Fiction DotL- Chapter Thirty-one

Title: Darkening Of The Light
Author: Restive Nature
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: 15 (for a little language)
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 just ask instead of taking please.

Reviews: While I may not always respond to reviews, they are always welcome!

Darkening Of The Light

Chapter Thirty-one

June 2nd, 2021
2:06 a.m.
Seattle, WA
Downtown






“Logan,” Buffy sighed, her voice sounding just a little harsh now, to Alec's ear as he filled the tea kettle that had been left in the apartment when he had taken it over from its previous resident. He had scrubbed it thoroughly before out of boredom one day and was now glad that he had. He'd have to make coffee the old fashioned way, if that was what she wanted. He had and was still soldier enough that he had collected the basic necessities, even if he didn't use them himself all the time. There was always someone that wanted something, and if he could provide it, well there was already a barter system in place in this city and Alec fit well into it. People demanded and he liked being able to supply.



He continued to listen to Buffy's side of the conversation and didn't bother hiding his ire. As usual, Logan seemed to be making everything about himself.



“No!” she protested. “It's just that Alec and I got to talking and he asked-!” She was obviously cut off by the irritated huffing sound she made. “Just stuff. It's no big deal. It's just a little chilly out, so he offered me a cup of coffee before we leave and-!” She sighed again and began to rub at her forehead. “I understand that it's late Logan.” But then her face softened and she looked contrite. “I'm sorry. I didn't think of that. You're right. I'll be right there.”



“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” Alec was protesting immediately, before he even realized, moving to her side, the kettle still in his hand. He glanced at it and then set it down on a flat surface. “What's wrong?”



Buffy pressed her hand over the speaker to muffle their conversation, pulling the phone away from her mouth. “Logan didn't give me keys to the building. I kind of forgot about having to get back in. I'm so used to living in... in a house that I...” She seemed to shudder, just a little and Alec winced in sympathy. Probably some bad memories or thoughts there. He was about to tell her that it would be no problem for him to get her into Logan's apartment, but quickly rethought it. There was no way that she wouldn't be suspicious as hell about where he had learned such skills and that was a conversation he didn't really want to have with her. Not yet and maybe not ever, even as much as he knew that that would be an impossibility. Who she was, or at least related to and... He came back to himself as Buffy's voice caught his attention again.



“And you have to work tomorrow, right?” she went on. “It's late...”



“Buffy,” Alec sighed, his voice soft. He gestured to the phone. “May I?” he asked gently and after glancing at it, she handed it to him. He pressed it to his shoulder as he ducked slightly to look in her eyes. “If you would like to stay and talk, then I have no problem with it. You can take my bed when you're tired and I'll crash on the couch. I'm not worried about work. Normal will understand. But if you really want to get back to Logan's, then we'll leave now. No worries. It's up to you.”



She chewed on her lower lip for just a moment, looking disturbed and then glanced at the phone receiver he was holding. “I want...” she began and then ducked her head before admitting. “I just... can't sleep. It's... it's really hard and I don't...”



“Then we'll drink coffee until I ultimately pass out and you can amuse yourself with my collection of dvd's, or music or whatever you scrounge up around here,” he teased gently. “I may even have a book or two,” he added in a self-deprecating tone.



That got an unexpected chuckle out of her and he reminded himself to just make sure that his weapon was locked up where it was accessible to him alone before he fell asleep. Regardless of how indecisive he was about the future, he still didn't want Buffy asking questions he wasn't sure he could answer.



“Okay,” she finally nodded. “Thank you. Again.”



Alec just smiled his approval and pulled the phone up. “Logan? Buddy.”



“Alec, what's going on?” Logan demanded, his voice irritable and gruff. Alec wondered if Logan had been dozing since that first reassuring phone call Buffy had made to him.



