You change the equation I add up to
Days had been quiet at the Hyperion, with everybody pretty much doin' their thing. Soul Boy had himself locked up in his office, with Cordelia reminding me and probably him every five minutes that he was brooding again. I had a feelin' Angel was feelin' all guilty cause his best pal Doyle up and died on him. Hey, life was a bitch that way and Angel
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I had to practically bite my tongue off to not argue with him about it. Fair was fair and I said that he could call the shots. So, I guess I just had to be prepared for a really sucky battle. Well, it would suck until I saved his life and then he'd realize that I wasn't crazy....er well...that I wasn't crazy because I said he was gonna die today. Fuck. I hope he almost dies. Because I needed to prove something to him and I had no idea why.
With a shrug I followed him towards the back of the estate towards a smaller door that wasnt' really part of the main house. Must be like where the maid and shit would stay if this was a normal house. As it was? Just looked kinda creepy to me.
Wes was lookin' at me expectantly like he really didnt' wanna have to his back to me in the creepy old house. Fine. Looked like it was my turn to play leader in follow the leader.
The door was locked, but I easily broke the lock as I yanked it open. Stepping inside a small hallway I immediately scrunched my nose as I looked around the musty dank space, brushing cobwebs out of my face. "Okay, now this? Just gross. I mean c'mon, house this big? Get a fucking maid."
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I gave her a look when she said right in a tone that meant 'wrong'. I don't see her coming up with anything else! What is she going to do, tie it to a chair and torture it to death? Which would work, I suppose, but I tend not to inflict unneeded pain upon my opponents. And dear god, I have her as my back up. I'm not sure what is worse. A demon in front of Faith at my back.
Still, I had made my choice and I suppose I get to run with hit now. Let's hope I don't regret it later on. Or Cordelia for that matter. Right well. Let's get this show on the road as they say.
Squaring my shoulders I started toward the house. It really was a very frightening looking house. I have to say the demon certainly knew how to pick his battleground. I was still expecting Norman Bates mother to jump out at any moment.
Or my own. Wouldn't make much of a difference.
I kept my eye on Faith and when we came to the house I was getting a bit nervous about having my back to her. The door was locked anyway, now would be a good time to get her to show off her strength. Oh wait; she'd already done that in that apartment hadn't she? Then now would be the time to show she could use it for other things.
She broke the lock easily and stepped into the house. Hefting my crossbow, I was right behind her as we moved along silent halls. The sudden sound of her voice nearly made me jump. Muttering curses under my breath, I fumbled with the grip on my crossbow. "Could we must find the demon and get rid of it. Instead of critiquing its maid?" I hissed through clenched teeth.
Besides, I'd like to get home before Friends. I hope Dennis doesn't forget to tape it if I'm not on time. Taking another deep breath, I squared my shoulders again and started toward the...kitchen. At least, that’s where my contact had said it spend most of its time. Strange demon.
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Rolling my eyes I walked into the kitchen, glancing around but seein' nothin'. Didn't even feel nothin' which was kinda weird considering I had the slay senses goin' for me. Usually I just got that good down low tingly feelin' anytime there was a vamp or demon nearby. I liked that feeling. Liked the feelin' after kickin' some ass even more. Slaying was the best high around and nobody knew that better than me. Cause let's face it, B? She ain't got no basis for comparison. Maybe that was why she was wound up so tight. Shoulda slipped her a pot brownie.
With a sigh I spun around quickly and gave Wesley an indignant look. He actually seemed a little bit startled but I didn't really give a shit. "Are you sure this is where the demon is?" I asked him quietly, forgetting all about the fact that I wasn't supposed to be talkin'. Besides this place didn't look that familiar. Kinda hard to tell though when you're focused on so many other things. Visions were a bitch like that. Whoever thought I should have this job was seriously out of their fucking mind.
"I dont' think there's anything here-" I'd barely gotten the words out when I felt something lunge at me, Wesley quickly pullin' out the crossbow. Not the crossbow you idiot! It's broken!
I tried to struggle out of it's grip, finally turnin' around so I could face it as it's giant meaty hand closed down around my throat and pulled me off of my feet. God damn, it was bigger in person than it was in my head! Desperately I tried to pry his fingers loose from my neck but instead got hurled across the room for my troubles. Flying across a countertop, I knocked everything off of it, lettin' it shatter and smash on the floor before I fell hard on the broken glass, smashing my head on the floor. "Son of a bitch," I muttered, shaking my head.
