Faith, Pike, and Sister Sunshine (Portal, Part 6, 4/4)
Title: Faith, Pike, and Sister Sunshine (Portal, Part 6, 4/4)
Author: kanedax
Fandom: BtVS Wishverse
Spoilers: Previous Chapters
Major Characters: The Mayor, Pike/Drusilla, Buffy, Faith, Merrick, Giles, Post
Rating: R for language and violence
Summary: The Master is gone, and far too many try to fill the void
Notes: I don’t own these characters. They belong to Joss Whedon, Christopher Golden, Dark Horse Comics, and 20th Century Fox.
Sister Sunshine (3/4) / Previous Chapters / World Without Shrimp
Commitment can often be called into question, especially when it's the commitment of someone who has given their entire existence to a particular cause. Can we do the right thing no matter what? Can we fight the good fight by sacrificing everything, everyone we hold dear? In the greater scheme of things, are our friends, our family, our loves expendable? Or are their lives more precious than ultimate victory?
For Buffy Summers of the real world, that question came often. The first time was when she had to battle Angelus, the love of her life, to keep him from destroying the world. In the end, she chose the world, chose others, when she struck him through the heart.
In the future, she would choose the world when she came up against Anya Jenkins and Willow Rosenberg, ultimately knowing that the sacrifice of her friends was for the greater good.
And yet she would rather see all reality sucked into Hell than sacrifice her sister.
When warriors, good and evil, are faced with the consequences of their actions, these questions appear. Some, like Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, buckle under the pressure, and walk away from their duty rather than face any more innocent blood on their hands. Others, like Willow Rosenberg and Daniel Holtz, choose vengeance, embracing the darkness and mistaking it as righteousness.
Still others rise above the pain, the loss, the agony. They do what is right no matter what.
And yet they remain haunted. Did I do the right thing? Did I do everything in my power to save the one I loved? If I could go back and change things, would I?
These thoughts haunted the Buffy Summers of the universe created by Cordelia Chase. It had been three years since she watched Oliver Pike, a boy she had fallen for, both as an ally, a friend, and possibly a love, die at the hands of the very thing she had been chosen to destroy. He had helped her, and for that he was gone.
And then he was back.
In the weeks to come, as Buffy Summers and Daniel Osbourne healed from their encounter with Oliver Pike and Drusilla, more questions were asked after Buffy's greatest fear, the very face that haunted her nightmares, had returned to her, telling her everything that she already knew. She killed him. He died for her. She was weak, she was inexperienced, she and she didn't do enough for him in the end.
Buffy weighed her options. She never believed that Oliver deserved what he had gotten that night in the gymnasium. He didn't deserve to be turned into a vampire. He was too good of a person for that.
Because of that, she approached Merrick and Rupert concerning the Gypsy curse that had been cast upon the former White Hat known as Angel. Would it be possible to ensoul Pike? To turn him back to the side of good, even if he remained a vampire? After all, Angel had apparently been able to live a relatively normal life. He couldn't walk in the sun, could only drink pig's blood, couldn't enter a house unless invited. But he also had strength, endurance, and immortality that he chose to use to fight evil. Perhaps Pike would choose the same path.
And then there were the nights alone, sleeping in the two bedroom apartment that the Council had been able to pull together for Merrick and herself. Nights when she knew what needed to be done. Nights when she knew she couldn't go through with it, couldn't put a stake into the boy she thought she had loved. Couldn't kill him again. Nights when she wanted to slip out the window and let the White Hats deal with them both. They had two highly-trained Watchers now, after all, along with a strong, capable Slayer-in-training in Faith. Their numbers were growing, especially now that both Joan Appleby and Devon MacLeish had started following Oz and Larry into the field, and had sat in on a few White Hat meetings and training sessions.
They could handle Oliver Pike. They could handle Drusilla. The Slayer could return to Cleveland to fight evil. Or New York. Or Istanbul.
Maybe the North Pole had a vampire problem. Santa Claus was immortal, after all, and only travelled at night...
And so Buffy thought. And thought. And mended. And thought some more.
And all the while the White Hats knew the confrontation between Pike and Buffy was inevitable, especially as incidents of vampire attacks with major collateral damage grew in the weeks following Pike's acquisition of the Glove of Mynhegon. A magic shop in downtown Sunnydale was reduced to rubble, as was the Sunnydale Anthropological Museum and a construction site near UC Sunnydale. Then crypts started to crumble, one by one.
It was small consolation that no one had died of electrocution yet. Apparently Pike and Dru had yet to figure out how to call lightning from the sky as Gwendolyn Post had.