“Buffy just needs to de-stress before she goes to sleep,” he informed the other man. “And you need your eight hours. So we'll chat, you sleep, if she gets tired, she can take my bed, I've got the couch. I'll run her home or wherever she wants to go in the morning before I go to work. How's that?”



“Well,” Logan spoke slowly, “it's nice of you Alec, but...”



“Don't worry man,” Alec chided softly. “She's a big girl Logan and she wants to talk. That's all,” he stressed. He knew very well what Cale's opinion of him as a human being, or even keeping in mind his transgenic nature. Too bad Logan hadn't taken more time to figure him out before settling on that opinion. He smiled down at the woman staring up at him, trustingly and he felt that warm sort of glow in his chest again. That dangerously seductive feeling that promised... things. He ignored the warning bells in the back of his mind. This wasn't about him, it was for Buffy. She needed this and if he could help, then he would. “Just trust her. I know you don't always trust me, but she is doing amazingly well here given the circumstances.”



“You're right,” Logan finally sighed. “I'm sorry, but she's family, you know? There's no way I'm not going to worry about her. Just, maybe try not to get too deep into anything upsetting. I guess that's all I can ask. Even if she is a big girl, she's not like other girls you've known Alec.”



Alec couldn't help feeling like Logan was intending something else behind those words as well and knowing what the guy thought about Alec, he was pretty sure that he knew what the warning was of. Especially given Logan's position as Buffy's cousin. The closest thing to a big brother she would have.



“I know that,” he assured the other man. “And I will treat her with every courtesy I had drilled into me.” He chuckled as Buffy pressed her lips together, looking as if she couldn't decided between laughing at them or taking him to task. “Besides, not looking forward to havin' Cindy kick my ass if I treat Buffy with anything less than the respect I'd give my mother, God rest her soul,” he added, his eyes twinkling. Hopefully that would keep Buffy from asking questions about his family. Especially given that his family was a series of test tubes with contributions from God knew which humans and animals that had walked the earth at some point or another.



“Okay,” Logan chuckled, sounding relieved. “All right. Good night then. I'll see you guys in the morning.”



“In the morning,” Alec repeated before turning to hang up the telephone. “Sorry about that,” he sighed to Buffy.



“What's there to be sorry about?” she demanded archly, picking up the kettle now and moving towards Alec's kitchen. He followed after her.



“Well, for stepping in and...” he shrugged, running one hand through his hair as he watched her move into the kitchen, filling up the kettle from the sink and then settle the filled pot onto the stove. She seemed comfortable enough now, in his home and he had to push that glowing feeling down again. Watching her warily, he was relieved when she chuckled.



“Alec, that was exactly the point I was trying to make earlier,” she explained as she looked over the stove. She reached for the knob to turn on the element that the kettle was sitting on and when that was done, moved away from the stove slightly to turn and rest against the counter as she regarded him. “You see something that needs to be done, you step in and get it done. You... held things together. And you're still doing it.”



“Oh,” he murmured and then glanced up at her, trying to figure out if she was upset about it or not. “I guess I do. I mean, I don't always. It's just, when it's only a few of us... sometimes things need to be done... I didn't mean to overstep any bounds,” he tried to explain, unsure as to why he felt so hesitant about this. But Buffy obviously wasn't suffering the same qualms.



“But you don't,” she protested again. “Overstep bounds, I mean,” she splayed her hands out before her. “Every single time,” she shook her head, “that you've stepped in, with me at least, you've waited. Haven't you?' she seemed to ask of both him and herself. “I mean, I see how you try to let other people resolve things. And then when you do step in, you always make sure it's okay with me first. I...” she ducked her head, clenching her fists minutely and Alec felt like his stomach and heart were preparing to drop in anticipation of her next words. “Not everybody in my world did that. A very few notorious examples tried to just take over everything. But you don't. And I don't think you know just how much I appreciate that. Having someone sticking up for me.” She swallowed heavily. “Not what I am, or because I can give them something or do something special, but just... for me.” Her eyebrows drew together heavily as she glanced away, a faint blush staining her cheeks.



