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memory lane....
So, occasionally, I note that I used to be kinda sucky as an author, and say things like, "we all started out awful"
This, folks, is proof. Cut bits from the long-unfinished Buffy/Excalibur crossover.
Sit back, it could be a long night.
~Trite. Over used. But, the sentiment's there.~ Buffy thought, as she applauded, "Ok. Now that the two of you have figured that out, there's this Hellmouth thingie?"
Pete turned to her and scowled, "They're in there still discussing it. We've been waiting for you."
Kitty spoke up, "Lead on then, maestro."
He stared at her, "Gods," he held her tighter, "I love you too. I thought I'd lost you."
Pete looked at the cigarette that lay, still smoking, on the ground. And crushed it out. Kitty loooked at hime in surprise.
"We'd better tell those sods, you're here."
"What do you mean 'they'?" He was feeling a really nasty premonition. ~Hope this isn't some loony bent on killing all of us.~
"Uh, well, I believe she was possibly referring to her new roommate."
"Hello," Kitty stepped up and held out her hand to Willow, "You're Willow, right?"
They shook, "I know you already though," Willow pointed out, "We used to converse across the 'Net."
"I'd wondered if that was you." Kitty grinned, "Buffy told me all about you guys, and I thought to myself--that Willow, she sounds familiar!"
Giles stepped up, noting that Pete had not let go of Kitty, and shook her hand, "I'm--"
Kitty swore, silently, ~Buffy, you HAVE to tell them!~ "Buffy."
"Kitty." Buffy looked at her, eyes bleak.
"You--"
Kitty silently caught her shoulder, squeezing. Buffy turned to her, "You were right."
"Yeah. But I didn't want to be." Kitty admitted softly.
"Uh, just what was it she was right about?" Whistler asked, looking curious.
Buffy grinned, "That we both have very bad taste in men."
Pete yelped, "Hey! I resemble that remark! Pryde!"
"Wisdom!" Kitty shot back, grinning. They grinned at each other, then the grins changed slightly to smoldering looks.
Buffy giggled, "Kitty the heat coming off you two--"
"Stow it Buffy!" Kitty admonished, giggling herself.
Kitty'd been idly leafing through the papers on the table, coming across her own research on the Hellmouth for W.H.O. she grinned at Willow, raising her eyebrow. Willow nodded, silently. ~So, she's already mucking about with W.H.O. stuff. Cool, she's following in my footsteps.~ Turning back to the sheets she noted that there were readings from the time she'd been working on it, and recently. She looked at them absently, then--~Hey! Wait a minute.~
"Whistler! What does your Council say is trapped in the Hellmouth?" She'd interrupted him mid-comment.
"Oh, uh, well they don't actually know." He shrugged, "They're assuming it's a demon that attempted to get out through Acathla."
"A demon, huh?" she asked, absently. "Willow, can I use your computer?" ~And find what I hope...~
"Sure."
"Thanks," she got up from Pete's lap and moved over to the computer. Logging on, she used her own I.D. and hacked the W.H.O. files.
"Wot ya doin', Pryde?"
"Hush." She looked, "Hand me those files the Watcher Council sent, will ya?"
She looked at them, back at the screen. ~Now, if I run this through THAT filter...~ she tapped a few keys. ~Ah!~
"Pryde?--"
She interrupted Pete, "Just a little more."
Then, "Ok, boys and girls, gather round and pay homage to the goddess of computing."
They all looked at her startled, "What?" Giles' comment seemed to go for them all.
She sighed, "Ok. I was looking at the W.H.O. files, then I noticed that the recent recordings of Hellmouth emission waves were VERY similar to those taken when I was doing my research." she paused, everyone was watching her, waiting for her to pull a rabbit out of her hat. ~Oh, that's a good visual!~
She continued, "To shorten my explanation, I pulled up a reading taken on the Hellmouth just four months ago--a time we know there wasn't anything in there. It was somewhat different. So, using that, I made a filter and put the two other readings through it, filtering out the background Hellmouth 'noise'. What it came up with was this," she gestured at the screen, "And I ran THESE patterns through a catalogue of all known supernatural phenomena vibrations. The first one is definitely a vampire--the Master, obviously. The second was a bit more vague--the program couldn't decide if it was a vampire or a human, seems it has 'soul vibrations'."
"You mean--" Whistler was the first to get it.
"Exactly," Kitty nodded, "What's trapped in the Hellmouth isn't just your everyday, run-of-the-mill demon. It's our Angel."
"He called us 'kittens'," she whispered, pale.
"It was just a coincidence." Buffy insisted.
"Was it?" Kitty whispered, feeling very odd, "Was it really?" She stared into nothing.
