Turned
by Bob Head
Part 16
[reviews]
First a small annoncement. The voting at the SunnyD Awards continues until the 22nd, so if you have not voted yet, please do.
Also, please remember, Feedback Matters. I write this stuff because it gives me enjoyment to do so, but it does help to know that other people are reading and (hopefully) enjoying what I write, so let me hear from you okay?
Now, on with the story! B.
Disclaimer: None of the characters below belong to me. All the BtVS/Angel people belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox. (Damn it!) I'm just trying to have fun.
Pairing: Buffy/Willow, of course.
Spoilers: A few general ones for Season Six and a few specific ones for 'Once More With Feeling'.
Distribution: IKOLY, BtVS Wishful Thinking and the Immortal Slayer. Anybody else, just ask.
Rating: NC-17 for language, violence, and the occasional sexiness between B/W.
Feedback: Yes please! frank_8281@yahoo.com
A/N: I know that many people don't like the musical episode of BtVS. I am NOT one of them. I liked it. The only part that I didn't like was that damn kiss at the end. So, I thought, what if that kiss had ended... differently.
A/N 2: For the purposes of this little AU, the so-called Trio is not an issue so I'm just gonna ignore them.
A/N 3: (Buffy's demon.)
Turned
Part Sixteen
Vicky assumed the stance of a lecturer. The change in the slight blonde was almost palpable. Her back straightened, her voice steadied and her expression grew more serious. Giles recognized the telltale signs of watcher training and silently approved.
"For the past one and a half millennia," Vicky began, "the Watcher's Council has been the General to the Slayer's soldier. Treating the various Slayers throughout that time as tools or instruments with which to fight the forces of darkness."
"Not telling us anything we didn't already know." Spat Dawn as she unconsciously shifted her position to shield Faith from the Watcher.
Vicky sighed, "But did you know that it wasn't always that way? That originally the Council was intended to serve the Slayer, not the other way around?"
Willow sat up straighter. "Wait now, what are you saying?"
Vicky looked the Witch straight in the eyes and said. "Quite simply Ms. Rosenberg, that approximately eighteen hundred years ago the Council was infiltrated and corrupted by the very forces it was intended to assist the Slayer to combat."
The Watcher had everyone's attention now, even Faith's. "It didn't happen all at once you understand. Roughly two hundred years after the birth of Christ a shape shifting demon, rather a minor one as such things go, managed to convince the Watcher's Council of the time that the Slayer's fight against evil was ineffectual, that without a more... active role from the Council, she was doomed to failure. And for the next six hundred years the Council moved further from it's true role of providing support for the Slayer to it's current incarnation of military command."
"That is approximately the time that the Cruciamentum was instituted." Giles said thoughtfully.
Vicky nodded, "I won't even attempt to list the long line of indignities committed against the Slayer over the centuries. But throughout that time, a small group of Watchers have tried, with varying degrees of success, to limit the main groups damaging influence."
Faith, arms crossed and with a sullen _expression. "Guess I was one of their less successful 'degrees', huh?"
"Actually Faith, we consider you one of our greatest successes." She made to step toward Faith, but pulled up short at the open hostility radiating from Dawn. "And we worked quite hard to get the Council to agree to Mr. Giles' request. If it hadn't been for us, you'd still be in prison."
"Might as well be." Faith scowled and shifted position closer to Dawn. Buffy's growl was cut short at the pleading look from Willow.
"I am not your jailer!" the blonde Watcher declared insistently. "I am however responsible for you. If you had bothered to read your release papers you would have seen that I've been appointed your guardian."
Buffy piped up, "Wait a minute... guardian?"
"Well... yes." replied Vicky, "Faith is underage, after all."
All eyes turned to the dark haired Slayer. Scowling at Vicky, she sank a little deeper into the couch.
Barely keeping the smirk from her face, Buffy asked the inevitable question, "So... how old are you?"
Faith muttered almost unintelligibly, "...enteen."
Willow's jaw dropped, "Excuse me?"
"I said I'm seventeen! Okay?" Faith snapped irritably. "I had a birthday just before I got out of jail."
Willow stared at the brunette. "But... but that means you were fourteen when you first got here!"
"Yeah, so?" Faith snapped defensively.
Willow began to pace worriedly, "But you were all... And the naked story! And... the cleavage! And Xander!" The Witch shook her head and faced Faith. "Fourteen?"
Faith shrugged, "I had issues."
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
Safely hidden in shadow, Spike watched through one of the factory's few unbroken windows as the afternoon light faded with the sunset. He waited until darkness had finally eaten the day and then went in search of Frankie and his fledgling childe.
Lyssa was still torturing the high priestess of a cult known to spend most of its time scouring Sunnydale for objects of mystical power. So far, they hadn't learned anything that they didn't already know. Spike suspected that his newest bedmate was just having fun now.