Amidst all of the chaos, a pattern began to emerge. Pike and Drusilla were looking for something else. Something ancient and powerful. And they hadn't found it yet.
Time passed. The search continued.
And the inevitable happened.
---------
The underground crypt, silent over the last few centuries, shook. Dust fell from shelves lined along one wall as something huge pounded on the other side.
"Come on!" a voice yelled from the other side. "Come on, this is supposed to go faster!"
"Be calm, my sweet," said a woman's voice. "The walls bleed magic."
"The walls bleed ten feet of rock, is what it feels like. Damn, I wish this thing had a jackhammer attachment or something."
"We are close," said Drusilla. "It sings to me."
"Have it sing a little louder, would ya?" said Pike, raining blow after blow upon the stone wall. "I could use some inspirational death metal while I work. Some Nile, maybe? Anthrax?"
"Mmmmm, put them in the Iron Maiden..."
"Anything but Slayer," Pike said with a dark smile. "I'd rather hear that screaming in person."
"Now that's music," Drusilla said, running her hands along Pike's back.
"I'm glad we're on the same wavelength, Dru," he said, standing back and wiping his brow. "My parents always told me that shared values are vital to a long-term relationship." He pointed the Glove of Mynhegon at the crater that had grown in the wall. "Go Go Gadget Rocket Launcher!"
"Gadget?" Drusilla asked with an arched eyebrow.
"It was worth a shot," Pike shrugged, and took another swing at the wall. At last, he nearly toppled over as his gauntleted fist punched through the other side, his arm sinking through the newly-formed hole.
“Your gadget found its mark,” said Drusilla, peering through the hole.
“Ha! Go Go Gadget Kick Some Ass!” Pike howled, tearing away at the hole until it was large enough for both vampires to climb through. Pike swept Drusilla up into his arms and stepped across the threshold, but paused when he got his first good look at the room.
“Holy shit,” he muttered, looking around.
“They’re all singing,” said Drusilla as she was set down. “It’s a chorus of pain.”
“You know, usually when mystical objects are hidden away, don’t they usually sit in a big empty room on a pedestal? Maybe a bright yellow spotlight glowing down on it?”
“So much pain,” Drusilla said, wandering around the cluttered crypt. Rotted skeletons were piled alongside heaps of gold, jewels, and ancient weaponry. Pike could feel the heat on his face as he got close to a giant bejeweled cross.
“Okay, then,” Pike sighed. “I guess we gotta go through it bit by bit. What do you think? Can you make out the words?”
“It’s lost among the chorus,” said Drusilla, picking up and studying a shining crown. “The Gem is drowning…”
“Damn,” Pike said. “Okay, I’m the Gem of Amara, mystical powerhouse. I’m probably something big, gaudy, drawing attention to myself… Maybe this?” He reached for one of the skeletons, which wore a huge emerald necklace around its neck. Tugging hard, he yanked the necklace free, sending the skull to the ground, where it broke into dusty pieces. He threw the gold chain around his neck, and turned to Drusilla, lifting his hands. “What do you think?”
Thwip
“Augh!” Pike grunted as an arrow flew through the air and pierced his shoulder.
“I think Flava Flav pulls that look off better,” said Faith, standing at the mouth of the crypt beside Buffy, who was pointing the spent crossbow at Pike. Faith’s, still loaded, was pointed directly at Drusilla, as were the bows over their shoulders, being held by Rupert Giles and Merrick Jamison-Smythe.
“How did they find us?” Pike asked Drusilla, grunting in pain as he pulled the arrow from his shoulder.
“You make a lot of noise, vampire,” said Merrick. “Now no sudden movements, Drusilla.”
“Noise?” Pike said. “What noise? We’re underground!”
“Well, maybe not that kind of noise,” said Faith. “But some of those few contacts you let live squealed like little piggies when we asked them some questions. They don’t like you very much, by the way.”
“Yeah, there’s not a lot to like,” said Pike, putting his hand to the wound and looking at the blood on the palm of his hand. “Okay, Dru, I don’t think this is the Gem.”
“Skeletons aren’t immortal,” Drusilla snapped.
“I should have thought of that,” Pike said before turning to Buffy. “Okay, Slayer. Standing in that hole is all fine and dandy. You know you can’t kill us with your crossbows; we’ll stop anything in mid-air. And there’s no way we can have any decent brawl in that tunnel. So how do we wanna do this?”
“Pike,” Buffy, who had remained silent since the group left Giles’s house, said quietly, “we need to talk.”
