Author: Restive Nature (aka Bavite)
Disclaimer: The characters and fictional placings of either of these shows do not belong to me. They belong to Cameron/ Eglee (Dark Angel), Joss Whedon (BtVS) and Whedon/ Greenwalt (AtS). Only the story belongs to me.
Rating: 13 (for now)
Genre: Crossover of DA/ BtVS
Type: WiP
Time line/ Spoilers: Post Season 5 for Buffy. Up to LAtR for DA. Story set in DA time.
Summary: BtVS/ DA crossover. Life brings about so many changes. Especially when one has just risen from the dead.
Distribution: Is under the discretion of the author, so please ask instead of taking please.
Reviews: While I may not always respond to reviews, they are always welcome!
Darkening Of The Light
Chapter Twenty-five
June 1st, 2021
10:45 a.m.
Seattle, WA
Jam Pony Messenger Service
Alec was just rolling in for the third time to the rundown warehouse that housed work. He'd actually woken up in a pretty good mood, for all the crap that had gone down the night before. After Logan had been able to clear the unwelcome guests and Tara from his apartment, the remaining company had actually enjoyed themselves. Alec still had to smile at the thought of Logan nearly falling out of his chair from laughing so hard before assuring his cousin that some old famous guy was actually dead. It hadn't made sense to Max and Alec until the pair had explained that this Dick guy always looked young and just kept on ticking. Apparently he'd been famous in the music and entertainment biz.
They talked some more about Max's run in with Buffy's now married ex, Angel and his friends. She wasn't familiar with the black guy or the other female and figured that they started working for Angel later, when Angel was pretty much out of Buffy's life. And Max admitted that she didn't get the same vibe from Angel that she had back then, to which Buffy responded that they'd both probably mellowed in their old age. And Alec had been pleased to see that Buffy had eaten several sandwiches and drank a full glass of juice before she'd finally excused herself to hit the hay. The others had agreed that they would get together again to do as Tara Maclay had asked and put together their synopses of what had gone down that fateful night.
But that was pushed back in Alec's mind as he was just enjoying the day. The weather was balmy and warm, tips were good and he had plans to hit The Crash that evening with friends. No worries about glyphs and prophecies and sweet little blonds in distress to distract him this evening.
Parking his bike off to the side and lifting his messenger bag from off his shoulder, he moved to the desk to lay the clipboard on it. Normal appreciated being able to get the mornings runs in the morning or early afternoon, rather than having to go over the entire day in the evening or first thing the next morning and Alec had no problem obliging that. Since Normal wasn't at the desk, Alec simply continued on his way to his locker. He heard the burst of familiar voices coming from slightly above him and glancing over to the employee lounge, he noted that the gang seemed to have gathered for an early lunch hour.
After opening his own locker, throwing his bag in and retrieving his lunch, he debated joining them. He looked again, a little longer and as he had thought, he saw that Biggs and Max were in the thick of the throng that included Cindy, Sketchy, Skye and Druid. Biggs caught his eye and jerked his head slightly, a silent invitation to join them. Alec nodded and started making his way over to the stairs as Biggs turned back to hear what Max was saying before the entire group broke out in laughter.
“But seriously,” Max continued, as Alec bounded up the steps, “the website was kinda coolio.”
“What's the address again?” Druid asked, pulling a pen and pad of paper out of his vest pocket. Max reeled it off for him and Alec recognized the Lamia Portus site.
“And were you regaling them with tales of your underdeveloped pencil floating talents Maxie?” he teased as he found a seat.
“Hey!” she protested, but there was merriment in her eyes. “I wasn't the only one now, was I?”
“Hey, I was having more fun watching you freak out when you couldn't get the pencil-!”
“That's cause you kept stealing it,” she retorted.
“Original gotta say,” Cindy broke in before their typical snarking began to get worse, “it's a large world. All kinds o' magic goin' down, but floatin' things? That'd be damn impressive.”
“It's all tricks and illusions,” Skye snorted, though he looked amused as well as he hefted his sandwich. “My brother used to be into that when we were younger. Kinda loses it's thrill when you know all the secrets behind it.”
There were some nods in the group and then Sketch changed the subject as he leaned forward slightly. “So we all on for Crash again tonight?”
