Animal - Ch. 17

[whedonist]

Ch. 17 – No War Without Warriors

I flick the windshield wipers on as the storm that’s been threatening to break finally manages to spit out some water. A quick check of the dashboard clock and at ten at night, I’m thinking of telling Elliot that we should probably finish this up soon. Truth, today ain’t been all bad. We got some more info back on the vamp, Lilah, that’s proved a little bit useful.

We know what kinda places she likes to live in and the group’s busted up. Today I got Elliot while Cupcake and Olivia went to shake down a couple more places. Red’s been stuck at the morgue for the past twelve hours and Alex and Debra started going through the stuff Deb’s boss sent up from Miami.

“You think we have a shot at stopping this thing?” Elliot asks from the passenger seat.

I turn my attention to him as I rub my eyes. “We will,” I say with more resolution than I feel.

I look back out through the windshield and rain pounds the car. I turn the wiper blades to a higher setting and sink back into the seat. Peering through the sheet of rain that’s coming down, I go back to watching the bar door. Elliot and I have been waiting for a snitch that Buffy occasionally uses to see if he can come through with anything.

“So,” Elliot says, “how long have you and Buffy been partners?”

I suck my teeth and do the mental math, “About five years give or take.”

“And you’ve been doing this demon hunting bit for?”

I shrug, and explain, “Not as long.” I look over at him and give him a once over. Guys alright, I know that, but talkin’ to people especially when it ain’t my partner or Red, well and now, Deb, is something I’ve never been good with. “I’ll give you a brief recap. Buffy and I were partners a little under a year and a half when these bodies started poppin’ up with her friends and hers California DL’s on ‘em. Red came to town shortly before that which is when my partner and Willow started shacking up.”

I run a hand through my hair and continue, “It took a week or two after the bodies started to pile up when I call my partner on her bullshit. I mean we weren’t as close as we are now. When she told me, a few things I’d seen her do sorta clicked.” I smile over at him and say, “You’ve seen her move. Cupcake doesn’t move like most.”

Elliot nods. “There’s been a few things. She moves a little more graceful than most, quicker too.”

“Exactly! So that case was the first where we worked together on the demon stuff.” I turn down the radio and say, “Since then, we’ve been thicker than thieves. I go on patrol with her every now and again. Like tonight, the cat we’re lookin’ for, Vlad Hladysh, is a demon groupie that likes to keep his parts. Cupcake leans on him and to keep the parts he likes, he talks.”

“Dangerous?” my partner for the night asks.

“Nah, not really. He’s more of an all talk no walk kinda guy. But the last time we shook him down, when a low level demon thought that coming to set up shop here in the city was a good idea, he pulled a knife and ruined Buffy’s coat.” I smirk and let out a small laugh. “Cupcake’s gotta thing about her clothes. She decked him for it and took the money to cover the cost of her jacket.” I smile and crack my knuckles.

“The guy knifes your partner and you did what?” He smiles at me and qualifies, “The last guy that tried to do that with Olivia, I accidentally rammed him face first into a brick wall.”

“He caught the business end of a collapsible night stick I keep with me when I patrol with her. “

Elliot laughs at me and raises his hand in a high-five gesture. I laugh and give in.

Looking him over again, I ask, “So, I know Olivia and Alex are…uh, but you and Olivia ever?”

His eyebrow rises at me, countering my question, “You and Buffy ever?”

“Hell no, Red’d kill me.” I grab my chest and mock, “Red’s got a set on her. Don’t let the babbling and the cute smiles fool you. She’s just as, if not more, dangerous than my partner.”

Elliot rubs his chin and says, “That’s what a friend of a friend said.”

It’s my turn to rub the stubble on my chin and ask, “How much you actually know Elliot?”

He shrugs. “It’s all pretty much second hand, but the guy said she tried to end the world.”

I debate on going into it, but decide against it. If Red wants anyone to know, she’ll tell them. I grunt and let the conversation lapse before asking, “You never did answer my question, what gives?”

“No.” he says flatly, “Liv and I have always been above board.”

I shake my head and smirk. “I know the tune, you’ve thought about it.”