“Talk, huh?” Pike snorted. “This should be fun.” He grabbed the table sitting in the middle of the crypt and flipped it, sending it and its contents slamming against the wall. “Talk to the death?”
“I’m not going to kill you,” said Buffy, stepping through the hole and slinging her crossbow to her back.
“Buffy,” Merrick said quietly. “Buffy, we had a plan. What are you doing?”
“Tell her to stand down, Pike,” said Buffy, ignoring Merrick and pointing at Drusilla.
“Why should I?” said Pike. “Two against one, and all your White Hats are out there as long as Fat Ass is blocking the hole like a champagne cork. Kind of gives me the advantage.”
“Because I’ll kill you both,” said Buffy simply.
“Yeah, right,” Pike snorted. “Last time I checked, I kicked your ass all by myself.”
“That was then,” said Buffy. “Besides, you couldn’t stand to have Drusilla take me out. You want me all to yourself. Always have, right?”
“Ever since Benny dragged me out of the gym and into Lothos’s fangs,” said Pike, his features contorting into his vampire face. “Ready to finish the job?”
“No,” Buffy snapped. “I’m not talking to that face.”
“Buffy, watch your back!” Faith yelled.
“Dru, stop!” Pike yelled in reply, and Buffy spun to see Drusilla pause a foot away from Buffy, her face flipped into its snakelike visage. “I’ll handle this.”
“She took them all from me,” said Drusilla sadly.
“Well, she did a number on me, too,” said Pike, baring his fangs before they disappeared into his again-human mouth. “Alright, Slayer. Let’s here what you got to say before I drain you.”
“I’ll keep it brief, then,” said Buffy. “You’re a tool, Oliver.”
“Oh, a compelling argument,” said Pike as the two began circling each other. “You were always shit in Speech class, although I do have to say your oral presentation was magnificent.”
“Also a huge creep, which is something I couldn’t say about the Pike I knew.”
“The Pike you knew is gone, baby,” said Pike, circling around, prepared to pounce. “You killed him, remember?”
“Yeah, I’ve been doing some thinking about that,” said Buffy.
“Yay, good for you!” Pike said with thumbs up. “Let’s talk about our feelings, baby. The feeling of the fire, the feeling of the dozen vamps swarming down on me. The feeling of Lothos accepting me, killing me, and filling me with strength. Strength to kill you.”
“You think that’s why he did it, did you?” asked Buffy, looking at the White Hats with a glance that said Stand the hell down. “So you could kill me? What part of you scampering off to The Master filled that part of the bargain?”
“Only a matter of time, wasn’t it? Besides, I don’t think he expected you two to run off like scared little bunny rabbits.”
“Why do you think she’s with you?” asked Buffy, tilting her head to Drusilla, who stood beside the couple, her hands begging to fight. “Girl like Drusilla spent a hundred years touring the world. Spent time with mass murderers and legend killers. She has the blood of thousands of innocents on her hands and still loves every minute of it. You know her old boyfriend killed two Slayers? How long do you think it’ll take a lackey like you to top that?”
“Why do you think I got the Glove?” asked Pike, flexing Mynhegon’s fingers.
“She’s in Sunnydale because of me,” said Buffy. “Aren’t you, Dru?”
“They all died because of you,” Drusilla snarled. “Boy. Father. Grandmother.”
“See?” Buffy said. “She wants me dead. And I want her dead. So it’s convenient that way.”
“Getting more convenient by the second,” said Pike. “Finished with your prattling yet?”
“You’re a tool, Pike,” said Buffy. “The only reason you’re important at all is because of me. Lothos wanted to use you to get to me. Drusilla only accepted you because she found out you knew me.”
“Yeah, right,” Pike said, uncomfortable for the first time. “Dru, tell her-“
“I smell her on you,” said Drusilla. “You reek of her.”
“How… How did you…?”
“I just knew,” said Buffy. “You’re one of the goon squad, Pike. That’s all you’ll ever be. A vampire like Lothos, a vampire like Drusilla, you’re nothing to them. You’re just a pawn. And a shitty one, at that.”
“I’m more powerful than you could possibly-“
“I didn’t kill you!” Buffy yelled. “You killed yourself, you fucking moron! You had your orders, and you blew it!”
“I was trying to save you!”
“I didn’t need saving!” Buffy cried. “The thirty people who died that night did. You knew how strong I was. You saw that I was fighting my best against Lothos, that I was beating him, and you knew damn well that none of his army would even dare lay a finger on me. Lothos wanted the kill for himself, and would have found whole new galaxies of torture for any vampire who even tried to take his prize. But you tried to jump in, and got yourself killed. Our classmates where confused, afraid, and you let die in some worthlessly noble effort.”
