IceWing's Lair

Graduation: Aftermath (PG-13)

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:33:49 GMT

Graduation: Aftermath
A Divergent Destinies story
By IceWing
Rating: PG-13

Had it been daylight, the column of smoke leaking from the ruins of Sunnydale High School would have been but a thin column, rising into the heavens from the earth. Or, if you really knew what happened in Sunnydale, you might have said it was rising from the bowels of hell itself.

But the sun had not yet risen over the foothills to the east, and would not make its presence shown for another couple of hours yet.

Looking at his watch, Xander knew that he still had those couple of hours to finish getting what he wanted out of the Mayor’s primary residence. And at the rate he was going, this third trip would probably be all he needed to get this place cleaned out.

As he pulled the computer as far out from underneath the desk as he could, Xander muttered to himself. “Stupid gloves are not designed for precision work.”

Although he knew that it would be far easier to remove the electronic hookups without them, Xander has absolutely no intention of removing either the heavy hazmat gloves, or the silk lined, kidskin gloves he wore underneath. Too many of the Mayor’s possessions were magically active. And almost all of them were so steeped in black magic that even somebody as magically challenged as him could feel the darkness radiating off the items, despite his protective measures. And although he was pretty sure the computer wasn’t one of them, keeping the gloves on also guaranteed that he wasn’t going to be leaving any fingerprints behind. ‘Hell,’ he thought. ‘If I’d had it, I would have worn an enchanted hazmat suit when I busted that safe out of the wall. Mental note: Get an enchanted hazmat suit.’

Once the computer was freed from the peripherals which connected to it, Xander set it by the door and grabbed the last two duffle bags. Two empty out of the two dozen he had started this little cleaning party with. “I know the man was over a hundred, but geez, talk about having a lot of crap.”

The lone Scooby let lose a small prayer, thanking whoever was listening on the light side of the Force anyway, that he’d lucked into finding the twelve foot, enclosed trailer. Without it, there was no way he would have been able to get the really interesting, and therefore more than likely dangerous items, out of the house before morning. But the white box on wheels had been sitting unhooked in the garage, almost as if it was waiting for him. A couple seconds with a pair of bolt cutters and the padlock had been breeched, revealing that the trailer was already half filled already with boxes and almost brand new footlockers had been a useful find.

As Xander moved the duffle bags to the side of the desk in preparation for his search, he made a mental note to go through the chests and boxes later on, when he had time. With the boxes being in a trailer in the garage, there was no doubt in the young man’s mind that the contents were benign. Wilkins was too sophisticated to leave dangerous materials out in plain sight where they could be easily stolen. So, into a storage locker they would go until he had the time and inclination to get around to inventorying them.

The boxes, chests and the safe had been dropped off at one of his U-Rent storage sheds on the first of two runs from the Mayor’s place. That was one safe he wasn’t going to crack open until he found a trustworthy, not to mention reasonably priced, mage to negate any protections that the Mayor had put in place.

‘One more run and that should be it,’ thought Xander. ‘For now, anyway.’

Most of what was left was just furniture, which he had very little interest in, but there were a couple of pieces that he might know a good home for. Not to mention he was pretty sure that Quinn might be able to get him in touch with some folks who might know what exactly to do with some of the furniture. ‘No point in taking antiques to Goodwill,’ he mused.

Dumping files, folders and envelopes in the bags, Xander quickly took the official documents, then realized there might be handwritten notes, then after a moment’s hesitation, simply shoved everything in the bags. ‘Damn evil overlords. Not only do they run on black magic, but they generate way too much paperwork.’

Once the desk, including the hidden compartments in two of the drawers, had been cleaned out, Xander lifted the now overfilled bag and lugged it, slung over his right shoulder while the empty one was over his left, as well as the computer he carried in his hands, towards the garage.

“Ok,” he said to himself as he slid the computer into the back of the truck. “That’s just about it for here. And now,” he patted his pocket and the large key ring and envelope which was contained within. “I’ve got a list of even more places his Evilness owned.” The Slayerette shook his head. “I watch the bastard for two months, and he’s got even more hidey holes than he visited in that long.” Looking at the backseat and the trailer, which was almost filled again, Xander sighed. “I need to look into buying a warehouse for all this crap,” he muttered. “But I think I’ve got all the magic stuff out… Oh, damn,” he cursed and walked back into the house. “Forgot the spears,” he said to himself.

As he reentered what he thought of as the Medieval Room, Xander looked about and thought, not for the first time, that Wilkins was a major pack rat. The sheer amount of stuff that the Mayor had accumulated proved that if you lived for a hundred years, not mention selling your soul, you ended up with a lot of shiny toys.

Moving to the racks on the wall, Xander began to pluck the spears and swords from the pegs which held them. Once his arms were full, Xander turned around, trying to find a convenient spot he could set them down so he could put them in the remaining duffle back for easy transport out to the Beast.

As he pivoted, the end of one of the spears, an example of a Roman craftsmanship, ran across the mantleplace, knocking a crystal container from its prominent position and sending it crashing to the ground.

When it hit, the crystal practically exploded, with fragments flying across the room. From the point of impact, the contents of the jar, what had seemed to be a amber colored sphere, rose up, brightening as it gained altitude, until it came to a stop at Xander’s eye level.

