Graduation Day: Backup
by Ben: The Vampire Hunter
b_church@yahoo.com
Daemon, Bobby, and Dragonboy all belong to me. Everyone else belongs
to Joss Whedon. Joe and Micky are also my creation.
Joe sighed. He stood in the hall watching the nearly graduated
seniors gleefully and nostalgically signing each other's yearbooks.
He'd graduated the previous year, having successfully survived High
School. And several of his friends had as well. But not one very
important one.
"Joe," Micky said, approaching him. "Are you okay man? Ever
since prom you've been, hovering."
Joe smiled wryly. "Prom was an uncomfortable reminder for me."
he admitted. "It was also a wake up call. I've got lot's of other
friends. I can't keep dwelling on Theresa's death. God that hurt to
say. But I want to be here for them." He took a deep breath. "I have
to make sure they survive to Graduation."
Micky just sighed and patted his lifelong friend on the
shoulder. "Just be more cheery when you're around the others." he
counciled. "Ben's in too good a mood as it is. And you know how rare
that is."
Ben and Joe had been hanging around the school ever since their
own year at college had ended. The rest of the Drama Club Alumni were
waiting until graduation day to show their support.
Joe smiled as he saw Ben approaching with Nicole and Izzy, his
sister. "Yeah." he said. "It's heartening to see."
"Buffy what are you doing?" Giles asked. Buffy had gone into
his office after their strategy session with Anya, and the others.
"Calling in the reserves." she replied. "If even half of what
Anya says is true, we're gonna need backup."
"Agreed." her Watcher conceded. He picked up her little black
book. "Ah yes, Robert. I didn't know I'd given you his number."
"Actually you didn't. Faith did."
"Oh." A look of confusion crossed his face. "And, um, who
is,"
"Travis?"
"Yes."
"Guy I met while I was away." She stopped paying attention.
Apparently someone had picked up.
"Yeah is Bobby there?...Okay, could you give me his number at
home?...It's Buffy,...Yeah, the Slayer." She scribbled down a number.
"Okay, thanks. Bye." She hung up and gave Giles the number. "You'd
better call him." she said. She dialed quickly. "Travis?" her tone
picked up slightly, though it was still urgent. "Listen, how quickly
can you get to Sunnydale?"
When she emerged, she found everyone staring at Oz. "What's
going on?"
"Well," Oz said. "If we need to know if the Mayor has a
weakness, I know someone who might know."
"Joe!" Xander called, approaching him with Cordelia by his
side. "You interviewed the Mayor?"
Joe's brow furrowed. "Yeah, for the school paper my Freshman
year. Why?"
"Look," Buffy said. "I'll get right to the point. We both
know that Sunnydale isn't, normal. You said so yourself at graduation
last year."
"You weren't in town at the time I thought." Joe said.
"Um," Buffy said, slightly embarrassed. "They filmed it. I
watched it a week after I came back." She looked at Joe. "Sorry I
couldn't be there."
Joe smiled. "That's the second time you've apologized to me
since I've come back from College. You're my friend Buffy. Maybe not
as close as some, but I'll do whatever I can to help. What's up?"
Buffy cast a sidelong glance at Wesley, but he wisely kept
silent. She'd had to promise not to tell Joe anymore than necessary.
"All right, the Mayor, is, um, evil."
"Figures." Joe took it in stride. "I knew there was a reason
he worked so hard to cover everything up."
"Right well, he's going to...do something soon. And we need to
know whatever you can tell us about him."
Joe looked at the faces before him. She wasn't telling him
everything. He could tell that right away. But she'd always been
hiding something. Like she was Batman or something. He respected it.
He suspected that whatever was going to happen, was really,
really bad. Perhaps, a culmination...
"If the Mayor has been keeping all this stuff a secret for
so long, why do something now?" he thought. "Unless he was building
his strength? Waiting for the planets to align correctly or something?
It must be something really major for them to turn to a Civvie for
help." By the worry on all their faces, Willow's being the easiest to
read, it was... "Maybe really fatal. Like mass fatalities, wait, he's
speaking at the graduation. Holy shit!"
Outwardly, he stayed calm. "Well, he was really nice," he wracked
his brain. Anything he told them might be useful to him as well.
"He's a neat freak." he decisively.
"That's a weakness?" Wesley said incredulously. "I knew this
was a useless idea."
"No, you don't get it, he's not just a neat freak, he's like,
obsessive compulsive or something. The whole time he was answering my
questions, he kept checking everything, cleaning anything that was even
slightly dusty."
He was greeted with blank faces. He sighed. "Throw dirt on
him? If he's conducting some kind of kind of ritual, he needs to
concentrate yes?"
Willow's eyes widened in understanding, and he could see in
Oz's eyes that he understood as well.
"If he's that compulsive," Willow explained. "Then getting
dirty could disrupt his ritual."
