The Two
by acs
Singing the Blues at the Poetry Slam
[reviews]
TITLE: The Two (6/24)
AUTHOR: -Andy- (see2go4me@yahoo.com)
RATING: R (For future violence and Adult situations) - (though Parts 1 thru 12 just barely make it to a PG-13)
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 and plot.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
[1] Feedback is always welcome, preferably the kind that improves my writing.
[2][Revised: 11-Dec-2005]
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Chapter VI: "Singing the Blues at the Poetry Slam"
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Buffy walked silently behind the two women, curiously observing their interaction. They didn't seem to have that closeness of lovers but there was definitely something familiar in the way they seemed to complement each other. The way they brushed against each other, the way they seemed to stay within each other's personal space, as they walked bothered her in some way she couldn't easily identify.
She knew she couldn't be jealous of their obvious relationship. She didn't know either of them and had no reason to feel anything like that. And she knew what jealousy was like, the burning desperation and fear that you are going to lose someone to someone else. It wasn't anything like that. This was more of a feeling of missing something she'd never really had. The intense ache of a might have been.
The two witches were definitely an important piece of the puzzle she was trying to put together in her head. As she gathered information about the things that were different between this world and her own, Buffy hoped it would point her in the right direction for a way home. At least that's what she told herself as she watched them as she walked.
From the slight mental buzz she was getting from their direction she could sense that now that they were out in the open, they were using some form of silent communication, possibly something like telepathy. But even with her enhanced senses and the things her Willow had recently taught her she didn't have any way of actually understanding them. Telepathy was just not something she do could herself. She could hear thoughts directed at her but otherwise it was just so much background noise in her head.
As they walked she noticed Tara occasionally looking back at her, an odd expression on her face, as if she had a question she really wanted to ask but she wasn't sure whether to ask it or not. Giving in to her curiosity, Buffy decided to find out what was going on. "Tara?"
"Yes?"
"If you have a question, go ahead and ask it. I might not give you an answer but I certainly won't bite." Buffy continued, hoping she'd managed to say her name without displaying her feelings. She'd forgotten how much losing her Tara had hurt. The darkness she'd lived in since becoming a slayer hadn't just affected her. Tara's death was another failure in a long line of failures that haunted her dreams.
"H...h...how did you knnnow what I was doing?" she stammered nervously. "Back at the coffee shop?"
Not about to admit that she'd only guessed and her reasons for the guess, Buffy fell back on her earlier comment "That would be one of those questions I won't answer. I'm sure that wasn't your real question. What did you really want to know?" She smiled slightly in encouragement.
"Why is your aura so hard to see? It fades in and out, making it difficult to focus on."
"Oh, that." What could she safely tell them? She didn't think they were a danger to her but she wasn't quite ready to trust them. Everyone had an agenda; she just wasn't sure what theirs was yet. "It's a side effect of a meditation technique a friend taught me. She noticed that when I did it my aura seemed to get fainter." She shrugged. "We worked on it for a while and as long as I meditate using her method my aura is almost invisible. It also seems to make it harder for someone to read my mind." Buffy raised her eyebrows pointedly at them as they casually walked down the shaded sidewalk. "I can also tell sometimes if they are trying to do it." She added with a wink.
"Oh!" Tara blushed. "So that's how you knew what I was doing."
"Yes." she answered simply. She wasn't prepared to tell them how weak this ability to shield her aura and mind really was. They didn't need to know that a determined person could get past it. It really only came in handy when she was hunting vampires and minor demons anyway.
"So... you can do magic?" Willow asked curiously.
"No. Not really. Just simple parlor tricks like that. Nothing close to the things you can probably do. If I try anything complicated things can get a bit wonky." She smiled at them. "So I leave the real magic to the experts."
"Okay..." Willow answered as if she was ready to ask more about it. Buffy noticed Tara shaking her head slightly as if to restrain her. They both spent the rest of the walk to the house deep in thought, seemingly unaware of how closely Buffy was watching them.
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Buffy stood on the sidewalk in front of the large house staring up at it for a minute while the two witches waited patiently. The house sat harmoniously among its neighbors. She was sure that Giles or Xander could have told her in great detail what kind of house it was but to her it was something else. It reminded her of warm nights in small towns, time spent with friends, and growing up. And small children underfoot. Nostalgia for things she'd never really had. Things that, being a slayer, she never would have.
