The Seventh SlayerBy Kantayra
Chapter Twenty EightIsabelle groaned. There was no question in her mind; this was the most miserable she’d ever been.
“Hey,” a voice said, hazy and far too loud for her tastes. “Are you awake?”
“’Course I am,” Isabelle groaned again and blinked her eyes open, “what with you yelling in my and all...”
“Humph,” Ajaya crossed her arms in front of her, “I sit with you all night and this is the thanks I get?”
“All night?” Isabelle asked, confused. She abruptly noticed that she was in some kind of hospital room. “Where am I?” she asked, suddenly alarmed. “What happened?”
“You passed out,” Ajaya explained, “when the others were taking Alex into custody. I had to carry you all the way to the jet.”
Isabelle groaned yet again. This was a morning for groaning, she decided. “That makes how many times I fainted?” she complained. “Four? Five? So much for Slayer strength...”
“Hey,” Ajaya reassured her, “you went through a nasty magical ritual. That’ll drain anyone’s energy. Maddie says you probably won’t be back on your feet for a couple of days...and maybe two weeks before you’re really full strength.”
“Who’s Maddie?” Isabelle asked.
“Your doctor. We kind of commandeered her clinic since the medical facilities at HQ are toast. Maddie’s a Slayer, too,” Ajaya added.
“Of course, she is,” Isabelle said sarcastically. “They just keep popping out of the woodwork, don’t they?”
Ajaya chuckled slightly. “Six Slayers in one place,” she agreed. “It was pretty crazy. Maddie’s all jealous that she’s the only one that was left out.”
Isabelle’s brow furrowed as her head began to clear. “What happened to them?” she asked. “The other Slayers, I mean...”
Ajaya gave her a grim smile. “One of them surrendered...Ngozi. The other two...”
Isabelle nodded. “They were dead already...not that that makes it any more pleasant...”
Ajaya silently agreed. “Fitzpatrick was arrested,” she added more cheerfully. “Fletcher turned him over to the World Government Security Council. He’s being tried as an international criminal along with the rest of the Watchers’ high command...well, except West, of course.”
Isabelle couldn’t help but smile at that. “Bastard had it coming,” she said with remorse.
Ajaya grimaced. “The Witches are OK,” she added. “Lily reversed the spell and everything. She’s got this big coffee can full of Opprimitae now. It’s pretty cool. This morning at breakfast, five more arrived, and they just slithered up on to the table and into the can. Fletcher practically choked on his coffee. It was pretty funny.”
Isabelle smiled. “Sorry, I missed that.”
“Yeah,” Ajaya agreed. “Oh! Xeris is out of the hospital again, so that’s good.”
“Xeris was in the hospital?” Isabelle demanded.
“Oh, that’s right,” Ajaya slapped her forehead, “you were kidnapped then. Yeah, the Watchers tried to blow us all up. That guy who was flirting with you? Tyler?”
“Yeah?” Isabelle asked.
“H-He died. Gamma Team got hit hard,” Ajaya bit her lip. “A couple of the others did, too. I don’t think you knew them...”
“Jeren?” Isabelle asked.
Ajaya shook her head. “He’s still in intensive care, but it looks like he’ll pull through.”
Isabelle nodded slowly. “And Xeris?”
“Got hit with some shrapnel,” Ajaya shrugged. “Apparently you can’t really hurt Veliks unless you get them in the horns.” She gave Isabelle an amused little smile. “It’s great,” she laughed. “Xeris has this whole exaggerated story about how he leapt to push Spike out of harm’s way just at the last second, and Spike’s all ‘you bloody well did not!’, and Xeris just keep embellishing it more and more. It’s pretty hilarious. You’ll have to rag Spike about it when he shows up.”
“Spike’s here?” Isabelle asked a bit too enthusiastically.
“Woah, down girl,” Ajaya teased. “Yeah, he’s out in the lobby with Buffy, scaring all of Maddie’s patients. Frankly, I don’t quite know what they’re more afraid of: the two of them killing each other, or the two of them stripping naked and going at it right in middle of the lobby.”