“Hell yes,” he admits free and easy. “You’ve seen her right?”

“But,” I probe.

“But let me count the ways why the few close calls we’ve had ended.” Elliot’s fist is held in front of my face, as he ticks off, “One, I’m married. Two, we’re partners; sex will complicate an already complicated relationship. Three, Cabot or not, if something ever happened and she found out, I’d have to change my name from Elliot to Ellen ‘cause Cabot would make sure my balls were mounted on her wall.”

Smiles break out on our faces and we both laugh easily. “Yeah, you’re A.D.A. seems like one to do some shit like that.”

El nods his head. “She’s one of the toughest women I know. Her, Liv and my wife.”

“Yeah, Red and Cupcake are for me. It’s funny ya know. I got two kids, grown, and my daughter Susan thought that me, Buffy and Willow were sleeping together.”

“Get out?” El

“Hand to God. She flipped out.” I smirk and groan, “You shoulda seen my daughter’s face when I told her I was moving to Manhattan with’em.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. Olivia and I have been partners ten years. There’s jealousy on my family’s side.”

“Yeah,” I sigh, “I get that. My son’s alright. He actually hangs out with them sometimes, but Susie…”

“You feel like shit ‘cause she can’t understand and you can’t explain,” Elliot finishes.

A glance out the window and my timing couldn’t be more perfect. “Come on,” I say pushing my door open and stepping out into the rain. Where’s a fuckin’ umbrella when you need one?

Elliot comes up next to me and we both turn the collars on our coats up to block some of the rain from slipping down our necks. Looking over, Vlad’s about twenty feet in front of us on the opposite side of the street. I start up a jog and my temporary partner keeps up.

Vlad’s a big guy. I think he’s part moose myself, but Buffy says he looks like an experiment gone wrong. At six-foot-six, he’s easily three hundred pounds of muscle with a face that looks like something out of a bad interpretation of Frankenstein. Cupcake says the reason he got involved in the demon community is ‘cause he couldn’t function in regular society.

“Vlad!” I call out a few feet from him.

He stops and looks at us. I see his struggle to stay or run, but when he stays put I say a silent prayer of thanks that I don’t have to run after him. Chasing this fucker down in the rain wasn’t on my list of things to do tonight. “Mister Jimmy!” he says and looks to my left where Elliot is standing. “Where is the Buffy and who is your friend?”

“She’s around and don’t worry about him. Come here,” I say motioning to an alcove carved into the side of a building. The less soaked we all get the better. “And keep your hands where I can see ‘em big guy!”

His hands go up to his sides and he complies with my demand as we all move to get out of the rain. I fish a copy of the picture of Lilah from the inside of my coat and hold it up for him to see. “You see anyone looking like this around?”

He dances on his feet like an overgrown kid and his eyes skirt around checking the shadows, but he doesn’t answer me.

I snap my fingers in front of his face. “Vlad! Vlad, answer the question.”

His face looks pained as he answers, “Mister Jimmy, after…when I misbehaved, it wasn’t, some of the demons were hurting me, I thought you would let me alone.”

“I’m back now and I need to know what you know.” I look him over and El taps me on the shoulder.

Leaning back so that he can whisper to me, I hear, “Jimmy, the guy’s scared. Let me try.”

I nod my head in Vlad’s direction and El steps forward, extending his hand. “Elliot,” he says introducing himself. Vlad’s big meat hook of a hand gently shakes the one Elliot offered. “Who’s hurting you, Vlad?”

It’s one of the oddest things I’ve seen and for me that’s saying some shit, but as Elliot asks his question and Vlad sees that the guys sincere, the big guy’s eyes well up and tears slip down his cheeks.

Fuck.

Sighing, I run a hand through my wet hair causing some of the water to snake down my neck. Shit. “Come on,” I say, taking Vlad’s elbow gently and steer him towards the car. “Let’s go someplace we can talk and get outta this mess.”

---

Pushing my black framed glasses up, I rub my eyes and listen to another round of thunder rattle the apartment windows. Willow sits next to me as I wonder if Debra going with Buffy and Olivia will actually garner some results.

