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YouTube Madness « Result #5 on Jan 19, 2007, 12:53am »
YouTube rocks, as is a well known fact I could spend hours of time just searching for stuff, old nostalgic things from my youth, or more recent things... Well, this is a thread where YT stuff can be posted, old or new LOL!
Sailor Earth Administrator Slayer member is offline
Joined: Feb 2004 Gender: Female Posts: 3,445 Location: South Australia Karma: 667
Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #6 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:47pm »
General Reflection
Liz and Chris walked the rest of the way to Giles’s office in silence, however both knew what the other was thinking. The tension had since subsided, Slayer and Watcher feeling more comfortable in each other’s presence without Ebony and Rachel to distract from it.
Chris knocked on the office door and opened it after hearing Giles’s response. The Head Watcher was quite surprised to see them, but not unhappy.
“Aah, you’re back! So how did everything go?” he asked, smiling and gesturing for them to sit down.
“Yeah not bad, we encountered a heap of vampires,” Liz replied. “We weren’t really expecting that many, but we got through it,”
Giles nodded. “And how did Rachel go?”
“She managed to take one down, using the advice Sally and Olly have given her, so that was good. She did get into a bit of a tight spot though but I got her out of it,”
“Good, good. And Ebony?”
Liz hesitated slightly before answering, something Chris picked up on but Giles seemed to miss. “She was pretty good too. She really got into it,”
Well… that wasn’t a complete lie…
Giles smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. Do you think it’s about time I let Rachel get back into the team activities with the Looking Glass then?”
“It couldn’t hurt,” Liz shrugged. “She seemed to really enjoy the action. Maybe pitting her against vampires so soon was a bit much, but sometimes being thrown into the deep end has its benefits,”
“That’s certainly true,” Giles nodded in agreement, then arched his eyebrow. “Liz, are you feeling all right? You look a bit… uneasy…”
Liz bit her lip. “Oh… no, I’m fine, really…”
Chris nudged her gently with his elbow and looked pointedly at her necklace, which hadn’t stopped glowing.
“Oh right,” Liz put her hand to the diamond, attracting Giles’s attention. “My necklace had a bit of action too. A vampire tried to grab me but when the diamond realised it was a threat, this really bright light came out of it and hit him,”
Giles stared at the glowing jewel and glanced up at Chris. “Is that so?”
“Yep, tis so,” Liz shrugged. “It was pretty weird, but cool at the same time. It scared off all the other vampires. Oh, by the way, it might be an idea to keep an eye on the area we found them in, there were quite a few,”
“Yes…” Giles murmured, his eyes moving from Chris’s unreadable expression back to the necklace. “Well I’d best let you both go for now. Ben is waiting in your room for you, Liz,”
“Aah good, thanks for letting me know,” Liz replied, casting the Watcher with a smile. “Good night then!”
“Good night,” Giles said, returning the smile as the Slayer left the room.
Chris moved to follow but Giles called out for him to stop. Chris paused. “Sir…?”
“This necklace…” Giles arched his eyebrow. “I hope you know what you’re doing with magic like that…”
“Of course I do, I wouldn’t have had the spell cast if I didn’t,” Chris replied, only just managing to cut out the irritation in his tone at such a question.
Giles just looked at him with a rather unsettling stare before waving a hand. “All right. Good night,”
Chris just nodded and slipped through the door to find Liz in the hallway waiting for him. He felt his heart flutter and he couldn’t help but smile. “You waited for me?”
Liz grinned wearily. “Of course. Actually I wanted to talk to you about something anyway,” the grin faded.
“What is it?” Chris asked, leading the way towards the Slayer Wing.
“Ebony… she’s… weird…” Liz frowned. “I wasn’t totally honest with Giles before. I told Ebony to help Rachel but she just beat the crap out of one of the vampires instead, even though it should have been a quick dust. Then when I had a go at her about it she told me he was one of the vamps who had killed Josie but got away, so she was passing it off as some kind of revenge,”
Chris stared at her as they walked, almost losing sight of where they were headed. He stopped in mid-step to avoid walking into the corner of one of the walls. “What?!”
Liz shook her head, stopping with him. “I don’t know… it was strange. I didn’t know whether I should believe her or not. But anyway. She’s totally into you. It’s so obvious. She isn’t exactly Little Miss Subtle about it,”
Chris was glad he’d stopped in his tracks at this point. “She… what?” he repeated, making a face. “Into me?”
“As if you hadn’t noticed,” Liz smirked. “Come on. The looks, the comments. Why can’t I get a hug from the Dream Watcher and all that jazz. She even asked me about the Chrimbo decorations here and if we had mistletoe. I’d watch out if I were you, don’t let her corner you in a doorway,”
Chris continued to stare at her. Of course, he had noticed. It was quite disconcerting to him actually. Ebony was rather attractive, but her connection with Josie was what shook him the most. And after what Liz had just told him about the vampire situation, he was beginning to feel even more perturbed - This combined with what Giles had told him earlier about Ebony's past. “Stay out of doorways, check…” he murmured slowly.
“Well, unless it’s someone good you find yourself stuck in one with,” Liz added, winking. “I intend to do that a lot with a certain person, hehehehe,”
Chris was sure he felt himself blush but he knew she was referring to Ben with her comment. “And I’m sure he’ll try to get himself in that position himself,” he replied, wondering why Geri and co. hadn’t started decorating yet and suddenly wishing they had, and that he and Liz were caught in a doorway at that very moment. Then he realised a situation such as that had bad points to go with the good, so he shook the thought from his mind.
“Another weird thing though,” Liz was saying, playing with the necklace in her fingers. “When this shot out its light, I felt really strange afterwards,”
Chris looked at her sharply. “Strange? In what way?”
“Oh, a good way,” Liz looked up at him. “Sort of comforting, like I was being watched over and kept safe. It’s hard to explain,”
“How peculiar…” Chris murmured, leaning down to get a closer look at the diamond. It was glowing more brightly than he’d ever seen it, starting to take on something of a green hue that was similar in colour to Liz’s eyes. He remembered the comment Jonathan had made at the time of casting the spell and held back a laugh. … when a human is the catalyst for that charm to work, the gem always turns the eye colour of the one he or she loves…
Liz looked at him. “Are you ok?”
“Oh, yes,” Chris smiled, feeling the blush again and standing up straight. “Sorry. So you say it made you feel safe?”
“Yeah, safe and secure. Is that what it’s meant to do?” Liz frowned. “It’s a bit confusing,”
“The charm is a bit of an odd one, actually,” Chris conceded. “Jonathan assured me it was tried and true, though. He told me the basics of what it would do. I just didn’t realise how effective it would really be in the case of a threat. That’s why I wish I could have seen what it did against that vampire, to get a better idea,”
Liz nodded. “Aah, well, I’m sure you will at some stage, given our lovely line of business,” she smiled at him. “I have to thank you again for giving it to me. It probably saved my life, and Rachel’s too for that matter,”
Chris dipped his head slightly. “I’m sure you would have escaped harm, Liz, you always have your ways of getting out of a tight spot. But I’m still very glad that it works. It’s added insurance, really,”
“Insurance is good, hmm hmm,” Liz nodded, then glanced around the empty hallway. “It’s weird that this place gets so quiet sometimes, especially with all the people who live here. Or is it just that time of night when people are either in bed or the Slayers are still on patrols?”
Chris frowned. “I’m not sure, but it is strange at times. I have to admit, I do prefer the quiet. It makes things a lot less stressful,”
Liz smirked ruefully. “Yeah, that’s true. I have to say I think I’m the same, loudness just gets to me. Aah well. Guess I’d better not keep Ben waiting,” she made a jerking movement with her head and the two of them started walking again. “So, you have a fangirl,” she added, grinning up at the Watcher.
“Lucky me,” Chris replied with a roll of his eyes. “I couldn’t be more happier. Please note the sarcasm in my tone,”
“Aaw, I’m sure you love it,” Liz winked. “You must have had a few in your time,”
Chris shook his head. “Not really. Not since we set up the new Council and had all these Slayers come to stay, at least,”
“Aah, you know what they say, you’ve become better with age, like a fine wine,” Liz remarked. “Young girlies just love men like you, hehehe,” her face started to burn, and she suddenly felt like a complete idiot. Shut up, dingus! she thought to herself. You bloody had a thing for him yourself! ‘And probably still do…’ echoed another voice that sounded curiously like Faith’s.
Liz’s eyes widened slightly and she looked up at Chris, relieved to see he hadn’t noticed her blush, as he had a rather obvious one himself that he was trying to hide.
“No, I uh, don’t really like the whole fangirl concept,” he mumbled awkwardly. “Not in my case anyway. Well I guess it’s flattering, but, it is a bit peculiar, and unsettling, especially coming from Ebony,”
“I hear that…” Liz murmured, arching her eyebrow. “She was kind of creeping me out before, with all those looks she was giving you. Which is a shame, she seems like a nice enough person, but after tonight’s fun and games, I’m not so sure what to think now,” she lowered her voice as they entered the Slayer Wing, wary of anyone overhearing their conversation. She hoped Ebony was somewhere else at that moment.
They wandered over to their bedroom doors and paused outside. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Chris said quietly, feeling strangely anxious all of a sudden. He didn’t want to say goodnight just yet, silently wishing Ben could have been elsewhere so he and Liz were able to spend more time together. He instantly cursed himself afterwards for having such thoughts, and forced a smile.
Liz nodded and leant forward to hug him. Chris closed his eyes, feeling the necklace’s warmth against his chest. It seemed so much more intense after its little light display – ordinarily he wouldn’t have felt the heat. He wondered how Liz coped with it, but she didn’t seem at all troubled.
“Yep, see you tomorrow. Can we have another training session or something? I felt good after today’s run, I wouldn’t mind going through the same moves again,” she smiled.
Chris nodded. “That sounds like a marvellous idea. What time suits you?”
“Eh, any, just come and get me and I’ll be ready,” Liz replied with a shrug, backing towards her door. “Good night!”
Chris smiled and watched as she opened the door and slipped inside, closing it again. He heard Ben’s voice and then a giggle from Liz, a sound that delighted him whenever he heard it.
He sighed and entered his own room, greeted by a soft “mew” from Holly who had chosen his domain as her own for the night. Chris smiled and bent down to pick her up, stroking her black fur as he walked towards his bed and sat down.
“It’s been a rather… odd day, Holly,” he murmured, staring into space. “I wonder what tomorrow will bring?”
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #7 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:47pm »
Rachel was fighting for her life as she cycled her legs at the invading vampires, kicking with all that her body could give her. She finally managed to trip one of them and was starting to regain her feet, when one of them slammed an uppercut into her jaw, spilling her back onto the ground. She blinked away the tears of confusion and fear, then grabbed a hand full of grass and slammed it into the vampire's eyes as it tried to follow-up the attack. She then grabbed him with both hands and used her legs to sling shot the vampire over herself.
She turned to admire her handiwork, forgetting about the vampire that was at her back and was now advancing without her knowledge.
“Look out!” Liz yelled, running towards Rachel and shoving her out of the way just before the vampire could grab her.
Tree branch at the ready, the tiny Slayer kept running, ramming her weapon into the vampire’s chest. He collapsed in the usual pile of dust. The other vampire Rachel had managed to throw aside was just about to join the fight again but wasn’t ready for Liz’s onslaught. He felt a horrible stab of pain and looked down at the branch that was lodged in his chest.
“Ooh shi…”
Dust.
Liz flicked a strand of hair out of her eyes and walked back to where Rachel was trying to remain standing. “Are you all right?” she asked, barely out of breath.
To a Slayer, the event was nothing more than a typical workout. But to any normal human, it would have been utterly exhausting. Liz knew this, and could tell that Rachel wouldn’t be able to last much longer if any other vampires attacked.
"I've been better... but I've also been worse... I think," Rachel replied between pants for breath as she looked up at the Slayer and slowly got to her feet beside her former rival.
Liz reached out her hand to steady the blonde. “I think we should head back,” she said quietly. She glanced over at Ebony who was still fighting the other vampire, continually beating it again and again. “Jesus…”
Without another word, Liz stormed over to Ebony and grabbed her roughly, flinging her away from the vampire. She ignored the girl’s exclamation and lifted the branch, slamming it down into the vampire’s chest.
“I had him! Why’d you do that?!” Ebony was screaming at her angrily.
Liz turned on her heel, glaring at the other Slayer. “What the hell are you so angry for?!” she snapped. “I told you to help Rachel, not beat the utter shit out of a vampire! She could have been killed!”
“Well she wasn’t! She’s fine!” Ebony retorted, matching Liz’s glare. “And I had it under control!”
“You didn’t have anything under control at all!” Liz exclaimed incredulously. “We’re supposed to slay these things, not beat them to a bloody pulp, especially not when there are other people who need help. We were outnumbered. I just had to take out three of the damn things by myself!”
“Well you did it, didn’t you? So what the hell are you getting in my face for?!” Ebony spat back.
Liz stalked towards her, throwing the branch to the ground. “I’m getting in your face because I gave you an order, and you didn’t obey it. You just ignored me and pounded that vampire instead of staking him and then helping Rachel like I told you to do. I don’t know what the hell you’re playing at, but in our team, we help each other, you got that?!”
Ebony stared at the other Slayer, clenching and unclenching her fists in a bid to calm down. “I… I did it because…” she started, trailing off.
“What?” Liz asked shortly.
“He… I’ve had to deal with him before. He was one of the vampires who killed Josie, but he got away…”
Now it was Liz’s turn to stare, and she stepped back slightly, unsure of what to say. “Be that as it may…” she murmured after a moment’s silence. “… you should have just killed him and helped Rachel…”
Ebony lowered her head. “I know. I’m sorry. Please don’t tell Giles, I want him to know he can trust me,”
Liz bit her lip. “I won’t… just don’t let it happen again…” she replied. Ebony’s admission had well and truly knocked the angry wind out of her sails, which she figured wasn’t such a bad thing really, given her track record with anger and magic. She turned away and walked back to Rachel, gripping the blonde’s shoulder tightly. “Come on… let’s get back…”
Rachel had just stayed quiet and stared dumbly at the two Slayers as they had talked heatedly, sucking in air by the gulp full as she tried to get her breath back under control. As Liz came back to meet her, she continued to look at the smaller girl, and then nodded and turned to follow her back to the Mansion. She needed a warm bath to relax her aching muscles.
There was a slight rustling in the trees that could easily have been mistaken for the breeze which had picked up, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Without warning, another vampire came bursting out, heading straight towards Liz and Rachel. Ebony’s eyes widened and she began to move forward. “Liz! Behind you! Look out!”
Liz and Rachel turned just as the vampire was about to grab them. He had only managed to lay his hand on Liz’s arm when suddenly a tremendous blinding light shot out from the Slayer, hitting the vampire and sending him flying back into the trees.
“What the hell?!” Liz exclaimed, staggering backwards. She shielded her eyes from the light, lowering her arm when it finally lessened in intensity. Her chest felt like it was on fire.
“What did you do?!” Ebony yelled as she raced towards them. “Did you just use magic on him?”
“No…” Liz murmured, blinking.
There were cries from other voices, most likely more vampires, and pounding footsteps as though they were running away. The call of “Let’s get out of here, she’s a witch!” was heard before the sounds faded and eventually disappeared.
“Your necklace is glowing,” said Rachel, staring at the dark-haired Slayer in shock.
“My what?” Liz shook her head, looking down at the diamond. It was glowing more brightly than it ever had. “Holy shit…”
Ebony stepped towards her slowly, staring at the necklace. “That’s the one Chris gave you, the one with the protection spell on it?”
Liz nodded. She was feeling rather strange. “Yes…”
“So that’s what it does…” Ebony breathed in awe. “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. That vampire barely touched you and then this bright light just shot out and sent him flying. I think it gave the others a bit of a scare as well,”
Liz swallowed, the strange feeling subsiding. “That was so weird. I’ve never seen it in action before. But that must be how it works. It detected the threat of that vampire and reacted. Incredible…”
More running footsteps echoed in the distance, getting louder as they pounded towards the group. Chris appeared out of the darkness, racing into the dim light of the street lamps. “Girls! What happened, are you all right? I saw this bright flash of light, like a bolt of lightning!”
The diamond continued to glow, getting brighter as the Watcher neared and finally stopped in front of his Slayer. “What happened?” he asked again, staring down at her.
“The necklace did its thing,” Liz said quietly. “A vampire was about to grab me but the diamond reacted and that’s what the light was. It hit him and he went flying,” she turned slightly and pointed towards the tree-line.
Chris’s jaw dropped, and he lowered his gaze to the necklace. “It works…” he breathed, a smile running across his weary features. “Incredible, it really works!”
“Oh it works all right,” Ebony commented. “Whatever you did to that thing, it worked like a charm, so to speak,”
“Absolutely incredible,” Christ murmured, glancing briefly at the other Slayer before looking back at Liz. “I wish I could have seen it in action,” he said softly, leaning forward to give her a tight hug. This time he could feel the heat radiating from the diamond. “Doesn’t the heat bother you?” he asked, pulling away.
Liz shook her head. “Not really, well, not now. It did when the light shot out of it, like it was on fire, but it went away pretty quickly afterwards. It was so weird, though. Weird… but comforting…” she shrugged. “But we can talk about this later. Right now, we’d better get back to the mansion. Rachel needs a bit of medical attention, I think,” she looked over at the blonde.
Chris nodded. “Of course,” he replied, stepping over to Rachel and offering his arm. “Do you need some support to walk?” he asked quietly.
Liz couldn’t help but smile. Always the gentleman… she thought, waiting to see if Rachel would appreciate the gesture.
"I'm alright... really," Rachel said with a smile at Chris as she straightened up, the wind finally starting to come back into her at a regular interval. The excitement and fear of the moment had worn off. "Thank you for the offer, but I think it's more the intensity of the real thing and me getting back used to it. I'll be fine," she said, wanting to make sure that no one thought her weak, but more importantly, that she hadn't brushed off the concern of the others.
“Well if you’re sure…” Chris shrugged, and moved closer to Liz instead. “I saw that girl you called me about. She ran straight into me actually. It took a bit of time to convince her I wasn’t another vampire, heh. I ended up describing you three to her and she agreed to let me walk her home. I didn’t quite like the idea of her being alone, she was quite shaken up,”
Liz nodded. “Yeah, that’s good to know. Maybe she’ll be more careful when she goes out now,”
“Hmm… perhaps she’ll learn the importance of safety in numbers,” Chris replied with a small smile, starting straight ahead to avoid the looks Ebony was giving him. He glanced back at Rachel. “So how did you go?” he asked her, genuinely interested to know. “Was it anything like you imagined?”
"Yeah... I think I had a nightmare like it a year ago," Rachel replied with a laugh to hide her own discomfort. "I think I did alright. I managed to take one down on my own, although Liz gets the assist for throwing me the stake to put the finishing touches on him. I even applied some of what Sally and Olly had taught me about deception and using tactics. I faked like I was hurt, and then when he came in to try and finish me off, I got him with the stake...and the pooofffff!" she exclaimed with a look of contentment on her face. She couldn't really look at Ebony yet, or think too much about the necklace that Liz was wearing. That was just too weird for the moment.
Chris smiled. “That’s good to hear. I’m sure Sally and Olly will be happy you’ve taken their advice on board and used it successfully,”
“Yay I got a mention with my stake throwing,” Liz put in, punching the air in a mock cheer. Her flat tone of voice didn’t quite suit the words, making her sound sarcastic, even though she hadn’t meant to be.
There was a brief moment of silence as they walked, the magical cloud around the Council building clearing for only them to see.
“Well. Here we are.” Liz murmured, hastening her pace. She could feel the tension and wasn’t particularly interested in hanging around for any more small talk.
“Here we are indeed,” Chris replied with a sigh of relief. He pushed the front door open and held it for the girls, waiting until they’d all stepped through before he followed. “I’d better go and let Giles know how it all went. Good night,”
“Uh yeah I’ll go with you,” Liz said quickly, falling into step behind her Watcher as he continued on his way up to Giles’s office, thus leaving Ebony and Rachel alone in the main foyer.
"I better go and see Olly and Sally... and then have a bath to work out these kinks. Night," Rachel stated, not wanting to be alone with the overly violent and somewhat troublesome Slayer at that moment.
Ebony just shrugged. “S’fine. I’m going to take a walk to clear my head. See you ‘round,” she replied, and headed back out through the front door, closing it behind her.
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #8 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:46pm »
Citizens On Patrol
The late evening had brought with it a rather unpleasant cold front. The rain had cleared up, but that hadn’t stopped the icy breeze that was whipping around in the trees outside.
Liz and Chris had returned from their tea with Ben and Charlie. The four of them had found a little café nearby to have their meal at, along with discussing the events of the day and the impending patrol. Liz and Ben had arranged to meet up again afterwards - he was quite interested to find out how everything went. They also shared some mischievous looks with one another across the table that both Chris and Charlie were curious about, but neither asked questions.
Charlie had reported on the progress of Chris’s headache cure, which unfortunately wasn’t great news. But they hoped to get more done the next day with the things they had discovered.
Chris and Liz also revealed that Erin and Flynn had decided that their friendship was what was most important to them, so they were going to hold back on any sort of intimacy.
The duo were presently waiting in the main foyer for Ebony and Giles to meet them. Hannah had been informed of the patrol and wanted to see them all before they left.
“What do you think she wants to talk to us about?” Liz asked, glancing up at Chris curiously.
“Not sure, but we’ll find out,” Chris shrugged, his attention momentarily broken by sounds of someone at the staircase.
They both turned their heads to see Ebony walking down the steps slowly and deliberately as though she was drawing out her little ‘entrance’ on purpose. But that wasn’t what they were looking at in particular. Chris did a slight double take as he looked at the raven-haired beauty then glanced at Liz. “My word…”
Ebony smirked as she made her way towards them, focusing on Liz. “Anyone would think we phoned each other in advance to plan and coincide our outfits,” she commented, looking the other Slayer up and down appraisingly.
Liz made a face. “You don’t say…”
The pair of them could have passed as twins with their near matching all black outfits and wavy black hair tied back in similar looking ponytails. Liz arched her eyebrow and looked up at Chris, mouthing the word ‘weird’ at him.
“We look great though, don’t we?” Ebony went on, grinning. “A good pair to take on the vampires, and help Rachel out with a real fight,”
“Uh yeah…” Liz said slowly, arching her eyebrow.
“Oh good, there you all are,” said Giles’s voice, interrupting the tension that was threatening to settle over the gathered trio. He stepped towards them, a tight-lipped smile on his face. “Are you ready to go?”
They nodded. “Do you know what Hannah wants to see us about?” Liz asked him, following as he led them towards the LG lift.
“Something to do with surveillance, no doubt,” the Head Watcher replied with a casual shrug. “I guess she’d want to keep an eye on Rachel to make sure she’s safe,”
“Fair enough,” Chris remarked, stepping into the lift beside Liz.
A dark shadow crossed Ebony’s features at the mention of 'surveillance' as they descended to the lower level, but it had gone unnoticed by the others.
The lift ride was silent for the next few moments. The little carriage finally reached the floor and the doors slid open to reveal the Looking Glass section in it's usual hive of activity. Hannah and Tasha were by their computers, talking to Rachel who was already there, waiting.
Rachel appeared tense, but Hannah patted her on the shoulder reassuringly, a smile on her face. "You'll be fun, Rachel. Liz and Ebony will be right there to look out after you and others will be around, if need be."
"I know, I know," Rachel replied with a half smile. "I just can't believe I'm finally being allowed to leave the building. It's just kinda exciting... scary exciting."
Hannah smiled to the Council group as they approached, and moved around the table to greet them all. "Well... I'm sure everyone wants to get started right away, so I'll get right to it. Since this is Rachel's first time out of the building and back in the field, Olly and I felt that we need to take some extra precautions to ensure her safety, so I'm going to ask that we be allowed to implant all three of you with a tracer each so that we can track your whereabouts via satellite GPS uplink. This would only be in the event if something were to happen to you, we would know where you are so that we could send help more efficiently," she explained.
“Sounds reasonable to me,” Giles replied with a nod.
Ebony stared at Hannah. “Implant? Do we have to get this done?”
“Don’t worry, Ebony,” Tasha replied, smiling at the other Slayer. “It won’t hurt or anything, it’s just a safety thing,”
“I’m not worried about it hurting,” Ebony replied, still not convinced. “It’s just… weird, like, Big Brother’s watching or something. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with it,”
Tasha glanced at Hannah, who just shrugged in response. She looked back at Ebony. “Well, that’s ok, I guess you don’t all have to wear one,”
Liz noticed how uncomfortable Ebony had become and decided to offer some assistance. “Uh yeah, actually I don’t think I’m overly comfortable with it myself. It's kind of... weird, really. I’m not used to that stuff yet,” she saw an expression of relief wash over Ebony’s features. “Besides, I have my own detachable tracer, of sorts,” she smirked, turning her head to look up at Chris. “Good ol’ hawk eye here, hehe,”
Chris arched his eyebrow at her. “Uh yes… well, I won’t be accompanying you on the patrol itself, I’ll just be around to keep an eye out.” In truth he wasn’t overly delighted in the implant concept himself. He was still trying to adjust to all the technical advances the Looking Glass had brought with them. “It’s a Watcher’s duty to make sure his Slayer is all right, after all, and to observe how she is improving in her training,”
“You make it sound so personal,” Liz commented, nudging him gently with her elbow.
Ebony nodded vehemently. “It’s true. Brian wanted to come too but he’s got something else on, but he said he was happy for me to go as long as Chris was around to keep an eye on things,”
Liz turned back to Tasha and Hannah. “So … is that ok? I mean, as long as one of us has one, that’d be enough, right?” she nodded at Rachel. “And I’m sure you’re more used to it than we are, and we’ll stick with you at all times. Even if you try to get away, we’ll just follow ya, hehe,” she smirked.
"Yeah... right. Something tells me that I wouldn't get too far if I tried to run for it. I'm a tracker, not an escape artist," Rachel replied with a joking smile as she pulled her pant leg up to reveal her right calf.
Hannah knelt down beside the girl and pushed the button and the device inserted itself just under the skin of the athletic blonde, leaving no real signs of any activity or intrusion.
Hannah the looked at Giles, who seemed happy enough with the arrangement before responding to Liz. "Well, suppose one should be fine," she commented as she stood up and handed the injector to Tash. "Well... you should be alright to go then. Unless you had anything further for them Mr. Giles... I'm finished. Happy hunting."
“I do just have one thing,” the Watcher replied, turning his attention to the three girls. “Seeing as Liz was the one who came up with this idea, I’m putting her in charge. So if she gives either of you an order, you take it, all right?”
“Aah crap,” Liz muttered. “You’re making me the leader?”
Giles smiled at her. “You’ve proven to me time and time again that you’re capable, Liz, so I have every bit of faith in you,” he glanced at Ebony and Rachel. “Is that clear? What Liz says, goes.”
Ebony nodded slowly, then looked over at Rachel to see what the blonde’s response would be. She had a feeling the older girl wouldn’t particularly like having to follow orders from Liz the Slayer.
Rachel wasn't the most enthused about the idea of following orders from a woman who was so much younger than her, but even so, she didn't let it show. She looked over at the Slayer and simply nodded her head. "Makes sense to me," she stated as she put her knife into her boot holder and took her stun pistol and put it in her hip holster.
“All righty then, well, I guess we should get going,” Liz said, leading the way back to the lift with Chris, Ebony and Rachel following behind.
