FIC: The Two - [2/?] - R

[Andy Stoffel <see2go4me@xxxxxxxxx>]

TITLE: The Two (2/?)
AUTHOR: -Andy- (see2go4me@xxxxxxxxx)
RATING: R (For future violence and Adult situations) - (though
Parts 1 thru 5 just barely make it to a PG-13)
STATUS: A WiP.
DISCLAIMER: This is a derivative work. All characters belong to
Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and others. I don't
own any of this, just the words gluing my story together.
SUMMARY: Buffy meets a different kind of Willow in an alternate
universe. (It really is gonna be a B/W folks. Eventually. But
not right away.)
SPOILERS: All 7 seasons of BtVS. Let's pretend Season 5 or
"Angel" never happened.
DISTRIBUTION: buffywantswillow and my blog fanfic pages. Anyone
else, e-mail me please.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: 
[1]Posting schedule: I write slowly. I'm posting the first 4
parts as I revise them over the next few days. The 5th part
needs a bit more work than I originally thought and might take a
bit longer. Then the posting schedule will settle down to
approx. once or twice a month, depending upon life and progress
on other fics.
[2] Feedback is always welcome, preferably the kind that
improves my writing.

- - -

Part II - "Getting Down to Business."

Stepping off of the porch with all of the swagger she could
muster, Buffy noticed how the girl nervously backed up, away
from the porch, as she approached her. Circling the girl, she
noted how she nervously assumed a defensive posture. From
working with the dozens of new slayers 'activated' by Willow
just before the destruction of Sunnydale, over the past two
years she'd learned how to use her mere presence to gain some
mental control over a new slayer fairly quickly, without the
violence that attempting to physically restrain one would cause.


According to Willow, who'd been fascinated the first time she'd
seen Buffy do it and had spent some time investigating the
phenomenon, it was almost a form of hypnotism. But it didn't
last very long. Luckily for her peace of mind, she was the only
slayer who seemed to be able to do it even though Willow had
claimed it was a skill any slayer should be able to learn. It
also wasn't something that worked on a more experienced slayer
like Faith and the others who'd faced the First Evil and its
minions. But it did seem to be keeping this girl from either
attacking her or running away while she looked her over.

Although she knew she wasn't really in a place to judge, Buffy
wasn't too happy about what she was seeing and sensing. While
this girl's presence shouted 'slayer' she was missing that
hardness that came to psychically permeate a slayer's essence
after facing death on a daily basis for months or years. She
didn't appear soft physically, but she wasn't intimidating and
didn't have that aura of implacable command learned by
experienced slayers. 

She was clearly dressed for battle but her inexperience here was
also very much in evidence. While the heavy leather jacket and
pants she was wearing would be enough protection against a
fledgling vampire or small demon in a quick encounter; in a
long, drawn out fight the weight of the inflexible leather
clothes would slow her down and wear her out in the type of
situation where speed and endurance were most needed.

Her stake was in an awkward to reach location under her jacket.
On the run she would have to slow down to retrieve it, which
could be fatal. Her heavy boots would do more damage to her
ability to run than they would help in a fight. And she didn't
appear to have any other weapons, not even a basic knife.

It was amazing she was still alive. This was not a slayer ready
to fight more than a single vampire. A small pack of vampires or
an older, experienced one would quickly kill her. She was either
very new or this was a town with a very small vampire
population. And from the way she was dressed and armed, her
Watcher was just as green as she was. 

While looks could be deceiving this wasn't a good starting
point. Getting home would be a lot harder if the local slayer
and her support system were as inexperienced as it looked. She
could only hope she was wrong. She wasn't sure she had the
energy any longer to fight the potentially long odds to get home
if she had to first fix an untrained slayer.

A low growl from the girl interrupted Buffy's thoughts as she
continued her examination. Surprised at the reaction, Buffy
lifted an eyebrow, stopped circling her and let loose with her
'inner Cordelia', something she'd taken to doing a lot in the
past two years. "Rude much? And who dressed you like that? Your
watcher should know better than to let you wear such clothes for
patrolling."

Not the friendliest thing she could have said but any response
she got would at least answer a few of the many questions she
had. And the girl looked so much like her sister that she was
having a hard time not showing her concern for her safety at her
obvious unpreparedness.

