Never Again (Portal, Chapter 5, 1/2)
Title: Never Again (Portal, Chapter 5, 1/2)
Author: kanedax
Fandom: BtVS Wishverse, pre-season 1
Spoilers: Buffy: The Origin comic book miniseries
Characters: Buffy, Merrick, Pike
Rating: R for language
Summary: As Wishverse Buffy prepares to battle her first Big Bad, things get worse.
Notes:
Some question may come up about the financial status of Hank and Joyce Summers. Although the Joyce, Buffy, and Dawn of the television series come across as comfortable, but not wealthy, the Summers we see in this chapter might come as a bit of a discord. However, in Buffy: The Origin, it is known that the family was once affluent enough to have hired help for the housework. From there I’ve just toyed with it a bit, under the belief that, between the bills from Buffy’s stay in the mental institution, the repair costs resulting from the gymnasium fire, and the eventual divorce of Hank and Joyce, the Summers family we see in Welcome to the Hellmouth could easily be one that had lost much of the finances they had earned in Los Angeles.
I do not own these characters. They belong to Joss Whedon, Christopher Golden, Dark Horse Comics, and 20th Century Fox.
Divergence / Previous Chapters / Never Again (2/2)
“Are you sure this place is safe?”
Oliver Pike leaned over the steering wheel as he slowly maneuvered the car into the abandoned warehouse.
“It’ll work as well as anything,” said Buffy from the passenger seat as Oliver rolled the car to a halt. “This is where we’ve been training. Just so long as they can’t, like, smell us or anything. They can’t, can they?” she asked, turning in her seat to face the back.
“They could,” said Merrick quietly. “But not at this distance, and not through all of the exhaust this infernal machine was coughing up. They’d need a Hellhound to do it, and I have yet to hear of Lothos employing one.”
“Oh, okay,” Buffy said. “I… Were you serious about the Hellhound part?”
Merrick pulled himself from the back of the car without a response. Buffy and Pike exchanged a nervous glance before exiting themselves.
“So what do we do now?” Pike asked, walking around to examine the front of the car. “I mean, how are we supposed to fight--?”
Pike’s words were cut short as Merrick’s ham-sized fist smashed into his stomach. Pike crumpled to his knees as Buffy sprinted up behind her Watcher.
“Merrick, what are you doing?”
Merrick spun around and promptly backhanded Buffy across the face. Not expecting the attack in the least, Buffy reeled, staggering away from him. Her hand went to her face, and she wheeled around, staring at him in shock.
“What the fuck…?”
“You disobeyed a direct order!” Merrick bellowed. “You disobeyed a direct order from your Watcher!”
“Wait…” Pike gasped, pushing himself to his hands and knees before Merrick planted a kick into his solar plexus.
“Both of you!” Merrick howled in rage. “You were to have escaped with her!”
“We were trying to save you!” Buffy cried.
“And it’s by a miracle that you survived!” Merrick yelled, advancing on her. “Never, ever are you to question my orders, Miss Summers! The world is in too much danger to even consider it!”
“If we had followed your orders we wouldn’t have heard any more from you!” Buffy screamed as Pike staggered to his feet, clutching his ribs. “You were going to fucking kill yourself, Merrick!”
“Rather that then let him get to you!” Merrick yelled. “Miss Summers, you have yet to realize your importance in this world. There are many Watchers, but there is only one Slayer! My life is unimportant in comparison. I would be replaced, you would not!”
“Sure I would,” Buffy said, her arms crossed. “When a Slayer dies, another rises to take her place, right?”
“You were willing to die for me,” Merrick growled. “That was your greatest mistake, Miss Summers.”
“What does that mean?” Buffy asked.
“Good is powerful,” Merrick said flatly. “But so is evil. Evil must be destroyed. And sometimes sacrifices must be made for that to happen. If I had died, your identity would stay safe. And you would have found a new Watcher to continue your training. If you had died, the new Slayer would have to start from scratch.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t die,” Buffy said angrily. “And neither did you. So we’re still here, and the Watchers don’t have to start over like I was a bad soufflé. Not yet.”
“You’re not a mistake,” said Merrick. “But you have a lot to learn.”
“Then fucking train me already…”
“I will,” Merrick said with a nod. “But in the morning. We all need rest.”
“What about school?” asked Buffy.
“Miss Summers,” Merrick replied, “your days of high school are over.”
And without another word, Merrick walked away from the car, opening the door to a small office and slamming it behind him.
“That… that is… cough…”
“Pike!” Buffy cried, remembering that she and her Watcher weren’t alone in the warehouse. She walked over to him and helped him to his feet.
“That is … one intense dude,” Pike gasped, leaning against the hood of the car with the hand not currently clenching his stomach.
“He gets that way,” said Buffy, putting her hand on his back. “Are you alright?”
“Not bad,” Pike said, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the car’s hood. “Feels like I’ve just had my ass kicked by a big old guy with a huge mustache, but otherwise I’m just dandy.”
“Imagine that,” Buffy said wryly. “Come on, sit down.”