Slowly I pulled my way back up to my feet just in time to see the demon towering over Wesley on the other side of the counter.
"Wes, run!" I yelled before clenching my teeth and wrapping my hand around a jagged piece of glass just as a claw came slashing down, catching Wesley right in the collarbone. Fuck. I had to move fast.
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If I'd been anyone else, I'd have taken that gun she'd offered and shot her. But I'm not any other guy. I'm the idiot who thinks people deserve a second chance, no matter how much I'd like to punch their lights out. Not that I'd ever got that far with Faith, but it was the thought that counted.
When Faith suddenly spun around, I took a step back looking at her startled. Good god, I wish she'd stop doing that. She's as bad as this Angel character. Perhaps we should give them both a bell around their necks. I should discuss this with Cordy. She's probably all for it. "Yes, I'm sure," I said a little doubtfully, glancing around.
Then everything went rather fast. It was suddenly there, picking up Faith and tossing her aside. I quickly fumbled for my crossbow, ready to fire it. I never got that far though. It got slapped out of my hand, skirting over the floor toward the wall. "Dammit." As I made a dive for it, a heavy claw came down on my color bone. I bit my lips from crying out as the sound of newly healed flesh tearing again and barely healed bone cracking reached my ears.
No time for that now, I had to do something. I dove underneath the second swipe of claws and made my way over to the crossbow. Run. I wasn't going to run anywhere. My days as a coward are over, even though I was scared to death. Faith was attacking the demon and I aimed my crossbow waiting for an opening. When I finally found it, and let go of the lever....Nothing happened. The fall to the floor must've broken the damn thing.
Just like in the vision.
Tossing the thing to the side for now. I reached into my pocket for my gun. It wasn't as effective as an arrow through the eyes, but a few bullets in the head would do the trick as well. It would just take a little bit longer. Now if only Faith would stop jumping in the line of fire. "Faith! *Move*!" Yes right, as if she was really going to listen to me while she was fighting. Dammit.
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Alright, time for fun and games was over. Runnin' over to the counter I found a steak knife that hadn't been knocked to the floor with everything else when I decided to try flyin'. Grabbing it I marched over to the demon tryin' to maul Wes to death and kicked him hard in the face, sending him tumbling off of Wes and to the floor. In the same quick movement I stepped over Wesley and slammed the knife into the demons skull. Right in the fucking center. Bulls eye, baby.
The monster screamed and grabbed onto my ankle, and then my hand yankin' me down to the floor with him and Wesley. His blood was green and I grimaced as it trickled down to his eyes. He grabbed my arm hard, probably wantin' to break it but his grip was weak and after a minute his head lolled to the side lazily. Dead.
With a sigh I stood up and wiped some sweat off of my brow before glancin' down where Wes was still on the floor. He looked a little rough around the edges. I probably did too but hey, least the mission was accomplished. He wasn't dead.
Reaching out a hand to help him up he just sorta looked at me uneasily. Oh what the fuck? What? I'd just saved his ass and now he wouldn't even let me help him up off the floor? Fuck. What did it take?
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I turned over to my back just in time to see the demon coming for me. Before I could either bring up my feet to kick his balls or...err...something, there was a flash and Faith stepped over me. She pushed the demon away slamming what I assumed was a knife into its head. Then everything went rather fast.
There was green blood splattering around, some of it landing on Faith and I. Luckily not much, considering it was slimy...and green. Faith landed on the floor with a thud. The demon reached out again, but it was obvious there wasn't much fight left in him. Thank god. It took a few moments, but then it dropped the side, hopefully dead. I don't think it's breathing. It better be dead.
I was still staring at the thing, making sure it was dead and stayed dead when hand appeared in my line of vision. Huh? I had my own hand pressed against my shoulder and turned slowly to look up at Faith. She was helping me of the floor now? Wasn't her job done? I wasn't dead; she'd done her good dead. Shouldn't she toddle off now and look all smug? Wearily, I looked at the hand, a small frown forming.
This is just surreal. The girl who tried to kill me not all that long ago is now offering me a hand up. Fine. I let her ride pillion, I'm sure I can manage a hand up without risk having it ripped off.
