{closed} // felt it in my fists, in my feet, in the hollows of my eyelids
Characters: Buffy Summers, NPCs (Crimson Terror sent by Darla)
Location: alleyway
Planet: Coruscant
When: Sunday evening
What: Buffy gets attacked by Crimson Terror operatives who have been misinformed to think that she is the leader of the Caterpillar Alliance. When Buffy discovers who they are, it's a hop, skip and a jump to figuring out who sent them. And she finally hits the breaking point in deciding something has to be done about Angel.
Rating: PG-13 for idk violence I guess
It happened when she was returning home from work.
Her first clue was the hairs on the back of her neck raising. Her second was the figure stepping out into the darkness of the alley's mouth to cut off her path. This should be good. Blaster fire came from what seemed to be all sides and Buffy broke into a run and rolled to dodge it, coming up just in time to kick the guy blocking her path square in the chest and send him flying back. Of course, her default assumption was monsters, vampires, maybe, but --
Humans. She got to her feet. Crap. She kept forgetting. And forgetting was gonna end with dead people and a lot of broken bones. She whirled around to see the four thugs that remained advancing towards her, closing in around her. Three carried blasters, but one had a metal pipe. For a minute, she just glanced around, concerned. If they weren't so human, she'd be more concerned. But as it was, she was just analyzing. Trying to figure out what their deal was. She found her plan.
She rolled again as the blasters fired, dodging and sweeping out a leg to knock one of them down. The pipe-bearing one, naturally, something she promptly relieved him of. As she got to her feet she swung the pipe upwards to knock two of the blasters away, then spun around to knock one of them in the side of the head with it and kick the other.
The third blaster-toting thug tried to shoot her and she bent backwards to duck it, kicking up to knock the blaster out of his hands and then propelling herself forward to slam him into the wall, pipe crushed against his neck.
"You've got about two seconds to tell me who you are and why you're jumping me before you stop breathing." Behind her, she could hear the scraping of one of the thugs pulling himself across the ground and reaching for his blaster. She rolled her eyes.
"Try it and I'll make sure you can't touch a blaster." She turned her attention back to the guy she had pinned to the wall and raised her eyebrows expectantly, explaining. "I don't like guns. Now. Where were we? Oh, right. You were about to spill your guts." A beat, then a quirk of her eyebrow that indicated amusement. "One way or another."
"You may stop us. Cut us down. But, more will come," He grunted out, shifting and trying to alleviate the pressure on his windpipe. But, Buffy wouldn't allow it. She shoved him harder into the wall.
"Well, that's nice and vague. More of who? Who are you?" He squirmed under her grip.
"You revanites think you can make this universe your own. You have no idea --" Buffy's grip loosened now and she dropped one arm away, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, come on. This again? What, do they breed religious extremists on farms here?"
"There are no farms on --"
"Not the point! I'm not interested in your universe! In fact? Pretty sure none of us are. And if you had more than half a brain in your head and tried using it, you'd figure that out."
"Lies. You are nothing but the foul servants of Revan, brought to upset the order here. We know you are gathering, but it won't help you. Your alliance cannot protect you. Your efforts will have been in vain." Alliance. Buffy's attention keyed in on that. She socked him with a right hook, jaw clenching.
"Alliance? My efforts? What are you talking about? My only efforts in the past month have involved tanning. And, gee, look how well that worked out." She scowled a little, grumbling, but allowed him to continue.
"The Caterpillar Alliance. The one that you lead. We will find you. Destroy you. You and all the other revanites that you have designs on protecting."
"Revan -- You're with the Terror?" That earned her a solemn nod. Angel. She backed away, pipe in hand. Her head swam. No. They came to kill her for being some -- some Alliance leader when she barely knew anything about it. Angel had to have told them. He must have gotten the wrong idea from the raid on the warehouses. He must have assumed --
He did this.
He'd tried to have her killed.
"Kill us if you will. But, we are not all that remains. More will follow." The Crimson Terror operative cut off her thoughts and she fixed him with a snide look.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You're still talking?" She backed up and stepped her boot onto the writs of the other thug as he reached for his blaster. Crouching down, she picked it up and leveled it at the man she'd had pinned to the wall. He shut his eyes, holding out his arms. Accepting death. A sour taste filled her mouth and she glanced around at them, slowly backing off. "Go. All of you, get out of here. And if I see you again? I'll kill you."
She wouldn't. He could try all she wanted but she wouldn't lower herself to that. She wouldn't be Faith. Wouldn't be Angel. Wouldn't kill humans. And her blood boiled as she realized that was exactly what he'd set this up for. To prove his point. To act like it could be excused. To back her into the corner of thinking that she was better than the law. Slowly, the thugs backed off, slipping out of the alley, leaving their weapons behind. Buffy dropped the pipe she was holding, hand balling into a fist.
This had to end.
The games, the torment, the pain in her gut when she thought of him. It had gotten bigger than she could handle. It had gone beyond her. If they were telling the truth, if the Alliance was in danger … she needed to warn them. Which meant she had to stop burying this and confront it for what it was.
Angel was gone. And this time, she didn't have the luxury of drumming up some orb and setting Will up with a spell. Whatever Wolfram & Hart had done to him, whatever had happened back in L.A., he was gone. And it was by his own choice.
