Fic: That Good Night (9 of ?)
Jan. 15th, 2007 12:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowscastHey, everybody! Remember the Fragments-verse? Where Spike turned human after NFA, and now he's dating Xander and working for the Watchers' Council? And currently they're in Sao Paulo, visiting Willow? It's been—dear Lord—five months since I last posted a chapter. So it's understandable if you don't remember! But this story is very much still alive, and it's back to being my top writing priority, and hey, I've finally finished another chapter! As always, I am grateful to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yourlibrarian for beta-reading, encouragement, help with the sticky bits, and lots of fun chat along the way!
(By the way, when I checked to see when my last update had been, I realized that I never responded to most of the feedback on that chapter. I humbly apologize! I love comments very much, and certainly meant to answer them all. And I will—even if it is embarrassingly late, now!)
The details:
Title: That Good Night (part 9 of ?)
Rating: Still not sure. Definitely R; may go to NC-17.
Continuity info: This is the sixth story in the Fragments 'verse, fitting in immediately after Before the Time of Dawn. This story is set a couple of years post-NFA.
Summary: Spike is human and he's having problems. Meanwhile, Willow has just had a baby; Xander and Spike have traveled to Sao Paulo to see her, and so has Buffy.
Warnings: My posting schedule will probably continue to be erratic! If that's going to frustrate you hugely, you should probably wait until it's complete. Also, it's going to be dark. Possibly kinda depressing. Definitely angsty, h/c with lots of hurt. Character death will most definitely be threatened, and I'd rather not say what comes of it (though if you're terribly worried, ask me privately).
This update is about 5000 words; the total length now stands at about 30,700.
Previous parts are [here].
In case you need to refresh your memory:Previously in the Fragments!verse...
Spike and Xander had just returned from the year 1999 (where they had rescued the Sisterhood of Jhe, saved the world, and had awkward encounters with the teenaged Scoobies) when they found out that Willow was having complications in childbirth and that her life was in danger. They rushed to Sao Paulo to see her. So did Buffy—who arrived at the airport at the same time as them, leading to an awkward initial reunion between her and Spike.
They were all greatly relieved to find that Willow was okay after all and that she and Kennedy were now mothers of a baby girl. Buffy and Xander were quite surprised to find out that Oz was the biological father and that he lived with Willow and Kennedy; Spike wasn't surprised at all, having found out all that several months previously when Willow and Kennedy took care of him after an illness.
The next evening, while everyone else was otherwise occupied, Buffy asked Spike to go out on patrol with her. He initially refused, since he wasn't feeling well, but changed his mind when Buffy explained that she was investigating the mysterious deaths of local children. Out on patrol, Buffy quickly revealed her not-very-hidden agenda by asking Spike why he'd hidden his resurrection from her. They talked it out, and things seemed to be going pretty well, until Spike thought he saw Dru in a crowd. Then the night went from bad to worse: they were caught in torrential rain, they got mugged, and Spike got shot in the arm. In the aftermath, Buffy tried to kiss Spike, which certainly made for an awkward moment for both of them. Meanwhile, Spike was finding it harder and harder to hide the fact that he was getting sick. Finally Buffy and Spike had to fight three child-vampires; Buffy couldn't bring herself to dust a vampire who looked like a six-year-old girl, so Spike did it for her. Having helped her, Spike finally admitted to Buffy that he needed help in turn.
They made it home, but Spike was very much worse for the wear. Xander didn't react well to the story of the night's adventures, and things were strained between him and Buffy—but with Oz around to keep everyone focused on the priorities, they got Spike warmed up and dried off. Xander wanted to take him to the hospital to get his bullet wound stitched up, but Oz revealed that he had sufficient medical training to do the stitches himself. He fixed Spike up while Spike and Buffy discussed their encounter with the child-vamps. Finally Spike's weariness overcame him and he fainted; Xander and Oz carried him to bed.
Later in the evening, Oz drew Xander aside and explained a bit more of his own recent history, including his apprenticeship with a local Spiritist healer. Based on his training and enhanced senses, Oz suspected that Spike had a serious undiagnosed illness. He advised that Spike should see a doctor as soon as possible. That night, Spike dreamed of Drusilla.
In the morning, Buffy and Xander talked, which didn’t go very well. Buffy’s pancakes, however, were reasonably successful, and Willow came home from the hospital with the new baby, Tara.
And now the story continues...
Chapter 9
"This is it," Buffy said, nudging a piece of trash out of the way with her toe. "Right here, this is where I staked the smallest one." She looked up. "So, Oz? Can you, um, tell which way they came from?"
Kennedy rolled her eyes. For a chick who'd been dating the undead since she was sweet sixteen, Buffy was awfully delicate about some things. The three of them were going to have to have a serious talk before they found themselves any vamps to fight.
If Oz noticed Buffy's unease about bringing up his werewolf side, he didn't show it. "I can't track them by scent, no—not after all the rain."
"So we go hunting," Kennedy said. "And asking around. Those boys Spike talked to knew something, and he wasn't even sure what all they said. I bet other kids have heard things, too. We'll find out more tonight, no problem." She patted her shoulder bag, packed full of candy bars.
There were no children evident in the warehouse district, so the three of them headed for the nearby favela. At the narrow street that divided the two neighborhoods, Kennedy stopped them. "We should split up," she said. "Going in together, we'll scare the kids."
"I can't talk to anyone on my own," Buffy reminded her.
Kennedy nodded. "Right. You stay with me. Oz, try the next street over. If anything happens, signal me."
He nodded. "Give me some candy."
She opened her bag and let him dig out a couple of handfuls of sweet little bribes. "Be careful out there," she said for goodbye.
"You too," he said, his gaze taking in both of them.
As Oz walked away, Buffy turned to Kennedy. "What's the signal?"
In answer, Kennedy tugged on the leather cord that hung around her neck. "Pendant. Willow made them for us. If Oz triggers his, mine will get warm." Hot, actually—she'd felt it before. A sudden blaze of heat against the skin between her breasts. "He's out of sight now. Let's see if we can find some kids to talk to."
As they entered the favela proper, Buffy seemed distracted and uncomfortable. Kennedy wasn't sure what to read into it. The two of them had never been exactly easy with each other, not since Kennedy had first landed in Sunnydale and failed to be an obedient little girl. "Does it make you nervous?" she asked. "Walking into a slum?"
Buffy glared at her. "I was robbed at gunpoint a few blocks from here yesterday. Now I'm being Cautious Buffy."
"Cautious is good," Kennedy agreed. "Just try not to look quite so spooked."
"I'm not," Buffy insisted. "I've got stuff on my mind."
"Spike?" Kennedy guessed. Oz had given her a quick rundown of yesterday's events.
Buffy winced at the name. "I haven't seen him all day. Xander wouldn't let me."
Kennedy shrugged. "From what I heard, Xander's got a right to be pissed at you. Give it time."
"I am. You're the one who brought it up."
That wasn't exactly true, but Kennedy let it go. "Just try to keep your attention on the job we're doing, okay? Deal with the personal shit later."
Buffy stopped walking abruptly. "Kennedy, do you have a problem with me being here? I mean, do you think I'm, like, trespassing on your territory or something?"
"What? No." Kennedy frowned. "What are you getting at, Buffy?"
"Ever since I got here you've been acting like I'm getting on your last nerve just by breathing. So, hey, if you want me out of your way—I'm sure you and Oz can handle these mini-vamps. Now that we know that Willow's okay, I can go back to Rome."
Kennedy let out a slow breath. She knew that Buffy was right, and it was sort of embarrassing to get called on it. "Sorry. God, I'm sorry. Look, my girlfriend just had a baby. It's kind of been a stressful week."
"Right. Wow. I wasn't even thinking about that." Buffy looked a little sheepish, and Kennedy forced herself not to roll her eyes.
"It takes some getting used to,” Kennedy allowed. "You know, Willow was super happy to see you. And I'm glad you're here to help with the vamps. So if you think you can stand sticking around a bit longer, I'll try to act like less of a jerk."
