Chapter 8: Game On
EMMA’S ROOM – 1:27 AM
BUFFY’S POV
Faith and I are standing by the bed as Sophia checks Emma’s vitals then disinfects the gash on her neck. Fledglings have no finesse to find a vein; they just tear the skin in their frenzy to feed. She passed out about 5 minutes ago, after a delirious mantra of apologies to Sophia and Faith. What was that all about?
“I’ll stay with her, why don’t you two go ahead, I’m sure Ken and Will are waiting for you.” Sophia says as she sutures Emma’s neck. “She’ll be fine; her color isn’t bad,” she looks up at us, “really, she doesn’t need a transfusion; he didn’t take enough to hurt her,” she pauses then looks back to her task, “physically that is.”
We nod and Faith heads upstairs, she feels angry and guilty, although I think the anger is going to win out in the end. I lag behind; leaning against the door as I watch Sophia do a last antiseptic wash, thoroughly cleansing Emma’s neck, then applying gauze and tape. Once finished she sits back and shakes her head, lightly brushing some hair from Emma’s face, “What am I gonna do with you?”
“I don’t know how to thank you, Sophia,” I choke out.
She turns to me, “Come on, you know I’d do anything for this kid,” she tries to smile.
“Yeah, I kinda do, I’ll see you later.”
Once upstairs in our room, Ken is sitting in my reading chair with Wills next to her on the arm waiting for us. “Hey Buff,” Will calls quietly, “how is she?”
“Sophia says she’ll be ok.” Faith is sitting on the bed, I go to join her. “She’s with her now.” I look down and grasp Faith hand, “Ok, how did this happen?”
Faith looks at me, then Ken, then the floor, “We were talking, then they were just there, like out of nowhere - ”
“You mean they just materialized, like magic?” Will asks hesitantly.
Faith nods, “Nothing like about it, it was definitely some kind of magic. He said they had a Wicca who ‘jammed the frequencies’ and he was right. Neither of us could do anything not even telepathy.”
Knowing that vampires can rarely not give away everything they have planned I question, “What did they want?”
Faith shakes her head, “That’s the funny thing, the head vamp said, ‘to show you how helpless you really are,’ he even said he wasn’t gonna kill her, ‘just take a... taste,” she sneers then closes her eyes. She shakes her head and exhales. She knows there will be plenty of time to beat herself up about allowing this to happen, however unfounded. Looking at Will, she continues, realizing that every word he said is vital and should be recanted while it’s fresh in her mind. “It’s got something to do with the prophecy, he asked me if I’d read it.”
She proceeds to tell us every agonizing detail, each excruciating moment, until she finishes. The guilt she feels seems to surround her like a cloud. Putting my arm around her, I pull her to me, “There was nothing you could have done to stop it, Faith.”
“Maybe not,” she looks up at me then Will and Ken, “but I will find him.”
No one answers, no one really needs to. We know she will and what she’ll do once does. Ken finally speaks what we’re all thinking, “Can you try to get some answers out of him before you stake him?”
“That’ll be that plan, but I’m not promising anything.” She rests her hand on my knee, squeezes then stands, “I’m going to check in on her then see if Andrew has anything in the database.” She moves to the door then turns back to us, remembering something, “They were all wearing black – trousers, shirts, boots, almost like a uniform, not military, but a uniform.” Narrowing her eyes, she turns to Kennedy, “Ken, I’m gonna call Vi,” she looks at her watch, “she should be up by now. I want 9mms and the ultraviolet ammo - daylight bullets - whatever they’re called, that they’ve been testing in SC-Europe; I want production stepped up and I want everyone to have them, and I want it all now. No more waiting, game’s on.” Then she’s gone.
The rest of us just sit there quietly for a moment until Ken once again breaks the silence, “Ok, she’s way too calm about this, and it’s giving me a really bad feeling.”
“It should,” I sigh, putting my hands through my hair as I stand. “You guys don’t understand what it feels like to be fed on, feeling your life literally sucked out of you.” Wrapping my arms around myself; I look at Will for a moment then Ken. I grab my sweats out of the drawer and pull them on over my boxers. “You know that Faith and I were both bitten by Angel, but that was different, we did it to save him, we allowed it, hell, I even forced him. But to be taken like Emma was, in a thrall, when you know what’s happening but you’re powerless to stop it… ” I close my eyes and blow out my breath, “Let me put it this way - it’s a lot more than just a mind-fuck.”