Location: alleyway
Planet: Coruscant
When: Sunday evening
What: Buffy gets attacked by Crimson Terror operatives who have been misinformed to think that she is the leader of the Caterpillar Alliance. When Buffy discovers who they are, it's a hop, skip and a jump to figuring out who sent them. And she finally hits the breaking point in deciding something has to be done about Angel.
Rating: PG-13 for idk violence I guess
It happened when she was returning home from work.
Her first clue was the hairs on the back of her neck raising. Her second was the figure stepping out into the darkness of the alley's mouth to cut off her path. This should be good. Blaster fire came from what seemed to be all sides and Buffy broke into a run and rolled to dodge it, coming up just in time to kick the guy blocking her path square in the chest and send him flying back. Of course, her default assumption was monsters, vampires, maybe, but --
Humans. She got to her feet. Crap. She kept forgetting. And forgetting was gonna end with dead people and a lot of broken bones. She whirled around to see the four thugs that remained advancing towards her, closing in around her. Three carried blasters, but one had a metal pipe. For a minute, she just glanced around, concerned. If they weren't so human, she'd be more concerned. But as it was, she was just analyzing. Trying to figure out what their deal was. She found her plan.
She rolled again as the blasters fired, dodging and sweeping out a leg to knock one of them down. The pipe-bearing one, naturally, something she promptly relieved him of. As she got to her feet she swung the pipe upwards to knock two of the blasters away, then spun around to knock one of them in the side of the head with it and kick the other.
The third blaster-toting thug tried to shoot her and she bent backwards to duck it, kicking up to knock the blaster out of his hands and then propelling herself forward to slam him into the wall, pipe crushed against his neck.
"You've got about two seconds to tell me who you are and why you're jumping me before you stop breathing." Behind her, she could hear the scraping of one of the thugs pulling himself across the ground and reaching for his blaster. She rolled her eyes.
"Try it and I'll make sure you can't touch a blaster." She turned her attention back to the guy she had pinned to the wall and raised her eyebrows expectantly, explaining. "I don't like guns. Now. Where were we? Oh, right. You were about to spill your guts." A beat, then a quirk of her eyebrow that indicated amusement. "One way or another."
"You may stop us. Cut us down. But, more will come," He grunted out, shifting and trying to alleviate the pressure on his windpipe. But, Buffy wouldn't allow it. She shoved him harder into the wall.
"Well, that's nice and vague. More of who? Who are you?" He squirmed under her grip.
"You revanites think you can make this universe your own. You have no idea --" Buffy's grip loosened now and she dropped one arm away, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, come on. This again? What, do they breed religious extremists on farms here?"
"There are no farms on --"
"Not the point! I'm not interested in your universe! In fact? Pretty sure none of us are. And if you had more than half a brain in your head and tried using it, you'd figure that out."
"Lies. You are nothing but the foul servants of Revan, brought to upset the order here. We know you are gathering, but it won't help you. Your alliance cannot protect you. Your efforts will have been in vain." Alliance. Buffy's attention keyed in on that. She socked him with a right hook, jaw clenching.
"Alliance? My efforts? What are you talking about? My only efforts in the past month have involved tanning. And, gee, look how well that worked out." She scowled a little, grumbling, but allowed him to continue.
"The Caterpillar Alliance. The one that you lead. We will find you. Destroy you. You and all the other revanites that you have designs on protecting."
"Revan -- You're with the Terror?" That earned her a solemn nod. Angel. She backed away, pipe in hand. Her head swam. No. They came to kill her for being some -- some Alliance leader when she barely knew anything about it. Angel had to have told them. He must have gotten the wrong idea from the raid on the warehouses. He must have assumed --
He did this.
He'd tried to have her killed.
"Kill us if you will. But, we are not all that remains. More will follow." The Crimson Terror operative cut off her thoughts and she fixed him with a snide look.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You're still talking?" She backed up and stepped her boot onto the writs of the other thug as he reached for his blaster. Crouching down, she picked it up and leveled it at the man she'd had pinned to the wall. He shut his eyes, holding out his arms. Accepting death. A sour taste filled her mouth and she glanced around at them, slowly backing off. "Go. All of you, get out of here. And if I see you again? I'll kill you."
She wouldn't. He could try all she wanted but she wouldn't lower herself to that. She wouldn't be Faith. Wouldn't be Angel. Wouldn't kill humans. And her blood boiled as she realized that was exactly what he'd set this up for. To prove his point. To act like it could be excused. To back her into the corner of thinking that she was better than the law. Slowly, the thugs backed off, slipping out of the alley, leaving their weapons behind. Buffy dropped the pipe she was holding, hand balling into a fist.
This had to end.
The games, the torment, the pain in her gut when she thought of him. It had gotten bigger than she could handle. It had gone beyond her. If they were telling the truth, if the Alliance was in danger … she needed to warn them. Which meant she had to stop burying this and confront it for what it was.
Angel was gone. And this time, she didn't have the luxury of drumming up some orb and setting Will up with a spell. Whatever Wolfram & Hart had done to him, whatever had happened back in L.A., he was gone. And it was by his own choice.