"It's a start." Giles admitted. "But we have no way of knowing
just what kind of ritual he's performing." he turned to Joe. "But
you've given us hope. Thank you."
"No problem. Glad I could help."
"Joe," Buffy said, as he turned to leave. "I think you should
leave town. It's gonna be bad."
Joe looked back at her and smiled sadly. "I figured as much.
But I'm not going anywhere."
"But-"
"I will not dishonor my brothers by abandoning the fight they
died to win." he quoted. To their blank looks he said; "Sorry, Star
Trek RPG. I was playing a Klingon." He shook his head, amused. Just
before he let the door close after him, he turned back. "I can't
believe my parents voted for him."
"You booked me a flight?" Bobby said, half in gratitude half
in shock. "Okay, but you have to cover for me. I'm tired of making
excuses to Mom." He dashed out the door, talking on his cell phone,
the one his mother didn't know he had. He threw his bag into the cab
that had also been pre-arranged. "I don't know what you should tell
her!" he said, exasperated. "You're my Watcher, you booked this
without telling me, figure it out!"
He hung up, and tapped his foot impatiently. "Sunnydale," he
muttered. "Here I come."
A black disk opened in the alley behind the mall. Two Vampires
who were lurking back there, looking for food, approached cautiously.
A red scaled, clawed hand shot out of the disk, and grabbed the
lead Vamp by the head. A quick burst of flame followed, incinerating
the Demon. The arm then transformed back to a human shape, as the
other Vamp ran. Fast.
Travis Riley stepped out, adjusting the collar of his leather
trenchcoat. Behind him, Daemon emerged, and closed the disk behind
him. He too wore a trenchcoat. He also wore dark shades to conceal
his true nature.
"Wish I could do that." Travis said enviously.
"What teleport?" Daemon asked. "You can."
"Yeah by hopping across dimensions, but you know I'm no good
to anyone for at least a day after I do that."
"True. Sorry. So where's this library?"
Bobby strode into the Sunnydale High School Library, pulling
his mask and gloves out of his pockets. "Hey," he said tentatively to
the three kids in the room. Two were by the computer, one was at the
book cage. They looked to be in a daze.
"Um, is Buffy Summers here?"
"You just missed her." the guy at the cage said. "And you
are?"
"A Hunter!" The girl at the computer exclaimed. "Xander look
at his shirt! He's a Hunter!"
"Which would make you Bobby?" the cage boy, Xander asked.
"That's me. Where did Buffy go?"
"She went after Faith." the last guy told him.
Bobby nodded grimly. He'd been briefed en-route via cell phone
by his Watcher. He sometimes wondered why he still called Chris that,
seeing as how, he wasn't a Watcher, and Bobby wasn't really a Slayer.
"Where is she?" he asked.
"Um," Xander seemed reluctant. "This is kinda, abrupt."
"I apologize for that." Bobby said sincerely. "But it's been
that kind of day. Buffy may need backup. Please."
Willow sighed, and handed him the address. "You need
directions?"
"Please."
Faith slammed Buffy's head against the wall, knocking her out
briefly. "There." she panted, more out of breath than she'd like to
admit. "Looks like I win-"
A black clad figure dropped to the roof before her, landing in
a crouch, and kicking out with one leg. The figure's booted foot
snapped into her knee, nearly shattering it. Fortunately for her, she
was tougher than that.
"Hiya Faith." the figure said good naturedly, his voice
slightly muffled by his mask. "Miss me?"
"Not really." the Slayer grunted, launching herself at him.
"You came all this way just to see me Bobby?" she said sweetly, hitting
him. "I'm flattered."
"Don't be." he replied. He knocked a follow up punch away, and
kneed her in the stomach. When she doubled over, he grabbed her head,
and slammed her face into his knee. Twice.
Buffy rose painfully and tapped him on the shoulder. "Tag."
Bobby nodded and backed off. As pissed as he was at Faith,
this was really still Buffy's fight. "I'm here for ya."
He watched impassively as the fight wore on. He started
forward when things looked bad for Buffy. Then, he gasped, almost
simultaneously with Faith, as Buffy plunged the knife into Faith's
stomach. He listened in disbelief to Faith's final words.
He dashed to the edge, hoping to catch Faith before she fell.
He failed. He looked at Buffy out of the corner of his eye. "Once
you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."
he said. Half in a eulogy for Faith, half in admonition to Buffy.
"I missed something." he said. "What has Faith dying have to do with
your boyfriend?"
"I'll explain later." Buffy said shortly. "Go get her body."
She turned to go.
"No," Bobby said firmly, grabbing her arm. "You'll explain
now. You just killed someone. And I want to know why."
"She was evil, she had to be stopped."
"Bull. She had to be stopped yeah. But this fight had nothing
to do with that. I want to know what's going on. Tell, me, then I'll
go after that truck."
Buffy took a deep breath. "All right."
To be continued...