Third Time this Week - A New Chapter of The Devil's Gift
I like this schedule of posting three times a week! It's really easy when the
fic is actually completed. No pressure, right?
Enjoy the further adventures of Buffy in the Devil's playground.
As usual, please feel free to comment or encourage. Always happy to hear how
my words affect you.
“…well, neither are you, but I don't see you being honest with the rest of the world,” Linda looked annoyed. “There must be some reason she's withholding something.” This argument had been going on for several hours now, and they couldn’t seem to reach a meeting of the minds. How hypocritical could one demon be?
“I never lied about what I am, Doctor,” Lucifer snapped. “But you saw her, yourself. She bent steel with her bare hands! She could be Supergirl, a strange visitor from another planet for all we know.”
“Okay, so you never lied directly, and you’re good with pop cultural references, but you don't go out of your way to convince people you're telling the truth either, now do you?”
“Most people aren't all that open-minded about the supernatural, especially when it’s a patient in the hospital exhibiting symptoms of abnormality,” Linda continued, reminding him. “The last thing that girl needs is to be committed when she’s perfectly sane.”
Lucifer strode across the room and poured a healthy measure of drink from the bar. As he sipped and savored his top-notch liquor, he couldn’t help stroking the smooth wood of his piano. He seemed to draw comfort from it.
Linda was unrelenting. “You know all too well that most people don't take your devil-may-care attitude and flippant comments seriously, and it would be oh-so-easy to show them the truth, if you really wanted them to know. So, don't even think about pretending you've got the high ground here.”
Maze cackled in glee. She enjoyed Lucifer being called out on his bullshit.
This time Lucifer retaliated with a cogent argument. “Well look what happened when I showed you the inner me.”
She had to concede that point to him. “Well, obviously I got over the shock, didn’t I? And so would Chloe, if you want my learned opinion. You can’t keep your true self from her forever, either.”
“Now you lay off me and Chloe, Doctor! With everything that’s gone down between us, and finding out that dear old Dad was a meddling matchmaker, it’s going to take a delicate touch to ease her into things.” Lucifer shook his head, pulling out the piano bench and finally sitting down.
She tried changing the subject from Chloe and getting back on track with Miss Summers. “Well, again, maybe she has a bona-fide reason she's keeping mum. It's not like she thinks we'd believe her.” Linda arose from her seat and walked over to the piano, placing a gentle hand on Lucifer’s shoulder.
“I don't think she's unstable, and we need to try and unravel the reason why the place she claims to be from doesn't exist, and the people she's related to aren't reachable.”
“Or why she seemed in shock when she found out about the date.” Lucifer eyed the doctor, not argumentative any longer, but curious.
Linda agreed. “Her backtracking was a sure sign that she was being wary of revealing something.”
“I had no effect on her either.”
Amenadiel, who’d been mostly silent up until now, smiled at that. “Obviously not everyone falls for your charms, brother.”
“Humans do,” Lucifer insisted. “Well, unless they're exceptionally strong-willed.”
“And that's the tale, isn't it, Luci?” Amenadiel couldn’t hide the smugness from his tone.
“Now, now, boys - play nice,” Linda cautioned.
“She really could be another one of Dad's miraculous interferences,” Lucifer mused, idly tickling the ivories; the soft melody smoothing out the angel’s tone.
“And I could be a ballerina!” Amenadiel spat. “Dad doesn't just hand out miracles like candy, Luci. I'm sure he had nothing to do with this one. And I know for sure I had nothing to do with it.”
Maze turned on the two men in the room, hands on her hips. “And what's wrong with there being another strong female in the world? Not everything happens on the whims of men, mortal or otherwise.”
“The fact that we don't know who, or what she is? And that she might be part of whatever managed to take me out and regrow those damn wings back on my back.” Slamming the cover down on the keys, Lucifer stood, glaring. “I think it’s too much of a coincidence that this girl appears out of time barely a month after I opened the rift to another dimension and sent Mother through it.”
