Aug. 31st - Try Again: Fail Better?
Title:Try Again: Fail Better?
Author: 3am_moonlight
Crossover: BtVS / NCIS: Los Angeles.
Rating: Gen / Teen
Word Count: 1,405.
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & NCIS: LA: S08'ish.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and the NCIS 'verse belongs to rich people with expensive lawyers.
Summary: Buffy meets the team, and Sam and Callen attempt to intimidate her.
Author's Note: Written for Day 31 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: This follows 2018's 'Blast From the Past' and this years' ' Try Again' and ' Try Again: Kensi'.
Kensi ended up having to work through the weekend, but sent her an apology and asked if she wanted to meet for lunch on Monday instead. Which was why Buffy was currently walking towards a cafe not too far from the beach where's she'd spent a few hours lazing in the sunshine.
This particular trip to Los Angeles was a working vacation, and Kensi was just one of the people from her old high school clique she had tried to reestablish contact with. It turned out half of them were dead and the other half considered themselves to be above her because of the whole expulsion thing back in the mid-'90s. The living half was busy being socialites or trophy wives or both, something she had actually aspired to become back in the day.
Obviously, her goals had changed drastically since then. Hence the auction she was in LA to attend. A private collector had recently passed away and his children were putting much of their inheritance up for bids. Giles had sent her to bid on the man's entire book collection as it was rumored to contain some very rare works and her former mentor had coveted them for decades.
It wasn't her normal gig, but every now and then he sent her to these things. To almost everyone's surprise, she'd been rather effective in getting whatever it was they needed from the auctions, hence why they kept sending her. It wasn't until later in the week though, so she was spending her time trying to track down people from her past.
She had accidentally run into a male acquaintance who had been a year above her at Hemery. Much to her surprise, he had joined the armed forces and was only in LA to visit his parents during his leave. He had not seemed to be the type to strictly follow orders from anyone, but apparently, he had cleaned up his act and was doing well for himself.
They had exchanged phone numbers and promised to at least text on occasion. It had felt good, even if it was someone she hadn't know well. Everyone she knew now was people she had met after moving to Sunnydale, and mostly connected to her work in some way. It was why she was trying to reconnect with the people she had known at Hemery.
She had grown out of her airheaded phase, so it was possible they had, too. Or, at least she hoped they had.
Kensi Blye was a wild card. Back in high school she had been an attractive girl without much effort, she easily gained friends, but a then-15-year-old Buffy had still considered her a charity case due to her father's career. Befriending her, even if it was more of a peripheral friend, had made her clique look good. Or that's what their self-centered teenage selves had though. Thinking back, the girl had probably considered them to be some strange kind of entertainment, akin to a freakshow, maybe.
While walking towards the agreed-upon cafe, she spotted the woman and her boyfriend. A tall man was sitting on either side of them, presumably leaving a space for her in between them. The man right beside Kensi was dark-skinned, bald, and looked like he bench-pressed small cars for fun. The man beside the boyfriend looked attractive in a 'he'll fit in anywhere with the right clothes and attitude' kind of thing going on.
Come to think of it, they were all strangely attractive unlike most of the law enforcement she had ever met. She mentally shrugged it off as most people in the city trying too hard to look good. The SDPD didn't seem to have gotten that memo, or maybe Sunnydale wasn't adjacent enough...
Buffy was two tables away when Shaggy the Boyfriend noticed her, and called out a greeting and alerting the other three who had all been looking in different directions.
"Hey," Buffy replied as she very deliberately surveyed the occupants around the table. "Interesting definition you have of 'alone'." But she smiled none the less, she had been expecting them to be there after all. It was better they were honest about not trusting her than attempting to blend into the background when they no doubt knew she knew what they looked like.
"Hey, Buffy. You know how guys are, and last year didn't help so." She indicated the three men, "They're here to see you're not the big, bad wolf they seem to think you are."
The big, bad wolf was actually not that much taller than her, much more laid back, and not bad at all. She didn't say any of that though.
"Not much with the wolfiness, nope. Or the badness," unless you were a vamp or a demon. Then she was the baddest of the bad. And then, because she couldn't help herself, "Am I supposed to be intimidated by you two?" She made eye contact with Mr. Muscles first and then Blue Eyes. "You know, with the big, bulging biceps and everything?"
"What makes you think that?"
"Probably because Muscles over there is all but flexing to prove something or other." It would've worked better if she didn't regularly kill supernatural threats that were much stronger and faster than any of these men would ever be unless they were turned.
