Here We Go Again
Title: Here We Go Again
Author: kerrykhat
Fandom: Mercedes Thompson series
Rating: PG
Summary: Charles approached the house on the outskirts of Cleveland, wondering what he’d done to annoy his da enough to be sent on this particular errand again.
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and related characters; Patricia Briggs owns "The Mercedes Thompson Series" and related characters; I own nothing.
Word Count: 1021
Author's Notes: Part of the Come Around Soon verse. I blame akat. For reasons.
Charles approached the house on the outskirts of Cleveland, wondering what he’d done to annoy his da enough to be sent on this particular errand again. He couldn’t think of anything. There was the logical explanation, of course: there was no pack in Cleveland at the moment and sending the Columbus or the Toledo Alpha to this meeting would be an insult to the newly re-formed Watcher’s Council. Since the Marrok wasn’t going to go himself, and with Samuel still in Texas, that left Charles to handle the initial diplomacy.
Brother Wolf grumbled, as unhappy about the situation as Charles. Neither of them had forgotten their earlier encounters with Buffy Summers the previous summer.
He’d heard about the collapse of Sunnydale less than a month before and had briefly spared a thought for her, but that was it. Then, less than a week ago, Bran had informed Charles that he needed to go to Cleveland to meet with the Slayers, plural. That revelation had been… unexpected, to say the least. Now, instead of keeping track of one Slayer should she be in North America, there were untold numbers, and Bran wanted to limit any potential damages as quickly as possible.
Doing his best to keep the annoyance from his face, Charles walked up to the door and knocked. There was a wrongness in Cleveland similar to Sunnydale, but not quite as strong. It was still enough to set him on edge, however.
He could hear footsteps rushing towards the door and he took a short step back.
“Finally, I thought you’d never get here,” a voice called out through door. It opened to reveal the same girl from the last time he traveled to meet with the Slayer “How much do I…” She looked up at him, money in hand, and frowned. “Oh. It’s you.”
“Is Buffy Summers available?” he asked politely, suddenly amused by the annoyance in her voice.
“What’s it to you?” she challenged him, tossing her long, brown hair over her shoulder and meeting his eyes defiantly.
“Dawn, is that the pizza?” a new voice asked. A redhead, roughly the same age as the doorkeeper peeked over her shoulder.
“I w…” Dawn started before stopping. “No, it’s not the food,” she corrected.
“Damn. I’m starving,” another girl complained. Several other girls crowded around the door, making both Charles and Brother Wolf wary. He didn’t like unknown variables.
“You’re always starving, Rona. So, like I said, what’s it to you?” she challenged, turning her attention back to Charles.
Despite his amusement at this young girl’s attitude, he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. “I have business I need to discuss with her,” he told her, allowing Brother Wolf to come forward for a bit. It didn’t seem to intimidate her, however, and only appeared to annoy her even more.
“Oh, God,” the girl muttered with an exasperated eyeroll, before turning over her shoulder. “Buffy!” she bellowed, loud enough where everybody around her, including Charles, winced. “Need you!”
“You didn’t need to be so loud,” the redhead complained, rubbing her ears. Charles wished he could do the same.
“My bad,” Dawn said unapologetically as more footsteps approached.
“Did I not give you enough for a tip?” Buffy Summer’s voice asked. “How much…” she added, stopping short when she saw Charles and crossing her arms. “Why are you here?” She looked about as pleased with the situation as he was.
“I have business that needs to be discussed with you,” he said, repeating his earlier statement. “Privately.” He suspected that most, if not all the girls crowded around the door were some of the new Slayers his da was concerned about, and didn’t want to discuss why he was here in their presence.
“Who’s this guy, B?” a brunette, who looked to be about the same age as Buffy Summers asked. A tattoo ran across her right arm, and she gave him a suspicious look. “You know him?”
“We had a run in last summer,” the blonde said dryly. “I was kinda hoping never to see him again, but you know how my luck is.”
“Huh.” The brunette looked at Buffy, who gave a curt shake of the head.
Buffy continued to look at Charles, tapping her fingers against her arms.
“Fine,” she finally conceded, stepping forward. “You owe me lunch, though, since the pizza’s probably going to be all gone by the time we’re done.”
“We’re not that bad!” one of the girls protested as Buffy walked past her.
“I’ve heard herds of locusts eat slower than all of you,” the older woman retorted, grabbing a pair of keys. “Are you driving or am I, Cornick?”
Charles hated driving, especially in cities he didn’t know. From the smiles Dawn and the older brunette were just failing to hide, her driving might not be the best course of action.
“I have a rental,” he answered curtly.
“Fine. I’ll be back in a bit.” She shut the door behind her, although Charles could see several faces peering through the windows to watch them as they walked towards his car.
“Just so you know, this thing of yours where you show up at my place? Let’s not make it a thing,” she told him when they reached his car. “Once was obnoxious, twice is overkill.”
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
“You mentioned lunch?” he asked blandly while she buckled up. This close to her, he could smell her clearly: vanilla, iron, leather, and dust. Different, but not unpleasant. There was also something else that he had missed the first two times he met her, something that Brother Wolf recognized as marking a predator worthy of caution.
“There’s a good soul food place not far from here,” she replied, not looking at him. “They have a good ribs special.”
Charles nodded and started the car. Hopefully they would be able to conclude the talks quickly and he could leave by tomorrow. And hopefully, this time, he could fulfill her hope of him showing up on her doorstep not becoming “a thing”.
