fic:blackbird/btvs, vampire diaries/gen
Title: Blackbird
Chapter: 1 - ‘singing in the dead of night’
Rating: FR15
Word Count: 2010
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vampire Diaries
Prompt: #373 cultivate @ tamingthemuse
Warning: character death
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all related characters are copyright Joss Whedon and ME. Vampire Diaries and all related characters are copyright of L.J. Smith, Kevin Williams and the CW. No infringement intended.
Synopsis: Mystic Falls did sound a smidgen more ominous than Sunnydale.
Muted light covered the wide expanse of blacktop currently filled to the bursting with people as the townsfolk of Mystic Falls celebrated their little corner of America’s hundred and fiftieth year. Vi smirked, she’d met and dusted older vampires, before she tore away another piece of the cotton candy cloud a head shaking Buffy had bought for her just moments before and popped the sugary sweetness into her mouth. It melted and her smile widened as she caught sight of Rachel, the newest Slayer to their brigade of do-gooders, easing her way through the throng of people and towards her and Buffy, back from her quick bathroom break.
Tearing off another section of cottony goodness she turned to Buffy and arched a brow. “Am I wrong or should there be more evilness afoot?”
Green eyes narrowed, watching the crowd beneath the rows of bare bulb lights strung around the rather large parking lot before a shrug lifted narrow shoulders and Buffy offered, “Wild animal attacks and the spontaneous combustion of victims says something’s up.”
“Something,” Vi nodded her agreement and tilted her cone of cotton candy towards the newcomer and smiled when Rachel helped herself before adding, “and Giles did tell us to steer clear.”
“He did?” Buffy inclined her head and shared a smile with Vi.
“He did,” Rachel confirmed over a mouthful of partially masticated spun sugar and Vi’s nose wrinkled at the sight.
“Huh,” was Buffy’s only reply before she turned and headed back the way Rachel had come and deeper into the crowd of people.
Vi dropped her arm over Rachel’s shoulder and turned the fifteen year old so that they could follow Buffy as she asked, “Did you notice any abnormally pale people?” She grinned when she heard Buffy’s scoff and continued, “Un-snappy dressers?”
She felt Rachel’s shoulders lift and settle before the younger girl used some of Kennedy’s stealth lessons-as in she was slim to not stealthy-and tore off another section of Vi’s cotton candy before stating, “All seemed ordinary to me.” She paused, munched and then offered, “Granted the attractiveness curve is well above normal-”
“You noticed that too?” Vi interrupted.
Rachel paused to flash her a quick grin and finished with, “but still pretty ordinary as a whole.”
“You said pretty.” Rachel snorted at Vi’s quiet observation before they both stopped short because Buffy was standing in front of them, arms crossed and right brow arched. Vi knew that look and cleared her throat before shoving the rest of her cotton candy at Rachel and stepping forward, in front of the younger Slayer and Buffy’s brow rose slightly higher. “I mean to say that perhaps that’s supernatural.”
Her question brought that eyebrow down as Buffy frowned. “The pretty people?”
“Um…” Vi trailed off and glanced sideways before offering, voice hesitant, “Yes?”
Vi held herself perfectly still under Buffy’s scrutiny before the older woman’s mouth twitched and she shook her head. “Come on, Sherlock, we have a crowd to cover.”
“Should we split-” her question was cut abruptly short by a whistle that drew Vi’s gaze skyward just as it exploded with light and sound. She laughed and watched the fireworks begin and the crowd around them burst into scattered applause as the Mayor of Mystic Falls made his way down from the podium in front of them. A frown drew her brows low with his quick exit and Vi turned to address her sudden suspicion with Buffy.
Pale green eyes widened when she watched Buffy cry out, her hands rising to clutch her ears and she fell to her knees as Vi rushed to her side. She caught Buffy’s elbows, attempted to drag her upwards when a piercing whistle, louder then the fireworks, drove her to her knees beside Buffy. Rachel screamed behind them and Vi turned, her eyes filling with tears as the pain drove her further towards the ground, and she watched, helpless, as Rachel collapsed beside her.
