The Seventh SlayerBy Kantayra
Chapter NineBuffy spun around with a look of disbelief on her face. “Spike?!” she finally hissed.
“Slayer…” he agreed, his eyes narrowing.
“Look out!” Ajaya called out, her pike stabbing one of the Magic Drinkers through the middle instants before it could grab Spike.
The immediate peril of their situation snapped the two vampires out of their confrontation.
“I need to get people out in small groups,” Dawn called out. “If I try to go at it in one shot, I can’t keep some of the vermin from coming with us.”
“Over here!” Simon gestured to where he and a still weakened Lily stood.
“They got me earlier,” Lily explained. “I’m no use.”
Dawn nodded. “You two, too,” she gestured to two of the Velik Demons that had already used up their flames for the day. A small green flash and they were gone.
“It should be about three groups,” Buffy commented. “Keep at it,” she instructed the rest of the Veliks.
They continued to release fireballs in turn, taking out swarms of the eerie blue creatures, but more and more just kept coming.
“Go, now!” Buffy gestured to where Dawn had just reappeared.
The demons ran for it and vanished in an instant.
“Jus’ leaves us, huh, Slayer?” Spike commented, skewering one of the beasts in mid-air and then stabbing another before the first had time to dissolve.
“Dawn’s gonna try to come down in the center of us,” Buffy ignored him. “We need to form a circle and keep anything from getting inside it.”
Ajaya and Isabelle nodded, moving into formation.
By now the floor was sticky and gooey with the blue slime, and Ajaya was having a difficult time keeping her feet in the slippery mess.
A flash of light and Dawn reappeared. “How are we going to do this?” she asked in concern, watching the Magic Drinkers coming in at them from all sides.
“Keep holding the perimeter,” Buffy instructed. “On the count of three we all dive to the center into Dawn’s portal. Dawn, go the instant I say three. They shouldn’t have time to reach the opening before it closes.”
“Right,” Dawn nodded.
“Everybody ready?” Buffy asked. “Good. One…two…three!”
Four simultaneous dives, a blinding flash, and they were all gone…
“Ow!” Isabelle exclaimed when something very hard hit her in the head.
“Sorry, Lioness.” Spike rubbed his head too.
“Whose foot is in my face?” Ajaya demanded.
“That would be mine,” Isabelle moved her leg.
“Dawnie, could you please get off of me?” Buffy said, her voice sounding oddly squished.
“You’re the one that hit me right in the back of the knees,” Dawn retorted, getting shakily to her feet. “Think you could watch it? What with me being a frail, old woman and you with the combined Slayer/Vampire strength…”
“I didn’t mean to,” Buffy insisted.
“Right brilliant plan that was, Slayer,” Spike said sarcastically, pulling Isabelle up to her feet as well. “Four way head-on collision… Just bloody brilliant.”
“We’re alive, aren’t we?” Buffy retorted.
Ajaya gave her a hand up and discovered that they were back in the aircraft that had brought them there earlier. Simon, Lily, and the Veliks were all there, too.
“I have to go after the rest of Beta Team,” Dawn said. “Alex said they’ve all locked themselves in an office, so there shouldn’t be any problems with the Magic Drinkers.”
“I’ll come with you,” Buffy insisted.
“Surprise, surprise,” Spike muttered under his breath.
She gave him an annoyed look and turned back to Dawn. “Nicolas is in there,” she said.
“Right,” Dawn nodded, and the two women vanished.
“Brilliant,” Spike was still shaking his head, “jus’ bloody brilliant…” He turned abruptly to Ajaya and gave her an appraising look. “You’re new,” he commented. “Slayer?” The last comment was made with a sly smile and a bit of an eyebrow waggle.
She blushed and nodded. “Ajaya.”
“Spike,” he replied, turning again when the rest of their group reappeared. “Everyone all right?” he asked, watching Buffy support a limping Nicolas with a bit of a frown.
“We’ll live,” Alex agreed. “We have everybody?”
“All here,” Buffy nodded, sitting down beside Nicolas and strapping him in.
“Let’s get out of here then,” Alex said with a weary sigh.
They all managed to crowd themselves onto the benches that lined the plane, and soon everyone was strapped in and they were on their way back home.
Ajaya found herself in the rather awkward position between Buffy and Spike and after about ten minutes felt like her head was going to explode.
“Wanna trade seats?” Monica offered, noticing the decidedly distressed look on Ajaya’s face.
“Please,” she managed to say desperately.
“See, now look what you’ve done!” Buffy exclaimed. “Scaring away new recruits, same as always!”
“Me?!” Spike retorted in disbelief. “I’m not the one who took her on an acrobatic act a hundred feet in the air. And, yes, I did read the reports on that!”