Will’s eyes widen, “Oh my God, the Master and Dracula... they did that when they bit you, didn’t they?”
“Yeah,” I look down and think to myself, why is it the victim feels the shame not the attacker?
Ken looks at me, “You told Faith about it?” What she doesn’t say is ‘Faith’s a ticking time bomb now, right?’
“Yeah…” I sigh out, then just shake my head at the memory and pull on Faith’s sweatshirt zipping it up halfway. “Look, I’m going to call the hospital. Even if she can physically go to work tomorrow, Emma’s going to need some time off.”
Kennedy motions for Will to stand so she can. “Let me go see what Faith’s up to.”
“No, Ken, don’t,” she looks at me quizzically. “Faith’s right, game’s on now. Let her make her phone calls, she needs to do this her way. If there’s one thing Faith knows better than anyone, it’s how to shut everything else out and concentrate on the fight.” I hold Ken’s gaze until she nods. “You two should get some sleep because God knows Faith and I aren’t going to tonight, most likely Sophia either. We’re going to need someone with their wits about them later today when we all crash.”
Will puts a hand on my shoulder, “Alright, I don’t know exactly how much sleep we’ll get but if you guys are taking the first shift we’ll take the second.”
“Thanks guys, it’s gonna be a long day.”
EMMA’S ROOM – 4:22 AM
SOPHIA’S POV
If anyone would have told me when I woke up at this time yesterday that the next 24 hours were going to end like this, I would have said, no fucking way. Letting out a sigh, I look at Emma sleeping and wonder if she would have even gone out if, well, if it wasn’t for what happened earlier.
And what exactly did happen earlier? Taking a deep breath, I stand by the window watching the beginnings of dawn break over the backyard. Christ, I just wish she’d wake up so I know she’s ok. I go over to her and check her vitals for the 100th time tonight then go back to my perch at the window sill. I don’t know why she went with them last night, I thought she was tired and was going to bed. When she came back downstairs in jeans and a T-shirt with Faith, I was shocked. She tried to play off her nervousness with a flip comment, “Just call me one twitchy South African who has to go and do something crazy to release pent up energy.”
Dawn and I just laughed at the time. I knew she was still a bit freaked from earlier and felt she needed to slay. I got that completely, in fact, if she didn’t go, I probably would have. There was no rush I guess, neither of us were going anywhere. We’d figure this thing out.
Yeah, then Buffy woke me up after she got the phone call from Ken. She was a basket case when Faith brought Em home. The vamp was sloppy and caused more damage with his new canines then with the amount of blood loss. Once I got her cleaned up Buffy and Faith went to strategize with Willow and Kennedy. From what little Faith said when she checked in a couple of hours ago, this looks like more than just a vamp attack. It’s actually pretty amazing that more of us aren’t bitten. Well, I guess those of us who manage to get bitten, don’t normally survive.
I look at Emma again, Jesus, she’s so lucky to be alive. I don’t know what I would have done if… but, it didn’t happen, so we’re just not going to go there. I let out another big breath. And where is ‘there’ anyway? Fuck, that whole conversation before just spiraled out of control. Then reading my emotions, shit, I still can’t believe she did that. But when she touched my hand... it was electric, like a jolt, a current running directly from her to me. God damn, I’ve never felt anything like that, it was so… intimate. Aghh, but she’s my friend, I’ve never thought of her that way before, did I? Oh hell, she’s just a kid. I mean, shit, 11 years is a long time, it’s a big age difference. Yeah and why do I sound like I’m making excuses to myself? Maybe, it’s because I am.
Putting my hands through my hair, I shake it out then lean on the window frame, close my eyes and start knocking my head against the molding.
“That’s gotta hurt.” Emma murmurs.
I snap my head to her, “Jesus, Em, how do you feel?” Walking over, I sit next to her on the bed.