Vi whimpered and pushed in at her temples, willed her sense of hearing away as the ground rushed up to meet her and she sagged against it. Vi landed facing Buffy, watched as the older Slayer struggled to her feet as two police officers parted from the crowd and one drove a needle into Buffy’s arm and she drove her elbow into his face in retaliation. Vi blinked, lost time and opened her eyes to the sight of the officer collapsed on his side and the other striking Buffy in the temple with his club and muttering about her being one of them.
Her vision swam and Vi fought the darkness crashing into her and the pain twisted up her stomach as the cotton candy made itself reacquainted with the back of throat. Vi struggled and failed to pull herself out of that sucking darkness and the next time she blinked her eyes didn’t open.
Heat licked at her face, dancing over her prone form and contrasting sharply with the cool concrete at her back as Buffy regained consciousness and blinked up at an unfamiliar ceiling. A ceiling that was thick with smoke and crawling flames and the noxious scent of burning flesh was so heavy in the air she could taste it. Buffy gagged and rolled onto her side, flinching as the movement made her reacquainted with the stabbing pain from earlier in the night.
Darkness circled around from her back, inching its way towards the center of her vision as she sucked in a harsh breath and coughed out, “Vi!” The stabbing became a blunt hammer, pounding at her skull and she ignored it, ignored the nagging voice of self-preservation insisting she think only of herself as she dragged in another breath and shouted, “Rachel!”
She flattened her hand against the warming concrete and pushed upward, lifting her upper body and coughed as the smoke thickened around her and she scanned the room. “Vi! Rachel!” She turned her head, suppressed the sudden wave of dizziness as her eyes widened, tearing from the smoke and the site of bodies burning around her. Some of them still moving, attempting to drag themselves away from the flames engulfing them.
It was a futile struggle since the entire room, what she assumed was basement from the stairs aflame across from her, was burning fast and something plastic crumbled behind her releasing more acidic fumes into the already oxygen depleted air. A shiver chased its way down her spine, goosebumps rising along her arms beneath her jacket as she stared at the small pocket of devastation around her and she still couldn’t see Vi or Rachel.
Movement in her peripheral vision drew her head to the right and green eyes narrowed as she watched a struggle between two men that ended with a far too easily broken neck. “No!” The protest was useless as the body was pushed to the ground and kicked towards the flames and another closer figure on the ground turned toward her. Buffy stared into a pair of narrowed blue eyes set in a face that reminded her of Vi and Rachel’s comments from earlier about the prettiness of the population in Mystic Falls.
Buffy swallowed thickly, breathing heavily from her nose as she flicked her gaze once more around the basement in search of her charges. “What are you?” The growled question turned her head back towards the person, though she found that description questionable, slowly crawling his way towards her and she attempted to bring her legs up and under her.
The world tilted and she fell to the side, catching herself on her elbow and flinching at the pain that spiked up and into her shoulder as she landed closer to her stalker. “Oxygen deprivation is a bitch.” The statement startled her enough to flick her gaze back up and to his and Buffy flinched, realizing he was closer than she’d anticipated. He scoffed, his laughter taking on a mocking tone he asked, voice almost conversational, “Did they inject you with vervain?”
Buffy frowned and he smirked at her confusion. “That’s answer enough.”
Even with the threat signals this guy was setting off Buffy couldn’t stop her body from sagging closer to the concrete where the air was cooler. He was simply beside her and shoving her onto her back. Strong fingers caught her chin and jerked it to the side before sharp teeth buried in her throat and she frowned as the flames around them receded slightly, the air cooled by an unseen, unfelt breeze.
He reared back, swearing and tearing her throat and Buffy’s head lulled to the side, her brows drawing together at the sight of his blood filled gaze and the veins protruding from his flesh as the skin around his mouth began to grey, more veins appearing across his exposed skin and he slumped across her chest, knocking what little breath she had out of her.
“Damon!”
The shout had the vampire, or at least she thought it was a vampire, collapsed upon her springing to his feet, bright-eyed and rosy cheeked. Buffy frowned at the sudden change in demeanor and he bent at the waste, snagging both her wrists and dragging her to her feet until she sagged against him as another man, maybe, was at her attacker’s side, face a mask of concern. “Damon?”