She was starting to feel rather anxious about the whole thing, as though it was finally sinking in that she was going to be alone with the person who had created the conflict with Erin. Of course Ebony would be with them, but it wasn’t necessarily a comforting thought. The attractive Slayer was acting rather peculiarly.
The lift ride was a quiet one, and when the carriage reached the main level, Liz couldn’t wait to get out, making a beeline for the door. Chris maintained a close distance and as the four of them left the building, he turned to his Slayer with a smile and rested his hands on her shoulders.
“Ok, this is where I say my goodbye for now,” he said, looking around the empty street. “I’ll follow you for a while but I’ll keep back, ok?”
“Hmm…” Liz nodded, biting her lip.
Chris could sense her nerves and tightened his grip on her shoulders. “It’ll be ok, Liz. I’ve seen you lead before and you’re damn good at it, so you have nothing to worry about. Plus I’ll be around if you need me, and Rachel has the tracer so you’ll be fairly well monitored in case anything goes wrong – which it won’t,”
Liz let out a sigh. “Uh huh… I’m sure it’ll be swell…” she murmured, pressing her left hand against her right wrist to find comfort in the cold stake that was safely tucked away under her sleeve.
“It will be fine,” Chris replied, leaning forward to give her a hug.
The diamond began to glow again, sending a wave of warmth through Liz’s body. She instantly felt better. It seemed as though the spell didn’t just provide protection, but some kind of confidence booster as well.
“Hey, do we get hugs too or is Liz the only one special enough?” Ebony remarked, smirking. She nudged Rachel with her elbow. “It’s not fair, is it? That she gets a hug from the ‘Dream Watcher’ and we’re left with nothing,”
"Fair is a very subjective thing," Rachel replied with a mere shrug as she looked from the small Slayer to Chris and Liz, and then moved off a bit. It was just sinking in on her that she was going to be alone with Liz and Ebony, two people who didn't have really good reasons to like her. 'Are they going to beat me up after we get away from the Mansion? Is that why Hannah put that chip in me... cuz she thinks it's going to happen too?'
Chris pulled away from Liz and turned to stare at Ebony. “Uh…”
Liz just shook her head, noticing that her Watcher was looking less than comfortable at Ebony’s obvious flirtatious behaviour towards him - she’d been giving him looks for the past few minutes. “How about we just go, huh?”
Ebony smirked. “Sorry, didn’t mean to offend,”
“Yeah, whatever, come on,” Liz rolled her eyes, casting a glance at Rachel before beginning to lead the way down the street.
"Good luck!" Chris called out.
Liz looked over her shoulder at him and waved, then focused her attention back to the footpath ahead.
"Seriously, I didn't mean to offend you," Ebony said quietly, falling into step alongside the other Slayer.
Liz just shrugged, glancing at Rachel. "So how are you feeling about all this?" she asked the blonde, trying to change the subject.
"It's nice to get outside and get some fresh air," Rachel replied with a smile as she moved towards the front where the Slayer was, moving away from Ebony slightly. Of the two, she figured that Ebony was more of a danger to her. Liz seemed to be trying hard to be nice to her. Ebony... she wasn't so sure of yet. "Chris is so helpful for you. It must be nice to have a friend that is so there for you."
A genuine smile appeared on Liz’s lips and she nodded. “It is. He always seems to know how to get my confidence back up whenever I’m feeling down,” she folded her arms to block out some of the cold. “How do you think the sessions with Sally and Olly are going? Sally is really happy with your progress, she has nothing but praise actually. That must feel good to know,”
Rachel smiled at the mention of the Watcher's name. "Sally is great. She's been amazing really. I'm so happy that I'm doing well and making her feel good. She has been great for me," she bubbled over, clearly excited to talk about her newest friend. "The stuff her and Olly have taught me has been good. And Olly, well you know quite well how Olly is... no one could ever accuse him of being a dullard. Olly is a tremendous strategist and an amazing tactician. He's a good teacher... and I think he's become even better at it since... well.. since he came back from Dublin," she finished shyly.
Liz arched her eyebrow at the way Rachel had spoken of the other soldier. “Yeah from what I’ve heard he has. I haven’t really talked to him much recently, distractions and such,” she picked up her pace, starting to feel slightly uncomfortable again. She turned her attention to Ebony. “How about you? Are you settling in ok? Giles said you were moving in to the building,”
Ebony nodded. “Yes, I am. I think I’m settling in all right, at least I hope so,” she bit her lip. “I seem to be saying the wrong things lately though,” she added awkwardly.
“Oh… are you talking about what happened with Chris before?” Liz shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. He’s weird when it comes to chicks making advances on him, don’t take it personally,”
“Old fashioned, is he?” Ebony asked curiously, her pale green eyes glittering in the dim street lights. “I like that in a man,”
Liz swallowed. “Er yeah, well anyway. So… Christmas, eh? It’s just around the corner… The Council usually throws a big bash and Geri cooks up a storm,” she forced a grin. God I hate this small talk… Where are the vampires already?!
“I’m looking forward to that, actually,” Ebony replied. “I’d love to see it. Do you hang mistletoe up and all that?” she winked.
Liz made a face. “Weird tradition, but yeah, Geri and the other female Watchers tend to go all out with their decorating. They’re a bit behind schedule this year though, must be because of all the craziness recently,” she cast a sidelong glance at Rachel as they walked. “Does Christmas excite you or don’t you care much for it?”
Rachel merely shrugged in response. "My Christmas's were never anything to really write home about. Daddy was really rich, so I tended to get whatever I wanted, but since I came to the military, I've kinda been cut-off from all of that," she replied with a bit of a sad look. "But Olly and the gang have always been good people to be around for the holidays, although General Bradley was always like our Santa Claus," she went on, but that time still brought up some strong emotions in the woman, as she thought about him and a single tear started to slide down her right cheek.
She pawed at it with her left hand as she looked up the walkway and studied the area up ahead. There was a single person standing in a dark area near the woods, or at least it looked like the person was alone, but the sound of a scream and then the flailing of a pair of legs beneath the person brought Rachel's attention to alert, but Liz and Ebony were already exchanging looks back and forth to each other.
"You already knew?" Rachel commented as she looked at the women.
“Slayer’s intuition,” Liz replied with a shrug.
"I got this one," Rachel whispered back to Liz as she lightly pushed the Slayer to the side slightly to hide behind a nearby building, her training taking over.
Liz nodded. “Be careful, remember, this isn’t a training run – it’s the real deal. He’ll kill you as soon as look at you, no second chances, no fairness,” she glanced at Ebony then looked back at the blonde. "If things get rough, we'll step in. Got it?"
So it all came down to this. Rachel took a deep breath to steady herself and then took off running towards the beast. There was no more time for further words with the Slayers. A young girl was in trouble and it was up to Rachel to help her. She drew the stun pistol from her holster as she ran, doing her best to stay up on toes so as to make as little noise as possible, the cool December air working to her advantage.
Just as Rachel got into range of the vampire, it turned towards her, and the young woman who it had been attacking sensed this was her moment to depart and took it, rolling away from the monster and starting to crawl away. The vampire turned back to the victim when she started to move, but Rachel fired the stun pistol and clipped him on the shoulder, knocking him down to the ground. She went to fire again, but the weapon was on recharge, and would need another moment. Rachel didn't wait and dove in and tackled the vampire. "Run!" she shouted to the victim, who needed no further prodding and began to run away, but fell a shortly after.
Liz and Ebony took this moment to make their own move, racing towards the fallen girl and helping her back up.
“Run, that way,” Liz hissed, pointing in the direction of where they’d arrived from. She hoped that Chris was in the area and the girl would run right into him.
The girl stared at them fearfully. “Thank you, thank you!” she spluttered, and did as instructed.
“Better get some assistance,” Liz murmured to Ebony, taking out her mobile phone and pushing in some numbers. “Chris, just saved a girl, look out for her, she has dark hair, she’ll have some scratches, and her coat’s been torn,”
Ebony watched as Liz made the call then cut the connection. “You’re on the ball,” she said quietly.
“Gotta be, to make sure she’ll be safe,” Liz replied, then turned back to the ensuing fight. “Come on Rachel! You can do it!”
Rachel was flung back by the vampire and landed in a heap. 'Alright, so you're plenty strong.' she thought to herself as she started to get back to her feet. The vampire raced in towards her to try and press his new advantage.
"You shouldn't 'av interrupted blondie. Now it's your pert arse that we'll be dinin' on," the vampire sneered as he started to jump onto the fallen woman, but Rachel struck back with her powerful legs, pushing back hard against his chest and sending him back as she quickly rolled onto her side and swung her right leg out to trip the vampire and then got back to her feet.
"I don't think so, ugly," she replied with a smirk, and set herself up in her fighting stance as Olly and Sally's lessons flashed through her head. Strategy... Tactics... She saw that the vampire was about to throw a high punch on the right, so she anticipated it and ducked the blow, firing back with a jumping knee of her own that knocked the vampire onto its back.
“Good!” Liz called out, then flicked her wrist, sending the stake into her hand. “Rachel! Catch!” she yelled, throwing the wooden weapon towards the blonde, hoping she’d catch it. “Aim for the chest! Ram it home and finish him off!”
Rachel caught the stake with a smile and nodded to the Slayer, but as she turned around to finish the vampire off, she was surprised to see that he had already risen to his feet. She hesitated for a moment and then, out of habit, tried to draw her stun pistol from her holster, but the vampire was too fast, slamming his right fist deep into her stomach, and then a spinning back kick to her jaw that sent the gun flying from her hand as she fell onto her back, her mouth bloodied and her head swimming.
The vampire merely smiled as he looked down on her and then moved slowly to finish the blonde. Rachel shook her head to try and clear the cobwebs, and in instead turned over onto all fours and started to crawl away, her left hand still clutching the stake that Liz had thrown her. When the vampire reached down to try and finish her off, she spun into his body and slammed the stake right through it's chest and then fell back as the body exploded into a puff of ash.
“Yes! Nice work!” Liz exclaimed with a clap, making her way towards Rachel with Ebony following a slight distance behind her. “That was a bit touch and go for a minute, but you managed it in the end. How are you feeling?”
Rachel shook her head again for a moment to again try to clear it as she slowly got to her feet. "A bit bruised and battered, but otherwise alright. This strategy and tactics stuff really does work. I faked that I was really hurt and he came right in after me. I knew I couldn't overpower him, and so I tried to trick him," she smiled, wiping some of the blood from the corner of her mouth, but the sound of something from the tree line had her turning before she could say too much more. "What the hell is…" she began, but the words were cut off as more vampires burst out from the tree line behind, tackling her roughly to the ground.
“Rachel!” Liz called out, racing forward. She grabbed one of the vampires and flung him forcefully back towards the trees. “Ebony! Help her!”
Ebony hesitated for a moment then went to do as Liz had instructed, when suddenly another vampire emerged, heading straight for her. She let out a gasp and stepped backwards as he approached, his twisted grin sending shivers up and down her spine.
“Well well… look who it is…” he snarled. “The Raven Haired Beauty…”
Ebony clenched her fists, but didn’t respond. She’d encountered this vampire before…
“Where’s that blonde headed Watcher of yours, hmm? Not here to protect you?” he sneered. “Shame… the stupid bitch was always looking out for her own hide…”
Ebony glared at him, her anger taking over. “She wasn’t a bitch!” she shrieked, and ran head first into the vampire, knocking him down to the ground. She kneeled into him and started pounding his face violently.
Liz glanced over at the scene in shock. “What the…” she started, but didn’t have time to think about it. The other vampire had picked himself up and was heading towards her again. She didn’t have her stake, so she leapt upwards into a tree, grabbing a branch and snapping it clean off. With her new makeshift weapon, she ran at the vampire, holding out the jagged end of the branch, ramming it into his chest. He disappeared in a cloud of dust.
She turned her head. Ebony was still laying into the other vampire. “Oh for crying out loud…” she muttered, making a move towards Rachel to lend a hand. The soldier was in trouble.
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #9 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:46pm »
Pasta 411
‘Now this was how things are supposed to go…’ Olly thought to himself as he took another bite of his pasta and looked across the table at Kayla and smiled at the beautiful witch. It dawned on him that he probably shouldn't use that term in his own mind when he thought of her, but it was true that she was a witch.
"Kay... did you put a love spell on me?" he asked with a grin to let her know that he was only joking. He didn't want anything to interfere with the wonderful dinner that they were having. The restaurant was that perfect mixture between dead quiet and bustling. Just enough people to say that it was occupied, yet still offering them that anonymity that Olly prized. And the food and drink were excellent.
Kayla smirked. “Well, you wouldn’t know if I had or not, so I’ll just keep that one a mystery,” she replied, winking.
She herself wasn’t keen on pasta so had opted for a salad instead, something light, seeing as she wasn’t feeling too hungry. But she was still enjoying the outing immensely.
"Alright... so... not going to tell me eh? I guess I'll have to keep a closer eye on my drinks from now on," Olly replied with a suspicious look left and right, accompanied by a hearty laugh. He pushed his plate aside and contemplated his next action. "So... time to get the 411 on Kayla McKenzie, one tantalising question at a time. We'll start with an easy one...What's your favourite colour?"
“Like that isn’t obvious from the highlights in my hair?” Kayla replied with a wry smile, flicking a strand of her straight brown and red locks over her shoulder. “What about you?”
Olly grinned from ear to ear as he held up his emerald green Irish Rugby Union keychain. "It's an Irish thing. I blame the heritage of it all," he said with a shrug of his shoulders as he thought about his next question. "The thing in my life that I am most proud of is....?"
Kayla frowned. “Damn, that’s a tough one. I guess… Probably my witchcraft and Wiccan stuff. I’ve come along way since I first started and with Jonathan helping me so much now, I’m even better than I was before.”
Olly smiled back at his attractive companion and wondered how he might respond to such a question himself. It was nice to be the one asking the questions. He hoped Kayla didn't mind the game. He didn't think she did, she seemed to be playing along easily enough.
"Hmmm... alright... next question... If I had a day off with nothing to do, you could probably find me...?" he asked, curious as to how the girl would respond. He enjoyed playing these types of games with Hannah and Ronan, as a way for them all to learn about each other, and it had made for some interesting revelations at the time.
“Hanging out with my friends,” Kayla grinned. “Spending time with Liz and Erin, and Faith. And Tasha. Wow…” her grin broadened. “I have a lot of friends all of a sudden, heh! And of course I’d want to be spending some of that time with you,” she added with a wink.
Olly let out a feigned sigh of relief and dabbed at his forehead with a cloth for effect. "That's a relief, darlin. For a moment I thought I had been left out in the cold again," he joked as took her hand in his and gently rubbed her fingers between his own. Her skin was so soft, so delicate. "I like to hear that you are proud of your magic. I would be too if I could do some of the stuff that you can."
Kayla nodded. “Yeah, it is pretty amazing. The realisation that I can move things with my mind! And that I can create little fire balls with a simple incantation and snap of my fingers,” she smirked. “I like it. But it’s something you need to learn how to control properly, otherwise the results can be mighty disastrous,”
"Alright. Next question, actually... maybe it's time that you asked some questions, if you wanted to," Olly smiled broadly.
Kayla smiled. “I think I will actually. What was your life like before you met Giles and the Watchers’ Council? Do you think things have improved since then or did you prefer the old days when it was just you and the Looking Glass?”
"I knew I would regret this," Olly replied with a mock pout as he leaned back in his chair. "Well... let's see here. Getting to the point on this one should be easy enough. I think I used to like my life before the Council a bit more, because it made more sense to me. But now, because of certain people and events, I think I'm learning that change is not necessarily a bad thing," he replied as he lightly kissed the back of Kayla's hand before continuing.
"As you know, before I came to the Council I was an orphan growing up in Ireland who thought I lived for two things... rugby and church. Then, when I got my pro contracts and stuff and found girls I thought life was one big party. Then I met General Bradley and he started to show me a bit more about the outside world, at least the non-religious part of it that Father O'Reilly had tried to shield me from initially. Then I started working for him, and the rugby stuff just had to stop. I missed it a bit, but I think I'm happier now than I ever was. I miss the attention sometimes, and the lads, but I have a new team now. I have a family."
“Aaw, that’s great…” Kayla smiled. “I’m the same, really. Except I like my life a whole lot better now than I did before. I’d been on my own for quite a while and then I plucked up the courage to go to college, and then I met Liz. Well my whole life has changed since then, and now I have a family too. And… this discovery of girls,” she arched her eyebrow at him. “I don’t think I want to know too much about that part of your life. Some things are better left alone,”
"Ahh.. the joys of oblivion., Olly joked back with a laugh. "It's funny how one person can have had such an impact on both of our lives. Liz has had a huge impact on my life as well. If it hadn't have been for our relationship collapsing when it did, I might not have gone back to Dublin and learned those lessons that I needed to learn. And I might never have gotten this close to you."
Kayla put her head on one side. “So I guess, even in times of great sadness and pain, there is some light at the end of it,” she replied thoughtfully. “Do you regret not being able to make amends to re-build your relationship with her? I mean, take me out of the equation, and take Ben out of it as well. If you two were both still single, would you have tried again?”
Olly gave a deep exhalation as he ran his hand through his short brown hair from front to back, his lips pursing for a moment. "I don't think so. I realise that Liz and I weren't a great fit together. I was too impulsive and competitive, and in ways that I could never really compete. Liz is a great woman, and I am very lucky to call her a friend, but she just wasn't great ...for me," he offered. "I need someone who I won't be as competitive with, someone who is more understanding and a bit less complicated. Someone who is a bit less... guarded.... and has sexy red hair and is drop dead gorgeous. But that's just what I'm looking for. What about you?"
Kayla arched her eyebrow. “Less complicated? Me? You’re joking, right? I’m a manic-depressive witch with insecurity issues. How is that less complicated than a Slayer with the same problems?” she smirked ruefully then shook her head. “I see what you mean though. To be honest I never really felt that you and Liz were a great match. And then she met Ben…” she leant back in her seat. “It was funny though. Before I sort of got to know Liz better, I saw her and Chris out one day and she was upset about something or another, so he was giving her a hug and for a moment I thought that they were together, heh! But anyway. What am I looking for? Someone who’ll devote their time to me and only me,” she smiled, winking. “Is that too much to ask?”
Olly let out a small laugh and shook his head. "Shouldn't be a problem at all... if we can get rid of all the evil in the world soon, then all my time will be spent with you, or working on your behalf," he assured her with a grin as the waitress came by to clear the plates.
Olly handed her his credit card to pay for the meal. "Having done the sports thing when I was young was helpful to creating a rather comfortable sized nest-egg," he stated as his eyes met Kayla's. "So… I'm curious as to how you’re viewing things of late. You're an intelligent woman with a good level head.... What do you make of the current Looking Glass/Council merger? Think it can work?"
Kayla frowned. “Hmm. Well, I’m not at the Council as much as you are so I don’t see the interaction first hand, but from what Dorothea’s been saying, things are going well at the moment. Of course there was a bit of iffiness when Rachel made her surprise return,” she made a face. “But Sally has really jumped into helping out with all that, so I guess things are going well there too. It’s all just up to the individuals to make the most of what’s going on, really. And for people to pull their heads in if necessary. Giles is the one calling the shots now, so if he gives out an order, it should by all respects be followed,” her blue eyes shined as she spoke, almost as though she was giving some sort of speech. “I have so much admiration for Mr Giles. He’s got a tough job to do but he does it well, and he’s sympathetic and understanding. That can be rare in some bosses,”
Olly nodded in agreement. "I have to concur. Mr. Giles is the boss, and he is a man of conviction and valour, and I know that everyone in the Looking Glass does respect him. I'm not completely sure he is omnipotent or anything, or that he is as 'one man band' as some believe, but he is certainly a man of considerable devotion and intelligence, and someone who has earned my respect. I can understand his line of thinking on most fronts, but there is a difference between agreeing and understanding... but that's neither here nor there," he started then stopped. This wasn't the time or place for that discussion.
"I think things with Rachel were quite touchy to start with, as you said, but I too think that Sally has done a magnificent job with her, and I think we are going to be getting her back to field status sooner rather than later, and I think that is a good thing," he went on, pondering his next question carefully for a moment. "Is it alright with you that I continue working with her towards her recovery? If it makes you truly uncomfortable for this to happen, then I will ask Mr. Giles to replace me. Your happiness means a lot to me."
Kayla listened carefully to his comments, realising that perhaps he didn’t particularly like having to take orders from Giles after all. But she didn’t press the issue, that wasn’t her place. The last question was what made her hesitate instead.
“Well. I... I guess it’s important for her to have your help,” she said slowly. “And she seems to trust you, and that’s a good thing too. I can’t say I’m totally comfortable with the idea, but she was your friend before you met me, so ... I was always of the belief that friends come first,” she bit her lip. “Which is why I’ll always back Liz up if she needs it. Even if I don’t think she’s right, I’ll at least be there for her. Like she was for me, with that Ripper thing. I don’t think I could have gotten through all that if it hadn’t been for her. I’m not saying she’s perfect or anything, or the best person in the world. But she has a pure heart and is always willing to help her friends. She was even willing to help someone she’s had conflict with. I guess it's true what they say, that with age comes wisdom and maturity,” she smirked ruefully. "Well, for some people at least,"
"I'm sure that there is plenty of wisdom and maturity in you, Kayla... you just haven't turned in the IOU that the Lord gave you yet," Olly joked, signing off on the check as the waitress returned and taking back his credit card. "Liz has been a good friend to you, and she deserves loyal friends, just like we both are to her, and to all of our friends. I understand and agree with you that friendships are quite important because, as we both well know, it's your friends who can pull you through the hardest times you will ever know.... and they can also sometimes be the ones who get you there... look at Ronan, Erin and Flynn. Not the most comfortable scenario, but it's no one's fault really. Poor Erin... I've heard she’s not doing so well with it, and that's too bad. She is a good person."
Kayla lowered her head at the mention of Erin. Despite the Slayer’s recent lift in temperament, she still hadn’t left her room since her horrible break down. Marty and Matt had continued their combined watch over her, worried that she was becoming too isolated. They’d offered to take her out, but she’d refused, just staying put. She only allowed people to go and see her, and never ventured out to see them. She hadn’t even gone to see her father, and was waiting for approval from Giles that it would be all right for him to visit the Council. But the Head Watcher had just been far too busy to go and see her himself so she could ask the question.
“Erin is a good person. And … no, she hasn’t been coping. I’m really worried for her, actually. Everyone is…” Kayla looked up slowly, biting her lip. She wasn’t sure how much she should say, given the circumstances. But she wanted Olly to know the truth.
“You see, the thing about Erin…” she started, trying to put her thoughts into words. “Erin’s…” she sighed. “Erin’s a cutter. It’s how she tries to cope with her depression. She’s done it for years, but stopped when she met Marty. But she started up again when Liz had a few problems, and she did it after she and Flynn broke up. The others found her doing it one day. I know Liz was really freaked out by it all. Hell if I walked in on Liz doing something like that I’d be horrified as well,” she looked up. “I’ve never met so many highly emotional people in one space before, but in a strange way it’s weirdly good to know I’m not the only one who’s gone through something like this. I just hate to see Erin lock herself away though. She just won’t leave her room…” she trailed off, her voice thinning. “It’s too much to bear. Marty must be so sick from worry. I feel so sorry for him, but he’s hardly left her side the whole time. That shows just how much he cares about her.”
Luckily for Olly his face didn't show too many of his inner thoughts as he listened to Erin's plight. He and Erin hadn't had much of a history... or at least much of a good one, but he did know that she was a good friend of Liz, which did count for something. And then the fact that Ronan had strong feelings for her went well too. Olly took Kayla’s hand in his and held it gently. She was opening up to him a fair bit, and he was happy to see it. Slowly the barriers between them were coming down and they were speaking frankly to each other. This took trust, and Olly had learned the hard way how important trust was in a relationship.
The name Marty Reeves would for the known duration of time that Olly could foresee would never evoke rosy emotions from him, but he smiled to Kayla as he rubbed her small hand in his. "Marty is a good man, and Erin has many friends who will help her through this. I know Ronan is pretty beaten up over the whole thing himself and is trying to make sure he does the right thing... not that's really that easy to tell what is the right thing at a time like this," he stated with a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. "Regardless... they will find a way to get through it, by leaning on friends like us."
Kayla wasn’t sure what to think of his lack of reaction when she’d told him about Erin’s condition. He hadn’t seemed too shocked anyway, which worried her slightly. Of course she knew that he probably didn’t like the Slayer all that much, but even still. She’d read about ‘cutters’ during the college year and found herself feeling sorry for people she didn’t even know personally. Then there was Liz, who had gone through something similar, but she didn’t feel that there’d ever be a good time to tell Olly about that unpleasantness, especially without Liz’s permission to do so.
Suddenly she wondered if she’d made a mistake with the confession, but tried to shake it off. Maybe her sympathy levels were different to his, due to her studies and high emotions.
“Yeah I’m sure they’ll get through it,” she replied quietly, attempting to keep the uncertainty out of her tone. “Well, I’ll be there for Erin anyway, even if I have to drag her out of that room to make her get some proper fresh air and light. It’s not healthy, being cooped up like that. And… I told her that Ronan was ready to see her. I think she’s ready to see him too, but at this point he’ll have to go to her,”
"I'm sure Ronan will do just that. He is going to do everything he can for Erin, of that I know for sure. Ronan is the most loyal person I know. He would never... ever... let anything come between him and helping Erin right now," Olly stated, his own emotions coming to the forefront. "Especially if he knows that she was hurting herself and punishing herself for it. Ronan won't like that at all. I'm glad to hear what you've said about helping her. I know that she and I haven't really gotten along well.... or ever actually... but I do think that she is a good person, and a loyal friend to Liz and yourself, and so that loyalty to you earns her loyalty and respect from me. It's the 'reverse-guilty by association' rule," he joked slightly, hoping to veil his emotions with humour.
Kayla just nodded. The subject had caused her to feel less than amused at this point. She was feeling a bit guilty that she was off enjoying herself while Erin was still being reclusive.
“That’s good to know,” she replied after a moment, then opted for a complete change of subject. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “How do you think that patrol is going? I get the impression that Rachel wouldn’t feel too comfortable being alone with Liz and Ebony, heh,”
Olly noticed the change in subject and Kayla's mood and let it go. If Kayla wasn't happy talking about something, then he wasn't going to push it. That fact that she had gone back to Rachel told him volumes about how little she wanted to talk about Erin. "I think Rachel will be fine. I'm sure she would have preferred it if some of the Looking Glass staff were there, but I think in the field she knows she can trust Liz. And she knows that Hannah is keeping an eye on her, so that will be comforting to her I think," he replied as he looked at Kayla. "But Ebony.... I think that could be a source of stress in this scenario. I don't think anyone knows quite to make of that one yet."
“Well she seems nice enough,” Kayla shrugged. “But there is something weird about her. She’s apparently staying at the Council building now so we’ll see more of her. I guess we’ll just have to accept that she’s here for the long haul,” she smirked slightly. “I think she has a thing for Chris, with all those looks she gives him. Can’t say I blame her, she at least has taste,” she glanced up at Olly. “Hehehe. What can I say. The man is fine. But I’m not interested at all, so you don’t have to worry,” she winked.
"Well... I should hope not," Olly joked in reply. "Alright, so we're all paid up here and set to go. Shall we away, luv?" he asked in a sing-song voice as he moved to stand and extended a hand to Kayla to help her from her seat.
