Of Those Chosen: The Twins - Chapter 16

[hjcallipygian]

I actually finished this much earlier today. I couldn't think of a title for the chapter. I don't much like this one, to be honest... but what are you gonna do.

My best friend is set to arrive in about fifteen minutes or so. I'm really excited -- she's moving back down to Florida, although she's not living in this city. She has her boyfriend with her, whom I have yet to meet. So, yeah, pretty cool stuff.

Previous chapters think it's totally rad that the Red Sox finally won the Series.



Chapter Sixteen
Lies Your Mother Told You

The next afternoon, after he worked on the car with Robin and talked to his Slayers, Xander met with Giles in his office.

"I'm worried about Katharine," Xander said.

"I can well imagine why," Giles said.

"Janet said that she was despondent and laconic today at training. And then she told me what those words meant, so I was able to figure out that it was bad."

Giles rolled his eyes. "I heard you use those words not three months ago, Xander."

"Yeah." Xander shrugged. "I know. Just -- laugh in the face of danger and despair. Or at least, trying, you know?"

Giles nodded. "Yes. I know." He sighed. "I think it's unavoidable for Katharine to be upset and distant. Her sister is gone and, as much as it pains me to admit it, either dead or turned."

"I don't even want to think about that second option," Xander said.

"Well, you have to," Giles said. Xander looked up at him, surprised by the harshness in Giles' voice. "A Watcher must deal with reality, Xander. We cannot treat the world as we wish it to be -- or as we fear it to be. We must use our reason and logic to clear the way for the Slayer through the darkness, to lead and to follow along the true path. Reality is that Willow's locator spell indicated that Audrey is dead."

"I know." Xander took a deep breath and held it in, tried to reign in his temper. "I just -- I hate that she's going to have to kill her sister, Giles. The first vamp I staked was my best friend, Jesse. He was like a brother to me; his parents were more like parents to me than my own were. I hate that she has to go through that."

Giles leaned forward and rested his elbows on her desk. "Perhaps you're telling this to the wrong person, Xander."

Xander sighed and closed his eyes. "She's just so hard to talk to, Giles."

"Is that so?" Giles grinned. "I offer you one sixteen-year-old Buffy Summers, accompanied by a pair of babbling, sarcastic sixteen-year-olds I'm sure you're quite familiar with."

Xander glared at Giles. "You're going to hold that over my head every single time I complain about the difficulty of being a Watcher, aren't you?"

"Sometimes, that which we most fear is, in fact, reality," Giles said. He leaned back in his chair. "Go speak your Slayer, Xander."

Xander stood up. "Have I mentioned just how much I hate your Socratic Method?"

Giles stopped Xander as he reached the door. "Oh, one more thing," he said. Xander turned around and looked at him. "Do you know of anything wrong between Robin and Faith? They've seemed... off, lately."

"Not at all. We reached an agreement a while ago," Xander said. "Since I'm friends with one and the Watcher of the other, neither one discusses any sort of relationship stuff with me."

Giles stared at him for a few seconds. He nodded and pulled over a book. "Very well. Thank you."

Xander hesitated for a second, unsure of how much Giles knew, before he left to talk with Katharine.

:#:

Katharine read over the letter again. It didn't say much, not nearly everything she wished she could say to Rupert. What little reference to her feelings she put in there was appropriately hidden -- he would be the only one able to understand any of it, so no one else would know unless he wanted them to. She didn't think she would survive the night, not really, but it would be easier for Giles if he didn't have to deal with other people making a bigger deal out of her death to him because she--

Loved him? She wasn't sure. Another good reason to be vague.

Someone knocked on her door. She folded up the letter and put it into her journal. "Come in," she called.

Xander opened the door and walked in. "Hey there."

Katharine tried to smile for him. "Hey. What's up?"

He walked over and sat down on across from her, on Audrey's bed. "Just wanted to come say hey, see how you were doing."

"I figured it was either that or hot, torrid sex."

Xander grinned. "Oh, so it's an either/or, huh?"

