(YSMitB…)…I Get Someone Else to Watch It (FR-15)
(YSMitB…)…I Get Someone Else to Watch It (FR-15)
Alt Title: Day 5 - Betrayal Stopped
Author: mmooch
Summary: **The ‘Betrayal’ Part of the 2013 LiveJournal’s Twisted Shorts FaD** series. The Watchers Council didn’t expect that Buffy wasn’t exactly alone in the world.
Crossover: Batman (one of the movie’verses).
Characters: Buffy, Gordon and Batman.
Rating: FR-15.
Word count: 1546.
Challenge: for the livejournal 2013 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.
Timeline: somewhat AU ‘Helpless’ for BtVS; vague for movie’verse Batman.
Warning: anti-Giles (I’m pretending he didn’t have a change of heart).
A/N: Let me know if you have any ideas for fandoms that could help Buffy when she’s betrayed.
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Batman characters belong to Warner Bros and DC Comics. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
1630 Revello Drive
As soon as she got home from the school library, Buffy dug through her slaying trunk, looking for a scrap of paper she got from somebody she saved in Las Vegas a couple years back. He promised to help her if she ever needed, and the sincerity in his eyes made her keep the phone number instead of throwing it out like she normally would do. It came in handy a once or twice already…and she was hoping it would again.
“Hey, it’s Buffy…from Vegas a couple years ago?” she half-introduced herself when she heard his familiar voice answer the phone. To her shock, he instantly remembered her. “Umm, I have a problem that I think I need help with.” Pausing while he replied with a question, she then added, “No, the murder charge last spring was cleared up by the time I got home…just like you said it would be.”
Buffy took a deep breath to calm herself and reconsider the accusation she was about to make. Once she said it out loud, it would be real and whether she was right or not, the accusation would be out there. “Something strange is going on with my powers, and I think Giles knows what it is and isn’t telling me.” She listened for a little bit, then said, “I hope not. I can’t imagine why he’d be doing anything to make me weak and non-Slayerish. But normally when I come to him with a concern, he at least seems interested in getting all the details about it. This time, he basically blew me off.”
She waited while he thought over the problem, then wrinkled her nose at the order he gave her. “You know needles and me are non-mixy things, right?” He insisted she obey him. “Fine. I’ll get some blood drawn and have it overnighted to you. Thanks for helping me.”
Gotham
The next day…
On the rooftop of the police station, Commissioner Gordon waited impatiently for Batman to arrive. When the masked crusader showed up, Gordon held out a small, Styrofoam container for him. “I need a favor. A close friend has been feeling off lately, and I’m afraid that there’s something wrong with her. I was hoping that you could do a check of her blood work quicker than any other lab could.”
“There’s some kind of time concern, then?” Batman growled in his vigilante voice, surprised that Gordon would use the signal for a personal issue. This woman must be very important to him.
Gordon didn’t want to tell him too much - especially about the Slayer issue - but knew that he had to give Batman something if he expected any help. “Let’s just say that the longer she doesn’t feel like herself, the greater the chances are that she and a lot of other people will die.”
Given that the Commissioner wasn’t prone to exaggerations, Batman took the concern seriously. Hopefully the blood would provide some answers.
18 hours later…
Batman didn’t stop for small talk when he arrived on the roof with his results. “It’s a combination of drugs that work as a broad-spectrum inhibitor. It most likely interferes with her immune system, physical strength and stamina, as well as stimulant that causes insomnia. Basically, it’s torture in drug form. What can you tell me about the woman and why somebody might be doing this to her?”
“Is there a way to counter it?” Gordon asked after debating with himself about how much he should tell his ally.
Holding out a box, Batman explained, “It’d be better to stop the drugs altogether, but I think these should minimize the effects of the other drugs. What about the woman?” he persisted.
“What do you know about vampires?” Gordon inquired, seemingly changing the subject.
“The movies have it mostly right when it comes to ways to kill them, but overestimate their powers,” he calmly replied. “They tend to stay away from Gotham because of the human criminal element.”
“Small mercies,” Gordon murmured. “My friend has powers that make it easier to fight vampires. Problem is that for the last couple days, she’s feeling weak but not really sickly. She rarely gets sick because of her powers. If she can’t fight, then…” he trailed off.
