Pursuit
Max ran down the street, her only plan at the moment to get away from the cage she’d been in. She criss-crossed through a few streets, hoping to throw off any pursuers from her track. A plan began to form in her mind, fueled by the will to survive. She needed to find out where she was, who had held her captive and why. But first she needed money. She glanced down at herself, taking in the shirt and sweats. She didn’t even have shoes on her feet. She glanced around, wondering about the city. It definitely wasn’t Seattle, where she’d lived last. She’d been all over that burned out city in her job as a bicycle messenger.
There was nothing familiar to her here. In fact, she looked like she was in a fairly safe, well to do area. Her instinct kicked in as she heard someone moving towards her on the quiet street. She took in the man, slightly taller than she, with blonde hair and angled good looks. He was dressed all in black, right from his duster to his combat boots. Max’s photographic memory assured her that he was not one of the people who’d been present at her captivity. He stopped short of her by a few feet and took in her harried appearance.
"You okay there, pet?" he asked lightly in a low, British drawl. Max grinned inwardly; maybe she’d found a good guy. Of course, that meant it’d be a little tougher for her to rob him. She had no compunction about thievery, but she hated repaying kindness that way.
"Yeah," she smiled slightly, reeling the guy in. "My boyfriend was getting a little rough, so I had to bail in a hurry," she improvised. She allowed a shocked little laugh to escape. "Ex-boyfriend, I guess I should say." The man returned her smile and extended his hand.
"Name’s Spike," he offered. She glanced at his hand and then back at his face. He knew right then that more had happened than she let on. "I don’t bite," he joked, "at least not anymore." The woman grinned, her entire face lighting up. She shook his hand, keeping her grip light and easy, as his was.
"I’m ‘Eva’," she told him, elaborating no further.
"Well ‘Eva’," he sighed, hoping he wouldn’t scare her. "It looks like you’re in a spot of trouble. Do you live nearby?"
"Um, no," she admitted, wondering what lame pick-up he’d offer her. "Across town," she improvised again. To her relief, he nodded. But as his hand reached to his back pocket, she tensed, prepared to knock him out.
Spike noticed this and deliberately kept his movements slow and purposeful. He drew his wallet forth and thumbed through the contents. He pulled a fifty out and then shut the wallet and returned it to his pocket. "This should be enough for a cab," he drawled. Her features tightened and he knew what she was thinking. "Don’t worry about thanking me," he chuckled. "Just pass on the good deed when you get a chance, okay?" Her eyes widened and a graceful eyebrow arched inquisitively.
"Seriously?" Max drawled, unused to this type of behavior from a male. A male aside from Logan, that was.
"Yep," Spike smiled broadly. "Love makes you do strange things." He glanced up the street, in time to see his lover and former Sire hurrying towards them. "In fact, her comes the light o’ my life right-!" He’d glanced back to the dark haired girl, but she was gone.
In the few moments it took for Angel to assure himself that the girl hadn’t been hurt, Buffy had picked herself up off the floor. She and Gunn hurried to the smashed window as well. They glanced out, more shocked to find nothing there. They exchanged mystified glances.
"Who the hell is she?" Gunn mused. They were all quiet a moment, all wondering that, until Buffy shook herself.
"Whoever she is, we need to get to her, before someone, or something else does," she announced grimly. Angel nodded his agreement and the duo sped off to recover the girl, if they could. Once outside, Angel moved to where the girl had landed, trying to pick up her scent. Buffy noticed and grimaced at him.
"Still gross, you know," she teased. Angel flashed her a grin as he picked up the trail.
"But useful," he countered. They followed the girl’s zigzag pattern, discussing the strange encounter.
"She’s strong Angel," Buffy informed him unnecessarily. "When she had me, I couldn’t move her. And her fighting style! From what little we saw, she knows a lot."
"Maybe she started training early," he suggested.
"Maybe," she shrugged. "I dunno."
They finally came to the last street. And both caught sight of the girl talking to, of all people, Spike. Angel and Buffy turned to share a look of exasperated irony. But when they turned back, the girl was gone. She’d disappeared completely.
"Damn it," Angel muttered. "She’s a little too good at the disappearing act." They began to jog towards the male Slayer.
"Jealous?" Buffy joked, but Angel could hear the underlying accusation in her tone. He didn’t reply, as there was too much in that one word to respond to. He kept moving towards Spike, his mind a helpless jumble of the Slayers, the girl, his stolen prophecy, Connor. It just never seemed to stop. They finally reached the confused Brit. He didn’t greet them at all, but was muttering under his breath as he angrily counted the cash in his wallet.