Alec felt relieved, seeing that she was at least slightly appreciative of the tact he had taken with her. It had been the right course, the one that he had instinctively felt, and still continued to feel. He leaned forward and spoke gently, not wanting to upset her. “To be honest Buffy,” he sighed, “that's not how I was taught. There were a lot of times that I just had to get in there and do what I had to do, regardless of what others thought or wanted. But with you...”



She glanced up at him again, curious now. “With me?” she prompted as he ran his hand through his hair once more. Alec smiled reassuringly at her.



“With you,” he explained, with as much precision in his voice that he could muster, “it's different. Because the whole situation is different. Like you said before, it's extremely weird in a way that I'm not used to. Something inside me just tells me that the way I used to do things wouldn't be right here. So I...” he shrugged his shoulders helplessly. “Honestly? I try to put myself in your shoes. Think about how things are affecting you. And I know that I would hate, do hate,” he corrected himself, thinking of Manticore, his old home sweet hell, “other people taking over. Making all the decisions. Taking away that right. So I try not to do it to you.”



She stared at him for the longest moment and Alec was proud of himself that he didn't squirm under her direct gaze. Finally she broke and smiled again. “well, whatever your reasons are, I do appreciate it. It's been exactly right. Thank you.”



“You're welcome,” he smiled in return, relieved that once again, he hadn't messed up. “Now then,” he rapped his hand lightly on the counter between them, “let's see what I have in my cupboards. Coffee takes a while. But I'm pretty sure that I've got some tea too.”



*****



“So your conversation with Tara went well?” Alec asked easily. He and Buffy had finally decided on tea and though it wasn't his favorite drink in the world, he had felt a little bad not to join her. So he had prepared a cup for himself, adding a few heaping teaspoons of sugar to the brew and found it palatable enough.



They had begun with discussing a few mundane things first. Mostly about how quiet it was in Logan's penthouse, up away and removed from the world. Alec could see, from her few descriptions the life and living she was used to. Living in a house where there were constant sounds of the city around them. Even the apartment she had dwelled in when she had run away from home, cheap and only on the second floor with the sounds of LA nightlife around the. She had noted that even now she could hear soft sounds from the surrounding apartments, noises that Alec heard whenever he was home and even now, the soft snores of his neighbors.



And Buffy had hinted at how she felt that she was disrupting his life more than he let on. Alec couldn't say much about that, knowing that Logan had not and was not willing to share the Eyes Only portion of his life with his cousin yet. Aside from seeing how imperiously he summoned Max to help him, be the brawn of his little operation and then getting sucked in to helping by guilt or whatever reason it was, Alec had little to do with Logan's alter ego. He did have a good idea, having been taught the ins and outs of and actually practicing intelligence gathering, how much time consuming work had to go into it. Especially for someone that didn't have an entire black ops corporation or transgenic skills to rely on.



“Yeah, I guess,” Buffy sighed her answer to his question about Tara, as she cradled her still warm mug in between her hands. “We got a few things worked out. Things I never thought I'd have to deal with.”



“Oh, like what?” Alec wondered. He could only imagine the types of details that would go into bringing Buffy fully into the twenty-first century. Especially later in the game than she'd left it.



“Well, identity papers for me,” she smiled gently. “Had to figure out some logical reason behind my existence.”



“And what did you decide?” he asked, a trace of a smile on his face, sensing that it might be something humorous from the rapid blinking of her eyes and the twitch at the corner of her mouth.



“Well,” she pursed her lips, “it turns out that I am my own daughter.” Her eyes crinkled at the corners with a suppressed bemusment.



“Huh?” Alec grunted out automatically, before understanding and letting loose a chuckle. “Oh that's rich. But makes sense. Is Tara gonna help you with setting that up?”



