Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:51:59 -0800 (PST) From: Jason Decade <femtoka2@yahoo.com> Subject: Slayers United 2 Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all characters are copyright and trademarks of WB, David Greenwalt, Joss Whedon, 20th Century Fox, and others. Chapter 2: Giles, fix it! I settled into my room. Nice room, definitely room..y. Apparently, Giles had a two bedroom and I was staying with him. Buffy and Dawn had roomed, and the slayer were two a room. Andrew had briefly slept on Buffy and Dawn's couch until Xander reluctantly let him in. Angel and Connor settled in. Connor. He was...very...interesting. I liked him in a handcuffed to the bed type way. That's why I was happy when he showed up as I was putting away the last of my clothes. " Hey." he said cheerily at the door. I turned to see him staring, " Hey Connor." I said equally as cheerful. " Ijustcametoseeifyouwantedtogosightseeing." he said in one long, breathless sentence, " Italy is a cool place, or so I've heard." he smiled. I smiled, then frowned, " I'd love too, but I'm supposed to be going with Dawn. There was supposed bonding." I said disappointed, " Best friend...type bonding." I said, making it clear. " Oh." He said dejectedly. " But you could go." I said, trying to make the situation better, " Then again, Dawn really wants quality time. How about tonight?" I asked. " Sounds like a date." he smiled, turning to walk away. As he left, Dawn was coming in. " Hey Connor." she said to him, " Hey Slayer." she smiled. I sighed, " Do you like him?" I asked. " Connor? He's cute, but it would be weird. I mean if Buffy and Angel got married and we date...(she shivered). Plus I'm crushing on this guy, Carlos from school. He's such a hottie!" she smirked. " This isn't like the 'RJ' thing, is it?" I laughed. Dawn stared at me for a minute, " Why would you ask if...Oh My Gosh! You like Connor!" she squealed. " Maybe. But this is one of those 'only us' things." I said, shushing her. " Gotcha. You two would make a great couple, definitely. Wait, he should come with." she said excitedly. I shook my head, " Today is for you and me. Besides, if he went with us, then you'd try and set us up...most likely a demon would attack we'd be screwed. I want naturalness. Is that a word?" I asked. " Would you care if it would?" she smiled. " Nah." I chuckled. " Come on, we're going to miss stuff." Dawn said, pulling me out of the room. -=============================================================================================================- Austin and Dawn ran through the living room and out the door, leaving Giles, Buffy, Xander, and Angel to stare as they left. The four were trying to sort out the why. The why would be why there is a male slayer. Giles paced while Xander looked through books trying to find a precedent and Buffy and Angel tried to think of an explanation. " Maybe it just is." Giles said finally. Buffy sighed, " Not that I'm complaining, but come on! A guy as a slayer. I know things have been wonky since..." But Buffy stopped. " Since the ritual?" Xander said, looking up from the book. " That could be the problem, but how do we know for certain?" Giles said with worry. " You can't, not unless you can trace the line back." Angel said from the corner. Buffy's eyes darted to Angel, " What'd you say?" she asked. Angel shrugged, but Giles got it, " The First Slayer?" he said anxiously. " But we'd have to go to America, right? I don't know about you, but I feel like going back could be a trap." Buffy said shyly. " What?" Giles asked. " Well, you know what happened when we all got trapped in the house." Buffy said quickly, " Plus, L.A. went to hell, didn't it?" she asked. Angel raised his hands, " I was just there. No more hell than last time you were there." he said. " See! I told ya." she said, " Look, I know we have to go back one day. There's big evil in Cleveland, but I'm on vacation right now." she said carefully. " We wouldn't have to go back to America. We could summon her to our dreams...or something less annoying." he said. " Could you summon her here?" Xander asked. " More unbelievable things have happened. I'll see what I can do." he said, immediately hitting the books. " Good. Me and Angel will try and see what the Inner Circle is and why they killed his family. I'm thinking vamps. Super vamps. Crap." Buffy pouted. " I'll be Watcher Jr. and get to the workin. Ah, good researchy goodness...god I miss Andrew and Willow." Xander smiled. Buffy patted his shoulder, " Me too. Hopefully she'll be back soon." she said, rubbing his shoulder. ============================================================================================================= Meanwhile... Dawn and I had done the sightseeing