Slowly I reached up and took her offered hand. She pulled me up and we both stood there a bit awkwardly, brushing our hands on our pants. I had no idea what to say, now that the job was done. What did one usually say? I'm really not used to teamwork of any kind. "Uhm... Well that was... Err.. Well done, Faith."
What? It's not as though I did a whole lot. Other then being swatted around and shoot a bullet. Sighing, I padded over to the crossbow and picked the thing up from the floor with a groan. The house can have the bloody demon, I'm going home. Shower, sleep, and ice for my shoulder. "Should I drop you off a the hotel?" I ask tiredly.
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Brushing the dust and dirt off my pants I pulled a few pieces of stray glass out of my skin from when I'd landed on top of dishes and vases and whatever else had been on the counter before I'd destroyed it. With a hiss I pulled the final bloodied piece of glass free before throwin' it to the floor. I saw Wesley's follow it to the floor and I vaguelly wondered what he was thinkin' about. Was he thinkin' about that time I'd scraped him up with bloodied glass? Probably.
"What?" I asked him confused before lettin' his words sink in. Thought for sure I'd be walkin' home now since he hadn't trusted me to be on the back of his bike on the way over here. So what? I saved his ass and now he did? I was confused. Thought for sure nothin' I'd ever do would be enough.
And I knew that in some way it probably would never be enough.
Fuck. Why did Cordy have to be so hell bent on keepin' both of us around here? I wondered if I'd accidently jarred something loose in her noggin when I'd been beatin' on her that night. Wouldn't surprise me. I mean, why the fuck else would she be warmin' my bed up every night?
With a shrug I followed him out through the same door we'd come in from and headed towards his bike. I stopped for a second in the front yard and just glanced back up at the giant house. Was he sure that was the only one in there? This place seemed awful big for one demon.
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My mind whirled back to that room, that chair, Faith standing over me jabbing a piece of glass in my arm. Knifes, hot pokers, fists, anything she could think of. I swallowed hard, still able to smell the burning flesh lingering in my nose. I doubt I'll ever really get rid of that. Nor the feeling in my bones as I recall that night.
And that's the girl I'm giving a ride back to her hotel. That's the girl who just had a vision about me. That's the girl who made certain that vision didn't come true. To say that I was confused would be a rather gross understatement.
Shaking myself at he words, I shrugged and turned around. Might was well get the hell out here. Otherwise it would only get more uncomfortable. I walked out the door making a beeline for my motorbike. Stuffing the weapons back into the saddlebags and the helmets out, I looked over at her. What was she looking at now? Can't we just go home? Or she to the bloody hotel and I to Cordy's place?
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Walkin' over to him and his bike I bit on my bottom lip givin' him a look before turnin' back around and glancin' at the house. Was he hurt? Was this a stupid idea? Only one way to find out.
"Awfully big place, don't ya think?" I asked idly. "I mean, why would only one demon live in a palace like this?" I turned around and gave him a pointed look as he started to consider what I was sayin' to him. "You sure there's no more in there?"
By the look on his face I could tell that he didn't wasn't sure about that. I wondered how he even knew about the original demon. The one that was supposed to kill him today.
"We could....we could go check." He gave me a dubious look and I only matched it with a determined one. "C'mon! It'll be fun."
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“What?” I looked at her confused and then back at the house. What was she getting at? What was she up to? Good lord, was that ever not going to be included in my thoughts? What she was up to? I know I have my reasons, but I’m trying so very hard here to trust her even a little bit. But she did nearly kill me; it had been her plan to do so. Had it not been for Angel, I’d be dead now. I just cannot turn around and trust her like that, no matter how hard I try.
Was I sure there weren’t any more in there. That’s not what my contact had told me, but he could be a liar. So, no, I had no idea. It wasn’t unheard of that this particular demon lived in groups, clans. But we’d have seen them by now; they’re usually very protective of each other. She may have a point though. “Fun?” I gave her an even more dubious look. This wasn’t a game to me, I wasn’t a Slayer who’d just jump up, grin and cheer for more. I was only human; there was only so much my body could take at the moment. Still, we couldn’t risk having demons like that on the loose, endangering the innocents. Did I just say ‘we’? Good lord.