"Afraid so."

"I see. Well, in that case, how are you?" Xander said.

And, she didn't know why, Katharine gave an honest answer instead of just saying she was fine. "I don't know. Antsy. I can barely concentrate on anything. I've got all this energy, more than usual, and it just keeps coming out in nervous ticks."

"I understand."

"Yeah. I'm sure you do."

"The first vampire I ever staked was my best friend," Xander said. "I spent more time at his house than I did my own. It was me, Jesse, and Willow, like the three amigos. So, yeah, I have a little idea of how you feel, having to stake Audrey."

"No, I don't have to," Katharine said. "Audrey's dead, Harris. I don't care who kills the vampire with her face. I just want it dust."

Xander nodded. He was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry she didn't at least get a funeral," he finally said. "I know how that feels, with Jesse, and... others."

Katharine shrugged. "I'm not religious, and neither was she. Would've felt fake, so no big. She's dead, that's what matters."

Xander sighed. He tried to smile, but his attempt fell as flat as hers did earlier. He stood and walked to the door.

"She cared about you," Katharine said. Again, she wasn't sure why.

Xander paused with his hand on the doorknob. "I was clueless," he said softly.

"You're a boy," Katharine scoffed.

"Yeah," Xander said, quietly.

"She thought it was cool how patient you always were with her," Katharine said. "And how you always used her full name, never just 'Aud'."

He winced. "My--" He shook his head, started again. "I had a... girl, in Sunnydale," he said slowly. "I -- well, I didn't..." He sighed. "She didn't go by it, and no one else knows this, but her real name was Aud."

"She didn't make it out," Katharine said.

Xander nodded. He brought his hand up and wiped his face. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep her safe, that our spell got her killed--"

"No." Katharine cut him off firmly. "No, no. Audrey was about to die anyway, and that spell kept her alive. It gave her life and a reason to live it. She believed in it, all of it. Don't feel guilty."

Xander opened his mouth, but said nothing. After a second, he opened the door and left.

Katharine stared at the door. After a minute, she opened up her journal and started another letter, this time to her Watcher.

:#:

Xander went home after he talked to Katharine.

He wondered about the conversation they had. It was short, barely touched the surface of any issue, but he felt like he learned more about her than he had on any of their patrols together, or any training session, or any research session. She said she didn't care who killed vampire Audrey, but he wasn't sure about that. She was so vehemently against staking Audrey; something was off. The line about Audrey being dead and not being religious, Xander had heard it before. It seemed an appropriate sisterly response, and just obscure enough to pass a casual inspection.

He didn't think that the day after Audrey's death was the time to stage an intervention, though. She needed time, at least a few days, before she would be ready to talk about it at all. He could wait; no one had a clue where Audrey was, so Katharine wouldn't be able to go after her on her own. He could talk to Janet and Rona and Faith about it, see if maybe they would be better off talking to Katharine than him.

The other groups had already left for patrol when he got home. He found Faith, Janet, Rona, and Robin down in the basement. Robin sat at the foot of the stairs, his head down as he fiddled with a stake in his hands. He glanced up as Xander walked down, withdrawn, angry lines around his eyes. He looked back down at the stake, and flipped it around in his hands a few times. Xander stepped around him and into the basement without a word.

Janet and Rona were over by a supply chest. They dug through the heavy padding, used for full-speed and full-strength sparring just thinking about made Xander's body ache in empathy. The girls taped their wrists up and wore special gloves Giles put together -- heavily padded on the back of the hand down to the second knuckle, they left the hand open for holds and had a heavy, dense metal around the wrist for both support and four pounds of added weight. Xander had tried them once, and was amazed at how quickly those four extra pounds wore out his arms. The Slayers rarely seemed slowed down at all. Rona and Janet also put on heavy vests with two inches of padding, helmets, elbow and knee pads, and padded boots similar in form and function to the gloves.