“So, instead of snarling at each other like a couple of bobcats, how do we find out where she comes from? I googled Sunnydale, and there’s only one place with that name. It’s in Oregon.” Linda sighed, her shoulders weighted down with concern for her patient. “We need to gain her trust, get her to realize that she can be honest with me. I just don't know how.”
“I wouldn't mind giving her a flash of my real face,” Maze offered.
“And Luci could flash his wings,” said Amenadiel, with a trace of bitterness in his tone.
Lucifer glared at his brother.
“Or not,” Linda quickly added.
“I'll talk to her.” Maze shrugged her shoulders; it was no big deal.
***
“So, Buffy... you're a demon, right?” Maze was nothing if not blunt.
“What? No, no demon.” Buffy stared at her. “Human here, very, very human.” She glanced at the people around her in the hospital’s cafeteria, worried that they might be overheard.
Maze snorted. “Yeah, who can bend metal bars with her dainty little fingers?” Maze wiggled her fingers at Buffy with a questioning eyebrow.
Buffy instinctively pushed her chair back as the woman in front of her changed. Buffy blinked, and there sat Maze, once again just a very pretty woman.
“Pot - kettle black, much? A bit demony yourself, there, Missy.”
“Never said I wasn't.” Maze pulled her chair closer to the table, tossing her hair back over her shoulders. “The name's Mazikeen. I'm a friend of Lucifer's, but please, call me Maze.”
“So that means... Lucifer is really... Lucifer?” Buffy’s eyes widened at the realization that all was not normal here.
“Well, duh!” Maze laughed. “Son of God, fallen angel... the whole works.”
“Then I did see wings in the desert? I wasn't hallucinating?” Buffy’s fingers kneaded the bridge of her nose, a move reminiscent of Giles when he had to accept news that was hard to take. “I thought he was just a fanboy.”
“Oh, he is his biggest fan, for sure,” Maze giggled, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“You have no idea how many vampires I've dusted that called themselves Lestat, or The Prince of Darkness… or that liked to pretend to be one of the Lost Boys.”
“Vampires? Are you shitting me? They’re for real?” For a demon, Maze was having a difficult time assimilating this revelation.
“Yeah, I'm the Slayer. The Vampire Slayer,” Buffy prodded. Maze still didn't seem to get it. With a tilt of her head, Buffy went into recitation mode, having grudgingly memorized Giles’ little speech years ago. “Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer… blah, blah, blah."
Maze seemed a little taken aback at the inclusion of demons in that little speech. “Do I have to worry about you? Do you go after any demons, or just vampires?”
“Just the ones that endanger and kill humans.”
“And that leaves me out, how?”
“I'm not armed, Maze. And you’re not a danger to anyone right now.”
“Still have those super strong hands, though.”
Buffy smiled, flexing her fingers. “Are you planning to kill me, or someone else right this very second?”
“Not really,” Maze allowed.
“Then we're cool.”
“Good to know.”
“So, my question is... now what?" Buffy asked. “Apparently, I'm sixteen years out of my time, and in a place where nobody I know exists, and my hometown has never been heard of.”
“What?”
“My bad... last thing I knew, it was 2001, and I had jumped off a tower to save my baby sister and stop the world from ending.”
“The world?” For a change, Maze was speechless, her repartee amounting to no more than two-word sentences.
“Well, really, all dimensions. Glory - a Hellgod - was trying to tear down the walls between dimensions to go back home… using the Key… who happened to be my sister. The only way to prevent total disaster, was to stop the Key's blood from flowing. Dawn was created from me, so...”
“Gods, you live one fucked up life, don't you?”
“Yeah, I do. Is this Hell? Did I end up in Hell because well, Hell portal, or did I just land in some dimension without shrimp?”
“Definitely not Hell,” Maze snickered. “…and I should know from firsthand experience. Plus, shrimp cocktails? Delish!”
Buffy couldn't help but laugh. She still wasn't sure if she should trust this woman, demon, whatever. But she reminded her in some ways of Faith, minus the psychotic tendencies.
***
**knock knock**
Chloe opened the door, to find Maze standing there, smiling like there’d be the devil to pay. “What’s the matter, Mazikeen? You forget your keys again?”
