DISCLAIMER: Buffy and characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy etc. Jade is the property of me!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to Jonel Nightingale for fixing my terrible English.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Seriously Jaded
By Angie
Chapter Seven
Buffy awoke to the sound of someone knocking on her door. Groggily, she looked at the clock, seeing that it was 11am and that she had slept much longer than she had planned. She had classes from 1pm-4pm, which didn't leave a lot of time for research before hand.
Jade sat bolt upright in bed, "the Bringers are here!"
"Relax Jade; I doubt the Bringers would bother knocking," Buffy told her.
Without waiting for an invitation, Xander threw the door open, smiling freely. "Hey lazy ladies, you thinking about getting up sometime today, we've been at it for hours," he said pointing at Willow sitting on the floor surrounded by books.
"Where's Kennedy Will? I thought she would want to be here for this," Buffy asked the redhead.
"She's not much for research, prefers the pummeling. Besides someone has to open the magic shop," Willow told her.
Buffy groaned at the thought of getting out of bed, she turned to Jade who had already made herself comfortable again. "Excuse me, but this research is about you, if you think you're going back to sleep you can forget it."
"But I'm a vampire remember, I'm supposed to sleep through the day. Besides it's all sunny out there," Jade complained.
Hearing this excuse, Xander quickly shut the blinds. "There, what's your next excuse?"
"And you thought I was evil," Jade teased rolling her eyes at Xander.
Jade liked Xander, he was amusing and she could tell he really cared about Buffy. She wasn't sure what skills he had though. Buffy and Kennedy are slayers and Willow is one hell of a witch, maybe Xander is the brains of it all, nah she thought to herself, he probably makes the weapons. Jade looked up from her thoughts to see Xander keeping busy making coffee and breakfast as the rest of the gang settled in for some serious researching.
Buffy was sitting next to Willow, going through the files about the first that Giles had taken from the council before it had been destroyed.
"So I've been thinking Buffy, the first must have known that we would figure out how to use the scythe to turn all the potentials into slayers right?" Willow asked, looking at Buffy to make sure she was following. "Maybe Jade being turned into a vamp at the same time as me doing the spell was just a coincidence."
Buffy looked at Willow, now obviously confused.
"I mean the first didn't expect us to go down into the Hellmouth so soon or at all right? Maybe the first thought it would have more time," Willow continued.
Buffy interrupted, "so your saying that Jade being turned into a vampire was just a random event?"
"No, I think the first wanted her turned into a vampire, it knew we would use the scythe to turn all the potentials into slayers, it just didn't expect us to do it so soon. Think about it Buffy, a potential turned into a vampire, then turned into a slayer at a later date. Jade wouldn't have kept her soul if it had gone down like that."
"Which would have given the first an almighty weapon against us," Buffy rationalized out loud. "But since we did the mojo before the first expected it, I don't get why the Bringers are still after her."
"Yeah, and that's the part I can't figure out either Buffy."
"We're going to have to call Giles in on this; maybe the council has some more information on the first or what it's up to now," Buffy said as she went to the phone, pausing long enough to grab her breakfast on the way. "Thank you chef Xander. Hey don't you have to work today?"
"Yup, I called in sick though, told them I have various fluids oozing from my body."
"Thanks Xander, just what I needed to hear before eating my cheesy bagels. Did Dawn get to school ok?"
"Yup, dropped her off myself," Xander answered, smiling.
Buffy picked up the phone and dialed Giles number. She explained the various theories the group had come up with and waited for his input.
"Well it's an entirely plausible explanation Buffy. If the first had managed to pull this off there is a very good chance that we would have failed to stop it. After all if it could have done this to one potential slayer, it could have done this to others, then it truly would have had an army."
"What you think there more out there like her?" Buffy asked, panic tingeing her voice.
"There could be, after all, as you said the first wasn't expecting us to move as quickly as we did and if there were others turned before Jade, then they would essentially be vampires but they would be soulless and have the strength of both the slayer and the vampire."
"That's not good is it Giles?"
"I would think not Buffy. I'm coming over there. I'll get the next flight out and call you when I arrive. Can you ask Xander if he would mind picking me up from the airport and possibly putting me up for a few days?"
Buffy shouted Giles question to Xander. "Sure as long as he doesn't have chicks round every night."
"He said...."
"Yes Buffy," Giles butted in. "I heard him, please tell him that I shall try and be on my best behavior."
"Will do, see you soon Giles."
Chapter Eight
Buffy felt better knowing that Giles was on his way, she didn't feel so good about having to tell the gang that there could be others out there like Jade but less soulful. She wondered if that's why the Bringers wanted Jade out of the way. Without Jade around the others could come in and destroy them all easily. Maybe this was the firsts' back up plan in case it was defeated.
"God I am so retarded," Buffy shouted. Her friends looked at her, choosing not to disagree. "Ok nobody argue with me," Buffy teased.
"What is it Buffy?" Willow asked quietly.
Buffy relayed the conversation she had had with the watcher, "and then it hit me, if there are others out there like Jade but soulless, who's the only one that's strong enough to take them out? Jade, so they get her out of the way and we're sitting ducks."