Pike nodded and threw his arm over Buffy’s shoulder as she navigated him across the floor to a stack of wooden crates. He let out a short hiss of pain as he sat down, clutching his ribs.
“Better?” Buffy said uncertainly.
“Better enough,” Pike groaned. “So… okay… I’m still about three innings behind. Vampires, right?”
Buffy nodded. “Vampires.”
“And the big guy,” Pike said, pointing to the office door. “He’s a… a Watcher?”
“He’s my Watcher, yeah.”
“What’s a Watcher?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out myself,” Buffy said with a shake of her head. “He’s my trainer, I guess.”
“Because you’re the Slaver?”
“Slayer…”
“Which is a what?”
“No clue,” said Buffy. “Merrick explained it to me, but I’m still a little vague on the details.”
“Dimestore edition?”
Buffy sighed and took a deep breath. “In every generation a Slayer is born. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness.”
Pike gaped at her. “Wow,” he said. “Dimestore enough. So you’re, what, a superhero?”
“I don’t know,” Buffy said slowly. “I guess. I mean, I’m wicked strong. Really fast. And my reflexes pretty much guarantee that I’ll beat out Stacy Felser as captain of the cheerleading squad next fall.”
“Well, she deserves to get knocked down a few pegs…”
“Totally.”
“Provided we don’t get expelled for skipping class without a note from our ‘rents.”
“Shit,” Buffy breathed, looking around the warehouse. “I wonder if there’s a phone here, you should probably call home.”
“Whatever,” Pike said with a shrug. “They probably don’t care either way.”
“They won’t be worried?”
“I was going to run away before the vampires attacked me,” Pike replied, leaning back gingerly. “If I didn’t think they were going to worry then, then I definitely don’t think they’re going to worry now.”
Buffy nodded. “Yeah…”
“They’re usually too busy for me, anyway,” Pike said with a shrug.
“Me, too,” Buffy said quietly. “I see Consuela more than I see them.”
“Consuela?”
“Our maid.”
“Wait…” Pike said, sitting up again. “You have people?”
“Yes,” Buffy said defensively. “Well, person. Is that a problem?”
“No,” Pike said. “Actually, it’s not even a surprise, I guess. You are from that end of town…”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s not supposed to mean anything,” Pike said quickly. “You’re not like the other girls.”
Buffy sighed, leaning against the stack of boxes beside Pike. “Yes, I am. I just want to be normal again. This whole… This whole Slayer thing, it’s… it’s too much. I just want to go back to being a girl again.”
“Why?” Pike asked. “Because you’re a superhero?”
“Absolutely,” Buffy said. “And this is coming from a girl who was flunking Remedial Dodgeball.”
“But in the end that doesn’t mean anything,” said Pike. “Even if you weren’t a damn Supergirl you’d still be different. You’d still be better than them.”
Buffy raised her eyebrow skeptically. “Pike, are you hitting on me?”
“Maybe,” he said with a shrug.
“Well,” Buffy said, hugging her knees to her chin, “I do have to say you’re doing a better job than when you were kicking me in the back of the head at the movie theatre.”
“Got your attention, though, didn’t it?” Pike smirked before leaning in and kissing her.
Buffy’s eyes widened with the contact, and she was so shocked by the move that she froze. Pike recognized her immobilization and pulled carefully away.
“What was that for?” Buffy breathed.
“For, um, for saving my life from those vampires?” Pike said. “In the garage?”
“Oh.”
“That’s alright?”
“It’s a start,” Buffy shrugged before kissing him back.
This time they were both prepared.
---------
“The dance,” said Buffy. “Tonight.”
“It still seems the most likely target, yes,” said Merrick, standing over the card table. Buffy thought he looked like he wanted to lean, but his massive bulk was probably more than a match for the flimsy aluminum legs.
Scrawny Pike seemed to have little problem leaning over the roughly-sketched map. “If Lothos wants to draw us out,” he said. “Wants to draw Buffy out, it’s the best place to do it. Lots of warm bodies.”
Buffy nodded. The past three days had been spent within the walls of the warehouse, her life nothing more than training, sleeping, and eating the carry-out that Pike would scrounge up during the day.
Well, maybe a little more than those three things, she thought, taking a quick glance up at Pike. The two didn’t get into much. Tough to do much with a boy when you know your Watcher’s sleeping in the next room, and the fact that she thought of Merrick as her Watcher as opposed to some creepy old fat guy showed just how much an attack on her life serioused her up about this whole Slayer business.
However, when Merrick’s elephant-like snores echoed through the large warehouse, the two teenagers knew they could get a little bolder. They didn’t do everything, of course. Buffy’s cherry remained unpopped. But there was that one night where they spent a half hour looking for the pair of panties that had gone flying, only to discover them on a low-hanging fluorescent light fixture…
It’s just nice having a boyfriend who doesn’t treat me completely like shit, Buffy said, breaking into a small smile before returning to the map.
“Beyond that,” said Merrick. “There are thousands of places in Los Angeles with a large capacity. But Lothos wants Buffy. He knows that this is her school. So it’s the obvious choice.”
