Who Wants to Live Forever? (Buffy/Highlander/Last Vampire)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Sita arrived home to find it completely transformed. There was a display case hanging on the wall with an assortment of bladed weapons in it. In the living room sat a Boesendorfer
Grand Piano, and the shelves were now stocked with books, photographs, and framed portraits of various people.
And there was a new, distinctly feline aroma wafting through the air. Lying on the piano was a medium sized black cat. It raised it's head at her entry, looked at her disinterestedly, and lay it's head down again.
"Someone's been busy." Sita remarked.
*****
"All the place needed was an Immortal's touch." Tut smiled. He patted his belly in satisfaction. "Tomorrow, it's my turn to cook."
"It's a good thing we're Immortal then." Sita joked. She looked down at the cat curled contentedly in her lap. It had not surprised her that Tut had a cat, he was Egyptian after all, and still believed in the Egyptian gods.
"Where was this cat at WVU?"
"School didn't allow pets."
"Ah. What's the cat's name?" she asked.
"Oh," Tut exclaimed, startling the cat, "I forgot to introduce you. Sita, meet Isis. Isis, meet Sita."
*I take it this is your new mate?* Isis meowed.
"That's right."
Sita started. "What was that? You understand the cat?"
Tut nodded. "The Quickening is basically, well it's sort of like the force."
"What?" Sita said, smiling. "As in, Jedi?"
"Yeah, see, it's everywhere, and Immortals would be the Jedi."
"Good analogy. So how does that explain your Dr. Doolittle trick?"
"I can use the quickening to connect with other living things. It's a trick that my teacher taught me. From what I understand he's fallen out of the habit, but I've refined it over the years. I taught another Immortal how to do it, his name was Ramirez, and he taught his
protégé. It's almost a lost skill. Very few Immortals know how to do it, and fewer still use it."
"I'd imagine it can come in handy."
"Extremely. I once had a run in with an Immortal who used it to control a pack of dogs. They'd run down an Immortal and make him an easy kill. Fortunately for me, I could do it too."
Sita gently removed the cat from her lap. "Sorry Isis." She stood and stretched langoursly. "I'm going to go for a walk."
"Want some company?"
"No, thank you. I need to think about some stuff." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Wait up for me."
Tut smiled. "Anytime."
*****
Buffy strode confidently through the cemetery. She hoped Angel would show up. She was getting tired of dragging the ordeal out, and had decided she was finally ready to kill him. Suddenly, up ahead, she heard the sounds of battle.
Springing to action, she leaped over a tombstone and raced around a tomb to see...
A blur of motion. That's all she could make out. Whatever it was was moving too fast for her too see. But it was making short work of a large group of Vampires. Almost as soon as she'd arrived on the scene, it was over. The Vampires were dead, and the force that had dispensed with them vanished.
"What the hell was that?!" Buffy exclaimed to herself.
*****
The next day, Buffy entered the Library with a purpose. She intended to find out what it was she had seen last night. And naturally, Giles was the man to ask. He wasn't in sight immediately, then she saw him, in his office talking to someone.
She waited patiently, then impatiently. She peeped into the office to see what was up, and saw that Giles looked very distressed.
"Ah, so the rumors were true." she heard behind her. She turned and saw the new boy behind her. "This school does have a library." He glanced around. "Why is the light so dim in here?" he asked. "What are you people, Vampires?"
"Vampires?!" Buffy said defensively. "What Vampires there are no Vampires here! In fact there's no such thing as Vampires!"
The boy just stood there for a moment. "You don't drink de-café do you." he said finally. He approached her and extended his hand. "We never actually met." he said. "My name's Tom Kammen."
"Buffy Summers." They shook hands. "Did you want something?"
"Oh, not really I was just familiarizing myself with the school. Actually, maybe you can help me. I want to show my girl friend a good time tonight, maybe you can suggest someplace?"
"Your girlfriend is the blond?" Buffy guessed.
"Yeah, Alisa."