"Kitty," Pete said, kneeling in front of her, and reaching for her hands, "Wot is it? Wot was that smeggin' sod talking about?"
Kitty remained mute, staring at nothing.
Buffy sighed, "My story to tell then." She caught a chair and sat. "After awhile last night, we were kind of in a groove, finding and staking vamps. About 2, this morning though, we hadn't seen hide nor hair of a vamp for over an hour. Then, I thought I sensed one behind a building. We crept around, and discovered two guys dragging something into the yard." She broke off.
"We never did see what it was." Kitty looked better now, and puzzled, "In fact, we didn't even think of looking even after--"
"My story?" Buffy reminded her, Kitty nodded and shut her mouth, a ghost of a grin flickering across her mouth.
"Anyway, there we were about to decide to leave, when," She paused, remembering the suddenness of it. "When they were shot."
"Who were they?" Giles asked.
"Something else we may never know," Buffy answered, "We--or at least I, stood there frozen," Kitty nodded that she had too, Buffy continued, "And while standing there we heard a voice come out of the dark. This vamp just appeared--out of nowhere. He wasn't happy with the gunman--he seemed to have employed him."
She paused again, feeling the absolute coldness of the vamp she'd felt then. She whispered, "He-he just killed him for failing him. Snapped his neck."
"Why?"
"Because," She shivered, "Because now he couldn't question them."
"But, I fail to see what connection this has--"
"Giles, let her finish it." Kitty snapped.
"Kitty flinched. He heard her--vamps have very good hearing. Kitty stepped out to meet him. I followed her. He called us 'little cats'."
Kitty took over, "It spooked the Hell out of me. Most people don't know who I am, and I've never had a bad guy call me 'kit', 'cat', or 'little kitten' before." She paused, "And the rest of this little story--or the short, short version-- Buffy and I took him out. The police were showing up and we didn't get a chance to see who the other bodies were, or what the object was."
"And this spooked the two of you?" Whistler didn't look particularly sympathetic, "The killing thing is quite a normal thing among vamps, why did it spook you?"
"Oh," said Buffy, "I don't think it was just that. For one thing, he was so cold--like he'd just as soon kill me as look at me. Not for pleasure, Or cause he could. Just cause he didn't care whether I was alive or not. And then there was his little joke at the very end." She paused. "It went something along the lines of: 'what's better than a dead human? A dead mutant!'"
Kitty abruptly found herself in Pete's arms. He was trembling, like she was. "Kitty?"
"Shh. Just hold me." She pleaded.
Buffy smiled to see them so together. ~I was right,~ She thought in satisfaction, ~They DO need each other like Angel and I did.~
Later
"Right. So it's agreed? Cordy and I are off to get food then. The rest of you take a break, or something. And when we get back we can start doing this spellcasting thing."
They were all still gathered in the library. Xander and Cordelia were leaving, of course. Giles and Pete were pouring over the books, trying to figure out who 'She' was. Kitty and Willow were searching the 'Net. Buffy and her mother were sifting through other things. And Oz was talking to Whistler.
Kitty turned to Buffy, "There wasn't any sort of identifying mark on the jackass was there?" She sounded frustrated.
"No, there wasn't," Buffy was a little calmer, but not by much. As Giles had pointed out--after the little story--if they could find 'Her' second, then they'd possibly find her. So, that's what the ladies were doing. Giles and Pete, on the other hand, were looking for 'Her' in the books. Any female of supernatural origin was being painstakingly examined. It was a slow process.
They hadn't been able to ascertain whether the mutant joke had been 'cause he knew who Kitty was or not. Ditto for the many cat references.
"Maybe he calls everyone he corners cat." had been Xander's suggestion.
"If so, maybe we could locate him on that!" Cordelia'd replied, excited, "What did you say he called his employee again?"
Buffy hadn't actually, but, "Darling. He called him Darling. although, I think his name was--Bert?"
So they MIGHT have SOME sort of search parameter. Kitty and Willow had designed a program with it. So far there were no results.
So, they were stuck looking for someone, they had no idea who. And with a POSSIBLE program, that might POSSIBLY...
"Kitty," Buffy said, slowly, looking over at her. "There is something we haven't thought of."
"Yeah?"
"Who were Earl and Bobby?"
Kitty blinked, ~No, duh..~ "Wait! Of course!"
She turned to the computer, stopping the search program. "If I can just..." Her voice trailed off as, tongue between her teeth, she began delicately hacking the S.F. Police Department files.
9:31 p.m.