Across the table, Kensi looked like she was trying to make up her mind whether she should laugh at the ridiculousness of it all or hide her face in her hands. Shaggy was leaning forward a little, allowing the bigger guys to do the intimidating but he clearly wasn't thrilled about her presence in his girlfriend's life.
Blue Eyes snorted but didn't contradict her, so she took it as a win.
Kensi was clearly surrounded by people who cared deeply about her and her well-being, and that was great. Everyone deserved people like that. What wasn't so great was the wrong conclusion they'd come to regarding her intentions and the IDC's M.O.
She became serious. "Look, guys. I'm not here to make trouble. There's no reason to threaten me, directly or indirectly. The C&D only happened because your people couldn't keep their digital mittens out of my organization's cookie jar after multiple warnings from the higher-ups. I just want to see if Kensi and I have a chance at becoming friends or not."
Unfortunately, she was regretting even thinking it might be a good idea. This entire mess was more than she wanted to deal with, and she was tired of having to explain herself to everyone all the time. Reaching out was supposed to be easy, a yes or no to her suggestion, not involve either of their work and especially not legal documents.
"There's no hidden agenda, no attempts to commit any crimes."
She sighed heavily. This was more posturing than she was willing to deal with today. Enough was enough, this was getting her nowhere fast. Kensi was clearly a bust in the friends' category, and she needed to just cut her losses before she got even more involved. She rose from the chair she'd sat down in only minutes before.
"This was clearly a mistake on my part, so I'll cut it short." Buffy looked at Kensi, "You have my phone number, it'll be valid for another six months or so and then it'll get disconnected. Contact me through that number before that if you manage to make up your own mind without the help of any of your bodyguards."
Then she walked away, ignoring her name being called and the running footsteps trying to catch up as she melted into the crowds and vanished from their view.
Her reaction was uncalled for, but so was the ambush. It was probably guaranteed to 'prove' she was a criminal to Shaggy and the two male Agents. She hadn't done anything wrong, and she was overreacting. Buffy knew this, and she also knew it was because of the power struggles within the IDC and everyone wanting her to side with them.
All Buffy wanted was a friendly ear, someone she could be 'the girl' with. Someone who wouldn't try and use her for their own gain. Someone who didn't blame her for something that wasn't her fault. It was getting clear that Kensi wasn't that someone.
Kensi would contact her or she wouldn't. The next step was entirely up to the other woman.
Author: 3am_moonlight
Crossover: BtVS / NCIS: Los Angeles.
Rating: Gen / Teen
Word Count: 1,405.
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & NCIS: LA: S08'ish.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and the NCIS 'verse belongs to rich people with expensive lawyers.
Summary: Buffy meets the team, and Sam and Callen attempt to intimidate her.
Author's Note: Written for Day 31 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: This follows 2018's 'Blast From the Past' and this years' ' Try Again' and ' Try Again: Kensi'.
Kensi ended up having to work through the weekend, but sent her an apology and asked if she wanted to meet for lunch on Monday instead. Which was why Buffy was currently walking towards a cafe not too far from the beach where's she'd spent a few hours lazing in the sunshine.
This particular trip to Los Angeles was a working vacation, and Kensi was just one of the people from her old high school clique she had tried to reestablish contact with. It turned out half of them were dead and the other half considered themselves to be above her because of the whole expulsion thing back in the mid-'90s. The living half was busy being socialites or trophy wives or both, something she had actually aspired to become back in the day.
Obviously, her goals had changed drastically since then. Hence the auction she was in LA to attend. A private collector had recently passed away and his children were putting much of their inheritance up for bids. Giles had sent her to bid on the man's entire book collection as it was rumored to contain some very rare works and her former mentor had coveted them for decades.
It wasn't her normal gig, but every now and then he sent her to these things. To almost everyone's surprise, she'd been rather effective in getting whatever it was they needed from the auctions, hence why they kept sending her. It wasn't until later in the week though, so she was spending her time trying to track down people from her past.
She had accidentally run into a male acquaintance who had been a year above her at Hemery. Much to her surprise, he had joined the armed forces and was only in LA to visit his parents during his leave. He had not seemed to be the type to strictly follow orders from anyone, but apparently, he had cleaned up his act and was doing well for himself.
They had exchanged phone numbers and promised to at least text on occasion. It had felt good, even if it was someone she hadn't know well. Everyone she knew now was people she had met after moving to Sunnydale, and mostly connected to her work in some way. It was why she was trying to reconnect with the people she had known at Hemery.
She had grown out of her airheaded phase, so it was possible they had, too. Or, at least she hoped they had.
