whattingawhat | Watch it as the starts disappear to nothing [The day the world is over]

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Watch it as the starts disappear to nothing [The day the world is over]

[RP for

stillacrime]After this by a couple of hours or so.

Buffy waited until she was certain Danny was asleep and slipped out of bed. Normally, if he'd had a bad day, she would have sluffed off the slaying and stayed home with him. She couldn't tonight and she knew it. She'd upset a whole nest, a little gang by killing their leader and they were going to be out tonight causing mayhem and trying to establish who the new leader was going to be. In her experience that often including racking up individual body counts. She really didn't want that so she tossed on a pair of jeans, a tank top and grabbed her favorite vamp slaying, wooden heeled Jimmy Choos off the dresser. She snuck into the living room, picked up her bag with the stakes in it and slid out the door without a sound. She slipped her heels on and took the stairs down. Once outside she paused and took a deep breath. She waited a few seconds, listening and absorbing and getting in touch with her slayer side. She took a couple of stakes out of her bag, stashed it in an alcove behind a trash can and put one stake at the small of her back in her waistband. The other one got tucked into her waistband at her left hip. When she started down the sidewalk again she was in predator mode. She was heading back to the area she'd killed the female vamp the night before. She'd discovered that vampires were territorial in New York City and they tended to stick to an area or a neighborhood.

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Danny heard the door click shut and stirred from his only half-asleep state. His eyes opened and instantly the pit in his stomach returned from earlier in the night. He wasn't even sure that he had consciously made the decision to do so, but he was suddenly out of bed, pulling on a pair of tennis shoes and reaching for his jacket. He grabbed his smokes because this whole night could turn out so bad and he knew he would want one.

He took the stairs as he had grown accustomed to doing for Buffy. This time it was more because he had nervous energy built up inside of him and the elevator would be too constricting. Outside he looked both ways to catch her familiar back, the familiar swing of blonde curls as she rounded a corner, and he was off in that direction, tailing her and trying to decide if he should let her know he was there or just stand back and watch where she went and who she ended up with.

Buffy was pretty intent on what she was doing and the other part of her mind that wasn't occupied by the hunt, was picking over the conversation she'd had earlier with Danny. She had to come up with something because she couldn't continue to let him think that she was dying of Cancer. That was cruel and untrue. The truth had to be easier to deal with than the big C, right? At least she was hoping so. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe she'd wait until he got home and then sit up a little show and tell and try to convince him. The problem was, letting him look at her blood had backfired. She'd thought that he'd see it and not be able to come up with any explanation, then he'd be more open to hearing the out of the normal explanation. But he'd found something and now he was doggedly holding onto it because it was what he knew.

She sighed then pulled up short, glancing sidelong at an alley. There were people around of course but she was trying to find the not!people. She touched the stake at her back briefly then shook her head and moved on. Whatever was going on in that alley, she didn't think it warranted her interruption.

He was careful to stay far enough back that he only caught glimpses of where she was going before he moved and caught the next glimpse. Should he just go ask her what she was up to? Would she lie again and end up not going wherever it was she seemed to be heading to? This whole secrecy game had to stop somewhere... whatever the secrets were. It had to stop because it was starting to hurt.

He moved a little faster, trying to close the large gap between them so that he could talk to her.

There wasn't anything that off about the girl in the cocktail dress being accompanied into the alley with three other men.They could be taking a short cut to her apartment or to another club. The girl was laughing, stumbling and grabbing onto one of the men. The other men with them acted drunk but she was pretty sure it was an act. Besides, who wore loafers without socks anymore? That was so Don Johnson she wondered where his white suit was. The whole thing just made her spidey sense go off the charts. She ducked into the alley a few feet behind them, slipping the stake out of the waistband of her pants.

"So...if he's Sonny, does that make you Tubbs?" Buffy asked as a means of getting their attention. The first one turned, giving her a dirty look and then realization dawned.

"Slayer..."

That earned him a bright smile. "You know, they said that moving without a forwarding address would hurt my reputation but I don't think it has at all. I mean...you guys still know me."