With an easier feeling between them now, they went back to looking for children to talk to. Further up the street, a few young girls were playing jump-rope with a piece of actual yellow rope. The two girls turning the rope and the four waiting their turns were chanting a skipping rhyme, while the girl in the middle had her face set in concentration. Her bare feet hardly seemed to touch the ground. As the tempo of the other girls' chanting sped up, the repeated thwap of the rope hitting pavement edged towards staccatto, and the central girl's face grew flushed. Finally she fumbled, and stopped, laughing, with the rope tangled around her legs.
When Kennedy walked up to them the girls looked her over, wary and curious. The oldest of them looked maybe ten. She didn't think any of them were street kids—none of them had that haunted, hungry look—but they might've heard rumors. And she was sure they could be bought with candy.
"<Hey,>" she said, stopping just a little ways off. Non-threatening. She held up a piece of the candy she'd brought, and tossed it in a gentle arc to the first girl who looked up and caught her eye. "<Kids have been disappearing,>" she said. "<We're looking for them. Have you heard anything?>"
The girls glanced at each other and giggled shyly. The one who'd caught the candy bar said "<Kids disappear all the time. Grownups don't care. Who are you?>"
"What's she saying?" Buffy asked quietly.
Kennedy shook her head quickly. "Later," she whispered in English. Then, in Portuguese again, "<I'm someone who cares. Where do the kids disappear? Do you know anyone who's gone?>"
The lead girl shrugged, but one of the others, behind her, looked like she wanted to say something. Kennedy gave her an encouraging smile.
"<Catarina disappeared,>" the girl said quietly. She was a skinny little thing in a ragged blue t-shirt and grimy white shorts, hiding half behind the taller, more outspoken girl. "<She used to sell mangos. I saw her almost every day, except last week she wasn't there anymore.>"
"<Do you know where she lived? Did she have parents?>"
The shy girl shook her head, but one of the others spoke up. "<She probably lived in the Hotel.>"
"<What's that?>"
The first girl, the one with the candy clutched in her hand, tilted her chin up and said with an air of authority, "<It's where the street kids live. You can't go in there but I did, one time, and there was a boy with a knife.>"
That sounded like a better lead than anything they had yet. "<Can you take me there?>" Kennedy asked.
"<Sure,>" the girl said.
"Leticia," the girl in the blue t-shirt said, tugging at Leticia's arm, "<You can't go there. Mamae will beat you.>"
Leticia rolled her eyes at the younger girl—her little sister, apparently. "<You won't tell her.>"
"<It's okay, I don't want you to get in trouble,>" Kennedy said. "<How about you just tell me where the Hotel is? I have some paper, maybe you can draw a map.>" She wasn't certain the girl would be able to make anything legible, but she didn't want to risk bringing her into danger if they did find the vampires.
The other girls crowded around to watch Leticia draw her map. It was a group effort; the girls called out suggestions and corrections, and fell over each other giggling with the hilarity of their activity. "<Draw Stinky Pele, he's always at the corner!>" urged a girl with her hair in corn rows. Kennedy handed out candy to all of the girls, and Buffy smiled awkwardly when they glanced curiously at her.
***
Leticia's map was surprisingly accurate, not to mention up-to-date. "What happens if we come back tomorrow and the dead cat is gone?" Buffy asked, keeping her distance from one of the landmarks Leticia had drawn on their path.
Kennedy wrinkled her nose. "Don't worry, I think the flies will still mark the spot."
Their path as marked on the map had a strong resemblance to a scavenger hunt. After the cat, there was the broken red chair, the palm tree with a pair of sneakers hanging from it, and the ten-foot-high graffiti Jesus ... and then they finally came to the Hotel.
It was a two-storey wooden building with boarded-up windows. A faded sign over the door proclaimed it a hotel, to which someone had added in spray paint "Inferno"—Hell's Hotel.
"Swanky," Buffy said, eyeing the peeling facade. "Should we call Oz before we go in?"
Kennedy was about say yes, but she felt a sudden flash of heat against the skin between her breasts. "Change of plans," she said, yanking the leather cord out from under her shirt. "We're going to him." She squeezed the amulet and closed her eyes. Opening her mind the way Willow had taught her, she got a sense of distance and direction. That was enough. "Follow me!"
In following Leticia's map, they'd wandered a long way from Oz. Now Kennedy sprinted down the tight, twisty streets of the favela, hoping they weren't too far away to help. There was no way to tell whether Oz was in serious trouble until they reached him. Kennedy could hear Buffy following close behind her. Their footsteps echoed in a concrete alley, a fast two-layered rhythm made of stylish hard-soled shoes and old army boots. There was a fence to jump at the end of the alley, and Buffy cleared it right behind Kennedy.
They both nearly landed on top of Oz.
"Hi," he said mildly in English, taking a step back to give them room to get to their feet. "Good response time. Catch your breath."
He wasn't alone. There were three boys; two of them had fallen back, startled, at the girls' arrival, but the third continued to lounge unconcerned against a rusty old stove. He took a drag from the cigarette he was holding and then offered it to Oz. "<You know these bitches?>" he asked in Portuguese, totally casual like they'd just met each other at a club. He was a few inches taller than Oz, and gangly in that just-hit-puberty kind of way.
"<My girlfriend,>" Oz said, breathing out smoke. "<And her cousin from America.>" The smoke was pungent—pot, not tobacco.
Kennedy took the joint when Oz handed it to her, and did as he'd done—took a quick breath in and then let it go before there was time for much effect. The stuff tasted harsh. "<Hi,>" she said to the boy, and draped an arm over Oz's shoulders. That got a funny look from Buffy, so Kennedy offered her the joint, saying in English, "Just play along till we know what's happening."
Buffy wrinkled her nose and backed away like the thing was going to bite her. "Are you kidding? Yuck."
Kennedy shrugged and handed it back to the boy. The other two, who were younger and more scraggly looking, had regained enough confidence to edge back into the circle. They were both clutching handfuls of Oz's candy bars.
The older boy flipped his too-long hair out of his eyes and gave Kennedy a suspicious look before taking another hit, and then turned back to Oz. "<You never answered my question. What do you care about missing street kids?>"
"<I work at a free clinic near here,>" Oz said. "<Kids disappear, we want to know why.>" Then he turned to Buffy. "The biggest one is a vampire," he said, cucumber-cool.
"No kidding," Buffy said, all dry and unimpressed like she'd known all along.
"Right," Kennedy agreed, trying not to let her fingers twitch.
The older-looking boy, meanwhile, handed the joint to one of the younger ones and roughly tousled his hair. "<Hey, Luis. What do you think? What happens to the kids who disappear?>"
Luis took his share of the joint without choking. "<Fucking police,>" he said. "<I've seen them.>"
"<Me too,>" the other boy added. "<But we're gonna make those fucking pigs pay, next time they fuck with one of us.>" He pulled a knife out of his pocket and flicked the blade open, glowering like he'd been practicing in front of a mirror. "<Ramiro's gonna teach us how to fight.>"
"<That's right, I am,>" said the older boy, the vampire. He gave Kennedy and Buffy a sideways glance, the tip of his tongue sliding along the edge of his teeth, and Kennedy got a prickle down her spine. He knows what we are. She was sure of it. From the way Buffy shifted her stance ever so slightly, she seemed to have come to the same conclusion without understanding a word they were saying.
Oz, meanwhile, was focused on the boy with the knife. "<Do you have a safe place to sleep tonight?>" he asked.
Ramiro tossed the stub of the joint to the ground and crushed it under his heel. "<They'll be safe with me.>"
"<Hey, how about we step around the corner and talk about this?>" Kennedy offered, hooking her thumbs in her pockets and giving Ramiro a level stare. She wasn't sure exactly what he was playing at, but it was obviously more than just a hunt; if she could get him away from the boys, maybe she could try a little stake-point interrogation.
“<I don’t think so. We don’t need anything you’re offering.>” Ramiro rolled his shoulders and grinned. “<Luis, Gabriel? Time to learn how to fight.>”
Luis gave Ramiro a startled, uncertain look, but Gabriel, the one with the knife, tucked his candy into his pocket and scowled. “<I’m ready.>”
“<You don’t have to do this,>” Oz said to Gabriel, standing his ground. “<We can get you away from him.>”
Gabriel made a little slash in the air with his knife. “<Back the fuck off, Americano.>”
Ramiro was still grinning wide. The skinny little vampire was insane if he thought he could take on two Slayers, not to mention a werewolf. Kennedy was just worried about the two boys getting scared off by the fight; she wanted to know everything Ramiro had told them. “<Hey Ramiro,>” she said. “<What’s your plan? Hide behind the children till we get bored and go home?>”
Ramiro met her mocking with a look of cool fury. “<Not exactly.>” He lifted one hand over his head and snapped his fingers twice. “<Meet the children of Sao Paulo.>”
A clatter overhead gave just seconds of warning. Kennedy looked up and saw four—no, five—no, six ragged children clearing the edge of the building above them, jumping down into the alley. They were all in vamp face.