Author: kerrykhat
Fandom: Mercedes Thompson series
Rating: PG
Summary: Charles approached the house on the outskirts of Cleveland, wondering what he’d done to annoy his da enough to be sent on this particular errand again.
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and related characters; Patricia Briggs owns "The Mercedes Thompson Series" and related characters; I own nothing.
Word Count: 1021
Author's Notes: Part of the Come Around Soon verse. I blame akat. For reasons.
Charles approached the house on the outskirts of Cleveland, wondering what he’d done to annoy his da enough to be sent on this particular errand again. He couldn’t think of anything. There was the logical explanation, of course: there was no pack in Cleveland at the moment and sending the Columbus or the Toledo Alpha to this meeting would be an insult to the newly re-formed Watcher’s Council. Since the Marrok wasn’t going to go himself, and with Samuel still in Texas, that left Charles to handle the initial diplomacy.
Brother Wolf grumbled, as unhappy about the situation as Charles. Neither of them had forgotten their earlier encounters with Buffy Summers the previous summer.
He’d heard about the collapse of Sunnydale less than a month before and had briefly spared a thought for her, but that was it. Then, less than a week ago, Bran had informed Charles that he needed to go to Cleveland to meet with the Slayers, plural. That revelation had been… unexpected, to say the least. Now, instead of keeping track of one Slayer should she be in North America, there were untold numbers, and Bran wanted to limit any potential damages as quickly as possible.
Doing his best to keep the annoyance from his face, Charles walked up to the door and knocked. There was a wrongness in Cleveland similar to Sunnydale, but not quite as strong. It was still enough to set him on edge, however.
He could hear footsteps rushing towards the door and he took a short step back.
“Finally, I thought you’d never get here,” a voice called out through door. It opened to reveal the same girl from the last time he traveled to meet with the Slayer “How much do I…” She looked up at him, money in hand, and frowned. “Oh. It’s you.”
“Is Buffy Summers available?” he asked politely, suddenly amused by the annoyance in her voice.
“What’s it to you?” she challenged him, tossing her long, brown hair over her shoulder and meeting his eyes defiantly.
“Dawn, is that the pizza?” a new voice asked. A redhead, roughly the same age as the doorkeeper peeked over her shoulder.
“I w…” Dawn started before stopping. “No, it’s not the food,” she corrected.
“Damn. I’m starving,” another girl complained. Several other girls crowded around the door, making both Charles and Brother Wolf wary. He didn’t like unknown variables.
“You’re always starving, Rona. So, like I said, what’s it to you?” she challenged, turning her attention back to Charles.
Despite his amusement at this young girl’s attitude, he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. “I have business I need to discuss with her,” he told her, allowing Brother Wolf to come forward for a bit. It didn’t seem to intimidate her, however, and only appeared to annoy her even more.
“Oh, God,” the girl muttered with an exasperated eyeroll, before turning over her shoulder. “Buffy!” she bellowed, loud enough where everybody around her, including Charles, winced. “Need you!”
“You didn’t need to be so loud,” the redhead complained, rubbing her ears. Charles wished he could do the same.
“My bad,” Dawn said unapologetically as more footsteps approached.
“Did I not give you enough for a tip?” Buffy Summer’s voice asked. “How much…” she added, stopping short when she saw Charles and crossing her arms. “Why are you here?” She looked about as pleased with the situation as he was.
“I have business that needs to be discussed with you,” he said, repeating his earlier statement. “Privately.” He suspected that most, if not all the girls crowded around the door were some of the new Slayers his da was concerned about, and didn’t want to discuss why he was here in their presence.
“Who’s this guy, B?” a brunette, who looked to be about the same age as Buffy Summers asked. A tattoo ran across her right arm, and she gave him a suspicious look. “You know him?”
“We had a run in last summer,” the blonde said dryly. “I was kinda hoping never to see him again, but you know how my luck is.”
“Huh.” The brunette looked at Buffy, who gave a curt shake of the head.
Buffy continued to look at Charles, tapping her fingers against her arms.
“Fine,” she finally conceded, stepping forward. “You owe me lunch, though, since the pizza’s probably going to be all gone by the time we’re done.”
“We’re not that bad!” one of the girls protested as Buffy walked past her.
“I’ve heard herds of locusts eat slower than all of you,” the older woman retorted, grabbing a pair of keys. “Are you driving or am I, Cornick?”
Charles hated driving, especially in cities he didn’t know. From the smiles Dawn and the older brunette were just failing to hide, her driving might not be the best course of action.
“I have a rental,” he answered curtly.
“Fine. I’ll be back in a bit.” She shut the door behind her, although Charles could see several faces peering through the windows to watch them as they walked towards his car.
“Just so you know, this thing of yours where you show up at my place? Let’s not make it a thing,” she told him when they reached his car. “Once was obnoxious, twice is overkill.”
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
“You mentioned lunch?” he asked blandly while she buckled up. This close to her, he could smell her clearly: vanilla, iron, leather, and dust. Different, but not unpleasant. There was also something else that he had missed the first two times he met her, something that Brother Wolf recognized as marking a predator worthy of caution.
“There’s a good soul food place not far from here,” she replied, not looking at him. “They have a good ribs special.”
Charles nodded and started the car. Hopefully they would be able to conclude the talks quickly and he could leave by tomorrow. And hopefully, this time, he could fulfill her hope of him showing up on her doorstep not becoming “a thing”.