“Hello, brother.” The cocky tone stiffened her spine, but she was too precarious on her feet to attempt to shove away from the ass and she pretty certain her vision wasn’t supposed to flicker in and out. Suddenly Buffy was lifted and curled against her attacker turned savior’s chest and the world went from suffocatingly hot to chilled. The temperature change made her entire body ache and her stomach rebel as she forced herself to breath and little else.
“Damon?” He knelt, ignoring the questioning voices surrounding them and placed her on the cold asphalt. Buffy blinked up at the stars, confusion warring with the sudden rush of adrenaline telling her to jam her fist into the attractive face above her or flee, but since all of her extremities seemed to be doing a fine impression of dead weights Buffy found herself unable to accommodate her subconscious urges of flight or fight.
“Damon, what did you do?” This voice was feminine and filled with rage.
He replied, voice scathing, “You’re little toy didn’t work on just vampires, Bonnie.”
Buffy snickered, vampires her ass, and then frowned, shooting up and onto her feet, only to stumble with her first step toward the building. Her other savior was there, stopping her, and the titling of the world didn’t help much either. “You can’t go in there.”
“My friends are-”
“Gone.”
She caught the shoulder closet to her and shoved, watched his eyes widen as he stumbled back and she made it two steps before Damon-a pain in the ass he was turning out to be-was simply there. He blocked her way far more effectively and dodged her first sloppy swing. A growl of frustration escaped her and she stumbled as her vision tunneled. The other guy was there, catching her around the waist and she caught sight of two teenage girls standing off from them.
Buffy ignored them and brought her head back, smacking into the chin of her would be captor, but he held on this time as the building, the one she was struggling so desperately to reenter, shook and windows of the basement exploded. The arm around her waist tightened as her knees gave out with the sudden realization that Vi and Rachel were gone. She’d failed them.
Tears filled her eyes and she didn’t fight the first sob or the second and suddenly she was cradled against a strong chest as she gasped for breath. The gasps turned into something different, harsher and the tunneling of her vision was back.
She could hear voices, but they were distant things. She couldn’t understand them and didn’t feel the need to as the darkness swelled up and her last thought was of pennies.
An odd thought that.
Chapter: 1 - ‘singing in the dead of night’
Rating: FR15
Word Count: 2010
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vampire Diaries
Prompt: #373 cultivate @ tamingthemuse
Warning: character death
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all related characters are copyright Joss Whedon and ME. Vampire Diaries and all related characters are copyright of L.J. Smith, Kevin Williams and the CW. No infringement intended.
Synopsis: Mystic Falls did sound a smidgen more ominous than Sunnydale.
Muted light covered the wide expanse of blacktop currently filled to the bursting with people as the townsfolk of Mystic Falls celebrated their little corner of America’s hundred and fiftieth year. Vi smirked, she’d met and dusted older vampires, before she tore away another piece of the cotton candy cloud a head shaking Buffy had bought for her just moments before and popped the sugary sweetness into her mouth. It melted and her smile widened as she caught sight of Rachel, the newest Slayer to their brigade of do-gooders, easing her way through the throng of people and towards her and Buffy, back from her quick bathroom break.
Tearing off another section of cottony goodness she turned to Buffy and arched a brow. “Am I wrong or should there be more evilness afoot?”
Green eyes narrowed, watching the crowd beneath the rows of bare bulb lights strung around the rather large parking lot before a shrug lifted narrow shoulders and Buffy offered, “Wild animal attacks and the spontaneous combustion of victims says something’s up.”
“Something,” Vi nodded her agreement and tilted her cone of cotton candy towards the newcomer and smiled when Rachel helped herself before adding, “and Giles did tell us to steer clear.”
“He did?” Buffy inclined her head and shared a smile with Vi.
“He did,” Rachel confirmed over a mouthful of partially masticated spun sugar and Vi’s nose wrinkled at the sight.
“Huh,” was Buffy’s only reply before she turned and headed back the way Rachel had come and deeper into the crowd of people.
Vi dropped her arm over Rachel’s shoulder and turned the fifteen year old so that they could follow Buffy as she asked, “Did you notice any abnormally pale people?” She grinned when she heard Buffy’s scoff and continued, “Un-snappy dressers?”