"My what?" growled the glowering girl, obviously annoyed at the
examination. "What's a watcher? And what's wrong with my
clothes?"

Well, that was a twist she hadn't expected. A universe that had
slayers of some sort but possibly without the Council of
Watchers? Or did she just not know about them? "The tweed
brigade? Boring old men who watch you kill vampires while giving
semi-useful advice? The Council of Watchers? Someone must keep
an eye on you."

"I'm not sure what a watcher is or does but I haven't needed a
babysitter for years and..."

Before she could finish, Buffy felt the presence of a number of
vampires and stopped the girl mid-sentence with a hissed
"Shhh...!"

- - -

The woman circled her like she was some not too pleasing exhibit
in a museum. She wasn't used to being treated like an object.
Even the oldest members of the coven treated her better than
this.

Dawn stood there, frozen in a defensive stance, mesmerized and
held there by some kind of energy that appeared to flow in waves
from this woman. She couldn't seem to move, her muscles refusing
to obey and she growled under her breath in frustration.

This caught the woman's attention and her verbal attack left
Dawn angry and confused. What was a watcher and what did they
watch she thought. And why did this woman think she should have
one? And her clothes? What was wrong with them?

The woman's explanation only confused her further. It was so not
helping. It sounded like she was being asked if she had a
babysitter. Before she could do more than express her disdain
for the idea she was stopped by the woman's quick signal to be
quiet.

And then she felt it. The vampire she had felt earlier was now a
lot closer and she was outside the house. There wasn't enough
time to get to safety. She would have to fight. 

The woman became unnaturally still and Dawn could almost feel
her attention shift towards the direction of the vampire. She
seemed to be searching for something.

A pack of five vampires came into view at the end of her yard
and her senses went wild. The urge to fight was warring with the
urge to run away. 

"Are these friends of yours?" the woman asked flatly.

"Friends? Vampires? Are you crazy?"

"Just checking. So you won't mind if I deal with them before we
continue our discussion?"

Before Dawn could reply the woman strode forward and stood
between her and the oncoming vampires. She mentally amended her
previous thought. This woman wasn't just crazy, she was foolish
and suicidal. And it looked like she was being dragged along for
the ride.

- - -

Buffy aggressively strode up to the oncoming vampires, stopping
in front of the obvious leader, halting them in their tracks
before they'd made it more than halfway into the yard. They
weren't a very frightening bunch of blood suckers. Harmony had
been scarier than some of them. Chances were they were newbies,
fresh out of the grave, and it wouldn't take much effort to get
rid of them. The only question being if she could do it without
fighting.

"Get out of our way little girl," snarled the leader. "We have
business with the slayer!"

While she had carved herself several stakes with a knife from
the kitchen while waiting for the return of the slayer, this
wasn't her world and Buffy wasn't sure fighting random vampires,
unless it was in self defense, was a good idea. Especially
before she'd had a chance to learn more about the local
situation. 

If she was stuck in some nightmarish universe like that
fictional Anita Blake character's world where vampires had
rights, killing vampires could get her into trouble with the
authorities if she was caught. Maybe she could get rid of them
without resorting to violence?

Most likely some master vampire had sent them on an errand which
apparently involved the slayer. They seemed a little single
minded about their given task, even for vampires. She was used
to being the focus of any vampires in her vicinity but these
didn't seem to be in any hurry to attack her. For some reason
they didn't seem to realize she was a slayer, their only natural
enemy. Out of sheer boredom while she waited she'd been
practicing Willow's new aura hiding trick earlier on the porch.
Was it possible they couldn't sense she was a slayer? And how
long would it last? Unfortunately, figuring out if that was why
would have to wait. 

But surely they would have also attacked a normal person? For
right now she had to get rid of them and hopefully talking to
them would do it. Vampires usually required a bit more
persuasion than a verbal one but it was worth a shot. Maybe she
could talk her way out of this? 

"She's mine!" Buffy declared territorially with as much force as
she could. "This is as close as you are getting. If you can't
talk to her from there you can leave. Or die. Your choice." She
shrugged as if it didn't matter to her.

- - -

They were arguing over her. The crazy woman was facing five
vampires who wanted her and she was threatening them. And she
didn't seem to be afraid of them.