The teen was nervous, as glowing things in Sunnydale aren’t usually a beacon of good, but the sphere wasn’t making any moves which Xander felt were hostile.

After a few seconds, the sphere pulsed once, then ‘spoke’ in a familiar voice. “Ah, Thank you… Thank you very much!”

The glowing ball then shot upwards, passing through the ceiling without slowing or leaving any kind of mark.

“Elvis has left the building!” exclaimed Xander, then looked around, a disappointed look on his face. “That was a quality joke and it’s completely wasted. Why isn’t anybody ever around for the really good ones?” He sighed and looked at the other jars which were arrayed on the mantle. “Marilyn Monroe , John Lennon, Yoko Ono,” he read from the labels on each jar. “Well, that last one certainly explains a lot.” He took the jars to the window, opened them up and dumped the souls out. John Lennon’s and Marilyn Monroes bobbled, then they moved quickly towards their eternal rest. Yoko’s on the other hand just kind of sat there in mid-air, almost as if it was unsure as to where it should go.

Xander got the idea that the soul was looking at him and held up his hands. “Hey,” he said. “Don’t look at me. You’re on your own. You’re like in London or something…”

The glowing sphere bobbed once, then slowly meandered through the east wall and out of Xander’s sight.

“Man, this town is weird,” he stated, readjusting the bundle of spears and swords then heading out to the garage.

A few minutes later, the house secured against casual entry attempts, Xander got back in his truck and peeled off his gloves for the first time in hours. Wiping his hands dry on his shirt, he turned the ignition, starting the massive engine on the first try. “Save the world, then practice breaking and entering.” He flipped down the visor, revealing the diploma which was nestled there. “Guess you’re wrong dad,” he said, humor masking the pain he felt inside. “Looks like I’m going to make something of myself after all. And believe it or not, I’ve got the forces of darkness to thank for it.”

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

It had been a week since he’d been here last to see her.

Ten days since Buffy had jammed the knife in her side and she’d ended up in the back of a truck, like some tossed away piece of debris being hauled off for disposal.

God only knew how many days it had been since he failed her.

Sitting on the edge of the unpadded wooden chair, Xander watched her slowly breathing, the oxygen tube which had been inserted into her nose aiding her body in even that most basic function.

Her left arm was draped over the top of the blanket, positioned there by a nurse he assumed, in order to keep the IV line which ran into the top of her hand from getting tangled up in the linens.

Not that she was likely to shift position.

A non-responsive unconscious state, one doctor had called it. Another had remarked that she was in a persistent non-vegetative state.

Xander just knew she was in a coma. Able to breath on her own, but unable to wake up.

Unable to escape from the prison which her own body had become, lying in wait in the long term care facility of the Sunnydale Hospital.

“I’m sorry Faith,” he said softly as he reached out and took her hand in his. “You deserve better than this…” His eyes began to water slightly. “Why didn’t you reach out to me?” he asked, knowing there would be no response. “I would have been there for you in a heartbeat.”

His mind replayed flashes of the nightmares he’d been having for the last few nights. Dreams where he and Faith were out having fun. Dreams which, in the space of a heartbeat, became something far darker. The Boston Slayer reaching out for him, begging for help, and then being pulled into the darkness, calling for him until she was gone. Nightmare scenes where Faith was pulled down by a vampire in front of him, while he stood frozen in place, stake falling from his numb fingers…

“But I couldn’t help you Faith. In the end, I wasn’t strong enough or whatever the reason was, but I let you down. This is my fault because if I hadn’t driven you away, you’d still be here with us. Not lying in that bed.”

He reached out and gently brushed the hair from her forehead. Looking at her, Xander couldn’t help but notice how innocent and unguarded she looked. So different from how she normally presented herself.

Swallowing, he moved to the foot of her bed, pulling the clipboard with her chart off of the hook it hung from. Pulling a pen from his pocket, he jotted a number down on the topmost sheet, then hung the clipboard back on the bed.

“I hope in there you can here me Faith. I’ve left my cell number on your chart, and it’s in the card I left on your nightstand as well.” His eyes darted to the orange envelope with her name on it, lying on the bedside table. “I’ve got to get away from here for awhile. Take a road trip, see some of the world that’s out there. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get lucky and find myself out there on America’s highways and byways. I’m coming back, but if I’m not here when you wake up, you call me. Do you hear me Faith? You call me and I’ll be there as soon as I can be, no questions asked.”

He stood by the head of the bed again, running his fingers across Faith’s hair. Them slowly, he leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips. “I wish that would have woken you up. But I guess I’m more of a toad than a frog prince.”

Before the tears could roll down his face, Xander left the room, looking back once, and then was gone.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

As he passed the Welcome to Sunnydale sign, Xander smiled sadly and then hit the stop button on the in dash CD player. As Alice Cooper’s voice was silenced, Xander Harris, Sunnydale Class of 1999, looked back, swallowing the emotions which raged within him.

He’d made it through one of the Rites of Passage that many of his classmates, many of the kids he had grown up with, that the young man who he’d stood side by side for years, hadn’t made it to see.