"Cool. I approve, she's very pretty."
"Uh, thanks." Tut wasn't sure where they could go with this conversation. He'd gotten what he'd come for. The pre-Immortal wasn't Buffy. That narrowed it down to two people.
"So, anyway," Buffy said, breaking the awkward silence, "The Bronze is the only nightclub in town. You might try there."
"Cool." Tut thanked her. "See ya 'round."
"Yeah." Buffy sighed. "That could have gone better, could have gone worse too."
*****
Sita sat in her Trigonometry class, not particularly paying attention. She already knew more about the subject than the teacher. Bored, she began sorting through the different scents in the room. Chalk, someone had eaten bacon for breakfast, she identified every brand of deodorant that was being used, there was apparently a new fragrance on the market, that one forgot to shower, and...
Sita turned her head slightly, her eyes picking out the interesting smell on the left side of the room. She remembered him from roll call. Daniel Osbourne. She sniffed again, confirming her suspicions. A werewolf. This town was just full of interesting things.
*****
"So who was that guy?" Buffy wanted to know immediately.
"What? Oh, just another Watcher." Giles assured her. "Nothing important." But his mind was racing. One of the worlds oldest Immortals had taken up residence in Sunnydale. That was certainly going to make things interesting.
"You guys are not going to believe this." Xander declared, entering the Library with Cordelia close behind. He was holding the paper above his head like an Evangelist would hold a bible. "Check this out." He slapped the paper down on the table in front of Buffy.
Curious, she read. Five people, four girls and one boy had been found dead in various parts of the city. "Xander," Buffy said, "As tragic as this is, it's not news. In case you haven't noticed, death is not exactly an unusual occurrence around here."
"Read on my friend." the boy told her. "These people weren't drained of blood, or mauled by any animal. The boy was dismembered, mutilated and some parts were missing, and the other victims were beaten to death and raped, run through, strangled, and one girl had her
throat cut, and uh, certain organs were removed. Specific to her gender." That was as delicately as he could think to put it. Cordelia shuddered.
"Those are all the M.O.'s of famous serial killers."
"Yes," Giles said, looking distressed, "Geoffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler, Robert Smith, and Jack the Ripper."
"Okay, it really frightens me that you guys know that." Buffy said. "So, besides Vampires and Demons, we've got a copycat killer on our hands?"
"Wait a minute," Cordelia exclaimed. “The paper placed the time of death to almost simultaneous. That would mean that either the killer's really fast, or there's more than one."
As shocking as that possibility was, it was nothing compared to the shock of hearing an intelligent deduction exit Cordelia's mouth.
"What?" she asked, as they stared at her.
*****
Tut sat pondering his situation in the Bronze. Sita had promised to join him later, saying she had some business matters to attend to. But Tut didn't think that was it, he didn't think she was happy. Something was bothering her. His thoughts were interrupted when his stomach clenched slightly, while a mild buzzing filled his head. An Immortal. And then, underneath, another sensation. The pre-Immortal.
He looked around urgently, and found who he was looking for. The pre-Immortal was being led out the back by an Immortal. And she didn't look happy about it.
*****
Willow's eyes were wide with fear as the man shoved her up against the wall. The man had come up to her while she was talking to Oz, and asked to buy her a drink. When she'd refused, he'd knocked out Oz and dragged her outside.
Of the others in the group, only Smith and Jack had any real interest in the Game. That was why Jack had taught Smith to sense a pre-Immortal.
"You're a very special girl." Smith smiled. With one hand he held her against the wall. With the other, he drew his sword. "It's just a shame," he said, relishing the fear in her eyes. "That you will never get to find out just how special. He thrust forward with the point of the blade.
Willow clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the pain she was sure would come, but it didn't. Instead, she heard the sound of steel on steel, and the man's hand fell away from her throat.
Opening her eyes, she was astonished to see the new boy, what was it Buffy had said his name was? Tom? Tom. Tom was standing between her and her attacker, brandishing a sword.