“…People die or get turned,” Batman finished for him. He thought for a moment, then came to a somewhat impulsive decision. “How far away is she?”
“In California,” Gordon answered. “Why?”
“Because we need to get this to her immediately. You available for the next twelve hours or so?” Batman asked. “I figured that she would only trust the pills if they came from you.”
“I can’t get away for that long on such short notice…even though I really want to,” Gordon said reluctantly. “I can call and tell her to trust you, though. How long should it take for your pills to neutralize what’s in her system?”
“Depends on her metabolism. If she needs it to work really fast, I’d have to make a hypodermic of it to inject directly into her bloodstream. Otherwise, it’d take a couple hours,” Batman answered. Gordon’s response would tell him just how dire the situation was.
“She hates needles, but she’ll want the shot,” Gordon said without any hesitation. He paused for a minute, then added, “She’s basically the opposite of you. You can know her name, but not her alter-ego. Oh, and Batman? Thank you for this.” He handed Batman a piece of paper with Buffy’s name and address on it.
“Glad I could help,” Batman said before swooping off in his normal dramatic fashion. He had to admit, he was curious about this Summers woman. He had heard rumors of a super-powered female who fought vampires. Maybe Summers was that woman.
Sunnydale
Batman caught Buffy just as she was getting home from Angel’s. She had barely escaped the hummer and his friend when Cordy came along and gave her a ride home. Cordy had just driven off when Batman made his presence known to her.
She took in his costume with a quirk of her eyebrow, proving once again the resilience of youth. The fact that she wanted to tease the man in front of her instead of begging Angel to come over and comfort her would have shocked her if she had thought of it. “Let me guess, you’re the friend from Gotham?”
“I am, but maybe we should continue this indoors?” Batman suggested. He wasn’t surprised when she simply left the door open behind her rather than inviting him in. She should know the rules better than anyone if she fought vampires.
Before either one of them could say anything else, Buffy grabbed a polaroid that was taped to the wall. Batman could tell it was bad based on her expression.
“Give me the shot!” she demanded.
Really bad, apparently.
He trusted his instincts and handed it over without any discussion. If it were him, he wouldn’t accept drugs from an unknown person, but if she was willing to risk it, she must feel it was necessary.
Then it became clear that she had no clue how to give herself a shot, so Batman took the needle back and did it for her, not worrying about swabbing the area. He knew his needle was sterile and she didn’t seem like she wanted to wait for any longer than she had to.
Since he was next to her, he saw what the picture was of and had already read the message written on the back. Given the family resemblance, he guessed the woman in the photo was her mother.
“Need help?” he offered as he followed her upstairs where she packed her weapons.
“Can you fight?” she asked.
“I can hold my own,” Batman replied humbly, “and I’ve fought vampires before,” he added, figuring that she would be more concerned about his experience in that area.
She shrugged, then lifted her bag to head back down. He took that as acceptance and went with her.
The next day…
Gordon picked up the phone, anxiously awaiting news from either his friend or his ally.
“It was Giles,” Buffy’s voice told him in a wooden tone. “Some kind of test by the Council.” Her voice cracked as she went on, “If it hadn’t been for your friend, my mom would have been killed by the vampire they were using to see how good of a Slayer I am. I don’t know what to do now,” she cried. “Giles said it’s a ‘time-honored tradition’ for any Slayer who makes it to her 18th birthday.”
“Then he’s a bastard,” Gordon snarled. “I wish I had good advice for you, Buffy, but I’m out of my depth on the supernatural. Just know that I’m here for you,” he vowed.
She gave a bitter laugh and said, “That’s what your friend told me before he went home. He fought pretty good for a civilian. Wonder how much he knows about my world.”
“He’s good at learning what he doesn’t already know,” Gordon told her, hoping that Batman had been sincere in his offer of help to her.
“Good to know. Right now, though, I’m going to sleep for a couple days. Thanks for being somebody I can trust.”
“Always,” Gordon promised.
A/N: Yes, I know that Giles through in the end, but this episode screamed to be in the Betrayal collection. I let Cordy save her instead of Giles. And I accept that Batman was a bit OOC.
