The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes

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three

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The priest is really pissing her off big time now.

He's attacked a girl -- a Potential that came to Sunnydale to seek safe haven with Buffy. That bastard has branded the girl. Shannon, her name is. She's sustaining injuries that coincide with multiple things -- a mugging, and a car accident. The brand on her neck, the wound in her belly, the fact that she seems to have taken a tumble from a car...

Buffy knows better. The priest did it. This Caleb fucker burned Shannon. Burned her, and stabbed her, and then threw her from a car. He's hurt someone who was coming to her for protection. And he'll pay for that alone.

Poor Shannon is lying in the hospital from injuries, and Buffy has to go see her, has to talk to her, only Willow says she doesn't need to right then because the red-haired witch is staying with the girl while... the other comes here. This only means that Buffy has to leave the house to see Shannon even more, to talk with the girl more, to --

Buffy's eyes narrow as she once again zeros in on the one face that she wishes she didn't have to see.

Have to take Spike WITH me, she thinks.

Supposedly something big is going down in Los Angeles. Her ex's team has even gone so far as to busting the bitch out of jail.

Did Willow really need to bring her back here, though?

Once bitten, twice shy was the saying. Well, Faith has bitten Buffy quite a few times over the years. Near-deaths, murders, plots for world domination, and, oh yeah, macking on Buffy's boyfriends. Not to mention the fact that Faith attacked Spike out of no where in that damn cemetery... Well, okay, not no where, Buffy's mind reluctantly complies. After all, she didn't know that Spike was all with the soul having... She doesn't know how he's changed.

So perhaps Buffy is being a little prejudiced in her opinion of Faith. After all, she hasn't seen the other Slayer for almost three years, and Faith's been in jail that entire time. Maybe things were different, maybe Faith was a better person now.

But then Buffy saw Faith eying Spike after his new White Hat status had been made clear.

And maybe Faith wasn't a murdering, lying, life-stealing bitch, but despite the fact that it was glaringly clear how much of an item Buffy and Spike were, it didn't seem like the boyfriend stealing aspect had gone anywhere.

Ergo, fear of jail-free bitch macking on Spike, ergo Spike not being left even twenty feet in the general vicinity of Faith.

Not this fucking time.

She trusts Spike with everything that she is, with her own life -- Faith is going to have to work a hell of a lot harder to gain that trust that she flushed down the drain the minute she murdered the Deputy Mayor and boarded Mayor Wilkins' evil "I Wanna Rule The World" party train.

Okay, so she can be a grown-up -- so maybe they can use the extra help, what with all that's coming. But if Faith doesn't keep those grabby, cigarette smoking hands of hers the hell away from Spike, the world will once again be down to only one Chosen One. Maybe.

It's kind of hard to focus on specifics. Especially since Buffy isn't technically a Chosen One anymore.

It's because of Faith, though, that Buffy has been busy occupying Spike in their bedroom for the past eight hours.

"Fuck... oh fuck, right there. Yes, yes, oh bloody... Buffy, love, I... fuck, PLEASE!"

Spike's warbling is shaking the rafters down, he's so loud. Buffy smiles happily around his cock, sucking and licking like a woman starved, before pulling off and tilting her head down to taste the skin of his sac. His hips jerk upwards and he yelps loudly as she sucks one of his balls into her mouth, biting at the sensitive skin and worrying at the mark she's made.

Of all the marks that Buffy has placed on his body, Spike is the proudest of the hickey she's giving him now. Ironically, it's the one mark that he can't display in decent company, especially with his soul. They live with Buffy's baby sister, after all.

When she finally dives down on him once again, he blatantly roars out his pleasure, his hips thrusting upwards into her mouth desperately as she drinks him down. And when that silly, glazed look is gone from his eyes, he looks up at her, smiles, and flips her over, kissing her lips as he slides home inside of her.

Even now, in full-on Scooby company, Buffy smiles at the memory from last night. And because teasing Spike into arousal is tantamount to pure ecstasy -- or will at least lead to it -- she deliberately stares at his crotch, licking her lips.