"Ok," Kitty said, stretching her hands over her head, and rolling her neck, wincing. "According to police files, Earl Potter, and Robert 'Bobby' Pippin were bit criminals with minor crimes on a list longer than my arm. They worked FOR people rather than on their own. They were killed last night by a man only identified as Bert. The police are still looking for the person or persons who then broke Bert's neck. There doesn't appear to be ANYTHING on this Bert, which makes me think," she took a breath, "that Bert was possibly an undercover agent of some sort."
Buffy looked vaguely curious. "Ok, so we've got, two small time thugs, one guy who may have been a fed, and one nasty vamp."
"Yeah." Kitty agreed. "It's not much is it?"
"Yeah, but, we're kinda making progress." Willow pointed out.
"Hmm... I'll check the San Francisco Chronicle [Herald??], now I think." Kitty glanced at the screen, then typed in the URL. "I mean, after all, it IS a newspaper, they must have something on last night's happenings by now."
Pulling up the newspaper files hadn't taken quite as long--mainly because the Chronicle was an open database. It still had pulled up quite a few stories on their thugs, though.
"Ok, so according to the Chronicle, the thing last night was a drug bust gone wrong--there were drugs, specifically cocaine in the box they were dragging." Kitty paused to take a sip of the coffee Oz'd just handed her. "Anyway, the police aren't releasing the names of the person they believe is responsible. Though, there is a rumour that there were surveillance tapes." She blinked. "Damn. There is also a report of two unknown females being on the scene."
"Damn, indeed. In fact, I'd go so far as to say, shit." Buffy concurred, looking gloomy. "We were seen."
"By whom, is my question." Kitty said, "Though, more to the point is whether they got us on their surveillance tapes."
Buffy sighed, "Well, there's really nothing we can do now, other than not worry about it. I don't think we said anything that could link it back to us, did we?"
Kitty shook her head, "Nope. Dammit. We seem to be getting nowhere." She felt frustrated. "Buffy."
She looked at Kitty, her eyes began to gleam. "Kitty."
Kitty stepped closer to the man, grabbed his lapels and pulled him into a searing kiss. Somehow, he flicked the cig away and wrapped his arms around her, without missing a beat, or singeing anyone's hair. Buffy fanned herself, ~Grief, the heat coming off those two would keep the North Pole warm for a year!~ She thought, amused.
"Ahem." ~That should have been long enough.~ "If the two of you don't mind, isn't there some sort of new thing that I need to do? And, Kitty, I'd really like to be introduced to this...person."
Kitty slowly released him. "Oh, silly me, I forgot the introductions. Buffy, this is Pete Wisdom my beloved, Pete this is Buffy Summers."
"Your beloved?" He still looked like he wasn't getting it. But he hadn't let her go yet, either.
"Yep," she nodded, "I am crazy and stupid enough to love you. Pete Wisdom, I love you., And for what it's worth, I'm sorry." She held up a hand, "But, we'll have to continue this later, or, Buffy can go in without me, and I'll miss something." She grinned, "Buffy, if you please, show us the way."
They both nodded. Got up, and left the library.
When they came back, they were wearing the Slaying gear they'd bought the day before. Buffy was carrying a duffel bag.
"Buffy. Where are you going?" Giles was staring at the two.
"Oh, nowhere." Buffy said, waving her hand airily. "Or, well, we have a few frustrations we need to work off."
"Yeah, I need to blow off some steam." Kitty inserted.
"So," they both said in unison, "We're going out to Slay for a bit."
"But, Buffy what about--"
"Well," said Kitty, "Willow is nearly as good as I am with a computer, so she can do that. You've pretty much got the book thing covered. So, I think we both feel a bit superfluous."
He sighed, "Nothing I say will make any difference, will it? You're still going to go out there."
They nodded. "Yup." Kitty acknowledged, "We pretty much need a break." She glanced at Buffy, then grinned, "Part of it is actually your fault, ya know. We only got about four hours of sleep this morning, what with your calling and asking us to come out here." She shrugged, "So, we have to work off a little of that irritability."
"I'm going with you."
Kitty's eyes narrowed, "If this is some misguided attempt to say you don't think I can handle myself against vamps, Wisdom, this relationship is off."
"*I* haven't been getting much sleep either, and I feel some'at like usin' a bleedin' punching bag." Pete snapped, pulling on his coat, and pulling out a cigarette.
"Buffy?"
She nodded, "Sure, he can come. Let's give him some stakes and stuff."
They did. On the way out of the building, Kitty showed him some places to hide them.
"Wot ya doin', Pryde?"
"Hush." She looked, "Hand me those files the Watcher Council sent, will ya? And the ones from W.H.O.?"
She looked at them, back at the screen. ~Now, if I run this search, then that...~ she tapped a few keys. ~Ah!~
"Pryde?--"
She interrupted Pete, "Just a little more."
