Shattered by cjsplace

Shattered ~ 6 [PG13]

Buffy and Ki landed far away from the curious eyes of anyone who might notice their sudden appearance. As if by silent agreement, they surveyed the neighborhood taking in the excessively large homes. The smallest home she saw was huge by any standard Buffy had as reference, similar to mansion or perhaps castle size. She turned to Ki, bowed gracefully and faded from sight. They would each take different areas, and meet back later to share their observations.

She slowly materialized, while remaining well within the shadow's embrace. Her training had included learning to control her mind and body, using both as the finely attuned weapons they had become. Those lessons had included learning about the different dimensions Shadow Warriors guarded against those who threatened to breach the dimensional boundaries. Buffy had never imagined the vastness of the cosmos living beyond the darkness she had fought under each night. Her time on Other seemed long ago, before she died to live. How strange that thought sounded, strange but true.

Though they had learned about the vastness of the cosmos, it was impossible to learn each world existing within the dimensional planes. Shadow Warriors would never leave Shadow, with such high requirements. Buffy doubted even Master Chi knew them all. Shadow provided its warriors with what they needed. The rest was up to them. Their training had prepared them to listen, observe, gather, and then act. Buffy knew her senses and the ability to rely on them was her most important weapon.

She studied the busy neighborhood as children played, preteens tried to mimic their older siblings and teenagers gossiped, or ran after young ones. It gave all the appearances of an average neighborhood. Mothers and caregivers kept watchful eyes on the children, breaking up fights, soothing hurts, showing affection, handing out discipline and stopping teenagers from long PDAs, or any at all, much to their dismay.

A small tyke peddled down the sidewalk while his caregiver raced after him. The downward slope where sidewalk joined street met his forward momentum. It was pure luck that no one was coming his way. Fate lent its hand further sending him straight toward the shadows and to Buffy.

She slipped further into the darkness, wincing as the little one hit the light post whose shadows shrouded her. The guttural grunt he gave had her biting her lip to keep from laughing. He bumped against it again as he tried valiantly to turn around. He either hadn't mastered this maneuver, or had suffered damage during the crash. His caretaker finally caught up with him at the exact instance he tried to ram against the post with one last bold effort to achieve the necessary momentum. His expression changed from its combination of frustration and determination, to shock as he felt his entire world-view shift. The nanny picked him up and turned him around to point him in the right direction. She gently pushed him, which earned her a stubborn glare.

Buffy watched the interplay with growing amusement. She admired the youngster's independent nature, and imagined his chagrin when faced with an obstacle beyond his means to overcome. His bright eyes spoke of the quick mind that shined behind them. It startled her when those eyes turned back to stare into the shadows where she stood. She knew the shadows held her in their loving embrace. Though Shadow Warriors blended into the shadows and knew their ways, it wasn't true invisibility. Sensitives, of which children naturally numbered the highest, could at times 'see' an oddity in the darkness. It occurred on rare occasions, but it did happen.

The nanny paused to check on her charge. She ran cool metallic hands over his body checking for injuries. He wiggled back and forth in irritation while he tried once more to turn back toward her. His frustration grew higher, stretching tired little nerves beyond their coping capacity. He honked his tiny horn as loud as he could, which still elicited the tiniest high-pitched 'honking' squeak. His back tires squealed to an immediate stop as he refused to go any further. The lone front wheel rocked sideways. It mimicked the handlebars, which shook in the negative. Tears filled his eyes as the world overwhelmed him. His nanny brushed the handlebar streamers away from his face. She smiled at him as she murmured soothingly. Pressing against her side caused a square compartment to open in her stomach. Reaching inside, she withdrew a small cup containing dark liquid and handed it to the overwrought youngster. His mood changed from stormy to bright as he happily took the offered bribe.

Buffy closely studied them as they paused in this peaceful moment. The nanny stood somewhere just over six feet in height, with skin that had an interesting metallic matte finish in pale blue that formed neatly into darker shaded uniform pieces, which appeared interchangeable to fit form and function. She was without any doubt of android in origin, and her face was distinctly feminine, although the body looked androgynous with its flat functional lines. From forehead to the nape of the neck, the head was an interchangeable molded piece, much like the clothing. Her voice sounded, soft and soothing, yet held that distinctive note needed to control children. Everything one could want in any caregiver. This one just happened to be an android.

Yes, android but not just any android. The androids were the result of the brilliant minds of Autonus' inhabitants, plus years of evolution. They evolved into loving, thinking and happy beings. They learned and improved on the initial programming to the point where they were an integral part of the world they had woken to years before.