“Jeez,” Willow says from her spot next to me at the kitchen table, “it hasn’t rained this bad in a while.”

I shrug. “We’ll get a few of them for spring.” I look at her and ask, “How long have you been in New York?”

“About four years,” she answers, “but the storms still sorta freak me out. We never got huge amounts of rain in Sunnydale.”

I cluck my tongue and ask, “If I’m to believe you and Buffy, you’ve been fighting demons since you were a teenager, but thunderstorms freak you out?”

She smiles, turning to me. “What can I say, Alex? It’s all about what you know.”

“And you know demons?” I smirk.

“That and other stuff.” She sticks her tongue out at me and says wistfully, “In high school, things were rough, but after, things just got worse. I mean we dealt with fish-man-thingies on the swim team, poltergeist, werewolves, a snake-demon-mayor…” Her face lights up as she says, “there was this really cool time when Buffy used a bazooka on this demon called The Judge. And I turned into a ghost one Halloween.”

I cast a long glance at her and shake my head. “You did all of that in high school. What was that like?” I ask. Rapists, murders and molesters are one thing, but this…

“High school was like any other. We just had a higher mortality rate than most.” She closes the book she had open and smiles, “It was similar to this. Late night research. Lots of doughnuts. General hijinx.” Her face sours for a moment and she says, “Sometimes it was bad. When the hellmouth opened or there was an apocalypse. Things got tense then, but then things were always sort of tense.”

“An apocalypse?” As in more than one? My head spins and I want to sit down. I am sitting. Shit.

She must see my face lose color because she asks, “You okay?”

“I’m just trying to understand,” I mumble.

“Alex, you don’t have to. My life is crazy or was crazy. And yes, apocalypse as in more than one. We’ve stopped a few. Four during high school and a few more after that.”

Her hand covers mine and she gives it a gentle squeeze. I really don’t know the woman I’m sitting next to. I remember, vaguely what high school was like. To deal with the regular things that a teenager does is a nightmare, but to…I think that for the first time I can recall, I’m at a loss for words. I gather myself and sigh. “One night, when we aren’t hunting a vampire that’s declared war on your family and friends, we’re going to have to talk.”

She smiles warmly at me and a little of my unease abates. Knowing what I know of her now, I can see that the reason Buffy’s been as successful as she has is due in part to having Willow by her side. “Buffy’s lucky you know.”

Her head cocks to the side as her face scrunches. “Uh, not, I mean she is lucky, but I think I got the better deal. I was this mousey-geek girl that no one besides Xander and Jesse would talk to. Buffy changed me a lot, knowing her has changed me,” her voice goes solemn and I wonder what she isn’t telling me.

“There’s more story isn’t there? “ I ask.

“Lots, but later. Right now, we need to see if there are any other ties that Lilah has.”

“Fair enough, Willow,” I concede, “but we will talk more.”

She nods enthusiastically. “Okay.” Her phone vibrates on the table just as mine does.

We reach, pick them up and look at the displays. I look at the clock and reread Olivia’s text message. Well there go my plans for the rest of the night. Willow’s look matches my own and I ask, “Buffy?”

“Yep, guess Jimmy and Elliot caught some information so their meeting up. It’s going to be a little bit longer. Olivia?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“And how’s that going?”

I shrug. “Good, actually. Things were tense for a few weeks, but we’ve talked and I think it’s all sorted out. Sometimes Olivia’s the most infuriating person I know. Of course you probably understand.”

“I do. It’s always been that way with Buffy. As much as she doesn’t want to sometimes, there are things that have to take priority. Being a slayer was the first and everything else took a back seat some times.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and shrugs.

“I think that that’s the same with most of us.” I play with the watch on my wrist and lean back in the chair. “We’re all married to our jobs.”

Willow snorts. “Yeah some more than others, it’s a wacky way to live, but…”

“It’s a good fight,” I finish.

“Yep.” Willow agrees. I watch as her lips purse then she says, “It’s all a good fight. Fighting the demons and saving lives that way and fighting for regular people against humans that may as well be monsters.” She grows quiet for a moment and in a hushed voice says, “Sometimes, I think humans are worse than the demons.”