Monica laughed, and soon Ajaya found herself in the much more comfortable position between Isabelle and Xeris.
“Look at ‘em go,” Isabelle giggled slightly. “I guess that’s the problem with vamps: they don’t have to stop to breathe.”
Ajaya laughed as well. “And I thought people gave Fletcher a hard time,” she added.
“Oh, of course you would think that!” Spike yelled particularly loudly, causing the two Slayers to wince.
“Everyone thinks it,” Buffy said right back at him. “And while we’re on the topic: nice hair, William!”
“What’s wrong with his hair?” Ajaya whispered.
Isabelle shrugged.
“It jus’ so happens that some people,” Spike gave her a disapproving glance to indicate that she was not one of those people, “actually bother to take undercover work seriously, instead of leapin’ off buildings in camouflage fatigues while kickin’ everyone in the face who gets in the way.”
“And who exactly got back from assignment first, Mr. I-was-running-around-in-Spain-for-two-weeks?” Buffy huffed.
Spike’s nostrils flared, and Monica put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. “Hey, calm down,” she said. “Save it till we get home.”
“I could use the quiet right now,” Nicolas squeezed Buffy’s hand a bit harder. “I think I hit my head a bit harder than I’d first thought…”
Grumbling, the two vampires managed to pry their searing glares from each other and turned back to their seatmates.
“What was all that about?” Isabelle wondered.
“Dunno,” Ajaya said. “So, you’re a Slayer, huh?”
“Yup,” Isabelle said semi-proudly. “I’ve only been at it for about a week, though.”
“Same with me. Have you killed any vamps yet?” Ajaya asked.
“Oh, dozens,” Isabelle said off-handedly.
“Dozens?” Ajaya said in disbelief. “I’ve only staked one.”
“Watchers didn’t put you through the Seven Circles of Training Hell?” Isabelle asked curiously.
“I’ve never worked for the Watchers,” Ajaya explained. “They tried to kill me when I was Called, and Buffy saved me.”
Isabelle snorted in disgust. At Ajaya’s raised eyebrow, she clarified. “Watchers tried to kill me, too. Only that was after they’d stripped away my life and basically turned me into their slave for six years.”
“Ouch,” Ajaya winced slightly. “I’d say I was sorry, but…” she trailed off.
Isabelle shrugged. “It’s no big. I’m cool with it.”
“Uh-huh,” Ajaya said, unconvinced, but she didn’t comment further.
* * *
“Oh thank the Goddess, Lily!” Willow cried out when the group finally entered through the mansion’s front doors.
“Honey, are you all right?” Aida was at her side almost the same instant Willow was.
The young Witch gave her parents a weak smile and nodded. With much fussing, they ushered her away from the group, leaving the others to sort themselves out.
Alex, Simon, and Xeris led the rescued Veliks away, and Ajaya turned to the rest of the group.
“You should get some rest,” Buffy was badgering Nicolas, still holding his hand tightly.
“We should get Maddie to check you out,” Monica agreed.
Spike leaned against the wall, lit up a cigarette, and snorted. “Oh no,” he said in mock horror, “Nicky’s injured! What ever shall we do?”
Nicolas gave him an annoyed scowl. “Don’t. Call. Me. ‘Nicky’,” he said with absolute venom in his voice.
Spike merely rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Nicky,” he gave him a brief salute.
Nicolas sighed in irritation, brushed off both Buffy and Monica who were insisting that he needed to be accompanied to the medical wing, and stalked off.
“Well,” Monica said, eyeing the glares Buffy and Spike were giving each other, “I have to go check in with Fletcher. You two aren’t going to rip the place to shreds, are you?”
“Might,” Spike commented with a seductive smirk in Buffy’s direction. “You never know…”
“Oh god!” Buffy rolled her eyes. “Believe it or not,” she turned to Monica, “at least one of us is able to behave like an adult…”
Monica was slowly backing away now. “Bye, Isabelle! Bye, Ajaya!” she said quickly before dashing up the stairs and away from the imminent explosion.
“An adult?!” Spike roared. “This from a vampire who still insists on getting a tan every summer?!”
“Just because some people have no fashion sense…”
“No fashion sense! I suppose that potato sack you were wearing at the Christmas dinner last year…”
“That was the fashion at the time! At least I still don’t think ultra-Goth is in!”
“Why you!” Spike’s hands clenched into fists, and he stalked right up to Buffy, his face only inches from hers.
“Ajaya,” Buffy said calmly, giving a slight yawn for Spike’s benefit, “why don’t you show Isabelle around? It seems there’s a bit of a situation I have to deal with here…”
“Situation?” Spike sputtered. “Situation?!”