"You want a head," Tut said threateningly. "Take mine. If you can."
"Anything you say." Smith grinned, slashing with his sword.
"Willow run!"
She did, but not far. She had to see what was going to happen. Hiding behind a dumpster, she watched the duel.
The man was pathetic, Tut decided. It was no wonder he had to prey on the untrained. He had no skill with a sword at all. The fight did not last long.
"There can be only one." Tut said, as he delivered the killing blow.
It was all Willow could do to not scream, when Tom cut off the man's head. But she could not help it when she saw what happened next. It looked like Tom was being struck by lightening, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the lightening seemed to be coming primarily from the body of her attacker. What in the world was going on?!
Oz was suddenly at her side, apparently recovered from the blow to his head. Together, they watched as electricity flickered across the alley, blowing out windows. Tut let out a scream that sounded equal parts pain and pleasure, and then silence. Tut fell to his knees, panting, his long black hair falling around his shoulders.
This time, when Willow ran, it was for real. Oz was right behind her.
*****
Drusilla had just stepped out for bite, and found the pickings slim. She wandered for a while, still not having any luck, when suddenly, she heard a familiar scream. The scream brought back
delicious memories of before she'd become a Vampire, and she gravitated to the source, a chorus of tiny voices, that she decided must be the worms in the earth whispered to her that a wonderful thing had been brought to her.
And there in an alley, she found her prize. He was just as she remembered him, only not flayed. "Thomas," she whispered, half to him, half to herself, "You came back to me."
Tut pulled in a lungful of air, recovering from the Quickening. After all these years, it didn't get any easier. The crunch of gravel brought him out of his reverie. "Willow," he started, "I told you to ru-" he opened his eyes. It wasn't Willow. He leaped to his feet, his face draining of color as if he'd seen a ghost. "Drusilla?"
"Yes," she crooned, stroking his face gently. "It's me my pet." Then she hit him. Hard. She gathered his unconscious body in her arms and started back home. "I've got someone I want you to meet."
To be continued...
Chapter 2
Sita arrived home to find it completely transformed. There was a display case hanging on the wall with an assortment of bladed weapons in it. In the living room sat a Boesendorfer
Grand Piano, and the shelves were now stocked with books, photographs, and framed portraits of various people.
And there was a new, distinctly feline aroma wafting through the air. Lying on the piano was a medium sized black cat. It raised it's head at her entry, looked at her disinterestedly, and lay it's head down again.
"Someone's been busy." Sita remarked.
*****
"All the place needed was an Immortal's touch." Tut smiled. He patted his belly in satisfaction. "Tomorrow, it's my turn to cook."
"It's a good thing we're Immortal then." Sita joked. She looked down at the cat curled contentedly in her lap. It had not surprised her that Tut had a cat, he was Egyptian after all, and still believed in the Egyptian gods.
"Where was this cat at WVU?"
"School didn't allow pets."
"Ah. What's the cat's name?" she asked.
"Oh," Tut exclaimed, startling the cat, "I forgot to introduce you. Sita, meet Isis. Isis, meet Sita."
*I take it this is your new mate?* Isis meowed.
"That's right."
Sita started. "What was that? You understand the cat?"
Tut nodded. "The Quickening is basically, well it's sort of like the force."
"What?" Sita said, smiling. "As in, Jedi?"
"Yeah, see, it's everywhere, and Immortals would be the Jedi."
"Good analogy. So how does that explain your Dr. Doolittle trick?"
"I can use the quickening to connect with other living things. It's a trick that my teacher taught me. From what I understand he's fallen out of the habit, but I've refined it over the years. I taught another Immortal how to do it, his name was Ramirez, and he taught his
protégé. It's almost a lost skill. Very few Immortals know how to do it, and fewer still use it."
"I'd imagine it can come in handy."
"Extremely. I once had a run in with an Immortal who used it to control a pack of dogs. They'd run down an Immortal and make him an easy kill. Fortunately for me, I could do it too."
