Subject: [SpikesSalvation] Phoenix Dreams- Chapter 16 Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 15:58:51 -0800 (PST) From: Jerusha Hancock Reply-To: SpikesSalvation@yahoogroups.com To: SpikesSalvation@yahoogroups.com Chapter 16 Buffy's roundhouse sent Emmie flying into the padded wall of the training room. "Good," she said, meaning it. "That was a good defense." She watched as the girl picked herself up off the floor, making certain that she hadn't been injured. "I think that's enough for the day." Emmie smiled gratefully, wiping her face off with a towel. "Good, because I'm starving. You want to grab lunch somewhere? I know a good place close by." Buffy's first impulse was to say no, to play up the 'I'm the Slayer and you're a puny nobody.' If she were completely honest with herself, she knew that she didn't want to like Emmie, mainly because she got to spend hours with William, who was still doing his best to avoid her. In truth, there was nothing to dislike about the girl. She was a sharp fighter, dedicated to her work, and had a wicked sense of humor. Buffy saw the dawning disappointment on the girl's face and made a quick decision to squelch her petty jealousy. She was bigger than that. (Or, at least she wanted to be.) "I'd love to." ~~~~~ Buffy took an appreciative look at the small deli. "This is a great place," she said. "I never would have known it was here." "Not if you relied on the guys," was Emmie's amused reply. "They're more into the burgers and red meat, and you know how Angel is about people-food. I come here with Fred sometimes though." The other Slayer smiled. Emmie definitely reminded her of Faith, or what Faith might have been if she hadn't gone over to the dark side. She still felt a pang of sadness, remembering the other woman's death a few years ago. She and Robin had died in the same fight, going at it back-to-back. This girl had the same dark looks and lean musculature, but her hair was cut short and had been tipped with red. She had several mismatched earrings in each ear, and was wearing her trade-mark baggy pants and heavy boots with a tight t-shirt. Emmie definitely fit the stereotype of a punk, and she would have fit right in with Spike in the old days, Buffy suddenly realized. And with a suddenness that startled her, she wanted to know whatever she could about this girl, remembering the Slayers that had died in the cavern, some of whose names she hadn't even known. "So, where are you from?" Emmie looked up, startled by the question. "Angel didn't say anything to you?" Buffy shrugged. "He asked me to train you. Beyond that, I don't know much. Why?" "I grew up here, on the streets mostly," she admitted. Emmie looked down at her salad. "When I tell people that, they usually give me this really pitying look, you know? I don't talk about it much." Buffy felt a stab of sympathy for her, this girl who was just now discovering what it meant to be a Slayer and a woman, if her own memories of being 21 served. On the other side of things, she could relate. "I got that a lot after my mom died. I was about your age." Emmie gave her a grateful look. "Yeah, well, it's not a big secret, I guess. My dad took off when I was a baby, and my mom remarried when I was like, three, so he was the guy I thought of as my dad. When I was 12 he started to, you know, notice me. I don't know if mom knew about it or not, but I guess I'm still pissed that she didn't stop him." There was a satisfied smile on her face. "I was 13 when I got Called. From what Will and Angel have said, that's probably when you activated all the Slayers. I broke his nose and tossed him out the door when he tried it with me that afternoon. And then I kicked him in the balls when I left for good. Never went back." There was nothing Buffy could think of to say to that. Somewhere inside, however, she realized yet again that activating all the Potentials had had ripple effects across the globe, some good, some bad. Here was an instance of it working out. "What happened then?" "I lived on the streets till I was 18. Killed my first vamp when I was 15. Things started getting rough, and I knew I'd end up turning tricks or worse if I stayed out there. I'd heard about Wolfram & Hart and what they did, and I went to see William for a job." Emmie smiled softly. "He was the first decent guy I ever met, you know?" Buffy felt a pang of jealousy and stuffed it down. "You love him." "Who? William?" Emmie asked. "Yeah, I mean, he's been like family to me. I can't imagine what would have happened to me if it weren't for him." Then understanding dawned as she saw the look on the older woman's face. "You're in love with him." "No!" Buffy looked panicked. "No, I mean, we've hardly said two words to each other." Then, giving into Emmie's implacable look, replied, "I'm in love with Spike. Apparently that's not the same thing." The girl shook her head. "I