“That’s not how it happened…”
“That’s exactly how it happened, and you know it,” said Buffy. “You were a lackey that night, Pike, and you should have stayed that way. But now you’re still an idiot trying to be the big tuna in a shark tank. And you’re not worth my time.”
“I died for you!” Pike screamed. “I’ve killed dozens, all to get to you! Now I have the Glove, and I’ll have the Gem, and then…”
“See what I mean?” said Buffy. “You need a fucking Power Glove to even dream beating a non-electrocuted version of me.”
“That may be,” Pike snarled. “But I still have the Glove.”
“Yeah, it’s shiny,” Buffy admitted. “Hey, Faith! Wanna kill a one-armed vampire?”
“Do I!”
Pike’s face shifted again, but before he even considered reacting, Buffy’s arm blurred, swinging one of the many swords leaning against the crypt wall. Pike felt the blade slice through his armpit and upward, and heard the dull clang as the Glove of Mynhegon hit the stone floor just as he was lifted from his feet and tossed towards the hole, where Faith, Giles, and Merrick stepped aside, allowing him to fly down the tunnel. He looked up helplessly to see the three standing over him, along with Larry and Joan, all five armed with stakes.
“Faith?” said Giles to his new charge as he pressed his heel against Pike’s throat. “Would you like to do the honors?”
---------
Buffy and Drusilla watched as Faith Lehane’s stake speared downwards, the cavern filling with the unearthly howl of the demon released from Oliver Pike’s body, followed soon after by the clinking metal of the Glove of Mynhegon releasing itself from the dust that was once his severed arm.
“No tears?” asked Drusilla as the dust puffed. “You smell of him, as well.”
“Tears are long past,” said Buffy. “You ready to finish this?”
“Ready forever, Slayer,” Drusilla hissed, turning to face Buffy. “Now that the pawn is gone.”
“Good,” said Buffy. “Cuz I’m done playing games.” At that, she swung the sword at the vampire.
“Bunny has spunk,” Drusilla giggled, leaning back and avoiding the blade as it passed inches from her neck. “Spike would have loved to have taken you.”
“Yeah, too bad he’s a pile,” said Buffy as Drusilla swung back, her long nails raking the air near Buffy’s stomach. “Left you all alone, did he? I hear he was a big shiny hero.”
“He still shines,” said Drusilla, practically slithering around Buffy as the others watched on. “The stars speak his name. They tell me to complete his work.”
"Yeah? And what work is that?"
Drusilla grabbed a large piece of debris and swung it at Buffy’s head. Buffy barely avoided in time, bringing the sword up to block it before making contact. As she did, she realized Drusilla was attacking her with a large wooden cross, her hands smoking, yet the pain almost seeming to invigorate her as she smiled at Buffy through her fangs.
"To drink your blood," she said. "Make myself strong."
"Seem plenty strong enough there, Elvira," Buffy grunted, forcing the cross away.
"Heinrich is in me," said Drusilla.
"Heinrich? Who the fuck is Heinrich?"
"His death gave me strength."
"God, no wonder your vamp buddies left you," Buffy said with a shake of her head. "You're clinical, you know that?"
"Spike told me a Slayer tastes like power and honey," said Drusilla, licking her lips.
"Yeah, he sounds like a real winner," said Buffy, taking another swing. "Spike or Heinrich or whoever, it doesn't matter. I'm bored, and your banter sucks. Merrick!"
Drusilla spun around in time to hear the twang of Merrick's crossbow, to see the wooden arrow fly towards her. Her heightened reflexes took over, and she backflipped out of the bolt's path.
"Your arrow doesn't like me, Watcher," said Drusilla, landing deftly on her feet.
"Doesn't need to," said Merrick with a small smile, and Drusilla followed his gaze to the Slayer, who was now inches from her, the arrow which she had caught in mid-air now clutched in her fist.
"You keep talking about your old buddies, Dru," she said, grabbing the stunned vampire's throat. "Join them."
Buffy Summers drove the arrow into Drusilla's breast, killing the vampire that our world's Champions and Slayers could never defeat. As the anger in Drusilla's eyes turned to dust, Buffy stepped back and nearly tripped over the Glove of Mynhegon, now laying harmlessly on the ground.
She stared down at it. Let the arrow fall from her hand. Allowed herself one tear, one slight tremor of her lip for the boy she had loved, the boy who died years ago and didn't realize it until tonight.
Buffy Summers picked up the mystical gauntlet and turned to the five White Hats.