He’d stared into the fire, and survived, although sometimes he didn’t know how. Coming out the other side of the forge, changed, experienced and scarred. Survival was something he had paid for with his innocence. His experience paid for with nightmares. Scars served as armor for his emotions, reminding him of the cost of his successes and more importantly of the people he had failed.

Sometimes, late at night, he wondered if it was worth it. If it wasn’t easier to be one of the sheep, than it was to be one of the few who could see.

The double line sped past him as he drove east, the road empty in both directions.

End - Graduation: Aftermath

** ** ** ** ** ** **

Ok folks. Thats it. I'm now onto the Road Trip. The first part of Xander's Road trip, Shadows on the Strip, is in beta version 2 already. I have to say, Xander has gone through alot so far in this story, and there's more to come... Sometimes, I wonder if he can handle all of it... And yes, that is foreshadowing.

New Divergent Destinies Story - Tugs Of Conscience (PG-13) - Written by Keith Wrestle and IceWing

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 12:21:12 GMT

Ok Folks, I've got another one out. Let's see if I get this right this time. Also, I am going to start posting/archiving the rest of DD here as well, so this will serve as a backup as well.

So, on with the story! And let's get that feedback coming

Tugs of Conscience
A Divergent Destinies story
By Keith Wrestle and IceWing
Rating: PG-13

Visit http:\\www.ScrollAndQuill.org\icewing for the most up to date
Divergent Destines sequence and other stories.

** ** ** ** **

Disclaimer: IceWing 'owns' the Divergent Destinies Universe. Joss
Whedon owns BtVS and the characters contained within. Deal with it.

** ** ** ** **

Malum ran his tongue over his jagged teeth, drool falling from his mouth as he watched his prey walk uncertainly through the shadowy park. She was a slender brunette that moved with unusual grace for a human. He guessed she’d be less than two decades old, but it was so hard to tell with humans.

But definitely healthy, capturing her would bring him great status with Icidies, his clan’s leader. A smile on his snouted face, he started after her, careful to keep to the shadows. He snarled deep in his throat as he sensed a demonic presence on the opposite side of the park to him.

Violet eyes squinting, he peered through the darkness, for the moment taking his eyes off his prey. “Lamia,” his smirk changed to a scowl as his suspicions were confirmed. “You can’t have her.”

He turned his gaze back to his quarry. Satisfied she was oblivious to either of their presences, humans were dim-sensed after all, he crept behind the bushes until he was some two hundred metres behind her. Then he leapt into the air, powering himself by way of his short, muscular legs and powerful tail. Grabbing a hold of an overhanging branch, he swung upwards and into the air, curling up into a ball, tail wrapped around his scaly body, to maximise his aero-dynamics as he flew across the silent park. Finally he dropped out of the sky to land in a crouch beside the blood-sucker.

“What the fuck are you?” hissed the vampire, eyes widening in shock.

“A Venalicius.” He bared his teeth in a sneer at the demon’s shock.

”Look man,” the demon shot a the girl a lingering look before turning back to him with palms raised as he backed away, “she’s a tasty morsel and everything. I was even gonna turn her, but I’ve got no problem with your kind. She’s all yours.”

”I know she is.” Powering himself into the air, he slammed feet first into the demon’s chest, knocking him to the ground. The vampire morphed out, its mouth opening. Before it could scream he had his talons around its head. With a violent twist of his rippling arms, the head came off in his hands, the demon exploding into dust.

After a brief second savouring the easy victory, the vampire had been barely a few years old to judge from its lack of power, but a battle won was a triumph nonetheless, Malum rose. After a sniff of his nose to track her scent, he set off after the human.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

She glanced to her right, looked around, and then shrugged her shoulders before continuing on her way, her pace increasing. “There’s something out there,” she muttered under her breath.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

The distance between him and his prey was easily eaten up by his effortless lope. In less than a minute, he was a hedgerow away from his target. Suddenly, the girl stopped and turned to him, eyes passing over, but not seeing, him. “W….who’s there?” she trembled as she backed away from the hedge. “I can see you.”

”I don’t think you can.” He leapt onto the hedgerow, balancing easily on top. “Otherwise you’d be screaming.”

“Ahhh!” The girl’s mouth dropped briefly open before she turned and ran.

“That’s more like it!” he leapt off the hedgerow and towards the girl, crashing feet-first into her back, knocking her to the ground.

“Get off me!” the girl screamed even as she wriggled like fury to escape from under him.

“A healthy girl like you?” Grabbing the back of her head, he smashed her face into the neatly-mowed lawn before rising. “I don’t think so.” Reaching down, he pressed a talon to the girl’s creamy-white neck. He smiled as he felt a pulse. “You’re going to make me a respected Venalicius,” he promised as he lifted her over his shoulder, “and I appreciate it, I really do. I’ll try and make sure we sell you to a good home.”

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Icidies sniffed as he looked around the underground cavern that served as his base. Normally his people would be in a fine building in one of the city’s more exclusive areas, but thanks to the blasted Mayor they couldn’t afford to be too conspicuous. If he found out about their operation, he’d wipe them out in an instant. Icidies had power, but not the sort needed to stand against such as Wilkins, a human attempting to ascend to full demon-hood, to become as one with one of the Old Ones that had once ruled this plane.