“Or an interesting combination of both,” Isabelle laughed. Her expression turned serious after a moment, though. “What about Alex?” she asked softly.
Ajaya’s mouth thinned to a hard line. “Fletcher’s keeping that one within the family. He’s under house arrest...for now.”
“I was wrong,” Isabelle said apologetically. “I told you he wasn’t the one and...”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ajaya smiled softly, “and Nicky and Monica are getting over the false accusations. They’ll probably be over it by the time you get back...which means I had to put up with the dirty looks all by myself even though you were the one who was wrong.”
“Hey!” Isabelle protested, “I already apologized about that! Besides, it could have just as easily been Lily...”
“Yeah,” Ajaya said sarcastically, “she did it from her coma...”
“Lily’s in a coma?” Isabelle frowned.
“Was in a coma,” Ajaya quickly reassured her. “She got out right after you were taken. She helped save you, remember?”
Isabelle nodded slowly. “You knew about this?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Ajaya agreed. “I kinda broke into her room and found out. The Magic Drinkers had been altered to be fatal. That’s how I knew she hadn’t done it.”
“And you didn’t tell me this, why?” Isabelle demanded.
“I swore to Willow and Aida that I wouldn’t,” Ajaya said apologetically. “They wanted a chance to cure her before the truth leaked out.”
“And naturally you thought I’d blab,” Isabelle couldn’t help but tease.
“I did not!” Ajaya insisted, outraged until she realized by Isabelle’s grin that she was joking. “Cheap trick,” she grumbled under her breath. “At least I didn’t think Monica and Nicky did it...”
“Oh!” Isabelle exclaimed in disbelief. “You so did! You were the one who came up with the whole ‘Monica’s not really Monica’ theory in the first place!”
“And it was a good theory!” Ajaya insisted. “Besides, you were the one who said you caught them contacting the Watchers.”
“No, I didn’t! I just showed you what I saw; you wanted to call everyone else in.”
“Well, so did you!” Ajaya insisted.
They paused for a minute. And then started laughing.
“God, do we suck,” Ajaya shook her head. “How did we get it so wrong?”
“And what were Nicky and Monica doing out in that shed anyway?” Isabelle demanded.
Ajaya looked at her askance. “You mean She-Of-The-Dirty-Mind can’t figure it out?” she teased.
Isabelle’s eyes widened.
“Yup, that’s right,” Ajaya nodded, “guess who was having a lovely little affair right behind everyone’s backs...”
“You mean I got shafted for Cat-Woman?” Isabelle pouted. “I could so take her...”
Ajaya rolled her eyes. “Hate to break it to you, but Monica could completely kick your ass...especially if it was over Nicky.”
Isabelle pouted and toyed with the IV in her arm. “I thought it was him,” she finally said softly. “I-In my dream, the traitor got dusted, so I just thought ‘vampire’.”
Ajaya nodded slowly. “It looks like Slayer dreams aren’t so infallible as we thought. After all, Alex was supposed to be the one that saved you...”
“Alex did save me,” Isabelle said thoughtfully. “And in a way, he did defeat the traitor for me...it was just a more internal battle than my dream let on.”
“That’s the problem with prophecies,” Ajaya sighed, “you only realize what they really mean once everything’s over and you can think about it.”
“Stupid prophecies,” Isabelle pouted. “What’s the point of them, then?”
“To make you even more stressed out about your job,” Ajaya teased.
“Just another perk of being a Slayer,” Isabelle complained.
“I don’t know,” Ajaya said with a wry grin, “I’m actually starting to enjoy it...”
“So speaks the girl whose favorite hobby is homework,” Isabelle countered with one eyebrow raised.
“And I could be doing it right now, if someone hadn’t gotten put in the hospital...”
“So sorry to inconvenience you,” Isabelle said with a smile.
Ajaya smiled as well before impulsively leaning in and giving the other Slayer a hug. “I was so worried about you,” she admitted sheepishly.
“And that cut into your homework time even more?” Isabelle guessed.
“Damn straight,” Ajaya agreed.
They were gratefully interrupted by the door slamming open and Spike stalking in, all while Buffy chided him for not waiting until he was asked. Isabelle looked back and forth between the pair once and could tell that they would snap soon if they didn’t get some alone time...and fast.