Buffy had a stake in her hand. “Hey, Kennedy? I haven’t exactly been following the dialogue. Are we ready to start slaying?”
It was a rhetorical question. She spun around before she even finished her question, and punched a girl-vampire that was rushing her from behind.
They were surrounded. A couple of the new vampires had landed between Kennedy’s group and the fence, while the rest filled the mouth of the alley. The two human boys were trapped as well, and Kennedy made a quick call. “Oz, get the boys out of here. Buffy and I will dust these vamplets.” Oz would have to change before he could fight at full strength, and the last thing they needed right now was to confuse Gabriel and Luis by blurring the line between demons and rescuers.
A vamp grabbed Kennedy’s shoulder bag and nearly yanked her off-balance. Kennedy grabbed the stake she’d had tucked at the small of her back and tried to plunge it into the little vampire’s chest. The vampire dodged her strike, letting go of the bag. Kennedy pulled the strap off over her head and threw the bag at another vampire to distract him.
A quick glance told her that Oz wasn’t going to be able to get the human boys out of the way without some help. There were three vampires converging on him—and then another two jumped down from a rooftop a few feet away. Jesus Christ, how many mini-vamps were they going to have to fight? Buffy was fending off three of them herself, including Ramiro. Kennedy was distracted for a moment by the sheer grace of Buffy’s fighting. There might be hundreds of Slayers in the world right now, but Buffy was still the Slayer—the oldest, the strongest, the best. Damn it. Two of Buffy’s opponents exploded into dust almost simultaneously, but Ramiro caught her with a spin-kick before she could make it three-for-three. Then Kennedy had to duck fast to avoid a glass bottle another vamp threw at her face. It shattered against the brick wall behind her and the glass crunched under her feet when she backed away. This was why she wore fucking army boots. “Watch for the glass!” she called out to Buffy, and then spun around and finally staked the little beast that had thrown it. Another puff of dust meant one vampire less, but three more had just jumped down from roof-level to join the fight.
Oz had the two human boys behind him, between him and the wall, and he was fending off attacks from all sides with a broomstick he’d picked up off the ground. He was still fully human—he wouldn’t want to go wolfy in front of the boys. “Little help here?” he called out to Kennedy.
Kennedy started to go to him. A pint-sized vampire got in her way, a little girl with pigtails and yellow eyes. Kennedy seized the girl by the shoulders and, ignoring the raking of fingernails down her arms, tossed her aside. Behind Oz, the two human boys looked terrified. Gabriel was still clutching his little knife, not that it would do him any good against a vampire. Oz managed to plunge the jagged broken end of the broomstick into the chest of one of his attackers. The vampire went poof. Behind Oz, Gabriel darted forward with his knife and—and plunged it into Oz’s back.
Fuck.
Oz stumbled forward, gasping. Kennedy got there in time to stake a vampire that was closing in on him. Gabriel, eyes wild, tried to stab her. Kennedy blocked the knife with her left hand and then caught the little bastard with a right hook, not holding anything back. He went down like a rag doll. Luis had flattened himself against the brick wall, looking like he didn’t know which way to run, and Oz had fallen to his knees. Buffy was holding off four vampires on her own, and two others were headed for Oz. Ramiro was hanging back from the fight now, watching it all with a shit-eating grin. Kennedy grabbed Oz’s arm and yanked him out of the way of a vampire’s kick. “Change, dammit!” she shouted at him, and then pushed him behind her so she could elbow the oncoming vampire in the face. It was one of the bigger ones, with the body of maybe a fifteen-year-old boy. Kennedy bloodied his nose and he came back at her with a roar. She ducked his first punch but the second one caught her hard; she absorbed the impact the best she could, blinking back tears. “Oz, change!”
Oz hunched forward and shuddered. Kennedy wasn’t sure if that was good or bad until she saw, with relief, dark fur sprouting all along the backs of his arms. Thank God. In his half-wolf form he was almost as strong as she was, and had healing powers closer to a vampire’s than to a human’s. He still might be messed up from the wound, but at least he could protect himself.
“Kennedy!” Buffy shouted from across the alley, sounding suddenly panicked. “What’s happening to Oz?!”
Kennedy realized she’d never got around to explaining Oz’s powers to Buffy. Crap. “Don’t worry!” she shouted back, fending off a vampire. “It’s under control.”
“He’s going all wolfy!”
“It’s okay!” Kennedy shouted back. She tried to stake the vampire but she missed, and it got her stake away from her. Fuck. And then Oz leapt at the vampire from behind and took it down. He and the vampire rolled over each other on the dirty ground, snarling and snapping. Kennedy spun around in time to save herself getting grabbed by the vampire whose nose she’d broken. She kicked him in the belly and backed off, trying to spot her stake. She saw Oz’s dropped broomstick first, and grabbed it.
They were down to five un-dusted vampires, and Ramiro wasn’t looking so happy anymore. “Ivo!” he shouted. The boy-vampire with the broken nose glanced back at him. “<Get the recruit out of here! Take him to Carlos!>”
Ivo spun and grabbed Luis by an arm. “<Come on!>” he said. With just one desperate backwards glance at the still form of his friend Gabriel, Luis let Ivo pull him towards the far side of the alley. Ivo got his hands under Luis’s feet and tossed the kid up onto the same roof that the vampires had jumped down from—just before Kennedy sent the broomstick into his back, javelin-style. The vampire dusted, and so did the broomstick.
“<Stay up there!>” Kennedy shouted to Luis. One way or another he was better off out of the fight, and after what his friend had done to Oz, she sure as hell didn’t want him at her back.
“Kennedy!” Buffy shouted. “On the fence!”
Ramiro had climbed up onto the fence that divided the alley. He paused there, balanced like a cat, just long enough to catch Kennedy’s eye. “<The children of Sao Paulo are coming for you,>” he said, unconcerned as she sprinted towards him. “<You haven’t won.>” She grabbed for his feet but he jumped away, doing a full flip up onto the roof where Luis was waiting.
Biting back a curse, Kennedy spun back around for a status check. Buffy was fighting just one vampire now, a girl who looked like she was dressed for the Miss Slutty Teenage Vampire pageant in painted-on jeans and a halter top. Oz and the last vampire were still going at it; without a stake, Oz wouldn’t be able to dust the vampire, but he could hold his own until Buffy was free to help. Kennedy turned back to the fence and hoisted herself up, and then did a careful run along the narrow board to the edge of the building. She jumped high enough to catch the roof’s edge with her fingers, and then pulled herself up fast in case anybody—anything—was waiting for her.
She was alone on the tar-paper roof. She did a quick 360, looking for her prey. There were no streetlights up here, but the full moon gave enough light for her to catch two figures climbing up onto a slightly higher building, fifty feet away.
The full moon. Fuck. She’d forgotten about that. It would make Oz stronger, which was good, but it would also make it a lot harder for him to stay in control of the change—especially since he was hurt.
Kennedy took one more look at the fleeing vampire and his—victim? friend? whatever—taking note of their direction. And then she went back to the roof’s edge and dropped into the alley.
The vampires were all gone. Buffy, who had a rip in her shirt but otherwise looked undamaged, was keeping herself a good ten feet from Oz. She wasn’t holding a weapon, but her guard was still up. Kennedy saw that Buffy had put herself between Oz and Gabriel, who was still lying on the ground. Oz was hunched over, growling and whimpering. He was further into the change than he had been before; his fingernails had gone completely to claw, and the fur covered most of his face.
Kennedy went straight to him. “Kennedy, be careful,” she heard Buffy saying behind her.