“Can't,” Druid responded immediately, though he didn't look regretful. “Date tonight,” he offered with a grin. “We might stop by later.”
“Who is it this week?” Biggs asked, his voice even. But he was still new in the group and was aware that he shouldn't try and push his way in too hard, just because he was friends with Alec and now Max.
“Sierra,” Druid offered. “From the photo shop?” Biggs nodded, obviously knowing who the other was referring to.
“Dude,” Skye scoffed, looking impressed, “that's like what, the third date in two weeks?” he asked and his friend confirmed it with a nod. “Huh, maybe you'll finally get some tonight.”
There was some more good natured ribbing and teasing before Cindy grinned and nudged him with her elbow. “Boy, you gonna love her tongue piercing. Big ol' stud.”
All of the males eyes widened to different degrees of size as they regarded Cindy and the pearl of information she'd just dropped on them while Max snickered in her corner of the sofa.
“And you know about that how?” Druid suddenly demanded.
“Who do you think convinced her to get it?” Max chirped as she dug into a container with a fork and came away with some sort of casserole. There seemed to be a sigh of relief from the males and Alec caught Max's wink at Cindy over the boy's head.
“All right,” Sketchy turned back to his original question. “Anyone else? Alec?”
“I'll be there,” he confirmed with a nod. “Looking forward to kickin' back a little.”
“Should be a good night,” Sketch confirmed and looking sly, and fooling no one, went on. “Maybe we could even up the numbers, huh? Maybe your friend, Buff-ay might wanna join us.”
Alec went still and he knew that Max was reacting the same. They exchanged glances and not sure what to say, Alec turned back to their horn dog friend. “I don't know Sketch. Buffy got some... news last night.” He shrugged helplessly and then offered, “I don't think she's up for socializing a lot right now.”
“Yeah,” Max added, “she's not big on crowds right now.”
“Well that's too bad,” Sketch half whined, “but bad news? What better way to deal than throwin' back a few and hanging with friends?”
“Maybe for you fool,” Cindy snarked, smacking at his shoulder, “but this girl isn't ya new play toy and I betta not hear of you treatin' like one.” Finishing with a glare she then turned to her roommate. “Maybe we could invite her to the apartment one night soon. Kinda have a girlie night?”
“That'd be-!” Max began but was immediately interrupted by Skye's enthusiastic support.
“A girlie night?” he stressed heavily. “So that's the way she swings?” And it wasn't to playground equipment that he was referring. Cindy's arm just managed to reach enough to slap him up the backside of his head. His yelp was nothing new.
“What'd Original just say?” the black woman demanded angrily and Skye shrunk back a little.
“You told Sketchy!”
“Well you all betta listen up,” Cindy warned. She threw a quiver inducing stare at the males and Alec and Biggs were the only ones not quaking under it.
“As I was saying,” Max caught Cindy's attention again. “That sounds nice and I'll call her and ask if she'd like to do that. What would be a good night?”
“Anytime this weekend,” Cindy decided. “Or hell the whole weekend,” she enthused. “That way, the girl wanna get outta the house, we can get all primped up and go.”
“I doubt that she will,” Max shrugged, “but I'll extend the offer.”
“A'iight,” Cindy nodded. And that was the end of the subject as the crew finished up their meals, talking their usual smack and fun and then scattering to avoid Normal once more.
*****
Buffy had spent the morning after her huge conversation puttering around her room and thinking about all the things that she had learned over the course of the last evening. In actuality she hadn't just started thinking about it, it had been on her mind all night as she had in turn, tossed about the bed her cousin had provided, and laid still, staring out at the night skyline. What Willow had done. What had befallen Xander. Angel and Cordelia of all people! Where Dawn was. Always, where Dawn was.
And the biggest stinker of them all, the sense that she was here for a reason. A driving, pervading sense of reason that she felt had nothing to do with her as an individual but one of the many. And she was starting to suddenly understand some of those Star Trek thingies that they'd dreamed up, those bjorg things that lived life as a collective conscious. After all, she'd had the Slayer dreams right from the start, tapping into lives of previous Slayers. That had been one of the ways Merrick, her first watcher had been able to connect with her, recounting those Slayers lives that she recognized. There was the single driving purpose, to rid the world of the Vampires and demons out there. She could feel them. Even up in this penthouse suite of her cousin's, she could sense them.