"Who'd have thought the first would have a back up plan. How rude! So what do we do now Buffy?" Xander asked.
Jade, who had been following the conversation from the other side of the room was more than worried. "We don't know how many, shall we call them super vamps are out there. I don't even know if I could take one out, let alone several," she said, worry edging into her voice.
"Jade we will find away, besides its not definite, it's just a theory," Buffy try to reassure the slayer.
"So far it's the only theory Buffy," Xander piped up. "So are these super vamps going to be stronger than the uber vamps?"
"I have no idea Xander."
"But Jade's stronger than the uber vamps right?" Willow asked softly.
"Well I don't know, I mean I think so," Buffy said, obviously not sure of herself.
"You have to test me, find out my strengths and weaknesses. I'm betting me and the super vamps will have that much in common," Jade offered.
"Ok, we'll do that," Willow answered, already preparing herself for the battle ahead.
"Not you Willow, no offence but I might end up breaking you. It will have to be Buffy. Physically she's the strongest one out of all of us, well not including me."
"Well yeah, I didn't mean me personally; I don't have that much of a death wish."
Buffy let her mind wander while Jade and Willow twittered at each other; she was actually looking forward to taking Jade for a test run. I bet I could make her sweat Buffy thought, I mean not in the sex way, in the fighting way, god what is wrong with me.
"Ok so I'm thinking tonight Jade should patrol with you Buffy, so you can get an idea of her fighting style and so forth."
"Ok Willow, tomorrow's Saturday so I'm thinking training session at the Magic box, agreed?"
Everyone nodded in agreement as Buffy stood up. "Right now I have to shower and go to class."
As Buffy wandered off to get her shower Jade was already worrying about tomorrows training session. She hadn't meant to kill Alyssa but she had. What if she hurt Buffy, or worse? "Can you do a spell or something Willow, for tomorrow I mean, so that I don't accidentally kill your friend?"
"I'll figure something out," Willow answered. She might not have been into girls for that long but she could tell that Jade had a soft spot for Buffy. More surprisingly though, she could tell that Buffy had a soft spot for Jade. That was more than a surprise to the redhead. Maybe it was the whole vampire with a soul thing, Buffy always seemed to end up with the soulful undead. "Jade you want to help me with a locator spell? See if we can pinpoint the Bringers location," she asked the vampire, refocusing on the task at hand.
"I'm not a witch Willow."
"I know Jade; I just meant help get things together. I don't expect you to actually perform the spell."
"Oh right, sure" said Jade, a bit embarrassed at her stupidity.
Xander decided that he'd be better off getting the spare room ready for Giles. He'd have to go and pick Dawn up from school soon and Giles would just complain if his room wasn't ready, 'sloppy' that's what he'd say. "I'm going to get the spare room ready before I pick Dawn up, I'll see you guys soon," he threw over his shoulder as he exited Buffy's apartment.
Willow was ready to begin her spell, "Jade light the sage for me and waft it around the room would you?"
"Ok but sage wafting's safe right, I mean I'm not going to start glowing or anything?" the vampire asked, still unsure about the finer points of magic.
"You'll be fine," Willow said rolling her eye's at Jade.
Jade did as Willow asked while Willow started with the whole chanting thing again. That chanting really freaks me out thought Jade, can't she at least do it in English so I know what she saying. Jade watched as Willow poured funny colored sand over a map of Los Angeles and area's on the map started to glow.
"There see those," Willow said pointing at the glowing dots on the map. "They are all Bringers, there's quite a few of them but they are mostly holed up outside of town. It looks like there's about six or seven groups of them, I can't tell how many in a group though."
Jade thought for a minute, "well when they attacked last night at my motel there were around twenty of them, so what do we do, take each group out one by one?"
"I think that sounds like a plan, but you'll have to wait till later," Willow told her.
"Why, you think I can't do this without Buffy? I took twenty out last night myself."
"I know Jade, but if our theory is right then we can't risk loosing you, besides Buffy would be royally pissed off if you went with out her and it's still daytime. I'd doubt even you could avoid turning into a big pile of dust."
"Oh... Aye...I knew that, I guess we wait for Buffy then and sunset of course."
Chapter Nine
Buffy heard her teacher talking but she couldn't take in what she was saying. Could I really be facing yet another war with the first? You'd think awakening slayers all over the world would help but not this time, Buffy thought glumly. If there are more out there like Jade, it will take more than slayers to stop them, but Jade is super strong And I'll be finding out just how strong tomorrow. There could be some kind of wrestling involved, purely for research purposes of course, Buffy thought, surprised at the jolt of anticipation that filled her body.
"Buffy...Buffy, is there somewhere else you'd rather be?" her teacher asked, obviously quite annoyed at Buffy's lack of attention.
"What....huh...no, I was just.....about to pay attention," Buffy grumbled. I'd much rather be thinking about Jade.
Dawn looked at her watch, only another 15 minutes and she had no school for the next six weeks, then after that, if she graduated, which Buffy assured her she would cause otherwise she'd be grounded for the rest of her life, it was off to London to study at the watchers academy. She hoped that Xander would remember to pick her up today, he forgot the other day and she had to walk home, took her almost an hour.