Then, along came an outsider who wanted to rip away their happiness, regardless of what they wanted. He needed to stir the pot and stir it he did. Playing on young adults' need to rebel combined with their affections for the androids; he incited them to revolt against the status quo and free the androids. The plan was to not only to set them free, but to send them 'back' to their own world - Earth.

Buffy and Ki's job was to ensure that he, whoever 'he' was, didn't achieve his goal. Of course, they had to find him first. The other strange factor they had to work around on Autonus was that it had no champions of its own. Autonus, essentially, was as close to paradise as any planet could come concerning the supernatural. No champions brought up another rather odd hurdle for the Shadow Warriors. They would have to interact with the citizens of Autonus directly. Buffy wondered if Master Chi had picked this for her first assignment for that simple reason. She wouldn't put it past the wily Shadow Master. Her lips tilted upward slightly before she returned to her observations.

The smile bloomed full-grown as she took a closer look at one of Autonus' young. Deciding sex was her first challenge, but based on several distinguishing markings, she was sticking with her first impression and saying he was male. Although, how anyone figured out the genome of an animated, sentient three-wheeled tyke, Buffy was not sure. She did the best she could by considering the nubby tires, varying shades of blue gracing the frame and the pin striping, and lastly the large lit eyes mounted atop the handled bars. They didn't seem as if they would miss much and gleamed with equal parts curiosity and innocence that it didn't take much for Buffy to see the child within them.

Faith woke to a pounding head and strange surroundings. She lifted her head and quickly regretted it. Sharp pain lanced through her temple as several imaginative curses slipped from her lips. She knew the pain would probably get worse before it got better as she determinedly pushed up from her supine position. Biting her lower lip as she fought to keep from screaming, Faith worked hard to focus. An aura clouded the outer edge of her sight line much the way it would if she had stared into an extremely bright light. She closed her eyes, took several deep breathes and opened them once more. It was better, not perfect but better.

She realized she was in some strange bedroom and from the freaky décor, she was guessing it was one of the Souled Trio. Shit! Double Shit! Faith had no desire to play nice with the Scoob's pet vamps. She didn't care what Red or the G-man said about them having or sharing some soul between them. In her book, the best way to deal with vamps was see them, stake them. They pretty much freaked her out, and last night was example the next. Yes, they had saved her primo ass; she'd give them that. But, the question of the day was why? She hadn't the foggiest idea. Maybe they wanted to off her themselves and didn't want anyone else to take the kill? Urgh! All this wondering just had her head pounding more, not less.

The door opened behind her and as Faith turned around with her hands up to defend herself the room whirled around her. She thought she might pass out as she wondered if her brain had started to leak from her ears. What the hell, happened right before she passed out in the cemetery? All she remembered was her heart racing and then the world going black. Her eyes went back to the door where she watched Drusilla enter the room. Great, the Queen of Loony Land came to visit.

Drusilla glided across the floor as if she walked on air. Her long dress swayed to music only Dru could hear. Her dark blue eyes swept over the dark Slayer as she took in the pain the young girl tried bravely to hide. The seer's hand automatically started to reach out in comfort, before quickly coming back as she saw Faith unconsciously retreat. The reaction was the barest of shifts, and only someone who knew how to really 'see' would have noticed it. Drusilla was just such a person.

"What do you want?" Faith asked, in her brashest tone.

Drusilla sent her one of her willowy secret smile. She glided further into the room, coming as close to Faith as she dared. Her large, midnight blue eyes gazed into the whisky brown ones that tried to look anywhere but at her. Drusilla seemed satisfied at what she saw. She suddenly turned away and danced back toward the door without another word.

"Hey, Vampsilla, what was that about?" Faith shouted after her.

Dru spun back around to stare at Faith with narrowed eyes. She wagged one long elegant finger at her.

"Naughty little girl, you want to make me mad, but I won't let you. When bad little girls speak out of turn, they get their mouths washed out with soap. My mum said it's to send the badness up, up and away with the bubbles." She clapped her hands happily. "Do you like the taste of soap? I never did, but I do so like to pop the bubbles. Pop. Pop. Pop."

She popped imaginary bubbles with childlike glee. Drusilla swept from the room, with queenly grace, closing the door behind her.

Faith shook her head, only to stop when she realized that it didn't hurt anymore. She looked back at the door, wondering if the crazy vamp had done something to her with her crazy mind hoodoo. Her hand came up tentatively to touch her temple testing the tenderness.