"Where's Frankie?" he asked.
Lyssa looked up from the fanciful pattern she was carving into her moaning victim. "Cowering somewhere." She shrugged. "I don't think he likes watching me work."
The bleach blonde vamp lit a cigarette. "That's because his demon's a weakling." He crossed to his blood-spattered childe, admiring the way she combined brutality and artistry into one act.
Returning to her 'work', Lyssa carved her initials into the woman's breast. However, already having suffered for hours at the vampire's hands, the priestess barely twitched at this latest injury.
The still newly risen Vampiress scowled at the lack of response. "I hate when they don't scream."
Spike shook his head, "I told you to pace yourself, ducks. Humans have a tendency to break if you hurt them too much too quickly." He handed her a shirt. "Now clean yourself up and have Frankie get rid of that." Spike pointed to the once lovely woman. "We're going to call on an old friend of mine tonight and see if we can actually get some answers about this damned amulet."
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
After the meeting, Giles took Vicky back to the warehouse slash training facility, while the two Slayers went for an early patrol. As they moved through the cemetery Faith stole surreptitious glances at her companion.
"So... we're good, right?" Asked Faith, toying nervously with a stake. "About... you know, the whole sleeping with Dawn thing?" She frowned, "I might wanna rephrase that."
(Heh... yeah that might be good. Unless of course, you wanna let me rip her throat out?)
Pointedly ignoring her demon's 'advice', Buffy replied, "If we weren't..." she sighed. "Well, let's just say that instead of moving into my house tomorrow, you'd probably be checking into your old digs at Sunnydale General."
Faith looked sideways at Buffy, unsure if she were joking or not. Wisely, she remained silent.
After a few moments, feeling the need to change the subject, the dark haired Slayer asked Buffy, "When you gonna tell the others about your little plan?"
Idly twirling a stake, "Well I was gonna do it earlier, but then we got distracted by Vicky's rendition of 'The Secret History of the Watchers Council' and I reeaally don't want her to know that I'm a vampire just yet anyway." Buffy replied
Hands jammed in her back pockets, Faith asked, "So... what'd you think about her little show-and-tell?"
"Can't say I was really surprised." She glanced at Faith and shrugged, "After all, if anybody knows first hand about the Council being evil, it's us."
"Yeah, but I thought it was just cause they were a bunch of fuck ups, not that the demons were actually runnin' it."
"Does kinda makes sense though," Said Buffy, "I mean nobody could be that bad at their job without actually doing it on purpose."
Buffy laid a hand on Faith's shoulder and pointed toward a group of vamps in the distance. Both Slayer and Slayer Vampire moved swiftly and with the silence of born predators. As they closed on their prey, it became apparent that only four of the group were vamps. The other two were both teenage girls, wide-eyed and sobbing in terror, in other words, dinner.
The two Slayers quickly moved to intercept the vampires before they reached their destination, a crypt. A particular crypt, one that Buffy remembered from her first weeks in Sunnydale, the one where Darla had taken Xander's lost friend Jessie. It had an access to the sewers and if they got inside, it would make rescuing the girls safely a lot harder.
(Safely my ass! Let's just get to the mayhem already!)
'We'll dust them soon enough, besides, I wanna have a 'chat' with one of them.'
(Ooh, will this 'chat' be bloody?) Asked Buffy's demon.
'Could be.' The blonde replied. 'Depends on how stupid he is.'
Motioning to Faith to split up, Buffy put on a burst of speed and got ahead of the vampires, while the brunette slayer sneaked up on them from behind. The Vamps pulled up short when Buffy stepped from the shadows.
"Hi guys." Buffy purred. "Think we could..." she let her game face slip out, "share?"
The leader looked her up and down with an arrogant sneer and replied, "I'm not a big fan of poachers." He licked his lips, "But maybe we could work something out, like... a trade maybe?"
She chuckled. "What'd you have in mind?" she asked, sidling closer.
Buffy's demon, however, complained about her host's attempt at subtle manipulation. (Oh, come on! Let's just kill him already!)
Keeping her outward appearance 'vampy', Buffy mentally quieted her alter ego. 'Wait for it, Faith's almost in position.'
(Hope she hurries.) She growled. (I want this moron's heart in my hands.)
For just an instant, Buffy shivered at the imagery the demon thrust upon her. A fact that The Slayer Vampire's soon-to-be victim didn't miss.
"You must be pretty new hon." The moron whispered, as he took that last step.
"Not as new as you." Buffy hissed, "Or as stupid."
He towered over the tiny blonde, scowling "Maybe you should watch your mouth little girl."
"Or what?" sneered Buffy, "You'll dust all over me?"
Dropping the stake out of her sleeve into her palm, Buffy slammed it into his chest and stepped through the swirl of dust left behind.
