the trunk. Funny, I never figured you for a
Journey fan.? He grinned as he left the kitchen,
following Lucius up the staircase. Pausing, he heard
Deanna and Pike tease over each other?s music
preferences before ascending the staircase.
Once onto the fifth floor, he paused, noting
Lucius had settled in the library to read the rest of
the Times and listen to some Motown out of Jack?s
extensive vinyl collection. Jack returned to the stair
and moved slowly down the fifth floor hall towards his
bedchambers; one of two rooms in the large building no
one in his crew was allowed to enter. Opening the oak
double doors, he grinned at the slumbering teenager
curled up in his large black leather armchair, a
tiffany floor lamp illuminating the heavily curtained
room. The thick curtains had been closed before he
left, shrouding the room in inky darkness. Moving to
one window, he stepped on a metal floor stud the size
and shape of a half cut baseball. Almost silently the
heavy curtains parted, bathing the room in midmorning
sunlight. 
As the daylight settled over most of his room, the
sleeping girl yawned and stretched into wakefulness.
Blinking her eyes to adjust to the sunlight, Akivasha
Tutuola winced at the sunlight and glared at Jack.
?You know, in my day men woke women by gentle touches
and softly whispered words.?
Jack held out a hand and helped the girl to her
feet. ?In your day, Men were killed for a handful of
copper chits.? He pulled her close and hugged her
tightly. ?Hey Aki.?
?And today, they?re killed for the shoes they
wear.? The caramel skinned girl hugged Jack with equal
force. ?Hey Jack.?
The two spent a moment in a tight embrace, before
Aki sank back into the armchair as Jack set about
emptying his knapsack and putting his soiled clothes
into the laundry chute before reloading the knapsack
from a large antique armoire. ?Have you gone over the
plans for the Vatican with D?? Jack asked, folding his
socks. 
Aki huffed out a breath, a sure sign of bad news.
?Uh, yes?? she stammered, playing with the black pearl
ring on her pinky finger. 
?And??
?It?s way beyond our skill.? the teen shrugged. ?I
figured you?d call a certain someone from your little
black book.?
?Like who??
?Either Montrose or Li?
?Montrose? She?s still in town?? Jack paused in mid
pack and turned in surprise to Aki, who had pulled a
combination switchblade/brass knuckles from her pocket
and was in the middle of cleaning her fingernails.
Scoffing, he resumed packing. Turning to a small
apothecary chest, he pulled a small roll of American
currency from one drawer and tossed it into the pack.
Seconds after he went deathly still and looked slowly
towards to the door.
?Yeah, she?s working the island this year, next
year, she?s in Madrid.? Aki twirled the knife on her
fingertip. ?Are you going to call her??
?Well, I could do that.? Jack unrolled, and then
buttoned the sleeves of his black dress shirt, ?Or I
could go downstairs and say hello to her myself.?
Two almond eyes crossed in his direction at his
grin. ?How long do you think you have out west before
they catch onto what you?re doing??
Jack ran a hand through his short black hair. ?Two
maybe three years. By then, the Slayer won?t trust me
at all.?
Aki rubbed her hands in circles, ?Then you can
fulfill your master plan! Ha Ha Ha!? She finished with
a comically diabolical laugh, earning her a throw
pillow to the chin from an amused Jack. ?Seriously,
Jack. I?m not totally comfortable with you
manipulating these people like this. They?re not Cops,
they actually know what?s going on.?
Jack sighed and moved to kneel before the frowning
girl. ?Aki. I know what I?m doing.? He looked into her
eyes. ?I know it may not look that way, but the
subterfuge, the manipulation, and my eventual ?Exile?
from Sunnydale is necessary. If they are not ready for
what is to come, they will fail. The Dark One is
coming. She isn?t like the foes that they have already
or will face. She?s powerful, determined, aware of the
Slayer?s abilities, and without my efforts to prepare
them; The Dark One will be unstoppable. Buffy may be
the only one to defeat her. There may be another, but
I doubt he?d even try.?
Aki nodded. ?I know. I know. You?ve told me all
this already. I just don?t like it.?
?I know.? Jack stood and pulled Aki to her feet.
?C?mon, let?s go make a deal.?
The two walked down the stairs towards the main
foyer of the renovated building. Halfway down the
stairs between the third floor and the second, she
stopped. ?Jack, Why did you go early this time? With
Moloch, I mean. He wasn?t supposed to be active for
another two weeks.?
Jack nodded. ?Yes, but Lin told me what Moloch?s
henchman would do in three weeks. It would have been
suspicious for me to come back to Sunnydale so
suddenly after dealing with the necromantic yahoo with
the Rancor obsession.? 
?You could have gone and just avoided the Slayer.?
?Fair point, but then, who hates me most of all??
?Fate. She?d love nothing more than to fuck with
you.? Jack shrugged; Aki rubbed the bridge of her nose
and pulled up her oversized urban fatigue pants. ?One
thing, can you do something about Lucius??
?He?s still a little subservient??
?Yes. And it?s getting really annoying.?
?Aki, Ord did a number on Lucius? mind, the
grandmother of all mental clusterfucks. He broke him
into a thousand pieces and kept him that way for
almost twenty years. I?ve removed the, I guess you
could call it a psychic net, from over his mind and
it?s only a matter of time before his true self
reemerges. The Incarnation of War will only help him
recover faster.? Jack paused at the foot of the
staircase. 
Aki sighed and stopped Jack as his hand reached for
the foyer doors. ?Jack, tell me that someday they?ll
know everything.?
An uncomfortable silence hung nearly tangibly
between the two until Jack pushed open the oak double
doors to greet his guest. He smiled. ?Amanda. How good
to see you.?
A slim, shorthaired blonde sat in a very
comfortable wingback chair facing the double doors and
smiled at Jack. ?Jack, darling! Just the man I wanted
to see.?