“We’re in a hospital,” Dawn was insisting behind them. “Can’t you at least cool it down till we get home?”
“Hey,” Isabelle said, blatantly checking Spike out, “if I had that waiting for me back at home, I wouldn’t be able to wait, either.”
Spike flashed Buffy a cocky, confident grin, and she batted him lightly on the head...before giving him a quick kiss on the lips in apology. Ajaya and Isabelle rolled their eyes in perfect time with each other.
“Come in,” Isabelle said magnanimously, “everyone have a seat. We’re even one chair short so Buffy and Spike have an excuse to share...” Buffy had, of course, already sat down in Spike’s lap without even realizing this fact. “And save me from having to look at this ugly face,” she teased, point to Ajaya.
“Humph,” the other Slayer crossed her arms in front of her chest, mock-offended.
“No good deed goes unpunished, ‘ey Petal?” Spike joked before turning back to Isabelle. “How’s my pretty Lioness doin’?”
Isabelle managed not to blush too much. “Stuck in hospital,” she shrugged, “not exactly fun.”
“Sorry about that,” Buffy said, her head pillowed against her mate’s shoulder. Even this casual contact managed to settle them both down quite a bit. “Personally, I can’t stand hospitals...”
“You’ve got my sympathy, too,” Lily said from the foot of the bed, “as someone who has been recently bed-ridden.”
Ajaya raised one eyebrow. “Aren’t you still waiting for more Opprimitae?” she asked.
“All the ones on this continent have reported in,” Lily explained. “The other are still crossing the oceans, so I’ve got some time.”
“Which Fletcher does not,” Dawn added. “He asked for us to apologize to you for him, since he couldn’t be here and all.”
Isabelle nodded. “Quite all right,” she agreed. “I’m sure this whole mess has produced massive amounts of paperwork.”
“Not to mention disaffected traitors that need to be counseled,” Spike commented.
“Alex is all right then?” Isabelle asked anxiously, to the surprise of everyone present except for Spike.
“Yeah,” he assured her, “he’ll be locked up back home for you ‘s soon ‘s you get out...” He and Isabelle exchanged a wicked grin...
And then Isabelle’s turned a shade wickeder. “So, Spike,” she began innocently enough, “I heard that Xeris saved your life...”
Spike groaned and buried his head in Buffy’s shoulder, while everyone else laughed...
* * *
Alex looked up and wasn’t at all surprised to see Fletcher entering his room. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up,” he said simply.
“I’ve been putting this off,” Fletcher admitted, adjusting his glasses and taking the offered armchair across from Alex.
“Y’know,” Alex commented, “I was expecting to wake up in one of those lovely eight by ten cells downstairs...”
“What would be the point?” Fletcher countered. “It would just make you hate us more. And, in the meantime, your room would be sitting up here, unused.”
Alex stared intently down at the carpet. “I don’t hate you,” he finally said after a moment’s silence.
“That’s odd,” Fletcher commented a bit harshly. “And here I thought the fact that you blew up half the building and tried to kill dozens of my friends meant something...”
Alex sighed and looked out the window, but didn’t say anything.
“Fine,” Fletcher said brusquely, “don’t try to explain yourself. I honestly don’t think you could do so anyway. But don’t expect to be forgiven so easily, either.”
“I’m under arrest, am I?” Alex said matter-of-factly.
“This room has been magically guarded,” Fletcher informed him. “I fancy not even you’ll be able to find a way out...especially since the very people you tried to kill are your guards now.”
“That’s kind of fitting,” Alex agreed with a grimace.
“We’ve taken special measures to ensure that no Vengeance Demon powers work in here as well,” Fletcher added. “I have no idea how you pulled that stunt back in Sunnydale, but it won’t help you here. All the Children of Arashmaharr couldn’t break you out.”
“I’m not planning on breaking out,” Alex said sincerely, “and as for Sunnydale...I’m not even sure what happened.”
“I want to believe you,” Fletcher said solemnly, “but after the way you’ve betrayed us – betrayed me, Alex – I’m just not sure I can trust you anymore.”