Buffy nodded and then took a quick sip before setting the mug on the coffee table before her. She snuggled quickly back into her position, her feet up off the floor, tucked under herself, seated sideways on the couch. Alec on the other hand was lounging, stretched out slightly. “She is. She actually has some contacts that owe her a few favors.”



“Tara has contacts?” Alec grinned. The idea, with the little that he knew about the woman, seemed incongruous, but also a little right. “She gonna magic up some papers for you?”



“If she can get it done as fast as she says, it would be magic,” Buffy joked, then shook her head. “No. She has a military contact. Which is good, from what I understand.”



Alec was relieved that she wasn't watching him when she announced that, since it was a little startling. “Military?” he repeated, trying to assure himself that there was no way she could know...



“Yeah,” Buffy nodded, still calm and Alec watched her carefully. “She did a favor for a guy, he owes her and since I was affiliated with the army at one point, she's thinking that I might be able to be assigned my old rank.”



“You were with the military?' his eyes widened slightly. Logan certainly hadn't told him that. Her ex boyfriend Riley, yes, but Buffy herself. Had she joined up to be with the guy?



“I was... a civilian contractor, I guess you'd call it,” she muttered. “Not very long, since their commanding officer, who was also my college psychology professor was a total bitch.”



Alec blinked several times before he shook his head as well. “Small world, huh? So you weren't actually enlisted?”



“Oh no,” she chuckled. “Really not. They just wanted me for my expertise.” Alec noted instantly that she realized that she had said more than she had wanted to. Her tell was very obvious in that manner.



“Well that must be a relief then,” he offered, not wanting to press her to the point that she was not anywhere close to comfort. Here she was in his home, calm and even smiling occasionally. It was too good of a feeling for him and he was sure for her, to be able to relax and not have to be on guard every single second, even if he sort of was. But he just didn't want Buffy panicking and sliding back to what she'd been like the first few days. “What was your rank, if you don't mind me asking?”



“To tell you the truth,” Buffy relaxed as the conversation swerved around the hurdle she had put there without intending to, “I don't even remember. It was on my identification for getting into the base, but I just stuck it in my purse or whatever until I needed in. I mean, they had retina scanners and visual face recognition machines, so it wasn't like I had to sneak in or... or anything.”



“Uh huh,” Alec grinned. Again that tell. He leaned forward as well to place his own empty mug on the table. “So what makes me think that you did exactly that?”



Buffy groaned softly and dropped her head to rest in her hands. “Can we forget I said that? I mean, we didn't do anything bad! Well, we did, but it was for a good cause!”



“Oh, it's we now,” Alec chuckled. “This is getting good. You've got to spill now!” He was simply teasing and was ready to drop it, if she protested again, but suddenly, she had turned her head to regard him and there was an amused look on her face.



“Okay fine,” she grunted. “We did it on a dare. Xander and Cordelia were the ones that actually broke in.”



“Really?” Alec's eyebrows went up. “How'd they manage that and what kind of dare? And how does a dare become a good cause?”



“Really long story,” Buffy shrugged one shoulder, but came out of her huddle to regale him with the short tale. “We were dared to break into the local army base. Xander actually knew something about it, so we chose him to go. He took Cordy along as his date, to pretend that he was a soldier that was on leave and she got all... hot and bothered by army stuff.”



“And they believed that crap?” Alec scoffed. Her grin told him that they did.



“Well, when Xander chewed out the soldier that caught them for being absent from his post, a mistake with his uniform and the fact that the kid couldn't even hold his rifle properly,” she chuckled and then sighed. “We heard the story many times over. He was so proud of himself for actually pulling that one off.”



“I'll bet,” Alec chuckled.



“So, was Xander actually enlisted at some point?” he wondered. Buffy quickly shook her head.



“No,” she protested. And then looked a little sheepish. “It's just... when I first moved to Sunnydale, well, we always had these movie nights. Xander was really great, but it seems,” she paused and chuckled then. “Well, we always ended up watching something that Willow or I liked and every so often he'd get these manly moment fits.”