* * *

Apartment of Rupert Giles,
Sunnydale, California

Rupert Giles felt nauseous, he had spent the last
two hours listening to Buffy rant and rage about the
deception her old friend Jack had perpetrated. Having
full knowledge of exactly what the young Irishman had
planned didn?t ease his tension in the slightest.
Seated in Giles? living room, Buffy drummed her
fingers on the arm of the Englishman?s sofa and
sighed. Something was still bugging her about the
recent Moloch debacle. The rather surprising fact that
her friend Xander not only battled a warrior demon but
survived being one; and a nagging thought about why
they were there to begin with being two. ?Why would
Graile say to meet him at the docks and not be there??
Giles entered the room from his kitchen and
shrugged somewhat helplessly. ?Jack said he was
hunting the Elder, correct?? 
Buffy nodded absently, internally seething. ?They
might be connected, in a definite unviolent way.?
Buffy shook her head in aggravation, as though the
action could help ease her mind, ?Well, let?s think
about this. We already know that Graile is not Jack.
We?ve both seen Jack in sunlight. I?ve felt his pulse.
No. I bet Jack not only knows Graile, but they?re
working together.? The teen rubbed her eyes in
frustration.
?If so Buffy, We need to be careful. Elder Vampires
are in no way easy to kill. It?s how they?ve survived
that long. This not a situation to handle lightly.?
Giles chastised, running his hand through his receding
hairline.
?Trust me, I know full well that this is a
dangerous situation, Giles. Jack knows me, if he was
out to kill me, I?d already be dead. He?s got the
firepower to do it, not to mention outfit a small
army. But whatever he has planned, he doesn?t want me
dead. At least not yet.? 
Rupert Giles had been trained by the Watcher?s
council to resist excruciating torture and he used all
of his skills and will power to keep his demeanor
normal. ?Buffy, what exactly are you thinking of
doing??
?Play his game.? Buffy grinned devilishly,
?Manipulate him as he manipulates us. Plus, we have an
asset he doesn?t.?
Rupert looked skeptical as he removed his glasses
and cleaned them with a handkerchief. ?Dare I ask what
asset we have??
?Simple.? Buffy leaned forward, ?We have the
infinite resources of a multi-millennia old secret
society with members spread over most of the world.
Sound familiar??
?Buffy, I don?t think the Council will sanction the
resources you?re thinking of using.?
?Giles. You yourself said that Graile is supposed
to be dead right??
?Yes. According to Council records, a Watcher
killed Graile. In fact that Watcher is the only one on
record to have ever killed an Elder vampire single
handedly.? Giles? voice faded as realization set in.
?There were no witnesses to the actual death. Adrian
was found severely wounded standing over the remains
of an Elder Vampire.?
?Adrian?? Buffy stood and stared at the
Englishman?s bookcase, as though waiting for a book to
open and explain the mystery of her friend Jack. 
?Yes, Adrian Tutuola. His duel with Graile is a
legend among Watchers. What little witnessed was of a
fantastic swordfight atop the roof of the Watcher?s
Council headquarters.? Giles stood slowly and walked
to his liquor cabinet. Hesitating only for a moment,
he took two glasses and a bottle of Cutty Sark. ?By
the time reinforcements arrived, Graile was a charred
skeleton and Adrian had been deeply wounded.?
Returning to his seat, he gestured for Buffy to take
her glass and continued. ?From our run in with the
ebony skinned bastard, it?s blatantly obvious that
Tutuola did not kill Graile.?
?They were friends. Very good friends.? Buffy
thought aloud, her eyes absently shifting from book to
book in thought. 
?What?? Giles?s brow narrowed in disbelief. ?Adrian
Tutuola is a Hero. He.?
?He lied.? Buffy interrupted. ?He and Graile set up
the fight, making sure it was visible enough to be
witnessed by the other Watchers, though isolated
enough so that the finale wasn't seen.? Buffy turned
back to her Watcher. ?Adrian could have been Jack?s
ancestor or for all we know, even Jack himself.?
?No. I?ve seen Tutuola?s painting in the Watcher?s
Academy. I can safely say that he and Jack are two
different men.? Giles smiled slightly.
?What do you mean??
?Adrian Tutuola was black.?
?Ah. Not as black as Graile obviously. His skin was
like? solid darkness.?
"Indeed," The Englishman nodded, seeking respite in
his glass.
Buffy finished her own glass and sat back in the
sofa as the liquor burned softly down her throat.
"Jack will be back next year." Giles nodded. "We'll
plan something then, but until he does show, I need
you to start calling the council." The Slayer looked
up at the clock Giles had purchased in Amsterdam as a
gift for his father. "Crap. It's nearly two. I was
supposed to call Mom at eleven." Buffy headed for the
door and bid the watcher goodnight. 
Giles waited for the Slayer to begin her run home
before reaching for his telephone. Before Jack had
left, he'd given the Englishman his business card.
Giles hesitated for only a moment before dialing the
number.