“Where to now then?” she asked.
"I figure we can move to our second venue of the night. Rumour has it a little show is in town that I thought you might want to catch, and I scored tickets. Ever hear of a band called Cold Play? I grabbed some tickets to their concert... if you’re interested,” Olly winked.
Kayla arched her eyebrow. “Wow, you got tickets to that? I heard about the concert but I figured they’d be all sold out before I had a chance to even think about getting any, heh! Sounds awesome,” she smiled.
"I know a guy, who knows a bird... who well... is in the band. Hope you don't mind backstage access," Olly smiled smugly. He knew well enough that he had scored a good one, and there was a time when saving someone's family paid off and that was certainly the case this time.
Kayla stared at him. “Whoa… well, aren’t you just full of surprises!”
Olly gestured towards the door and placed his right hand onto the small of her back, guiding her out the door and towards his truck. As he walked her towards her side of the vehicle, he spun her around by lightly applying some pressure to her shoulder and turning her to face him, kissing her. "Thank you for being you, Kayla."
The witch was slightly startled by his action, but not annoyed. She smiled at him. “I try my best…” she said shyly. Her smile broadened. “And… thank you for being you…”
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #10 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:45pm »
Filling The Cracks
“So… Kayla was feeling insecure about Olly and Rachel, hmm,” Chris mused as he and Liz made their way back to the Slayer Wing, pausing in the hallway outside their rooms. “I guess I can see where she’s coming from really,”
Liz nodded. “Yeah, I felt the same way myself when I was going out with him, especially after she went bointer at me and challenged me into that fight,” she shrugged, resting her hand on her bedroom’s door handle. “But it looks like everything’s ok now,”
Chris smiled at her. “And you obviously had a hand in that,”
“Heh I guess so,” Liz smirked. “I told her just to be honest about it all with him, and it worked out well,”
“Honesty is always a good thing in a relationship,” Chris replied, trying not to choke on his own words. As it stood, he wasn’t being entirely honest with her about his feelings. But he figured he had a good enough reason not to say anything.
“It most certainly is,” Liz agreed, turning the handle and stepping into her room. “You want to come in?”
Chris nodded and followed, sitting down on the bed next to Holly who had stirred at the sound of the door opening. “Does this little gem ever show any signs of activity?” he said softly, smiling down at the tiny cat.
Liz laughed. “Hehe! Not that I know of, I think the furthest she’s been from our rooms is down to the Looking Glass section. Funny little thing,” she grinned, scratching the feline behind its ears. Holly purred.
“Yes…” Chris murmured, running his hand over the cat’s sleek black fur. For the time of the training session, his mind had been clear. But now that he was alone with his beloved Slayer, all he could think about was what Ronan had said to him earlier that day. Even the most powerful people can have cracks in their own armour…
“Are you ok?”
He looked up to see Liz staring at him with concern. “Sorry?”
“I said, are you ok? You’ve gone all quiet,” Liz frowned. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh…” he lowered his eyes. “No. I was just thinking, we didn’t end up showing Olly and Rachel our little technique after their session,”
Liz arched her eyebrow. “Oh yeah, I totally forgot. But I guess we could always show them another time. Now. What’s really wrong? Because I know that’s not it,”
Chris smirked. “Nothing ever escapes you. No, that isn’t it. I was just thinking about something that happened this morning. Ronan and I had a bit of a conversation, and something he said struck a chord with me. He was referring to Erin but I couldn’t help but think about you,” the smirk faded and he looked at her. “Even the most powerful people can have cracks in their own armour,” he quoted, word for word. It was almost as though he was repeating what he’d just freshly heard.
Liz blinked, taking in what he’d said. “Oh.”
What he was eluding to was rather obvious. Her terrible bout of depression, the drinking, the vampires. Her near death.
Chris lifted his hand from Holly’s back and rested it on Liz’s arm. “I nearly lost you. And I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know what I would have done.”
Liz felt tears sting her eyes, along with the warm glow of the diamond in her necklace as it lay against her chest. “Well. I can say the same thing about you,” she said thinly. “With all my stupid dreams you see, I thought I’d given you a brain tumour from the intensity of it all. When you went in for that CT scan I felt so sick and I was so afraid that the results would say there was something wrong…” she trailed off as a lonely tear made its way down her cheek.
Chris couldn’t help himself, lifting his hand from her arm and using his thumb to wipe the tear away gently. “Liz, even if there was something wrong, it wouldn’t have been your fault. I’ve been seeing dreams for years, long before I met you. If anything it would have been a build up over time. But there isn’t anything wrong, so you don’t need to worry. And there are three extremely smart people working on a cure for the headaches right at this moment,”
“Four, actually,” Liz replied, her heart beat quickening as his hand brushed against her face. “My uncle decided to offer his assistance. So not only is there a doctor, a wizard and a former Watcher, working on a cure, there’s also an ex-accountant who sings and plays the piano in his spare time helping as well,” a small smile appeared on her face and she looked up at him. “I guess we’ve both been through that sickening fear, thinking we might lose each other. But what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger, right? Or so the saying goes,”
Chris smiled. “Apparently,”
“And I think that, even if we do have these cracks in our armour, so to speak, they can be filled,” she reached for his hand to hold it in hers. “We’ve got each other, and our friends. Think of them as polyfiller, or something,” she smirked.
“That’s quite a good way of looking at it,” Chris replied, looking down at her hand. “I have to say, Liz, you’ve amazed me quite a lot today, with your maturity. The way you offered Rachel another outlet for her training was a good move, and I’m impressed that you’re so enthusiastic about it, despite the history you two have,”
Liz blushed. “Eeh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about it after reading Faith’s journals. I know you tried to emphasise to me that Rachel wasn’t my responsibility, and she isn’t really, but I just wanted to help. And she seemed really excited about it. I’m not saying we’ll become great friends or anything, but at least it gives her someone else to work with and ease her into the team stuff again,”
“That’s what I mean,” Chris said, smiling at her. “That’s a mature outlook to have. And I think she’ll benefit quite a lot from this,”
“Well it gives her a chance to put everything she’s learnt into practice,” Liz replied with a smile of her own. “Who knows, we might not even end up seeing any vamps tonight so it might be a waste, but it won’t be in vain. She’s probably getting bored, being couped up in the building so much. Getting out will probably be good for her as well,”
Chris nodded. “Very true. So… Are you seeing Ben at all today?” he enquired, arching his eyebrow.
“Yeah we arranged to go out for tea actually,” Liz said. “Do you want to come too?”
“Oh, no,” Chris shook his head. “I’d probably just be a third wheel,”
“Fourth,” Liz corrected. “Uncle Charlie’s coming too. I was going to ask you about it but it slipped my mind, what with reading Faith’s journal and watching the training session before. Oh and I’ve been wondering how Erin’s talk with Flynn went, I haven’t seen her since this morning,”
“Ooh, yes I was wondering about that too,” Chris frowned. “Maybe we should go and find out? Oh, and yes, I’d love to go out for tea with you,” he smiled. “After all our little scares recently I feel as though I need to spend more time with you, I hope that doesn’t seem odd,”
“Not at all,” Liz grinned at him. “Because I feel the same way,” she stood up. “Come on, let’s go and see Erin. I’ll take this one with us so she can get out for a bit,” she smirked, leaning down to pick up Holly.
As she did so, Chris reached up and pulled her back down to the bed, hugging her tightly. He let go when he realised it was probably an uncalled for action and rose to his feet quickly. “Er, sorry,” he said awkwardly, staring at the floor.
Liz looked at him. “That’s ok, don’t apologise. Hugs are good,” she smiled and stood up again, leaning forward to hug him back. “See? All good.”
Chris closed his eyes. “Very good…” he murmured.
The diamond’s glow intensified, but Liz didn’t think anything of it’s true meaning as she pulled away and reached for Holly. “Come on!” she smiled, and led the way out of the room.
Chris swallowed, following her out into the hall. I don’t know how much longer I can hide these feelings for…
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #11 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:44pm »
Liz was swept up in the moment and grinned at the blonde – her former ‘adversary’. It must have been an odd sight. She was inwardly glad that Erin and Faith weren’t present. “Any time after it gets dark is fine with me, as long as Giles and Ebony are cool with it of course,”
“Cool with what?” said a male voice from the doorway.
“Perfect timing!” Chris smiled, turning to face the Head Watcher as he stepped into the room.
“Sorry I’m late, did I miss the session?” Giles enquired, arching his eyebrow at the assembled group. “What’s going on?”
Liz smiled at him. “Giles, glad you’re here. I was just thinking, do you think it would be good for Rachel to get out in the field on a proper patrol? She seems ready enough to all of us anyway. And I was thinking that I’ll go with her, and I’ll see if Ebony would like to as well,”
Giles stared at her. “Well, I… don’t know…” he glanced at the others, fixing his gaze on Rachel briefly. She was almost jumping up and down with excitement at the idea. He looked back at Liz. “Why Ebony? I’m just curious,”
“I wondered if you’d ask that,” the Slayer replied. “Well, she’s still new as well, and she’s trained with Rachel before so she knows what to expect there, and I’ve worked with her before as well. She and Rachel are both looking for acceptance here with the Council, so maybe this could be a good way to bring them both in, kill two birds with one stone, so to speak,” she shrugged. “Plus it’s a good way to have them working in a team situation, and I think it might be good for Rachel to work with different people than she has done before. So… what do you say?”
“I think it’s a good idea, Giles,” Chris stated.
“Me too, and look how thrilled Rachel is,” Sally added with a grin at the blonde.
Giles frowned thoughtfully for a moment before a small smile spread itself across his lips. “You know, I think this could work out well. Ebony has plans to stay with us here as it is, so sending her on a patrol might be worthwhile,” he looked at Rachel. “Do you think you’re ready for this?” he asked her. He wanted to be absolutely sure. “This isn’t going to be easy, especially if you come across something powerful. I trust that Liz and Ebony will be able to aide you at all times, but I need you to understand just how dangerous this could be.”
Rachel nodded in response as she looked at the man with a serious expression. "Yes sir. I know what could possibly happen, and I think I've learned a thing or two from everyone here that can help me if something were to happen. But I need to be able to do this, and I need to know that I can do this," she looked around the room and saw mostly smiles. "And I think I'm ready."
Olly smiled back at Rachel and then started to move closer to Kayla. He wanted to make sure she didn't slip out of the room before he could talk to her. There was something going on and he wanted to make sure she was all right.
“All right then,” Giles nodded. “Well, I’ll go find Ebony and let her know of the arrangements, then I’ll inform you of the time you’ll be heading off, is that all right?”
Everyone else nodded and began to file out of the room. Kayla attempted to move with the others but Olly was blocking her. Liz noticed and stepped between them. “Sorry, I just need a word with her,” she said quickly, pulling the witch away and walking over to the weapons wall. “You ok?” she asked in a low voice.
Kayla lowered her head. “Not really,” she said quietly. “I think I get why you’re doing this, but-”
“But that’s not the issue, Kayla,” Liz interrupted, glancing over at Olly who was watching them curiously. “He knows something’s wrong. You’ll just have to tell him.”
“I can’t, he’ll hate me and think I’m insane,” Kayla hissed back, avoiding the soldier’s eye. “I know what guys are like, Liz. The minute their girlfriend starts acting like a jealous idiot is the minute they stop liking them.”
Liz pursed her lips. “I seriously doubt that’ll happen in this case, ok? And besides, if it does, then at least you’ll be able to nip it in the bud sooner rather than later. Look, just tell him, ok? I’ll be right outside if you need me,” she turned away and began to walk back towards the door where Chris was waiting.
“Wait, Liz!” Kayla called out, but the Slayer just waved and slipped through the doorway out of view. “Ooh crap…”
Olly had watched the brief interchange between the two women with a mix of curiosity and concentration. He was happy to be talking to Liz again and making jokes with her. It was refreshing. They had been close, and he still wanted to be considered as one of her friends
He smiled at Liz as she left and looked at Kayla with a worried look, sensing her tenseness and her discomfort. "Kay.... you alright, luv?" he asked as he approached her and reached for her hand. He had been longing to touch her since he had seen her in the room, and for them to be alone.
Kayla flinched slightly and turned away. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just… still worried about Erin and all that,” she replied, hoping he’d believe it. She glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of Liz hovering in the doorway. The Slayer was sending her an arched eyebrowed look. Kayla sighed. “Well, no… I’m not all right actually,” she muttered, still avoiding Olly’s eye. “But it’s stupid and I don’t want to talk about it,”
Olly followed the witch and placed a hand on her hip gently and pulled her against him, giving her a hug around her shoulders and a light kiss on the nape of her neck. "It'll all be fine, Kay. Erin will make her decision, life will go on, and everything will sort itself out. Trust me," he said with slight emphasis on the last part of the statement. He wasn't going to come out and make her talk about it, but he wasn't about to just let it go either.
Kayla closed her eyes, feeling her heart flutter at his touch. What are you so worried about? He loves you! said Liz’s voice in her mind. She opened her eyes and stared at the door. Liz was still there, nodding at her encouragingly. It was strange the way she’d heard the voice – it was almost as though Liz had sent her a telepathic message. But Liz’s magic hadn’t progressed that far, had it? Or perhaps these were just her own thoughts telling her what the Slayer would have said. She wasn’t sure, and it troubled her slightly but she shook it from her mind and turned around to look up at Olly.
“I know Erin’ll be ok,” she said quietly. “I’m talking about myself though. I’m just feeling a bit insecure about… us…” she lowered her eyes. “I didn’t want to say this because I thought you’d react badly. It’s just that… these sessions with you and Rachel are making me feel a bit uncomfortable…”
Olly held her closer, running a hand through her hair. "I thought you were looking a bit uncomfortable," he said in a bit of a whisper. "What is it exactly that is bothering you? If you tell me then maybe we can talk about it. I love you Kay. You and only you."
Kayla bit her lip. “It’s stupid… I… I just feel a bit jealous, I guess,” she mumbled, still avoiding his eyes. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s… her I don’t trust, she was sort of looking at you all big eyed and stuff, and getting all flirty. It was just getting on my nerves. I’m not as good looking as her. I guess I can relate to Erin on the basis that when I was in school, all the guys wanted girls like Rachel but not me. Not the boring brunette geek with no parents,” she blinked, realising her tone had become quite bitter and she was starting to reveal things about herself that she hadn’t told many people. “I mean… I know you have to do this to help her and everything. It’s just… I don’t know. I just don’t really like the way she’s acting around you,”
Olly took his hand and gently pulled her chin upwards so that their eyes met. "I can't do anything about high school except to tell you that their loss is my gain. And the only woman on my mind. The only lass that I've ever want to be with is Kayla McKenzie. Rachel is my teammate, a teammate who has fallen on some hard times, and a friend who needs help, and so I am going to help her as best I can. And you should never compare yourself with Rachel Miller. It's unfair to Rachel," he said as he pressed a light kiss to Kayla's lips. "She doesn't have a chance against you."
Kayla closed her eyes at the kiss, the paranoia starting to ease itself slightly as she listened to what he was saying. A small noise by the door caused her to open her eyes again and she looked over to see Liz grinning at her. “Heh… sorry… d’you mind?” the witch smirked, pulling out of the embrace and walking quickly towards the Slayer. “Having fun listening in on all this?”
Liz just smiled. “Yep! See, told you there was nothing to worry about, now if you’ll excuse me, I must dash,” a hand rested itself on her shoulder, a hand that was connected to the arm and shoulder of Chris Hollie as he began to pull the girl away. She grinned sheepishly. “Hehe… see you later…”
Kayla couldn’t help but laugh at the rather amusing scene and turned back to face Olly. “Friends… life would really suck without them, huh?” she sighed. “I understand you need to help Rachel. I shouldn’t get so jealous, it’s stupid, I know that. Just can’t help it, after… well anyway,” she smiled. “Thank you for what you said. I guess I just needed to hear it from you for the reassurance, you know?”
Olly smiled in response as he watched the Slayer leave, and then refocused on Kayla. "I'll always be willing to reassure you when you need it. And it's not stupid... it does show me that you at the least care and think that I'm attractive enough to warrant attention from others," he joked, trying for a bit of humour. "But I'll stick with you, Kay. Besides... I'm scared of you. If I'm bad... I might wake up floating in mid-air naked through downtown. There are some serious cons to being involved with a powerful witch."
“Hehe… yes, you wouldn’t want to test my patience,” Kayla smirked. “And I’m not the only witch around here either. So it pays to be careful,” she winked. “Seriously though. You don’t need to be scared of me. You need to be scared of the Slayers and what they’d do,” she grinned, then let out a light laugh. “Hah, I can’t tell you what a relief it is to have gotten all that off my chest. I was starting to feel really down about it, but luckily for me I have people to bitch about these things to,” the grin faded. “Which I guess is what Rachel needs as well. But I don’t think I can do that, at least, not just yet. I hope you understand,”
Olly nodded as he looked her in the eyes. "I can understand a lot. Rumour has it that I'm kinda smart," he replied with a smirk as he looked around the room. "But I'm trying not to let it get to my head."
Kayla smiled. “Good, because it’s big enough already,” she winked. “So. Do you have any plans now? I’m free…” she batted her eyelashes at him coyly. “See, certain blonde people aren’t the only ones who can be a bit flirty, hehe,”
Olly laughed slightly as he held her hands for a moment and stepped back to appraise her, a big grin forming on his face. "For a bird this fine... I most certainly have the time," he replied as he matched eyes with her. "I didn't even notice that blonde flirting... if that was what you called it. I guess I was too focused on a certain brunette who had me under her spell... again."
A blush that matched the red tones in her hair swept across Kayla’s face. “Aah heh… well… yeah… anyway. What would you like to do?”
"Remember that other day when we thought that we were going to go for a walk? Wanna actually take that walk?" Olly asked as he looked at the brunette lustfully, biting off his initial reaction to the question. What he wanted to do wasn't the right answer at that moment. "Let's go grab a bite to eat or something. We can make a night of it. Maybe grab a show. I just want you all to myself. No distractions. No interruptions. Just you and me." he said as he kissed her again, his body pushing slightly against hers.
“I’d love that, another date, finally,” Kayla replied, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and leaning her head against his chest. “At last, heh! Oh, but what about the patrol tonight? Or do you think it’ll be ok? I know that Liz will definitely be focused anyway, and where she goes, Chris tends to follow, even if it is at a slight distance,” she smirked.
Olly held her to his chest as he thought about how best to respond. There was a part of him that was eager to see how Rachel performed. He felt responsible for being there for her to make sure she succeeded, but a larger part of him, a part that had grown while he was in Dublin, told him otherwise. "I've done my part for Rachel in the training room. I have learned that I need to trust my teammates, both the Looking Glass and the Council, to make their own decisions and follow them through. I got into trouble and hurt a lot of people because I didn't do that. What happens with Rachel is now a path that Rachel will decide," he said thoughtfully. "The only duty I have tonight is to show you a good night."
Kayla smiled at him. “I like the sound of that duty. And don’t worry, I’m sure Rachel will be fine. But we can let the others take care of that for now, so…” she pulled herself up to her fullest height and kissed him. “Just us…” she murmured, leaning back slightly. “Shall we go?”
"I see no logical reason to wait," Olly replied as he took her hand in his and started to lead her towards the door. "And this will let me learn a bit about you as to what kind of food and film you like, amongst other things that are so good to know."
“Hehe… you might be surprised, actually, although, since being friends with Liz, I have started to pick up on some of her quirks,” the witch said, smirking. “So think of the weird stuff she likes, and you might get a rough idea of what I’ll like. And I’ll get to learn more about you as well, so it’s a win-win situation really,”
"Depends on what you learn. I'll warn you now that I've been known to drink too much and eat enough pasta in a sitting for at least two and possibly a third person... high metabolism you see. And the drinking thing comes from the Irish heritage… or at least that's my current story that I'm sticking with," Olly stated as he laughed and kissed the back of her neck as they walked through the foyer and out the front door towards the parking lot.
“Oh dear,” Kayla shook her head in mock disapproval. “Well we might have to do something about that drinking problem. And it’s good that I don’t like pasta so at least I won’t need to worry about that,” she chuckled lightly, then paused and looked up at him. “This’ll sound weird, but out of all the girls here you could have picked out, I’m glad it was me. So… I guess that means that the Slayers aren’t necessarily the only ‘Chosen Ones’ around these parts,” she winked, then smiled. “Thank you for making me feel special,” she said more quietly.
Olly took her face between his hands and pressed another passionate kiss to her lips as they stood just beside his Land Rover truck, his hands starting to fall away as the kiss continued to pick up intensity, his hands moving slowly down over her chest and then her stomach as they rested onto her hips. He pulled away a scant inch from her face, just enough for him to speak. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to right that injustice. You are everything any man could ever want... or need."
Kayla shivered at his touch, a serene smile crossing her features. “Save that for later…” she said quietly, taking his hands in hers and looking up into his eyes. “Come on. The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back…”
‘Stop pushing it you idiot... remember... slow.’ Olly chided himself as he moved to the door and opened the entry to the vehicle, a slightly guilty look on his face. "With encouragement like that... " he smiled, closing the door as he saw her get comfortable in the seat and hurried around to his side of the vehicle and pulled out of the car park.
It was going to be a good night – he’d make sure of it.
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #12 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:44pm »
Kayla bit her lip to stop the smirk from forming on her face, but Liz could already tell what was going through the witch’s mind. She stood up and pulled Kayla with her, and started heading towards the door.
“Where are you going?” Sally asked curiously.
“Just gotta do something quickly before I forget,” Liz replied swiftly, dragging Kayla out of the room and out of earshot. “All right, what’s going on with you?”
Kayla stared at her. “What do you mean?”
Liz rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, it’s obvious. As soon as Rachel came into the room before you immediately tensed up. I could sense it. So what’s the story?”
Kayla sighed. “Yeah ok, I was hoping I could hide it. But nothing gets passed a Slayer, obviously. I just don’t trust her. No matter how hard I try to give her another chance or the benefit of the doubt, I just can’t. And her doing all these training session with Olly…”
“Say no more,” Liz nodded understandingly. “When I was going out with Olly, I was freaked that something might happen between those two. I mean, I never said anything, I thought people would think I was being a weirdo. But after that fight she provoked me into…” she made a face. “I know how you feel, Kay. After the way she acted, challenging me, and Erin. Hitting Ronan. Well, leopards don’t change their spots,”
“But Faith has proven otherwise!” Kayla hissed. “That’s why I feel so damn confused!”
Liz lowered her eyes, thinking of the journals she’d been reading before. “I think it’s because we weren’t around Faith when she went off the track. We weren’t the ones she treated terribly. We’re just hearing about it afterwards, and we met her after she reformed. With Rachel, we experienced it first hand, and we’re taking it more personally because of how she treated us – especially Erin. And I know that the first person the Slayers will defend is a fellow Slayer. See the thing is, she hasn’t apologised to Erin for the way she acted. Not that I think getting those two together would be a good idea, it’d be like lighting a fuse,”
Kayla smirked. “Heh yeah… Actually I think you’re right about the Faith thing. And if Giles can find it in his heart to give her another chance, then we have even more reason to accept her, because he knows her better than any of us do,”
Liz nodded. “Then again the thing with Rachel is similar. I mean, it’s not like she killed anyone,”
“As far as we know,” Kayla muttered.
“Heh yes… It’s more of an attitude problem she has,” Liz replied. “But with all these counselling sessions, maybe she’ll change? If we keep pushing her back, it might have a bad effect. We don’t want her to go down the same road as Faith did,”
Kayla nodded slowly. “You’re right… I know you’re right, I do. I just… I just can’t like her, heh…”
Liz smirked. “You’re not alone there. Hey, you don’t have to like her. Just tolerate her. And don’t worry too much, Olly really cares about you so I don’t think he’d let her get him into a compromising situation, ok? Now… we’re missing everything, we’d better get back in there before they start wondering what the hell we’re doing,”
Kayla smiled. “Thanks, Liz.”
“No problemo,” Liz grinned, and gestured to the door, and the two of them went back in to sit with Sally and Chris again.
“Everything all right?” Chris murmured to his Slayer.
“Yeah, all good,” she replied, turning her attention back to Rachel and Olly. Hopefully...
"Alright… here's how I see things, Rach," Olly was explaining as he circled the blonde, who had her hands up in a guarded position and was watching the Irishman like a hawk. "You fight based on reaction, but your reaction is physical. You base it on what those beautiful eyes of yours see, luv. You need to anticipate more. Learn to read body language, and use that knowledge to help your fighting skills."
"What the hell are you talking about? I read body language all the time," Rachel said with a smile from behind her hands.
"Yeah, but do you know how to read a punch?" Olly asked as he fired out a quick left jab that tapped the girl on the nose through her hands. "Do you know anything about how I fight?" he went on, moving back as Rachel came forward and threw her own left hook at his head, but he ducked underneath it. "I bet Liz, Chris and Sally could tell you some things."
“Probably,” Liz said quietly. “Then again it really helps when you’re in tune with the person you’re sparring against,”
“Like you and Chris are,” Sally commented. “Or when you and Erin or Faith spar against each other,”
“Yeah but we’re all friends, so that’s obvious,” Liz frowned thoughtfully. “You still have to think about it when you’re fighting against a real opponent, one that won’t give you a second chance if you slip up. One that wants you dead,” she looked at Rachel. “Of course that’s a different matter entirely. You yourself wouldn’t be holding back. But the same principle applies. Always watch the opponent, figure out what their most common move is. Find their weakness and take advantage of it. And sometimes that means you won’t be able to beat them with your own physicality, because most of the time, these guys will be stronger and more powerful. That’s where the brain has to make its move,”
“Like when you, Faith and Tash were up against those drugged up demons,” Kayla spoke up, looking at the Slayer with a smile. “I wasn’t there to see it, but I wish I had been. Your idea to inject the demons with narcotics to make them slower and weaker was a great one,”
Liz blushed slightly. “Well… I can’t take full credit, Tash gave me the idea in the first place,”
“But you ran with it, Liz,” Chris smiled. “You saw the opportunity and grabbed it, and that’s what was needed. No amount of fighting would have worked, they were far too strong. But as soon as you and the others threw that plan into action, the demons lost their advantage. And that was your brain doing the work.”
Sally grinned at their conversation and looked over at Rachel. “You see? A perfect example of brain over brawn, and it worked perfectly. You don’t have to be the strongest person in the world to be a fantastic fighter. It’s all about tactics and strategy, like Olly tried to show you with that chess game yesterday,”
Olly saw a bit of a pout starting to form on Rachel's lips, and he moved quickly to head her off. "Rach, remember yesterday when you were sparring with Ebony. You started to use tactics and strategy. You started to scan and probe her defences by changing tactics. You were looking to see what would work against the opponent that you were fighting with at the time," he offered with a grin.
"Yeah... I guess I was. Wow... I didn't even really think about it at the time, I just kinda did it," Rachel replied as she crooked her head to the side ever so slightly and laughed. The laugh was cut short as Olly's right fist came arching towards her stomach. She saw it at the last minute and managed to move a step back and tense her abs, but the blow still landed.
"Better, but I still caught you off-guard, right? What clued you in that a strike was coming?" Olly asked, as he stepped back from the tall blonde.
"I saw your hand coming at my stomach you stupid git!" Rachel replied with a slight snarl.