And so, his clan was stuck in this drab, dreary hole. He could move, but the police were so easy to deal with here, they made even less fuss about missing kids than in the big cities. And if truth be told, he was addicted to being this close to the Hellmouth, it sung to him.

“Hey, it’s Malum. I got one.”

He looked towards the door at the voice from the other side of it. He nodded to the two guards stood by the entrance. Instantly one of the custodians pulled the door open, and the youngest of his followers hurried in, a human girl over his shoulder. Blood speeding up, Icidies rose from his throne. “Put her on the table,” he ordered, nodding towards the wooden table they kept against the far wall for inspection.

His subordinate quickly made his way across the dusty floor and to the table, dumping his captive’s limp body on the table with a casualness that made Icidies wince. “Don’t just dump her,” he reproved. “Humans are fragile, they break easily, and that affects the price.”

”Sorry sir,” Malum bowed his head.

Satisfied by his underling’s contrition, Icidies nodded. “That’s alright, just don’t let it happen again. Now,” he turned his attention to the human lying on the table, “what do we have here?”

Icidies smiled as he regarded the unconscious human. While he felt no attraction at all towards humans and their frail, warm bodies, he’d been a Venalicius for long enough to know what brought in money and what was considered beautiful by human standards.

And Malum’s catch definitely meant the human standards of beauty. Young, still in her teens he guessed, with soft, he ran a talon down her face, flawless skin, fine features, long hair, and a slender body. Icidies judged buyers would be fighting over her at the next auction. “You’ve done well,” he hid a smile at Malum’s gaping grin at his praise before turning away. "Strip and throw her in the cages with the others."

“Sorry, I don’t get naked for nothing less than dinner and a movie.”

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Faith smirked as the head demon turned back towards her, shock in his slanted violet eyes and teeth-filled mouth falling open. Man, but these critters were ugly fuckers, about her height but powerfully-built and covered from their tail tips to the top of their lizard heads in green scales. They put her in mind of something out of a bad horror movie she’d seen once. Seven of them to her one too, not good odds.

But hey, she’d always wanted to go out fighting. Leaping to her feet, she dropkicked the monster to her left, knocking it to the ground, and landing in a crouch beside it. The dazed lizard started to sit up, but she back-handed it back down. “Stay down ya walking purse,” she wise-cracked before snatching its sword out of the leather scabbard fastened to its waist, and smoothly beheading it, its viscera spraying out, splattering against the door.

“Get her!” screamed the chief demon.

“Fuck, original much?” Faith snorted in derision as she sprang upright and kicked the table into the two monsters to her right, momentarily taking them out of the game.

Seeing the demon who’d ‘kidnapped’ her charging her, Faith smirked. She’d wanted to kick this shit-head’s ass for quite some time. Slapping aside his spear with her free palm, she retaliated with a kick to his left inner knee.

”AAAAAAHHHH!” the demon’s scream echoed through the tiny cavern as he fell to his knees.

”Huh,” Faith raised an eyebrow as she sent her sword slicing through his neck, “whadda ya know? The boss’ info about their balls being there was right.”

Two of the remaining demons charged her in a flanking position, spears leading the way. Faith responded by leaping into the air and split-kicking them both in their faces before somersaulting over the third of their number stood just behind the other two. Landing behind the third demon, Faith spun around beheaded it, just as it turned to face her. “Like taking candy from a, ooof!”

Ear ringing, Faith stumbled sideways, propelled there by the clubbing punch delivered by one of the demons she’d briefly felled with the table. Using her momentum, she pressed her feet against the wall and pushed off, shoulder-charging into the shocked demon, and knocking him onto the ground en-route to rolling back up, and turning to face her opponents, cocksure grin in place. “Three down already? Why do I get the idea your hearts aren’t in this?”

The two from before charged her again. This time, she rushed to meet them, a left backhand knocking one off-balance, a decapitating sword-slash killing the other. Spinning around, she sidestepped an attempted skewering before thrusting her blade through her opponent’s heart.

Sensing a demonic presence behind her, she grabbed the killed demon’s spear as it dropped and thrust behind her, at the same time spinning around to face her adversary in case she’d missed.

She hadn’t, the weapon had ripped through the demon’s left eye. After a second staring at her in shock, the monster fell to the ground, thrashing in its death throes. Eyes fixed on the remaining demon, Faith stepped back and yanked her sword out of the other lizard’s body. “Just you and me, chief,” she drawled.

“A Slayer!” snarled the Venalicius chieftain, eyes flaming with rage. “If you hadn’t killed Malum, I’d do it myself!”

”Yeah?” Faith ducked under a wild swing. “Well glad to oblige and all that.”

“Oblige!” the head honcho screeched as he stabbed at her heart. “You’ll oblige me by dying!”

“Not that obliging,” she thrust at the demon’s chest only for him to block her attack just inches from the target. “Ask anyone.”