“Ok, I guess, a little thirsty,” she says weakly as she brings her hand to her neck, “Shit, all of that really happened? It wasn’t just a really bad dream?” She asks hopefully.
I shake my head as I hand her a bottled water; I can’t keep the sadness from my voice “Sorry, kiddo.”
Taking a healthy sip then handing it back to me she sighs and looks away. “I’m the one that’s sorry, Sophia. More than you’ll ever know, God, even more so now.” She shakes her head, “I’m so sorry.”
“Are you insane? You can’t even compare...” Placing the water on her night table, I furrow my brow when I see that she’s doing just that. “Look, Em, what happened between us and what that vamp did to you are not the same thing.”
She shakes her head again wearily, “It’s exactly the same: I used my power to take something by force that should have been offered freely.”
“Emma, stop it,” softening my voice, “it’s not the same,” I rest my hand on hers and there it is again, just like before, that buzz, that rush, that connection. I watch as her breath catches and her eyes close. I squeeze once gently then pull my hand away, “I guess we’ll have to get used to that.”
She opens her eyes and holds mine for a moment then looks away, “I guess.” Yeah, this is going to be weird.
Slowly, I stand, I really don’t think now is the best time for this conversation, “Hey, you need to rest. Why don’t you try to go back to sleep, we can talk about all this later.”
“I never felt anything like that before.” She ducks her head down, waiting for my response.
Putting my hands in my pockets, I almost whisper as I confess, “Neither have I.”
A silence blankets the room. Well, it’s out there now, but neither of us knows what to say next. Finally, she catches my eye again then exhales, “Thank you.”
I tilt my head to the side, “For what?”
“For patching me up, for staying with me all night,” she lowers her eyes again, “for forgiving me”.
“Hush, Em,” I shake my head, “we’re good.” I can’t help myself as I lean down and ruffle her hair then smooth it out, “Now get some rest, doctor’s orders.”
With a weak smile, she nods, “Ok.” After I watch her close her eyes, I go back to the window and my thoughts.
KITCHEN – 5:31 AM
FAITH’S POV
The second pot of coffee of the day is ready. I pour a cup then rest my stomach against the sink as I stare vacantly out the kitchen window sipping slowly. Vi is on board, she’s sending us an initial shipment by the end of the week. I’m gonna have to talk to Ken about converting one of the classrooms into a storage unit for the ultraviolet bullets. The radiation levels are acceptable for a couple of hours but storage, not a chance. We’ll need a fully lined lead room. My laptop is on the kitchen table. So far, I haven’t found anything about this ‘Richard’, but I know I will. Once Andrew is up, we’ll find out all there is to know, I’m sure of it.
Sighing, I take another sip, but my mug is empty. I didn’t even realize I’d finished it. I’m about to get a refill when Buffy’s arms wrap around my waist and she leans her head against my back.
“Hey,” she gives me a squeeze, “you hogging all the coffee again?”
A smirk comes to my face as I turn in her arms, “For a small fee, you too can have coffee.” I pull her to me and kiss her gently. “So how’d you make out?” While I was on the phone with Vi, Buffy was contacting the other SC heads to try and get a lead on these vampires who are using Wicca’s to aid them. B and I haven’t talked about what happened; she knows I need to put my attention into getting some answers. When I’m ready, we’ll talk, and she knows I’m about as far from ready as I can get right now.
“I talked to Chao-Ahn, Caridad and Kit. None of them have run into a vampire called Richard. I gave them his description and told them to be careful.” She takes my mug and walks over to the coffeepot. Filling both of our mugs, she leans on the counter and hands me mine back. “Since Graciana’s English is only slightly better than my Spanish, I’m going to ask Sophia to call her; I don’t want anything getting lost in translation.” She points to my laptop, “How about you?”
Rubbing my eyes, I sit down and push the laptop away from me, “Zip. I’ll bet Andrew will find something in like two seconds.”
“What about Vi?”
Ah, that’s when I smile; Ken, Vi and Rona are my favorites from the first Slayer class of 2003. And although the other girls are nice enough, those three, well, we clicked. “Vi is gonna hook us up, we’ll have everything we need by the end of the week.”