thing to death and soon I was ready to eat. We found a cafe and quickly took our seats outside. We looked at the menu and I frowned. " Know Italian?" I asked. " A little...mostly pizza." she joked, " You're lucky to be a slayer...to be in the 'Slayer Club'." she said out of nowhere. I looked at her with anger, " Lucky? Yeah I get to die young. To have my destiny decided for me and I'm not able to change it. You definitely got the better deal. If you want to change your career and go into medicine, then you can. I'm stuck with this whole thing. Dawn, when we were younger and we talked about Buffy being the slayer, we looked at it with envy, but now that I'm there...I can see why it's such a burden." I said tearfully. Dawn looked at me, shocked and nervously hugged me, " I'm sorry." she said apologetically. I shook my head, " No big." I said, wiping me tears, " Dawn, these Inner Circle guys are not playing. The world's changing Dawnie and not for the better." I said wisely. " Dually noted. So, Connor." She smiled. I blushed, " Yeah, weird, but there is something about him. Something I can't place." I said curiously. " I know what you mean." She said dreamily. I stared at her, " No, I mean a different guy." she quickly corrected. I sighed in relief, " I haven't seen that look since vampire boy. I still don't get the whole wooden pencil thing. After that, you would only carry wooden...oh, you stabbed him...with a pencil?" I asked. " Yeah. My first staked vampire. He wanted to turn me so we could be together." she chuckled, " Was so not gonna happen." " Bummer. He was cute." I joked. " I'm happy, I heard Giles say that Willow was coming back soon!" Dawn said gleefully. " Really? I heard she got a new girlfriend." I said, trying to get more info on this 'Kennedy'. " Yeah, but Kennedy is a real pain in the ass." she said with a huff," she's really annoying and questions everything. Part of the reason we kicked Buffy ou..." but she stopped. " I'm not feeling very annoyable. I figure Andrew'll come close though. No one could be that bad...except every woman Xander's ever seriously dated." I chuckled, " Sad that Anya died, i was starting to like her. Connor said that Cordelia changed. But I'm not sure a person like her could change. You learn something new everyday." I smiled. " That's what I'm saying. Ready to go back?" she asked me. " Yeah. Sounds fun." I said, pulling money from my pocket and rising from the table. =========================================================================================================== When we got back to the apartment, I was immediately met by Giles. " I need to speak with you, it's urgent." he said calmly. I looked at Dawn, who nodded, " Ok." I said, walking into the living room. Giles grunted and sat directly opposite of me, " I know this must be extremely stressful for you." he said calmly. " It's no ride." I said equally as calm. He chuckled, " No, I expect not. I want to help you understand and grasp the full concept of your powers. I would like you to train with us. Sharing in that spirit, I have to ask you, you've been know to dabble in the dark arts...is this a spell?" Giles asked. " What?" I asked in disgust. " Or perhaps a vengeance demon, maybe?" he asked. I shook my head, " Absolutely not! I don't want to be a slayer, I just want to be a normal guy and have...Giles, fix it!" I asked, breaking into a sob. He reluctantly put his arms around me, " Buffy and I have found a way for you to...deal. You want answers don't you? ( I nodded) Well then, it's imperative that you do this." he said kindly. I wiped away my tears and noticed Buffy, Dawn, Angel, Xander, and Connor standing at the door, " I don't need to deal. I'm happy. I'm a happy, peppy slayer!" I said jumping from his grasp, " I need to...what time is it?" Giles looked at his watch, " 7:30, why?" he asked. I grabbed a stake out of my jacket, " Slayer time." I said, blowing past them and out the door. =========================================================================================================== I walked through the haunting cemetery, looking at gravestones. I frowned at the thought that my parents would never have a gravestone. I didn't...couldn't...and the slayer things wasn't as planned as it all seemed, at least not to me. I hate the way it went down. I remembered Joyce and hanging with her and Dawn while Buffy was away with her friends at college. I remembered how we'd guess what it felt like to be the slayer...or even a slayer. 