04
Time and Again - Part 1: In The Beginning
Sunnydale – Monday, 8th September 1997 – Later that night
Meeting in the library again after classes they spent a couple more hours searching but with no further clue as to what might have happened to the cheerleader, Xander and Willow reluctantly left to go home. Buffy was all for doing the same herself but Giles cautioned her that just because things looked quiet was no reason for her to slack off on her duties. After all they had no idea what new evil might be quietly brewing away beneath Sunnydale just waiting for the perfect opportunity to burst forth upon an unsuspecting world.
Buffy had reluctantly agreed and was on yet another eventless patrol through some of Sunnydale's many cemeteries and even more frustrated than ever.
//All this tension and worry can't be good for me,// she thought as she trudged through her third cemetery of the night. //And I'm not even getting the catharsis of a good fight.// She stopped suddenly in her tracks as she realised what she'd just thought. //Giles is such a bad influence on me. I can't believe I knew a word like that, but I'm certainly not letting Giles or the guys know. I'd never live it down. Besides, life's much easier when they expect to do the heavy thinking and leave the muscle work to me.// Smiling to herself at her duplicity (another Giles word), Buffy started forward again.
As she peered casually at the moonlit graves to either side of her, she pulled a stake from her jacket and began tossing it back and forward swirling it around her fingers in a casual display of skill that did not even register on her conscious mind. Her hands thus occupied her mind drifted back to musing on the current situation in the town.
//I really wish I could relax and enjoy the peace and quiet,// she thought with a sigh. //But it's kind of difficult when I keep thinking of this as the lull before a storm. Then add in the worry that Cordelia might have been kidnapped as part of some evil world threatening plot, which Giles will no doubt find out about with only moments to spare, and which I will have to stop and well relaxing just isn't on the cards tonight now is it and am I babbling in my head now? I am aren't I? And it's not half as cute as when Willow does it. When she gets that wide eyed look and starts waving her hands about like crazy, I just want to hug her and stroke her back and run my hands through her long silky hair until she calms down. Then maybe our faces will start to drift towards each other and she'll wet her cute little rose bud lips and … //
"Arghh! This is getting me nowhere fast. Face it Buffy you're not going to find the big brewing evil this way so why not call it a night and go home to bed?" she muttered to herself. Stuffing her stake back inside her jacket and turning towards the street.
But the Slayer had only gone a few strides before she felt something stirring behind her. Whirling around, Buffy came face to face with one of the largest vampires she had ever encountered. //God, this guy must be almost seven feet tall and he's built like a bull as well. How the hell did he creep up on me? I wasn't THAT distracted surely?//
The massive vampire let out a deep belly laugh on seeing her surprised expression. "Oh, I might be evil little girl, but I've always preferred to think of myself as dashing or mysterious. Brewing just sounds so," he paused waving his massive hands in front of him as he searched for the appropriate word. Then his lips curled back in a twisted smile as the answer came to him, "alcoholic. And I much prefer to keep my wits about me."
"Oh great," Buffy moaned. "A comedian. Isn't that just the perfect end to the day. I mean, how could this get any worse?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Buffy felt it had been exactly the wrong thing to say, a feeling that was quickly borne out when a new voice spoke up from her left.
"You just think you've got it bad. We have to put up with his attempts at humour all the time." The whining voice was a perfect match for the thin, weasel like character that Buffy's quick glance showed her before she refocused most of her attention on the much more dangerous looking giant in front of her.
"Watch your mouth Nigel," the first vamp growled. "This tiny, little girl is barely enough to share as it is. Much more of your lip and you'll be going hungry tonight."
Buffy glared at him, pulling herself up as tall as she could, although that only seemed to emphasise the difference in their heights. "Oh, I am so going to hurt you for that," she snarled. "Have you never heard the phrase 'The bigger they come the harder they…"
"Hit?" asked the giant. Lashing out against her chin with a lightning fast pile driver of a punch that Buffy saw almost too late. Despite managing to ride the blow, Buffy's jaw felt like it had been hit by a wrecking ball and she could taste blood in her mouth as she moved cautiously around the two vampires.