“It’s okay, he’s not going to hurt me,” Kennedy said. She touched Oz’s face, and he flinched. “It’s okay,” she said again, talking to him this time. She pitched her voice low, soothing. “You’re safe. I’m here.” He was trembling. She hoped this would work; she’d never tried to bring him back before when he was hurt and the moon was full. It would be better if Willow were here. Willow could reach right inside of his mind if she had to. Cautiously, Kennedy slipped her arms around him. She had to trust him, if she wanted him to trust her. “Shhhh, sweetie. It’s all right. Try to breathe slowly.”
He did as she told him. Kennedy tried to match the speed of her breathing to his, to help him with the calming meditation, though really she wanted to hold her breath until she knew for sure that he wouldn’t rip her throat out. She could hear Buffy moving, but she didn’t look up.
When it finally worked, it happened quickly. The coarse wolf hair retreated and the planes of Oz’s face shifted back into flat human features. His eyes gleamed yellow for just one moment longer, and then they were blue. “Thanks,” he croaked.
“Fuck, you scared me,” Kennedy whispered, and then she kissed him.
Oz kissed her back for just a moment before he pulled away. “Is Buffy okay?”
Buffy. Shit. Buffy wasn’t supposed to see them—Kennedy turned, still keeping an arm around Oz, and saw Buffy staring at them.
“Well, I was okay,” she said.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Kennedy said quickly. Which was a stupid thing to say, she realized even as the words were spilling out of her mouth, since it was pretty much exactly what it looked like, only more so.
“It looks like you’re cheating on my best friend,” Buffy said, her voice rising.
“Okay, it’s really not what it looks like,” Kennedy said, and then stopped, stuck, because she couldn’t explain any further without breaking her promise to Willow. “Help me out here...” she begged Oz under her breath.
“Let’s talk about this when I’m not bleeding,” Oz suggested levelly.
“Oh God.” Kennedy couldn’t believe she’d forgotten for a moment that he was hurt. “Turn around, let me see.”
“Wait,” he put a hand on her arm. “What happened to the two boys?”
“Ramiro ran away with one of them,” Kennedy said. “The other one’s over there.”
“He’s breathing,” Buffy added. “We have to get him to a hospital or something. It doesn’t look like any of them bit him.”
“No kidding,” Kennedy said. “I’m the one who knocked him out.”
Buffy looked at her, shocked. “But he’s human. I felt his pulse.”
“Yeah, that didn’t stop him from stabbing Oz in the back.” Kennedy glared down at the kid. The knife was still lying not far from his hand. “I think we should leave him here for the fucking vampires.”
“Hey! How was he supposed to know that Oz was a good werewolf?” Buffy said. Oz, meanwhile, had gently disentangled himself from Kennedy and was limping towards Gabriel. Buffy made an incomplete move to stop him, but then apparently decided that even if Kennedy had gone insane, Oz hadn’t. She stepped aside, and Oz knelt beside the boy.
“Oz was human when Gabriel stabbed him,” Kennedy said, clenching her fists. There was a dark wet spot the size of two spread hands on the back of Oz’s t-shirt.
Oz had pulled something out of his pocket—his key ring, which had a little LED flashlight on it. He pushed open Gabriel’s eyes and shone the light into them, one at a time. “He’s badly concussed,” he said. “He does need to go to a hospital.”
“Fuck him,” Kennedy said. “You need to go to a hospital.”
“Wait, why did that kid stab Oz?” Buffy asked, frustration edging into her voice. “I don’t understand what’s going on here, with them or with you, or—and Kennedy, we can’t leave a little boy for vampires to eat!”
“Why not?” Kennedy snapped. “It’s what he wanted. That’s what was going on here. That vampire was picking up recruits, and Gabriel was so eager to join the gang that he didn’t even wait to get turned first before he started trying to kill us.”
“And if we leave him for the vampires, they get one more killer on their side,” Oz pointed out. “One of you will have to carry him to the car. We can take him to the clinic where I work.”
Kennedy still felt her insides clenching when she looked at the boy, but Oz had a point. Plus, Oz could get treated at the clinic too. “Okay. Buffy, you carry Gabriel. If he wakes up, make sure he doesn’t try to, like, strangle you or something.” She lifted Oz’s arm over her shoulders and helped him stand up. He didn’t quite manage to stifle a gasp of pain, and Kennedy looked at him with real worry. “I can carry you, if you want.”
He leaned heavily against her, but shook his head. “There’ll be too many people around to see once we get out of the alley.”
Buffy picked up Gabriel. His long, skinny limbs dangled awkwardly, but he looked like he could be sleeping. She gave Kennedy a guarded look, and said, “Ready to go?”
There were going to be interesting discussions when they got back home, that was for sure. Fuck. For now, all that Kennedy cared about was getting her lover to safety. Willow wouldn’t be happy when she found out what Buffy had seen, but—fuck, Oz was bleeding. Nothing else was important right now. “Let’s go,” she said.
Continued in Chapter Ten
yourlibrarian for beta-reading, encouragement, help with the sticky bits, and lots of fun chat along the way!(By the way, when I checked to see when my last update had been, I realized that I never responded to most of the feedback on that chapter. I humbly apologize! I love comments very much, and certainly meant to answer them all. And I will—even if it is embarrassingly late, now!)
The details:
Title: That Good Night (part 9 of ?)
Rating: Still not sure. Definitely R; may go to NC-17.
Continuity info: This is the sixth story in the Fragments 'verse, fitting in immediately after Before the Time of Dawn. This story is set a couple of years post-NFA.
Summary: Spike is human and he's having problems. Meanwhile, Willow has just had a baby; Xander and Spike have traveled to Sao Paulo to see her, and so has Buffy.
Warnings: My posting schedule will probably continue to be erratic! If that's going to frustrate you hugely, you should probably wait until it's complete. Also, it's going to be dark. Possibly kinda depressing. Definitely angsty, h/c with lots of hurt. Character death will most definitely be threatened, and I'd rather not say what comes of it (though if you're terribly worried, ask me privately).
This update is about 5000 words; the total length now stands at about 30,700.
Previous parts are [here].
In case you need to refresh your memory:
Spike and Xander had just returned from the year 1999 (where they had rescued the Sisterhood of Jhe, saved the world, and had awkward encounters with the teenaged Scoobies) when they found out that Willow was having complications in childbirth and that her life was in danger. They rushed to Sao Paulo to see her. So did Buffy—who arrived at the airport at the same time as them, leading to an awkward initial reunion between her and Spike.
They were all greatly relieved to find that Willow was okay after all and that she and Kennedy were now mothers of a baby girl. Buffy and Xander were quite surprised to find out that Oz was the biological father and that he lived with Willow and Kennedy; Spike wasn't surprised at all, having found out all that several months previously when Willow and Kennedy took care of him after an illness.
The next evening, while everyone else was otherwise occupied, Buffy asked Spike to go out on patrol with her. He initially refused, since he wasn't feeling well, but changed his mind when Buffy explained that she was investigating the mysterious deaths of local children. Out on patrol, Buffy quickly revealed her not-very-hidden agenda by asking Spike why he'd hidden his resurrection from her. They talked it out, and things seemed to be going pretty well, until Spike thought he saw Dru in a crowd. Then the night went from bad to worse: they were caught in torrential rain, they got mugged, and Spike got shot in the arm. In the aftermath, Buffy tried to kiss Spike, which certainly made for an awkward moment for both of them. Meanwhile, Spike was finding it harder and harder to hide the fact that he was getting sick. Finally Buffy and Spike had to fight three child-vampires; Buffy couldn't bring herself to dust a vampire who looked like a six-year-old girl, so Spike did it for her. Having helped her, Spike finally admitted to Buffy that he needed help in turn.
They made it home, but Spike was very much worse for the wear. Xander didn't react well to the story of the night's adventures, and things were strained between him and Buffy—but with Oz around to keep everyone focused on the priorities, they got Spike warmed up and dried off. Xander wanted to take him to the hospital to get his bullet wound stitched up, but Oz revealed that he had sufficient medical training to do the stitches himself. He fixed Spike up while Spike and Buffy discussed their encounter with the child-vamps. Finally Spike's weariness overcame him and he fainted; Xander and Oz carried him to bed.
Later in the evening, Oz drew Xander aside and explained a bit more of his own recent history, including his apprenticeship with a local Spiritist healer. Based on his training and enhanced senses, Oz suspected that Spike had a serious undiagnosed illness. He advised that Spike should see a doctor as soon as possible. That night, Spike dreamed of Drusilla.