'The' became 'a' when Faith showed up. Dawn never really liked Faith, but I did. I looked at Faith as if she was me. In ways we were alike. What that I won't tell you now. Faith is a person. A slayer, but still imperfect. She never got that. I remembered when Dawn and I eavesdropped and heard Buffy say something. "See, want, have.". It always stuck in my mind that I could do it. take things, make trouble, but that's how we're different, Faith and I. And Buffy and I. And Faith and Buffy. It's the choices. I'm not Buffy, but I'm no Faith either. " Come on, you're bad with your fangs." I said, taunting the vampire. He dove at me and I moved, causing him to run into the crypt. I walked over and when I got to him, he swatted me a few feet away! I saw Connor marching towards him, but I yelled, " Touch him and you're next!". Connor stopped in his tracks and sat on top of a gravestone, watching. " Not a smart move slay..." but he stopped when he felt the stake penetrate his heart, "...er." he said, realizing I had thrown my stake and hit him dead in the heart. " Nice. I give it an eight." Connor clapped. I scoffed, " Nice? That was a nine, definietly." I said cockily. " What's with the Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" he asked. I stared at him, " What? What are you talking about?" I asked. He hopped off the gravestone, " Well, you were mad, then you were...it was like you were bipolar." he said awkwardly. I smiled, " You wanted a date, here it is." I said, gesturing around us. " What? Don't try to change the subject, this is not a date." Connor said quickly. I scoffed, " Dates are about getting to know someone. I'm the...a slayer. What's tells you more about me than a cemetary? I'm born, I fight in vamps in a cemetary, and eventually, I return to one forever. What more is there to know?" I snapped. " You." he said simply. " Haven't you been listening? I'm...This is me." I said, trying to ignore him. " I've been listening. You sound like a scared little child." he said rudely. I huffed, " What do you know about me? I mean, you don't know what it's like!" I said angrily. " Then enlighten me." he said carefully. " A life sentence without parole." I said carefully. I had finally said what I was thinking. I would be this forever. A slayer...forever. How was I supposed to deal with this? I mean, sure, there were other slayers, but I'm not them. I'm different. " Life sentence? Is someone talking about me?" Faith's voice said, immediately followed by her body. I sighed, " Faith. I'm not feeling up to up dealing with you or your slutty remarks." I said, very disgruntled. Connor looked shocked and Faith's mouth turned into an 'O' shape, " Kid's got a mouth. And to think I was going to say something to the effect of 'Long time no see' and you messed it up. I might just have to hand out an ass whoopin." she smiled. " You think you can?" I said defiantly, " I'm all slayered up now too." Faith had been inching closer and was now face to face with me, " I heard." she smirked, " But I was slaying when you were still in pull-ups." " We all know your old. Give me your best shot." I said, throwing her a ready look. As she reared back, Connor stepped between us, " Stop it!" he shouted, causing a slight pause. " Move." I said quickly. " No, this is stupid!" Connor pleaded. " What? You don't think I can take secondary slayer here?" I said snidely. Faith sucked her teeth, " And what does that make you?" she asked. " The owner of your ass, skank!" I said, gaining a punch in the face, " That all you got?" I asked, kicking her in the gut. " My dead grandma kicks harder than you." she said, spinning me around and slamming me into the crypt! I recovered just in time to roll out of the way of one of her kicks and ended up behind her. When she turned to kick me again, I grabbed her leg and threw her backwards. She jumped back up and swung at me, but I blocked and she tried to sweep me off my feet, but I jumped and she punched me in the chest! I gasped for air and stumbled back into someone. I turned to see Buffy watching angrily. " Hey, B." Faith smiled," Teachin Junior a lesson." " Austin, are you okay?" Buffy asked. " Good fighter. He's a natural slayer, B. Just like I remember him, minus the slayer strength." Faith smiled. Buffy looked at me, " You are a good fighter...but still, what's going on with you? You went through a whole spectrum of emotions in a matter of minutes. You went all..." she said. " Don't say anybody you'd need books to recognize. I'm beat, yo." Faith said, exhaling deeply. " Really? I'm sorta horn...um...hungry." I said, causing Connor, Faith and Buffy to chuckle. " Slayer Jr." Faith said, hugging me. " I hate to ruin this...moment, but tomorrow we're taking you to see the First Slayer." Buffy said carefully, " We need to know more about this and make sure this isn't something to hurt you or us." she said sternly. I nodded, " Okay." I said, submitting, " Seriously, anybody else hor...ungry?" I asked as we walked away. Now maybe I'd finally get rest.