Sita gently removed the cat from her lap. "Sorry Isis." She stood and stretched langoursly. "I'm going to go for a walk."
"Want some company?"
"No, thank you. I need to think about some stuff." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Wait up for me."
Tut smiled. "Anytime."
*****
Buffy strode confidently through the cemetery. She hoped Angel would show up. She was getting tired of dragging the ordeal out, and had decided she was finally ready to kill him. Suddenly, up ahead, she heard the sounds of battle.
Springing to action, she leaped over a tombstone and raced around a tomb to see...
A blur of motion. That's all she could make out. Whatever it was was moving too fast for her too see. But it was making short work of a large group of Vampires. Almost as soon as she'd arrived on the scene, it was over. The Vampires were dead, and the force that had dispensed with them vanished.
"What the hell was that?!" Buffy exclaimed to herself.
*****
The next day, Buffy entered the Library with a purpose. She intended to find out what it was she had seen last night. And naturally, Giles was the man to ask. He wasn't in sight immediately, then she saw him, in his office talking to someone.
She waited patiently, then impatiently. She peeped into the office to see what was up, and saw that Giles looked very distressed.
"Ah, so the rumors were true." she heard behind her. She turned and saw the new boy behind her. "This school does have a library." He glanced around. "Why is the light so dim in here?" he asked. "What are you people, Vampires?"
"Vampires?!" Buffy said defensively. "What Vampires there are no Vampires here! In fact there's no such thing as Vampires!"
The boy just stood there for a moment. "You don't drink de-café do you." he said finally. He approached her and extended his hand. "We never actually met." he said. "My name's Tom Kammen."
"Buffy Summers." They shook hands. "Did you want something?"
"Oh, not really I was just familiarizing myself with the school. Actually, maybe you can help me. I want to show my girl friend a good time tonight, maybe you can suggest someplace?"
"Your girlfriend is the blond?" Buffy guessed.
"Yeah, Alisa."
"Cool. I approve, she's very pretty."
"Uh, thanks." Tut wasn't sure where they could go with this conversation. He'd gotten what he'd come for. The pre-Immortal wasn't Buffy. That narrowed it down to two people.
"So, anyway," Buffy said, breaking the awkward silence, "The Bronze is the only nightclub in town. You might try there."
"Cool." Tut thanked her. "See ya 'round."
"Yeah." Buffy sighed. "That could have gone better, could have gone worse too."
*****
Sita sat in her Trigonometry class, not particularly paying attention. She already knew more about the subject than the teacher. Bored, she began sorting through the different scents in the room. Chalk, someone had eaten bacon for breakfast, she identified every brand of deodorant that was being used, there was apparently a new fragrance on the market, that one forgot to shower, and...
Sita turned her head slightly, her eyes picking out the interesting smell on the left side of the room. She remembered him from roll call. Daniel Osbourne. She sniffed again, confirming her suspicions. A werewolf. This town was just full of interesting things.
*****
"So who was that guy?" Buffy wanted to know immediately.
"What? Oh, just another Watcher." Giles assured her. "Nothing important." But his mind was racing. One of the worlds oldest Immortals had taken up residence in Sunnydale. That was certainly going to make things interesting.
"You guys are not going to believe this." Xander declared, entering the Library with Cordelia close behind. He was holding the paper above his head like an Evangelist would hold a bible. "Check this out." He slapped the paper down on the table in front of Buffy.
Curious, she read. Five people, four girls and one boy had been found dead in various parts of the city. "Xander," Buffy said, "As tragic as this is, it's not news. In case you haven't noticed, death is not exactly an unusual occurrence around here."
"Read on my friend." the boy told her. "These people weren't drained of blood, or mauled by any animal. The boy was dismembered, mutilated and some parts were missing, and the other victims were beaten to death and raped, run through, strangled, and one girl had her
throat cut, and uh, certain organs were removed. Specific to her gender." That was as delicately as he could think to put it. Cordelia shuddered.