Then, "Ok, boys and girls, gather round and pay homage to the goddess of computing."
They all looked at her startled, "What?" Giles' comment seemed to go for them all.
"I know what's in the Hellmouth." She sighed as they all started babbling, "Quiet! I'll explain. I was looking at the Watcher's Council files, then I noticed that the recent recordings of Hellmouth emission waves were VERY similar to those taken when I was doing my research for W.H.O.," she paused, everyone was watching her, waiting for her to pull a rabbit out of her hat. ~Oh, that's a good visual!~
Giles stared in horror at the sentences Willow'd pointed out.
"She?" He paused, "Of course, 'She Who Kills'--"
"A rather pompous, overbearing name. She obviously has an ego problem," Xander quipped. He and Cordelia were sifting through several of the Watcher Diaries, looking for references to Valentine.
"Yes, well." Giles said, "She is, well, She is more of a legend. Not many have seen her. It appears She was once part of the Seleighe Court--the good side--and broke with them, joined the UnSeleighe Court, and made quite a name for herself as an evil, despot. All reports agree that She dropped out of sight more than a thousand years ago."
"So, what's she doing back? Does she want cable now?" Xander asked, getting up and stretching.
"And more to the point, where is She?" Whistler asked, looking seriously disturbed. "In fact, may I use your phone?"
"Certainly," Giles nodded, absently, "Now, to find out..."
It was Joyce who objected to Pete's shirtlessness.
"It's 'cause she likes looking at me chest," Pete said affably, pointing at Kitty.
Kitty smiled sweetly, "But there's so little to see of it." ~Right now.~ she added silently.
Buffy interrupted before the two could fight again, "Oh, actually it's 'cause of the scratches--they need to air."
"Oh," Joyce nodded, "Well then, that's ok."
Pete frowned, "How are you involved with this--other than being Buffy's friend?"
"Oh, didn't you guess?" Kitty grinned oddly, "I'm the one who gets to pull Angel out of the Hellmouth."
"WHAT!? Bloody hell, Pryde!! And you were going to tell u this, when?" Pete glared at her.
Everyone stared at Pete.
"Is something wrong?" Joyce asked, looking concerned.
"Oh, nothing--other than I just found out the woman I love is about to go throw herself into that sodding Hellmouth." Pete answered grimly.
"I am *not* throwing myself into the Hellmouth," Kitty objected, "I am just passing through the edge of it." she turned to the others, "Buffy and I were discussing it last night--the best way to get Angel out is to have me phase, pop into the Hellmouth, grab Angel--phase *him*--and pop back out again. Simple."
"It is not *bloody* simple!" Pete snapped, "you'll be dealing with the Hellmouth, something you never have done before--how do you know it will let you phase into it? What if it traps you?--"
Pete could have gone on, Buffy cut him off. "Do you think we didn't consider that?" she demanded, "Do you think I would have just said: 'oh, yeah, great Kitty, there's absolutely no problem I can see with doing that!!'? No. I *argued* with her about it. And then, when I realised she wasn't going to back down, we discussed it." she paused for a breath, Kitty jumped in.
"This is the only way--the only logical, won't get anybody killed that we know of--way. I'm sorry if you can't handle that, but--"
"Is it the only way?" Giles asked, looking curious.
"Yes. Buffy can't do it--you need her in the casting for the resonance. None of the casters can do it. Whistler certainly can't. Xander doesn't like Angel--so it's unfair to ask him to risk his life for him. And we didn't think it would be fair to make Cordelia do it--she is only human. I'm not." She looked around at them, "So you see, this *is* the only way--if we want to unstick him from the Hellmouth that is."
Xander looked like he was going to say something. He didn't.
"She's right you know," Cordelia said, "after all, why should I risk my life and my manicure for a vamp?" she shrugged, "It's not like his death would be a bad thing, after all."
"I believe," said Pete, carefully *not* looking at Kitty or Buffy, "that there are degrees of 'bad thing'" he paused, "but from everything I've seen, I think it would be a *very* bad thing for this Angel to die." He glanced at Kitty, and smiled, "I know what it is to love and be loved in return--no matter what she did, I'll always love Kitty."
Kitty smiled at him, feeling oddly sad, ~he's grown. We've both grown, I wonder if that's a good thing?~
"So, it's settled then? I get to rescue Angel?"
Pete sighed. "Yeah, sure. Just, please don't die on me?"
Kitty got up and walked around the table to him. Leaning over, she hugged him carefully. "I promise, I'll try not to." she whispered.
...I feel dirty. Hrm....
This, folks, is proof. Cut bits from the long-unfinished Buffy/Excalibur crossover.