She almost jumped out of her own skin when the door burst back open and Drusilla stuck her head back into the room.

"Daddy wants to talk to you since you're awake. Come downstairs, dark sister, the one you fear won't hurt you. We won't let him," Dru said, sending Faith a knowing smile as she closed the door before Faith could respond.

Faith crumpled back down onto the bed. She wanted to talk to Angelus about as much as she wanted to spend hours researching the latest demonoid. Yeah, right, but talking to him was the only way she was going find out what happened to her and why she was here. She stood back up and headed for the door. No use in putting this off, if the damned vamp thinks I'll go down without a fight he had another think coming. Faith leaned down to check her right boot. Good. It was right where she left it. Withdrawing her knife, she slipped it down the back of her leather pants for easier access. Her smile turned feral as her eyes darkened with the light of battle. The doorknob twisted off in her hand as she threw the door open and exited the room. An old movie she had once watched with her mom when times were still good came to mind.

Faith hit the stairs, feeling more like her old self, as she hauntingly called, "Ang-el, come out to play. Angel, come out to pla-a-ay."

She didn't have to wait long to see if her 'joke' had its desired effect. The vamp in question stood before the fireplace, looking like he stepped from the latest edition of Leather N Silk. Faith admitted Angelus was easy on the eyes, but she just couldn't ever figure out how B got past grooving on dead flesh. It gave her the heebie jeebies even thinking about sliding up on a vamp, let alone getting her nasty on with one. If she was going to get down and dirty with someone then she wanted to get dirty. How, the hell, can a girl get dirty, if the guy can't get 'hot' enough to be bothered?

Angelus frowned as the irritating Slayer entered the room. She called out to him in some singsong way reminiscent of Dru. He was wondering if she had hit her head or simply gone over the edge. He rather hoped it was the later and the Council would do away with this rather annoying girl, but knew he'd never get that lucky. Spike's, just as irritating, chuckled at her antics only added to his predicament.

Since the soul split, the three vampires found themselves irrevocably tied together. It went far beyond their vampiric bonds. Angelus learned much to his dismay that he could not hurt the other members in this little trio without feeling the repercussions of his own actions. It was like pinching your own flesh to find out if you're awake. They weren't sure what this meant should one of them die. Would the soul simply divide equally between the surviving inhabitants, return to the ether, kill the others or break the spell. They kept this discovery to themselves with no intent of sharing this information with anyone else any time soon or at all if possible.

Angelus sent his wayward grand-childe an irritated glare. Though she wasn't as quick on the uptake as his (emphasis on his) Slayer, it wouldn't do for this Slayer to pick up any changes between them and report them to the others. Before he could whisper an order to him, Drusilla danced across the floor to land in Spike's lap. She started nuzzling his neck and cooing in his ear. Angelus should have known his childe would handle his granchilde's petulance. He shook his head and turned back to his rudely interrupted conversation. His lips formed in the most stunning smile. It was the one the earned him the name Angelus. It was also the smile most demons and vampires knew meant it was time to run for their lives, or unlives as the case may be.

Faith was never one to run from any challenge. She admitted the smile made the bastard even better looking. It had her possibly rethinking her stand on doing dead bodies. Nah! So, not happening.

"Heard you wanted to talk to me, Big A. What's the what?" She sauntered into the room all rolling hips and attitude.

A dark eyebrow arched up as it took in the predatory, sexually charged creature walking toward him. This brash, loud girl had the audacity to think she could come here and demand answers from him. She spoke to him as if they were equals, as if she were on par with his golden girl. That she could ever take Buffy's place was simply laughable. He was here to let her know she was simply holding that place until the true Slayer returned. Buffy would return to her rightful place, which was at his side, as his mate and consort.

"'What's the what,' you say? Tell me why Kakistos is personally hunting you down?" Angelus demanded.

Faith paled at the mention of the Master Vampire's name. She worked hard to get her heartbeat back under control, knowing the vampires could hear it. It pissed her off having to explain anything about her past, especially to Mr. Big Headed Vamp. Considering the odds were stacked three-to-one against her, she didn't have much choice. If they were minions rather than masters no problemo, have stake will slay. She didn't trust that the soul they shared between them meant they wouldn't kill her if she didn't play this their way.

"Didn't think vamps had to have much reason to want to kill me? I'm a Slayer."

She didn't have to play too nice though. Faith just had to figure out how closely she could along the rules without breaking them.

Drusilla threw back her head and laughed. It echoed musically in the large room. She turned to look at Faith with the laughter still obvious by the gleam in her eyes.