The house had a wrap-around porch with clusters of inviting chairs scattered along its length. From where she was standing Buffy could also see at least one porch swing. She had to shake her head to rid it of the image of spending romantic evenings with someone gazing out at a moonlit neighborhood. That wasn't ever going to be a part of her life. It was a fantasy she'd given up long ago. She didn't have time for such thoughts.
The first step was a big one. Looking up at the two wiccans standing on the porch, Buffy was very reluctant to join them. She knew that her presence would change things for them. Not immediately but eventually the darkness she felt would envelope them. They were still innocent in so many ways. They fought evil on a daily basis but they'd obviously never been tainted by it like she'd been. But it was bound to happen. Just by her presence their lives would become darker.
Buffy cautiously mounted the porch and followed them into the large foyer. Looking around, Buffy could see a large stairway to the left leading up to the next floor like something out of one of those romantic novel her mother had been fond of, A long, wide hallway ended in a doorway she suspected led outside. The house was as welcoming on the inside as it had appeared to be from the outside. The faint smell of incense and cedar tugged at her nose. There were plants everywhere she looked; sitting on windowsills and hanging from the ceiling. There was no mistaking that the occupants of this house gave nature a prominent place in their home.
"There really isn't much to see." Willow began. "The training rooms, kitchen, and library are on the ground floor. The first floor is mainly meeting rooms and the rest of the house is split into apartments. Why don't we start with the library?"
She directed Buffy to a large room near the end of the hall. The room was lit by large windows along one wall. The other walls were covered in bookshelves. In the center of the room were several large tables with chairs pulled up to them. Scattered about the room were other, more comfortable looking chairs.
"All of the books in this room are available for anyone to use. We probably have the most in-depth private occult library in the area." Casually leaning against one of the tables, Willow continued, "If there's something you want to look up let us know and we can help you."
"Thanks. I appreciate the offer." Buffy was amused at the blatant attempt to find out what she was up to but managed to keep a straight face. "You mentioned training rooms?"
"Yes. We have two. One is primarily for coven use and any special classes we might have going on. The other is for general use by the community. Anyone who needs to use it can reserve it." She walked out of the library through another door down a short hallway to another door, the other two women following her.
They entered a smaller room. "This is where Dawn trains." She pointed out a number of interesting features. Buffy noticed she hadn't mentioned the mirrored wall they'd entered through.
"Does anyone else use it?" Buffy asked looking around the room. It had everything she could imagine a small training room having, though she assumed that any weapons were kept out of public view. She could see where it could be useful to have a mirrored wall though it wasn't something she'd often had in her own training rooms.
"Yes. She uses it every day. There are several other coven members who also use it occasionally. As you can see it isn't very large. It starts to feel crowded if we have more than five people in here at once. It works best for small groups. We use the other training room for our weekly self-defense classes."
"Who teaches those?" she asked curiously.
"I do." Willow answered proudly. "The coven doesn't just help the slayer. We believe in providing useful services to our community. And that's part of it. You're welcome to join us."
"While I would appreciate using your facilities, I prefer a little more privacy for that kind of thing." Buffy demurred.
"I'm sure we can accommodate you there." Willow looked at Tara who nodded briefly. "If you wanted to we could let you use Dawn's training room some time during the day when no one else needs it."
"That would be great actually. I haven't had a chance to find a local gym yet." Buffy wasn't really surprised at their offer after the comments in the library. They obviously wanted to learn more about her and seemed to plan on doing so by inviting her to spend time at the coven's house.
"Great! Did you have any questions before we finish our tour?" Willow asked.
"Yes, I was wondering what was behind that wall?" She pointed at the mirrored wall. "There's obviously something between this room and the library."
"Oh... that? We have several small observation rooms behind there. The entrance is in the short hallway we walked through." She reopened the door in the mirrored wall and walking over to a panel in the center of the short passageway, pressed on something Buffy couldn't see. A door opened onto a long skinny room. "Parts of the wall in the training room are one way glass. We've found it to be less distracting to anyone training to observe them that way."
"So, do you watch just Dawn or do you watch anyone else using the training room?" Buffy asked.
"Usually just Dawn. We can also tape any training sessions in here." Willow answered. "We've found that being able to show someone what they are doing wrong from a different perspective can be very helpful."
"So if someone doesn't want to be observed? What stops you from doing it?" Buffy asked, trying to suppress her long standing paranoia towards groups with different goals than hers.
"Well, then we don't watch them." Willow seemed confused by the question. "And the video cameras are in the training rooms so you would know if someone was taping you."