The demon’s free hand crashed into her face. Her mouth filling with the salty taste of her own blood, Faith stumbled back a step. The glint of victory in his eyes, her opponent bounded forward. Faith sidestepped his charge, leaving her sword to run onto. “Easy as,” she crowed as the demon screamed, viscera spurting everywhere as her blade tore through his shoulder.

“AHHHHHHHA!”

“Oh shit,” Faith’s eyes widened when rather than be slowed down by the blood pumping out of his shoulder, the demon seemed revitalised by it. Leaping over a wild slash at her legs, she heel-kicked the monster in its flat stomach, knocking it on its back.

Except it powered itself back upright immediately, using its tail as some sort of springboard before launching itself back into the attack, beating her back with a frightening flurry of slashes and stabs. “Crap!” Faith grunted as she barely managed to twist out of the way of one stab, the blade lancing across her left hip, rather than impaling through her stomach. Ignoring the pain, she somersaulted over her adversary, slashing down as she did so.

Her blade sliced through the centre of the beast’s head, right between its eyes, the two halves of its head splattering to the ground.

“I fucking rule.” Faith muttered as she landed on one knee, the passing of the sudden adrenalin rush that always accompanied a good fight or a good fuck leaving her weary. Shaking it off, she rose gracefully and sauntered towards the door.

Only to stop when she remembered the head demon mentioning something about cages containing humans. Curious, she turned and made her way across the carnage-ridden room and to the wooden door hewn into the far stone wall. Hefting her sword, she eased the door open, wondering what she’d find behind it.

The door opened into a narrow passageway only partially illuminated by the flickering torches set into the wall. After a nervous breath, Faith crept down the passageway and towards the quiet sobbing she could hear in the distance.

Eventually the passageway opened up into a long cave. Keeping to the shadows by the entrance, Faith peered in, heart tightening at what she saw.

The nearest wall was lined with bamboo-barred cages filled with naked kids of both sexes, all about her age, some of their filthy bodies beginning to show the effects of malnutrion. Faith’s nose wrinkled as the mingled smell of sweat and human waste.
Even worse than the actual smell was the stench of despair in the place, reminding her of herself a few years ago, helpless to resist or escape those stronger than her, prisoner to their cruel whims. Sickened by the memory of a weaker Faith, she turned to leave, anxious to get away from the memories.

”Please, help us.”

“Ah fuck,” Faith muttered at being spotted. The desperation in the captive’s voice tore through her. Spinning around, she strode across the cavern. Ignoring the gasps of mingled shock and fear, she grabbed the cages’ steel lock, and yanked on it. The lock tore lose from the wood it was fastened to, causing Faith to have jump backwards to avoid being hit by the door when it swung open. “Get out of here.”

Most of the captives rushed past her with either a scared or grateful look, but one, a small black girl maybe two years younger than her grabbed her in a rib-squeezing hugging. “Thank you! Oh thank you!”

Faith recognised the voice as belonging to the person who’d spotted her. “Yeah,” Faith shrugged, uncomfortable with the captive’s gratitude. “Just get out of here, I don’t know if there’s anymore of them left.”

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

“Got anything on for me today, boss?”

”Ah, Faith,” Mayor Wilkins beamed as his beautiful charge sauntered into his office just after his ten o’ clock meeting, and dropped into the seat opposite him. His girl had many virtues, but early rising was not amongst them. “You did splendid work last night. Only I had reason to believe there were a number of captives being held in the back?”

The girl shrugged before making to put her feet on his desk only to reluctantly return them to the ground at his glare. “Wouldn’t know anything about that. Maybe B and her busy-bodies turned up after I left and wanted to play hero?”

“Yes,” he sighed. “That makes sense. Gosh darn it, they’d have made me a pretty penny. Ah well.” He smiled at the raven-haired Slayer. “These things happen. The important thing is those slavers have been dealt with.”

”Dam-,” he coughed, the ravishing brunette changed what she’d been about to say, “darn tootin’.”

He nodded approvingly, a few rough edges, but she had a good heart. A little gentle coaxing and she’d become a fine member of the team, he was sure of it. “I’ve a delivery I want you to handle for me tonight, but nothing today I’m afraid. Why don’t you,” he reached into his desk, pulled out a handful of notes, and pushed them across the desk, “take this as a bonus for last night, and go out and get yourself some of those video games you so enjoy? But no buying booze, mind. I don’t approve of drinking by minors.”

”Sweet!” the Slayer exclaimed, chocolate brown eyes dancing with excitement. “Thanks boss!”

“My pleasure, dear.” Mayor Wilkins kept his smile fixed as the teen hurried out. As he suspected she’d been the one who let the prisoners out, he could always sniff out a fibber. That was disappointing, but not unexpected, she’d not yet thoroughly come over to his side, and he knew his girl, if he pushed the issue, he’d only push her away. She was worth waiting for.

After all, in the long run she’d be far more useful to him than the money from the sale of a score of slaves.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

The employee’s entrance to City Hall swung shut behind her, leaving the young woman standing beneath the main steps of the nearly century old building.

All around her, there was nothing but darkness and shadows, but standing in the dim circle of light which illuminated the door itself, Faith stood in unmoving silence.

The events of the night washed over her, replaying in her mind, as she looked down at the neatly stacked hundred dollar bills held tightly in her hand…

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

As her door swung shut, Catherine let herself feel safe for the first time since she’d left work.