And that's when two of them charged, their faces changing and dropping any illusion of humanity. They were a duo of snarling teeth and yellow eyes. The third one took the girl, who judging by her scream had just discovered what she was committing to. Buffy ducked out of the way, snagging one by the wrist as it passed. She shattered his wrist as she spun him around, screaming and slammed him into his best friend Tubbs. That left them pissed off but scrambling over themselves. She took the opportunity to jump over them and catch up with Third Wheel and his date with a speed that was near blurring. She grabbed the vampire by the collar of his jacket jerked him back, looking straight at the girl. "Run home. Now. Next time, pick a guy with a fashion sense that's this decade."

She didn't have to tell the girl twice and that was the nice thing about girls. They usually ran. Men were the ones who stuck around to white knight it and caused the problems.

The vampire she was holding slammed his head back into hers and she staggered back a little, letting go of his collar. Tubbs grabbed her from behind and whirled toward his friend, Sonny. Sonny was righteously pissed and cradling his broken arm.

"Always wanted to kill me a slayer," he hissed, fangs dripping saliva.

"And I always wanted to teach a dental hygiene class. Seriously consider your breath for just a moment," she said as she made a show of struggling. Sonny snarled and charged at her which was precisely the time she used Tubbs as leverage, kicked her leg up and placed one wooden heel right through Sonny's heart. He dusted and she kept her momentum going, flipping over the vampire's head holding her and landing on her feet. She was staring down to vampires now with a grin that clearly said this was fun.

Enter Danny. The guy who wanted to white knight it and kick all these guys' asses for messing with his girlfriend. Through the shadows he barely realized that a fight was going on before the girl ran past him crying. Then he saw one of the men head butt Buffy.

Oh no they didn't!

In a rush of adrenaline that was very much him, he ran forward stopping only to push at the man who was almost a foot taller than him. "Hey. Pick on somebody your own size... or you know, your own gender. Didn't your parents ever teach you not to hit girls?" He asked, clearly having reached the epitome of frustration and wanting to take it out on this guy.

"You alright, Summers?" He asked.

Edited 2008-06-09 00:15 (UTC)

As much as she loved him, white knighting it never made anything easier. Now she had to worry about her boyfriend getting chomped and not getting her ass handed to her. Oh and now she had to make sure it was pretty. Because this was like show and tell.

"Fresh meat," the vampire grinned, still in full vamp face as he took a step toward Danny.

"I'm good," Buffy answered. "But you should be careful," she told him as she worked her way around the two vamps and grabbed Danny's hand, pressing the stake into it. "Hold onto that. Aim for the heart and trust me."

She didn't expect him to stake anything right now but he was better armed with a stake he didn't know what to do with than he was not armed at all. Third Wheel reached out and grabbed Buffy by the throat, pulling her to him while Tubbs was chuckling, obviously preparing to enjoy this twist to the night.

"Looks like we get dinner and dessert," Third Wheel said as he dipped his head, angling toward Buffy's neck. She reached in, digging her fingers into the soft part of his body just below the sternum until she wrapped her fingers around bone and pulled up. There was a sickening crack and Third Wheel was screaming about that slayer bitch. Buffy was trying to keep an eye on Danny and dust the screaming vamp. She executed a perfect roundhouse kick, catching the vampire in the temple and sending him to the ground. One solid stomp on his chest and he was dust beneath her heel.

When the vampire stepped forward, Danny noted his face. "Uh, somethin's wrong with your face." And his eyes.

Danny took the piece of wood that was shoved into his hand and fought the urge to get the... thing's hands off of Buffy. He had no clue what was going on here.

But he wanted to jump in and fight. Then the kick, a heel in the chest and... the guy disappeared. Danny just stood there, brow furrowed and gaping at the dust on the ground and then up to Buffy.

He was too caught off guard and stunned to notice the other man before he was grabbed by his neck, easily picked him up, and threw him back at the brick wall along the alley as if he were a rag doll. His back and the back of his head hit hard and he slumped to the ground. After only a second of being dazed, he was trying to get to his feet. The man helped him with a hand at his throat again and held him against the wall. Danny noted the fangs and shook his head disbelievingly as he struggled to get away.

Edited 2008-06-09 00:43 (UTC)

At some point, Danny had dropped the stake. Buffy retrieved it, rolled to her feet and right up behind the vamp holding Danny to the wall. She dug the point of the stake into the vampire's back for just a moment.