“Could be a trap,” said Pike.
“If it is, it’s most likely a simplistic one,” said Merrick. “Lothos doesn’t think very highly of our Slayer. He thinks that she’s soft and weak and will be there as a partier instead of as a warrior. I doubt he’s amassed much of an army in his time here in Los Angeles. If he brings anyone at all, it will most likely be a small contingent. He’ll rely on the panic of your classmates to disorient you.”
“We’re going to prove him wrong,” said Buffy. “Besides, it’s not a trap if we know about it, right?”
“Indeed,” Merrick nodded. “So, we have many options in how to approach the target. However, the best plan of attack would be for the three of us to enter the gymnasium as guests. That way we can get a better understanding of the layout, as well as just how many civilians we have to contend with.”
“Plus it’ll help us to have him think that I really am there to party,” said Buffy. “I won’t be dressed to fight, just dressed to kill. He’ll think I wasn’t expecting him. Might get him to lower his guard.”
“Thinking like a Slayer,” said Merrick with a smirk. “Once Lothos arrives, Oliver and I will be in charge of crowd control while Buffy contends with the vampire.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Pike interjected, standing up straight and raising his hands. “Crowd control? No. I’m helping Buffy fight.”
“Lothos is no match for you,” said Merrick. “No match for either of us. Buffy is a Slayer. She’s the only one of us capable of fighting him.”
“But…”
“No,” Merrick repeated more firmly. “You will assist with removing the students from the gymnasium. If there are other vampires besides Lothos we may have to deal with them ourselves, because they won’t be a threat to Buffy. Lothos will want her for himself; the others will only be there to cause more hysteria.”
“But…” Pike repeated, turning helplessly to Buffy, who shook her head.
“He’s right,” said Buffy. “I can handle Lothos. You can’t.”
Besides, she added internally, I don’t want to see you get hurt.
Pike’s mouth dropped open, preparing to continue his protest, before slamming it shut again. “Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll play crossing guard.”
“Good to hear you’re in agreement,” said Merrick flatly. “We only have a few hours before the dance starts. Buffy and I will spend that time in final preparations, final training. Possibly some warm-up exercises. Oliver, in the meantime, will be going shopping.”
“What for?” asked Pike.
“We’re attending a high school dance,” Merrick explained. “We need to look the part. Since we’ve been wearing the same clothing for three days we’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”
“Oh, yeah,” said Pike, sniffing his armpits quickly. Yeah, they were a little ripe.
“Thrift store,” said Merrick. “Goodwill. Something as close to a tuxedo that you can find for yourself. A white dress shirt and suit for me.”
“Yeah, no problem,” said Pike. “I’ll stop by REI. I’m sure they have a tent big enough for you.”
Merrick’s eyes narrowed, but Pike only responded with a teasing smirk as Buffy shook her head. The three of them had been living together these past few days, true enough, and as amiably as they could considering the situation. But Pike still gave Merrick the needle whenever he could. The boy still hadn’t completely gotten over the pummeling he had received when they first arrived.
“A white dress shirt,” Merrick repeated shortly. “And a suit. A tuxedo, or something as close as you can find for yourself. And a dress for Buffy. In each case, I want you to find something loose fitting. Something that we can fight in without being restricted.”
“Should be easy enough to find,” said Pike. “For me, at least. You might have to lose the sleeves eventually, though.”
“Do what you can…”
“I already have a dress,” said Buffy. “The one I was going to wear with Tyler should work.”
“And where is said dress?” Merrick asked.
“At home.”
“Out of the question,” Merrick replied. “I want you out of the public eye until tonight.”
“It’s daylight!” Buffy yelled.
“Lothos has his minions,” said Merrick calmly. “Not all of them are vampire. You know this, Miss Summers, we’ve been through it all a thousand times already.”
“Yeah, so what?” Buffy replied. “If they tell Lothos that we’re here, then he’ll show up here tonight instead of at the dance. Big whoop.”
“Might even be an advantage,” Pike continued. “If she’s going to be fighting tonight one way or another, might as well have him trap us here than at the dance. Fewer people to get hurt.”
“The answer is no,” said Merrick firmly.
“Try to stop me,” Buffy said with a glower before spinning towards the door.
“Get back here!” Merrick yelled as she walked away. “This is a direct order from your Watcher!”
“Hey,” Pike said quietly, grabbing Merrick’s arm as the door slammed shut. “Let her go. She knows what she’s doing.”
”No she doesn’t,” Merrick said quietly.
“It’s more than the dress,” said Pike. “She wants to talk to her parents.”
“Which means she doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Merrick said, returning to the map. “There’s a reason the Slayer is separated from the parents at a young age, before the bond can be formed.”
“I don’t see the harm in it,” said Pike. “Might remind her that there’s something she’s fighting for.”
Merrick sighed, rubbing his hand across his mouth. “Or it might give her a reason to stop fighting. And then we’re all doomed.”
Divergence / Previous Chapters / Never Again (2/2)