Once she’d thrown the deadbolts, the young lady who had only recently had her eyes opened to the darkness dropped her key ring into the bowl by the door.

The heavy cylinder, which most people would have mistaken for pepper spray, banged against heavy ceramic sides of the well used catch-all. The embossed cross on the side of the cylinder caught her eye for a second before she moved into the small apartment.

Ten minutes later, her shoes kicked off and her feet tucked up underneath her, Catherine was nestled into the beat up couch which had found its way into the three room apartment she had managed to get into.

Looking around, the soon to be single mom realized, not for the first time,that if it wasn’t for another young woman, that she wouldn’t even be here to try and provide for her daughter.

But she was. And she was going to continue to be.

Her eyes fell on the two cookie jars, nestled on the back of the kitchen counter, as her mind replayed the events of the day which had allowed her to split her tips between the bill jar, and the second jar, which was her unborn daughter’s college fund.

Thoughts of that second jar purged her mind of the negative thoughts of the crap she’d had to go through at work today to earn that tip money.

After a moment of just sitting there, letting her muscles relax, Catherine reached over to the end table and, from the stacks of books which she was using from her correspondence classes, pulled out one of the half dozen or so child care books she’d recently picked up at a garage sale.

Time had no meaning for a while, as she read through several chapters, covering a variety of viewpoints on issues from spanking to good manners.

A soft knock at the door broke her musings however.

Swinging her feet out from underneath her, Catherine rose from the couch and slowly walked to the door. Her eyes glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was well past nine. With the sun having set, the young mother-to-be knew that there was no guarantee that the source of the knocking was friendly.

Or human, for that matter.

A second soft knock made her remember that vampires couldn’t come in without invitation. And most of the other nasties out there weren’t likely to knock.

Looking through the peephole, Catherine breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized the form standing there. Stepping back, she unlocked the deadbolt and then swung the door open.

As soon as she had the door open, Catherine stepped out into the dimly lit hallway and gave Faith a hug. “Faith!” she said happily as she let go of the younger woman. “Everything ok?” she asked after feeling the tension in the teen who had rescued her from the darkness.

“Sure,” answered Faith. She took a breath, then gently nudged the bags at her feet. “I come bearing gifts…”

“Faith!” said Catherine, exasperation in her voice. “You can’t… You’ve done too much for me…” Her hand dropped to her stomach. “For us, already…”

But the Boston native wouldn’t be dissuaded. Seeing the look of determination, Catherine acquiesced to the inevitable, stepping out of the way of the door. Picking up most of the bags, Faith nudged the last one into the apartment.

Catherine plucked the last bag from the floor, then closed the door and followed Faith into the small kitchen area. “Faith, you don’t have to do this…” she protested. “I mean, don’t get me wrong…” Her gaze drifted across the kitchen, which was a far cry from the empty husk it had been when she’d moved in. New pots and pans were on the stovetop, as well as in the broiler drawer, and boxes of prenatal vitamins and supplements were neatly stacked against the wall. After cataloguing all of those, Catherine’s eyes continued to the bedroom door which lay on the far side of the kitchen. “There’s no way I can ever pay you back for everything you’ve done, Faith.” Her eyes started to water.

“Hey there, Cat…” said Faith, wrapping her friend in a hug. “You don’t have to worry, cause this ain’t for paybacks. Not often I get to actually do some good afterwards.” Faith released the pregnant woman from the hug and stepped back. “Anyway, you’re a hell of a better cook than me, so I get to mooch meals.”

Catherine laughed as she wiped her eyes. “Fine, you get to stay for dinner. Which, I guess I need to get started on.”

Starting to pick through the bags which had now been deposited on the countertop, Catherine paused and looked at Faith. “You sure this isn’t going to make things tight for you? I mean, I don’t want you helping us to make things bad for you.”

“Nah,” said Faith with a dismissive gesture. “Trust me, helping you out, that’s about as far from bad as my day gets. Besides, I came into some green tonight, figured could drop a bit more stuff off for you. Anyway, this way I can make sure the munchkin has a better start than I did.” Faith chuckled, but her humour masked a pain deep in her heart. “Speaking of which, how’d the visit to the Doc go?”

“He said I was doing better. They did some blood work, said that my nutrient levels were good and my blood pressure was back where it should be.” Catherine stopped and looked at Faith. “I’ve been wondering though how you knew exactly what to get… I mean, did you learn how to shop for pregnancy with your mom or something when she was having little brothers and sisters for you?”

Faith’s smile stayed on her face, but any humour drained away from her eyes for a moment. “Trust me,” she said with a laugh that was anything but funny. “My mom? She didn’t have a clue. Even if she’d bothered taking care of me, she was so far from qualifying for mom of the year, it wasn’t even funny.” She looked out the window for a moment, then let her gaze swing back to Catherine. “Honestly,” she said with a smile, that actually did reach her eyes. “All I do to help out, I wait in the store till a pregnant lady comes in, and pretty much buy what they do… Like I said, the munchkin, she’s going to have a better start than I did...” Faith looked at Catherine and smiled. “Of course, she’s gonna have a better mom too…”

Catherine felt her eyes start to tear up again. “Well, maybe…” she said. “But then again, I’m going to have to deal with Aunt Faith doing her best to make sure that I’ve got a spoiled princess to raise.”