“Well, I s-suppose we could go look,” I muttered, turning around to rummage through my saddlebags again. Pulling out an axe, I turned around and gave her an expectant look. This was her show now, she thought there might be more, and the she could tell me where to look. Besides, I don’t think I’m up to getting tossed around a bit more.
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Looked at Wes for a minute before I realized he was all geared up and in the game. Let's go kill some beasties then.
"This time? I vote not goin' in through the guest house cause ummm....hey, I got no problem slayin' demons but spiders kinda freak me out." I cursed myself inwardly for sayin' that outloud. Arachnaphobia? Could they think of something lamer for the slayer to be terrified of then spiders?
Before he could even reply to that I started striding purposefully back towards the house.
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When she finally spoke I raised my eyebrow at what she said. Admitted. What’s this then? Faith admitted a weakness? At least she’d see it as one. As it was I had to agree with her. I was terrified of spiders. Having being bitten enough by them in that damn closet. When I was very small, I was so scared of them, feeling them crawl around on my skin, underneath my clothes in the everlasting darkness of that closet.
“Yes,” I whispered in a quiet agreement. I looked up startled when she already moved out thought. Right. Checking to make sure there aren’t any other demons. Must do our job and all that. Though, when exactly it became *our* job, I’ve no idea. Sighing, I hefted my weapon and strode after her back into the house.
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Okay, enough thinkin' about what a wuss I was, time to slay some demons. Assuming that there were more. Something told me that there was though. With a shrug I glanced around before nodding at the rickety set of stairs in the main foyer. Knew Wes had my back, gun in hand (and how weird was that?!) as I made my way up the stairs. Every single one creaked and moaned under our weight and I grimaced every time. This really was like the set to some bad B horror flick.
"Anything else I should know about these guys besides the gigantic claws?" I whispered, glancing back at Wesley just as a giant screech filled up the top half of the house. My eyes widened and I glanced around tryin' to figure out where the source of it had come from. It was hard to tell with these acoustics. Everything was so echoey. But at least we knew there were definitely more of 'em now. Hopefully? Only one of 'em.
Fuck that. I could go for a whole nest. I was feelin' in the mood to kick a little ass.
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Sighing, I rolled my eyes and just kept the grip on my gun and followed her deeper into the bloody house. If there are any more demons, I’m going to have a talk with Brad. For selling me incomplete information. Oh yes, I’ll have…err…words with him. Hard. Words. Hard words. I could have hard words with him.
Damn, I hope Dennis doesn’t forget to tape ‘Friends’
I blinked when the turned to me and asked me a question. Asked me a question. Not a taunt. Not a hit below the belt, not a sneer. No, a relevant question. One to which I of course hat the answers for. Only I never got that far. The was a sound that made my blood run cold and I shivered.
It was hard to tell where that had come from. The sound eerily bounced off against the walls before it reached us. I suppose it would be redundant to say that it didn’t look good.
“Well the-the same as I told you about the uhm, other demon.” I wonder if they’ve any salt in the kitchen. It’s amazing what a little salt can do at times.
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#1. Find Buffy.
#2. Destroy Buffy.
Things got more complicated the longer I stayed in L.A. Well, things got complicated the minute I let Cordelia into my life. Not that I had a choice on that one, I mean yeah it was my choice to kidnap Queen C but it was her choice to force me to let her in.
Right. Stop thinkin' about Cordy and focus on the big bad beasties we were supposed to be slaughtering. Really wish I had a better weapon right about now. One that wasn't faulty like his stupid crossbow. Next time? Test it out before you go off into battle half cocked. Sheesh.
I heard another wail and this time it sounded less like something keening and more like a protective warning. Get the fuck out. Something about the intensity in the shrill voice that made me think they were hidin' something in here. Something they didn't want us to find.
I nodded at Wes and glanced around the hallway before finding a door all the way on the far right. Walkin' slowly up to it I put my hand on the knob makin' sure Wes was ready with that big ass gun. See something? Shoot it. A sound philosophy if you asked me.
Quickly I burst through the door and my eyes widened at what I saw. A whole host of nasty slippery slimy giant eggs, plastered to the walls and the ceilings and everywhere else you could see in the room. Now I knew what they were hiding and judging by the wail that was getting closer?
Mama wasn't very happy.
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