“Huh?”

“Well, it’s like we’ve, Buffy, me, Xander, Giles and the rest of us, we’ve fought and lost to save the world from being taken over by demons. I lost count of the number of times we’ve stopped demons from making snacks of the human population. I know I’m not without fault. I’ve got fault and big big guilt and I’ve done bad things, really uber bad, ugly things, but…” she falters, gathering her thoughts, “Demons, as bad as this sounds, are hell beasties, it’s genetically coded for them to want to be destructive and there are a few out there that want to live and let live. Most don’t. Humans aren’t. But they do the worst of it.”

She picks up her mug of water and takes a drink before continuing, “I know it’s been hard on Buffy and she’s asked what was the point of saving the world when there are some days when the only thing people want to do to one another is hurt each other. And I can’t blame her for that. I feel it too ‘cause it’s a good point.”

It’s my turn to take her hand in mind and give it a squeeze. “Willow, I can’t say anything about this whole demon thing because I feel really out of my element, but despite me feeling that, some days you have to see that it’s not always like that. There are definitely good people out there.”

“I do. I guess just some days it’s worse than others. Like that woman that you were telling me about that let men come into her home and do stuff to her kids. For a while, I kinda wanted to find a demon and let them eat. I didn’t and I won’t, but…”

I smile softly at her and nod. "Some days you want to pull the trigger yourself." I give her hand another squeeze and amend, "We don't though because we know the difference. We don't because if people like us, those that swore an oath to protect and fight for the law then we can't expect the regular people, Joe Public, to follow them either. How could we?"

Sighing, she gives me a gentle nod. “Yeah, that’s the what and sometimes it’s a great big heaping pile.”

I laugh. “Absolutely, but it’s a war. I’ve seen that much to know that on the demon side it is. We’re just the poor bastards that can’t see themselves doing anything but fighting it.”

We sit in silence for a few moments. I’m not sure what to say. I know a little bit of what she’s feeling. I feel it every time I lose a case or can’t get the right evidence or the right motion, but I can see that for them, doing what they’ve done, that it’s magnified and it can’t be easy.

Our heads swivel towards the front of the apartment when we hear knocking. Willow makes a face and stands. “I didn’t buzz anyone up.” I watch her disappear through the kitchen and hear the door open.

I’m up and out of my seat when she squeaks, “Angel!”

---

“Now look,” I say circling the demon that I’ve been trying to talk sense into for the past ten minutes, “There’s no reason I have to kill you.” It grunts or chortles or something that seems very mocking and it’s pissing me off.

I look over at the group I’m with; Jimmy’s got his arms folded across his chest watching what the demon’s going to do. Elliot and Olivia look like they’re at a boxing match watching a heavy weight fight, or at least what I think people watching a heavy weight fight would look like. Deb is standing against the wall smirking, if her hand wasn’t still broke I might just want to break it.

The reason why I’m here, the reason why I ruined my boots, is standing behind Elliot next to Jimmy. A fist comes at me slowly. I dodge it easily. “Hey, didn’t I say I wanted to do this in a peaceful fashion.”

I hop out of the way of a misplaced kick and roll my eyes. “Look, all I wanted was to come tell you that Vlad isn’t working for you anymore,” I throw a punch and it lands on the left side of the demon’s head. I take the opening and deliver a short set of punches to the things stomach that send it sailing back into a pillar. It bends but doesn’t break and the floor above us shakes from the impact. The last thing I need is to get buried in a building.

It, he, whatever gets back up and charges me. Using its own momentum, I toss it against the far brick wall and stalk up to it, punching it in the face. “Stupid demon,” and I hit it, “stupid bullying demon,” and I hit it again. “I told you I didn’t want to kill you!” I hit it one last time and its head snaps back as its eyes roll back in its head.

I stand over it and wait. When it doesn’t move anymore, I stand straighter and glare at Vlad. “You know this would have been so much easier if you had told me you were doing a forced Jeeves to this thing,” I grumble hooking my thumb over my shoulder.