"Start the fire," she told them, her voice cracking only slightly. "This thing needs to be gone, and I need a fucking drink."
---------
"Sunnydale," said the vampire, glancing outside the limosine window at the Welcome to Sunnydale sign, lying carelessly on the grass. A crazy driver crashed into it about two years ago, said the residents, but they no one had had the courage to put it back up yet. And City Hall, well... They always seemed to have something more important on their minds than a simple signpost.
"Sunnydale," growled the beast beside him.
"Town's got quaint," the vampire continued, absently rubbing his palm against his dark skin. "I mean, admittedly, it's not a haven for the brothers, you know, strictly the Caucasian Persuasion here in the Dale. But, you know, you just gotta stand up and salute their death rate. I ran a statistical analysis, and hello darkness. It makes... D.C. look... like Mayberry, and ain't nobody outside these borders is sayin boo about it. We could fit right in here. Have us some fun."
"Of course it's darkness," said the beast, his scarred eye squinting. "This was The Master's land. He made it fertile for the rest of us. But we're here for one thing."
"Yeah, I know," said the vampire. "But still, big picture..."
"Faith Lahane," the beast growled. "I'm going to rip her spine from her body, and I'm going to eat her heart and suck the marrow from her bones."
"And get this," said the vampire. "The Slayer's here. The actual, honest-to-God Slayer. It's a regular marrow-sucking pupu platter."
"I'm hungry," said the beast, glancing out the window. "And food is here."
The vampire perked up and looked outside, hearing the siren for the first time, as well as the flashing red and blue lights spilling across the road.
"Go ahead and pull over, " he called to the driver, a small smile cracked his lips as the limosine slowed to a crawl, eventually at the side of the road. He rolled the window down and prepared for dinner as the door of the police car slammed shut, the gravel crackling beneath the officer's approaching bootheels.
"Evening, gentlemen," said the officer as he stopped beside the open window.
"Evening, officer," said the vampire. Just out of reach, he thought. Just another inch, whitebread. "What can we do for you this fine evening?"
The officer leaned over to get a better look into the limo. Fantastic, thought the vampire. Get a look at my main man, and I'll grab you when you're stunned into silence.
But the officer didn't cooperate.
"Target confirmed," said the officer. "Move in."
"Target what?"
There was a shatter of glass from the opposite window, and Mr. Trick's world was white. He heard hollering from the bushes beside the road, rustling as three, four, maybe a dozen from the sound of it stormed the scene, tearing open both doors. Trick was pulled out to the pavement by the tall, lanky officer, scraping his palms on the gravel as he fell, joined seconds later by their vampiric driver.
His boss, however, wasn't quite so ill-prepared. As his door flew open, he swung one cloven hand out, striking a black-suited man in the face. The man, who looked military, flew into the bushes, but the officer behind him quickly countered, blasting the beast with some sort of sci-fi electrogun.
"Target incapacitated," said the man who had pulled them over, speaking into his sleeve. "Tagging and bagging."
"Are they both targets?" asked one of his men.
"Negative," he replied. "Kakistos is the target. Orders are to eliminate any lamprey."
"Lamprey?" Trick yelled. "Who are you calling a fuckin fish? I ain't no..."
"Shut it, vampire," said one of the officers, throwing his arm down. Trick watched his driver disappear in a cloud of dust.
And seconds later he barely felt the stake pierce his own back before his world ended.
---------
"Gates, Miller, be careful with him," said the leader as two masked agents pulled the unconscious goat-vampire into the back. "Both the Professor and the XO want this guy as unmarked as possible."
"Yeah, well, just make sure they know this big nasty scar was there before we were," said Gates. "I don't wanna get my pay docked."
"I'll make sure it's in the debriefing," said the head officer. "Keep him secure, I'll meet you back at HQ after I get the limo to the Chop Shop."
"Yes, sir," said Miller, and began strapping down Kakistos as the armored van pulled away, Gates closing the doors behind him as it drove.
"I'll meet you men back there, as well," said the head to the other five soldiers. "Good work, gentlemen. I owe you all a beer."
"Thank you, sir," said the officers who, as per their training, slipped back into the shadows to resume their rounds, leaving the commanding officer alone with the limosine.
"Nice piece of work," he mumbled appreciatively as he slid his hand across the hood and climbed in. Pulling his mask off and tossing it onto the passenger seat, he let out a sigh of relief and started the ignition.
Another capture, thought Agent Riley Finn as he drove off into the night, another day at the office.
Sister Sunshine (3/4) / Previous Chapters / World Without Shrimp