Alt Title: Day 5 - Betrayal Stopped
Author: mmooch
Summary: **The ‘Betrayal’ Part of the 2013 LiveJournal’s Twisted Shorts FaD** series. The Watchers Council didn’t expect that Buffy wasn’t exactly alone in the world.
Crossover: Batman (one of the movie’verses).
Characters: Buffy, Gordon and Batman.
Rating: FR-15.
Word count: 1546.
Challenge: for the livejournal 2013 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.
Timeline: somewhat AU ‘Helpless’ for BtVS; vague for movie’verse Batman.
Warning: anti-Giles (I’m pretending he didn’t have a change of heart).
A/N: Let me know if you have any ideas for fandoms that could help Buffy when she’s betrayed.
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Batman characters belong to Warner Bros and DC Comics. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
1630 Revello Drive
As soon as she got home from the school library, Buffy dug through her slaying trunk, looking for a scrap of paper she got from somebody she saved in Las Vegas a couple years back. He promised to help her if she ever needed, and the sincerity in his eyes made her keep the phone number instead of throwing it out like she normally would do. It came in handy a once or twice already…and she was hoping it would again.
“Hey, it’s Buffy…from Vegas a couple years ago?” she half-introduced herself when she heard his familiar voice answer the phone. To her shock, he instantly remembered her. “Umm, I have a problem that I think I need help with.” Pausing while he replied with a question, she then added, “No, the murder charge last spring was cleared up by the time I got home…just like you said it would be.”
Buffy took a deep breath to calm herself and reconsider the accusation she was about to make. Once she said it out loud, it would be real and whether she was right or not, the accusation would be out there. “Something strange is going on with my powers, and I think Giles knows what it is and isn’t telling me.” She listened for a little bit, then said, “I hope not. I can’t imagine why he’d be doing anything to make me weak and non-Slayerish. But normally when I come to him with a concern, he at least seems interested in getting all the details about it. This time, he basically blew me off.”
She waited while he thought over the problem, then wrinkled her nose at the order he gave her. “You know needles and me are non-mixy things, right?” He insisted she obey him. “Fine. I’ll get some blood drawn and have it overnighted to you. Thanks for helping me.”
Gotham
The next day…
On the rooftop of the police station, Commissioner Gordon waited impatiently for Batman to arrive. When the masked crusader showed up, Gordon held out a small, Styrofoam container for him. “I need a favor. A close friend has been feeling off lately, and I’m afraid that there’s something wrong with her. I was hoping that you could do a check of her blood work quicker than any other lab could.”
“There’s some kind of time concern, then?” Batman growled in his vigilante voice, surprised that Gordon would use the signal for a personal issue. This woman must be very important to him.
Gordon didn’t want to tell him too much - especially about the Slayer issue - but knew that he had to give Batman something if he expected any help. “Let’s just say that the longer she doesn’t feel like herself, the greater the chances are that she and a lot of other people will die.”
Given that the Commissioner wasn’t prone to exaggerations, Batman took the concern seriously. Hopefully the blood would provide some answers.
18 hours later…
Batman didn’t stop for small talk when he arrived on the roof with his results. “It’s a combination of drugs that work as a broad-spectrum inhibitor. It most likely interferes with her immune system, physical strength and stamina, as well as stimulant that causes insomnia. Basically, it’s torture in drug form. What can you tell me about the woman and why somebody might be doing this to her?”
“Is there a way to counter it?” Gordon asked after debating with himself about how much he should tell his ally.
Holding out a box, Batman explained, “It’d be better to stop the drugs altogether, but I think these should minimize the effects of the other drugs. What about the woman?” he persisted.
“What do you know about vampires?” Gordon inquired, seemingly changing the subject.
“The movies have it mostly right when it comes to ways to kill them, but overestimate their powers,” he calmly replied. “They tend to stay away from Gotham because of the human criminal element.”
“Small mercies,” Gordon murmured. “My friend has powers that make it easier to fight vampires. Problem is that for the last couple days, she’s feeling weak but not really sickly. She rarely gets sick because of her powers. If she can’t fight, then…” he trailed off.