“Let’s go,” Ajaya took Isabelle’s hand, and they fled almost as quickly as Monica hand.
“Meow!” Isabelle shook her head in amazement once they were clear of the fight.
“Double meow,” Ajaya agreed, nodding slightly. She winced slightly when she heard a loud crash behind her.
“Looks like they’re thrashing the place after all,” Isabelle giggled slightly.
“Won’t Fletcher be pissed at that?” Ajaya began giggling as well.
“So, c’mon,” Isabelle said cheerfully. “Let’s see this great and wondrous institution…”
* * *
“Man,” Isabelle said, holding the door of the training room open behind her for Ajaya, “I wish I could do that.”
“You think that’s cool,” Ajaya nodded, “you should see what Monica can do.”
“Monica,” Isabelle closed her eyes for an instant while they walked down the hallway, “black-haired woman who was on the mission with us, Alex’s second-in-command, Dawn’s granddaughter, you don’t know who her Dad is, were-jaguar,” she recited from memory.
“How can you do that?” Ajaya said in disbelief. “The instant I hear someone’s name I forget it.”
Isabelle shrugged.
“And here,” Ajaya said grandiosely, executing a graceful twirl, “we are back in the main hall,” she finished with a flourish. “Notice the clever circular path we’ve taken around the mansion so as not to waste any time backtracking.”
“Quite impressive,” Isabelle gave her an amused grin. “I’d almost think you were a professional guide.”
“Ah, but I’m not finished yet,” Ajaya said, gesturing to the door to their left. “All that remains is the sitting roo—”
She was cut off by a scream from inside.
“Huh?” Isabelle raised an eyebrow.
“Bloody hell!” a voice cried out from inside.
“That sounded like Spike…” Ajaya commented.
“…And Buffy,” Isabelle finished.
A loud crash sounded from within the sitting room.
“They’re really going to kill each other!” Ajaya said in alarm, reaching for the door handle. She yanked it open, took one look, and slammed it shut.
“What?” Isabelle demanded of the pale look on Ajaya’s face.
“They’re not killing each other…” she said blankly.
Isabelle looked at her confusedly and then turned the knob herself, peeking inside. “Oh man!” her eyes widened, and she closed the door, too.
Ajaya nodded meekly.
Isabelle took a second to compose herself and then took another peek.
“Isabelle!” Ajaya hissed in shock.
“What?” she shrugged. “He’s hot. And I might not ever get another chance to see him naked.”
Ajaya’s face turned beet red, and she immediately turned away.
Isabelle sighed and shut the door again. “Do you suppose it hurts?” she asked thoughtfully.
“Hurts?” Ajaya said in disbelief.
“The thing with the fangs,” Isabelle clarified. “You’d think it would hurt, but judging by the expressions on their faces…”
“Can we not talk about it?” Ajaya requested. “I’m already mortified enough.”
Isabelle sighed. “And I had my eye set on him, too…” She shrugged. “Oh well, another hot vampire at nine o’clock.”
Ajaya looked up abruptly, and her face blanched when she saw Nicolas approaching.
“Ajaya, have you seen Buffy?” he asked, coming up to stand right in front of them.
“No!” Ajaya instantly squeaked, moving between him and the door.
He gave her an odd look. “Fletcher’s been trying to get ahold of her, but she’s not responding to her communicator…”
“Well, that’s probably because she’s busy—Mmf!” Isabelle was cut off when Ajaya slapped her hand over her mouth.
“She’s just busy,” Ajaya clarified, giving Isabelle a knowing glare.
Nicolas raised an eyebrow. “Are you two getting along all right?” he said, trying to decipher their rather bizarre actions.
“Fine,” Ajaya nodded, smiling brightly. She nudged Isabelle.
“Yeah, fine,” Isabelle gave the other Slayer a slight eye roll.
“Uh-huh,” Nicolas said, unconvinced. “Well, if you see Buffy, could you—”
He was abruptly cut off by another high-pitched scream from the sitting room.
“Um…er…” Ajaya stuttered. “That was just…um…”
“Buffy!” Spike’s voice shouted loudly. And obviously not in anger.
“Oh god!” Ajaya put her head in her hands.
Nicolas’ eyes widened for an instant as he looked at the door. “Are they at it again?!” He shook his head. “Honestly, they can’t go to their own room?”
Ajaya peeked through her fingers to look at him. “Huh?” she said confusedly.
“You didn’t walk in on them, did you?” Nicolas said apologetically.
“It was no big,” Isabelle insisted.
“B-But…” Ajaya stuttered. “How can you be so calm about this?!” she finally blurted out.
“It’s not like it hasn’t happened before,” Nicolas shrugged. “You just get used to it.”