* * *

Akivasha rolled across the mat, ducking beneath
Lucius' kick. Off to the side, Jack sat beside Amanda
and Pike, Deanna's absence due to her habit of
sleeping in late on mornings. Aki rolled to her feet
and swept Lucius' ankles. The sturdy black man fell to
the side, landed on his hand, and flipped over onto
his feet to applause from their audience. 
The two combatants lashed at each other with
perfectly timed kicks and punches, over and over,
before Aki slipped, expecting a left slam instead of a
snap kick from the right. The girl hit the mat hard,
grunting more in shock and self-disappointment than in
pain. Lucius helped the teen to her feet and froze in
fear as Aki looked into his eyes. Her normally amber
eyes had become vivid ochre, as her palm came into
contact with his bared and sweaty chest, a burst of
golden light flashed. Lucius cursed as he was thrown
across the third floor gymnasium, slamming into the
mirrored wall, shattering it into pieces. 
The stunned former vampire thrall blinked owlishly
before standing and walking the eighty feet to the
equally stunned crew. Turning to the embarrassed girl,
he nodded. "Good shot." He grinned, "you've been
practicing." Rubbing his head, he sat down beside
Jack.
Jack stood and removed his sweatshirt, "My turn."
He winked as he handed the garment to the slim blonde
beside him. A poor digital version of the Red Dwarf
theme echoed around the gym and the Irishman's
shoulders dropped. "Maybe not." Amanda handed him his
cell phone and he nodded to Pike. "Tag, you're it." As
the New Yorker turned Californian stepped onto the mat
a distance from Aki, Jack clicked his cell phone on,
"Time and Again Antiquities, Jack here."
"Jack? Giles."
"Good morning Rupert."
"Morning. I need a favor."
Jack moved to a far window for privacy. "Name it."
"I need you to wipe my memory."
"I went over this with you before, Rupert. I can't
wipe memories, that's like asking a toddler to drive a
stick shift Cadillac." He rubbed the bridge of his
nose; unaware that three thousand miles away, Giles
was as well. "I can only push memories around."
"That won't work very long, I was trained in the
academy to resist mental tampering and torture."
"No shit."
"Damnit Jack, this is no time for flippancy. The
Slayer needs to be able to trust me, how long do you
think it will take her to detect our deception?"
Jack looked out the plate glass windows towards the
risen sun and basked for a moment in sunlight. "You'll
get a package tomorrow morning. Inside will be a round
trip ticket here, I have a favor I can call in. Tell
Buffy it's a Watcher thing."
"Alright. Thank you Jack."
"No problem then. This is why I didn't push your
memories. I also underestimated your bond with her.
Rest assured and wait for the postman." Jack
disconnected the call and dialed the airline.

* * *

Giles replaced the receiver and moved to his stair,
hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before having to
wake up. "The tickets had better be first class."

* * *

Fin

MacBeth
The Kamikazi Scotsman,
The Kilted Moogle


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus ? Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com