“…People die or get turned,” Batman finished for him. He thought for a moment, then came to a somewhat impulsive decision. “How far away is she?”
“In California,” Gordon answered. “Why?”
“Because we need to get this to her immediately. You available for the next twelve hours or so?” Batman asked. “I figured that she would only trust the pills if they came from you.”
“I can’t get away for that long on such short notice…even though I really want to,” Gordon said reluctantly. “I can call and tell her to trust you, though. How long should it take for your pills to neutralize what’s in her system?”
“Depends on her metabolism. If she needs it to work really fast, I’d have to make a hypodermic of it to inject directly into her bloodstream. Otherwise, it’d take a couple hours,” Batman answered. Gordon’s response would tell him just how dire the situation was.
“She hates needles, but she’ll want the shot,” Gordon said without any hesitation. He paused for a minute, then added, “She’s basically the opposite of you. You can know her name, but not her alter-ego. Oh, and Batman? Thank you for this.” He handed Batman a piece of paper with Buffy’s name and address on it.
“Glad I could help,” Batman said before swooping off in his normal dramatic fashion. He had to admit, he was curious about this Summers woman. He had heard rumors of a super-powered female who fought vampires. Maybe Summers was that woman.
Sunnydale
Batman caught Buffy just as she was getting home from Angel’s. She had barely escaped the hummer and his friend when Cordy came along and gave her a ride home. Cordy had just driven off when Batman made his presence known to her.
She took in his costume with a quirk of her eyebrow, proving once again the resilience of youth. The fact that she wanted to tease the man in front of her instead of begging Angel to come over and comfort her would have shocked her if she had thought of it. “Let me guess, you’re the friend from Gotham?”
“I am, but maybe we should continue this indoors?” Batman suggested. He wasn’t surprised when she simply left the door open behind her rather than inviting him in. She should know the rules better than anyone if she fought vampires.
Before either one of them could say anything else, Buffy grabbed a polaroid that was taped to the wall. Batman could tell it was bad based on her expression.
“Give me the shot!” she demanded.
Really bad, apparently.
He trusted his instincts and handed it over without any discussion. If it were him, he wouldn’t accept drugs from an unknown person, but if she was willing to risk it, she must feel it was necessary.
Then it became clear that she had no clue how to give herself a shot, so Batman took the needle back and did it for her, not worrying about swabbing the area. He knew his needle was sterile and she didn’t seem like she wanted to wait for any longer than she had to.
Since he was next to her, he saw what the picture was of and had already read the message written on the back. Given the family resemblance, he guessed the woman in the photo was her mother.
“Need help?” he offered as he followed her upstairs where she packed her weapons.
“Can you fight?” she asked.
“I can hold my own,” Batman replied humbly, “and I’ve fought vampires before,” he added, figuring that she would be more concerned about his experience in that area.
She shrugged, then lifted her bag to head back down. He took that as acceptance and went with her.
The next day…
Gordon picked up the phone, anxiously awaiting news from either his friend or his ally.
“It was Giles,” Buffy’s voice told him in a wooden tone. “Some kind of test by the Council.” Her voice cracked as she went on, “If it hadn’t been for your friend, my mom would have been killed by the vampire they were using to see how good of a Slayer I am. I don’t know what to do now,” she cried. “Giles said it’s a ‘time-honored tradition’ for any Slayer who makes it to her 18th birthday.”
“Then he’s a bastard,” Gordon snarled. “I wish I had good advice for you, Buffy, but I’m out of my depth on the supernatural. Just know that I’m here for you,” he vowed.
She gave a bitter laugh and said, “That’s what your friend told me before he went home. He fought pretty good for a civilian. Wonder how much he knows about my world.”
“He’s good at learning what he doesn’t already know,” Gordon told her, hoping that Batman had been sincere in his offer of help to her.
“Good to know. Right now, though, I’m going to sleep for a couple days. Thanks for being somebody I can trust.”
“Always,” Gordon promised.
A/N: Yes, I know that Giles through in the end, but this episode screamed to be in the Betrayal collection. I let Cordy save her instead of Giles. And I accept that Batman was a bit OOC.