Sit back, it could be a long night.
~Trite. Over used. But, the sentiment's there.~ Buffy thought, as she applauded, "Ok. Now that the two of you have figured that out, there's this Hellmouth thingie?"
Pete turned to her and scowled, "They're in there still discussing it. We've been waiting for you."
Kitty spoke up, "Lead on then, maestro."
He stared at her, "Gods," he held her tighter, "I love you too. I thought I'd lost you."
Pete looked at the cigarette that lay, still smoking, on the ground. And crushed it out. Kitty loooked at hime in surprise.
"We'd better tell those sods, you're here."
"What do you mean 'they'?" He was feeling a really nasty premonition. ~Hope this isn't some loony bent on killing all of us.~
"Uh, well, I believe she was possibly referring to her new roommate."
"Hello," Kitty stepped up and held out her hand to Willow, "You're Willow, right?"
They shook, "I know you already though," Willow pointed out, "We used to converse across the 'Net."
"I'd wondered if that was you." Kitty grinned, "Buffy told me all about you guys, and I thought to myself--that Willow, she sounds familiar!"
Giles stepped up, noting that Pete had not let go of Kitty, and shook her hand, "I'm--"
Kitty swore, silently, ~Buffy, you HAVE to tell them!~ "Buffy."
"Kitty." Buffy looked at her, eyes bleak.
"You--"
Kitty silently caught her shoulder, squeezing. Buffy turned to her, "You were right."
"Yeah. But I didn't want to be." Kitty admitted softly.
"Uh, just what was it she was right about?" Whistler asked, looking curious.
Buffy grinned, "That we both have very bad taste in men."
Pete yelped, "Hey! I resemble that remark! Pryde!"
"Wisdom!" Kitty shot back, grinning. They grinned at each other, then the grins changed slightly to smoldering looks.
Buffy giggled, "Kitty the heat coming off you two--"
"Stow it Buffy!" Kitty admonished, giggling herself.
Kitty'd been idly leafing through the papers on the table, coming across her own research on the Hellmouth for W.H.O. she grinned at Willow, raising her eyebrow. Willow nodded, silently. ~So, she's already mucking about with W.H.O. stuff. Cool, she's following in my footsteps.~ Turning back to the sheets she noted that there were readings from the time she'd been working on it, and recently. She looked at them absently, then--~Hey! Wait a minute.~
"Whistler! What does your Council say is trapped in the Hellmouth?" She'd interrupted him mid-comment.
"Oh, uh, well they don't actually know." He shrugged, "They're assuming it's a demon that attempted to get out through Acathla."
"A demon, huh?" she asked, absently. "Willow, can I use your computer?" ~And find what I hope...~
"Sure."
"Thanks," she got up from Pete's lap and moved over to the computer. Logging on, she used her own I.D. and hacked the W.H.O. files.
"Wot ya doin', Pryde?"
"Hush." She looked, "Hand me those files the Watcher Council sent, will ya?"
She looked at them, back at the screen. ~Now, if I run this through THAT filter...~ she tapped a few keys. ~Ah!~
"Pryde?--"
She interrupted Pete, "Just a little more."
Then, "Ok, boys and girls, gather round and pay homage to the goddess of computing."
They all looked at her startled, "What?" Giles' comment seemed to go for them all.
She sighed, "Ok. I was looking at the W.H.O. files, then I noticed that the recent recordings of Hellmouth emission waves were VERY similar to those taken when I was doing my research." she paused, everyone was watching her, waiting for her to pull a rabbit out of her hat. ~Oh, that's a good visual!~
She continued, "To shorten my explanation, I pulled up a reading taken on the Hellmouth just four months ago--a time we know there wasn't anything in there. It was somewhat different. So, using that, I made a filter and put the two other readings through it, filtering out the background Hellmouth 'noise'. What it came up with was this," she gestured at the screen, "And I ran THESE patterns through a catalogue of all known supernatural phenomena vibrations. The first one is definitely a vampire--the Master, obviously. The second was a bit more vague--the program couldn't decide if it was a vampire or a human, seems it has 'soul vibrations'."
"You mean--" Whistler was the first to get it.
"Exactly," Kitty nodded, "What's trapped in the Hellmouth isn't just your everyday, run-of-the-mill demon. It's our Angel."
"He called us 'kittens'," she whispered, pale.
"It was just a coincidence." Buffy insisted.
"Was it?" Kitty whispered, feeling very odd, "Was it really?" She stared into nothing.
"Kitty," Pete said, kneeling in front of her, and reaching for her hands, "Wot is it? Wot was that smeggin' sod talking about?"
Kitty remained mute, staring at nothing.