"Okay." Buffy was amazed at Willow's naivety but didn't pursue the matter. "You mentioned something about the rest of the tour?"
"Yes. There's plenty to see."
"Great. Why don't we wrap this up with a quick tour of everything else. I'm sure you both have other things to do this evening."
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"What do you think?" Willow asked as they watched the short blonde woman stride off.
"You know she has some sort of mental shield. I can see through it occasionally but I didn't get a lot of solid information from her. What I read were mostly her emotions as we talked." Tara answered. "She's an interesting person."
"Interesting? How so?" Willow perked up.
Tara grinned at her before answering. "You mean other than the obvious, 'Willow Rosenberg couldn't keep her eyes off of her' kind of interesting? Or the 'is she really as straight as she thinks she is' kind of interesting?"
"Yes. Other than that." Willow blushed. "She's straight?"
"And this matters why?" Tara laughed at her.
Willow blushed again but ignored her comment. "What did you learn about her?"
"Well... she never actually lied to us but she wasn't always sure if the things she was telling us about the hellmouth were true."
"That's not lying?" Willow exclaimed.
"No... it was more like a lot of ifs and maybes." Tara shrugged. "She wasn't trying to mislead us. She just doesn't believe she can prove a lot of what she told us."
"So which things are true, beyond a doubt." she asked as she sat in one of the wicker chairs on the porch and motioned Tara to another. "And which aren't?"
"Her name really is Buffy Summers. And the things she said about vampires following Dawn are true. And how many she's staked herself since she came to Sunnydale." She looked puzzled for a moment. "She was really surprised at the number of vampires Dawn has staked so far."
"In a good way?"
"No. I got the impression that she was horrified at how few that was. And she's worried about Dawn."
"So, what about her claim to be just passing through and not wanting to help Dawn train?" Willow asked.
"Those are among the few real lies she told us."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think she really knows why she's here. Or at least why she's in Sunnydale right now." She shook her head. "And she might have said she doesn't want to help train Dawn but I think she plans to eventually."
"Where is she from?" Willow asked hopefully.
"I couldn't tell. That's one of the things she was working real hard to hide from us. But she really wants to go home." Tara shook her head. "But for some reason she can't. I couldn't tell why."
Willow filed that away for later. "How about people?" she asked. "Did you get anything from her on anyone specific?"
"You know how much I dislike reading people's feelings." Tara said, looking sadly at Willow who nodded, reaching over and squeezing her hand. "Especially after this."
"Why?"
"She's a very lonely person. I think she was broken and was never really put back together again. She looks at everything like she can't be a part of it and knows it." Tara shuddered. "It actually hurt to try and read her."
"I'm sorry. I won't ask you to do it again." Willow reached over again and gave her a hug. "Is she someone we need to watch?"
"Not if you mean as a threat." Tara answered. "When she thinks about Dawn it's like she's thinking about a sister. And you remind her of a good friend she used to have. Neither of you have anything to worry about."
"Used to have?" Willow asked curiously.
"I wasn't able to get much more than that. When she looks at you it's like she's seeing a former friend. And whatever broke them up really hurt her."
"Did anyone else around here affect her?" She noticed Tara shivering. "You don't have to answer that."
"No, it's okay. But I don't think I'll be spending a lot of time around her if she's going to be here for long."
"Why?" Willow asked surprised.
"When she first saw me... it was like she was seeing someone she loved who had died. And then something about that reminded her about her mother dying." Tara shivered again. "It was like an open wound. That shield thing she does couldn't prevent me from feeling her pain. I'm not sure I can take being around those kind of feelings on a regular basis."
"Okay." Willow gave her another hug. "As much as I appreciate your help I won't keep you involved if it is going to hurt you."
"Thanks." Tara said gratefully. "You'll just have to call me if anything interesting happens with her."
"How interesting?" Willow grinned at her.
Tara poked her friend. "You know what I mean Willow Rosenberg!"
"Okay, okay!" Willow held up her hands in surrender. "Was there anything else you noticed?"
"When we mentioned Dawn's sister she was very curious but nervous. I don't think she wants to meet her."
"Huh. I wonder why." Willow said.
"It wasn't really clear. Sorry." Tara got up from her chair. "I really need to get back. You know how to get ahold of me if you need anything."
"Okay." She hugged her one last time. "Thanks for helping out with this."