“Nah! Gotcha a surprise, buddy. Meet our new roomie!” She stepped aside, revealing one Buffy Summers.
fic is actually completed. No pressure, right?
Enjoy the further adventures of Buffy in the Devil's playground.
As usual, please feel free to comment or encourage. Always happy to hear how
my words affect you.
“…well, neither are you, but I don't see you being honest with the rest of the world,” Linda looked annoyed. “There must be some reason she's withholding something.” This argument had been going on for several hours now, and they couldn’t seem to reach a meeting of the minds. How hypocritical could one demon be?
“I never lied about what I am, Doctor,” Lucifer snapped. “But you saw her, yourself. She bent steel with her bare hands! She could be Supergirl, a strange visitor from another planet for all we know.”
“Okay, so you never lied directly, and you’re good with pop cultural references, but you don't go out of your way to convince people you're telling the truth either, now do you?”
“Most people aren't all that open-minded about the supernatural, especially when it’s a patient in the hospital exhibiting symptoms of abnormality,” Linda continued, reminding him. “The last thing that girl needs is to be committed when she’s perfectly sane.”
Lucifer strode across the room and poured a healthy measure of drink from the bar. As he sipped and savored his top-notch liquor, he couldn’t help stroking the smooth wood of his piano. He seemed to draw comfort from it.
Linda was unrelenting. “You know all too well that most people don't take your devil-may-care attitude and flippant comments seriously, and it would be oh-so-easy to show them the truth, if you really wanted them to know. So, don't even think about pretending you've got the high ground here.”
Maze cackled in glee. She enjoyed Lucifer being called out on his bullshit.
This time Lucifer retaliated with a cogent argument. “Well look what happened when I showed you the inner me.”
She had to concede that point to him. “Well, obviously I got over the shock, didn’t I? And so would Chloe, if you want my learned opinion. You can’t keep your true self from her forever, either.”
“Now you lay off me and Chloe, Doctor! With everything that’s gone down between us, and finding out that dear old Dad was a meddling matchmaker, it’s going to take a delicate touch to ease her into things.” Lucifer shook his head, pulling out the piano bench and finally sitting down.
She tried changing the subject from Chloe and getting back on track with Miss Summers. “Well, again, maybe she has a bona-fide reason she's keeping mum. It's not like she thinks we'd believe her.” Linda arose from her seat and walked over to the piano, placing a gentle hand on Lucifer’s shoulder.
“I don't think she's unstable, and we need to try and unravel the reason why the place she claims to be from doesn't exist, and the people she's related to aren't reachable.”
“Or why she seemed in shock when she found out about the date.” Lucifer eyed the doctor, not argumentative any longer, but curious.
Linda agreed. “Her backtracking was a sure sign that she was being wary of revealing something.”
“I had no effect on her either.”
Amenadiel, who’d been mostly silent up until now, smiled at that. “Obviously not everyone falls for your charms, brother.”
“Humans do,” Lucifer insisted. “Well, unless they're exceptionally strong-willed.”
“And that's the tale, isn't it, Luci?” Amenadiel couldn’t hide the smugness from his tone.
“Now, now, boys - play nice,” Linda cautioned.
“She really could be another one of Dad's miraculous interferences,” Lucifer mused, idly tickling the ivories; the soft melody smoothing out the angel’s tone.
“And I could be a ballerina!” Amenadiel spat. “Dad doesn't just hand out miracles like candy, Luci. I'm sure he had nothing to do with this one. And I know for sure I had nothing to do with it.”
Maze turned on the two men in the room, hands on her hips. “And what's wrong with there being another strong female in the world? Not everything happens on the whims of men, mortal or otherwise.”
“The fact that we don't know who, or what she is? And that she might be part of whatever managed to take me out and regrow those damn wings back on my back.” Slamming the cover down on the keys, Lucifer stood, glaring. “I think it’s too much of a coincidence that this girl appears out of time barely a month after I opened the rift to another dimension and sent Mother through it.”
“So, instead of snarling at each other like a couple of bobcats, how do we find out where she comes from? I googled Sunnydale, and there’s only one place with that name. It’s in Oregon.” Linda sighed, her shoulders weighted down with concern for her patient. “We need to gain her trust, get her to realize that she can be honest with me. I just don't know how.”