Buffy sighed, "My story to tell then." She caught a chair and sat. "After awhile last night, we were kind of in a groove, finding and staking vamps. About 2, this morning though, we hadn't seen hide nor hair of a vamp for over an hour. Then, I thought I sensed one behind a building. We crept around, and discovered two guys dragging something into the yard." She broke off.
"We never did see what it was." Kitty looked better now, and puzzled, "In fact, we didn't even think of looking even after--"
"My story?" Buffy reminded her, Kitty nodded and shut her mouth, a ghost of a grin flickering across her mouth.
"Anyway, there we were about to decide to leave, when," She paused, remembering the suddenness of it. "When they were shot."
"Who were they?" Giles asked.
"Something else we may never know," Buffy answered, "We--or at least I, stood there frozen," Kitty nodded that she had too, Buffy continued, "And while standing there we heard a voice come out of the dark. This vamp just appeared--out of nowhere. He wasn't happy with the gunman--he seemed to have employed him."
She paused again, feeling the absolute coldness of the vamp she'd felt then. She whispered, "He-he just killed him for failing him. Snapped his neck."
"Why?"
"Because," She shivered, "Because now he couldn't question them."
"But, I fail to see what connection this has--"
"Giles, let her finish it." Kitty snapped.
"Kitty flinched. He heard her--vamps have very good hearing. Kitty stepped out to meet him. I followed her. He called us 'little cats'."
Kitty took over, "It spooked the Hell out of me. Most people don't know who I am, and I've never had a bad guy call me 'kit', 'cat', or 'little kitten' before." She paused, "And the rest of this little story--or the short, short version-- Buffy and I took him out. The police were showing up and we didn't get a chance to see who the other bodies were, or what the object was."
"And this spooked the two of you?" Whistler didn't look particularly sympathetic, "The killing thing is quite a normal thing among vamps, why did it spook you?"
"Oh," said Buffy, "I don't think it was just that. For one thing, he was so cold--like he'd just as soon kill me as look at me. Not for pleasure, Or cause he could. Just cause he didn't care whether I was alive or not. And then there was his little joke at the very end." She paused. "It went something along the lines of: 'what's better than a dead human? A dead mutant!'"
Kitty abruptly found herself in Pete's arms. He was trembling, like she was. "Kitty?"
"Shh. Just hold me." She pleaded.
Buffy smiled to see them so together. ~I was right,~ She thought in satisfaction, ~They DO need each other like Angel and I did.~
Later
"Right. So it's agreed? Cordy and I are off to get food then. The rest of you take a break, or something. And when we get back we can start doing this spellcasting thing."
They were all still gathered in the library. Xander and Cordelia were leaving, of course. Giles and Pete were pouring over the books, trying to figure out who 'She' was. Kitty and Willow were searching the 'Net. Buffy and her mother were sifting through other things. And Oz was talking to Whistler.
Kitty turned to Buffy, "There wasn't any sort of identifying mark on the jackass was there?" She sounded frustrated.
"No, there wasn't," Buffy was a little calmer, but not by much. As Giles had pointed out--after the little story--if they could find 'Her' second, then they'd possibly find her. So, that's what the ladies were doing. Giles and Pete, on the other hand, were looking for 'Her' in the books. Any female of supernatural origin was being painstakingly examined. It was a slow process.
They hadn't been able to ascertain whether the mutant joke had been 'cause he knew who Kitty was or not. Ditto for the many cat references.
"Maybe he calls everyone he corners cat." had been Xander's suggestion.
"If so, maybe we could locate him on that!" Cordelia'd replied, excited, "What did you say he called his employee again?"
Buffy hadn't actually, but, "Darling. He called him Darling. although, I think his name was--Bert?"
So they MIGHT have SOME sort of search parameter. Kitty and Willow had designed a program with it. So far there were no results.
So, they were stuck looking for someone, they had no idea who. And with a POSSIBLE program, that might POSSIBLY...
"Kitty," Buffy said, slowly, looking over at her. "There is something we haven't thought of."
"Yeah?"
"Who were Earl and Bobby?"
Kitty blinked, ~No, duh..~ "Wait! Of course!"
She turned to the computer, stopping the search program. "If I can just..." Her voice trailed off as, tongue between her teeth, she began delicately hacking the S.F. Police Department files.
9:31 p.m.
"Ok," Kitty said, stretching her hands over her head, and rolling her neck, wincing. "According to police files, Earl Potter, and Robert 'Bobby' Pippin were bit criminals with minor crimes on a list longer than my arm. They worked FOR people rather than on their own. They were killed last night by a man only identified as Bert. The police are still looking for the person or persons who then broke Bert's neck. There doesn't appear to be ANYTHING on this Bert, which makes me think," she took a breath, "that Bert was possibly an undercover agent of some sort."