"You're looking at the wrong thing, Rach. In one on one combat, if you are looking at my hands and feet you are going to have a tough time. You are reacting. But you need to learn to anticipate. Don't watch my fist coming at you, learn to look for the cause of the action, not the effect of it. When I go to the throw that hook, my knees will bend and my hand will come off of my body to start its arc. That's how I would know a punch is coming. That also gets me moving early so that I can avoid the attack. In our work, we need every edge we can get," Olly summarised, going through the motions slowly to illustrate his points to the group. "Start doing it now Rach, and in a week or two it will be second nature, and you'll keep that pretty face of yours in much better shape after sparring sessions," he said with a smile. He wasn't hitting on her. He just wanted her to get some confidence back.
Liz felt Kayla tense up again and immediately turned to face her. “Means nothing,” she whispered, and Kayla relaxed – but that didn’t stop the thoughts flying through her head.
“If it helps, watch his eyes,” Chris offered, casting a curious sidelong glance at Liz and Kayla.
“Watch out for the opening as well,” Sally put in. “If you see the punch coming, that means only one of his arms will be blocking his body. So you could use that to your advantage, and while you dodge the punch, you could try and get your own in,”
“Or you could do what I’d do in that situation,” Liz spoke up. “Grab his fist and fling him around a little, that's always fun to watch,” she smirked.
"Something tells me if I did that the result wouldn't be quite the same," Rachel replied with a laugh as she got into her fighting stance and prepared to start again, having absorbed all of the advice that was floating about at the time.
"You'd have to catch me first Liz," Olly stated at the Slayer with a wink, and then looked to Kayla and noticed her concern, which opened him up as Rachel took her opportunity and slammed a right hook into his unprotected jaw as he started to mouth 'I love you' to the witch, spilling him backwards for a moment as he tumbled into a back somersault and then to a handspring to come back up standing.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..." Rachel started, but Olly cut her off with a wave.
"No, it was fine. I wasn't protecting myself at all times. Thanks for making me eat my own words," Olly stated as he moved towards her in his own fighting stance.
“Looks like I wouldn’t have any trouble catching you if she can do it so easily,” Liz commented, arching her eyebrow. “Nice move though, hehehe… Get ‘em when they aren't concentrating or when they're distracted,"
Kayla seemed less than amused, but was holding herself back from saying or doing anything. Inwardly she would have loved to have shown Rachel a thing or two about 'mind over matter', but knew it wouldn't be a good idea at all.
"Broken watches are right twice a week, but they are still are broken. Luck happens. Besides, I seem to recall doing alright sparring with you," Olly commented back to Liz with a grin as he went through an attack pattern, purposefully keeping it slower and more relaxed than usual to let Rachel get the idea of how to anticipate and for her to counterattack, which she did with a bit of her usual aggressiveness. "Good, good," he replied as he blocked and parried a right kick, left hook combo from the tall blonde and then pushed her back a step. "Ready to push the pace a bit more?"
"I think so," was Rachel's reply from behind her guard, her eyes scanning over the handsome Irishman as she watched for hints as to his next move.
Olly decided to throw something new at the blonde, faking a high right kick and instead launching a spinning back fist at her. She seemed to make the right read at the last moment, and ducked under it and instead landed a good leg kick into Olly's right thigh as he spun.
“Ouch... very nice Rach," he commented as he bounced back to regain his positioning. She was learning.
“That’s great, keep it up Rachel,” Sally called out encouragingly.
“I seem to recall not going as all out with you as I could have,” Liz put in, smirking at her former boyfriend cheekily. “You just haven’t seen what I can really do, hehehe…”
You haven’t seen what I can do either… Kayla thought bitterly, settling her gaze on one of the bo-staffs at the far end of the room. She could feel her anger rising more by the second, but she wasn’t even sure why anymore. Was she angry at Rachel landing punches on Olly, or was she angry at Olly for his flirtatious nature towards the blonde? Or was it both?
“Yes, Liz can be quite vicious when she’s forced into it,” Chris stated matter-of-factly. “I know, I’ve seen it. And I’ve felt it, ouch,” he glanced at his Slayer with a playful elbow nudge to her ribs. “She’s winded me a few times,”
“Hey I never meant it!” Liz exclaimed. “It’s just that when you said not to hold back, I kind of listened and maybe… well could have held back just a little,” she blushed.
Chris smiled. “It’s nothing I can’t handle, don’t worry about it. If you were fighting against a vampire or demon you wouldn’t hold back, just like you were saying before,”
Liz stared at him then suddenly snapped her fingers. “Heeey! That’s it! I have an idea for Rachel’s training,” she looked over at the blonde. “Maybe we should take you on a patrol, complete with vampires and anything else that might be out and about. That way you can fight them, no holds barred. You could come with me and … hmm… Ebony, I guess would be the best choice. I’d probably have to clear this with Giles first, but what do you think? Then you could put everything you’ve learnt into action,”
Kayla broke her focus on the bo-staff and gaped at her friend in shock.
Sally arched her eyebrow. “I don’t know about that, Liz… it could be really dangerous,”
“Hence why Ebony and I would be there too,” Liz explained with a shrug, still looking at Rachel. “But I figure if you want to feel more accepted, this could be a good way to get it happening. A patrol with the Slayers. Not a training run, a real patrol.”
"Whenever you want to dance, Liz my dear, you'll have a partner," Olly replied at Liz with a stuck out tongue as he ducked under a high Rachel left hook and tripped the blonde onto her back before diving in and putting her into a head scissors with his legs, forcing her to tap out to end the session.
"No fair. You cheated," Rachel pouted as she gently rubbed her hip where she had fallen as she rolled to her hands and knees and then pushed up to a standing position as she looked at Olly and then turned to Liz, her face clearly excited about the idea. "That would be so cool. If it's alright with everyone. I don't want to get you in trouble."
Olly's eyes met Chris's and he gave the man a shrug as he looked at Kayla and smiled a warm smile. What was going on with her? She looked so upset. Had he gone too far again?
Kayla looked away quickly, staring at the floor. She knew he’d be asking questions later and she really didn’t want to answer them.
“I think it’s a good idea, actually,” Chris said thoughtfully. “Shall I run it by Giles and see what he thinks?”
“Yeah go on,” Liz nodded, starting to feel rather enthusiastic by the whole thing. “I’ll go and find Ebony to see if she’s up for it too. Would tonight be too soon?” she smirked, looking at Chris. “After our session today I’m itching to get back out there, it feels like ages since I went on a proper patrol,”
“Tonight?” Sally stared at her. “Wow… you’re keen,”
Liz went to send the female Watcher a grin but could only muster a smile when she caught sight of Kayla’s expression. “Yeah well… I wasn’t sure what I could do to help out here, but now I think I know,” she glanced over at Olly, trying to get his thoughts on the concept. “What do you think?”
"I... think it's a great idea, and as long as Rachel is ready and willing, then I think it should be approved. I'm sure having you and Ebony there will be a good enough safety net there for my mind to be at ease," Olly glanced at Liz and gave her a smile, and then looked at Sally. "I think that Rachel has shown some real promise and has clearly started to incorporate her lessons into her behaviour. I think she's earned the chance to get a 'live-fire' exercise," he stated and turned to face the blonde. "Do you want to do this?"
"What time do we leave?" Rachel asked, her enthusiasm bubbling to the surface. She was so excited about this opportunity to be with people outside of the soldiers and the group that she was used to. She couldn't help but be excited.
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #13 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:43pm »
Different Perspectives and a Proposal
Kayla glanced at her watch as she headed towards the Council gym. It was nearly time for the training session between Olly and Rachel, and she was slightly early, but she hoped that Olly might be there by himself getting warmed up or something so she could spend a moment alone with him. This was not to be, however. The gym was not empty, but Olly wasn’t the one going through a work out. Chris and Liz were taking ‘centre stage’ in a bit of a sparring session with their bo-staffs instead.
Kayla caught sight of Sally sitting in the corner out of the way, looking on as the Watcher and his Slayer went through the motions. Kayla arched her eyebrow and made her way over to the young female Watcher. “Interesting session?”
Sally looked up at the witch and smiled. “Yep, it sure is. I love watching these two in action. It’s like they’ve choreographed everything in advance. See for yourself,”
She gestured towards the sparring duo, and Kayla sat down to watch them as well, and soon she found herself oddly transfixed by what she was seeing. They moved in something of a strange fluidic rhythm to what could have been music only they could hear, never taking their eyes away from one another. Neither of them was looking to win the round, they were simply happy enough to keep things as they were – no one had the upper hand; no one had the advantage.
Kayla stared at them. “It’s… weird, almost, beautiful…” she found herself murmuring.
Sally nodded. “It is.”
“It’s amazing. They have such an intense chemistry with one another…” Kayla went on, her voice trailing off into thought. And no wonder… They’re in love with each other but neither of them knows how the other is truly feeling. Chris just won’t say anything, and Liz is in denial. It’s so sad…
It may have seemed as though Liz and Chris were in their own little world, blocking out everything else around them. But the pair shared knowing smiles as they moved in time to their silent beat, listening to the conversation Sally and Kayla were having.
What they were working through at that moment was their ‘cool down’, their way of relaxing after a more intense session. It was almost like tai-chi, but with weaponry. They didn’t always use the staffs, often they used other things like swords or battle axes. It was a great way to gain control of their bodies along with weapons; almost in order to turn the weapon into an extension of their body itself.
Technically they weren’t even really sparring. There was no competition involved, just the ‘clicking’ sounds of their staffs as wood connected with wood. Kayla and Sally continued to watch until finally Liz lowered her guard and stepped back, ending the session.
Chris smiled. “You knew I was getting tired, obviously,” he remarked.
“Don’t I always?” Liz replied with a smile of her own.
“Yes,” Chris nodded, lowering his staff, and the two of them made their way to the display wall to put the weapons back. The Watcher turned his head, looking down at her. There were so many things he wanted to say, but at that moment only one was appropriate. “That was a good session today, Liz, you’re always improving,”
Liz looked up at him. “Thanks. I have a good teacher,”
Chris smirked. “Heh well… Tell him I appreciate what he’s done,”
“Hah hah hah,” Liz rolled her eyes, grinning. “Yeah I’ll pass that message along for you,”
Chris smiled, just looking at the young Slayer for a moment and taking in everything about her. He caught sight of the diamond on her necklace, safely tucked away under the sporty top she was wearing. Its glow was showing up through the material.
Liz felt the warmth of the diamond against her chest and lifted her hand to it instinctively. It always made her feel a little bit strange, but it wasn’t a bad thing. She looked over at Kayla and Sally. “Hey guys, what did you think of that little show?”
“It was great,” Kayla said, grinning at her best friend.
“Brilliant, as always,” Sally put in with a short applause. “You should turn it into a lesson plan for all the Slayers. Actually!” she clicked her fingers. “You know what? That would be really good for Rachel to do, just a calming sort of exercise without any competition. Maybe when she and Olly get here you two could show them?”
Chris and Liz exchanged glances. “Yeah sure, I guess we could do that,” Liz replied with a shrug.
“That’s if she’s interested,” Chris added. “You’re right though, it’s quite a nice little way to unwind,”
Sally beamed at them. “Great! I’m always amazed by the way you two are when you go through these things together, such fluidic motions, like you’re listening to music and moving in time with it,”
“And like you’re in one another’s minds and reading each other’s thoughts on what to do next,” Kayla said in agreement. “It was lovely just to watch you,”
Liz blushed and shuffled on the spot awkwardly. “Aah jeez… I guess it just comes from a lot of practice or something, and an understanding of each other, that whole Watcher and Slayer bond thing,”
Chris didn’t say anything on his own behalf, just nodding and smiling as he looked down at the Slayer. He glanced up for a moment and met Kayla’s eye. She was watching him closely, and had probably guessed what he was thinking, from the looks and the way he’d inadvertently just rested his hand on Liz’s shoulder. He pulled it away and began to make his way over to where the other young women were sitting.
Liz followed and sat down next to Kayla. “You ok?” she asked the witch. “I haven’t really seen you since yesterday,”
“Yeah I’m fine,” Kayla replied, almost distantly as she watched Chris hesitate before he finally made up his mind to sit next to Liz. “I saw a bit of the sparring session between Ebony and Rachel actually, which was quite interesting,”
“Oh yeah, Tom was telling us about that yesterday, hehe,” Liz smirked. “I wish I could have seen it myself,”
“Speaking of Tom, will he be watching this session today?” Sally asked. “I haven’t seen him all day,”
“Aah no, he said he’d be unavailable actually,” Chris replied. Unavailable while trying to work with Jason and Jonathan on something to combat my headaches… he thought, but didn’t add it out loud. It had been decided to keep his experience at the hospital under wraps – there was no need to worry anyone else.
“Ooh ok, that’s a shame, he always seems to have interesting feedback,” Sally frowned.
“Well, Chris and I can give the interesting feedback today, then,” Liz offered with a smile. “I’m actually intrigued to see how Rachel’s doing with all these training and counselling sessions in place for her,”
Sally nodded. “I think she could benefit from different perspectives from other people, speaking of which,” she glanced at her watch. “They should be here soon…”
***
"I don't understand why you have to keep asking me the same bleedin question. I'm fine," Rachel stated for what must have been the 50th time, at least to her recollection it seemed that much anyway. She was really starting to get tired of Olly's 'Mother Hen' routine.
"I know you are saying that, but I know from experience how tough this can be after the fights with the Slayers," Olly explained patiently as they progressed down the hallway towards the training room. They were running late because Rachel had slept in, something she almost never did, unless she was upset about something, which had prompted Olly's questions.
Rachel stopped suddenly and took Olly's arm, but not aggressively, more gently as she looked into her former lover's chocolate brown eyes. "Olly, I know what you are thinking. You think I'm upset about what happened yesterday but I'm not. I'm cool with it. I am learning this stuff that you and Sally are teaching me. I'm taking it in. I know you are just worried for me, and I appreciate that.... but I'm not that fragile. I'm ok."
Olly returned the look and gave her a smile. "Alright. I believe you. Now let's go have some fun."
"Fun you say? This should be interesting," Rachel replied with a laugh as they stepped through the doors and saw the little assembly of people. "Wow, my own audience," she said with a laugh as she smiled to the group.
The hairs on the back of Kayla’s neck stood on end and she immediately tensed up as the blonde looked over at them. Liz could sense the witch’s discomfort but didn’t draw attention to it. There’d be another chance to talk about that later on.
Sally stood up and smiled. “I hope you don’t mind Liz and Chris being here,” she said. “They were already going through a training run before you got here anyway. And they’ve offered to show you what they were working through, if you’re interested,”
“Yes,” Chris put in. “It was just something we do as a cool down, a little unwinding exercise. I’m not sure what the two of you have planned for this particular session, but Liz and I would be happy to demonstrate afterwards,”
"Oh just the usual brain over brawn message I'm trying to put through for all the Looking Glass soldiers, but with a few modifications to take into account Rachel's special abilities," Olly replied with a wink at the blonde. He flashed a smile to Liz and Kayla and then turned back to Rachel. "Rach, luv. You don't mind learning something new from Liz and Chris do ya?"
"Of course not. I'd be honoured," Rachel said with a slight bow of her head towards Chris and Liz. "There is so much I have to learn, and I'm so happy I have so many people willing to share their secrets and techniques with me. It really makes me feel a part of something."
Is she for real? Kayla thought. There it was again, that unsettling feeling she just couldn’t shake, no matter how hard she tried.
Sally grinned. “That’s great! And that’s what you need. I think with these sessions we’re going through, you’ll get to where you want to be,”
“I wouldn’t call it sharing a secret…” Liz murmured with a slight frown, but trailed off when Chris nudged her slightly with his elbow.
“Why don’t you two get started then, and we’ll just observe,” the older Watcher said, looking up at the soldiers with a smile. “And any feedback you want, we’ll give.”
"I didn't mean any offence," Rachel started, her eyes already dropping when she saw the reaction on the faces of Liz and Kayla as Olly took her hand and led her to the centre of the floor.
Olly just looked back at them with a shake of his head as he led the blonde to the appropriate area. "Don't worry about it, Rach. Just concentrate on today's lesson, alright? You ready?" he asked with a half smiled to her as they stood face to face at the centre of the room.
"Yes. I'm ready," Rachel replied with an impish grin, her mood coming back up from Olly's reassurance and Sally's earlier enthusiasm.
"Good... Now I'm only going to tell you this one time. Until I tell you otherwise, defend yourself at all times." Olly stated clearly as he looked her in the eyes, focusing on her. "Understand?"
Rachel's brow furrowed in confusion for the moment. "Isn't that the primary rule in our line of work?" she responded with a nod and a smirk.
"It should be," Olly replied, and without warning he brought his knee up into her stomach, dropping the tall blonde onto her backside on the floor. She looked up at him with a mixture of shock and anger. "I guess you weren't quite ready for that one."
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #14 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:42pm »
The Chronicles of Faith
So that’s my story. The lead up to where I am now. Whoever reads this will know the truth, about my dad being in jail, about how my mom died, about how my first Watcher copped it. About Kakistos. All of it. And about the way I screwed up friendships with people who could have saved me from myself, like Buffy, Giles, Xander and Willow, and even Angel. About how I was in jail myself for a few years, even though I never wanted to end up like my dad.
But I’ve changed now. I don’t want to go back there. Because I have a reason not to now. I have another chance and I’m not gonna blow it. I’m not gonna let my new friends down. I’ve got Liz, Erin, Dave, Kayla, Dorothea, Giles, all of them. And this is the new me. The me that I should have been from the start…
Liz wiped a tear from her eye as she read the final paragraph. She’d spent the whole morning reading Faith’s journal, and had been extremely shocked by what had been written. The older Slayer had been through some utterly awful things. It was no wonder she’d slipped off the rails so badly, with the severe lack of guidance and love she’d had to deal with throughout her youth. Things had seemed to come on board with the help of her first Watcher, Diana Dormer, but after the woman’s tragic death, everything went downhill again.
There was so much more, but Liz could barely think about it. She took a deep breath and glanced down at Holly, who was nestled up beside her, asleep as usual. “God, Holly,” Liz murmured to the little cat. “I can’t believe Faith had to go through all this, and all on her own as well. And she never told anyone else the truth about what happened to her. If she’d just opened up to Buffy and the others, maybe everything else could have been avoided,”
Holly’s ears pricked up and she lifted her head, rubbing it against Liz’s knee as a show of affection. Liz smiled sadly. The tiny black cat seemed to have an astute ability to pick up on peoples’ emotions.
Liz lowered her hand to scratch the cat’s ears, falling deep into her own thoughts. She’d been through a lot herself, that was true. But she’d always had support of some kind to keep her on track. Faith on the other hand…
A sharp knock at the door caused her to jump, and she looked up as Chris stepped into the room. “Liz, have you been in here all morning? We had a training session scheduled,”
“Oh, crap,” Liz’s eyes widened and she fumbled with the books in front of her, trying to close each one before he could see them. “I totally forgot, sorry,”
Chris frowned and sat down next to her. “What is it you’re reading? And… and have you been crying?” his tone immediately changed to one of concern. He picked up one of the books and looked at it closely, noticing Faith’s name on the cover. “What is this?”
Liz sighed. There was no point in trying to lie about it. “Well, you know how last night Tom suggested that the Slayers should keep journals about their experiences? These are Faith’s. She stayed up all night writing. She wanted me to be the first one to read it all,” she sighed. “She’s been through so much, Chris, she really has. So much more than she’s ever told anyone. You have to read these. They’re in three different parts. Before she got to Sunnydale, while she was in Sunnydale and LA, and after that to now. It’s so sad. She goes into detail about how her first Watcher was killed. It’s like being there and seeing it all.”
“Diana Dormer…” Chris murmured, staring down at the book in his hand. He started to flip through it, noticing the dates. “This was the one set before she made her way to Sunnydale,”
Liz nodded. “Look at what she’s written, about her Birthday. It was on the fourteenth, just a couple of days ago. She never said anything though. Why do you think she’d keep that to herself?”
Chris shook his head. “I have no idea. Maybe you should ask her?”
“Yeah…” Liz frowned. “It’s pretty awful though. She thought her dad had died but he was really in prison, and her mum was far from loving, always drunk and neglectful. But Faith still felt something for her. But reading all of this, I feel like I understand her so much more. She got sent to an institution for a while before Diana found her. And she was basically possessed by the spirit of a past Slayer. That’s what led her into all that Kakistos stuff, and it’s how she got that tattoo of hers. But this is what got me,” she held out the final part of the journal that she’d just finished reading before. “Read what she says there, about changing for the better,”
Chris obliged, scanning the paragraphs quickly. His features softened and he looked back at Liz. “She really is trying, isn’t she?”
“Yes. And it’s made me realise something I should have realised before, about this whole Rachel situation,” Liz lowered her head. “We’ve been giving her a rough time, well, the other Slayers have. I can understand why, because their loyalty will always lie with Erin. But the thing is, Faith was offered chances to redeem herself, and now she has. She’s given it one hundred and ten percent. I think Sally’s right. We need to do the same for Rachel. Because if we don’t, she might fall down in the same way. But… I just don’t know if I can do it, I can’t force it. She hasn’t just given Erin hell, she gave me hell too when I started going out with Olly,”
Chris smiled at her. “That’s a very mature way of thinking, Liz. And I don’t blame you for feeling unsure. You’re right, of course. Rachel does need support. But you don’t necessarily have to be the one who offers it. The fact that you’re acknowledging it is good enough in my eyes. And besides, Rachel still has her own friends, Olly, Hannah and Ronan,”
“Barely, in some ways,” Liz shrugged. “After the way she treated Ronan. But he’s the loyal type himself. And she has Sally as well. I just hope she doesn’t take advantage of what we’re offering her. Sally tells us she’s making progress and learning her lessons. But how do we know what’s really going on in her head?”
Chris nodded. “The truth is we don’t, but Sally seems to think that she’ll keep a journal of her own, maybe that will help?”
“You can still write lies…” Liz looked down at Faith’s journal. “Although I don’t think Faith has. This is all too horrible to be made up.”
“That’s where trust is the key,” Chris said quietly. “But you shouldn’t upset yourself with thoughts like this, Liz. You have enough on your plate. Rachel isn’t your responsibility, all right?”
Liz looked up at him, into his hazel eyes that were boring into hers with their usual deep and meaningful expression. Her necklace started to warm up slightly against her chest, indicating its glow. “Yeah… you’re right. Sorry I missed the training session,”
“You haven’t missed it really,” Chris replied, resting his hand on her shoulder. “It’s just not like you to be late, that’s all. There’s still time to go through a few things if you’re up to it,”
Liz nodded. “I think I’d like to. We haven’t really had a decent training session for ages. I just haven’t felt like doing anything, which isn’t all that good,”
“Come on then, let’s get some activity going,” Chris smiled and stood up, pulling her with him. “I think a bit of a work out will do you good,”
“Heh yeah… I think so too,” Liz replied, reaching for the journals. “Just let me put these out of the way somewhere. Faith trusted me with them and I don’t want to let her down. I mean, telling you is one thing, because I know you won’t go broadcasting everything,”
“Of course not,” Chris replied honestly.
“So yeah…” the Slayer headed towards one of the posters on her wall and lifted it up, revealing a hidden safe. “Hehehehe…”
Chris smirked. All the rooms came with something similar. Liz and Erin tended to hide theirs with movie posters, while others used framed photos. Either way, the hidden safes came in handy, particularly when each one came with its own combination that only the room’s dweller knew.
Liz shut and locked the safe, letting the poster fall back over it. “All right!” she said, turning back to face Chris. “I’m all set. Let’s go.”
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #15 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:41pm »
Love & Friendship
Erin sat alone in her room on her bed, staring at the floor. It was the first time she’d been left alone in the past couple of days, with many of her friends taking it in turns to sit with her and make sure she was all right. Marty had left her for a few moments to see if Flynn was at the Council, so she was taking the time to get her thoughts together.
In all honesty she really did miss Flynn and his company, but she still couldn’t shake the way she felt about Ronan. And she knew that would cause problems.
The door opened and she looked up as Marty entered slowly, his face slightly drawn as he moved towards the bed and sat down next to his Slayer. He picked up her hand and held it in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “He’s here,” he said quietly. “He's just waiting outside with Liz and Faith. Are you ready to see him?”
Erin bit her lip. “Just give me a minute…”
*
Outside in the hallway, Flynn was leaning against the wall just by Erin’s door, waiting for Marty’s word that he could go in to see her. Liz and Faith were indeed with him, offering their collective support, although, while Liz was much more upbeat than she had been the day before, it appeared that Faith had become somewhat subdued, which wasn’t like her at all.
“I’m sure it will be all right,” Liz murmured to Flynn. “There won’t be any screaming and yelling, or anything like that,”
Flynn looked down at her with a weak smile. “I’m sure there won’t, we’re both too tired for that. I just want her to know I’m here for her, and there’s no need for her to feel like she has to punish herself the way she has,” the smile vanished. “When Marty and Matt told me what she’d done, I felt so sick, like it was my fault,”
“Don’t think that,” Liz said quickly. “It’s no one’s fault,”
Flynn lowered his eyes. “No…”
The three of them looked up as the door clicked open and Marty stepped out, nodding at Flynn. “She’s ready to see you,” he said quietly.
Flynn let out a sigh. “Ok…”
“Good luck,” Liz said, giving him a quick hug.
“We’ll be right out here if you need us,” Faith put in, her voice strangely thinner than usual.
“Thanks,” Flynn smiled at them, then turned on his heel, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him.
Erin looked up as he approached, feeling a lump rise in her throat.
“Hi…” Flynn said quietly, pausing just beside the bed. He wasn’t sure if she wanted him to sit next to her or not.
Her next action answered the question in his mind as she reached for his hand and pulled him down to her level, tears beginning to roll down her face. Flynn grabbed her in a tight hug and rocked her back and forth as she cried.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she choked out.
“Sshhh, it’s ok,” Flynn whispered, rubbing her back comfortingly. “It’s ok, you don’t have to apologise,”
“But I do!” Erin pulled out of the hug and stared at him. “I hurt you so much, and I didn’t want that to happen,” she lowered her head and closed her eyes. “I miss you so much, Flynn. But I can’t stop thinking about Ronan as well. I’ve hurt him too. That’s why…” she trailed off.
“That’s why you started cutting yourself,” Flynn finished for her, his tone one of deep sadness. “Marty and Matt told me everything, Erin. If anything, I’m the one who should be apologising, because I’m the one who set you off on such a destructive reaction,”
Erin opened her eyes and looked at him. “No, no. It wasn’t your fault, Flynn. I was stupid to start it in the first place. I just couldn’t help it. It’s like I felt before, when Liz was going through all that crap. Just so useless, and pointless, and the only thing that made me feel any other way was to cut myself,”
“But it wasn’t like that this time, Erin,” Flynn leant forward. “You were punishing yourself. Marty told me what you were saying, that you’d robbed me and Ronan of happiness so you had to pay for it. That’s ridiculous,” he gripped her hands in his. “You haven’t done anything of the sort, all right? I was upset when you told me you had feelings for Ronan, of course I was, what person wouldn’t be? But I had to remind myself that you’ve had those feelings for so long, it was only a matter of time before they flared up again,”
Erin blinked, sending a stream of tears down her cheeks. “But… you’re being too understanding…”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Flynn arched his eyebrow. “Erin, you’re my friend, first and foremost. And friends support each other. We’ve been friends for a long time, remember? I should have held back on the other aspect of our relationship but I guess I just let my feelings get in the way,”
“No, I pushed it,” Erin replied flatly. “I wanted to be with someone, and seeing you again brought all my silly little crush feelings back, and you weren’t with anyone else, so there wasn’t any competition,” she let out a shuddering sigh. “I’m such a screw-up. If I hadn’t pushed things with you, we could have just stayed friends, and…”
“And when Rachel broke up with Ronan you could have made your move?” Flynn interrupted with a rueful smirk. “It’s all good in hindsight, Erin. But this is how things have turned out, and we can’t change them or go backwards. I miss you too, you know. I miss the fun we had. But more than anything else, I miss our friendship,”
Erin wiped her eyes, but more tears kept falling. “I miss it too. I miss the old days when you, me and Marty would just hang out and have fun. And then Chris and Liz came along and our little group got bigger. But then you went away for so long,” she looked up at him. “You didn’t want the Watcher life. So you left. Letters and emails are one thing, but not having you around… It was like a hole, a void…”
“I’m sorry,” Flynn replied solemnly. “I really am. I didn’t realise my absence had that much of an effect on you,” he leant further forward, resting his forehead against hers. “I still love you, Erin. What’s important to me is your happiness.”