“That is the plan,” replied Faith. “That is the plan….”

Working together, the two of them got the rest of the groceries put away in pretty quick order.

“Tell you what,” said Catherine. “Lemme get changed out of work clothes, then we’ll make some grub.”

“Sounds like a plan to me…” replied Faith.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Catherine headed into the bedroom to get changed, and as soon as she closed her door, Faith was on her feet and silently padding from the couch to the kitchen area. Looking over to make sure that Catherine wasn’t coming out, Faith lifted up the lid to the two cookie jars and set them on the counter.

Slipping her hand into her pocket, she pulled out a wad of mixed bills and added it to the neat stack of money Catherine kept in the bill jar. Then, once she had replaced that lid, Faith pulled out the envelope which Catherine was planning on taking to the bank the day her daughter was born to open in her name. Into this envelope, Faith slid in three hundred dollar bills, then put the envelope back in and replaced the jar, lid once again in place, back in the exact position.

By the time Catherine emerged from the bedroom, clad in a well worn pair of sweats, Faith was again on the couch, idly thumbing through an American history book.

“Ok,” said the dark haired Slayer as she put the book back on the end table. “You do the mixing. I'll handle the blades and you fill me in on your day…”

It was close to midnight before the sounds of laughter and talking stopped in the small apartment.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

End – Tugs of Conscience
Remember: Feedback – It’s the Coin of the Realm

New Divergent Destinies Story - Regrets (PG-13)

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 00:35:28 GMT

Ok, this is my first attempt at posting a story here, so let's see how it goes.

Regrets
A Divergent Destinies story
By IceWing (icewing@one.net)
Rating: PG-13

Visit http:\\www.ScrollAndQuill.org\icewing for the most up to date
Divergent Destines sequence and other stories.

** ** ** ** **

Disclaimer: IceWing 'owns' the Divergent Destinies Universe. Joss
Whedon owns BtVS and the characters contained within. Deal with it.

** ** ** ** **

The sounds of the Pacific Ocean crashing against the pilings washed over Faith as she sat on the edge of the pier. Her legs were drawn up close to her body and her arms were wrapped tightly around them as she gently rocked back and forth, the salty air wet with moisture around her. The dark haired slayer stared at a point well beyond the horizon as she let her thoughts drift concerning her current situation and where life had taken her.

“Doesn’t matter what coast I’m on, things still go to shit,” Faith said morosely. “Get my ass all the way across the US of A in the middle of one nasty ass winter, and when I get here, the super Slayer I’ve heard all about isn’t anything more than a rich bitch valley girl. God, Jackie, I wish I knew who’d been telling you all those bullshit stories, `cause let me tell you, the here and now, it’s a major let down from the buildup you gave this place.”

Faith looked out over the ocean, with the sun now starting to dip into the waves. “Fucking Buffy Anne Summers. God, what a screw up! Only reason she’s up and kicking still is her damn groupies. She sure as hell can’t do anything right herself. Gets the whole world handed to her on a plate, what’s she do? Bitches about how unfair it is… She wants unfair, I can give her unfair. ”

Her eyes began to water, and she harshly wiped them dry. ‘I’m glad you’re not here to see me now Jackie,’ she thought sadly. “Hell,” she said. “Sometimes I think it’d be better if I couldn’t see myself either… But you’ve gotta roll with the punches.” Her voice cracked a bit, and Faith shook her head at the sign of weakness.

She was Faith. The Slayer. Not some two bit valley girl who wasted everything she’d been offered. She wasn’t that weak girl from the streets of Boston, who got pushed around and had to pray she didn’t get caught when she was shoplifting a couple of cans of food so she could at least have her stomach full on those cold, winter nights in Beantown. Sleeping in abandoned factories or over steam vents or under the overpass, trying to stay dry.

Not anymore. Now she was a force to be reckoned with. “No more pushing around this girl,” declared Faith. “Now it’s me that’ll be pushing right back…”

Watching the sun set over the Pacific, Faith did her best to ignore the small voice at the back of her mind that kept bugging her. ‘Being stronger and feared? Is that really what makes you happy? Is that what you WANT to make you happy?’

As the last glimmers of sunlight vanished into the dusky twilight, Faith rose from her position and stretched her legs.

“If they fear me, they won’t push me around. And that’s what it’s all about…” her voice trailed off for a moment, before the almost inaudible conclusion to her statement passed over her lips. “Isn’t it?” she asked the night, as she walked back towards town.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

The streets were almost dead still as Faith walked down the sidewalk. Not a real surprise, it being Sunnydale and all, but for someone who had grown up in the poorer neighborhoods of Boston, it was always a bit odd.

Faith was used to seeing dealers, homeless people, hookers and runaways, either hawking their wares, or huddled for warmth around a barrel fire. Here, in the town that Wilkins built, the vampires and other creatures of the night had done a stellar job of keeping societies unwanted off of the street. “Hell,” she said to herself. “I bet some of the politicians back east would actually think that’s a good idea…”

As she rolled that thought around in her head, it occurred to the dark haired young woman that humanity could be pretty damn evil all on its own. Demons were just more open about it.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Catherine looked over her shoulder nervously as she hurried down the street.