"Naughty Slayer, she thinks Daddy wants to snap her neck and use her pretty fingers for straws. Slurp. Slurp."

She extracted herself from Spike's lap in one of those boneless graceful moves that only the supernatural can achieve. Drusilla drug her hand across Angelus' broad chest as she passed him, much the way small children touch the walls as they walk down the hallway. She didn't notice the way her touch caused the elder vampire to shiver as she continued on her way toward Faith. Drusilla stopped mere inches from the dark Slayer.

Though both women had long, dark hair that was where any resemblances started and ended. Drusilla stood tall, pale and willowy not only in her frame, but in her movements. Whereas Faith was average height with curves that had men and women taking moments to stop and stare, and who used her sexuality as if it was her favorite weapon, and perhaps it was. Faith's sexuality was on par with Angelus' smile, used to distract and disarm before going in for the unsuspecting kill.

"You fear our light will break free and we will return to the dark," Dru said as she vamped. Her golden eyes stared deeply into Faith's as she continued. "We didn't lose the dark, not completely, sister Slayer, we have simple learned to live with it, along with the light burning inside us. It is something you will have to learn as well."

Dru sent Faith one of her knowing smiles. The one Angelus and Spike had seen many times over the couple of hundred years they had spent with the psychic vampire.

"Now, tell us how you marked the Beast."

She mimicked scratching her nails as her faced relaxed into its human form. Faith stepped away from the freaky vamp lady. It was freaking her out how easily the loony vamp was able to get into her head. She would rather have Angelus put the smackdown on her than Dru go seer on her ass.

"Look, I don't want your help with Kakistos."

It was Spike's turn to laugh this time. "Girl's got spunk. I'll say 'at for 'er. She's fair shaking in her leathers, and don't want our help."

"Stow it bleach head," Faith growled.

Spike flashed his fangs at her as he sat back to enjoy the show. He knew it wouldn't be long before they headed out to enjoy a nice spot of violence and he couldn't wait.

Angelus decided to play peacemaker, although he wasn't exactly sure how he ended up volunteering for the role, especially since he was the one who began the interrogation. Later, he would blame it on the residual effect of living with Angel inside his skin all those years, but for now, he frankly couldn't deal with anymore of this childish bickering.

"That's enough Spike," he announced, allowing a subtle growl to color his voice. The sire bond though altered was still active when necessary.

"Faith, Kakistos broke vampire law by coming to Sunnydale. He knew I resided here, that I was master here, and that my childer had rejoined me. Yet, still he came. For him to poach on my hunting grounds isn't only rude but an invitation for war. You see it's not about you, it's about me."

He sent her his infamous heartbreaker smile. Faith hated to admit that smile quickened her ever-ready libido. She squashed it as best she could. It finally quieted, after kicking and screaming at being woken and unsatisfied. Faith ended up telling the souled trio everything about her last run-in with Kakistos. She found it oddly cathartic. Who knew the nutter triplets would make great therapists? Her life seemed to go from strange to fucking weird as she headed out the door with the remaining members of the Scourge as though they'd been allies, comrades-in-arms for years.

She still wasn't sure what had happened at the cemetery or how she landed in Castlevania. Faith thought maybe just for tonight she didn't want to know. It wouldn't matter much if Kakistos finished what he started in Boston. And if, if these vamps helped her off that old as dirt son of a bitch, she may not care come tomorrow. Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to slay I go!

Ki lay against the eaves of the largest home on the block. It drew people to it with some unseen force. He silently watched yet another teenaged Autonus raced up the drive to join the quickly growing crowd. The volume grew louder as they tried to talk over one another. Small shoving matches broke out as the males pushed against their bumpers in shows of aggression in an age-old dance to impress the females. Flashing headlights followed by short and long horn blasts equated to this world's mating ritual.

He saw the large hoods become translucent as they communicated. The soft hum, occasional honking horn and the slight shifting of tires told him they were doing what teenagers across the cosmos always did - gossip. Ki closed his eyes as he easily fell deeply into a meditative trance.

He opened his psyche and tapped into the telepathic chat. Ki listened for nearly an hour, before deciding he had more than enough information to report to Buffy.

Ki switched his focus from the Autonus' young adults to scan for Buffy's unique signature. He found her back atop the cliffs where they had first arrived on Autonus. Buffy didn't acknowledge his arrival as she continued staring out at the valley below and the industrious metropolis beyond it. Ki simply stepped up beside her to study the scene, and tried to see the same landscape through her eyes.