Spike's body -- and the specific appendage she's directing her gaze at -- begins to twitch uncomfortably.

This brings her great joy.

Meanwhile, Andrew is running around wearing an apron and oven mitts and being a general nuisance whether or not he's actually trying to be. Willow is sitting practically on top of Kennedy's lap, they're so close. To add to Buffy's disgust with her "best friend," Kennedy's tongue -- and subsequently, her tongue ring -- seem to be getting very familiar with the witch's ear.

God, she hopes that she and Spike don't act as revolting as that in public. In private, even.

Xander is secluding himself in the corner of the room, alternately pouting about being ignored, glaring hatefully at Spike's presence in the room, and gazing longingly at Anya, who sits primly next to Buffy, firmly pretending that Xander's existence is just a sham.

Giles is doing his usual walk-and-pace routine, complete with lecture mode, and the now-dozens of potential slayers swarming the interior of Joyce Summers' house sit in various spots around the room, looking either eager and attentive, or tired and bored.

The whole point of this meeting is for Giles to remind everyone what evil psychotic bastards the First Evil's harbingers are and not to go near a man wearing a priest's uniform and spouting misogynistic views of women. He also reminds everyone to keep poking each other if suspicions overwhelm them and they believe the person next to them is not a person at all, and to stay away from anything that looks like a giant, blood starved, leather wearing, bat faced vampire.

So, the usual.

At least until Buffy informs everyone of Caleb's message, via Shannon's poor abused body.

So the loony, masochistic preacher has something that belongs to her, does he?

He's gonna wish he didn't.

It's with this gung-ho mindset that the Slayer takes her little army out for the mission later this night. Gathered intelligence informs Buffy that Preacher Man is holed up underground, somewhere at the Vineyard.

Everything will be fine, so long as she keeps Spike from sampling the wine.

Well... at least during the fight. She might let him bring some home tonight. Fighting always gets her randy, and since her tolerance for alcohol is practically non-existent -- even as a vampire -- it might be fun playing Drunk College Girl to Spike's Older Professor.

Arriving at the Vineyard is rather anticlimactic. Buffy has underestimated what she and Spike's combined strength can do now -- the eight Bringers that had been guarding the gate are all eviscerated in under three minutes.

She almost smirks at the looks of shock and envy from Willow, and the "Holy Shit" of awe and respect from Faith. That's right, bitches. I'm the strongest. THAT'S why I'm in charge.

To her right, Spike chuckles in dark amusement at her thoughts. To her left, Dawn snorts. Then, Buffy really does smirk.

Why is it that whenever Buffy has an enemy, they must always believe that they are the be-all-end-all of the world? Why do they always think that they can end the Slayer?

This Caleb guy is a real tool.

When he sends Bringers at them, he has a strangely satisfied look on his face -- until the entire crew decimates them. He looks a little more nervous then, but tries to hide it. And he actually does a pretty decent job, but Buffy can still see it because Spike has been teaching her to read people. It is a split second change in Caleb's facial expression, but the Slayer still notices it. When the preacher attacks, Buffy and Spike immediately attempt to capitalize.

She notices that the man's stance is almost... protective as he lumbers toward her mate. Curious as to why, she looks past him to see an old barrel of wine on the floor, almost haphazardly shoved in the corner... and below it, the square cut and metal hinges of a trap door. An evil smile twists her lips, and she glances quickly at Spike. He glances back at her, and her smile widens when he instantly understands her unspoken message and smiles back.

Divide and conquer.

The preacher doesn't seem to realize how strong Spike actually is, but it doesn't stop him from landing a punch to the vampire's jaw when he's distracted and sending him head over tail into the wall. Buffy snarls furiously and attacks him from behind, punching the back of his head and sending him straight into Faith as Spike picks himself up from the ground. Buffy glances away from Caleb to Faith, narrowing her eyes with the message and, like Spike, the younger Slayer understands instantly.