A few crackles sound behind me and my attention turns back to the demon that I just killed. I watch horrified as a loud pop echoes around the basement and it explodes. I cover my eyes, but still manage to get slammed with the full force of the explosion.

Blinking I look up at Jimmy kneeling beside me covered in blue slime. “Cupcake?” His lips say, but I can’t hear him all that well,

I open my mouth to speak and taste demon. Icky, gross, disgusting, blue demon goop that just completely ruined my outfit! I spit the paste from my mouth and gag. Rolling over onto my side I wave him off and push down the bile in the back of my throat. My hands are covered in the same stuff as Jimmy, as the same stuff in my mouth.

Finally managing to get my voice, I say, “Tell me that just didn’t happen?”

Jimmy looks at me like I just asked him if the pope was gay and then his face cracks. He grins, laughs and gathers me in his arms. “Christ, kiddo!”

I let him get his need to make sure all my parts are good, squishing down the squick that comes from smashing our bodies together. I feel blue goo slither down between my breasts and that’s when I break the hug. “I’m good Old Man. Just need space and oxygen is good too.”

Under the blue, I see his cheeks tint pink. I smile at him and his shoulders drop. I look over at the voyeurs and shrug. “So uh, that usually doesn’t happen.”

Olivia, Elliot and Vlad didn’t catch all of the blast and their only partially covered with globs of goo while Deb got about as much as Jimmy and she doesn’t look happy. Yeah, well I’m not either. Can I go a day without ruining an outfit?

I look back down at the leather coat, the nice tailored pants and cute blouse only to realize that the answer’s probably a no. Fuck!

“Well, now that we’re all slimed, let’s get going. I need a shower. And Q-tips.” I spin around and not waiting on people, trudge up the steps of the basement and out into the rainy night. The plus side of the rain is that it kinda cleans us off, but we’re left cold and wet.

The ride home was quiet except for the traffic, Debra’s in the backseat and Olivia’s driving while Jimmy, Vlad and Elliot follow behind in the other car. This should make for an interesting night. I rest my head against my palm and close my eyes for a few minutes. A headache’s started right above my left eye and the growing concern of what the hell I’m going to do with Vlad just makes the pounding that much more intense.

I didn’t know. That’s really all I got. I didn’t know he was being abused by a demon half his size. Crap, shit and damn. Will’s gonna move out if we start housing anyone else. I don’t think she minds Deb ‘cause I don’t and well Will’s way more patient than me so…

I just can’t be sure of her right now. Of what she’s thinking or feeling. Which is…I used to know, not that long ago too.

I sigh and look up as the car stops. We’re home. We all pull ourselves from the vehicles and I ask, “Anybody else’s legs feel like they weigh six tons?”

I get grumbles of agreement from most, Vlad’s a different story as he says, “I feel good, thank you for asking.”

I shake my head and laugh a little, who knew such a sweet guy lay under the big, hulking mass of gorilla. I stop as we approach the door to our apartment. Uh, something feels off. Jimmy comes up behind me and says, “You gonna go in or look at the pretty blue of our door?”

Shaking my head, I drop it and unlock the front door. I just hope Will will see reason and let me get cleaned up so I can check up on the information that Vlad gave us. The kitchen and dining room lights are on and it takes a minute to register the three bodies sitting at the table.

“Angel?” I hiss. He stands up, looking sheepish and how he does it is beyond me.

“Hi Buffy,” he says smiling at me. Time sort of stands still as I realize I haven’t seen him since Sunnydale. He’s still hot, still got that smile that make my knees all jelly like…

Fuck! I look like hell!

And he can’t make my knees jelly, that’s for Will and Will only. It’s also her voice that snaps me back to reality. “Buff, you didn’t get the text message or twenty I sent? Maybe the phone call?” my lover looks up from the table to the group.

Absently, I shake my head while Jimmy spits, “This is Angel?” I close my eyes for a brief few seconds knowing that tone. I really don’t need a pissing contest between these two.

“Uhm, I’m going to go get cleaned up. Exploding demon and all.” I don’t bother with any other pleasantries as I turn around and dart towards the bedroom.

I feel Jimmy then a moment later, Willow, follow me in.