“B-But she’s your mate!” Ajaya insisted.
“What?!” Nicolas said in complete shock. “Where on earth did you get that idea?” he said in disbelief.
Ajaya’s face turned bright red. “B-Buffy told me so! She said you were her Sire, and you sired her so that she would be the same age as you and-and…” her lightning-fast speech was cut off abruptly when Nicolas started laughing.
“Sorry,” he said, wiping his eyes since they had started to tear up in his mirth. “It’s just that… I can’t believe you thought…” He began laughing uncontrollably again.
“But you are her Sire?” Ajaya persisted.
“Yes,” Nicolas managed to compose himself enough to answer her, “but I only did it because Spike couldn’t. We planned it all out so that I could do it when she was twenty-six, the same as him. It was actually quite flattering that they asked me…”
“Why couldn’t Spike do it?” Isabelle asked curiously while Ajaya stuttered in the background.
“Oh, well, he doesn’t have a soul,” Nicolas explained.
Isabelle stared at him blankly.
“And I do,” he added.
Still the blank stare.
“Oh, of course,” he slapped himself on the forehead, “new recruits! You probably don’t know, do you?”
“Obviously not,” Isabelle shook her head.
“It’s actually pretty interesting,” Nicolas said. He noticed Ajaya was still coughing. “You want something to drink?” he asked her.
“No,” she insisted between hacks.
He shrugged. “Any way, it turns out something funny happens when a souled vampire sires a Childe. Their Childe has all the physical attributes of a vampire: animated corpse, same weaknesses, that sort of thing. But the strange part is that they don’t ever get possessed by a demon. They keep their soul, no strings attached.”
“Sweet deal,” Isabelle said.
“Holding hands!” Ajaya finally declared emphatically. “You were holding hands! All the time! I saw it!”
“Oh, that,” Nicolas waved his hand in the air dismissively. “That’s just because of the ring Buffy wears. Didn’t she tell you about it?”
“Ring?” Ajaya repeated, still in shock.
“Yeah, she wears it on her right index finger?” he prodded. “No? Well, it has magical properties. Allows vamps to go out in sunlight. Only you have to be touching it for it to work. Since we have a limited number, I tend to mooch off Buffy’s while she’s here. I’m on the waiting list, though. Should get one next time the Witches go through all the ceremonies and annointments and such…”
“Spike has one, too, I bet,” Isabelle concluded. “That’s how he was taking all those daytime strolls.”
Nicolas nodded.
“Holding hands…” Ajaya shook her head.
“I can assure you, we were only holding hands when I was in the daylight,” he informed her.
“So, when she went back for you…” Ajaya trailed off.
“Broad daylight,” Nicolas nodded. “Had to be in contact with a ring before I could be transported.”
“She kissed you?” Ajaya produced her last argument.
“What?!” Nicolas said. “When?”
“On the mission,” Ajaya said, “right before we split up. On the cheek, I saw it.”
“Oh,” Nicolas said, “well I am practically family, after all. I’ve gotten more romantic kisses from Spike, actually…which is a very bizarre story involving a dog, some celery, five fledgling vampires, and way too much liquor…” He trailed off and shook his head.
“Ugh!” Ajaya finally exclaimed. “So embarrassing…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Nicolas smiled at her and shrugged. “If you want, I won’t even mention it to Buffy.”
Ajaya nodded meekly, her face still flaming red.
“So, why’d they pick you?” Isabelle asked, snapping her gum as she did so. “For the siring thing, I mean.”
“Well, it was either me or Angel,” he said.
“Buffy’s ex?” Ajaya asked.
“That’s the one,” Nicolas chuckled slightly. “He’s Spike’s Sire…well, one of his Sires anyway. Long story,” he responded to their confused looks. “Anyway, that kind of ruled him out, and I was Buffy and Spike’s only other souled vampire friend.”
“You are Spike are friends?” Isabelle raised an amused eyebrow.
Nicolas let out a peel of laughter at this. “Yes,” he agreed, “oddly enough, the fact that he’s the most irritating individual alive doesn’t preclude him from being my friend.”
“Aha!” Ajaya produced one last argument. “If they’re mates, then why were they fighting so much?”
“You’re not going to make me give you the Vampire Foreplay 101 lecture, are you?” Nicolas sighed.
“Dunno,” Isabelle gave him a flirtatious smile, “that could be kind of…fun.” She gave him an appraising glance.
Nicolas laughed. “Flattered, but spoken for,” he replied.
Isabelle pouted. “Damn! The cute ones are always taken! Who is she? Can I steal you away from her?” she implored.
“No, you can’t. And as for who she is,” he gave them a wink, “that’s a secret…”
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