They both looked angry and pensive, and neither looked at the other as they got ready. Xander would have to remember to thank Robin for sitting in later. He wasn't around earlier, and if the two pulled out the heavy pads without anyone around to stop them -- Faith certainly didn't count, and was more apt to join in than slow them down -- one or both could get seriously hurt.

Faith was off in the corner with one of the heavy bags. He had no idea how long she'd been there, but sweat stained almost the entire back of her shirt, and the extra-reinforced bag had a noticeable bend in the middle where her blows landed. The chain didn't look too stable, either; Faith's kicks and punches came so rapidly that the bag hung at an angle from its hook, almost fifteen degrees from perpendicular to the ceiling.

"Try not to hit any studs when you knock the bag through the wall, Faith," Xander said. "It's structural."

Faith snarled at him, but didn't let up on the bag at all.

Xander wandered into the weapons room and pulled a katana from the wall. He turned it over in his hands, examined the craftsmanship of the blade, where it met the hilt and the small crosspiece. He remembered the final battle in Sunnydale, over a year ago, the swords they used to fight that day, the last day he saw Anya.

There was no service for her, specifically her, just one for all the fallen: close friends, acquaintances, and nameless unknowns lumped together. When news came that Spike was still alive, or alive again or not alive again or whatever the proper term was, others were surprised Buffy chose to stay away from him. Xander understood, though. Were he to find Anya, not dead as he previously thought, there was a good chance he would do the same thing. Leave her alone, allow her to live the life she should've had the first time, free of the death and gloom which followed him.

Death and gloom he wanted to visit on others, right now.

He put the katana back up on the wall and walked out to the main room. Rona and Janet walked out to the sparring mat at the same time.

"What the hell are we doing?" Xander asked. Everyone stopped, except Faith, and looked at him. "We were attacked. We should retaliate."

"It's your night off," Robin said. "And who are you going to retaliate against? We don't even know who did it."

Faith threw one last hard punch and caught the bag. "One vamp or another, don't make much difference to me tonight," she said. Rona and Janet echoed their agreement.

Robin stood up. "If you all want to go out, it's not like I can stop you. I think it's foolhardy, though."

Xander shrugged. "Might be better for Katharine than just sitting around."

Janet and Rona immediately started taking off their protective gear. Faith clapped Xander on the shoulder as she walked by; he staggered a step, but she didn't seem to notice. "Let's go get pip, yo," she said.

Faith stepped around Robin and started up the stairs. Xander waited for Rona and Janet to finish with their pads. They headed upstairs after Faith, and Robin followed.

"You coming, too, Wood?" Xander asked. "Thought it was foolhardy."

"It is," Robin said. "I'm just going to make sure Katharine realizes she doesn't have to go."

"Fair enough," Xander said.

:#:

Katharine knocked on Giles' door and stuck her head inside. He looked up from his journal as she entered, his eyes focused on her over his glasses.

"Oh, hey, sorry," Katharine said. "I didn't realize you were still here, you're so quiet. Thought I was here all alone."

Giles shrugged. "Yes, well, writing is not commonly a loud exercise."

Katharine paused as she was about to sit down across from him. "Touché," she said softly. She straightened and turned to walk to the door.

"Katharine, I apologize," Giles said. He indicated the seat in front of his desk. "I'm writing of the events of last night. I'm afraid it has put me in a foul humor. I -- your company would be appreciated."

Katharine smiled. She faced the door, so Giles couldn't see it; she was safe. As she turned, she forced her face to a neutral expression. "Thank you," she said, and sat down.

Silence. Awkward silence.

Finally, Giles spoke. "How are you holding up?"

She stared at him for a second. "What happens when a Slayer becomes a vampire?" she blurted out. Giles removed his glasses, and she continued, more calmly, "I mean, this can't be the first time this has ever happened."

"We don't know that it's happened."

Katharine scoffed. "Please."

Giles took a deep breath and polished his glasses. "Yes, you are correct. There are several recorded instances of Slayers being turned."

"And?" Katharine waited only a moment. "What? Do we have some sort of uber-vamp running around with my sister's face?"

Giles put his glasses on and stared her directly in the eyes. She could see he was getting angry.