can't say, Buffy, since I didn't know Spike, and I know a lot of people say that, but I don't believe it. I've heard the stories about how he went and sacrificed himself to save the world, and I don't believe someone who was really evil could do something like that." "He wasn't really evil," Buffy said softly. "Even before he got his soul, he loved me and Dawn. Spike almost died protecting us." Emmie was silent, digesting what Buffy had just told her. She didn't want to see William hurt, but at the same time she knew he was miserable. And he didn't know that Buffy loved Spike. That was big news. "He doesn't remember getting his soul," Emmie finally said. "What he does remember pretty much centers around the bad stuff, I think, even though he doesn't talk about it." Buffy frowned, and Emmie continued. "In fact, from what I understand Will thinks you hated him, and from the way he talks, he figures you have every right to." The Slayer understood. She and Spike had never been gentle with one another, not until that last year, and even then it had only been at the very end that they had finally come to a real understanding. It was no wonder William had been avoiding her like the plague. "What am I going to do?" she asked. Emmie frowned. "Look, Buffy, Will's kind of gun-shy when it comes to women. He hasn't dated in all the time I've known him, and that's been about three years. Some of it is probably because of Erin and her death. But I think some of it is from before." She paused. "It's just a theory, but I think there are some things that happen to us that scar our souls so deeply that it effects us forever. What happened to Spike, where it concerned rejection, I think it still effects Will. Does that make any sense to you?" Buffy nodded. "Yeah, actually that makes perfect sense." She sighed. "So you think I'm stuck?" "Did I say that?" Emmie asked. "I just think you're going to have to be sneaky about it, that's all. In fact, you're going to have to ambush him." Buffy was skeptical. "Ambush? I've already tried that, and he just keeps running away." Emmie shook her head. "No, I mean a serious, all-out frontal assault. Look, Angel asked you to go to the charity ball on Friday, right?" "Sure, but what does that have to do with anything?" she asked, taking another bite of her salad. Emmie grinned. "William asked me to go with him, so I think we should switch dates." When Buffy didn't look convinced, she continued persuasively. "Both of them have to go, so if we switch at the last minute, they'll have to live with it. Sure, they might be upset, but if both of them think we're doing it for a good cause, they'll get over it." Buffy was beginning to be interested. "And what good cause would that be?" "Your crush on Will. Angel knows, so I'll tell him I found out about it and offered to switch places with you." The younger woman grinned mischieviously. Buffy's eyes narrowed as she picked up the flaw in her plan. "What am I supposed to tell William?" And it was her turn for the lightbulb to turn on. She'd noticed that Emmie got slightly doe-eyed around Angel, but hadn't thought much of it until right now since the younger Slayer had still kept up the smart-ass teasing. "You're in love with Angel." "I've got a crush on him," Emmie corrected her softly. "And I know the difference. And it's stupid, because even if he noticed me like that, we couldn't do anything about it. It's not like I don't know the stories." She hesitated, wondering if she could really trust Buffy with the truth, a truth she hadn't even confessed to Will. "I never got a prom, or anything like that. I just want a night..." She trailed off, unable to completely explain, but Buffy knew. "I know." She met Emmie's eyes and smiled. "Trust me, I know. So, I take it William knows?" At the girl's nod, Buffy smiled. "Then I tell William that I found out you have a crush on Angel and offered to switch places. And both of them think we're being kind to the other." "Which we are," Emmie said, smiling. "They just don't know we're being kind to ourselves as well." "Speaking of which," Buffy winced. "I have to look for a dress now. As long as it was Angel, I didn't have to do any serious dress shopping, but now..." "Same here," Emmie groaned. "And I have to pick Ty up in a little over an hour. There's no way I'm going to have time to go shopping in between now and then." "Could we bring him with us?" Buffy asked, noting Emmie's surprised look. "I mean, there'd be two of us to watch him, and I wouldn't mind a second opinion." Emmie nodded slowly and then smiled. "I think Ty could be persuaded. As long as you aren't against a little bribery." "Are you kidding?" And Buffy felt the first faint stirrings of hope as well as excitement. "I'm an expert at judicious bribery." "But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed." 2 Cor 4:7-9 ---------------------------------