She felt Rachel’s shoulders lift and settle before the younger girl used some of Kennedy’s stealth lessons-as in she was slim to not stealthy-and tore off another section of Vi’s cotton candy before stating, “All seemed ordinary to me.” She paused, munched and then offered, “Granted the attractiveness curve is well above normal-”
“You noticed that too?” Vi interrupted.
Rachel paused to flash her a quick grin and finished with, “but still pretty ordinary as a whole.”
“You said pretty.” Rachel snorted at Vi’s quiet observation before they both stopped short because Buffy was standing in front of them, arms crossed and right brow arched. Vi knew that look and cleared her throat before shoving the rest of her cotton candy at Rachel and stepping forward, in front of the younger Slayer and Buffy’s brow rose slightly higher. “I mean to say that perhaps that’s supernatural.”
Her question brought that eyebrow down as Buffy frowned. “The pretty people?”
“Um…” Vi trailed off and glanced sideways before offering, voice hesitant, “Yes?”
Vi held herself perfectly still under Buffy’s scrutiny before the older woman’s mouth twitched and she shook her head. “Come on, Sherlock, we have a crowd to cover.”
“Should we split-” her question was cut abruptly short by a whistle that drew Vi’s gaze skyward just as it exploded with light and sound. She laughed and watched the fireworks begin and the crowd around them burst into scattered applause as the Mayor of Mystic Falls made his way down from the podium in front of them. A frown drew her brows low with his quick exit and Vi turned to address her sudden suspicion with Buffy.
Pale green eyes widened when she watched Buffy cry out, her hands rising to clutch her ears and she fell to her knees as Vi rushed to her side. She caught Buffy’s elbows, attempted to drag her upwards when a piercing whistle, louder then the fireworks, drove her to her knees beside Buffy. Rachel screamed behind them and Vi turned, her eyes filling with tears as the pain drove her further towards the ground, and she watched, helpless, as Rachel collapsed beside her.
Vi whimpered and pushed in at her temples, willed her sense of hearing away as the ground rushed up to meet her and she sagged against it. Vi landed facing Buffy, watched as the older Slayer struggled to her feet as two police officers parted from the crowd and one drove a needle into Buffy’s arm and she drove her elbow into his face in retaliation. Vi blinked, lost time and opened her eyes to the sight of the officer collapsed on his side and the other striking Buffy in the temple with his club and muttering about her being one of them.
Her vision swam and Vi fought the darkness crashing into her and the pain twisted up her stomach as the cotton candy made itself reacquainted with the back of throat. Vi struggled and failed to pull herself out of that sucking darkness and the next time she blinked her eyes didn’t open.
Heat licked at her face, dancing over her prone form and contrasting sharply with the cool concrete at her back as Buffy regained consciousness and blinked up at an unfamiliar ceiling. A ceiling that was thick with smoke and crawling flames and the noxious scent of burning flesh was so heavy in the air she could taste it. Buffy gagged and rolled onto her side, flinching as the movement made her reacquainted with the stabbing pain from earlier in the night.
Darkness circled around from her back, inching its way towards the center of her vision as she sucked in a harsh breath and coughed out, “Vi!” The stabbing became a blunt hammer, pounding at her skull and she ignored it, ignored the nagging voice of self-preservation insisting she think only of herself as she dragged in another breath and shouted, “Rachel!”
She flattened her hand against the warming concrete and pushed upward, lifting her upper body and coughed as the smoke thickened around her and she scanned the room. “Vi! Rachel!” She turned her head, suppressed the sudden wave of dizziness as her eyes widened, tearing from the smoke and the site of bodies burning around her. Some of them still moving, attempting to drag themselves away from the flames engulfing them.
It was a futile struggle since the entire room, what she assumed was basement from the stairs aflame across from her, was burning fast and something plastic crumbled behind her releasing more acidic fumes into the already oxygen depleted air. A shiver chased its way down her spine, goosebumps rising along her arms beneath her jacket as she stared at the small pocket of devastation around her and she still couldn’t see Vi or Rachel.