“Don’t…” the Slayer choked out, more tears falling. “Please don’t. Please don’t say you’re going to sacrifice your happiness for mine,”
Flynn lifted his hands placed them on her shoulders. “That’s a bit over dramatic, don’t you think? It’s not a sacrifice. I’ll be happy if I see you happy, just the way you used to be before all of this happened. If we can’t be lovers, I still want to be your friend. And as your friend, I went to see your father, and I told him everything,”
Erin stared at him. “You… what…”
“It’s all right,” Flynn said quickly, cutting her off. “He told me what you’d already told him, about the Slayers and Watchers’ Council. But Erin, he wants you to go and see him, or he’ll come here himself. I told him I wanted to talk to you first, though, to see what you had to say,”
Erin shook her head, trying to process everything that had been said in this strange meeting of sorts. “I… I should see him…” she murmured stiffly. “It’d be better than him coming here… I haven’t told Giles that he knows…” she frowned, biting her lip. “Flynn. I still love you. I don’t want to lose our friendship,” she looked up at him again. “Thank you for going to my dad. I love that you care so much about me, even though I really don’t deserve it,”
“Yes, you do,” Flynn said sternly. “Erin. If you want to pursue something with Ronan, then I won’t stand in your way. You need to find out for sure if he’ll make you happy, at least for your own peace of mind,”
“I don’t know…” Erin sighed. “Maybe I should just be single. At least there’s no harm done that way. It’s just hard, because I… well I still have feelings for you as well. I don’t know what to do really,”
“Do what’s best for you, then,’ Flynn replied, smiling. “That’s all I want to see. You back to your old quirky self, going out on patrols, spending time with your friends. Liz and Faith are really worried about you,”
“I know, Kayla too, and Chris, and Sally, and Giles,” Erin arched her eyebrow. “Even Ebony, which is weird, seeing as I don’t know her all that well,” she sighed. “You’re right though. I need to do what’s best for me. I know that. But I still can’t help but feel awful about what I’ve put you and Ronan through,”
Flynn cupped her face in his hand. “You haven’t done anything wrong, Erin. Emotions aren’t illegal,”
“But I’ve hurt you both,” Erin insisted.
Flynn frowned. It seemed that the girl was adamant she had committed some sort of evil wrong doing. “I felt hurt, but I’m not angry with you over it. These things happen, all the time, and think of it this way. It’s not like you cheated with him while you were still with me, right?”
“Well no, I’d never do that,” Erin shook her head. “Not physically anyway. I feel like I betrayed you emotionally though,”
“Maybe,” Flynn conceded. “But like I said, I knew you still had feelings for him. I saw it coming. You don’t get over something like that so quickly,”
“Liz seems to have gotten over Olly quickly enough,” Erin shrugged.
Flynn nodded slowly. “Yes… but there were different circumstances. I get the feeling Liz was never really into that relationship as it was, not like she is with Ben at least,”
“Like she says herself, I guess,” Erin said quietly.
“Yes… But we’re not talking about Liz, we’re talking about you. So. What are you going to do now, then?” Flynn asked her.
Erin sighed again. “I’ll go and see my dad, and tell him I’m ok. And then… then I’ll try and get through this without hurting myself. Besides. It’s kind of boring being confined to my room, all because Marty’s freaked I’ll go and find more razors to slice myself up with,”
“And I don’t blame him for that,” Flynn confessed. “But I know you must feel as though you’re being smothered. Marty’s just trying to do what he thinks is best, which is why he told me what you were doing to yourself. I never wanted you to start doing those things again, Erin, I really didn’t. So now I’m going to make sure you don’t do it again. Ever. You got that?” he looked at her sternly. “I mean it. I don’t want another visit from my panic stricken brother telling me his Slayer is hurting herself, all right?”
Erin looked up at him, into his pale blue eyes. There was so much love and concern in them that her heart ached. She still loved him. “Yes. Yes all right,” she replied thinly.
Flynn leant forward and kissed her lightly on the forehead. “Good. Now. Is there anything I can get you?”
“No… I just… Can you just sit here and hold me for a little while?” she asked, looking away awkwardly.
Flynn smiled and wrapped his arms around her tightly. “Your wish is my command.”
***
Outside in the hallway, Marty had left Liz and Faith by Erin’s door to see how Chris was doing. They’d been standing out there a good while in silence when Liz finally broke it.
“It’s pretty quiet in there, I wonder what they’ve been saying?”
Faith shrugged but didn’t respond.
This set the alarm bells off in Liz’s mind. “Ok, Faith, what’s wrong? You’ve been quiet all morning. Did something happen last night? I notice you rushed off pretty quickly after we had that late supper with Chris and Thomas,”
“Oh, yeah,” Faith sighed. “No nothing’s wrong really. It’s just what Tom said about us all keeping journals,”
Liz frowned. “What about it? I think it’s a good idea,”
Faith nodded. “Yeah so do I. It’s just that I remembered the one I used to have before I got to Sunnydale. I lost it though. But I remember everything I wrote in it, so I nabbed some spare blank books from Kay and re-wrote it all, and put in all the stuff that happened to me in Sunnydale, and LA, and everything that’s happened to me up til now,” she smirked. “I filled up both books so I had to get some more. That’s what I’ve been doing all night. I guess it’s just still in my head,”
Liz stared at her. “Wow… I never thought you were the diary or journal keeping type,”
“I never thought I would be either, but my social worker made me do it when I was a screwed up kid so I figured it might be good to do it again,” Faith lowered her eyes. “It’s a bit messed up, but I was kinda wondering if you’d read it all. I’m not in the zone for showing it to anyone else, but I trust you enough with it,” she looked up again. “I’ve got ‘em here, I just put them in that spare room I stay in sometimes. So… would you read them?”
It was an interesting request to say the least. Liz was quite taken aback, but also strangely honoured at the same time. These journals would be the door into Faith’s past, and she was going to be the first person who’d have the chance to read them. “Sure, I will,”
“Thanks L,” Faith grinned. “Like I said, they’re messed up, but that’s just me. And I bet you’ll get a kick out of learning more about the shit I’ve gone through, heh. I’ll go and get ‘em,”
Liz stepped back and watched the older Slayer dash off and slip into one of the rooms further down the hall. She was sure that whatever was written in those books would be the best history lesson on Faith’s life.
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #16 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:41pm »
The Importance of Understanding
The next morning was met with more bleak winter weather. Heavy rain pelted down outside, taking away any motivation to leave the Council building for any outdoor activities.
Chris stifled a yawn as he made his way down the stairs towards the kitchen. It hadn’t been a fantastic night, sitting in with Erin and watching her dreams. They were as graphic and violent as ever, but there was nothing seemingly prophetic within them. He’d been right in his predictions, that, while the dreams would cause his usual headache, it'd be no where near as painful with Erin as it was with Liz, and he’d reported this to Giles.
He’d also gone to see Jason, Jonathan and Thomas, who’d been working on all the blood samples they’d taken, particularly from Liz. Jason had joked that she was starting to look like a pin cushion from all the needle pricks. Chris hadn’t been overly amused, however. He was starting to worry that she was letting his health get in the way of her own. Then again, that was just her way.
He entered the strangely empty kitchen and headed towards the fridge to get some cold water, smiling to himself as he thought of his Slayer. She hadn’t left his side after the hospital visit, sitting next to him at the restaurant they'd gone to for their late lunch. She’d even wanted to stay with him while he kept an eye on Erin, but Ben had managed to pry her away. Friendship like that didn’t come along every day.
He moved over to the table and sat down, staring into space as he thought about everything that had been happening. It was all over the place, really. Erin’s problems, Rachel’s return and Ebony’s arrival. Giles had confided in Chris, telling him about the new Slayer’s life as she’d told it to him. Chris was finding Josie’s actions and death hard to shake, it had been quite shocking. He knew that Marty was suffering more, however, but putting on a brave face as he usually did.
There were many people to be worrying about, but Jason and Thomas had told Chris that at that moment, he needed to worry about himself. It was just hard to think selfishly when it never came naturally.
Ronan had similar thoughts on his mind, and had also been given similar advice from Olly and Hannah to concentrate on himself and to let Rachel and Erin have their own space to work things out. Ronan had just finished running the Looking Glass soldiers through his own shooting drill, and was in serious need of a glass of water.
He walked through the door to the kitchen as if walking through a fog, his usually keen senses having not even noticed the presence of another body, until he turned from the fridge and saw Chris seated at the table. "Hey Chris... How you doing?" he asked, moving towards the older man whom he respected. He knew that Hannah had been infatuated with him, and that Chris and Olly had once had their share of problems... in fact, he wasn't quite sure that was quite all behind them as yet, but he personally respected the man. Chris was intelligent, thoughtful and determined. Ronan felt there were many similarities between them. He approached slowly to the man, hoping he wasn't intruding. He knew that the man had a pension for privacy, just as he did.
Chris blinked and looked up, his thoughts broken by the voice. “Oh, hello,” he replied, smiling. “I’m doing all right I guess, how about you? You haven’t been out in that weather have you?” he gestured over towards the window.
Ronan smiled back as he looked at the older man. "I've had the pleasure of being outdoors earlier, yes. But it wasn't that bad. It's just rain," he replied with a shake of his head. "As for the other stuff... well… let's just say I've had a better days."
Chris looked down at the table. “Yes… I suppose you would have…” he said quietly. He remembered what Matt had suggested a couple of days ago, but decided to push it aside for a moment. “How are you finding the Council and Looking Glass integration?” he asked instead, glancing back up at the other man. “Al and Len have told me they’re enjoying things so far working with Olly. Do the other soldiers like this new set up or do they have concerns over it?”
Ronan smiled at the man as he took a seat across from him. "I imagine the integration is going well in most areas,” he replied. “As you know, I've had little problems with the Council members, as opposed to some of my colleagues. From what I've gathered and been told by the other Looking Glass staff, the integration is going smoothly. The soldiers are the more reluctant of the organisation, as they are the most 'infringed' upon, as the Slayers take up the majority of the physical security work that they are used to performing, but I think they are starting to come around to the reality that the Slayers are physically superior. I know that I've personally enjoyed working with Charlie and Erin, and Liz of course," he went on with a smile and a nod to the Watcher, then a shadow crossed his features. "I do miss seeing Erin though."
Chris smiled sadly. “I think she misses seeing you as well,” he conceded. “Not that she’s told me anything herself. Liz sort of gave me the general idea though. Actually, Flynn’s here now, waiting to see her. Marty told him everything. He took it rather badly,” the Watcher lowered his eyes for a moment before looking back up at Ronan. “Liz told me what she told you the other day, about Erin’s… condition… Do you have plans to see her as well?”
Ronan took an extra swallow before he spoke, straining to keep his own emotions in check. "I... I've been advised to allow her the space to make the meeting one of her choosing, which is difficult... but does make sense... from a strategic sense," he replied with a bit of effort. "She needs to make her own decisions, which she will do in time. Erin is a strong young woman, who is surrounded by people who care immensely for her. She will get through this."
He looked out the nearby window for a moment and then turned back to the Watcher. "For all the beauty and talk of the magic of love, it certainly can make things much more complicated," he said with a slightly forced smile, trying to make a joke, but not realising how it might affect his current conversational companion.
Chris lowered his eyes and stared at the table. “Yes. Yes, it can,” he replied softly. He thought back to the day before, at the hospital. He hadn’t admitted it to anyone else, but in truth he had been scared of what the scan’s results might have shown, almost to the point of feeling petrified. But for all the times he’d been Liz’s ‘rock’, at that moment she had been his. Thoughts of her had helped him get through the scan, and being with her afterwards had eased his fears. He wanted so badly to tell her how he really felt, but he just couldn’t.
Ronan’s situation was slightly different. Every person involved knew how the other was feeling. As far as Chris was aware, Liz had no idea that he felt the way he did. He let out a sigh and looked up at Ronan. “For the record, I know how it feels. To be in love with someone, but not being able to tell them or pursue anything because of the complications that might arise. You’re not alone.”
Ronan looked to the man and smiled. He had never really had that many close conversations with Chris. That was more of a Hannah thing. "Thank you, Chris. And I am learning the importance of my friends right now. All of them," he smiled again as he thought about his friends; Olly and Hannah, and the rest of the team. But it always came back to Erin. "I just want Erin to be happy. Whether it's with me, or with Flynn, I just want her to be happy and to be safe. That's all that matters. I hope she listens to reason."
Chris returned the smile. It seemed that he and Ronan had more in common than he’d first considered. That’s what I want for Liz… he thought, although there was a slight ache in his heart at the same time. I just want what’s best for her and for her to be happy…
Out loud he replied: “You’re a good man. I think giving her the right to make the decision herself without added pressure is the best thing. And I know she’ll eventually do what’s best in her own interests, she has enough people around her to help along the way.”
"Agreed. There are so many good people in her life, and in this building even. I know the right decision will be made, and I'm confident she will find all the love and support she will need," Ronan said with a warm smile. "I've not been the luckiest man when it has come to relationships, but I can rely on the fact that I do have good friends."
He looked at the Watcher and then his brow furrowed slightly as he gauged the man's expression. "Chris… is something going on? Your expression and tone indicate that there are some underlying issues going on with you, or those around you. I don't mean to pry, but I've been told that I can be a good sounding board. And I do know how to keep a secret. Whatever you disclosed to me would stay between us."
Chris lowered his eyes again. “It’s… fine. I already have Marty and Matt on my case about it,” he replied slowly. Then again, did they really understand how tortured he was feeling? “It’s a complicated issue. I don’t know if you’ll think too highly of me if I tell you the truth,” he confessed. “To be honest, sometimes I question myself.”
Ronan smiled back at the man with a look of concern. "Chris... we are often our most harsh critic, in all senses. I assure you that anything you told me would not reflect on you poorly, especially given that you had the courage and trust in me to confide such information. But I understand if you would prefer to keep it private. I will not pry. I mean only to offer you a sounding board. Hannah and I have found it quite beneficial to do so, and so I am offering that possibility to you."
“It might be best if I don’t say anymore…” Chris murmured, almost to himself. “Although for some reason most people seem to know, either through guessing or hearing it from someone else. And one of the people who doesn’t know is the person it involves,” he sighed, shaking his head. "Then again, it's probably better if she doesn't..."
In some strange way, he felt as though he wanted to tell Ronan what was really going on, but there was another part of him that didn’t. What would the other man’s reaction be to it? To find out that a Watcher was deeply in love with his own Slayer. Perhaps that wouldn’t hold great meaning, seeing as Ronan wasn’t from a Watcher history anyway. But there was another factor involved that could cause alarm: Liz’s age.
Chris already knew that people would disapprove, and accuse him of being a ‘cradle snatcher’. But in his mind, when he thought about Liz, he hardly ever took her age into consideration – she was already quite wise beyond her years as it was, and despite her quirkiness, she was rather mature as well. Although her quirkiness was something else he loved. A dreamy smile tugged at his lips as he thought about her. If only it could be so much more...
Ronan looked at the man with a slight grin playing on his lips. "So... that decision has been made," he joked as he leaned back in his seat a bit and ran his hand through his brown hair, taking a deep breath and exhaling it through his nose. "I imagine all this stuff with Erin has taken quite a toll on Liz and Marty. How are they holding up? I still haven't talked to Marty about things, but I've been advised to perhaps wait on that front as well."
Chris was relieved by the change of subject. “They were both taking things rather badly at first, particularly Marty. He’s barely left her side since we found her the other night…” his voice faltered slightly. “We’ve all been taking it in turns to spend time with her, really, not just Marty. Matt has been keeping quite the vigil, and Faith too. But I think things are getting better now. You could talk with Marty if you want to. I think he might appreciate it,”
Ronan nodded his head in understanding. "It must have been hell for him. I know how deeply he must care for Erin, just as you do for Liz. To see her hurt like that and to not really be able to do much to help, must be a very debilitating feeling. It goes to show you that even the most powerful people can have cracks in their own armour that can make them seem just as human as the rest of us," he observed.
“They are human…” Chris murmured automatically. “Just with special advantages. But that doesn’t make them any less human on the inside…” he trailed off, realising he was becoming defensive for no reason. It was just that Ronan’s mention of Liz had brought back all his memories of her horrible problems with alcohol and getting bitten by vampires on purpose. He’d nearly lost her, forever. And it was a thought that continually haunted him.
“Yes, Marty does care deeply for Erin. They’re best friends, as weird as that might seem,” he glanced up at the other man. “Do you think it’s weird for a thirty-something man and a girl in her late teens to be best friends?” he asked. He was masking the truth behind the question – it wasn’t Marty and Erin he was referring to.
"You can't choose who will become your best friend, Chris. You are a smart enough man to know that," Ronan replied with a smile. "Do you really think I would have chosen to have my best friend be someone as unlike me as Olly? But I can understand how it happened, and I appreciate our differences because of that understanding. For all of his showiness and his arrogance, he is loyal and he is dedicated. And that is why he is my best friend. And then you have Hannah, a woman much more like me in terms of outlook and intellectual style, but still a bit more showy and charismatic than me. But in her I confide everything. I always have, and she always has to me, and that is something that I truly treasure."
Chris frowned. “Yes… I was thinking more of the massive age gap though…” he sighed, shaking his head. “Marty and Matt have always been my best friends. It was always the three of us when we were in college. Well, Marty came along first really. From an outsider view, people would consider us to be very different people, and I suppose we are to a point. And they’d think that Matt and I are more alike. But when you look passed the exterior, the interior is actually similar. Heh but I’m rambling on,” he smirked ruefully.
“But then there’s Liz,” the smirk became more of a smile. “She was seventeen when I met her, just about to turn eighteen. She was quite a different person back then, very bitter and cynical. You’d barely recognise her. But now she’s what she always truly was, before the pain… intelligent, quirky, loving, compassionate, tough… but fragile…” he lowered his eyes. “She’s my best friend as well, but what we have is different to what I have with Marty and Matt. She and I have both been through rather unpleasant times in the past, perhaps that’s why we share such a close bond… And then there’s the dream thing. I’ve seen into her subconscious mind. That can be a scary place to be sometimes, but if anything it’s helped me to understand her more than ever…”
"And that's why you care for her as you do, Chris. Just like I care for Olly and Hannah because I understand them and I offer a logic based, calming influence on them both, which is something they need, which I think is what you offer to Liz. You help her to stabilise when she needs it, whether is a comment here to brighten her mood, or a bit of rational thought to check a possible bad idea. You give her something she needs, and she responds to that," Ronan smiled as he looked at the man, happy that they were finally conversing as equals, possibly even friends. "As for the age issue," he shrugged his shoulders. "It really doesn't matter. Age is just a number and a mental projection. And for Liz, it is often easy to forget how young she is due to her growing maturity. Anyone who thinks less of either of you because of it doesn't know either of you very well."
Chris nodded slowly. “That’s true… All of it. And funnily enough, she provides the same for me, because of that maturity. Heh. Marty and Matt are always telling me the same thing. It’s just hard not to see the other side sometimes. I guess I’m always concerned about what others may think of me, but really I shouldn’t. I should just keep my focus on what’s more important, and that’s Liz, and the other Slayers,” he looked up at the other man and smiled. “Thank you for the reassurance, Ronan. I appreciate it. I mean, it’s good to have it from your closest friends, but hearing it from someone else who you don’t know too well but probably should is worth something too.” Another thought crossed his mind. “Say. Have you seen Rachel lately? I hear she’s making a lot of progress with Sally and Olly,”
Ronan shook his head as he listened to the question. "No, I've decided that given Erin and Rachel's less than desirable history with each other that I would stay back from that scenario and would give Rachel her space to work through her re-hab with Olly and Sally without my interference. Olly has been keeping me updated, as has Hannah, since she always seems to know about things, and I do care for Rachel and want her to succeed, I just don't think my presence would help her at this point. Not yet."
“I see, well I can understand that,” Chris replied. “It’s always a question of what we believe is best for the other person. In Erin’s case, Marty felt it was best that she and Flynn spoke properly about what had happened, that’s why he brought him here,” a frown crossed his features. “I wonder how that’s all going…” he mused. “Oh well I guess I’ll find out later. Liz’ll probably know, anyway. Oh…” he glanced down at his watch. “Hah. Speaking of which. Liz and I have a training session scheduled shortly, I should really go and get the training room set up for it,”
“Then don't let me keep you. Liz needs the distraction of routine as much as the rest of us right now. Thanks for the talk Chris, it was most welcome. Hearing the same people saying the same thing over and over again tends to deaden the effect, but hearing a new voice re-affirm it can do wonders. Thank you," Ronan smiled and extended his hand. "Give my best to Liz and Marty when you see them. I will hopefully be able to do it in person for Erin in the near future."
Chris smiled and shook Ronan’s hand. “Of course. And any time you need to hear that ‘new voice’, you know where to find me, heh,” he smirked and stood up. “I’ll let Erin know you’re thinking of her. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” he started moving towards the door. “I’ll see you later,” he said, and with that, he was gone, leaving the other man alone in the kitchen.
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #17 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:40pm »
Ebony's Story
Giles sighed as he opened the main door to the Council building, stepping through to an eerily empty foyer. He’d returned to the Council himself while the others had stayed on at the restaurant Jason had led them to earlier on for a late lunch. “I have a lot of work to do” had been his excuse, despite Liz’s attempts to make him stay and relax for a while longer. He’d appreciated the girl’s concern that he was working too hard, but unfortunately it was just the way things had to be.
Setting foot inside the empty foyer area had made him suddenly wish he’d stayed with the others. There was something oddly unsettling about the absence of other people at that time of day. He was about to start his way towards the stairs to his office when he caught sight of Ebony exiting the training room, holding a bottle of water in her right hand.
“Ebony!” he called out, changing his course and heading towards her instead.
The raven-haired Slayer stopped in mid-step and looked over at him, her head on one side. “Oh, hello, Mr Giles,”
“I’m glad I caught you actually,” the Watcher said, quickening his pace and pausing when he reached her. “Have you got a minute?”
“Could you come with me to my office? I need to speak with you,” Giles replied, gesturing to the stairs with his head.
Ebony nodded and said nothing as she began to follow him up to his office, sitting down in the chair he indicated and waiting as he closed the door and sat down facing her. “Is this about the sparring session before?” she asked finally.
Giles smiled wanly. “Yes, it is actually,”
“Look, I’m sorry if I was a bit rough with Rachel, ok?” the Slayer said quickly. “It’s just my instincts. I was just doing what I’ve learnt and what comes naturally,”
“I know that,” Giles replied. “I was more concerned about the way you were going about it,”
“You think Josie taught me to be a psycho like her or something?” Ebony asked flatly.
Giles bit his lip. “Not really, well. All right. I did wonder if some of her influence had rubbed off on you. Then again I know what she was like when she was here, but I don’t know how she treated you,”
“Exactly,” Ebony looked up at him, and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes. “I know what you think of her. I know what Chris thinks, what Brian thinks and what Marty thinks. What everyone thinks,” she lowered her head. “And I understand why you all feel that way. When you first told me what she’d done I felt sick, because I knew she’d played me for a fool. But… But the thing is, before I knew all that, she was my friend,”
“I understand,” Giles started, but the girl cut him off.
“I don’t know if you do, actually,” she said quietly, looking up again. “I haven’t had a great life, you know. My dad took off when I was really young, and left me and my mum alone. She started taking drugs and drinking a lot to try and deal with it. And that messed up my school life. No one wanted to know me. Every time I’d walk past a group of people they’d all say ‘there goes Ebony Taylor, did you know her mum’s a crack-whore?’ Well they were half right anyway,” she shook her head bitterly. “She was into all sorts of weird stuff. I actually dropped out of school to try and help her get better, but in the end she died of an overdose,”
Giles let out a sad sigh, watching her closely as her tears fell more freely. “I’m sorry,” he murmured.
Ebony shrugged. “So now you know why I live with my grandma,” she replied thinly. “And, don’t get me wrong, she’s great, and I love her so much, but she’s old-fashioned. She doesn’t get the whole teenager thing so she can be pretty clueless sometimes,”
Giles nodded understandingly, allowing the young Slayer to continue with her story.
“The thing with my mum put me off drugs and alcohol for life so I started to get into charity work, because I wanted to help people,” Ebony went on. “One night I was helping out at the Salvation Army when this weird light thing hit me, and afterwards a blonde woman, Josie, came up to me, asking to talk with me really urgently. I thought she needed help so I said yes, but then she told me about all the Slayer stuff. I was so confused and scared, but I didn’t know what else to think. She took me to fight some vampires and I managed to beat them all. So I had to believe her then,”
Giles smiled ruefully. “That seems to be the method of most Watchers,” he said quietly.
Ebony smirked. “Yeah I guess. Well. After that, I felt even more useful. I mean, not only could I help people with emotional problems, I could also help protect them from vampires and other things like that. I feel like meeting Josie gave me a higher purpose, that I could do so much more, and now I can,”
Giles frowned. “You seemed to be happy you didn’t save her when she was attacked, but now you sound as though you miss her,” he said observingly.
“I know. And believe me, after what you have all told me, it’s better this way,” Ebony replied, looking at him. “But before all that she was just so good to me. She was a friend when I needed one the most. I told her about what my dad did, and she was so angry about it. She said she felt so sorry for me to have to go through that. Do you think she was just saying it to make me believe she was a better person than she really was?”
Giles lowered his eyes. “I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past her,”
“She must have been one hell of an actress to pull off emotion like that,” Ebony muttered darkly, wiping her eyes. “I took her to my mum’s grave and she cried with me. What kind of person pretends to have emotion?”
“I don’t know,” Giles repeated, staring at the Slayer with concern. The girl had clearly been through a lot of hardship in her life. And to have been manipulated by Josie Black on top of all that, the Watcher couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. “I’d like to think that she really did feel sadness for you, Ebony,” he said, leaning forward. “How anyone couldn’t is beyond me,”
Ebony nodded. “Yeah. I want to believe that she really felt it too. But I don’t want to talk about it any more, it’s just making me feel worse,” she swallowed and looked up at him. “How’s Erin? Is she any better?”