She'd never fought more than one at a time in the months since
she'd become a slayer. And very rarely for longer than a minute.
With the help of the coven she'd managed to catch most of them
when they had just risen and were still groggy.

All of her training had stressed survival. 'Don't get caught in
a fight unless you can't avoid it', 'Get to some place safe when
outnumbered.' This advice had served the slayers in her line
well for centuries with most of them living a long time while
keeping vampire numbers low enough that most people believed
they were just a myth.

But this was different. Did she help out a potential enemy? Or
did she run away from both her and the vampires?

The discussion between the vampires and the woman wasn't going
well. The vampires not actively trading insults with her were
starting to growl and Dawn noticed a subtle shift in her stance.

Suddenly, one of the smaller vampires lunged forward, and almost
faster than she could see, Dawn watched the woman stake two of
them with quick, short jabs of the wooden stake that had
suddenly appeared in her hand. From the stunned looks on the
faces of the remaining vampires you could tell they were as
surprised by this as she was. They apparently weren't expecting
any real resistance. Before they could react she'd thrown
another stake at a third, dusting it before it could flee. 

Backing away from the two remaining vampires, the woman quietly
called to Dawn, "I've saved one for you." and abruptly charged
towards them. The woman grabbed the smaller one and shoved it in
her direction.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see that the other
vampire was putting up a real fight. Hers, on the other hand,
blindly attacked her and all she had to do was step out of the
way at the last minute and trip it as it went by. Staking it
took less than 5 seconds while it lay on the ground and before
it could get back up. 

Coughing on the cloud of vampire dust she'd been unable to
avoid, Dawn watched in awe as the small woman fought the
remaining vampire with a skill and energy she knew she wasn't
close to possessing. This was a tough vampire and she knew that
she wouldn't have lasted a minute against it. Even less if she'd
had to deal with the other vampires at the same time.

Watching the punches back and forth and the kicks and other
moves she wasn't familiar with she hoped she didn't have to
fight the winner. Her training over the years had stressed
defense and speed while this woman's style was a combination of
aggression and brute strength mixed with a number of half
familiar moves she almost recognized. 

This vampire was obviously a formidable opponent but he was
clearly outmatched and she seemed to be playing with it. That
she was able to do so was even more frightening.

- - -

The girl had quickly taken care of her opponent but Buffy had
been too busy to see much of their fight. From what she'd seen
out of the corner of her eye, it had been more luck than skill
but a closer examination of her abilities would have to wait.
Right now she had a stubborn vampire to eliminate.

A few punches in the right place. A powerful kick in another. A
few bones broken in strategic places to slow him down and she
was able to stake him. A weak vampire. Not much of a challenge
compared to the ones she usually fought and not enough of a
workout. She really needed to burn off the excess energy and
growing anger with the situation she found herself in. But that
would have to wait.

Pausing to take several calming breaths and to shake the vampire
dust out of her hair, Buffy looked over at the girl. She could
almost see the fear radiating from her. She was looking at Buffy
like she was from another planet and Buffy raised an eyebrow at
her in question.

"How...? Who are you? Why...?" the girl stammered out.

Ignoring most of her questions, Buffy answered the easiest "It's
what I do. And thanks to our dusty friends we both know what you
are supposed to be... but your name is?"

"Dawn, Dawn Summers."

"Ah. I thought that might be it. You look like a Dawn." Buffy
responded, knowing that she would need to avoid using this
girl's name as much as possible. Given the life expectancy of
most slayers, Buffy didn't want to get too fond of one that
looked so much like her sister. "Well I'm sure you need to get
some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow and we can continue our
interrupted discussion." She looked her up and down again. "I
think we should also discuss your training at some point while
I'm in town. Looks like you could use a little help."

The girl just gaped at her as Buffy walked away, headed towards
the center of town. Hopefully the little money she had with her
was close enough that she could at least get a cup of coffee
somewhere. Sleep would have to wait until she found a safe place
to crash for a couple hours.

- - -

TBC in "Getting Comfortable"

- - -
Thanks for reading.

=====
-
- http://radio.weblogs.com/0104508/
-


	
		
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Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                     'Choices'

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