Focusing his chi, Ki reached out with his ever-present link to Shadow, and used it to connect with Buffy. His touch was gentle as he asked permission to enter. She graciously allowed him entrance into her mind. He couldn't help but stare in wonder at what he saw there.

Buffy's mind swirled with color, movement and sound. It explained many things at once to Ki about his fellow warrior. She was unlike any Shadow Warrior he had every known. He cleared his own mind as he felt her lead him forward. Ki saw her psyche softly glowing as it waited for him to join her. She smiled at him and extended her hand, and waited patiently for him to take it. Ki placed his own glowing hand in hers.

The minute their hands combined an unexpected explosion of light flared into life. They covered their eyes until it settled back to a more manageable level. The Shadow Warriors stared at each other in something resembling shock, awe and confusion. It only lasted mere nanoseconds before they continued with their mission. Buffy pulled Ki through the myriad paths of her mind. He fought to keep his eyes focused forward, which testified to his training.

Buffy stopped to point out what she had found so mesmerizing. Ki looked out over the expansive landscape, seeing it from her perspective. The landscape appeared bathed in light that seemed as if it came from every living creature on Autonus.

They watched streams of sparkling fairy dust swirl into the air and gather above Autonus. It pulsed with life, shining brightly then dulling slightly like a heartbeat. They severed the connection, stepping back into reality, ready to decide what to do with the information they had gathered.

Buffy turned to Ki then glancedback up at the softly pulsing sky.

"Guess that would explains why there's no supernatural element here. Do you think it's their souls or possibly something more? Or possibly negative emotions, which would explain allot."

Ki agreed with her assessment, but was unsure what, if anything, it would mean to them and their mission. He wondered if Buffy fully understood the depth and breadth of their mission with its increased difficulty caused by Autonus having no champions of its own.

Everything fell to them, rather than allowing this world's champions to handle some of the more mundane tasks. They would have to figure out someway to divide and conquer without spreading themselves too thin.

Ki hoped Buffy was up to the challenge since she was leading this mission. As if she heard his thoughts, Buffy turned to give him a reassuring smile. Somehow, her unShadow-like expression gave him faith in her abilities.

"There's talk of a gathering tonight after the adults go to sleep," Ki relayed the information he had learned earlier.

Buffy nodded as she turned back to view the quiet neighborhood. Her soft voice drifted back over her shoulder.

"We should head into the city to see what we can find while it's still early. Then, come back and see if this meeting will lead us to the one in charge, or at least identify someone higher up the chain of command."

The staff at Sunnydale General had trouble keeping up with the endless visitors tromping in and out of Ms. Summers' room. They finally gave up trying to run them off and accepted that at any hour of the day or night there might be someone sitting with the poor woman.

Faith still visited nearly everyday. She found her time with the still comatose woman strangely soothing. The wild child talked and read to the woman that she considered her surrogate mother figure. She told Joyce about her nightly duties, or whatever came to mind. The only subjects she never broached were Buffy, the envelope she found, and the budding and strange 'friendship' growing between her and the souled trio. She never spoke about these topics to Joyce despite the fact they were always on her mind. Faith knew she needed to speak to someone, problem was the only person she trusted lies silent before her, and she trusted no one else.

She was never the kid other kids wanted on their BFF list. Faith couldn't help it. Maybe, it was genetic, part of the Slayer package, or someone double-dosed her by accident. Nah, she knew what she was and why she was that way and there wasn't much she could do about it. Life's pretty much a bitch, and then you die. In her case, at least she knew she was the head bitch, and at least she'd go out fighting. That was worth a whole lot of something in her book, hell of lot more than she had to look forward to just one year ago. Faith figured it was better to go out kicking than rolling over and letting life just eat you up and spit you out, as if you were nothing.

Faith knew becoming the Slayer saved her life. When Diana, her Watcher, showed up, she kept her from becoming her mother's daughter, or just another invisible faceless runaway. Faith realized she wasn't exactly the poster girl for the Council. It was partly why she headed straight for Sunnydale and B. She figured she could hook-up with Buffy and together they would trip the supernatural light fantastic. Faith hadn't planned to find someone who had the perfect life, friends, mom, hell who was even the perfect Slayer. She even had her, the girl who had turned heads from the time she turned eleven, crushing on her. It wasn't the way she had pictured it. Of course, when had her life ever been easy? It was nothing new for her.

She leaned down to kiss Joyce's forehead, whispering for her to come back to her soon. She slipped from the room, never seeing the shadowed figure that watched her.

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Shattered ~ 6 [PG13]