Movement in her peripheral vision drew her head to the right and green eyes narrowed as she watched a struggle between two men that ended with a far too easily broken neck. “No!” The protest was useless as the body was pushed to the ground and kicked towards the flames and another closer figure on the ground turned toward her. Buffy stared into a pair of narrowed blue eyes set in a face that reminded her of Vi and Rachel’s comments from earlier about the prettiness of the population in Mystic Falls.
Buffy swallowed thickly, breathing heavily from her nose as she flicked her gaze once more around the basement in search of her charges. “What are you?” The growled question turned her head back towards the person, though she found that description questionable, slowly crawling his way towards her and she attempted to bring her legs up and under her.
The world tilted and she fell to the side, catching herself on her elbow and flinching at the pain that spiked up and into her shoulder as she landed closer to her stalker. “Oxygen deprivation is a bitch.” The statement startled her enough to flick her gaze back up and to his and Buffy flinched, realizing he was closer than she’d anticipated. He scoffed, his laughter taking on a mocking tone he asked, voice almost conversational, “Did they inject you with vervain?”
Buffy frowned and he smirked at her confusion. “That’s answer enough.”
Even with the threat signals this guy was setting off Buffy couldn’t stop her body from sagging closer to the concrete where the air was cooler. He was simply beside her and shoving her onto her back. Strong fingers caught her chin and jerked it to the side before sharp teeth buried in her throat and she frowned as the flames around them receded slightly, the air cooled by an unseen, unfelt breeze.
He reared back, swearing and tearing her throat and Buffy’s head lulled to the side, her brows drawing together at the sight of his blood filled gaze and the veins protruding from his flesh as the skin around his mouth began to grey, more veins appearing across his exposed skin and he slumped across her chest, knocking what little breath she had out of her.
“Damon!”
The shout had the vampire, or at least she thought it was a vampire, collapsed upon her springing to his feet, bright-eyed and rosy cheeked. Buffy frowned at the sudden change in demeanor and he bent at the waste, snagging both her wrists and dragging her to her feet until she sagged against him as another man, maybe, was at her attacker’s side, face a mask of concern. “Damon?”
“Hello, brother.” The cocky tone stiffened her spine, but she was too precarious on her feet to attempt to shove away from the ass and she pretty certain her vision wasn’t supposed to flicker in and out. Suddenly Buffy was lifted and curled against her attacker turned savior’s chest and the world went from suffocatingly hot to chilled. The temperature change made her entire body ache and her stomach rebel as she forced herself to breath and little else.
“Damon?” He knelt, ignoring the questioning voices surrounding them and placed her on the cold asphalt. Buffy blinked up at the stars, confusion warring with the sudden rush of adrenaline telling her to jam her fist into the attractive face above her or flee, but since all of her extremities seemed to be doing a fine impression of dead weights Buffy found herself unable to accommodate her subconscious urges of flight or fight.
“Damon, what did you do?” This voice was feminine and filled with rage.
He replied, voice scathing, “You’re little toy didn’t work on just vampires, Bonnie.”
Buffy snickered, vampires her ass, and then frowned, shooting up and onto her feet, only to stumble with her first step toward the building. Her other savior was there, stopping her, and the titling of the world didn’t help much either. “You can’t go in there.”
“My friends are-”
“Gone.”
She caught the shoulder closet to her and shoved, watched his eyes widen as he stumbled back and she made it two steps before Damon-a pain in the ass he was turning out to be-was simply there. He blocked her way far more effectively and dodged her first sloppy swing. A growl of frustration escaped her and she stumbled as her vision tunneled. The other guy was there, catching her around the waist and she caught sight of two teenage girls standing off from them.
Buffy ignored them and brought her head back, smacking into the chin of her would be captor, but he held on this time as the building, the one she was struggling so desperately to reenter, shook and windows of the basement exploded. The arm around her waist tightened as her knees gave out with the sudden realization that Vi and Rachel were gone. She’d failed them.
Tears filled her eyes and she didn’t fight the first sob or the second and suddenly she was cradled against a strong chest as she gasped for breath. The gasps turned into something different, harsher and the tunneling of her vision was back.
She could hear voices, but they were distant things. She couldn’t understand them and didn’t feel the need to as the darkness swelled up and her last thought was of pennies.
An odd thought that.