"You hurt my boyfriend. That never goes over well with me," she told him, anger coloring her voice as she shoved the stake through his back and into his heart. The vampire dusted, freeing Danny. Buffy dropped the stake and was at his side as he slumped on the ground. She watched him with a furrowed brow, looking at his neck to avoid looking at his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

He was coughing once he hit the ground, gasping for air that was sorely needed. That man had lifted him like it was nothing...

His gaze slowly lifted to Buffy as his hand went to his burning throat. "What the Hell, Summers? What..." He rasped out before another round of coughing overtook words.

Buffy sighed and reached back to pull her hair into a knot at the back of her neck. "We'll get you some water. You'll be fine." She looked up to Danny.

"This is what I've been hiding. This is the big...secret. This is what I do every night. Come on, let's get you a bottle of water or get us both home and I'll explain more there."

"You go out and fight guys on mega steroids??" Danny asked, pushing himself to his feet. He dusted himself off and looked back to Buffy wondering if he knew her at all. "Are you on steroids? Some kind of drug? Somethin'? I don't know... You kicked those guys ass-" And then he remembered, looking at the ground. "...to dust."

"God no. I'm not on steroids. I'm blonde, not stupid," Buffy told him. She wrapped her arms around herself, closing up tight so that this wouldn't hurt so much, so the looks he was giving her wouldn't sting. He was catching up and eventually he'd put the pieces together. "To dust. You saw their faces, their eyes, their teeth." She paused a minute, knowing what she was going to say next would change his entire world. He could still walk away right now and chalk it up to so many things.

"They were vampires. Like Dracula but less lame and some how even more so."

She gnawed on her bottom lip and swallowed hard. Might as well suck it up and spill it all. "I'm a slayer. I'm one of several hundred girls who are stronger and faster than anything human so that I can hunt vampires and keep them from hurting people. Like that girl tonight. Like you."

Danny stared at her again, completely shell shocked. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. He had seen it all with his own eyes and he still didn't know what to say.

"You know what? Just..." He held up one hand, trying to get her to stop saying all of this crazy stuff. "What do you want me to say to this? What am I supposed to say??" He asked.

Buffy shook her head, tears springing to her eyes. She pushed them back and shook her head again. "I don't know, Danny," she half whispered. She was still wrapped up around herself. "This is my life. If I could make it normal for you I would. I can't and I don't have a choice except to be out here. If I hadn't come out tonight that girl, the pretty one that ran past you, would have been a case for you tomorrow morning. She would have been drained of blood with minimal blood at the scene. She would have a bite mark that mirrors the scar on my neck. I don't know what you say to that as an outsider looking in. I've never been that outsider."

She bit her bottom lip again to keep it from trembling. "Do you want me to go?"

He listened. He tried to translate. But he was too busy freaking out at the moment and trying very hard to stay calm.

So he answered the one question that made sense. "No. No I don't."

"Okay...so I can work with that," Buffy said, a smile just barely tugging at the corner of her lips. "It's weird. I know it's weird. I was sixteen years old when I got shoved into it. Think about it. You've had to have had cases that didn't make sense, that you didn't solve. Missing people that never get found. I'm sorry. I wish I could keep you in the dark. I wish you didn't have to know. I'm sorry," she finished with a half whisper.

She looked up at him. "I can tell you everything now. All those things I couldn't talk about...I can now."

"Think about it? You want me to think about it?!?!" Danny asked, eyebrows lifted high over his brow and eyes wide as he studied Buffy in complete and utter shock. "You really want me to think about it."

He began to pace agitatedly and even lit a cigarette. "Okay okay... give me a minute."

Buffy couldn't help but smile a little bit at Danny's pacing. She stayed still, several feet away from him, giving him his space but watching carefully. She didn't want to push him right now. He needed time to figure this out and think it all through. If he was willing to think about this then she had a chance. She really wanted a chance on this.

"Vampire. Vampire. Vampire. There are vampires." All whispered under his breath in attempt to say the words without feeling like a nut job and to get past the shock. It really didn't work very well but right now he was only trying to get over hurdles for Buffy. If it were just him, he would be wallowing in the shock right now. "What the fuck. Vampire. Vampires. Boom. Vampires." He continued to pace.