In the morning, Buffy and Xander talked, which didn’t go very well. Buffy’s pancakes, however, were reasonably successful, and Willow came home from the hospital with the new baby, Tara.
And now the story continues...
"This is it," Buffy said, nudging a piece of trash out of the way with her toe. "Right here, this is where I staked the smallest one." She looked up. "So, Oz? Can you, um, tell which way they came from?"
Kennedy rolled her eyes. For a chick who'd been dating the undead since she was sweet sixteen, Buffy was awfully delicate about some things. The three of them were going to have to have a serious talk before they found themselves any vamps to fight.
If Oz noticed Buffy's unease about bringing up his werewolf side, he didn't show it. "I can't track them by scent, no—not after all the rain."
"So we go hunting," Kennedy said. "And asking around. Those boys Spike talked to knew something, and he wasn't even sure what all they said. I bet other kids have heard things, too. We'll find out more tonight, no problem." She patted her shoulder bag, packed full of candy bars.
There were no children evident in the warehouse district, so the three of them headed for the nearby favela. At the narrow street that divided the two neighborhoods, Kennedy stopped them. "We should split up," she said. "Going in together, we'll scare the kids."
"I can't talk to anyone on my own," Buffy reminded her.
Kennedy nodded. "Right. You stay with me. Oz, try the next street over. If anything happens, signal me."
He nodded. "Give me some candy."
She opened her bag and let him dig out a couple of handfuls of sweet little bribes. "Be careful out there," she said for goodbye.
"You too," he said, his gaze taking in both of them.
As Oz walked away, Buffy turned to Kennedy. "What's the signal?"
In answer, Kennedy tugged on the leather cord that hung around her neck. "Pendant. Willow made them for us. If Oz triggers his, mine will get warm." Hot, actually—she'd felt it before. A sudden blaze of heat against the skin between her breasts. "He's out of sight now. Let's see if we can find some kids to talk to."
As they entered the favela proper, Buffy seemed distracted and uncomfortable. Kennedy wasn't sure what to read into it. The two of them had never been exactly easy with each other, not since Kennedy had first landed in Sunnydale and failed to be an obedient little girl. "Does it make you nervous?" she asked. "Walking into a slum?"
Buffy glared at her. "I was robbed at gunpoint a few blocks from here yesterday. Now I'm being Cautious Buffy."
"Cautious is good," Kennedy agreed. "Just try not to look quite so spooked."
"I'm not," Buffy insisted. "I've got stuff on my mind."
"Spike?" Kennedy guessed. Oz had given her a quick rundown of yesterday's events.
Buffy winced at the name. "I haven't seen him all day. Xander wouldn't let me."
Kennedy shrugged. "From what I heard, Xander's got a right to be pissed at you. Give it time."
"I am. You're the one who brought it up."
That wasn't exactly true, but Kennedy let it go. "Just try to keep your attention on the job we're doing, okay? Deal with the personal shit later."
Buffy stopped walking abruptly. "Kennedy, do you have a problem with me being here? I mean, do you think I'm, like, trespassing on your territory or something?"
"What? No." Kennedy frowned. "What are you getting at, Buffy?"
"Ever since I got here you've been acting like I'm getting on your last nerve just by breathing. So, hey, if you want me out of your way—I'm sure you and Oz can handle these mini-vamps. Now that we know that Willow's okay, I can go back to Rome."
Kennedy let out a slow breath. She knew that Buffy was right, and it was sort of embarrassing to get called on it. "Sorry. God, I'm sorry. Look, my girlfriend just had a baby. It's kind of been a stressful week."
"Right. Wow. I wasn't even thinking about that." Buffy looked a little sheepish, and Kennedy forced herself not to roll her eyes.
"It takes some getting used to,” Kennedy allowed. "You know, Willow was super happy to see you. And I'm glad you're here to help with the vamps. So if you think you can stand sticking around a bit longer, I'll try to act like less of a jerk."
With an easier feeling between them now, they went back to looking for children to talk to. Further up the street, a few young girls were playing jump-rope with a piece of actual yellow rope. The two girls turning the rope and the four waiting their turns were chanting a skipping rhyme, while the girl in the middle had her face set in concentration. Her bare feet hardly seemed to touch the ground. As the tempo of the other girls' chanting sped up, the repeated thwap of the rope hitting pavement edged towards staccatto, and the central girl's face grew flushed. Finally she fumbled, and stopped, laughing, with the rope tangled around her legs.
When Kennedy walked up to them the girls looked her over, wary and curious. The oldest of them looked maybe ten. She didn't think any of them were street kids—none of them had that haunted, hungry look—but they might've heard rumors. And she was sure they could be bought with candy.
"<Hey,>" she said, stopping just a little ways off. Non-threatening. She held up a piece of the candy she'd brought, and tossed it in a gentle arc to the first girl who looked up and caught her eye. "<Kids have been disappearing,>" she said. "<We're looking for them. Have you heard anything?>"
The girls glanced at each other and giggled shyly. The one who'd caught the candy bar said "<Kids disappear all the time. Grownups don't care. Who are you?>"
"What's she saying?" Buffy asked quietly.
Kennedy shook her head quickly. "Later," she whispered in English. Then, in Portuguese again, "<I'm someone who cares. Where do the kids disappear? Do you know anyone who's gone?>"
The lead girl shrugged, but one of the others, behind her, looked like she wanted to say something. Kennedy gave her an encouraging smile.
"<Catarina disappeared,>" the girl said quietly. She was a skinny little thing in a ragged blue t-shirt and grimy white shorts, hiding half behind the taller, more outspoken girl. "<She used to sell mangos. I saw her almost every day, except last week she wasn't there anymore.>"
"<Do you know where she lived? Did she have parents?>"
The shy girl shook her head, but one of the others spoke up. "<She probably lived in the Hotel.>"
"<What's that?>"
The first girl, the one with the candy clutched in her hand, tilted her chin up and said with an air of authority, "<It's where the street kids live. You can't go in there but I did, one time, and there was a boy with a knife.>"
That sounded like a better lead than anything they had yet. "<Can you take me there?>" Kennedy asked.
"<Sure,>" the girl said.
"Leticia," the girl in the blue t-shirt said, tugging at Leticia's arm, "<You can't go there. Mamae will beat you.>"
Leticia rolled her eyes at the younger girl—her little sister, apparently. "<You won't tell her.>"
"<It's okay, I don't want you to get in trouble,>" Kennedy said. "<How about you just tell me where the Hotel is? I have some paper, maybe you can draw a map.>" She wasn't certain the girl would be able to make anything legible, but she didn't want to risk bringing her into danger if they did find the vampires.
The other girls crowded around to watch Leticia draw her map. It was a group effort; the girls called out suggestions and corrections, and fell over each other giggling with the hilarity of their activity. "<Draw Stinky Pele, he's always at the corner!>" urged a girl with her hair in corn rows. Kennedy handed out candy to all of the girls, and Buffy smiled awkwardly when they glanced curiously at her.
Leticia's map was surprisingly accurate, not to mention up-to-date. "What happens if we come back tomorrow and the dead cat is gone?" Buffy asked, keeping her distance from one of the landmarks Leticia had drawn on their path.
Kennedy wrinkled her nose. "Don't worry, I think the flies will still mark the spot."
Their path as marked on the map had a strong resemblance to a scavenger hunt. After the cat, there was the broken red chair, the palm tree with a pair of sneakers hanging from it, and the ten-foot-high graffiti Jesus ... and then they finally came to the Hotel.
It was a two-storey wooden building with boarded-up windows. A faded sign over the door proclaimed it a hotel, to which someone had added in spray paint "Inferno"—Hell's Hotel.
"Swanky," Buffy said, eyeing the peeling facade. "Should we call Oz before we go in?"
Kennedy was about say yes, but she felt a sudden flash of heat against the skin between her breasts. "Change of plans," she said, yanking the leather cord out from under her shirt. "We're going to him." She squeezed the amulet and closed her eyes. Opening her mind the way Willow had taught her, she got a sense of distance and direction. That was enough. "Follow me!"