Through her morning ablutions, done more for something to do than any other reason, she had thought about how she was going to handle that. Her cousin knew nothing of these things and as much as she'd loved having her friends in the know, there were times when they had thrown themselves into the fray in a dangerous way. She'd had too much on her plate on many given moments. Trying to fight the bad guys, but having to split her attention to keep an eye on those friends. And while yes, they had for the most part, been able to defend themselves, they didn't have her skills or her honed senses, her strength, with which to protect themselves.
She could see why it was the Watcher's council's decision that the Slayer fought alone. It was that callous attitude that had sundered their... well, not relationship. But why she had refused to work with them unless absolutely necessary. Particularly when a Hell God in the form of Glory had shown up.
Buffy sighed as she trailed out of her room. She had waited until she heard her cousin up and moving about before roaming around the apartment. Her only idea about handling things had been to turn to Tara. Tara, still practicing her craft, would be more in the know about what was going on in this world. And whether Buffy wanted to actually admit it or not she needed a guide. She would have preferred Giles, but the cold stark truth of that, was that he had died and it was only with relief that he'd been spared what she had always feared would happen to him. That old age, or physical ailments would slow his reflexes. That he would succumb to a monster that she would be unable to save him from.
But at the same time, Buffy couldn't imagine trying to forge a new relationship with a stuffy, uptight, scone lovin' council man. Or woman. Gwendolyn Post had not been the council's poster for sane Watcher's. And the rest of the British Invasion that had followed Quentin Travers left a lot to be desired. They had missed her once. Now that she was the Slayer again, would it take them long to find her once more? Did she want to be found?
The resounding no in her mind seemed to be her answer. But she was enough of a realist that she knew things wouldn't just play out the way she wanted them too. If they had, she would still be...
She found herself standing outside Logan's office, where he had disappeared to. He had wisely offered her just a small breakfast this morning and Buffy found that like the evening before, that with not too much to overwhelm her, she was able to eat more easily, though the food was still uninteresting to her. Perhaps it always would be. Feeling more confident, remembering the conversation that had made her cousin smile that morning, buoyed her own spirits, if only on the surface.
“I think I remember you now,” she had offered hesitantly. Logan had looked up at her from where he was sliding a poached egg onto a plate from the small pan he held.
“What does that mean?” he had asked gently. Buffy had gestured vaguely at him.
“Last night, when I asked... and you were laughing,” she shrugged one shoulder, a little shy of the topic. “It was like, I could see you. Happy and carefree, you know, like when you and Dawn had been teasing me over something.”
Logan had smiled widely, tried to hide it and then ducked his head, said softly, “I remember those days. They seem so long ago, don't they?” And then he seemed to realize what he had said and implied. His head darted up, but Buffy was nodding.
“They really do,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her stomach. “I guess we both did a lot of growing up.”
“I hear that's what happens,” Logan nodded. And in silence, they took their separate plates and began breaking their night's fast.
Taking a deep breath, Buffy knocked at the closed door of his office. She heard his muffled reply and some movement within. She had started discerning a strange whirring noise around her cousin that she had been hesitant to ask about. Her ears were a little more sensitive than most and the only two things that she could think of that might apply were strangely incongruent. The first, that Logan was a robot. Which didn't gel of what she knew about the Buffybot and that girlfriend bot, April, that Warren Meers had created.
The second was that Logan had had to have some sort of medical thing done that required some sort of machine. But she had no clue what it could be and was sure that it was completely inappropriate to bring up. So she just put it to the back of her mind. Like so many other things. The door swung open and Logan met her eyes.
“Yes?” he asked, leaning casually against the door frame.
“I just was planning on calling Tara,” she informed him. “We were going to meet today and I just wanted to clear it with you. If you have other plans, we can probably find somewhere... quiet to hang out.” She winced as she said it. The only places she could think of were the apartment or a library and that brought up problems of its own. But if they had to... She had already caused enough headaches for Logan that he shouldn't have to be dealing with.
“Either is fine with me,” he smiled easily enough. And then readjusted the glasses perched on his nose. “I might have to go out after lunch, so you'd be perfectly welcome to invite Tara over here.” There was a clear indication, to Buffy at least that Logan wasn't as sure about the other guests that he had had that night previous.