“Yes, much better actually,” Giles replied. “I think spending some time with her friends helped. Liz said Faith managed to get a laugh out of her at any rate, which is excellent,”
“Faith’s quite the character isn’t she?” Ebony said, smiling. “I mean, going from off the rails to being an integral part of the Council. You must be pretty proud of her,”
Giles couldn’t help but smile back. “I am, actually. She’s shown an amazing turn around since she’s been here. I think having friends like Liz, Erin and Kayla has really helped. And of course having a new Watcher like Dorothea as well. She’s really improved,”
“Speaking of new Watchers, I wanted to thank you for getting Marty to choose for me,” Ebony grinned. “Brian’s an excellent teacher, in both theory and physical stuff. I feel like I’ve learnt so much from him. And he’s a great artist as well, all those paintings he’s done. You must love to have such a great team here,”
“I most certainly do,” Giles replied, beaming with pride. “They’re a fantastic group, I couldn’t be happier with them. They know exactly what they need to do and they do it well. And I’d be even happier if we could bring you into the team a lot more as well, what do you think?”
Ebony’s green eyes lit up. “I’d love that. I’m so happy to finally have found people who understand me and know what I’m going through. Being a Slayer can be good, but it’s hard work. Being around the others is so helpful,”
Giles nodded vehemently. “Of course it is! And I think it’s good for you as well, and the others. Does this mean we can expect to see a lot more of you then?”
“You won’t be able to keep me away,” Ebony replied, still grinning. “In fact, if it’s ok with you, I’d like to move in here to be closer. I’m sure it’ll be ok with my grandma, she knows I’ve been looking for a place of my own for a while now. I’ll just tell her I have the best housemates ever and she’ll be happy for me,”
Giles smiled. “Wonderful! Well you already have a room, so there’s no hassle to go through finding one. If you make the arrangements, I’ll see to it your stay here will be a brilliant one,”
“Thank you!” Ebony stood up, backing towards the door. “You won’t regret this, Mr Giles, I promise you,”
Giles nodded. “I’m sure I won’t,”
Ebony smiled at him then turned on her heel, walking out of the door and down the hallway. At last, everything was going well…
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #18 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:40pm »
Hospital Visit
The late afternoon was bringing with it some rather nasty weather as Thomas and Giles made their way to the hospital in Thomas’s Jaguar. The former Watcher had been shocked to hear the news of Chris’s CT Scan, but relieved when Jason had told him the good news. Giles had also been shocked. He hadn’t heard anything about it at all, and not only was he worried about Chris, he was also worried about how Liz was handling everything.
Thomas pulled the flashy car into a carpark and the two men dashed into the building, making a beeline for Jason’s office where they found the doctor, Chris, Liz, Ben and Charlie. Jason was studying some blood samples, and looked up when the other men came into the room.
“Good you’re here!” he said with a smile.
Thomas went straight for Chris, his concern obvious. “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked thinly.
“I’m fine,” the younger Watcher replied wearily, smiling up at his old mentor. “I’m sorry you had to find out about it over the phone. I didn’t want to raise alarm, but the test showed nothing was wrong, so there was no need to worry,”
Thomas sat down in a chair facing Chris, noting that Liz was sitting right next to him with Ben close on the other side. “I’m just so relieved that you’re ok. And I see you have a lot of support here,” he smiled at the young Slayer and her boyfriend, reaching forward and patting Liz on the hand.
Liz looked up at him and smiled back. “It’s a weight off my mind at least,” she said softly.
“And what are you doing now?” Giles asked Jason curiously.
“Well I took some blood from Chris, Ben and Liz, and I’m trying to figure out what makes it all different,” the doctor explained. “Not in blood type, but I want to see if there’s anything in it that shows their individual powers, like Chris and Ben’s dream seeing, and Liz’s Slayer and magic side. I thought that maybe we could lift something from Liz’s blood to heighten Chris’s pain threshold. I’ve called Jonathan but he can’t leave the shop, but he said he’d stop by the Council later tonight. I just wanted to get your thoughts on the idea. Chris needs something to stop these headaches from happening altogether, and while the cure is helpful, it doesn’t quite solve the problem entirely,”
Thomas arched his eyebrow. “That’s quite an idea, actually, I’m surprised no one else came up with it earlier,”
“We just never thought to, until Liz brought up her concerns over the headaches and we organised the scan,” Jason replied. “If they’re not caused by any sort of tumour, then it’s obviously the intensity of the dreams. And they seem to be worse with Liz,”
Giles looked down at Chris. “Is that true?”
The other Watcher nodded. “Yes. I don’t really know why that is, but for some reason, whenever I see into one of her dreams, it’s more painful. And last night I saw it through her eyes. I could feel her emotions running through me like I’d felt them for myself,”
Giles stared at him. “And that only happens with Liz?”
“Yes. Maybe it’s because I spend more time with her over any other Slayer, I don’t know,” Chris shook his head.
“That’s probably part of it anyway,” Thomas murmured thoughtfully.
Giles frowned. “Let’s test that theory for certain. Tonight I want you to sit in with Erin and watch her dreams instead. I’ll stay with you myself to see what happens,”
Chris arched his eyebrow. “I already know what will happen, but I guess if you want confirmation I can do that,”
“Good,” Giles nodded.
Jason looked over at Thomas. “What were you about to tell me on the phone before I interrupted you? What did I miss?”
“Oh,” Thomas smirked. “Just the training session between Ebony and Rachel,”
Liz looked at him sharply. “What happened?”
“Ebony has a rather odd method when it comes to fighting, a bit of a sneaky one actually,” Thomas replied. “She was letting Rachel beat her, by just taking the hits, and when she had enough, she fought back quite roughly. I think she was playing with Rachel actually, assessing her moves and the like,”
“That’s good though, isn’t it?” Ben asked, frowning. “I mean, assessing the way your opponent moves so you can figure them out?”
“Oh of course, it definitely is, but there was just something about the way Ebony was going about it that was a bit odd,” Thomas said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “Still, it was quite impressive, and almost amusing,”
Giles shook his head. “Amusing? I found it irritating. Especially when I told them to stop and neither would until Olly stepped in to hold Rachel back,”
Liz arched her eyebrow. “He did, huh? He didn’t fear getting in the middle of a Slayer and Little Miss Fire Cracker?”
Thomas chuckled lightly at her comment, but Giles didn’t appear to be as amused. “Apparently not. But it doesn’t matter now. I’ll have a word to Ebony later on about it,”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Charlie said abruptly. “But before you two got here, we were thinking about getting a bite to eat. Would you like to join us? I think my niece here could use the sustenance,” he nodded at Liz with the last comment.
Thomas smiled. “You know, I think that’s a fantastic idea,”
Giles allowed himself a smile. “Yes it is actually. I was so busy earlier I forgot to have any lunch. Maybe if I eat something I’ll feel a bit better,”
“And be in less of a grouchy mood?” Liz quipped, shooting him a grin. She felt a lot better after Chris’s scan had come back with good results.
Giles smirked at her. “Yes, well here’s hoping so at least,” he replied, winking.
Charlie rose to his feet and held out his hand to Liz. “So shall we go then?”
Liz took his hand and let him help her to stand. “We shall. Someone promised me chocolate,” she looked down at Chris and smiled.
Chris grinned at her, standing up with the others. “That I did. All right…” he looked at Jason. “Are you going to join us, Jase? Or are you just going to stay and stare at blood all afternoon?”
“Hmm, well staring at blood is tempting, but I can’t say no to food,” Jason replied with a sly grin. “Better to save all this for when I have Jonathan and his magic touch anyway. I’ll just put it into storage,”
“Should it be kept fresh for testing?” Liz asked, frowning.
“Oh, yeah, but I want to keep a hold of this lot for a bit longer, just to make a comparison. I’m curious about Slayer blood,” Jason stood up, picking up the vials of blood. “I’ll get a fresh batch later on tonight, when Jon’s at the Council. Is that all right with you three?” he looked at Liz, Chris and Ben in turn.
They nodded back their consent. “It’s fine as long as it ends up helping Chris,” Liz replied.
“Here’s hoping it will,” Jason said. “Gotta be positive! Hey, what did you think of Guy, by the way? I forgot to ask before,”
Liz arched her eyebrow at him. “What did I think of him? I was too anxious to notice anything. Well, except that he seems to come from the same school of charm that you do,” she smirked.
Jason grinned. “Good. I’m trying to set him up with one of our co-workers at the moment so I just wanted to get another woman’s perspective,” he winked.
“Ooo Jason the match-maker, eh?” Liz let out a small laugh. “Hah! That’s kind of weird actually, but fair enough,”
“Come on come on let’s go!” Charlie said impatiently, attempting to pull Liz towards the door.
“Jeez, and I’m apparently the youngest person in this room?” the girl rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t think so,”
Charlie shook his head at her and grinned. “Young at heart, m’dear,”
Thomas smiled. “That’s the best way to be, indeed,” he said, pushing them gently through the door with the others following. “So who wants to go for a ride in my Jag?”
“Ooo me!” Liz exclaimed, staring up at him. “Can I go? Chris said it was brilliant and I want to see for myself!”
Thoms grinned. “You’ve got it. So where are we going?”
“Just follow the van,” Jason said with a mysterious smile as he pushed past them and led the way through the corridors. “You’ll see…”
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #19 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:39pm »
“Girls, that’s enough!” Giles called out commandingly, but his authority didn’t seem to click in Ebony’s mind as she stood up, pulling Rachel with her, and shoved the blonde backwards quite forcefully, sending her back down to the floor with a thud.
Sally let out a gasp. “She’s being too rough with her now!”
“Well, Rachel was getting rough with her,” Angelina pointed out. “She’s just defending herself. At last,”
Brian turned to the other Slayer. “Angelina, can you step in and break them up?”
“You want me to get between that?!” the dark haired girl exclaimed, staring up at the Watcher incredulously. “Are you kidding me?!”
“Leave it,” Thomas said slowly, watching Ebony closely. “I just want to see where this goes…”
Kayla moved towards the assembled group, shaking her head. Rachel had done it again – talked herself into another brawl with a Slayer. Of course Ebony had provoked it with her taunts, but it was the same mistake again and again. Kayla frowned in thought. Will Rachel ever learn?
Rachel started to rush forward at her opponent, pissed off and embarrassed by what had happened, and wanting revenge, but instead, all she met with was Olly, who wrapped her up in a bear hug and starting to walk her away from the fight.
"That's enough for one day," he said to Ebony as he pushed Rachel away from the small Slayer, turning to face her. "You fought very well. Congratulations. But I'm afraid we'll be ending the session at this point, as Mr. Giles instructed," he stated, invoking Giles name for a reason; as a means to diffuse the situation.
Giles nodded. “Yes, that will indeed do for today,” he said tersely, turning his attention to Ebony.
The Slayer shrugged. “Just doing what I was taught to do,” she replied coolly.
“By an ex-Watcher, no doubt,” Giles muttered in a low voice, narrowing his eyes at her slightly.
“An ex-Watcher who knew what she was talking about,” Ebony said icily, pushing past him and storming out of the room.
“Oookay…” Angelina arched her eyebrow as she watched her colleague leave. “What’s her problem?”
Giles just shook his head. “Leave it for now, I’ll deal with it later,” he looked over at Rachel. “Are you all right?” he asked her, the stern tone in his voice softening.
'Yeah... I'm good," Rachel commented back as she pushed away from Olly. "That little brat didn't phase me any," she replied angrily as her eyes fixed on the door where Ebony had left. "And then having my 'white knight' jump in to save me," she added sourly, smiling up at Olly, then started to compose herself a bit. "I'm sorry. I'm... I'm fine, Sir. Thank you for asking."
Giles nodded. “Good, well… that was interesting to say the least…”
He was cut off by the sound of someone’s mobile phone beeping, followed by Thomas’s voice answering it. “Hello, Thomas speaking… oh! Jason, hello. You just missed a pretty good trai… what?” his tone changed abruptly as he paused to listen to the doctor. “Oh god, is he all right?”
The others exchanged brief glances. Who was “he” and what was wrong with him?
“Oh that’s a relief! Yes, yes of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” the former Watcher lowered his phone and looked at Giles. “Rupert, I need to speak with you,”
Giles arched his eyebrow. The note in the other man’s voice was one of urgency. “Of course,” he replied quickly, glancing at the rest of the group. “Excuse us for a moment,”
Thomas gestured to the doorway and the two of them left the room quickly.
“I wonder what that was about?” Angelina asked no one in particular.
Brian shrugged. “Don’t know. I’m going to see if I can find Ebony, bye all,” he offered a weak smile before following the other Watchers.
“Looks like everyone’s leaving then,” Angelina commented. “Aah well, I’ll be off as well,” she made her way towards the door, handing Kayla the knife she’d been holding the entire time of the fight. “Catch you later,” she said quietly with a small smile.
“Yeah bye,” Kayla murmured, taking the knife and staring at it. Obviously the Slayer wanted her to put it back on the shelf.
Angelina nodded then left the room. Kayla shifted awkwardly from her spot towards the weapons display, casting glances over her shoulder at Olly and Rachel as she went. Stupid paranoia…
Sally moved towards Rachel slowly. “Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked with concern. “That elbow hit would have hurt! Jason and Chris have this special kind of ointment they made that helps soothe pain, would you like me to get some for you? It helps heal bruising more quickly as well,”
"I'm cool, I'm cool, Sally. She was just so... infuriating," Rachel said, her hands balling up into fists for a moment and her breathing became heavier as she relived the moment again, and then she smiled. "But I didn't completely blow it, did I? I mean... I thought I was pretty good, right?"
Olly nodded as he rubbed her shoulders from behind, smiling at her. "Relax, Rach. You did bleedin' excellent. If I didn't know better I would have thought that you’d actually been listening to what Sally and I had been saying. You're on the right track," he summarised with a smile.
Kayla watched from her place at the weapons wall, seeing the way Olly was being with Rachel. Surely it was just his natural friendliness. But it wasn’t helping the way she was feeling at all.
“Yeah you kept your cool for most of the fight, which was great,” Sally agreed, smiling at the blonde. She glanced at Olly. “I must admit, it took guts from you to step in when you did. Although I really don’t blame Ange for staying out of it. She’s been caught up in fights she wasn’t initially a part of before and, well… it hasn’t been pretty,”
“Why?” Kayla called out, trying to make her presence felt. “What happened?”
Sally looked over at her. “The one I’m thinking of happened before she got her full powers, while she was still at that orphanage. I remember her telling me about it when she first came to the new Council. One of her friends got into a brawl and she leapt in to defend him. The other guy wound up in hospital,” she glanced at Rachel. “Those are the Slayer instincts for you. Even when they were just Potentials, they still had a higher amount of strength and ability. I guess Ange didn’t want to get involved in this because she was afraid she might get too rough,”
“Whoa… so she beat up the other guy that badly?” Kayla asked, edging closer to the group.
Sally nodded. “Yep. She says she still feels bad about it. But she hated to see her friend in trouble, so she had to do something to help him. I guess that’s a good thing, she’s quite loyal when it comes to her closest friends,” she smiled. “But I’m sure she would have pulled Ebony away if Giles had ordered her to. She respects him a great deal. It’s quite frightening though. She was only twelve years old when that happened,”
Kayla stared at her. “Twelve?!”
“Yep, only twelve. This was just before she found out she was a Slayer, well, Potential at the time. She was afraid the orphanage was going to kick her out, but luckily Diana had managed to track her down and adopt her. Ange told Diana what had happened, and Diana explained why it went the way it did, so now it all makes sense,”
“Wow…” Kayla shook her head, then glanced over at Olly and Rachel, trying to gauge their collective responses to what they’d just been told. “That’s kind of like the first time I did magic. You don't know what to expect, then suddenly something takes you over and you lose yourself for a moment,"
"I think that's probably how all the Slayers have felt at one time or another," Sally replied with a nod.
"That's terrible for her," Rachel said with a saddened look on her face. "To have done something like that it to someone else unintentionally must be troubling, and for a girl to have it happen so young. Poor thing. It explains why she is a bit reserved, I suppose."
Olly looked at Kayla and gave her a smile and then rejoined the conversation. "I could see it being the kind of thing that is hard to live with, knowing that you have that kind of power," he returned his attention back to Kayla with another smile. "But I've learned that we all have powers. Every one of us. We just need to learn to identify and then control them. Wouldn't you agree?"
Kayla blushed slightly and smiled back. “Yeah, I guess that’s true, some are just a bit more temperamental than others which makes them harder to control.” With that statement she was thinking of Liz’s magical prowess and the instability that came with it. There had been some improvement, but it was apparent the Slayer was still frustrated that her emotions outweighed her control.
Sally nodded. “Yeah, I can see your point there. And power comes in all sorts of different shapes and forms. There’s the mystical type, like witchcraft, the Slayers’ strength and skill, and that odd dream seeing ability that Chris and Ben have. And then there’s the non-mystical form, like strategy and surveillance,” she looked at Rachel and Olly with a smile. “And I know that Ange feels a lot better now that she knows how to control her strength. That’s why it’s so important for a Slayer to have a Watcher, or someone to train and guide them. And it’s important for a witch to have a teacher as well,” she glanced at Kayla. “And it’s important for a strategist and surveillance team to have some sort of guidance. It’s a lot easier when you have help,”
“Definitely,” Kayla agreed. “Since Jonathan’s been training me with my magic, I’ve been able to control it a lot more, and even try out some harder spells. It’s like being in a tiny Hogwarts,” she grinned, beginning to feel more at ease with her surroundings. She edged closer towards Olly and smiled up at him. “I don’t scare myself as much as I used to, heh!”
Olly smiled back at her and reached out and took her hand, interlocking their fingers for a moment in a gesture of affection. "You have nothing to be scared of," he whispered into her ear, and then pulled back. "A wise man, even though he was an American, once said that 'there is nothing to fear, but fear itself.' I certainly feel that is the case. . we have a tendency to make our problems much worse because we amplify them with our fears and concerns."
Rachel looked to Olly and Kayla and grinned. ‘So... Olly and the witch... hmmm...’ she thought to herself as she turned her attention back to Sally. "And I have two great teachers to learn from." She said hugging Sally and Olly into a tight hug.
Kayla was left out of this little ‘grouphug’ and immediately stepped backwards, lowering her head. She was trying to show she didn’t care, forcing a weak smile forward, but it wasn’t working too well.
Sally seemed to pick up on the witch’s sudden change in comfort levels and pulled away from the hug. “You’re right, Olly, people can make their problems worse with fears and concerns, but that’s just human nature. We’ll always do it, even if we try not to. In a way I guess it’s not such a bad thing. It shows we care enough to worry,” she smiled at Rachel then glanced over at Kayla, trying to bring her back into the circle. “And Kayla, from what I’ve seen of your abilities, you really don’t need to be scared. I was lucky enough to spy you and Liz working together when Giles and Chris were starting your combined training, and it looks like you two are compatible magic-wise. How is Liz going with all that by the way?”
Kayla arched her eyebrow. She wanted to be careful what she said in response, particularly with the present company. “Oh, she’s getting a lot better,” she said quietly. It was true… to a point. “Jonathan’s really happy with the both of us,”
Sally grinned. “Great! Because I know how worried Liz was about her lack of control,” she looked back at Olly. “Another example of the fear and concern factor coming in, I suppose, but with powers like that, who wouldn’t be?”
"Control of emotions can be a... tough thing to master," Olly commented, choking on the response as he thought ever so briefly about his troubled relationship with the Slayer, but the dark cloud passed as he looked at Kayla. "But it can be done. You just need the right motivation for it."
“Definitely,” Sally nodded, then glanced down at her watch. “Aah no, I keep losing track of time! That’s not like me at all,” she smirked. “I’d better get going, I’ll see you guys later,” she smiled at each of them in turn and quickly exited the room.
Kayla watched her go, and the unsettled feeling she’d had before returned. Sally’s presence had at least offered some sort of ease. “I should maybe go as well,” she said quietly, feeling her face burn from an obvious blush. “I’ve um, I’ve got some stuff I need to do,”
"Nah, you stay girl. I've got to get back to my room and have a shower. Two tough sparring sessions in one day, make for one sweaty Rachel. I think it's probably best for all of us if I go and wash up," Rachel replied as she looked at the two of them. "Thanks for your help," she smiled at Olly and hugged him. She then turned to Kayla and gave her a smile. "Thanks for coming to watch. Hope I gave you a good show."
Olly watched her go silently and as Rachel left the room, he turned to face Kayla with a look of concern. "Kay... you alright?"
Kayla stared up at him, suddenly wishing she’d stayed with Faith and Erin. She didn’t want to tell him her fears, he’d only think she was being stupid. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied awkwardly. “Just worried about Erin, and I’m kind of wondering what Jason was calling Thomas about.” It was somewhat true. Of course she was worried about Erin, but she also hoped that bringing in the sudden phone call would be enough to stop him asking questions.
Olly took her chin in his right hand and placed a slow, tender, lingering kiss to her lips, now that the room was empty, save the two of them. "Okay... cuz I truly do hate it when you worry, Kay," he whispered as pulled away and began to massage her shoulders. "If you see Erin can you let her know that Ronan is apparently ready to talk to her... if she wants to talk to him."
Kayla closed her eyes for the kiss and opened them again, feeling the paranoia start to drain away slightly. “Oh, right,” she murmured. “I will, then,” she looked up at him and smiled. "I really should get going, but I'd be interested to see your next session with Rachel, whenever it is, if that's all right. I'd like to see how it's all going,"
Olly grinned as he looked at her. There was something there, but he figured now wasn't really the time to ask. That could come later. "Well, both Sally and I think she is making some real progress, which is a good thing. She is already working through enough distractions. The next session is tomorrow at 1400 in the gym. You're more than welcome to be there to observe. I could always use another pair of eyes, especially yours."
Kayla smiled wanly and nodded. “All right, I’ll be there then. See you later,” she replied, then turned around, leaving the room rather quickly, heading straight back to the Slayer wing. At that moment, she needed her best friends.
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #20 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:39pm »
Ebony Versus Rachel
Ebony took a step back, holding her fists up high to protect her face. She ducked just in time to miss being hit by Angelina’s right foot, but not quick enough to avoid the following lightening fast left hook that caught her off guard, sending her back a couple of paces.
“Nice moves,” she panted, gaining composure seconds later.
Angelina smirked. “I’ve been working on a few new ones that Faith taught me,” she replied with a light shrug of her shoulders.
“You’ll have to pass on your knowledge,” Ebony said, catching her breath. “You’re a good fighter, Ange,”
“Thanks Eb, you’re not so bad yourself,”
Brian and Giles watched the Slayers in their little sparring session from the sidelines. Ebony had wanted to set one up before she took on Rachel, and Angelina had been the best option, running through a little work out of her own in the gym before being approached. To any normal person it was something that would be quite exhausting, but to the Slayers it wasn’t even sweat breaking.
“Well done girls, that’ll do for now,” Giles said, nodding at them. “We don’t want you too worn out, Ebony,”
“Worn out?” Ebony smirked at him. “That was only the warm up. I’m just getting started,” she winked.
Angelina grinned. “Hey, do you mind if I hang around to watch your session with that bi… Rachel? I’d like to see what happens,”
“Angelina…” Giles shot her a warning glance.
“What?” she smiled at him innocently. “Who knows if I might have to take her on myself one day. Shouldn’t I at least see what I’d be up against should the opportunity arise?”
Brian chuckled while Giles rolled his eyes. “All right, fine then. But keep your comments to yourself, please? I don’t need a slagging off match along with the sparring,”
“Who’s having a slagging off match?” said a familiar male voice from the doorway.
The others turned their heads to see Thomas and Sally entering the room. Thomas had a twisted smirk on his face. Sally looked strangely perturbed.
“Hopefully no one,” Giles replied with a sigh. “Any sign of Rachel yet? I want to get this started, I have a lot of other things I need to do,”
“No, I haven’t seen her since the sparring session with Olly earlier,” Sally replied quietly. She was still thinking about the odd conversation she’d just had with Faith, Erin and Kayla. So… Liz had stronger feelings for Chris than she was letting on…
“I’m sure she wouldn’t pass up this opportunity, would she?” Thomas looked over at the younger Watcher. “Although she’s probably still a bit sore from the other session,”
“Did she get her arse kicked?” Angelina asked, a hopeful tone in her voice.
Sally arched her eyebrow. “Not really,”
Angelina smirked at Ebony. “Damn,”
Giles shook his head. “Anyway… Sally, could you maybe go and find her?”
“Let’s just wait a little while longer, she’ll probably be here soon,” Ebony shrugged, stepping over to the weapons display and taking down one of the elaborate looking knives. It glinted in the light as she twirled it around in her hand. “I like the build up, it makes things more interesting…”
"I don't know why everyone has to come and watch this. It's just a stupid sparring session," Rachel pouted as she and Olly walked towards the gym. She could already hear the voices inside.
"You've built up a fair bit of animosity against yourself," Olly pointed out, nodding to the assembled group as they entered the door. He stopped her and leaned in to her shoulder, placing his face by her ear and whispering: "But you will earn their trust back, a little bit at a time. I believe in you. Now just let's get to this sparring session and try to apply what you learned earlier."
"Thank you," Rachel whispered back, taking a breath to hold back the tears in her eyes. "Ta da. The wicked witch of the Glass has arrived, right?" she said with a teasing smile as she did a little bow for the assembled grouping.
Angelina muttered something under her breath that only Ebony could hear, and both Slayers exchanged smirks.
Giles just shook his head. “All right. We may as well get this going. Any preferences as to how you girls want to do this?”
Ebony shrugged. “The witch can decide, I’m cool either way,” she replied. In her mind it was a given that she’d be the victor, no matter what kind of fighting style was chosen. She had a little plan up her sleeve at any rate, and was looking forward to playing the right cards at the right times.
Rachel merely laughed off the witch comment as she moved towards the floor, opposite Ebony, with a relaxed expression on her face. "Let's just go hand-to-hand then," she stated, cracking her knuckles as she took up her stance.
Olly moved only in so far as the door way and stood against the wall, his eyes focusing on Rachel, and then moving to examine Ebony for any weaknesses. Aside from Sally, he figured that he was the only one in the room who really cared how Rachel got on in this confrontation. And he supposed that wasn't that much of a surprise, but it annoyed him even so.
“Right then,” Ebony smirked, casually tossing the knife she’d been holding to Angelina who caught it with ease and a slight flourish. The smirk on Ebony’s face broadened into a smile that she aimed right at her opponent. “Gotta love that Slayer skill, huh?”
The others in the room moved to the side, out of ‘harms way’, preparing to watch what was about to ensue.
Ebony took her stance opposite Rachel, lifting up her fists.
Angelina began a little chant in support of the other Slayer. “Go Ebony go. Go Ebony go…” she whispered.
Brian started to join in but stopped the instant Giles looked at him.
The head Watcher let out a sigh and turned his attention to the sparring pair. “All right, whenever you’re ready,”
The smile on Ebony’s face vanished and was replaced by an expression of determination and concentration. As quick as a flash she darted forward, span around and sent out her foot, connecting with Rachel’s stomach and knocking the other girl back a few steps. She hadn’t put her full strength behind the kick, but had ensured just enough so as to send a bit of a shockwave through the blonde. That would get things going...
“Woooo go Ebony!” Angelina called out, clapping loudly.
“No cheering!” Giles snapped sternly, and the girl promptly fell silent, however the grin still remained on her face.
"Ugh..." Rachel backed off a step, her guard up high as she controlled her breathing. The girl was faster and stronger than she was, that was going to be the case, just as Olly had warned her.
"Rachel... control... Use your head." Olly called out, his voice and body language completely calm and unfazed by what had happened.