In following Leticia's map, they'd wandered a long way from Oz. Now Kennedy sprinted down the tight, twisty streets of the favela, hoping they weren't too far away to help. There was no way to tell whether Oz was in serious trouble until they reached him. Kennedy could hear Buffy following close behind her. Their footsteps echoed in a concrete alley, a fast two-layered rhythm made of stylish hard-soled shoes and old army boots. There was a fence to jump at the end of the alley, and Buffy cleared it right behind Kennedy.
They both nearly landed on top of Oz.
"Hi," he said mildly in English, taking a step back to give them room to get to their feet. "Good response time. Catch your breath."
He wasn't alone. There were three boys; two of them had fallen back, startled, at the girls' arrival, but the third continued to lounge unconcerned against a rusty old stove. He took a drag from the cigarette he was holding and then offered it to Oz. "<You know these bitches?>" he asked in Portuguese, totally casual like they'd just met each other at a club. He was a few inches taller than Oz, and gangly in that just-hit-puberty kind of way.
"<My girlfriend,>" Oz said, breathing out smoke. "<And her cousin from America.>" The smoke was pungent—pot, not tobacco.
Kennedy took the joint when Oz handed it to her, and did as he'd done—took a quick breath in and then let it go before there was time for much effect. The stuff tasted harsh. "<Hi,>" she said to the boy, and draped an arm over Oz's shoulders. That got a funny look from Buffy, so Kennedy offered her the joint, saying in English, "Just play along till we know what's happening."
Buffy wrinkled her nose and backed away like the thing was going to bite her. "Are you kidding? Yuck."
Kennedy shrugged and handed it back to the boy. The other two, who were younger and more scraggly looking, had regained enough confidence to edge back into the circle. They were both clutching handfuls of Oz's candy bars.
The older boy flipped his too-long hair out of his eyes and gave Kennedy a suspicious look before taking another hit, and then turned back to Oz. "<You never answered my question. What do you care about missing street kids?>"
"<I work at a free clinic near here,>" Oz said. "<Kids disappear, we want to know why.>" Then he turned to Buffy. "The biggest one is a vampire," he said, cucumber-cool.
"No kidding," Buffy said, all dry and unimpressed like she'd known all along.
"Right," Kennedy agreed, trying not to let her fingers twitch.
The older-looking boy, meanwhile, handed the joint to one of the younger ones and roughly tousled his hair. "<Hey, Luis. What do you think? What happens to the kids who disappear?>"
Luis took his share of the joint without choking. "<Fucking police,>" he said. "<I've seen them.>"
"<Me too,>" the other boy added. "<But we're gonna make those fucking pigs pay, next time they fuck with one of us.>" He pulled a knife out of his pocket and flicked the blade open, glowering like he'd been practicing in front of a mirror. "<Ramiro's gonna teach us how to fight.>"
"<That's right, I am,>" said the older boy, the vampire. He gave Kennedy and Buffy a sideways glance, the tip of his tongue sliding along the edge of his teeth, and Kennedy got a prickle down her spine. He knows what we are. She was sure of it. From the way Buffy shifted her stance ever so slightly, she seemed to have come to the same conclusion without understanding a word they were saying.
Oz, meanwhile, was focused on the boy with the knife. "<Do you have a safe place to sleep tonight?>" he asked.
Ramiro tossed the stub of the joint to the ground and crushed it under his heel. "<They'll be safe with me.>"
"<Hey, how about we step around the corner and talk about this?>" Kennedy offered, hooking her thumbs in her pockets and giving Ramiro a level stare. She wasn't sure exactly what he was playing at, but it was obviously more than just a hunt; if she could get him away from the boys, maybe she could try a little stake-point interrogation.
“<I don’t think so. We don’t need anything you’re offering.>” Ramiro rolled his shoulders and grinned. “<Luis, Gabriel? Time to learn how to fight.>”
Luis gave Ramiro a startled, uncertain look, but Gabriel, the one with the knife, tucked his candy into his pocket and scowled. “<I’m ready.>”
“<You don’t have to do this,>” Oz said to Gabriel, standing his ground. “<We can get you away from him.>”
Gabriel made a little slash in the air with his knife. “<Back the fuck off, Americano.>”
Ramiro was still grinning wide. The skinny little vampire was insane if he thought he could take on two Slayers, not to mention a werewolf. Kennedy was just worried about the two boys getting scared off by the fight; she wanted to know everything Ramiro had told them. “<Hey Ramiro,>” she said. “<What’s your plan? Hide behind the children till we get bored and go home?>”
Ramiro met her mocking with a look of cool fury. “<Not exactly.>” He lifted one hand over his head and snapped his fingers twice. “<Meet the children of Sao Paulo.>”
A clatter overhead gave just seconds of warning. Kennedy looked up and saw four—no, five—no, six ragged children clearing the edge of the building above them, jumping down into the alley. They were all in vamp face.
Buffy had a stake in her hand. “Hey, Kennedy? I haven’t exactly been following the dialogue. Are we ready to start slaying?”
It was a rhetorical question. She spun around before she even finished her question, and punched a girl-vampire that was rushing her from behind.
They were surrounded. A couple of the new vampires had landed between Kennedy’s group and the fence, while the rest filled the mouth of the alley. The two human boys were trapped as well, and Kennedy made a quick call. “Oz, get the boys out of here. Buffy and I will dust these vamplets.” Oz would have to change before he could fight at full strength, and the last thing they needed right now was to confuse Gabriel and Luis by blurring the line between demons and rescuers.
A vamp grabbed Kennedy’s shoulder bag and nearly yanked her off-balance. Kennedy grabbed the stake she’d had tucked at the small of her back and tried to plunge it into the little vampire’s chest. The vampire dodged her strike, letting go of the bag. Kennedy pulled the strap off over her head and threw the bag at another vampire to distract him.
A quick glance told her that Oz wasn’t going to be able to get the human boys out of the way without some help. There were three vampires converging on him—and then another two jumped down from a rooftop a few feet away. Jesus Christ, how many mini-vamps were they going to have to fight? Buffy was fending off three of them herself, including Ramiro. Kennedy was distracted for a moment by the sheer grace of Buffy’s fighting. There might be hundreds of Slayers in the world right now, but Buffy was still the Slayer—the oldest, the strongest, the best. Damn it. Two of Buffy’s opponents exploded into dust almost simultaneously, but Ramiro caught her with a spin-kick before she could make it three-for-three. Then Kennedy had to duck fast to avoid a glass bottle another vamp threw at her face. It shattered against the brick wall behind her and the glass crunched under her feet when she backed away. This was why she wore fucking army boots. “Watch for the glass!” she called out to Buffy, and then spun around and finally staked the little beast that had thrown it. Another puff of dust meant one vampire less, but three more had just jumped down from roof-level to join the fight.
Oz had the two human boys behind him, between him and the wall, and he was fending off attacks from all sides with a broomstick he’d picked up off the ground. He was still fully human—he wouldn’t want to go wolfy in front of the boys. “Little help here?” he called out to Kennedy.
Kennedy started to go to him. A pint-sized vampire got in her way, a little girl with pigtails and yellow eyes. Kennedy seized the girl by the shoulders and, ignoring the raking of fingernails down her arms, tossed her aside. Behind Oz, the two human boys looked terrified. Gabriel was still clutching his little knife, not that it would do him any good against a vampire. Oz managed to plunge the jagged broken end of the broomstick into the chest of one of his attackers. The vampire went poof. Behind Oz, Gabriel darted forward with his knife and—and plunged it into Oz’s back.
Fuck.
Oz stumbled forward, gasping. Kennedy got there in time to stake a vampire that was closing in on him. Gabriel, eyes wild, tried to stab her. Kennedy blocked the knife with her left hand and then caught the little bastard with a right hook, not holding anything back. He went down like a rag doll. Luis had flattened himself against the brick wall, looking like he didn’t know which way to run, and Oz had fallen to his knees. Buffy was holding off four vampires on her own, and two others were headed for Oz. Ramiro was hanging back from the fight now, watching it all with a shit-eating grin. Kennedy grabbed Oz’s arm and yanked him out of the way of a vampire’s kick. “Change, dammit!” she shouted at him, and then pushed him behind her so she could elbow the oncoming vampire in the face. It was one of the bigger ones, with the body of maybe a fifteen-year-old boy. Kennedy bloodied his nose and he came back at her with a roar. She ducked his first punch but the second one caught her hard; she absorbed the impact the best she could, blinking back tears. “Oz, change!”