“Okay,” Buffy nodded. “That might be easier, since I don't really know...” she trailed off as her cousin nodded. “Okay, I'll go call her and figure out what we're doing.”
“All right,” Logan nodded and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be. So just feel free to get whatever you need.”
“Okay,” Buffy nodded as she began to turn away. “Oh wait. Would I be able to get some pen and paper? There were some things...” she couldn't exactly explain to Logan that she wanted to write some things to talk with Tara about, and the witch might need to take notes about what had happened. There were very certain questions that Buffy had that she knew Logan had no answers for and for all his purported hacking skills, no way of finding out.
“Of course,” Logan smiled and reached over to a nearby book case. He returned to the door and handed her the items that she had requested. Buffy took them with a small, almost smile and then turned away. She already had Tara's motel number in her pocket and so she moved to the living room, to be comfortable, as much as she could, while she made the call. Her hand hovered over the phone for several minutes while she built up the necessary gumption for dialing. She was worried that... someone else might answer. But finally, deciding that Tara was expecting her call, would probably be close to the phone to answer and if the other happened, she would deal.
She picked up the receiver and brought it to her ear, but then frowned when there was no dial tone. She wondered if Logan had not hung up a previous call or was perhaps listening in or something. “Hello?” she asked hesitantly.
“Oh Buffy!” came a familiar voice. “That was weird. Phone didn't even ring. It's Max.”
“Oh hi,” Buffy was relieved. Just a simple moment of like thinking had put them on the line at the same time. “I was just picking up the phone to call Tara,” she explained. “I'll get Logan for you.”
“No!” Max exclaimed, though it wasn't harsh. “I actually called to talk to you.”
“You did?” Buffy asked in a small voice, a little surprised. Last evening had been the first time that Max had made more than just the prerequisite overtures with her, actually talking to Buffy about her younger life and having some laughs, like real people do when they were getting to know another person. She had found Max to be interesting. She had a little more familiar sense of humor than what Logan exhibited, and their friend Alec, well, she was used to that type of guy. All jokey and light hearted, but a quality underneath that said he had your back no matter what. It was reassuring in it's own way, but nerve racking at the same time.
“Yep,” Max affirmed. “Original Cindy had an idea and I wanted to run it past you as soon as possible, so you could think about it.”
“All right,” Buffy hedged, settling back on the sofa a little.
“Cindy and I were thinking that you might like to get out of Logan's apartment for a while,” Max announced. “I've known your cousin for two years and no offense, but he is very task oriented a lot of the time.”
“Yeah,” Buffy agreed. She had noticed as well.
“So we wanted to extend an invitation to come visit us at our apartment,” Max offered, sounding a little breathless, like she didn't know how her offer would be taken. “We were thinking this weekend, 'cause there's not much goin' on. But that would be up to you. And I don't know if you're into it, but Cindy does a mean manicure.”
Buffy smiled softly, glancing down at the hand that rested in her lap. The scrapes from breaking through her coffin had long healed and someone, she didn't know who, had initially taken a set of clippers to her nails. Thefingernails were growing again, but still a little ragged at the same time. It had been... so long. “That sounds nice,” she murmured. “I just...” she trailed off. She wasn't sure, didn't know how to say what she wanted, because she didn't know what it was she wanted.
“It's an open invitation,” Max hurried to assure her. “Just let us know if you want or need a break from your cousin. I just thought...” she trailed off, sounding uncertain as well, but when she resumed, her voice was stronger. “I was thinking that it might be nice for you to spend time with someone that doesn't expect anything of you. Or anything too deep, anyways.”
“That would be a change,” Buffy was able to chuckle. How long had it been in her life, not counting her decades long death, that she could say that she'd had that?
“Oh yeah,” Max sighed, “we could get some snacks, practice our girly arts, giggle over how all the guys at work are panting over the thought of us girls together in our undies.”
“Pillow fights and lezzing out, huh?” Buffy chuckled dryly, well acquainted with hormone driven males and their propensity in not outgrowing that phase for, well...
“In Cindy's case, yeah, but she's not pushy about it or anything,” Max laughed and Buffy had to smile. Cindy was a lesbian. Okay, good to know and well, fine, since she'd dealt with people coming out before. Of course, this woman, a good friend of Max's, obviously, was probably already through that stage of her life if Max could comment on it to what was still pretty much a stranger.