"These are pertinent questions, Rupert," she said, "and nobody's asking them. If it's because of me, well, screw that. I'm a rip the bandage off type. Get it done quick."

"Fine." Giles looked away and closed his eyes. "The strength of a Slayer -- as well as that of a vampire -- is not physical, but rather mystical. The only thing the human and the vampire have in common is the body, a shell, if you will. She will have the strength of a vampire, not a Slayer."

Katharine nodded, and thought for a moment. "But she'll have Aud's memories."

"Yes. Memories are both physical and ephemeral, things of both the brain and the soul. The demon reanimates the brain, and thus the memories come with it."

"So she'll remember me, know I'm a Slayer."

"She will remember everything, Katharine. All that your sister knew."

Katharine nodded, and smiled sadly. "At least you're past that 'she's not a vampire' part."

Giles sighed. "Quite." He indicated his open journal with a wave of his hand. "Now, I'm sorry, but I really need to--"

Katharine stood. "Of course. I'm sorry to intrude."

Giles said nothing more, and she left.

:#:

Xander -- with Robin, Faith, Janet, and Rona behind him -- knocked on Katharine's door ten minutes later. "Katharine," Xander called out. "We're going to go out on patrol. You interested?"

"You don’t have to go," Robin called out. "They're going because they want to. It's purely voluntary."

"But you know kickin' vamp ass ain't the same without you, K-dogg," Faith called out.

No response came from Katharine's room.

Xander turned around and looked at the others. "Where is she?" he said. They all shrugged.

Xander pushed past and knocked on the door to Giles' office. "Yo, Giles! You know where Katharine is?"

After a moment, Giles opened the door. He looked out at the others and raised an eyebrow. "Xander. Are you sure that going out tonight is wise?"

"Nope." Xander smiled mirthlessly. "Now ask if that's going to stop me."

Giles sighed. "I spoke with her not ten minutes ago. She should be in her room."

"She's not responding."

"Well, gee, Xander, I wonder why."

Xander glared at Giles for a moment, then walked back over to Katharine's door again. He knocked and said, "Look, Kat, if you don't want to go, that's fine, but at least say something."

Still, nothing came from behind the door.

Xander tried the knob, but the door was locked. "Katharine!" he shouted. "I'm your Watcher! Now either say something, or unlock and open the door, or I'm going to kick it open!"

"Xander!" Robin said. "Calm down!"

Robin put his hand on Xander's shoulder. Xander shrugged it off roughly and turned to face him. "Keep your hands off me," Xander snarled.

"You need to calm down," Robin said, his voice just as soft and just as intense.

"My Slayer, Robin, my rules," Xander said. "You need to just back off."

"I don't think I do," Robin said.

Faith stepped between them and kicked open the door to Katharine's bedroom. Both Watchers jumped at the sudden movement and sound.

"There," Faith said. "Now that's settled." She walked past them and into the bedroom. "Oh, and speaking from experience, boys," she said over her shoulder. "They're the same size."

Rona and Janet snickered as they walked past. Xander glared at Robin for a moment; his temper was deflected, but not sated. He turned and entered Katharine's room without a word.

The room was totally empty.

"What -- where is she?" Xander said.

"Gone," Faith said. She pointed to a pair of envelopes which rested against the lamp on top of the nightstand. One was addressed to Xander, the other to Giles. "Unless that ain't a good-bye letter, I mean."

Xander rushed over to the nightstand and grabbed the envelope addressed to him. He ripped it open and read it quickly, then cursed. "She had a Slayer dream, and she's gone after Audrey," he said. He cursed again, and punched the wall, a hard, quick punch which dented the sheetrock. "She told me she didn't care, she told me right to my face that she wasn't gonna go after her sister, and I believed her!"

"She's only been gone, at most, ten minutes," Janet said softly. "We can find her, Harris."

Robin spoke softly, all the anger from before gone. "She's right, Xander. We'll find her."

Xander nodded and pulled out his cell phone. "You're right. We will."

-:-

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