Oz hunched forward and shuddered. Kennedy wasn’t sure if that was good or bad until she saw, with relief, dark fur sprouting all along the backs of his arms. Thank God. In his half-wolf form he was almost as strong as she was, and had healing powers closer to a vampire’s than to a human’s. He still might be messed up from the wound, but at least he could protect himself.
“Kennedy!” Buffy shouted from across the alley, sounding suddenly panicked. “What’s happening to Oz?!”
Kennedy realized she’d never got around to explaining Oz’s powers to Buffy. Crap. “Don’t worry!” she shouted back, fending off a vampire. “It’s under control.”
“He’s going all wolfy!”
“It’s okay!” Kennedy shouted back. She tried to stake the vampire but she missed, and it got her stake away from her. Fuck. And then Oz leapt at the vampire from behind and took it down. He and the vampire rolled over each other on the dirty ground, snarling and snapping. Kennedy spun around in time to save herself getting grabbed by the vampire whose nose she’d broken. She kicked him in the belly and backed off, trying to spot her stake. She saw Oz’s dropped broomstick first, and grabbed it.
They were down to five un-dusted vampires, and Ramiro wasn’t looking so happy anymore. “Ivo!” he shouted. The boy-vampire with the broken nose glanced back at him. “<Get the recruit out of here! Take him to Carlos!>”
Ivo spun and grabbed Luis by an arm. “<Come on!>” he said. With just one desperate backwards glance at the still form of his friend Gabriel, Luis let Ivo pull him towards the far side of the alley. Ivo got his hands under Luis’s feet and tossed the kid up onto the same roof that the vampires had jumped down from—just before Kennedy sent the broomstick into his back, javelin-style. The vampire dusted, and so did the broomstick.
“<Stay up there!>” Kennedy shouted to Luis. One way or another he was better off out of the fight, and after what his friend had done to Oz, she sure as hell didn’t want him at her back.
“Kennedy!” Buffy shouted. “On the fence!”
Ramiro had climbed up onto the fence that divided the alley. He paused there, balanced like a cat, just long enough to catch Kennedy’s eye. “<The children of Sao Paulo are coming for you,>” he said, unconcerned as she sprinted towards him. “<You haven’t won.>” She grabbed for his feet but he jumped away, doing a full flip up onto the roof where Luis was waiting.
Biting back a curse, Kennedy spun back around for a status check. Buffy was fighting just one vampire now, a girl who looked like she was dressed for the Miss Slutty Teenage Vampire pageant in painted-on jeans and a halter top. Oz and the last vampire were still going at it; without a stake, Oz wouldn’t be able to dust the vampire, but he could hold his own until Buffy was free to help. Kennedy turned back to the fence and hoisted herself up, and then did a careful run along the narrow board to the edge of the building. She jumped high enough to catch the roof’s edge with her fingers, and then pulled herself up fast in case anybody—anything—was waiting for her.
She was alone on the tar-paper roof. She did a quick 360, looking for her prey. There were no streetlights up here, but the full moon gave enough light for her to catch two figures climbing up onto a slightly higher building, fifty feet away.
The full moon. Fuck. She’d forgotten about that. It would make Oz stronger, which was good, but it would also make it a lot harder for him to stay in control of the change—especially since he was hurt.
Kennedy took one more look at the fleeing vampire and his—victim? friend? whatever—taking note of their direction. And then she went back to the roof’s edge and dropped into the alley.
The vampires were all gone. Buffy, who had a rip in her shirt but otherwise looked undamaged, was keeping herself a good ten feet from Oz. She wasn’t holding a weapon, but her guard was still up. Kennedy saw that Buffy had put herself between Oz and Gabriel, who was still lying on the ground. Oz was hunched over, growling and whimpering. He was further into the change than he had been before; his fingernails had gone completely to claw, and the fur covered most of his face.
Kennedy went straight to him. “Kennedy, be careful,” she heard Buffy saying behind her.
“It’s okay, he’s not going to hurt me,” Kennedy said. She touched Oz’s face, and he flinched. “It’s okay,” she said again, talking to him this time. She pitched her voice low, soothing. “You’re safe. I’m here.” He was trembling. She hoped this would work; she’d never tried to bring him back before when he was hurt and the moon was full. It would be better if Willow were here. Willow could reach right inside of his mind if she had to. Cautiously, Kennedy slipped her arms around him. She had to trust him, if she wanted him to trust her. “Shhhh, sweetie. It’s all right. Try to breathe slowly.”
He did as she told him. Kennedy tried to match the speed of her breathing to his, to help him with the calming meditation, though really she wanted to hold her breath until she knew for sure that he wouldn’t rip her throat out. She could hear Buffy moving, but she didn’t look up.
When it finally worked, it happened quickly. The coarse wolf hair retreated and the planes of Oz’s face shifted back into flat human features. His eyes gleamed yellow for just one moment longer, and then they were blue. “Thanks,” he croaked.
“Fuck, you scared me,” Kennedy whispered, and then she kissed him.
Oz kissed her back for just a moment before he pulled away. “Is Buffy okay?”
Buffy. Shit. Buffy wasn’t supposed to see them—Kennedy turned, still keeping an arm around Oz, and saw Buffy staring at them.
“Well, I was okay,” she said.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Kennedy said quickly. Which was a stupid thing to say, she realized even as the words were spilling out of her mouth, since it was pretty much exactly what it looked like, only more so.
“It looks like you’re cheating on my best friend,” Buffy said, her voice rising.
“Okay, it’s really not what it looks like,” Kennedy said, and then stopped, stuck, because she couldn’t explain any further without breaking her promise to Willow. “Help me out here...” she begged Oz under her breath.
“Let’s talk about this when I’m not bleeding,” Oz suggested levelly.
“Oh God.” Kennedy couldn’t believe she’d forgotten for a moment that he was hurt. “Turn around, let me see.”
“Wait,” he put a hand on her arm. “What happened to the two boys?”
“Ramiro ran away with one of them,” Kennedy said. “The other one’s over there.”
“He’s breathing,” Buffy added. “We have to get him to a hospital or something. It doesn’t look like any of them bit him.”
“No kidding,” Kennedy said. “I’m the one who knocked him out.”
Buffy looked at her, shocked. “But he’s human. I felt his pulse.”
“Yeah, that didn’t stop him from stabbing Oz in the back.” Kennedy glared down at the kid. The knife was still lying not far from his hand. “I think we should leave him here for the fucking vampires.”
“Hey! How was he supposed to know that Oz was a good werewolf?” Buffy said. Oz, meanwhile, had gently disentangled himself from Kennedy and was limping towards Gabriel. Buffy made an incomplete move to stop him, but then apparently decided that even if Kennedy had gone insane, Oz hadn’t. She stepped aside, and Oz knelt beside the boy.
“Oz was human when Gabriel stabbed him,” Kennedy said, clenching her fists. There was a dark wet spot the size of two spread hands on the back of Oz’s t-shirt.
Oz had pulled something out of his pocket—his key ring, which had a little LED flashlight on it. He pushed open Gabriel’s eyes and shone the light into them, one at a time. “He’s badly concussed,” he said. “He does need to go to a hospital.”
“Fuck him,” Kennedy said. “You need to go to a hospital.”
“Wait, why did that kid stab Oz?” Buffy asked, frustration edging into her voice. “I don’t understand what’s going on here, with them or with you, or—and Kennedy, we can’t leave a little boy for vampires to eat!”
“Why not?” Kennedy snapped. “It’s what he wanted. That’s what was going on here. That vampire was picking up recruits, and Gabriel was so eager to join the gang that he didn’t even wait to get turned first before he started trying to kill us.”
“And if we leave him for the vampires, they get one more killer on their side,” Oz pointed out. “One of you will have to carry him to the car. We can take him to the clinic where I work.”
Kennedy still felt her insides clenching when she looked at the boy, but Oz had a point. Plus, Oz could get treated at the clinic too. “Okay. Buffy, you carry Gabriel. If he wakes up, make sure he doesn’t try to, like, strangle you or something.” She lifted Oz’s arm over her shoulders and helped him stand up. He didn’t quite manage to stifle a gasp of pain, and Kennedy looked at him with real worry. “I can carry you, if you want.”