“Well,” she spoke slowly and Max quieted on the other end. “I think that I... might take you up on that offer. I just don't know when...”
“Whenever you're fine with it will be fine with us,” Max reassured her gently. “You just let me know. Logan has my numbers. Okay?”
“Okay,” Buffy sighed, feeling a weird tightening in her chest.
“All right,” Max sounded more confident now. “I'm gonna get off the phone and back to work so you can make your call. Later.”
“Bye,” Buffy said her farewell and a moment later, heard the click on Max's end. Smiling and feeling a little more confident than she had minutes ago, she depressed the catch on her end and let go to make the call to the motel.
It didn't take long for Buffy to connect with the number Tara had provided and to her utter relief, it was the blond witch that answered. When Buffy invited her to the apartment, if she was available, Tara made it clear that her whole schedule was clear. Buffy made mention of finding someplace else to meet, should it become necessary and Tara told her that she had already found a quiet library where writer's liked to work. There was a coffee shop not too far away from it and though the prices were astronomical, they were used to it. Buffy was even able to joke back that good coffee had always been expensive. She hadn't been able to bring herself to ask what Cordy and Angel were doing, or what they had planned.
Tara promised to be at the apartment at one, or shortly thereafter, not knowing what traffic would be like at that time of day. They hung up and Buffy went to let her cousin know about her plans. He was just exiting his office, that slight mechanic whine reaching her ears again and she winced, unable to hide it soon enough from her cousin.
“Are you all right Buffy?” he asked immediately, with concern. Buffy did the expedient thing of letting her hand hover over her eyes and then rub at her right ear.
“Sorry,” she minced, shrugging her shoulders. “Bit of a headache after the latest sleepless night. Don't worry about it.”
“Mmm,” Logan agreed, lowering his tone slightly. “Tension headache?”
“Probably,” she agreed, feeling somewhat awkward as they stood in the middle of the hallway.
“And I suppose the whine of my servo motor doesn't help,” he mused, with a slight grin.
“Servo huh?” Buffy wasn't sure, but weren't those computer thingies? When had they started talking computers? It made sense, with the number of electronic things he had in his office, but she couldn't actually hear them from out in the living room.
“Sorry,” Logan chuckled as he hunched over slightly. “It occurred to me the other day, that I'd never told you...” he trailed off and bent over fully at the waist. Buffy was about to protest, but he was simply opening up his track pants that he wore, from the knee down to the calf. Buffy could see that he was wearing some sort of brace and her eyes widened as she met his eyes again. Logan grinned, but she could see the nervousness behind it as he swiftly did up the pants Velcro outer seam again.
“I-I'm sorry,” she stammered, wondering why her cousin needed braces for his legs. She had never been aware of any illness.
“Don't worry about it,” Logan dismissed. “I was shot, in the back a few years ago.” She gave a little gasp at hearing that. “Doctors said I'd be confined to a wheelchair the rest of my life, but plenty of money, some... interesting connections and here I am.”
“That's...” Buffy hesitated and then realized that there were hundreds of things she could say that just wouldn't sound right. So maybe honesty was just the best way to go. “That really had to suck. But I'm glad you've managed to work with it.”
“Yeah,” Logan shrugged and started to move towards the living room, from which Buffy had just come. “I was in a bad place for a while after it happened. But time and the realization that I could still help people went a long way to improving my attitude.”
“I can only imagine,” she murmured, following after him. “So,” she wondered, “is that how it happened? Helping someone out?”
“Uh yeah,” Logan sighed as he took a seat on the sofa, his hands on his thighs. “There was this woman, Lauren and she was preparing to testify against a known crime boss in Seattle about some of his dirty dealings.”
“And you were investigating this?” Buffy asked carefully, biting at her lip. Suddenly his job that he was so devoted to didn't sound so very safe. Logan nodded tiredly.
“I knew about this guy, his name was Sonrisa,” he explained, “and while I usually don't get involved to that extent... well, I was escorting Lauren and her daughter Sophie, to Witness Protection. Sonrisa's men ambushed us in the streets, and kidnapped Sophie.”