"Nice kick, Ebony. You're fast," Rachel complimented the girl, as she bounced on her toes and faked a right hook to her jaw, and instead stepped forward with a flashing left snap kick aimed for the same target.
Ebony demonstrated just how fast she was by ducking out of the way just in time. She smirked and swung out her leg, knocking Rachel off her feet and causing the blonde to land backside first onto the floor. The Slayer hopped back a few spaces to get out of the way of the other girl. “Yeah, thanks, I know,”
Brian nodded as he watched his Slayer in action. He was extremely impressed with the way she was handling herself so far. He glanced over at Olly by the doorway to see if he could pick up on what the other man was thinking, but instead caught a glimpse of Kayla who was hovering on the other side of the door. He waved her in but she shook her head, stepping back so that she couldn’t be seen. Brian frowned and shrugged, turning his attention back to Ebony and Rachel.
Sally and Thomas were standing side by side watching. Thomas still had an amused smirk on his face but Sally was looking somewhat anxious. Her mind wasn’t completely on the fight before them so she was finding it hard to concentrate.
Rachel did a little reverse somersault which she turned into a handstand as a rather acrobatic way to get back to her feet. She bounced again on her toes, looking at her opponent from behind her guard, as she watched the smaller, younger woman moving with her, that smug grin on her face. So... faster, stronger, and even more arrogant about it. What did it all mean?
"Think about it Rachel. Adapt and conquer," Olly offered, as he watched, his attention being distracted from the fight as he smelt a familiar scent. He moved a step towards the door and saw a shadow in the frame. A smile on his face, he returned his attention to the floor, wondering if Kayla would enter the room. He hoped she would. He missed her.
Rachel heard Olly's comments and decided a change of strategy was in order. She rushed towards the Slayer and threw a right jab towards her and then shot both hands up around the girl's neck, behind her head, and then tried to ram her right knee into the pit of Ebony's stomach, switching to Muai Thi style fighting.
Ebony’s smirk remained as she saw the girl race towards her and decided it was time to throw her little plan into action. She slumped forward slightly, relaxing her entire body, letting the other girl make her moves. The knee attack winded her but strangely enough there wasn’t any pain. She stumbled backwards and pulled herself out of Rachel’s grasp. “Nice. Now we’re talking,” she muttered, holding onto her stomach. “It’s about time too, I was starting to get bored,”
Upon these words she did a bizarre looking backflip and sent her legs out towards Rachel’s stomach, feeling her feet connecting with their target. Again she didn’t put her full force behind the kick, but there would be time for that later.
The move was enough to send Rachel backwards as the raven-haired Slayer landed in an expert fashion, lifting her fists back up to her face. With a sly expression she proceeded to taunt her opponent with a subtle remark. “Come on. Make it hurt.”
Kayla continued to watch from her place behind the door, shifting back into view when Olly had spotted her. She wanted to go inside but wasn’t sure it was a good idea. She noticed Angelina bouncing up and down on the spot, obviously bursting to start a cheer going for Ebony. The witch was somewhat worried that she’d be compelled to join in, and she knew it wouldn’t go down well if she did.
Giles’s expression was a mask of little emotion as he monitored the fight. He had to admit that Rachel had some good moves. He found himself wishing that he’d stopped by to see her earlier session with Olly for comparison.
Ebony was a different story.
She’d fought well against Angelina, as per usual the Slayer combination was an even match. However what troubled him was the way she’d obviously let Rachel get in a hit without even attempting to deflect it. Perhaps it was just her tactic – letting the opponent think she was weakening so she could catch them off guard later on. Yes… that had to be it… Or maybe she was assessing Rachel’s movements, to see what the girl could do before using them to her own advantage. Either way, the Watcher had to concede that it was quite a clever idea. He just hoped it wouldn’t backfire.
Rachel stumbled back from the most recent attack by Ebony, her hands up again at her face as she looked through the space between the two at the raven-haired Slayer, feeling herself getting more and more frustrated. The scout decided to try something a little different again, and hopped towards her opponent suddenly, pushing her left leg forward as though in a kicking motion towards the Slayer's chest, but then suddenly diving in for the girl's legs, attempting to tackle her to the ground.
As the bigger blonde made contact, Olly just nodded from his place at the door frame. She was still competitive Rachel, but she was holding her temper better, and she was thinking. Maybe she was learning.
Ebony saw what was coming and decided to let Rachel get in another hit, as per her little plan. The Slayer relaxed her entire body to soften the impact, and fell to the floor as Rachel made the move. Any normal human would have been winded or in pain, but not a Slayer. Ebony merely smirked as she kicked out with her legs, hitting the blonde in the stomach yet again before doing a flip to get herself back on her feet. This time she didn’t say anything and just waited for Rachel to attack again.
“What is she doing?” Angelina asked Brian in a hushed whisper.
“No idea,” the Watcher replied with a shake of his head. And truthfully he didn't know. He and Ebony had spoken about the session beforehand, but the Slayer had been rather mysterious in what her approach was going to be.
Rachel grunted as Ebony's legs slammed into her gut again, knocking her back from her prey, as she watched the girl do a little flip up back to her feet. She was becoming increasingly frustrated now, but she knew Olly and Sally were depending on her to keep her cool in this session. She had to show them that she deserved their trust and that she had been listening to their lessons.
She bounced from foot to foot, firing out a couple of side kicks at the Slayer's thighs, looking to soften her up a bit, and then tried to catch the Slayer off guard, with a jumping strike with her right elbow to the Slayer's jaw.
Olly watched from the door with a muted reaction. Rachel was showing a pretty decent arsenal, and an adaptability to the circumstances. She was doing well, but there was something about Ebony's fighting style that was bugging him. She was playing with Rachel, toying with her... like a tiger playing with a hyena, knowing that it could kill the beast at any time it felt like, and yet still letting it stay around.
Sally was finally concentrating on things now, noting, like many of the others, that Ebony’s agenda seemed to be an odd one. She didn’t like the smirk on the diminutive Slayer’s face as she took the elbow strike and stumbled backwards. It was almost as if she was enjoying getting hit.
“She’s playing games, like a cat with a mouse,” Thomas’s voice murmured in the female Watcher’s ear as if he was reading her thoughts. “She’s assessing Rachel to see what she can do,”
“That’s what I thought too,” Giles put in. He’d moved to stand with them so he could hear what Thomas was whispering.
Sally nodded. “Yeah, that seems to be her game. But there’s something about the way she’s going about it that worries me. She’s not putting any effort into this at all and just letting Rachel make the first move every time. What is she up to?”
Ebony rubbed her jaw, feigning that she’d been hurt. She could sense Rachel’s frustration, but the girl wasn’t lashing out the way she usually did when angered. It was time to up the stakes a little bit. “Is that all you’ve got? I've had massages that were more painful,” the Slayer remarked coolly, hoping to ruffle the blonde’s feathers. She wanted the anger to come out. She wanted to see it in action for herself. Then she’d know what she was really up against.
Rachel bit off her instinctive, expletive laden reply, instead opting for a sneer, followed by a spinning back fist towards the smaller woman's jaw, followed by a jumping spinning kick that Olly had taught her, feeling the familiar tension in her muscles as the blows connected. "How's that, short stuff?" she sneered as she tried to follow up the attack as sweat dribbled off of her chin.
Olly moved towards Sally and the rest of the Watchers, his eyes fixed on the sparring session that was unfolding before them. "Is it just me or is everyone else wondering when Ebony is going to have enough of this 'teasing' business that is goin on right now?" he asked as he neared the group.
“You’re definitely not the only one,” Giles muttered in response.
Ebony recovered from the latest barrage of attacks and leapt backwards out of harm’s way, shooting a rather chilling grin at the blonde. “Aaw look at you, breaking a sweat already,” she replied cheerfully. “And here I am, not even tired yet. I could do this all day,” the grin vanished and her expression became alarmingly blank. “Could you?”
Kayla had chosen this moment to walk further into the room to get a closer look at the fight, just as the puny Slayer darted forward at dazzling speed and knocked Rachel to the floor. There was something about the colour in Ebony’s eyes that startled the witch. Usually they were bright green and warm. Now they were dark and cold. Kayla herself had come to the same conclusion as everyone else, that Ebony was playing games with Rachel. It seemed to her that the Slayer had become bored and was going to end the session in the most brutal of ways.
Back on the main floor, Ebony loomed over her opponent, the twisted grin returning to her face. “Got anything else to show me?” she asked brightly. “Or should I just get this over with? I do have other places to be, you know,”
"Shut up you little bitch!" Rachel shrieked at the looming girl as she locked both of her legs around the girl's near ankle and pulled the foot out from under her, dropping her down to her backside on the ground. The blonde scout leapt onto her, clearly anger taking over her actions. "No one talks down to me like that you little bitch. You hear me?!" she threatened as she dove onto Ebony's chest and tried to drive an elbow strike right down through the younger girl's nose.
"Oh bullocks." Olly muttered as he watched the leg sweep and already was moving towards the floor as he saw Rachel loading up. "Rachel... calm down. It's just sparring!" he called out, moving closer towards the two combatants.
Ebony took the hits as they came, not even flinching. Nothing seemed to hurt at all. But this was the anger she had wanted to see.
“Ebony, what are you doing?!” Angelina yelled. “Fight her off!”
As Rachel’s elbow came down, Ebony twisted her head out of the way, and the blonde hit the floor instead - hard. “Ooo, hitting the ol’ funny bone!” the Slayer exclaimed. “That would have hurt!” She reached up to grab Rachel’s shoulders and rolled over, pinning the other girl to the floor. “That’s it, play time’s over. I’ve seen enough,” she muttered, the grin she’d been wearing the whole time suddenly turning into something quite a lot more menacing.
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #21 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:38pm »
Paranoia
“Still can’t get over it, y’know, this whole thing with L and C,” Faith murmured, shaking her head.
The Slayer was still in Erin’s room with Erin and Kayla, even after Sally had left them to go and watch the training session between Ebony and Rachel. The others had wanted to go too, but Sally advised against it.
“Yeah it’s kind of weird,” Erin agreed. “I thought she knew how I felt, this whole being in love with too different people thing, but I thought it was with Ben and Olly. Now I can see it’s Ben and Chris, but she says she’s changed the way she feels about him,”
“People say things,” Faith shrugged. “I reckon the feelings are still there,”
Erin nodded.
Kayla was listening to the conversation half-heartedly. She was lost in her own thoughts on the matter, feeling rather bad for Chris with the knowledge that the girl he was in love with actually loved him the same way, but was already in a solid relationship that didn’t look like it was going to end any time soon. It wasn’t the pain of ‘unrequited love’. It was the pain of being so close to something yet being so far. And he didn’t even know.
But that wasn’t the only thing bothering her. She realised she’d missed Olly’s training session with Rachel, something she would have been curious to see for herself. Sally’s account of the event had reminded her about it, and now she couldn’t stop thinking about what may have happened and what the interaction between the former lovers would have been like. She was still feeling paranoid that the blonde temptress would attempt to steal Olly away from her.
Faith looked over at the witch with curiosity. “You’ve been quiet for a while, K, what’s eating you?”
“What?” Kayla blinked.
Faith arched her eyebrow, exchanging a brief glance with Erin. “You look worried about something. Is it this stuff with L? Or is it something else?”
Kayla sighed. Why beat about the bush? Faith was perceptive and would more than likely figure it out anyway. “It’s stupid, really. Just stupid paranoia,”
“Paranoia over what?” Erin asked.
“Over Olly and Rachel doing those training sessions,” Kayla replied in a small voice. The instant she said it the sillier she felt. “I know, it’s just stupid, I just, don’t know…”
“You don’t trust Olly with her?” Erin ventured.
“No. I trust him. I don’t trust her.” Kayla stated flatly. “I know that Sally thinks she’s getting better, but I just can’t see it myself. There’s something about Rachel that doesn’t sit well with me. Not just the way she called you guys freaks, and not just how she talked her way into fights with you two and Liz. There’s something else that’s bothering me, like she’s playing us all for fools and we’re going to regret ever letting her come back to the Council,” she shrugged. “Call it a weird sixth sense, it’s just a feeling I have,”
“For a witch to have a feeling like that, I’d say it’s a pretty valid one,” Erin said quietly. “For the record, I don’t trust her whatsoever. I don’t care what Sally says, that girl is bad bad bad and I seriously doubt she’ll ever be anything else,”
“Damn straight,” Faith muttered. “I don’t trust her either,”
Kayla looked at the older Slayer. “But you went off the rails, and now you’re being given another chance and you’ve redeemed yourself. Is Sally right? Should we be giving Rachel the same chance?”
Faith lowered her eyes. “Look, I know I screwed up. I screwed up big time and I regret it because of what it cost me. But now… I promise you I won’t make that same mistake again,”
“So doesn’t Rachel deserve a chance to avoid making the same mistakes again?” Kayla asked flatly. “See this is the shit thing about it. I want to support Olly in his decisions about this, but I just don’t believe it’s going to work. But I can’t tell him that. And I sure as hell can’t tell him that I think his ex might try to take him away from me. He’d think I was a total mental case,”
Faith frowned. “If he let her do that then he’s even more of a dickhead than I thought,”
“If he left you for that bitch I’d make sure he couldn’t enjoy himself with her,” Erin muttered darkly in addition.
Kayla smirked. “Thanks. I’d make sure of it too. Woman scorned and all that crap. Especially after what he’s told me, about love and a proper relationship. I don’t think he’d be that stupid, after the whole Liz situation, but even still. I’m just finding it hard not to think about,”
“Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?” Erin offered. “He’ll either understand or he’ll be a total dick about it. And it’ll be better to get it out of the way sooner rather than later,”
“Yeah, E’s right,” Faith nodded. “Tell him how you feel and just see what happens. We’re here for you either way, girlfriend,” she smiled supportively.
Kayla returned the smile. “Thanks, I appreciate that. Actually, I might see if I can catch any of this training session Rachel and Ebony are meant to be having. With any luck he’ll be there and I can talk to him afterwards,”
“Yeah, do that, then you can tell us about how Ebony kicks that bitch’s ass from here to kingdom come,” Faith winked.
Kayla laughed, moving to stand up. “Heh! Yeah ok,” she smiled at Erin. “I’ll see you later,”
“Sure,” Erin nodded.
Kayla let out a sharp intake of breath and headed to the door, just as it opened and Marty stepped into the room with Matt right behind him. “Oh! Hi, Marty, hi Matt, I was just heading off,”
“No probs,” Marty replied with a weary grin.
Kayla smiled at him then darted out to the hallway.
Marty turned his attention to Erin, approaching her slowly. “Hey, are you feeling any better?”
“Yeah a bit,” Erin shrugged.
“Good, good,” he smiled and knelt down beside her, giving her a quick hug. “I uh, have some news… it’s actually more of a heads up, really,”
“What for?” Erin arched her eyebrow at him.
“Well, Matt and I just came back from seeing Flynn,” Marty explained, noting the change in his Slayer’s expression. “He wants to come and see you, but only if you want to see him. He’s really worried about you,”
Erin lowered her eyes. “Oh.”
“Come on, Erin, you need to see him,” Matt said quietly. “You have to talk to each other,”
“He’s right, E,” Faith put in. “You owe it to Flynn to at least try,”
“I know, I know,” Erin said, holding up her hands. “Ok. I’ll… I’ll see him… but, just give me a day?” she looked up at Marty. “I just need to think about what I want to say,”
Marty nodded. “Of course, of course,” he hugged her again. “We won’t talk about it then. So. What did you girls get up to while we were away? Any interesting conversations?”
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #22 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:37pm »
Examination
The drive to the hospital was fairly short, but also quiet. No one spoke the entire time. Once they arrived, Jason led the others through the sterile white corridors to the radiology department, and through to one of the rooms where a man with curly dark brown hair was hovering by some equipment. He turned around when he heard them enter and smiled, nodding at Jason.
“Hey, I was wondering when you’d get here,”
“Sorry,” Jason returned the smile. He turned to the others. “This is Guy Stephens, he’ll be conducting the examination today. Guy, these are my friends, Chris Hollie, Ben Thomas, Charlie Avon, and his niece, Liz,”
“Nice to meet you all,” Guy said, smiling and shaking hands with each of them. He stopped when he reached Liz, who was still standing between Ben and Charlie. He noticed her teary eyes and frowned. “Are you the one who’s having the test? I thought it was a male?” he glanced over at Jason.
“Oh, no, it’s not her, it’s him,” the Watcher Doctor pointed at Chris. “They’re good friends though, so it’s rather upsetting to her,”
Guy nodded understandingly and looked back at Liz, resting his hand on her shoulder. “It’s ok, nothing to worry about. This will help us find any problems there might be,” he smiled, his brown eyes boring deep into hers.
Liz blinked, blushing slightly. The man wasn’t overly attractive, but he had a charm about him, similar to the charm Jason had. It must have been something they shared, a “doctor” thing. She almost laughed at the thought, but her heart wasn’t in it.
Guy turned away, moving over to Chris and studying him. “All right, we’d better get this going. Jason, stay with me, you others can wait outside, we’ll come and get you when we’re done,”
Jason nodded and began to usher the others out of the room, but stopped when Liz pulled away and raced towards Chris, grabbing him in a hug. “I’m scared…” she whispered.
Chris held her tightly, closing his eyes. “It’s all right, Liz,” he said quietly, rubbing her back gently.
Ben set his jaw and stepped out of the room, trying to block out his jealousy. Charlie followed him out and waited for Liz to join them. Once she did, the door was closed, and they had no vision of the examination. All they could do was wait.
***
Guy looked at Chris. “All right, better get you kitted out for all this,” he moved over to a drawer and pulled out a blue hospital gown. “I know it’s no where near as fashionable as you are,” he smirked, looking the other man up and down and noting the suit. “But it’s better this way,”
Chris nodded slowly and took the gown, changing into it quickly and sitting down on the table of the scanner.
“Ok, just lie down,” Guy said, moving to the machine and pressing some buttons.
Jason stood behind him, watching as Chris did as instructed. The table slid forward until Chris’s head was under the hole of the scanner. Guy and Jason looked to the monitor positioned just next to the machine. The examination was underway.
Under the machine, Chris lay perfectly still, his eyes squeezed shut. He listened to the whirring noises of the machine and the muffled voices of Guy and Jason as they spoke. All he could think about was Liz, the image of her tear stained face stuck in his mind. He hoped that the scan would come back with positive results, but he just wasn’t sure what to think. The headaches were almost crippling when they hit, but they only did after he saw a dream. If there was nothing inside his brain causing them, was it merely the intensity of the dreams themselves?
“Hmm…” Guy murmured, frowning.
“What is it?” Jason asked worriedly.
“Well it’s weird. You say he gets these really bad headaches. I guess you thought he might have been developing a tumour?” Guy gestured to the monitor. “But look, there’s nothing there at all. Not even any sign of possible growth. The man’s clean. So I may as well take him out of there and tell him the good news,”
Jason let out a sigh of relief and stepped back as Guy moved over to the machine and pressed some more buttons, and the table slid backwards.
Chris opened his eyes and looked over at them. “That’s it?”
“Yep, that’s it,” Guy said with a smile. “You, my man, have a clean bill of health. There’s nothing wrong with you at all,”
Chris sat up slowly and swung his legs over the side of the table. “Really? Nothing at all?”
“Nope! You’re clean. Nothing inside that head of yours except your brain,” Guy grinned, about to say more when his beeper went off. “Aah crap. I’d better get this, we’re a bit understaffed and I was told I might be needed in surgery today,” he said with a shake of his head. He looked up at Jason. “You ok to fix things up here then, Ginger Man?”
Chris arched his eyebrow. “Ginger Man?”
“Pet name,” Guy smirked, walking to where Chris had put his clothes and gesturing towards them. “Better change back into these, you don’t want to go out in the blue,” he winked.
Chris shook his head, slipping off the table to start changing. “Heh, Ginger Man…”
“It’s strawberry blond, actually,” Jason said, flicking a lock of hair out of his eyes with a mock pout.
“You wish,” Guy grinned, stepping towards the door. “Better tell your girlie friend everything’s fine, then, Chrissie boy. I’ll catch you later, Ginger Jase,” he made a gun-like gesture at Jason with his finger and opened the door where the others were waiting. “He’s all right, nothing wrong there!”
“Oh thank god!” Liz cried, racing into the room and nearly knocking her Watcher over as she grabbed him in another hug.
Guy chuckled. “Hehehe. Cute. Well. See you later,” he waved then headed out of the radiology area, disappearing from view.
“So, what was the verdict exactly?” Charlie asked Jason.
“There’s nothing wrong with him,” Jason replied with a shrug. “At least that’s a weight off everyone’s shoulders,”
Ben looked down at the monitor, at the pictures that had been saved of Chris’s scan. “So what about the headaches, then? They’re just caused by the dreams? I get them too, well, I did the few times I’ve seen Liz’s,”
Jason nodded, glancing over at Liz and Chris in their embrace as he moved towards the monitor and saved the scans for his later perusal. “I guess that’s it. I’m just wondering if there’s some way we can stop them from flaring up all together. So far that potion Tom made helps to cure them, but I’m thinking of a prevention,”
Chris looked at him. “So, another potion?”
“Yes, most likely,” Jason frowned thoughtfully. “I’ll talk to Jonathan and Tom, maybe they can help me think of something. In the meantime, I’d like to get some blood samples from you three,” he pointed at Chris, Ben and Liz.
“Why me?” Liz asked thinly.
“A Slayer’s blood might hold some sort of properties that will help,” Jason explained. “Also, it seems that your dreams in particular have the worst affect on Chris’s headaches,”
Liz’s face fell and she pulled away from her Watcher, lowering her head. “Oh.”
“It’s not your fault, Liz,” Chris said quickly, reaching for her hand. “Maybe it’s just that I see your dreams more than any of the other girls’, and I feel the intensity a lot more,”
Liz looked up at him. What was it Faith had said before? He's the one who understands you more than any other person. He has seen your dreams, and into your mind, he knows how you think. It was a true statement. Perhaps this strange melding of minds was partly the cause of Chris’s headaches, the intensity of not only seeing the dreams, but seeing into her mind and experiencing her emotions.
Jason rested his hand on her shoulder. “It will be all right, Liz. We’ll figure it out and we’ll fix it, ok? Slayer’s have a higher pain threshold so maybe we can draw something from you that will help Chris,”
Liz nodded. “Yeah, I can understand that,” she smiled wanly. “I’ll do whatever it takes,”
“Good,” Jason grinned. “Let’s get this over with then, shall we? Follow me to my office and I’ll take the samples from there,”
“Then we can go and get some lunch, is anyone else famished?” Charlie sighed, tapping his stomach.
“I am now, I was too nervous to eat before,” Liz said, following him out of the room with the others in tow.
Chris smiled down at her wearily. “I’ll get you that chocolate I promised before. I think I could do with some myself,”
“Chocolate’s always good,” Liz replied, leaning towards him and grabbing his arm. “I’m so glad you’re ok, I don’t know what I would have done…”
Chris pulled his arm away to wrap it around her shoulders in a hug. “Don’t think about that now, it didn’t happen so we don’t have to worry about it,”
“That’s right, it’ll be ok now,” Ben said quickly, stepping up beside them and taking Liz’s free hand in something of an effort to remind her of who she was in a relationship with. “We’ll make sure of it,”
Charlie and Jason looked over their shoulders at the trio, then exchanged glances of their own. It was obvious to them that there was a slight war for affections going on. And Liz was still completely oblivious to it.
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #23 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:36pm »
Liz blinked, looking away. “I… heh…” she started, trailing off. She shook her head. “Meant to be together? Like some kind of weird fate thing?”
“Destiny,” Faith said with a nod. “You two were destined to meet each other. He's the one who understands you more than any other person. He has seen your dreams, and into your mind, he knows how you think. You say he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you. I think you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him,”
Liz stared at her. Could that be true? She couldn’t believe she’d just admitted such a deep secret, that she had been in love with Chris for a time. She’d pushed all the feelings away, though. And now her feelings for Ben were clouding them. But after the night before, she was starting to wonder if the feelings were coming back. It was utterly confusing.
Her thoughts were broken by a loud knock at the door and the appearances of Ben and Sally, who had met up on their way to Erin’s room and entered at the same time. It was a welcome interruption that ended the conversation, much to Liz’s relief. She wasn’t sure what Faith was trying to get her to say, but thankfully she wouldn’t be able to with the others there.
“Hey hey, more people here to see you,” Ben said, grinning at Erin then kneeling down next to Liz and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry about last night,” he whispered in her ear, giving her a quick kiss before pulling away.
“It’s ok,” Liz replied thinly, leaning into his hug.
Sally smiled and sat down between Faith and Kayla. “How are you feeling, Erin? You look much better,”
“Oh yeah, I’m feeling better, physically,” Erin replied with a nod and weak smile. She was still thinking about what Liz had just told them, trying to avoid Ben’s eye by looking straight at Sally.
“I’ve got something to cheer you up,” Ben said, turning to face her and holding out his hand. “I think you’ll like it,”
Erin looked down at his closed hand, watching as he opened it to reveal a tiny silver charm in the shape of a Dalek. “Aaw wow!” she breathed.
“Hehe… now you can wear your favourite Dr Who villain around your neck or on a bracelet,” the Watcher grinned.
Erin looked up at him. “Thank you, it’s great!”
“How sweet,” Sally commented. “That’s so cute,”
“B knows what we all like,” Faith said with a wink, nodding at the Dalek with approval. “Well, what we’d like as individuals, that is,”
Ben smiled at her. “I try. Say, mind if I take this one away for a while?” he gestured to Liz with his head.
“Go for it,” Erin replied, taking the charm and holding it up for closer inspection.
Ben helped Liz to stand and led her back out to the hallway, closing the door behind them.
Faith watched them over her shoulder then turned to look back at Erin, Kayla and Sally. “Wow… I can’t believe she told us that… She’s in love with him! And he’s in love with her!”
“Faith…” Kayla shot her a warning look. “Don’t go interfering…”
“Ooh I won’t, I won’t,” Faith waved her hand dismissively. “It’s just interesting, don’t you think?”
Sally stared at them. “What’s interesting? Who’s in love with who?”
“Liz is in love with Chris,” Faith replied bluntly.
“Was in love, she’s not anymore,” Kayla said quickly with a shake of her head. “She’s with Ben now,”
“Nah I reckon she still is, she just doesn’t want to hurt Ben,” Faith shrugged.
Sally’s jaw dropped in shock. “What?!”
Erin smirked ruefully, playing with the little Dalek charm in her hand. “See what being out of the loop gets you?”
****
Liz and Ben wandered down the hallway a slight distance away from Erin’s room. Ben still had his arm around Liz and was resting his head on top of hers affectionately. “I meant what I said before, I’m sorry about last night. If I wasn’t needed at work I would have stayed with you,” he murmured.
Liz smiled up at him. “I know. It’s ok, really. I wasn’t alone,” she felt her face start to burn slightly. “Chris and I kept each other company, watching movies all night,”
She felt Ben’s grip around her shoulders tighten as she spoke, but she didn’t quite register why.
“It’s good that you and Chris can be there for each other like that,” he said quietly, only just managing to keep the annoyance out of his tone. Ever since Faith had opened her big mouth at Liz’s party, he was feeling slightly on edge about the Chris factor. It frustrated him, because he liked the older Watcher and considered him a good friend. He just didn’t know what to think of the relationship the older Watcher had with his young Slayer.