He leaned heavily against her, but shook his head. “There’ll be too many people around to see once we get out of the alley.”
Buffy picked up Gabriel. His long, skinny limbs dangled awkwardly, but he looked like he could be sleeping. She gave Kennedy a guarded look, and said, “Ready to go?”
There were going to be interesting discussions when they got back home, that was for sure. Fuck. For now, all that Kennedy cared about was getting her lover to safety. Willow wouldn’t be happy when she found out what Buffy had seen, but—fuck, Oz was bleeding. Nothing else was important right now. “Let’s go,” she said.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-15 01:04 pm (UTC)I really, really want to know what's behind that and it's so realistic. Those poor kids!
And I still feel bad for poor Buffy. She's doing her best. I thing it's time someone apart from Spike cut her some slack.
Also - you made Kennedy very likeable. Go, you!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 03:19 am (UTC)looks to me like Oz and Willow's baby isn't the product of donor sperm after all
You're a very perceptive woman, you are.
And I still feel bad for poor Buffy.
I'm glad, because really I want you to like all the characters, even when they don't like each other! Speaking of which ...
Also - you made Kennedy very likeable. Go, you!
That's good to hear! Part of the reason for the two month posting gap between Sock Puppet and this chapter was the difficulty I had getting a handle on Kennedy's voice. I honestly don't know if there'll be another chapter from her POV, but I'm glad I was able to get this one in.
So, to sum up, thanks very much for the feedback!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 12:48 pm (UTC)You've managed that second thing beautifully, however. She's feisty and decisive but not annoying and not stupid. In fact, she's probably a good deal more intelligent than poor Buffy (who I still feel terribly sorry for).
Good job fleshing out a character who was so broadly drawn in the show that she's not much more than a cipher.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-15 02:34 pm (UTC)That Good Night 9
Date: 2007-01-15 03:47 pm (UTC)Poor Oz, trying to protect the boys and getting stabbed. Ow. And especially with a new baby at home, that's all any of them need to worry about -- a sick friend, a new baby, and now an injury too.
I hope Spike's gotten to the clinic too -- or is it day light yet? I've lost track.
Got a chance of another update a litter sooner? :-) The rehash at the beginning is very helpful, but it's an easy story to pick up on too.
Re: That Good Night 9
Date: 2007-01-16 03:33 am (UTC)My plan is to follow up with another chapter relatively quickly. Within the month, anyway! *g*
I hope Spike's gotten to the clinic too -- or is it day light yet? I've lost track.
The events in this chapter happen about 24 hours after Buffy and Spike's disastrous patrol. (And the pancakes chapter happened in between.) The doctor visit hasn't happened yet.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-15 03:52 pm (UTC)Great chapter all around. The baby vamps are creepy and sad.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 03:43 am (UTC)Thanks for commenting!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-15 05:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 03:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-15 06:04 pm (UTC)Julia, and YAY for the update, a million times yay! (Can I say that to a math professor?)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 03:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-15 07:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 03:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-15 07:40 pm (UTC)Chrissie
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 04:05 am (UTC)Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed learning more about Willow, Kennedy and Oz!
Thanks for commenting! (Also: new journal?)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 09:16 pm (UTC)Chrissie
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-15 07:44 pm (UTC)And I love the way you've written Buffy in this fic. She reminds me of old high school Buffy for some reason. She just seems very out of her element in a different country, with all of her friends all grown up and changed, and I just love the way she's written.
So, are updates going to be a little more frequent now? :) And how's the Sock Puppet commentary going? I'm looking forward to reading that...
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 04:11 am (UTC)Thanks so much for the feedback!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 01:25 am (UTC)That would be an interesting threesome.
My guess the newly reunited friends are going to be hanging together for the foreseeable future.
i hope they can figure out what's wrong with Spike, I'm worried about him.
Sami
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 04:16 am (UTC)Yup, it's a big old sleepover!
That would be an interesting threesome.
I'm glad you think so. *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 04:47 am (UTC)The imagery you created is so descriptive, I feel like I have a very vivid picture of this area of San Paulo, and of the children that the crew talked to.
And the kiddie vamps! The recruitment angle is really intriguing. The lives of these children must be very desolate to foster that possibility.
As far as Willow/Kennedy + Oz - I SO did not see that coming (if that is, indeed, what's coming). I am looking forward to seeing how everything plays out with everyone so exposed and vulnerable with regards to one another.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-17 03:53 am (UTC)Thanks so much for commenting!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-16 06:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-17 03:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-17 04:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-17 04:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-19 01:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-20 09:18 pm (UTC)I'm glad you're enjoying it.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-20 10:30 pm (UTC)She got the short end of the deal here, and Kennedy's non-understanding of that fact irritates me. I've never understood Kennedy's dislike and judgemental attitude of Buffy. What I do like about her? That she's absolutely on board with taking care of Willow AND Oz. That she worked her way over to him without even thinking about it. And that she recognized her own attitude problems with Buffy. That was a cool moment for her.
I do think Willow, Oz, and Kennedy need to talk to Buffy about what's goin on between them if they want her to continue to help. Secrets among the scoobs is never good.
LOVED the fight. Loved the Slayers just takin' care of business. Love the coolness of Oz telling them that the big guy was a vamp, and Buffy's nonchalant response: "no kidding." She's a cool customer, Buffy, when there's slayin' that needs to be done. LOVE that.
Glad to see an update to this. Now. What's happenin' with Spike and Xander?!?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-21 01:16 am (UTC)Oh, for sure. They should've told her ahead of time about how Oz might change during the fight.
Secrets among the scoobs is never good.
No kidding! Rest assured, they can't keep all these secrets from each other for much longer....
What's happenin' with Spike and Xander?!?
Hee. Yeah. The next chapter will come much more quickly than this one, I promise, and they'll be in it!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-21 02:13 pm (UTC)You have no idea how bloody happy I am to see this story picked up again. I've been pining for it... lol.
Thanks for a fantastic chapter and I honestly hope that this is just the start of a super writing spree.
:)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-21 03:58 pm (UTC)Thanks so much for commenting!
(I'm working on the next chapter now.)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-21 03:40 pm (UTC)I'm glad that Kennedy was at least aware of some of the unfairness in the way Buffy was being treated, and I'm amazed that I ended up liking her. I tend to give all the characters but Kennedy a lot of slack. I had already made assumptions about Oz with her and Willow, but could see why Buffy was surprised. She's clearly been in the dark about much that's going on with her friends, and I have the feeling that it's not because she's being deliberately obtuse. They all need to cut her some slack (I loved the bit when Kennedy acknowledged that Buffy was the better fighter. Maybe this will lead to further insights about Buffy? Maybe?), and tell her what's going on, instead of being angry when she doesn't know. I realize they're all very stressed, but even so, they're acting in a very childish manner. (This ranty comment appears to be a continuation of my last one...)
Still worried about Spike...
I love the precision and the detail--fight scenes usually bore me, but you had my attention for the entire thing, and the sense of place is amazing. The vamplets are very creepy, and I'm amazed that I got a sense of individuals, even as they were being dusted.
Looking forward to more, whenever that may be.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-21 08:53 pm (UTC)I have the feeling that it's not because she's being deliberately obtuse.
It's true. They've all drifted apart, and things are being deliberately kept from Buffy.
I really enjoy hearing your insights about all the characters' behaviour. :)
I'm also quite pleased that you liked the fight scene!
Thanks for the feedback.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-21 09:24 pm (UTC)It's rainkatt13 AT gmail DOT com.
Thanks for offering!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-21 09:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-21 09:57 pm (UTC)This is just so amazingly good -- I love how you are handling the interactions between all the characters, not just the shippy bits. I actually, especially like Buffy in this bit. I feel almost bad for her, and yet respect her a lot and she's just the Buffy I know and love, I guess.
Of course, I'm also adoring Xander's rage at her and his protectiveness over Spike. The way he gets about Spike hits my protectiveness kink big time. And Spike, oh my. You've made me really frightened about what's going to happen to him -- absolutely lovely suspense.
I hope you don't mind if I friend you.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-21 10:08 pm (UTC)I'm really glad to know you're liking the story, and it's fun for me to know what stood out for you. Thanks for the feedback!