Buffy shakes her head with a grin, “You and your pets.”
“Hey,” Sophia comes in and heads straight for the coffee.
We watch as she pours herself a cup then grabs the milk, “She wake up yet?” Buffy asks.
“Yeah, a couple of hours ago,” she takes a sip.
We wait a beat, then realize Sophia isn’t going to say anything else. Ok, my turn, “So what did she say?”
“She was hoping it was a really bad dream,” she laughs then rubs her eyes and sighs, “We talked a little, then she went back to sleep.” She drains her mug, “Once she gets up, it’s fluids, iron and protein, ok? Whether she’s hungry or not: juice, steak and eggs.”
Buffy’s nodding, but I’m still watching Sophia, her body language, the way she’s speaking, I venture, “Are you ok?”
Almost at the same time Sophia and Buffy turn to look at me, “Yeah,” she says quickly, then “just tired.” She tilts her head to the side, then an understanding washes over her, “Oh, yeah, I’m ok,” she holds my gaze for a moment, “I told her it’s ok.” Grabbing another cup of coffee, she turns her back to us, “I, ah... I’m gonna go back up,” then disappears through the swinging door.
B pushes herself off the counter and takes a chair next to me, “What was that, exactly?”
“On the way home from the hospital last night, Emma and Sophia had a, a thing.”
She narrows her eyes at me, “Uh huh, a thing…”
“They were having a heavy conversation and Emma read her without asking. Emma felt awful about it,” I sigh, then continue, “That’s what we were talking about when the fucking vampires came out of nowhere.” Looking down, I start to play with my coffee mug, then shake my head. Getting up, I go over to the pot to get yet another refill.
She follows me with her eyes, “What happened last night is not your fault, Faith.”
Whatever calm I had for the past few hours is disappearing at a frantic rate, “Buffy, how can you say that?” Then I feel myself lose it, “I stood there like a fucking moron and did nothing while he basically raped our daughter!” The anger seems to roll right through me and I have to get it out somehow so I smash the mug into the counter and it shatters into a million pieces, half of which are now imbedded in my right hand. “FUCK!”
B jumps up and takes my hand, turning it face up, “Oh, Faith -”
“What the hell happened?” Dawn asks as she and Andrew are standing in the doorway, frozen, eyes wide.
Moving me over to the sink, B puts my bleeding hand under cool running water to help the smaller pieces dislodge themselves from my skin. “Emma was attacked on patrol last night; she was… bitten by a vampire.”
“Oh my God,” Dawn gasps leaning into Andrew.
Buffy continues as she cleans the specks of porcelain out of my hand, “She’s ok; he didn’t take a lot of blood. It was more of a message than anything else. It’s tied to the prophecy somehow. Sophia is with her upstairs.” B’s great at the Reader’s Digest version.
Dawn looks at B, me, my hand, then back to B, “She was in his thrall, wasn’t she?”
Buffy nods.
“And you were restrained, made to watch?” Dawn raises her eyebrows at me.
I nod amazed, “A demon had a gun to her throat.”
“You couldn’t have done anything to stop it, Faith.” What is it with these Summer’s women and the conviction in their tone? It’s damn annoying I tell ya.
I rest my head on Buffy’s shoulder as she continues to pick the shards out, “Dawn, I just can’t help but feel -”
“What? Responsible? They would have killed her, Faith. You know it as well as I do.” She turns to Andrew, “Sounds like Richard doesn’t it?”
B and I both turn to her, “How do you know -”
“Graciana just sent us an email. He’s been preying on her Slayers in Argentina while they are on patrol. He restrains one, making her watch as he has a fledgling bite the other. She thinks it’s some sick power trip thing.” Dawn takes in our faces then raises her eyebrows at me, “So it was him?”
I nod, “Yeah.”
“We should call her,” Dawn looks at us, “I’m going to get Sophia.”
Buffy takes another look at my hand as Dawn runs upstairs and Andrew sinks into a chair at the table. “How’s Emma, really?” He asks softly. “I mean she must be very upset and hurt. A situation like that can really do a number on your head.”