Faith eagerly throws herself into the melee, tossing punches and kicks with wild abandon, and suddenly, Buffy and Faith are cooperating in tandem, each punch precise, each move calculated, each step a study in art. And when Spike returns to the fray, the three of them seem to form some sort of wild, mystifying tribal dance, every move from every one of them complementing and completing the other.

More Bringers swarm from the many corridors of the Vineyard, shocking the younger warriors into battle. The ones who are attacking the Bringers attempt to emulate the trio who are attacking the preacher. Dawn, Willow, Kennedy, Anya, Xander and Giles watch the two Slayers and the Master Vampire in amazement and, yes, jealousy. Determined to throw in her assistance in any way that she can, Willow throws herself into a trance, her girlfriend automatically placing herself with crossbow in hand to cover the redhead from any oncoming attack. A beam of white light begins to form between the witch's hands, and they begin to shake from the sheer power that she holds in her palms. Anya sees this and with a roll of her eyes and a mutter of "Stupid witches,", she places her hands on the redhead's shoulders, closing her eyes and chanting in order to ground the witch properly.

Buffy glances at Spike and Faith, a gleeful smile flaring across her face from the utter joy of battle. Bringers are flying over their heads, punches are being thrown left and right, and Buffy, Faith and Spike have been thrown around quite a few times themselves. Preacher Man is strong, and it becomes clear when he glances at the "accept no substitutions" Slayer with solid, shining black eyes that the First Evil has obviously imbued him with its power. Caleb, however, is so confident that his strength will prevail that he doesn't quite realize that the trio are playing with him as they maneuver him into the position they want -- over the trap door. Just three more steps before Spike's foot is over the door; just three more steps before they can punch a hole through it and jump down.

A brilliant white blast of light explodes in front of them, and the four of them scream, Buffy, Spike and Caleb from the pain, and Faith from the sheer fright.

The preacher recovers first and before Buffy realizes what's happening, there's a stake in his hand, and he's aiming for Spike's heart.

A tremendous snarl rips the air and Buffy lunges at the man, just as the stake makes contact with Spike's skin. Too fearful to see what has been done to her mate and knowing at the same time that she would be in absolute agony if Caleb had succeeded, Buffy tumbles herself over the preacher until they reach the trap door, pummeling him savagely until he's limp with exhaustion and can no longer fight her off.

It's when Faith gives a loud gasp that Buffy suddenly realizes that, in her fear for Spike's life, Anya's glamour has dropped. She's been found out. Buffy slowly, worriedly, looks over at Faith, her violet eyes shining, and the dull light from the wall sconces glinting off of her tiny fangs. The younger Slayer glances over her shoulder at the rest of the group, who are still fighting off the remnants of Caleb's Bringers, then glances back at Buffy, biting her lower lip. At the look of utter panic on the older Slayer's face, Faith's eyes suddenly soften and she smiles.

Buffy's shoulders drop in relief. Faith will come through. She smiles back and shakes her fangs off, then looks around for Spike, who is leaning against the wall with a diagonal tear through his shirt, watching the two with a grin. "And you were worried about her," he chuckles.

Buffy scowls. "Shut up and help me," she orders.

Turns out, Caleb does have something of hers. Something that belongs to the Slayer at any rate, that he's been trying to pull out of a giant rock himself.

Buffy smirks as Spike and Faith hold the preacher's limp body up, allowing him to watch as she pulls it from the stone with ease, like her very own personal Excalibur.

Her body shudders with pleasure from the pure phenomenal power of her ax thingy and the combination of Caleb's utter terror as she walks toward him, blade drawn.

A splatter of black blood soaks the earth a second later.

Spike walks up the stairs from the cellar, arm proudly looped around Buffy's waist, the silver and red ax resting on the older Slayer's shoulder and Faith following with an equally proud smile.

The only people who notice that Buffy's glamour has gone down are Anya and Dawn, who slip away from the rest of the group quickly in order to raise the shield again. No one else is aware of it -- they're too entertained by watching Giles' fury at Willow for having put Buffy, Spike and Faith in danger with what he sees as her attempt to get attention.

Oh. So that's what that white light was. Looks like Will's Ball of Sunshine spell still has a few defects.



End Part 3