Liz swallowed. Ben’s words echoed around in her head: “It’s good that you and Chris can be there for each other like that…” She suddenly remembered the hospital visit, and the thought triggered off something in her mind. She blinked quickly, her eyes watering from tears. If something really was wrong with Chris…
Ben noticed her change in mood and frowned, turning her around to face him and cupping her face with his right hand. “Hey, what is it? What’s wrong?”
His answer came in a different form, with Chris, Jason and Charlie walking towards them down the hallway. None of them looked overly joyous. When Liz looked up to see them, she knew what was coming, and promptly burst into tears, sobbing into Ben’s shoulder.
“What on earth?!” Ben gasped, pulling the girl towards him in a tight hug to comfort her. “What’s going on?”
Chris lowered his head while Charlie moved forward, patting Liz’s back gently.
Jason let out a sigh. “All right, come on now… There’s no need for that, Liz, you’ll just wear yourself out,”
“Would someone just tell me what’s going on?” Ben asked again, looking directly at Chris.
“It’s nothing major, Chris just needs to get a medical examination,” Jason replied calmly. “We’re going to see if we can get rid of those dream induced headaches for good, so we have to do a scan of his brain to see if anything in there is causing problems,”
Ben just stared at him in shock, tightening his grip on Liz. Now he understood. “Oh, my god…”
“Come on, we’d better get going, I don’t want to keep Guy waiting,” Jason went on in a businesslike tone, turning on his heel and heading off back down the hallway.
“Guy?” Ben enquired, following after him with Liz still by his side and Charlie on the other. Chris was hanging back slightly.
“Guy Stephens, he’ll be doing the scan, it’s his specialty,” Jason replied.
Ben nodded and kept walking. He wasn’t sure he wanted to ask anymore questions. Jason didn’t appear to be in the mood to answer them. For the moment he was more concerned about the way Liz was reacting, still crying and leaning onto him for support. It was obvious she was petrified, and he understood that. He leant down towards her, kissing her on the cheek. “It’ll be ok, Liz, you have to believe that,”
Liz nodded and managed to pull herself together as the group reached the stairs and began the descent. Luckily no one else was present to question them.
The rest of the walk was silent until they made it outside to Jason’s van, and they all piled inside. Liz climbed into the backseat, with Ben behind her. Chris and Charlie seemed to have some sort of unspoken agreement which led to Chris in the passenger seat beside Jason and Charlie in the back on the other side of Liz.
Jason glanced at his rear vision mirror then started the engine, steering the van out of the car park area and in the direction of the hospital. He was putting on a tough front, but was very much worried about Chris. He wasn’t sure what they’d find in the scan, but he hoped to God it wouldn’t be anything life threatening. Not just for Chris’s sake, but for Liz’s as well…
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #24 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:36pm »
Unexpected Confessions
“So… things between you and Soldier Boy were getting a bit hot, eh?”
Kayla instantly blushed as she stared at Faith. “Uh. Yeah… he says he loves me as well,”
The former ‘rogue’ Slayer smirked. “Nice one. I mean, I don’t think he’s good for much else than a bit of a bump and grind, but hey, you go girl,”
Kayla nodded awkwardly then glanced over at Liz who was looking rather pale. “Liz? You’re ok with all this, right?”
Liz looked up at her. “Oh? Oh. You and Olly. Yeah, of course I’m ok with it. I think it’s great,” she forced a smile.
“You’ve got a good distraction anyway,” Erin put in, looking at her best friend closely. “Ben,”
“Heh yes…” Liz’s smile became more genuine. “He’s a very good distraction,”
“I’d say he would be, with that tight bod of his, rowr!” Faith smirked at Liz suggestively, nudging the other girl with her elbow.
Liz joined Kayla in a combined blush.
The four of them were sitting on the floor in Erin’s room, talking about various things. Erin was much more alert than she had been in the morning, and seemed somewhat brighter as well, although no where near close to her ‘old self’. Kayla now knew the full story behind Erin’s situation, and had instantly offered support.
With her usual good observation, Faith could tell that the other girls had something on their minds, and Erin wasn’t the only one with ‘issues’. Liz had been extremely quiet and subdued, and Kayla was looking somewhat on edge. In an effort to lighten the mood, the older Slayer decided to play the ‘joker’, to see if she could get a laugh out of her younger companions.
“So, hey E, I was thinking. Two guys like you, why don’t you just have a threeway or something?”
There was a short silence as the others all looked at her with wide eyes. Finally it was Liz who spoke first, unable to wipe the smirk from her face. “Uh, that could be somewhat interesting…”
“Faith!” Kayla put in, finding her own voice. She sounded shocked but she was grinning. “That’s awful!”
“What?” Faith blinked at the young witch innocently. “Well it makes sense, doesn’t it? Two for the price of one,” she winked.
Liz and Kayla stared at her for a moment then turned their attention to Erin who hadn’t responded. Both were expecting her to fly off the handle and yell at Faith, but instead she just smiled in amusement.
“Faith, you wild woman,” she murmured with a slight shake of her head. “I know what you’re getting at, but it’s not as easy as that. It’s not just the physical side of things. Plus I don’t think either Flynn nor Ronan would be happy with that particular arrangement,”
“Yeah, I don’t think they swing both ways,” Liz added, swallowing a giggle. It was good to see Erin smiling.
“Heeey speaking of swinging both ways!” Faith looked at Liz with a mischievous grin. “What was this about some Jake Gyllenhaal look-a-like hitting on Chris a while ago?”
Liz’s eyes widened. “What…”
“Ooh yeah! Marty told me about that,” Erin joined in, smirking at her best friend.
“What’s this?” Kayla stared at them all in turn.
“When C, M and B went to that tailor place before L’s Birthday, apparently one of the workers was chatting Chris up or something,” Faith explained.
“He wasn’t chatting him up,” Liz said quickly, trying not to laugh. “He was just flirting a bit. Chris didn’t realise. Well, so Ben was telling me,”
Kayla let out a giggle. “Hehehe! Oh my god! Why am I only hearing about this now?!”
“No the question you should be asking is why the hell is there a hot gay guy out there who looks like Jake fuckin’ Gyllenhaal!” Faith exclaimed with a shake of her head. “I mean, it’s a crime! My best friend in school back in Boston looked like Johnny Depp, and he was gay. It’s a law against all things sexy!”
“Like the guys from Queer Eye For The Straight Guy,” Erin put in, nodding.
Faith stared at her. “Oh hell yes! Kyan can groom me any time,” she winked.
“I wouldn’t mind Ted cooking for me,” Erin confessed with a tiny smirk.
“Jai for me, we could go and see some shows or something,” Liz said with a grin.
“That leaves Thom, but I love him, he can do up my house for me,” Kayla laughed.
“No wait, that leaves Carson,” Erin said, arching her eyebrow.
There was a brief silence that Faith broke. “He can stay on his own, I don’t really go in for the Ellen DeGeneres look anyway,”
This comment resulted in a chorus of laughter from the four friends.
Liz looked at Erin with a wide smile. “That’s what I like to see, you with a grin and a laugh,”
Erin returned the smile. “It feels better than the alternative,” she replied, then shifted back slightly, reaching up to her desk and taking something off before returning to her spot. She held out her hand to Liz, revealing a cheque. “Here, I might as well give you this. It’s a cheque for the car, my dad gave it to me,”
Liz took the offered slip of paper and stared at it, tracing the outline of Shaun O’Dwyer’s signature with her eyes. “Whoa, ok…”
“It’s his way of getting back into my good books, by paying for his daughter’s car, you know, the way you do,” Erin shrugged. “I’ll find a way to pay him back later,”
Liz looked up at her. “Thank you…”
“Hey, sweet, money,” Faith grinned, attempting to snatch the cheque away but Liz was too quick for her, pocketing it ‘just in time’. “You’ll have to take us on a holiday or something, L,”
“Haha yeah right. Don’t you have your own money now anyway?” Liz retorted with a smirk.
“Yeah, but it’s never fun spending your own, is it?” Faith winked, then her expression changed to one of seriousness somewhat abruptly. “Hey, L? I wanted to ask you something,”
“Dun dun dun…” Kayla murmured in a mock serious foreboding tone.
Liz arched her eyebrow, still looking at Faith. “What is it?”
Faith frowned for a moment as she thought of what to say, or more to the point, how to say it. “You and Chris, do you guys spend the night together a lot?”
Erin and Kayla exchanged glances, as if silently sending each other the same thoughts: What is she playing at now?
Liz was caught somewhat off guard by the question. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, last night, and when I first got here there was a night you guys spent together, I was just wondering about it,” Faith replied with a shrug.
“Last night…” Liz lowered her eyes. “Look. If Ben hadn’t gone to work, he would have stayed with me. I just didn’t want to be alone. Chris and I keep each other company a lot. We used to live together, you know, there’s nothing weird going on,”
Faith nodded. “Hey I didn’t think there was. I’m just wondering though, I mean…” she sighed. “Well. If Ben wasn’t around, like if you’d never met him. Would you and Chris be together?”
Erin and Kayla seemed to swallow a gasp between them, staring at Liz for her reaction.
The Slayer’s expression became one of shock and she looked up, staring at Faith. “Would we what?”
“Be together,” Faith smirked. “Come on, L, don’t play innocent with me. You know what I’m talking about. If there was no Ben, if there had never been Olly, would you and Chris be a couple? Or more like, would you want to be with him like that? More than just friends? Lovers, even?”
“Faith…” Kayla practically breathed. She couldn’t believe how blunt the older girl was being, and with such a sensitive subject!
Faith ignored the witch’s attempt at shutting her up. “Really, you guys are close, I want to know,”
Liz just stared at her for a moment. “Me and Chris? Together like that?” she murmured, her eyes lowering to the floor. “I. I don’t think so…”
But there was a nagging voice in the back of her head. Something that had been plaguing her all night, even though she’d tried not to think about. She glanced down at her necklace. The diamond was still glowing, albeit not as brightly as it had been that morning and night before.
“Why not?”
“Huh?” she looked up. Faith was staring at her.
“Why wouldn’t you and C ever get together?” Faith asked. “Are you worried about the age gap? Coz who cares, if you feel good with someone, why should that matter? As long as you’re legal, that is, which you are,”
Liz shifted in her spot uncomfortably. “I… no, it’s not that, really,”
“Then what?” Faith leant forward, tapping the younger girl’s knee with her index finger. “I know there’s something you want to say, so spit it out,”
“Faith, maybe she just doesn’t want to talk about this?” Kayla murmured, noticing how awkward Liz had become.
“Yeah, let’s just talk about something else,” Erin put in.
“It’s ok,” Liz said quietly. “I’ve kept this to myself for ages. Maybe I should just tell someone,”
The others looked at each other in turn before giving Liz their full attention. Even Erin and Kayla were curious about what she was going to say.
Liz looked at them, smiling weakly. “Look at you, all wanting to know. All right. I don’t know how this will sound. Really lame probably. See. I assess my love life in this way. Olly was my first boyfriend. Ben was my first lover. But… Chris…” she blushed and looked away. “Chris was the first man I fell in love with,”
Faith leant backwards, opening her mouth as if to say something, but the words became caught in her throat.
Liz smirked. “That was surprising? I guess it’s weird. I think it kind of started off as hero worship. He saved my life, and that’s how I saw him, as a hero. I started to get a crush on him, but as I got to know him over the weeks, and months, it… it turned into something more. But I could never act on it, I knew he’d never be interested in that way. So, well, I guess I managed to make the way I felt platonic,”
The others stared at her, unsure of what to say.
Liz continued speaking, a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes. “I remember the first night I met him. This crazy guy telling me about destiny and Slayers. I thought he was a total fruit and nut cake. My uncle didn’t exactly appreciate it, he told Chris to sod off, and of course, being the guy he is, Chris did as he was told. Plus my uncle isn't really someone you want to get on the bad side of, especially where I'm concerned. But it was weird. I couldn’t stop thinking about him afterwards! There was just something… strange, something… I don’t know. It was like some kind of spell,”
“Maybe it was, maybe he cast one over you,” Faith chuckled.
Liz smiled at her. “Maybe,”
“I remember that, actually,” Erin spoke up. “Coz I met Chris before you did. He called up Marty for advice, wondering how he could get you to believe him. Marty said jokingly ‘save her from a vampire!’ I guess he sort of tried to take it literally,” she grinned.
“Hehe, yeah…” Liz nodded.
“What happened next?!” Kayla asked, curiosity getting the better of her. She didn’t really know too much about Liz and Chris’s past together, and was quite interested in it.
Liz looked at her. “Well, for the next few days we just went about our business, the holiday thing. We didn’t see him again, but I couldn’t get him off my mind. One night changed it all though. That was the night I was attacked by the Bringer. He just came out of no where, and knocked my uncle out of the way. He pinned me to the ground then lifted his knife and I thought I was done for, then suddenly a hand grabbed the Bringer’s wrist and pulled it back, swung him around, took the knife and stabbed him with it,” her eyes widened as if she was experiencing the attack right then and there. “I was so scared, but then I saw who had killed the Bringer. It was Chris Hollie, the ‘weirdo’ I’d met a few nights before, heh!”
“Wow…” Kayla breathed. “Then what happened?”
“Chris told me what the attacker was, and about what The First had planned. I didn’t know what to think. But I didn’t have time to, there were more Bringers. Chris gave me the knife and told me to fight back, to just use my instincts. I thought he was mad, but he was right! The Bringers came after us and I actually fought them! It was so weird, but exhilarating. I couldn’t believe the way it all came to me so naturally. I guess the tae-kwon-do classes I took when I was thirteen helped a bit, I remembered the moves I was taught back then,”
“It’s cool how the fighting comes so easily, yeah?” Faith nodded, staring at the younger Slayer with intrigue. “So Chris saved your life, I guess you had to believe him after that?”
“Of course,” Liz smirked. “What else could I think? Anyway. After that, even my uncle agreed to me getting training, and moving in with Chris. He wasn’t staying at the old Council building then, which we can all be thankful for. For a little while it was me, Chris and my uncle, staying in this cramped little flat. My uncle eventually went back to Australia once he felt he could trust Chris enough to take care of me. The call came that I might be needed in Sunnydale, but we didn’t make it. The old Council was destroyed and Giles went into panic mode. He put the word out to ensure that any survivors had to keep their Slayers protected, and that’s when the group we have now began to come together. And then we gained our full powers,”
“I’ll never forget that time…” Erin murmured.
Liz looked at her. “No, neither will I. And I’ll never forget the time I spent with Chris in that flat of his, small though it was. It was the first time I’d felt something more than just bitterness, especially after my parents died. Being with Chris helped me realise that there was more to life than just pain and negativity. He gave me a purpose. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she sighed, lowering her eyes. “I know we’re really close, and I consider him to be my best friend. Is it weird that my best friend is a thirty five year old man?”
“I don’t think so,” Faith replied, shaking her head slowly. “But, god, L! I didn’t… I mean, I can’t believe… Well, I guess I just didn’t realise that you actually had feelings like that for Chris,”
“It’s probably not the best thing, having those sorts of feelings for your Watcher, is it?” Liz glanced over at Erin, who was just staring at her. “Did you ever have feelings for Marty?”
Erin shook her head. “No, I … no, I didn’t. Liz, why didn’t you tell me this sooner?! You know I’d never judge you on it. Then again I probably should have spotted it,” she frowned.
“It’s ok, I tried to keep it under wraps anyway,” Liz replied, lowering her head almost shamefully. “I didn’t want him to know. Imagine what he’d think? It’d just make things weird, me making lovey-dovey eyes at him while he’s trying to train me or something, heh!”
“That could be kind of funny, and cute,” Faith said with a wink.
“I can understand why you’d feel that way,” Kayla spoke up, biting her lip. “I guess you think he’d just see you as his Slayer, so there’s no room for anything more,”
“That and I felt like a complete dork at the time,” Liz shrugged. “But it is still true, he is the first man I fell in love with. Truly. Even before Ben,”
“Do you still have these feelings?” Faith asked her.
That was the question. Liz stared at the floor. “I. I’m not sure. But it doesn’t matter now. I’m with Ben, and I love him, I love being with him and I love everything about him,”
“So that’s a yes, then,” Faith stated, folding her arms resolutely.
Liz looked up at her. “I didn’t say that,”
“You don’t have to,” Faith sighed. “Look, L. It’s ok. I can totally see why you’d fall for someone like Chris anyway. Especially someone like you. You’ve both got a similar sort of personality, and you understand each other. You complement each other perfectly. That’s not to say that you and Ben don’t either, because you do. But I dunno. There’s just something about the way you and Chris are together that makes me wonder…”
“Wonder what?” Liz almost hesitated to ask.
Faith looked at her. “That maybe you were meant to be together.”
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Re: Ebony, Black and Darkness (BtVS #5) « Result #25 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:35pm »
“We should stop her!” Sally exclaimed, ignoring Thomas and pressing the button.
Thomas let out a sharp breath. “Keeping anger pent up isn’t healthy, Sally,” he replied, watching as Rachel continued to lay into Olly despite the sound of the buzzer. “I think she needs to get this all out,”
“But she’s hurting him!” Sally began to move forward, but Thomas held her back. She reluctantly stopped, but wasn’t about to give up. “Rachel, stop it! Stop that right now!”
"No… it's fine." Olly managed behind his gloves as he ducked and bobbed, starting to avoid more than most of the punches. He fired back with his own leathered fists, a double hook to the body and then an uppercut to the jaw that knocked the blonde back onto her backside.
He looked down on her and then moved away to the corner and removed his gloves. "I'm glad you learned something though, Rachel. You started to use your head and actually faked me out by making me think you were more tired than you were. You gave yourself away too soon, but the plan was a good one," he commented as he moved towards the blonde and handed her a bottle of water with one hand and offered the other to help her up.
Thomas folded his arms and leant against the wall, watching as Sally moved towards Rachel and Olly somewhat tentatively. She didn’t say anything, merely looked at them both, her eyes finally falling on Rachel.
Finally she spoke in something of a tone so stern it made even Thomas look at her sharply. “You had something you wanted to say to Olly. You could have done it without fists, but you said it all the same. So do you want him to reply?”
"He already did. He went for the knockout." Rachel responded as she allowed him to help her up to her feet.
"Rachel... I never thought that sending you away was going to result the way it did. Ronan, the General and I had no way of knowing what was going to happen to you, and every moment ever since that we have had to deal with that. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to reintegrate you with the team, and that I want the best for you," Olly stated in his cool, calm voice. "You are already learning, and I do know that you are worth teaching. You have to work with us. You have already started to let Sally in, and the results are there, but you have to let me in too."
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Rachel,” Sally put in, her tone softening. “You have to let the others, your friends, know how you’re feeling. But do it with words. If you get angry and violent, you’re just going to push them all away, and that will only make things worse. And if you don’t tell them anything at all, how are they supposed to know how they can help you?”
"Alright, alright. You're right," Rachel replied as she looked at both of them alternately. "I just… I just get these urges. I get frustrated, or upset, or angry and I just seem to explode. I've always been like that. It's not easy for me just to turn it off like that. I'm trying... I really am," she said earnestly, tears in her eyes.
"And you are doing well," Olly immediately responded. "Sally has told Giles and myself about your progress with her in such a short time, and you started to get the concept of this training session. Give us more time and some faith to work and you will reap the rewards of this, Rach. I promise you that."
“Yes, we want to help you get better, Rachel,” Sally nodded, smiling at the blonde and resting a hand on her shoulder. “We can see that you have these problems, dealing with anger management, and we’ll do everything we can to rectify it. You can be a great asset to the Council, you know. You have a lot of skill and power. But you just have to remember to think things through. Listen to the lessons Olly was trying to teach you today, take it all on board. You’ll be a better person for it,” she bit her lip and turned to Olly. “Does she know about… what happened to you not long ago?” she asked uncertainly. “Maybe you should tell her.”
Olly shook his head, but smiled none the less. "She'll learn about it in time, but I don't think that she needs to hear about it right now."
Rachel looked at the two of them. "What… what is going on? What happened? What should I know about?"
Sally looked at Olly somewhat pointedly. “You know, it’s not just Rachel who should be more honest with her friends. And perhaps it might help with her current treatment. But I can understand if maybe you'd prefer to tell her without Thomas and myself here. We do already know, but not the finer, more sensitive details from your own side of things. It's just a thought."
Olly took a breath and then turned to Rachel, taking her hand in his own for a moment. "Rach... when we had to deal with the drug ring I was slipped some performance enhancing drugs that caused me to act somewhat strangely," he motioned with his arms before Rachel could start speaking. "I know, I know. Just listen. After that experience... everything started to blow up on me. I lost Liz, I lost my confidence, and Ronan convinced me that I needed to go away and get a different perspective on things and what I had to offer. I had gotten so hung up on the Slayers and how they were able to beat me, and I let that devalue myself in my own mind," he stated, looking at Sally, and then back at Rachel. "I went back to Dublin to the church I grew up in and made and discovered something about myself. I found I had more to offer this team than fighting. I discovered that I had more to offer this fight with my head, than with my body. I had to refocus myself, and it took a lot of help from the people around me, but I made it work. And you can do the same, Rachel. You have the same potential I do, just in a different fashion. But you have to choose to reach that potential. We can't do it for you."
Sally cast a glance over at Thomas before looking back at Rachel, trying to figure out what the blonde was thinking after hearing Olly’s admission. “He’s right. You have potential to do a lot for the Looking Glass and the Council. You don’t have to be a Slayer, or be as strong or skilful as they are. You don’t have to be a Watcher and have extensive knowledge. You have a place here, you just have to find it and make it work, not just for yourself, but for everyone around you. That way we can all gel as a team and accomplish what both our establishments have set out to achieve.”
"I understand… so... when is my next session?" Rachel asked with a wide grin.
"How does tomorrow grab you?" Olly asked with a smile, glad that there hadn't been any questions of clarification asked. He wasn't really in the mood.
"I'll see you tomorrow then, handsome," Rachel replied with a playful wink as she turned and started to leave the ring.
Sally watched her for a moment before looking back at Olly. “Are you ok? I’m sorry if I seemed pushy before, I just want to do everything I can to help her, and to get the point across. I thought that maybe you telling her about what happened could be something of an inspiration to her,”
"I'm not sure I'm much of an inspiration to anyone, but I understand that you needed to try something to get through to her," Olly commented as he watched Rachel leave the room, and then looked at Sally, their eyes meeting. "I appreciate what you've done with Rachel. Despite our troubled past, I do still care for her a great deal. I was horribly gutted when we found out what had happened to her, and so I feel obligated to help her, and you have done a smashing job with her."
Sally offered him a sympathetic smile. “I think I’ve made some kind of progress anyway, although I’m not always happy with the violent aspect. But in a controlled situation, it could be a good release for her. I just hope we can keep it up. Heh her next little sparring session will be with Ebony, and I’ve been invited to observe it. If it’s all right with the others, would you be at all interested in looking in on it as well?”
"Yeah, I seem to have a fair bit of a reputation in regards to fighting the Slayers," Olly replied with a smile. "I could stop by I think... as long as Giles and the gang don't mind. I'll try to turn down the charm so that all the girls don't get too focused on me," he joked playfully. "And don't worry about Rachel's violence aspect. It can be controlled… I think."
“Hehe ok, no worries then,” Sally grinned, feeling herself blush slightly. She coughed then turned to look at Thomas, who hadn’t moved from his place at the wall the entire time. “You’d be welcome to watch as well, if you’d like. It might save you hovering around in the doorway at least, and I’m sure Brian would appreciate your input,” she added with a wink.
Thomas smirked. “Love to. In fact I had planned to do the door hovering anyway. Well I’d better go, it was an interesting session to say the least. Let’s just hope it was a productive one.” With a nod, he turned on his heel and left the room, disappearing through the door.
Sally let out a quiet sigh. “I guess I’d better go too. I want to see how Erin’s doing,” she glanced at Olly. “Have you spoken to Ronan recently?” she couldn’t help asking. Once a counsellor, always a counsellor, at any given opportunity.
Olly noticed the blush with a grin and decided to back off of that side of things. Kayla wouldn't appreciate it anyway, not that there was anything in it. "Give Erin my best, and Ronan is making do, but he should talk with her in time. For now... let her know that we are all here for her... including Ronan. He is willing to talk with her when she wants to talk with him," he offered, watching Thomas leave. "I'm not sure who he disapproves of more, Rachel or me."
Sally followed his gaze then looked back at him. “What do you mean by that?”
"It's clear in his tone that Wyvern doesn't think much of me, or Rachel. I understand where he is coming from. He's old fashioned, and he is very clear about his thoughts, if you were paying attention to him," Olly stated. "But hey, who gives a shit. It doesn't matter what he thinks. I just want him to give Rachel a fair shake, and if he doesn't... well… we'll have a talk."
“Hey now…” Sally held up her hands somewhat defensively. “Thomas is a very experienced Watcher, retired or not. He’s giving up his free time to help me with Rachel, and so far he’s doing a really good job. He’s entitled to his opinions, and he knows what he’s talking about. I’m not here to take sides really, but I know that if he didn’t want Rachel to get better, he wouldn’t be helping in the first place. He could have just told Giles to forget it, but he didn’t. It’s just that the good of the Council comes first for him. He used to be the Head, you know, long before Giles was. He wants what’s best for the Council and its members. And so far he is giving Rachel a fair go, well I think he has, from the counselling sessions we’ve had. I’m just saying,”
She forced a smile, realising she was probably coming across rather strongly. “Sorry, I guess I’m getting a bit defensive for the Council’s sake. It’s just that he really is a good man. He was something of a mentor to Chris and Dorothea, and some of the others here, and they’ve turned out to be excellent at what they do, so I know that he can help us even now,” there was a tiny hint of a blush in her cheeks as she said Chris’s name, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"You're right. I'm probably just pushing my own views onto him. I'm sorry. I'm just reading into things," Olly replied as he moved to the ring ropes. "I just find him a bit too rigid and negative at times. I don’t think he might be a good fit for Rachel, but I know that she is in good hands with you, and I trust your judgment," he stated with a smile. "I'm sorry I offended you."
“It’s ok, I just took it too personally,” Sally replied with a shrug. “I think Giles purposefully put Thomas and me together for this because he knew we had different things to offer, which is true. Thomas is quite tough, but he’s been through a lot. And me? Well. People think I’m too nice for my own good, and that I let people take advantage of me. But that’s not true. I can be pretty tough as well when I want to be,” she smirked and made her way towards the door. “I think as a duo we’ll make a good impact on Rachel, at least, I hope so. We can only do so much. The outcome of all this is really up to her. But we've been saying that from the beginning. I just want her to fully understand what it all means.”
"She will in time. We're working too hard for her not to, and Rachel, though not always the brightest, isn't completely brain-dead. She knows what this is all about," Olly replied as he walked her to the door. "Sally... you seem pretty tough to me. Just keep up the good work and I think we will see some great results from Rachel soon."
“I’m sure we will. And you… you keep yourself in the picture, along with Hannah and Ronan,” Sally smiled at him. “Rachel misses you all. I think it might be a good idea for you to get some social group activities going with her, take her out for dinner or a night out, just the four of you. I think she’d really appreciate it, and it might do her some good to get out of here. I’ll see you later,” she patted his shoulder then stepped through the door, making her way to the staircase and up to the Slayer Wing.
She hoped that he would take what she had said on board. What Rachel really needed at that moment in time were her friends.
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