You know, Andrew is one of those men that make you believe there is such a thing as a really nice guy. He reminds me of Xander that way. Oh Xander, I think again and sigh, in a very selfish way, I wish he was here.
“We’ll make sure she’s ok, we all will,” is Buffy’s response. Then she looks at me, “Maybe Sophia can take a quick look at your hand after we call Graciana.”
EMMA’S ROOM– 9:12 AM
EMMA’S POV
When I open my eyes, Sophia is walking into my room with a tray. “Hey,” I mumble.
“Hey,” she says back with a small smile, “you’ve saved me the trouble of waking you up.” She flips the tray legs down, “Come on, sit up so I can put this down before I drop it or something.”
I scoot up and rest my head against the headboard, “This is nice, Andrew make it?”
“Yes he did, said it was special just for you so I had to promise not to steal any.” She brings over the chair from my desk and sits down next to me. “You’re light-headed aren’t you?”
“Just a little,” I dismiss it, “but this is great, cause,” I look at my clock-radio, “I have to be at the hospital in about an hour so -”
Sophia cuts me off, “Em, you’re not going to work.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I’m a little confused.
She pulls her chair closer and leans over, “Because you were bitten by a fucking vampire like 9 hours ago.” Her voice is level but you cannot mistake the authority in it, “You’re not leaving this room until I say you can.”
“But, but what about the hospital?” I ask meekly.
She shakes her head, “Buffy talked to the hospital last night.”
“What did she tell them?” This is all too real now; I think I’m starting to freak out.
Sophia leans back in the chair, “She told them mostly the truth: that you were attacked last night and you needed some time off to heal.”
I lower my eyes to my food that’s getting colder by the second. Pushing the eggs around the plate, I ask, “Where are they? Buffy and Faith I mean.”
“They’re downstairs; they have a lead on Richard.”
I can’t help it, but the mention of his name makes me drop the fork along with some bits of egg on the bed. “Shit.”
“I’ll get it,” she gets up, cleans up the fallen food then hands me my fork. “They’ll be up in a little while to check on you again and tell you what they’ve found; I just wanted to make sure you had something to eat.” She eyes me closely, “You ok?”
Looking up at her, I nod, “Yeah,” I take a bite of the steak.
“Liar,” she shakes her head, “Look, I know it’s too soon, but when you want to talk…” she allows her words to trail off.
Sometimes I really hate that she knows me so well, this is not one of those times. Taking another bite, I nod slowly, “I know, thanks,” Head down, I ask guiltily, “Have any of you slept?”
She sighs and takes the coffee off my tray, “No, we’ve all been very busy taking care of you in our own way. Worry about getting your strength back, not us.”
“Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll finish this up, I promise, I know how important it is.”
She raises an eyebrow then shakes her head ‘no.’ “Once Kennedy and Willow are all caught up, then I’ll rest up a little.”
So she sits and sips her coffee as I make all gone with my breakfast. I don’t want to fight with her and sometimes it’s just easier to follow doctor’s orders. It’s funny, the doctor following doctor’s orders. When I finish she takes the tray and puts it on my desk. “You ok? You must need the bathroom, right?”
“You are NOT taking me to the bathroom,” ok, it’s way time to put my foot down. Throwing off the duvet, I slide my feet over the edge and stand, “I’m perfectly capable -”
She catches me before I fall over, “Nice one, slick.” I’m trying to concentrate on her voice and not the current flowing between us. Yeah, that lasts about a second.
“Fuck, how can Buffy and Faith even think when…” oh shit, I’m actually saying that out loud, bad Emma.
In silence, Sophia helps me down the hall to the bathroom. When I finish, she is waiting for me just outside the door. As we walk back to my room, I try to ignore the hum between us because her arm is around my waist, keeping me upright. But then she answers, “I think they just got used to it.”
“Do you think it’s happening now because of... what I did yesterday?” I look over to her.
She’s staring at the ground as we make our slow progress back to my room, “I guess that would make sense, because it never happened before then.”
“I’m sorry, Sophia; I didn’t mean to... change things between us.”