“Manly moment fits?” Alec repeated, his eyes gleaming with amusement, not even realizing that he was unconsciously leaning closer. Buffy nodded slowly as she twisted the coffee mug that she held around and around in her hands.



“He'd gather up as many of his dad's old war movies and watch them one after another,” she explained. “I guess it was his way of trying to not come off so... he got teased so much in school,” she winced. “And it didn't help that I completely undermined his manhood that one time... well, more than one time...”



“Undermined...” Alec began and then shook his head. “Something tells me that there are a lot of good stories here. I mean, obviously not good if you're undermining, but amusing? Does that sound horrible of me?” he chuckled. He was relieved that even though her eyes dropped to her lap, there was a hint of a smirk on her face.



“Xander was a goof ball,” she shrugged. “Anyone, he would be the first to tell you that. But he was also one of the most solid, dedicated friends anyone could ever have. The type of guy that stood up for others, even when the cost was...”



“A good guy, huh?” Alec nodded. “When it mattered most?”



“Most of the time,” Buffy agreed. “I don't kid myself that he was perfect. He had blind spots. Angel being one of them. He hated Angel with a real passion, before we even started dating. And he could be insensitive, missing things that were right in front of him. And he dated Cordelia. While he was the treasurer of the 'We Hate Cordelia Chase Club'.”



Alec blinked heavily, several times. “There are so many things...” he began and then squeezed his eyes shut. “I'm sorry,” he chortled as he carefully pinched the bridge of his nose. “You had a club?”



“Not me,” she protested softly and then chuckled as well. “Willow, Xander and their old friend Jesse. Before I moved to Sunnydale. Cordelia really wasn't the nicest person back then. She was really a bitch and didn't care how she trampled all over people. Not just someone with a bitchy attitude that... ugh. Well, until she started dating Xander. I think, maybe that's when she started to change, just a little, mind you.”



“It's surprising what little things will set a person off,” Alec noted calmly, his hand lowered, watching her once more. “And interesting to see people dancing around subjects so much.” To her credit, Buffy didn't deny that she had been. She just sighed, her shoulders drooping. “The only reason I mention it,” he went on, “is because I'm all right if you don't want to talk about it. You don't have to keep telling me stories about the old days or switching to a different one to keep me distracted.”



“I... do want to talk,” Buffy admitted. “But it's hard. I don't understand in a way, what they thought they were accomplishing.” It took Alec a moment to realize that she was talking about being brought back. The huge elephant in the room that they had all done everything they could to tiptoe around. And not just for Buffy's sake.



“But at the same time,” she continued, “I do. It just... makes me so angry that they could think to do something like that. The consequences... there were so many...” she swallowed heavily and then peeked at him, a sidelong glance from the corner of her eye. “But who am I to throw stones? I wasn't there. I don't know what they were dealing with, or how. And I'm just... too tired to try and put myself in their shoes.”



“It's not an easy task,” Alec agreed. “Especially as there are so many shoes to fill at one time. If you want, try it with just one at a time. Maybe it'd be easier.”



“Probably,” she sighed, with a deceptively casual shrug.“I guess maybe, the whole thing?” she began before turning to him. “Tara's already told me what they were doing. That night, I mean. The why, obviously, to bring me back. She just didn't tell me the total of how and I'm not sure I'm ready to revisit that.”



“I can't imagine I would be either,” Alec grumbled uncomfortably. “And she still wants to talk to us, Max, Logan and I, about what happened afterwards.”



“Afterwards what?” Buffy asked slowly, almost freezing, if she hadn't been so still already.



“After we saw what they did, or were doing...” Alec responded, squinting hard at her. He could almost tell the second her heartbeat picked up. Her pupils were dilating suddenly and he just did not have a good feeling about this. Deep in the pit of his stomach.






Chapter Thirty-two