Buffy bit her bottom lip to contain the grin that tugged at the corners of her mouth. She knew it was inappropriate and crazy right now but she wanted to hug him and tell him how fucking cute he was. She was a little surprised at how well he was handling this. He was thinking it though, analyzing what he knew, what he'd seen and putting it all together into something that made sense to him. She bent down to pick up the stake she'd dropped. Just in case.

"If you've got questions or if I can help with this whole process, let me know. Otherwise, I'm just letting you work it out in your head," she told him fairly quietly.

He continued to pace for a few minutes, mumbling to himself before finally turning to Buffy. "Look, I'm tryin' here. But I feel like a wackjob. Saw the guy turn to dust. Saw it with my own eyes and I still don't got a clue."

"Maybe I can help?" Buffy said quietly as she watched him pace. "I mean...I know some of the science behind it. Sort of. You're not a wackjob, Danny. It's real. A vampire is a dead body, possessed, animated and kept alive by a demon...of sorts. A wooden stake through the heart kills the demon. The body turns to dust because all the decomposition catches up to it at once...like a mummy first exposed to air. It turns to dust if they're not careful. Same concept? Maybe."

She started pacing with him, pulling her hair back with both hands as she did. "The problem is it's not all science. Some of it is unexplainable with science. You have to take it on faith and what you see."

"Woah. Woah.... Zombies?" Danny asked, stopping in his pacing to look wide-eyed to Buffy.

Buffy gave him a wtf look and shook her head. "No. Not zombies. Vampires are not zombies. They're...vampires. Higher thought processes than zombies. They have the memories of the people they used to be. They don't decompose as long as the demon in them is in tip top shape and they're immortal if they stay away from me, sunlight and avoid bursting into flame. They drink blood to live, have the fangs and the eyes and the serious need for wrinkle cream around their foreheads. Also no soul. Not that zombies would have a soul. I don't know if they do or not. Anyway this is not the time for a philosophical conversation."

"But what you're sayin' is there's zombies too? Like in the movies? Like raised up out of the grave zombies?" Danny asked.

"Uhm...yes," she almost squeaked. "But I don't want to like overload you tonight. We can deal with this and then later we'll deal with everything else that there is."

She bit her tongue to keep from saying anymore because she didn't want to break Danny entirely in one night.

"Everything else..." Danny ran his hand back and forth through his already mused up hair. He finished up one cigarette and took another out of the box, just holding it unlit between his lips. "I'm pretty overloaded, Summers."

"I know," Buffy said quietly. "I'm sorry," she said as she stepped a little closer. She reached out and ran one hand, fingertips ghost light, over his shoulder.

Danny just stared at Buffy. He had no idea what to say. He had no idea what to do. This was insane. This was crazy. "This is crazy."

"Welcome to my world," Buffy said quietly as she wrapped her arms back around herself. She couldn't refute that it was crazy and he was dealing, which was more than she had expected.

"Welcome to your world? I just saw three guys turn to dust. One of them threw me against a wall like it was nothin'. My neck is burnin'... and you're the welcome party now?" Danny asked, some of his frustration shinning through.

"I was always the welcome party?" Buffy said hesitantly. "If it's any consolation, I staked the guy that hurt you. I could have made him hurt because of it but..." she shrugged. "I was more concerned with getting his hands off you."

Danny just stared at her for another moment before he walked past her and started out of the alley, lighting his cigarette as he went. What was he supposed to say to that? What was he supposed to say to any of this?

He paused at the mouth of the alley. "So you'll be home later?"

Buffy hesitated and then nodded. "As long as you want me home later."

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't want you, Summers." Danny answered, glancing back at her for a moment before he continued on his way.

She could have followed him, or insisted she'd just go back with him but she figured Danny needed some time to think things through and figure everything out. No matter what she needed to give it to him. Besides, she really should finish up patrol and make sure everything was safe here.

She watched until the crowd swallowed him up then turned and started back through the alleys, stake in hand. Hell help any vampire she found along the way.

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Watch it as the starts disappear to nothing [The day the world is over]

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