"Isn't that what friends are for?" Tara said before she walked over to the garage next to the house and got into her car, waving goodbye as she pulled out into the street and headed home, leaving Willow sitting on the porch swing, deep in thought.
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Buffy spent the rest of her evening exploring the bars in and around Sunnydale. She was surprised to find that there wasn't one specifically run as a demon hangout. She was going to have to revise her opinion about where Dawn was getting her fashion tips. She did run into several harmless demons masquerading as humans in a few of the bars but she didn't feel any need to disturb them and they didn't seem to notice her presence.
There were several she took special note of. There was the traditional teenage dance club hangout. It wasn't quite the Bronze but it had a similar atmosphere. She didn't think she would be hanging out there unless she was forced to. And the name, "The Place", seemed a bit pretentious.
Near the local college, USC Sunnydale - a less grandiose school than the one she'd gone to, was a more sophisticated dance club. She could actually imagine spending time there, though not alone.
Of the remain half dozen or so bars in Sunnydale, the only one she felt any attraction to was a place called "Tony's Blues Pub." The name alone on the small nondescript sign almost sent her heading towards the next bar down the street. But the music leaking out into the street drew her in. The live music coming from a middle aged woman singing on a small stage in one corner of the bar was raw and sad, fitting her mood perfectly.
She wasn't able to stay for long, but she knew she'd be back. There was something soothing about the place. But for now she still had a slayer to follow and sleep to get if she wanted to be in any shape for job hunting the next day.
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She spent the next morning and afternoon scouring the town, want-ads in hand, looking for some kind of job she could do that would allow her enough freedom to keep an eye on the inexperienced slayer and the coven. The job market in this Sunnydale seemed fairly stable. There didn't seem to be many jobs available except very late night waitressing shifts at several all-night diners and several clerk shifts at an all night convenience store. Things she could do but not quite what she was looking for.
A little discouraged, Buffy decided to spend the next day looking a little further away from Sunnydale in one of the other nearby towns. She wasn't quite desperate enough yet to take one of the employment options available in Sunnydale.
Passing it on her way back to her loft, ready to put the day behind her and relax, Buffy noticed a small plaque in the window of the bookshop she now lived above. In bold black letters it announced "Part Time Help Wanted".
Buffy wandered into the store on a whim after seeing the sign. She wasn't sure she really wanted to work around old books but the idea of living so close to a job was tempting.
She'd only met Madeline, the bookshop owner, very briefly the day before when she was shown the loft by the rental company. She'd gotten the impression that she was old in a well preserved, elegant way that had made the normally confident Buffy feel awkward and out of place. Nothing had been said later by the rental agent while she was reading over the lease when she'd mentioned job hunting. She wasn't even sure Madeline had really noticed her, so she wasn't quite sure what to make of the sign appearing now.
From the size of her loft Buffy knew the shop couldn't be that big. At least a third of it seemed to be hidden behind a doorway covered with a beaded curtain. The rest of it seemed to be packed with a large number of used paperbacks with one wall, to the left of the currently unoccupied counter, full of much older books. The titles seemed to be in a number of familiar looking languages but nothing she'd ever read.
Curious, she reached for one that seemed to draw her attention. Just as her hand touched its spine there was the faint, soft sound of footsteps coming from somewhere behind her. Jerking around, Buffy saw the shop owner emerging almost ghostlike from the curtained back room.
"Can I help you?" she asked in a husky voice.
Buffy found herself looking into Madeline's grey eyes, unable to look away. "Yes, you can actually. You have a help wanted sign up and I was looking for a job." she asked hopefully.
"Do you know anything about books?"
"Other than reading them?" Buffy gave her a small smile. "Not a lot."
"I see." she smiled but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Could you get that book for me?" she pointed at a large, leather bound book just above eye level on the shelf Buffy had been browsing.
"Sure." Buffy said. Her hand tingled slightly as she pulled it off the shelf.
Madeline took it from her, saying cryptically "They don't know who you are do they?"
Buffy looked at her in surprise. "Excuse me?"
Madeline just ignored her as if she hadn't said anything. "You'll do. It's only a part time job. I'm getting old and need someone to watch the shop in the afternoon."
"Great!" Buffy was surprised at how easy it was. "When can I start?"
"Why don't you take that sign out of the window. I'll show you where everything is and we can take care the paperwork. Tomorrow would be a great time to start." Madeline smiled at her again, this time for real.
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Continued in "Smoothing the Edges"
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