“I wouldn't mind giving her a flash of my real face,” Maze offered.
“And Luci could flash his wings,” said Amenadiel, with a trace of bitterness in his tone.
Lucifer glared at his brother.
“Or not,” Linda quickly added.
“I'll talk to her.” Maze shrugged her shoulders; it was no big deal.
***
“So, Buffy... you're a demon, right?” Maze was nothing if not blunt.
“What? No, no demon.” Buffy stared at her. “Human here, very, very human.” She glanced at the people around her in the hospital’s cafeteria, worried that they might be overheard.
Maze snorted. “Yeah, who can bend metal bars with her dainty little fingers?” Maze wiggled her fingers at Buffy with a questioning eyebrow.
Buffy instinctively pushed her chair back as the woman in front of her changed. Buffy blinked, and there sat Maze, once again just a very pretty woman.
“Pot - kettle black, much? A bit demony yourself, there, Missy.”
“Never said I wasn't.” Maze pulled her chair closer to the table, tossing her hair back over her shoulders. “The name's Mazikeen. I'm a friend of Lucifer's, but please, call me Maze.”
“So that means... Lucifer is really... Lucifer?” Buffy’s eyes widened at the realization that all was not normal here.
“Well, duh!” Maze laughed. “Son of God, fallen angel... the whole works.”
“Then I did see wings in the desert? I wasn't hallucinating?” Buffy’s fingers kneaded the bridge of her nose, a move reminiscent of Giles when he had to accept news that was hard to take. “I thought he was just a fanboy.”
“Oh, he is his biggest fan, for sure,” Maze giggled, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“You have no idea how many vampires I've dusted that called themselves Lestat, or The Prince of Darkness… or that liked to pretend to be one of the Lost Boys.”
“Vampires? Are you shitting me? They’re for real?” For a demon, Maze was having a difficult time assimilating this revelation.
“Yeah, I'm the Slayer. The Vampire Slayer,” Buffy prodded. Maze still didn't seem to get it. With a tilt of her head, Buffy went into recitation mode, having grudgingly memorized Giles’ little speech years ago. “Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer… blah, blah, blah."
Maze seemed a little taken aback at the inclusion of demons in that little speech. “Do I have to worry about you? Do you go after any demons, or just vampires?”
“Just the ones that endanger and kill humans.”
“And that leaves me out, how?”
“I'm not armed, Maze. And you’re not a danger to anyone right now.”
“Still have those super strong hands, though.”
Buffy smiled, flexing her fingers. “Are you planning to kill me, or someone else right this very second?”
“Not really,” Maze allowed.
“Then we're cool.”
“Good to know.”
“So, my question is... now what?" Buffy asked. “Apparently, I'm sixteen years out of my time, and in a place where nobody I know exists, and my hometown has never been heard of.”
“What?”
“My bad... last thing I knew, it was 2001, and I had jumped off a tower to save my baby sister and stop the world from ending.”
“The world?” For a change, Maze was speechless, her repartee amounting to no more than two-word sentences.
“Well, really, all dimensions. Glory - a Hellgod - was trying to tear down the walls between dimensions to go back home… using the Key… who happened to be my sister. The only way to prevent total disaster, was to stop the Key's blood from flowing. Dawn was created from me, so...”
“Gods, you live one fucked up life, don't you?”
“Yeah, I do. Is this Hell? Did I end up in Hell because well, Hell portal, or did I just land in some dimension without shrimp?”
“Definitely not Hell,” Maze snickered. “…and I should know from firsthand experience. Plus, shrimp cocktails? Delish!”
Buffy couldn't help but laugh. She still wasn't sure if she should trust this woman, demon, whatever. But she reminded her in some ways of Faith, minus the psychotic tendencies.
***
**knock knock**
Chloe opened the door, to find Maze standing there, smiling like there’d be the devil to pay. “What’s the matter, Mazikeen? You forget your keys again?”
“Nah! Gotcha a surprise, buddy. Meet our new roomie!” She stepped aside, revealing one Buffy Summers.