"Now... we can do this the hard way or..." The Slayer Vampire shrugged. "Well, there's just the hard way."
Two of the three remaining vampires looked at each other and then turned and bolted. Straight into the arms of a grinning Faith, literally, as she clotheslined both of them. Turning, she dropped into a leg split and staked them both before they could recover.
The last vampire, a fairly young looking guy with dark hair, was stunned by how quickly his companions had been reduced to little piles of ash. He watched in abject fear as the Slayers approached.
Buffy shed her game face and said, "I think you should let go of them now." pointing at the two girls.
The vamp looked down and realized that he was still holding the girls arms. "Oh yeah." Quickly he released his hold and shoved them toward Buffy. "All yours, can I go now?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "No, you and I are gonna have a little talk." She ushered the still fearful girls toward the other Slayer. "While Faith helps these two nice young ladies home."
The Slayer Vampire smiled with a predatory gleam in her eye.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
As Faith ushered her charges through the cemetery gates, all three froze at the sound of a blood-curdling scream. The brunette Slayer looked troubled as she realized that it came from where they had just been.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
Giles parked his BMW in front of the warehouse where Faith and her Watcher had been living and training. Getting out of the car, they both approached the entrance while Vicky fished in her bags for the key.
Key in hand she turned and spoke, "Mr. Giles..." with a pained _expression she trailed off.
"Something troubling you miss Alistair?" The Watcher prompted.
"Yes, actually. It's Faith." Vicky replied, twisting the key nervously. "I was wondering if you thought it wise... given her history with your Slayer, to move into the Summers home."
Giles removed his glasses and pulled out a handkerchief. "I wonder Miss Alistair, if your worry might not be what the Council might think of such an arrangement. Rather than over our Slayers welfare." He replaced his glasses and continued. "After all, I'm sure that you were instructed to keep Faith as far away from us as possible."
"I could give a rat's ass what the council thinks!" the blonde Watcher exclaimed. "It's what they may try to do that worries me! Especially if they learn that Buffy is a vampire!"
Startled, Giles stammered, "W-what? No... t-that's..."
Vicky raised her eyebrow, "Mr. Giles, I am not stupid." She ticked off her points on her fingers. "Fact: Miss Summers disappeared, reappeared and then vanished again. Fact: there are boarded up windows in the house, to keep out sunlight. Add the fact that Buffy is only recently returned to the house..." she shrugged. "I'm right, aren't I? She's been turned."
A familiar voiced sounded from the shadows, startling both Watchers. "That's right luv, by me."
"Spike." Growled Giles.
Stepping in front of Vicky, the Watcher reached into his pocket only to have his wrist caught in a steely grip.
"Let's leave that cross right where it is old man." hissed Frankie.
"Run!" called Giles as he struggled with Spike's minion.
Lyssa cackled, "Little late for that Watcher boy!"
Giles turned to see the blonde Watcher struggling in the grip of the game faced vampiress.
"Now," said Lyssa as she tightened her hand around Vicky's throat, "I think you should stand real still before I break your girlfriend here."
Spike casually lit a cigarette. "Honestly Rupert, as long as you've lived in this town, you think you'd know better." Taking a drag, he sauntered closer. "Hangin' about outside after dark, chattin' up a bird half your..." the bleach blonde took a good look at Lyssa's captive for the first time. "Say, don't I know you?" he asked.
Vicky could only gurgle in response.
Spike sighed and said patiently, "Lyssa, pet, if you could ease up on the choke hold a bit... there's a good girl."
"Sorry," Lyssa said sarcastically as she loosened her grip. "It's so hard to remember that they have to breathe."
Vicky coughed and drew a wheezing breath. "I was part of... cough, the Council delegation that visited Sunnydale last year."
"Oh yeah!" Spike smirked, "I remember you. Did your dissertation on me didn't you?"
Giles shot Vicky a startled glance.
She shrugged weakly. "It was an interesting subject?"
"Covered all the bases then?" asked Spike. "Feeding habits?" The Vampire moved right into Vicky's personal space and traced a finger along her jaw. "Favorite sexual positions?"
"You bloody... Ugg!" Giles attempted to lunge at Spike only to be knocked unconscious by Frankie. Vicky paled as the minion scooped up her companion and she was forced to follow.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
Back at the Summers house Willow was in the dining room. She was sitting behind a pile of books that was testing the limits of the table. The redhead was deep in research mode as she had been for almost every free moment since returning to Sunnydale. The Wiccan was desperately searching for a way to do the impossible.
'At least that's what everybody says.' She thought as she blew a strand of hair back from her forehead. 'And most of this stuff is not helping change that opinion.'
Still, with her 'resolve face' firmly in place Willow dug back into the dusty tomes.
TBC...