Kensi Blye was a wild card. Back in high school she had been an attractive girl without much effort, she easily gained friends, but a then-15-year-old Buffy had still considered her a charity case due to her father's career. Befriending her, even if it was more of a peripheral friend, had made her clique look good. Or that's what their self-centered teenage selves had though. Thinking back, the girl had probably considered them to be some strange kind of entertainment, akin to a freakshow, maybe.
While walking towards the agreed-upon cafe, she spotted the woman and her boyfriend. A tall man was sitting on either side of them, presumably leaving a space for her in between them. The man right beside Kensi was dark-skinned, bald, and looked like he bench-pressed small cars for fun. The man beside the boyfriend looked attractive in a 'he'll fit in anywhere with the right clothes and attitude' kind of thing going on.
Come to think of it, they were all strangely attractive unlike most of the law enforcement she had ever met. She mentally shrugged it off as most people in the city trying too hard to look good. The SDPD didn't seem to have gotten that memo, or maybe Sunnydale wasn't adjacent enough...
Buffy was two tables away when Shaggy the Boyfriend noticed her, and called out a greeting and alerting the other three who had all been looking in different directions.
"Hey," Buffy replied as she very deliberately surveyed the occupants around the table. "Interesting definition you have of 'alone'." But she smiled none the less, she had been expecting them to be there after all. It was better they were honest about not trusting her than attempting to blend into the background when they no doubt knew she knew what they looked like.
"Hey, Buffy. You know how guys are, and last year didn't help so." She indicated the three men, "They're here to see you're not the big, bad wolf they seem to think you are."
The big, bad wolf was actually not that much taller than her, much more laid back, and not bad at all. She didn't say any of that though.
"Not much with the wolfiness, nope. Or the badness," unless you were a vamp or a demon. Then she was the baddest of the bad. And then, because she couldn't help herself, "Am I supposed to be intimidated by you two?" She made eye contact with Mr. Muscles first and then Blue Eyes. "You know, with the big, bulging biceps and everything?"
"What makes you think that?"
"Probably because Muscles over there is all but flexing to prove something or other." It would've worked better if she didn't regularly kill supernatural threats that were much stronger and faster than any of these men would ever be unless they were turned.
Across the table, Kensi looked like she was trying to make up her mind whether she should laugh at the ridiculousness of it all or hide her face in her hands. Shaggy was leaning forward a little, allowing the bigger guys to do the intimidating but he clearly wasn't thrilled about her presence in his girlfriend's life.
Blue Eyes snorted but didn't contradict her, so she took it as a win.
Kensi was clearly surrounded by people who cared deeply about her and her well-being, and that was great. Everyone deserved people like that. What wasn't so great was the wrong conclusion they'd come to regarding her intentions and the IDC's M.O.
She became serious. "Look, guys. I'm not here to make trouble. There's no reason to threaten me, directly or indirectly. The C&D only happened because your people couldn't keep their digital mittens out of my organization's cookie jar after multiple warnings from the higher-ups. I just want to see if Kensi and I have a chance at becoming friends or not."
Unfortunately, she was regretting even thinking it might be a good idea. This entire mess was more than she wanted to deal with, and she was tired of having to explain herself to everyone all the time. Reaching out was supposed to be easy, a yes or no to her suggestion, not involve either of their work and especially not legal documents.
"There's no hidden agenda, no attempts to commit any crimes."
She sighed heavily. This was more posturing than she was willing to deal with today. Enough was enough, this was getting her nowhere fast. Kensi was clearly a bust in the friends' category, and she needed to just cut her losses before she got even more involved. She rose from the chair she'd sat down in only minutes before.
"This was clearly a mistake on my part, so I'll cut it short." Buffy looked at Kensi, "You have my phone number, it'll be valid for another six months or so and then it'll get disconnected. Contact me through that number before that if you manage to make up your own mind without the help of any of your bodyguards."
Then she walked away, ignoring her name being called and the running footsteps trying to catch up as she melted into the crowds and vanished from their view.
Her reaction was uncalled for, but so was the ambush. It was probably guaranteed to 'prove' she was a criminal to Shaggy and the two male Agents. She hadn't done anything wrong, and she was overreacting. Buffy knew this, and she also knew it was because of the power struggles within the IDC and everyone wanting her to side with them.
All Buffy wanted was a friendly ear, someone she could be 'the girl' with. Someone who wouldn't try and use her for their own gain. Someone who didn't blame her for something that wasn't her fault. It was getting clear that Kensi wasn't that someone.
Kensi would contact her or she wouldn't. The next step was entirely up to the other woman.