She stops and turns to me. Holy canoli, she is awfully close. There’s suddenly a lightness in my head and chest and I know it has nothing to do with blood loss. Our eyes are locked to each others. She takes a deep breath and starts, “Emma –
“Emma!” Nicky comes racing up the stairs and wraps herself around me almost slamming me into the wall. “Oh by the Gods, you’re ok, Buffy and Faith kept on saying ‘wait for Sophia to come down’ but I knew if I came up I’d find you awake.” She gulps a breath as she maneuvers herself between Sophia and me, “So,” she looks up to Sophia with a mask of seriousness on her face, “how’s the patient?” God damn, talk about killing a moment, Jeeze.
Sophia just laughs, “She’s doing ok, Nicky, just a little weak. Why don’t you stay with her for a while? I have to go back downstairs.”
“Really? Like, I can watch over her, just like you?” Ok, moment killer or not, I love this kid.
Sophia winks, “Yeah, I think you can handle it.”
Nicky beams as she walks me into my room them helps me into bed. She crawls up beside me and snuggles in close, “Snuggling always makes you feel better, my Mom used to tell me so.”
Laughing, I look up at Sophia, “Do you concur with that, medically speaking, of course?”
She looks at Nicky then me as she nods, “Absolutely.” Then she takes the tray and leaves. Whoa, was that supposed to mean something or did I just read into that?
“Stop thinking so hard and rest,” Nicky mumbles into my shoulder.
I look over to her, “Hey, are you peaking?”
“I would never,” she says adamantly.
Yeah kid, that’s what I used to think. Gods, I have to stop thinking about it, about Sophia, about what this is all going to mean. Will it mean anything? I’m really driving myself crazy here, “Hey Nick?”
“You’re supposed to be resting,” she admonishes in her best imitation of Sophia.
Chuckling I continue, “In a minute I promise. Can you tell me about your vision again, the one with the planets?”
“What, you want like a bedtime story?” there’s more than a little humor in her voice.
I smooth her hair away from my face then twirl the ends mindlessly, “I just want to think about something else, you know, get my mind off... things?”
“Oh,” she wraps her arm around my stomach and gives me a little squeeze, “you don’t have to worry Em, I’ll keep you safe.”
And I laugh as I choke down the lump that has just risen in my throat, sweet Goddess, how I love this little imp. Snaking my arms around her, I give her a big hug, “Thanks Nicky.”
She settles her head on my shoulder, closes her eyes, and starts her tale:
“The first thing I see is a monolith in the desert, but it is not a desert of this world. It’s on the plains of Nibiru, the lost 12th planet. It’s where the Gods made their home, where they watch us and wait for a time to return. The time is nearing but there’s a fight going on among the Gods: some want to return in wrath, others in benevolence.”
“The monolith tells a story of how the last Sole Chosen will lead the Three to Nibiru. Buffy is the last Sole Chosen and you, me and Faith are the Three. Then I see a gathering; we are there, on Nibiru with the Gods. There’s a three sided pyramid in the center of the meeting place. On each side is a version of the future, of what is to come. I can’t tell what is on each side; I just know that’s what the cuneiform says. Willow and Dawn are still trying to teach me, but it’s hard. Then it ends.” She’s silent for a moment then, “Em?”
“Yeah?” I say softly, wondering how much time we have left before this happens.
She looks up at me, “The mean Gods have recruited the vamps and demons here to help them, haven’t they? You know, like to pave the way for them? It’s all I could think about since Faith told me what happened to you when I got up.”
“What else did Faith have to say?” Jesus, can someone tell this kid she’s only 11? She’s supposed to be worrying about homework and what’s on TV tonight, not vampires and the possible end of the world.
She looks back down, “We didn’t get to talk too much. They were all having a meeting in Buffy’s office after they cancelled classes for the day. She said she wanted to tell me before I heard it from someone else.”
Nodding I rest my chin on her head, “It’ll be ok, Nicky.” I close my eyes as a weariness creeps over me.
“Yeah, it has to be, right?” she asks more to herself than to me, “cause we’re the good guys and the good guys are supposed to win.”
Yeah, that’s how it’s supposed to be, babe. And that’s the last thought I can remember because Nicky feels so warm and comforting, and I can’t help but pull her closer to me as I fall asleep musing to myself: her Mom was right.