Alex looked up at him at that. “I’m still your friend,” he insisted.
“Are you?” Fletcher countered. “I’m not sure who you are.”
Alex bit back a wry laugh. “Playing moral superiority fun?” he retorted harshly.
Fletcher’s eyes narrowed. “You think I enjoy this?” he demanded. “Holding my own friend prisoner in his room?”
“Don’t know,” Alex retorted, “you always did offer to be prison guard whenever we played capture the flag...”
Fletcher rose to leave.
Alex leapt up as well and caught his shoulder just as he was turning to go. “I’m sorry,” he pleaded. “That was unfair.”
“It bloody well was,” Fletcher agreed, but he sat back down.
“Wh-What’s going to happen to me?” Alex finally asked nervously.
“That’s entirely your decision,” Fletcher informed him. “Frankly, I was half-tempted to turn you over to the World Government along with the Watcher’s Council.”
“But you didn’t,” Alex pointed out.
“No,” Fletcher agreed, “I didn’t. But that doesn’t mean I won’t...”
“What are your terms?” Alex asked.
Fletcher nodded, pleased that his friend was at least willing to hear him out. “It is clear that you are unable to handle your recent losses on your own. Therefore, I must request that you undergo extensive grief-counseling before we even consider releasing you.”
“And by ‘request’, you mean ‘order’, of course,” Alex commented.
“Quite,” Fletcher agreed. “I should also think that you have to deal with whatever hostility it is that you bear towards the coven. I will not ever have you putting any of my people in danger again. Your rank and position have, of course, already been removed.”
“You gave Monica the squad?” Alex demanded.
“Yes,” Fletcher agreed, “with Nicolas as her second.”
Alex nodded. “They’re both ready,” he agreed. “And?”
“And we’ll start with that,” Fletcher concluded, “and see where we need to go from there.”
“You’re letting me off easy,” Alex commented. “Why?”
“Because it’s not my job nor my desire to punish you,” Fletcher informed him matter-of-factly. “It’s my job to help you.”
Alex chuckled wryly. “I don’t deserve you as a friend, Price.”
“Perhaps not,” Fletcher agreed, “but I am one all the same...and I think you’ll discover that you still have more here than you imagine.”
“They didn’t seem too thrilled to see me,” he pointed out.
“They were hoping to the bitter end that you hadn’t actually turned against us,” Fletcher explained, “and so was I. But, still...you did come through in the end.”
“Some demon came through, you mean,” Alex sighed. “I really can’t remember what happened...”
“You showed your demon visage,” Fletcher commented.
“But...I shouldn’t even have one!” Alex insisted. “I’m only half demon!”
“Your father had an element of your mother’s demon put into him,” Fletcher said thoughtfully.
“Years after I was born,” Alex argued.
Fletcher shrugged. “Magic tends not to conform to normal scientific reality,” he pointed out. “Rather, it seems to delight in defying the bounds of logic.”
“You’re saying there’s more Vengeance Demon in me than we first thought,” Alex said sullenly.
“And a good thing, too,” Fletcher agreed. To Alex’ curious look, he explained. “It was your Vengeance side that came to your aid back in Sunnydale, just as it was Vengeance that led you astray. There’s obviously more to this aspect of yourself than you’ve explored in the past. However, I do find it encouraging that your demon only manifested itself out of friendship and loyalty and...something more?” he felt compelled to pry.
Alex responded with an enigmatic smile. “When did you get so smart?” he teased. “What happened to the kid who didn’t learn to tie his shoe laces until third grade?”
Fletcher blushed slightly. “It was second grade,” he insisted, and Alex laughed. “We’re willing to help you with this as well,” he added more seriously. “It seems it wasn’t wise to hold your demon in check. Doing so caused it to rise, er, with a Vengeance.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “You’ve been saving that one up for day, haven’t you?” he accused.
“Quite,” Fletcher agreed with a small smile, rising once more. “Think about it, Alex,” he pleaded. “Don’t refuse the help you’re offered.”
And, with that, he left Alex alone to his thoughts once more...
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