"Strangest damn thing," he hissed. The money was all there but the fifty he’d given to Max, reassuring him that it hadn’t been an illusion. He glanced up at the approaching duo. "Did you see her?"
"Yeah, we saw her?" Buffy confirmed. Spike was surprised that they seemed to understand his predicament immediately. Angel looked around, sniffing as inconspicuously as possible.
"Did you see which way she went?" Spike demanded. "’Cause I turned away for one bloody second and she was gone." Buffy shook her head and turned to Angel. He’d retreated into the mouth of the alley, about seven feet away. Just enough for the shadows to begin to swallow him up. He turned a complete circle, then snarled his frustrations.
"She’s gone," he muttered. They all knew what he meant. Her trail had gone cold. He returned to the others. "Where could she have gone?"
"You know, I’m really starting to re-think the Slayer assumption," Buffy sighed. "Really thinking possible demon here."
"You mean ‘Eva’?" Spike was only slightly confused.
"If that was even her real name," Angel scoffed.
"She weren’t no Slayer," Spike denied, shaking his bleached blonde head. Buffy caught his eye.
"You didn’t feel it either?" she nodded, as if confirming something she herself believed.
"What do you mean?" Angel asked. This confusion that ‘Eva’ had created was giving him a headache.
"Ever since Willow released the power of the Scythe, I’ve been able to sense other Slayers moving about," the petite blonde explained. "Depending on how strong the individual Slayer is, she can-!"
"Or he," Spike interrupted playfully. He already knew where she was going, as he had the same powers she did.
"Or he," Buffy added, rolling her eyes. "We can sense each other. Some girls can’t yet. But Spike and I didn’t get that sense about her."
"Shoot," Angel felt chagrin rise. "I just assumed because of the way she showed up."
"Showed up where?"
Buffy and Angel explained what had occurred when Gunn had approached them. Spike was extremely concerned when they revealed that ‘Eva’ had held Buffy at dagger point. There was a pause in the narration as he checked for himself that no harm had come to her. Angel had almost had to step back from them so that he wouldn’t tear Spike’s arm out and shove them… He had to cut himself off, lest he get too bloodthirsty and actually follow through. The jealousy and pain was gnawing at him. But neither Slayer seemed to notice as Buffy finished telling the story.
Spike’s whistle of appreciation brought Angel back to the conversation. "How did she end up with you?"
"Well, if you must know," Spike drawled angrily, "the little bint told me that her boyfriend was roughin’ her up." Spike was really starting to lose patience with his Sire’s high-handedness. But one quick shake of Buffy’s head and he backed off. Only for love of Buffy would he do that. He sighed and related what he knew of ‘Eva’, which was very little. "And to top it all off, I gave the chit a fifty for a cab ride home."
"Oh sweetie," Buffy chuckled. "I think you got rooked." Spike growled, deep in his throat.
"Hmm. Not necessarily," Angel spoke thoughtfully. "Gunn said that she refused the food and water. We know she’s not a vampire. I actually doubt that she’s a demon, because you’d have sensed that too. So, she’s had no food or water for at least nine hours, possibly more. All she had were the clothes on her back and my knife. And now some money. I hope she can make it last until we find her."
"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Buffy snapped.
"Maybe Red can help?" Spike suggested. "Do her little witchy locator spell?"
"No," Buffy disagreed. "Willow needs a personal possession for that I think. Plus she and Kennedy are out of town." Everyone knew that after all the serious magic mojo; Willow had needed a break. So her girlfriend Kennedy, had whisked her away on a vacation. So the trio continued to discuss their options. They never once realized that the target of their search heard it all.
So many times, high above them, Max was forced to stifle a giggle. After hearing the conversation, she was almost forced to conclude that she was dreaming. Really, vampires, Slayers, demons, witches? The only problem that she had with it was that she’d never been that imaginative. She watched as the trio walked away. They were probably heading back to the office of Wolfram and Hart. The unfamiliar name was on a plaque that she’d passed by. One last thought passed through her mind that caused a soft, throaty chuckle to erupt. It didn’t matter where she went. People always refused to look up. But in her merriment, she never noticed the dark vampire turn to look back at the noise, a wistful look upon his face.
Connections
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