Although she’d only been in town a couple of weeks now, she’d been lucky, despite being visibly pregnant, to get a job at one of the local coffee houses. But, there was something weird about the town. She’d never heard of businesses closing at dusk, but that was how things were in Sunnydale.

Now here she was, trying to get back to her apartment and ever since she’d left work, her first night shift alone, she’d felt like somebody was watching her.

She looked back over her shoulder again. ‘Nobody behind me,’ she thought, trying to calm herself down. ‘It’s just my imagin…’

Even as she was thinking that it was her imagination, a large hand reached from the shadows of the alley she was passing and grabbed her. With seemingly no effort, she was pulled into the alleyway.

“Help!” she yelled as she tried to shrug off the hand which was grabbing her. Jabbing her keys into the side of the hand, she was able to draw blood, and the giant that had grabbed her let her go. As soon as she was free, she took a half step then let loose a kick at the guy’s crotch.

A kick, which unfortunately hit his upper thigh instead.

“That hurt,” said the large man as he stepped into the light and looked at his hand. “But,” he said as he shook the hand twice, then let it fall to his side. “When the cows fight back, makes the blood yummy.”

Catherine got her first good look at her attacker and screamed.

Seven feet tall, built like an NFL linebacker, with a forehead only a Klingon could love, yellow eyes and fangs.

Catherine had just been dragged into the alley by a monster. A monster, that was between her and the street. She turned to see if she could run the other way, but a fence blocked the alley about twenty feet back. She turned back, tried to run past the monster, but he grabbed her shirt and slammed her into the alley wall.

Lifting her by the blouse she had on, he looked her in the eyes, her back pressed against the wall, and leaned down towards her neck, fangs glistening in the light.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

“Hey assface,” snarled the Boston Slayer. “You’re just what the Doctor ordered!”

“Doc wants me?” said the vampire, slightly confused as he held the young woman to the wall by the front of her blouse. He turned his head to look at the young woman who had just melted out of the shadows. Much as he had done to the woman he had been planning on draining dry.

“No,” said Faith as she answered the seemingly dimwitted undead. “But I need to work off some stress and you’re elected.”

With speed a viper would be envious of; she lashed out and hit the vamp in the face with a quick jab.

“Oww…” said the vamp, before smashing his original victim’s head into the wall hard enough to stun her and make a nasty cut on her scalp. As the woman slid to the ground, the vampire turned, no longer encumbered by his dinner, and examined this puny girl who had hurt him. “You Mayor’s girl. We no fight… On same side…”

“BZZZTTT!!!” said Faith with a grin. “Sorry, you’re a vamp, I’m the Slayer and I’ve had a really bad day… So, you get to be my therapy session for today. Then,” she lashed out with a kick that nailed the Andre the Giant sized walking corpse in the chest and knocked it back about five feet. “Then, I get to go home and be completely frustrated because a pint of Ben and Jerry’s doesn’t even take the edge off. So, if you don’t want to fight, this is going to be completely one sided!”

The vamp apparently didn’t want to spend a large portion of the night considering a retort, so he simply lowered his head and charged.

Like a matador, Faith danced to the side at the last minute. As the lumbering giant went past her, the Slayer reached out, grabbed his arm and added additional momentum, causing the vampire to hit the wall of the alley. His head was still down when the impact occurred and the massive trauma stunned the vamp for a moment.

Just long enough, in fact, for Faith to lash out with her foot and smash the giant’s knee from behind.

With only a single leg working properly, the massive vampire dropped to its single good knee, bringing its heart to just about Faith’s eye level.

“Man, that was seriously disappointing,” she said as she plunged the stake into the still heart, then released it. With a sigh, she watched as the vamp and the stake dusted. “Damn if I can’t find a good stake these days,” she muttered as she turned and walked out of the alley. She barely paused as she glanced down at the young woman as she passed her, but upon reaching the end of the alley, Faith stopped and looked back.

With a shrug she turned to leave the alley, and the visibly shaken girl who was laying on the ground still. But, she couldn’t. “Ah, hell,” she says as she heads back and kneels at the woman’s side.

“I’m Faith… Looks like you can use some help.”

** ** ** ** ** **
End Regrets

Feedback: Remember, its the coin of the realm... There's several more stories in the can, ready to post, so lets see some feedback here folks!

Ok, let's see how this thing works

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:01:49 GMT

Hey folks...

I think I'm going to use this as a test bed for stories, ideas and such.. Most of the people who are on my friends list at this point are fellow writers, so I'm hoping you guys are paying attention to what I say... I doubt it, but I can hope *grin*

Ok, so, I'm working on the next Divergent Destinies story, which is the start of Xander's road trip, since I've actually got through Graduation written, albeit it not posted. And I had an idea this morning...

What do people think of Xander going by and seeing Jessie's parents before he leaves town? I didn't have it planned originally, but it just strikes me as the kind of thing that he'd do... Or am I wrong here...

Ice