Buffy looked vaguely curious. "Ok, so we've got, two small time thugs, one guy who may have been a fed, and one nasty vamp."
"Yeah." Kitty agreed. "It's not much is it?"
"Yeah, but, we're kinda making progress." Willow pointed out.
"Hmm... I'll check the San Francisco Chronicle [Herald??], now I think." Kitty glanced at the screen, then typed in the URL. "I mean, after all, it IS a newspaper, they must have something on last night's happenings by now."
Pulling up the newspaper files hadn't taken quite as long--mainly because the Chronicle was an open database. It still had pulled up quite a few stories on their thugs, though.
"Ok, so according to the Chronicle, the thing last night was a drug bust gone wrong--there were drugs, specifically cocaine in the box they were dragging." Kitty paused to take a sip of the coffee Oz'd just handed her. "Anyway, the police aren't releasing the names of the person they believe is responsible. Though, there is a rumour that there were surveillance tapes." She blinked. "Damn. There is also a report of two unknown females being on the scene."
"Damn, indeed. In fact, I'd go so far as to say, shit." Buffy concurred, looking gloomy. "We were seen."
"By whom, is my question." Kitty said, "Though, more to the point is whether they got us on their surveillance tapes."
Buffy sighed, "Well, there's really nothing we can do now, other than not worry about it. I don't think we said anything that could link it back to us, did we?"
Kitty shook her head, "Nope. Dammit. We seem to be getting nowhere." She felt frustrated. "Buffy."
She looked at Kitty, her eyes began to gleam. "Kitty."
Kitty stepped closer to the man, grabbed his lapels and pulled him into a searing kiss. Somehow, he flicked the cig away and wrapped his arms around her, without missing a beat, or singeing anyone's hair. Buffy fanned herself, ~Grief, the heat coming off those two would keep the North Pole warm for a year!~ She thought, amused.
"Ahem." ~That should have been long enough.~ "If the two of you don't mind, isn't there some sort of new thing that I need to do? And, Kitty, I'd really like to be introduced to this...person."
Kitty slowly released him. "Oh, silly me, I forgot the introductions. Buffy, this is Pete Wisdom my beloved, Pete this is Buffy Summers."
"Your beloved?" He still looked like he wasn't getting it. But he hadn't let her go yet, either.
"Yep," she nodded, "I am crazy and stupid enough to love you. Pete Wisdom, I love you., And for what it's worth, I'm sorry." She held up a hand, "But, we'll have to continue this later, or, Buffy can go in without me, and I'll miss something." She grinned, "Buffy, if you please, show us the way."
They both nodded. Got up, and left the library.
When they came back, they were wearing the Slaying gear they'd bought the day before. Buffy was carrying a duffel bag.
"Buffy. Where are you going?" Giles was staring at the two.
"Oh, nowhere." Buffy said, waving her hand airily. "Or, well, we have a few frustrations we need to work off."
"Yeah, I need to blow off some steam." Kitty inserted.
"So," they both said in unison, "We're going out to Slay for a bit."
"But, Buffy what about--"
"Well," said Kitty, "Willow is nearly as good as I am with a computer, so she can do that. You've pretty much got the book thing covered. So, I think we both feel a bit superfluous."
He sighed, "Nothing I say will make any difference, will it? You're still going to go out there."
They nodded. "Yup." Kitty acknowledged, "We pretty much need a break." She glanced at Buffy, then grinned, "Part of it is actually your fault, ya know. We only got about four hours of sleep this morning, what with your calling and asking us to come out here." She shrugged, "So, we have to work off a little of that irritability."
"I'm going with you."
Kitty's eyes narrowed, "If this is some misguided attempt to say you don't think I can handle myself against vamps, Wisdom, this relationship is off."
"*I* haven't been getting much sleep either, and I feel some'at like usin' a bleedin' punching bag." Pete snapped, pulling on his coat, and pulling out a cigarette.
"Buffy?"
She nodded, "Sure, he can come. Let's give him some stakes and stuff."
They did. On the way out of the building, Kitty showed him some places to hide them.
"Wot ya doin', Pryde?"
"Hush." She looked, "Hand me those files the Watcher Council sent, will ya? And the ones from W.H.O.?"
She looked at them, back at the screen. ~Now, if I run this search, then that...~ she tapped a few keys. ~Ah!~
"Pryde?--"
She interrupted Pete, "Just a little more."
Then, "Ok, boys and girls, gather round and pay homage to the goddess of computing."
They all looked at her startled, "What?" Giles' comment seemed to go for them all.