"Nice one Brian," Nigel shouted encouragingly. "That'll teach her to watch her smart lip."
Brian however, looked less sure of himself. The girl had taken his punch and although it had knocked her over as he had expected, she had turned the fall into a roll and was now back on her feet and looked as ready to fight as ever. That worried him. Brian had not survived for over three centuries by underestimating his opponents, and this girl was not acting the way a human should when faced by a couple of large vampires. Then it dawned on him. "You're the Slayer?"
Seeing the larger vampire's hesitation, Buffy rushed forward and launched a quick combination of punches and kicks that would have left any normal person a broken wreck on the ground. But although Brian staggered and grunted from the pain of the strikes, he did not look like he was going down anytime soon, and Buffy's limbs felt like she had been hitting a tree rather than a mere vampire. A tensing of his massive shoulder muscles warned her that another punch was coming and she quickly dived out of the way, putting some space between her and her much larger opponent.
A darting glance to check what the other vampire was up to, made Buffy's heart leap into her throat as she saw that he had now been joined by another three tough looking vamps. //Oh boy!// she thought. //I really need to be more careful what I wish for. I'm going to be really lucky to get out of this in one piece, unless Angel shows up soon – preferably, with the US Cavalry for backup.// Fortunately they seemed content to watch the fight for now, and even seemed to be making bets on how long she would last.
Buffy feinted a kick towards Brian's groin, before dropping to the ground and trying to sweep his feet out from under him, but he read her intention and neatly jumped over her leg. Ducking and rolling out from under the slashing side kick he tried to direct at her head as a follow up, she suddenly found herself in the perfect position to drive her fist up between his legs.
"Yeow!" she screamed, shaking her hand in pain. //Damn! What the hell is this giant wearing? Metal underpants?. That felt like hitting a brick.// In her distraction the vampire caught her a solid kick to the ribs sending her crashing into the wall of the van Hauptmann crypt. He charged after her, trying to follow up on his advantage. Buffy evaded his lunge, putting a couple of gravestones between them as she held one hand to her aching chest, wincing slightly as she felt a damaged rib shift beneath her touch. //Think Buffy! You can't keep this up much longer!// she silently admonished herself.
The other vampires were now spread out in a loose semi-circle blocking her most likely paths of escape and watching her with all the intensity of cats playing with a mouse.
Brian charged in again, trying to grab her and Buffy once again stepped aside avoiding him. But this time her foot slipped on a patch of grass still damp from the light rain shower that had passed over Sunnydale in the afternoon. Stumbling and off balance, Buffy dropped clumsily to one knee. Brian roared in triumph as his hands closed around her biceps, lifting her to her feet and pushing her back up against the mausoleum once more.
"Say goodnight Slayer," he gloated. His fangs starting their decent towards her unprotected neck. "You just ran out of luck."
Buffy strained against his grip but was unable to move. She could feel his hair brushing her cheek and knew she did not have much longer. Just as she was resigning herself to dying again, the night was suddenly rent by a line of bright light appearing out of nowhere between two rows of tombstones, directly behind Brian.
As quickly as the light appeared, it was gone. Leaving behind a widening gap in the very air of the graveyard, the edges glowing a lurid purple, so dark as to be almost beyond the range of human vision, even a Slayer's. When the portal reached about a metre in width, a slender, black clad woman dived through, rolling quickly to her feet and drawing a bright, lethal looking sword from the sheath strapped across her back in a single smooth motion. Barely pausing to look around, she continued the drawing motion in a flat, clean sweep that separated Brian's head from his shoulders before he could begin to react to the newcomers presence.
Staring at the brunette through the falling dust that was all that remained of the vampire who had just come so close to killing her, the Slayer felt her mouth drop open in amazement.
"Hi, Buffy!" the swordswoman said cheerily. "Mind if I cut in?"
Buffy's mouth worked silently for a few moments before she managed to squeeze the word out past her disbelief.
"Cordelia?"
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