[Fic] The Summer of 1973 (Bernard Crowley) G
Title: The Summer of 1973
Author: duh_i_read
Word Count:371
Characters: Bernard Crowley
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summery: In the summer of 1973, Crowley waited.
AN: I’m ignoring all the comics/novels about Nikki Wood. Written for still_grrr using the prompt black.
---
Every night, Crowley waited. Not idly, not when there was work to be done. He sharpened stakes, cleaned his sword and studied the massive map of New York nailed to the wall. He marked his progress with colored pins: black for areas he'd already cleared, red for areas he'd needed to, and sliver for places his slayer had been spotted. He had very little sliver.
Every night, he slipped on his pea coat, checking the stakes and holy water hidden within. It did not cover his scabbard, strapped to his side, but at night, people often mistook him for a navy man, or an actor. Useful lies. He was use to useful lies.
Every night, he walked the streets with purpose. He was no longer afraid of the city, as he once was. Now, he slid into dark alleys like it was his home; he dispatched the vampires and demons he found like one would a rat, with precision and without mercy.
Every night, he stumbled home, bleeding and flushed from battle. Leaving his sword in the bathtub and his coat over the door, he added new pins to the map. Like a chess game in progress, the map bisected, with the red encroaching the black, the black maintaining its hold and a few spots in the center under shifting control.
Every night, he stood for at the threshold of Nikki's room. Clothes strewn about, leaning against her desk and her slayer's handbook propping up her record player. A box wrapped in simple paper sat in the middle of the bed.
Every night, he offered a few words to whatever deity watched over slayers. He asked for forgiveness to her out for the Cruciamentum. He touched the box that contained his feeble penance, an ink colored coat.
Every night, Crowley waited for his slayer to come home.