"I know what's in the Hellmouth." She sighed as they all started babbling, "Quiet! I'll explain. I was looking at the Watcher's Council files, then I noticed that the recent recordings of Hellmouth emission waves were VERY similar to those taken when I was doing my research for W.H.O.," she paused, everyone was watching her, waiting for her to pull a rabbit out of her hat. ~Oh, that's a good visual!~
July 31st, 12:03 p.m., SHS-library
Giles stared in horror at the sentences Willow'd pointed out.
"She?" He paused, "Of course, 'She Who Kills'--"
"A rather pompous, overbearing name. She obviously has an ego problem," Xander quipped. He and Cordelia were sifting through several of the Watcher Diaries, looking for references to Valentine.
"Yes, well." Giles said, "She is, well, She is more of a legend. Not many have seen her. It appears She was once part of the Seleighe Court--the good side--and broke with them, joined the UnSeleighe Court, and made quite a name for herself as an evil, despot. All reports agree that She dropped out of sight more than a thousand years ago."
"So, what's she doing back? Does she want cable now?" Xander asked, getting up and stretching.
"And more to the point, where is She?" Whistler asked, looking seriously disturbed. "In fact, may I use your phone?"
"Certainly," Giles nodded, absently, "Now, to find out..."
12:21 a.m., Graveyard
It was Joyce who objected to Pete's shirtlessness.
"It's 'cause she likes looking at me chest," Pete said affably, pointing at Kitty.
Kitty smiled sweetly, "But there's so little to see of it." ~Right now.~ she added silently.
Buffy interrupted before the two could fight again, "Oh, actually it's 'cause of the scratches--they need to air."
"Oh," Joyce nodded, "Well then, that's ok."
Pete frowned, "How are you involved with this--other than being Buffy's friend?"
"Oh, didn't you guess?" Kitty grinned oddly, "I'm the one who gets to pull Angel out of the Hellmouth."
"WHAT!? Bloody hell, Pryde!! And you were going to tell u this, when?" Pete glared at her.
Everyone stared at Pete.
"Is something wrong?" Joyce asked, looking concerned.
"Oh, nothing--other than I just found out the woman I love is about to go throw herself into that sodding Hellmouth." Pete answered grimly.
"I am *not* throwing myself into the Hellmouth," Kitty objected, "I am just passing through the edge of it." she turned to the others, "Buffy and I were discussing it last night--the best way to get Angel out is to have me phase, pop into the Hellmouth, grab Angel--phase *him*--and pop back out again. Simple."
"It is not *bloody* simple!" Pete snapped, "you'll be dealing with the Hellmouth, something you never have done before--how do you know it will let you phase into it? What if it traps you?--"
Pete could have gone on, Buffy cut him off. "Do you think we didn't consider that?" she demanded, "Do you think I would have just said: 'oh, yeah, great Kitty, there's absolutely no problem I can see with doing that!!'? No. I *argued* with her about it. And then, when I realised she wasn't going to back down, we discussed it." she paused for a breath, Kitty jumped in.
"This is the only way--the only logical, won't get anybody killed that we know of--way. I'm sorry if you can't handle that, but--"
"Is it the only way?" Giles asked, looking curious.
"Yes. Buffy can't do it--you need her in the casting for the resonance. None of the casters can do it. Whistler certainly can't. Xander doesn't like Angel--so it's unfair to ask him to risk his life for him. And we didn't think it would be fair to make Cordelia do it--she is only human. I'm not." She looked around at them, "So you see, this *is* the only way--if we want to unstick him from the Hellmouth that is."
Xander looked like he was going to say something. He didn't.
"She's right you know," Cordelia said, "after all, why should I risk my life and my manicure for a vamp?" she shrugged, "It's not like his death would be a bad thing, after all."
"I believe," said Pete, carefully *not* looking at Kitty or Buffy, "that there are degrees of 'bad thing'" he paused, "but from everything I've seen, I think it would be a *very* bad thing for this Angel to die." He glanced at Kitty, and smiled, "I know what it is to love and be loved in return--no matter what she did, I'll always love Kitty."
Kitty smiled at him, feeling oddly sad, ~he's grown. We've both grown, I wonder if that's a good thing?~
"So, it's settled then? I get to rescue Angel?"
Pete sighed. "Yeah, sure. Just, please don't die on me?"
Kitty got up and walked around the table to him. Leaning over, she hugged him carefully. "I promise, I'll try not to." she whispered.
...I feel dirty. Hrm....
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"It's 'cause she likes looking at me chest," Pete said affably, pointing at Kitty.
I'm not sure why but that made me crack up like a loon. Your writing has definitely improved but this *points up* is still a hundred times better than some of the fics being put out there now. *shudders*
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