“How horrible,” Buffy grimaced, remembering all the times that Dawn had gotten into sticky situations. Thank goodness there had never been gun play involved. She knew somehow that things would have gotten extremely dicey if that had ever happened. “Did you... did... was Sophie okay?” she finally got out.
“Oh yeah,” Logan nodded happily. “A... friend of mine was able to set up one of Sonrisa's men and find Sophie and rescue her. Sonrisa was killed by one of his underlings. Which meant that he didn't get the chance to get off on a technicality or buy a jury.”
“Wow,” Buffy breathed out. And then blinked. “And here I thought my life was chaotic.” She chuckled, as did Logan, though he was definitely not in the know. “So,” she changed the subject slightly, “there've been enough medical advances...?” she gestured at his leg.
“Oh, not really,” Logan hummed and then shook his head. “The procedure I underwent was run out of a back room, dark alley sort of place. Very expensive, no guarantee to work. It was technically illegal here in the United States, but the doctor had had very good results with it overseas. Like I said,” he offered softly, “I wasn't in a very good head space, when I...”
“I understand,” Buffy hastened to assure him. And she certainly could. Walking was such a simple function about life that people took for granted. She knew that losing something like that could be devastating. Like when the Council had ordered for her to undergo that Cruciamentum test when she was eighteen. She had been stripped of her powers and while that seemed like a good thing, on the surface, of being a normal girl wanting a normal life, well... Buffy had seen too much, knew too much and cared too much at that point. She had the suspicion that at that age, she'd have still tried to help against the darkness, powers or no. Now however...
“So, the work with the doctor helped,” Logan explained, looking a little guilty, a little sheepish. “But then a friend of Max's gave me this exo-skeleton. That's what we call it,” he grinned. “Apparently it fell off a stack at this warehouse this guy was working in and when he saw what it was, he couldn't resist.”
“He stole it?” Buffy's eyes grew wide again. And she was grinning, just a little. Who knew, her upright, uptight cousin had slip-slidey morals! “From where?”
“Uh, the Department of Defense,” Logan admitted quietly. Buffy blinked a few times and then raised her arm in the air, fist clenched.
“Viva la revolution, huh?”
It made her cousin laugh and then he began explaining how the whole thing worked. Buffy looked with just the most minor interest as he showed her the servo-motors that were connected to motion pads and electric impulse points that relayed his muscles twitches down the line and with help, he was voila, able to walk. It was amazing to Buffy and she grew sad when she realized that Willow would have been all over the thing, asking all sorts of questions. Logan seemed to realize immediately the change in emotional climate. He asked and Buffy shook her head.
“I was just thinking that Willow would have loved this thing,” she explained. “She was always very good with the computer stuff.”
“Well, there's not much I can say,” Logan sighed, leaning forward to reach out and pat one of her hands. “You know, even with most of your friends being... gone, well, you still have people that love you and care about you here Buffy.”
“I know,” she nodded and tried to smile, but then recalled Max's words from earlier. “Actually,” she began, taking in a deep breath, “maybe more than I was counting.”
“Oh?”
“Max called earlier,” she explained. Logan's head cocked slightly. “I was picking up the phone to call Tara and there she was.” His head bobbed in a quick, accepting nod. “She was actually calling to extend an invitation.”
“Oh? For...?”
“For me... to come over... if I wanted,” Buffy shrugged. “Kind of a girls night, when I want.”
“Well that was nice of her,” Logan sounded very surprised and then seemed to realize it, gave Buffy a chuckled explanation. “Max has never been, um, really girly, or uh,” he winced and Buffy debated between letting him prolong his misery of digging himself into a hole or saving him. “I mean, obviously, she's very nice, pretty and well...”
“She said so herself,” Buffy added, finally deciding to let him off the hook. “It was more of a hang out at her place, just relax sort of thing. And it was nice. So, if there's ever,” she shrugged, feeling awkward to have to bring this up with her now grown up cousin. “If there's ever a night you want me to vacate, I guess I'd have somewhere to go.”
“Oh right,” Logan's eyes went wide then. “Well, I doubt you'd have to worry about that. Kind of married to my work now. But still, the offer is nice.” He ducked his head and then turned back to her. “So, did you get hold of Tara?”
And as simple as that, the subject was changed and plans were made for the rest of the day.
Chapter Twenty-six
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