"Those are all the M.O.'s of famous serial killers."
"Yes," Giles said, looking distressed, "Geoffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler, Robert Smith, and Jack the Ripper."
"Okay, it really frightens me that you guys know that." Buffy said. "So, besides Vampires and Demons, we've got a copycat killer on our hands?"
"Wait a minute," Cordelia exclaimed. “The paper placed the time of death to almost simultaneous. That would mean that either the killer's really fast, or there's more than one."
As shocking as that possibility was, it was nothing compared to the shock of hearing an intelligent deduction exit Cordelia's mouth.
"What?" she asked, as they stared at her.
*****
Tut sat pondering his situation in the Bronze. Sita had promised to join him later, saying she had some business matters to attend to. But Tut didn't think that was it, he didn't think she was happy. Something was bothering her. His thoughts were interrupted when his stomach clenched slightly, while a mild buzzing filled his head. An Immortal. And then, underneath, another sensation. The pre-Immortal.
He looked around urgently, and found who he was looking for. The pre-Immortal was being led out the back by an Immortal. And she didn't look happy about it.
*****
Willow's eyes were wide with fear as the man shoved her up against the wall. The man had come up to her while she was talking to Oz, and asked to buy her a drink. When she'd refused, he'd knocked out Oz and dragged her outside.
Of the others in the group, only Smith and Jack had any real interest in the Game. That was why Jack had taught Smith to sense a pre-Immortal.
"You're a very special girl." Smith smiled. With one hand he held her against the wall. With the other, he drew his sword. "It's just a shame," he said, relishing the fear in her eyes. "That you will never get to find out just how special. He thrust forward with the point of the blade.
Willow clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the pain she was sure would come, but it didn't. Instead, she heard the sound of steel on steel, and the man's hand fell away from her throat.
Opening her eyes, she was astonished to see the new boy, what was it Buffy had said his name was? Tom? Tom. Tom was standing between her and her attacker, brandishing a sword.
"You want a head," Tut said threateningly. "Take mine. If you can."
"Anything you say." Smith grinned, slashing with his sword.
"Willow run!"
She did, but not far. She had to see what was going to happen. Hiding behind a dumpster, she watched the duel.
The man was pathetic, Tut decided. It was no wonder he had to prey on the untrained. He had no skill with a sword at all. The fight did not last long.
"There can be only one." Tut said, as he delivered the killing blow.
It was all Willow could do to not scream, when Tom cut off the man's head. But she could not help it when she saw what happened next. It looked like Tom was being struck by lightening, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the lightening seemed to be coming primarily from the body of her attacker. What in the world was going on?!
Oz was suddenly at her side, apparently recovered from the blow to his head. Together, they watched as electricity flickered across the alley, blowing out windows. Tut let out a scream that sounded equal parts pain and pleasure, and then silence. Tut fell to his knees, panting, his long black hair falling around his shoulders.
This time, when Willow ran, it was for real. Oz was right behind her.
*****
Drusilla had just stepped out for bite, and found the pickings slim. She wandered for a while, still not having any luck, when suddenly, she heard a familiar scream. The scream brought back
delicious memories of before she'd become a Vampire, and she gravitated to the source, a chorus of tiny voices, that she decided must be the worms in the earth whispered to her that a wonderful thing had been brought to her.
And there in an alley, she found her prize. He was just as she remembered him, only not flayed. "Thomas," she whispered, half to him, half to herself, "You came back to me."
Tut pulled in a lungful of air, recovering from the Quickening. After all these years, it didn't get any easier. The crunch of gravel brought him out of his reverie. "Willow," he started, "I told you to ru-" he opened his eyes. It wasn't Willow. He leaped to his feet, his face draining of color as if he'd seen a ghost. "Drusilla?"
"Yes," she crooned, stroking his face gently. "It's me my pet." Then she hit him. Hard. She gathered his unconscious body in her arms and started back home. "I've got someone I want you to meet."
To be continued...