Kennedy was bored, business was usually slow on a Friday but this was ridiculous. That's it, I'm probably wasting more money staying open than I'm going to make today, she thought. I'll go home and see what Red's up to, maybe all that research she's been doing has turned up some nastiness for me to pummel. Kennedy missed the constant action of living on the Hellmouth, sure it was nice not to have to worry about dying all the time but since she became a slayer she hadn't really had much opportunity to let loose.
Xander checked his watched, "Damn it!" he shouted out loud. He had ten minutes to get to the school to pick Dawny up, he was going to be late and since it was the last day of term, she'd be angry, especially since he had forgotten to pick her up the other day. I bet she's got a date with Mark tonight, Xander thought irritatingly. Xander didn't like Mark but he knew he was the only one. He thought he was way too charming and too much of a pretty boy. Never mind, he thought, once Dawn graduates she's going to London, she'll find someone better out there, just as long as she doesn't end up with a younger version of Giles, that would just be creepy.
Kennedy got back to the apartment she shared with Willow, no sign of her in here, Buffy's it is then. Kennedy always knew that when Willow wasn't here she was at Buffy's. The two friends were close and their recent battle with the first had only made them closer. Kennedy hadn't always been a fan of Buffy's but Willow thought the world of her so she often bit her tongue to please her girl.
Kennedy knocked and walked into Buffy's apartment to find Jade and Willow trawling through books and looking none to happy doing it, "How goes the research?"
Willow looked up, visibly pleased to see Kennedy; she got up from the table and walked over to give her a hello kiss, "not good."
"What the kiss or the research," Kennedy teased.
"The research dummy, Giles is flying in from London, we could have a major situation on our hands."
"Will it involve me getting to kill things?" Kennedy asked a little too excitedly.
"Possibly." Willow continued to fill Kennedy in on the gang's progress, their one and only theory, and their plans for later.
"Ok so I'm going to get to kill some Bringers later then. Or is Super girl here going to keep them all for herself?" Kennedy teased.
"Oh don't worry, I have no problem sharing the killing, just so long as your careful," Jade warned. "We won't know how many there are until we get there and honestly I don't much fancy getting on the wrong side of your girlfriend by letting you get killed."
Willow snorted at Jade's sarcasm, she was getting to like Jade more and more and the fact that she just told Kennedy to be careful put her firmly in Willow's good books.
"Who's getting on the wrong side of Willow? Are you planning to turn evil again 'cause if you are, can you wait till school starts up again," Dawn said walking through the door.
"Or maybe not at all would be good," Xander pitched in. "I remember last time I had to stop your evil ass, quite painful!"
Willow laughed at her friends, being evil certainly wasn't a joking matter, but the fact that they could joke about it only reassured her further that her friends had well and truly forgiven her.
"What time's Buffy getting home," Jade asked.
Eager much thought Willow with a little smile.
"I'm picking her up soon," Xander answered.
"Yeah, and maybe you'll manage to pick her up on time," Dawn joked.
Willow was filling Xander in on their findings, explaining the locater spell and the plan to take out as many Bringers as possible that night when the phone rang, interrupting the briefing. Dawn answered it, a smile quickly gracing her face. As she replaced the handset she relayed the message of the caller. "Giles will be here in about three hours Xander and he asked that you try to be at the airport on time to pick him up." Dawn was excited to see Giles as both she a Buffy considered him to be a father. God knew their real father didn't care much; they hadn't seen him in years.
"Why does everyone tell me not to be late, it's not that often that I'm not on time," Xander complained walking out the door. "I'm going to pick up Buffy, I'll be back soon."
Buffy was waiting outside for Xander; she left her class early as she was finding it hard to concentrate on anything other than Jade. She found herself feeling way too eager to get home to see her new vampire friend, plus they had patrolling to do tonight. Buffy was lost in her thoughts and she didn't realize Xander had pulled up.
He sat there for a few minutes waiting for Buffy to notice him before becoming too impatient and tooting the horn. I get here early and I still have to wait, Xander thought.
Buffy was pulled from her daydream by the horn and looked up to see Xander waiting for her, looking mighty impatient. Humph, what a jerk, she thought. It wasn't like she'd never had to wait on him before. Buffy got into the car and turned to Xander, noticing the expression on his face she asked, "Ok what's happened now?"
Chapter Ten
Buffy and Xander arrived back at her apartment a little after four. As she looked around the room for Jade she was dismayed to see she wasn't there. "Where's Jade?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
"Bathroom," Kennedy answered.
"You shut up shop early today?" Buffy asked Kennedy.
"Yeah, slow day."
"So Dawn, no more school for six weeks. Does this mean you might actually have time to do your chores?" Buffy teased.
"Please it's not like you even know how to work the vacuum cleaner," Dawn answered, sarcasm evident in her voice.
Dawn had her there; in fact she didn't even know where it was kept. "So Will, Bringers huh?" Buffy asked Willow, successfully changing the subject.
"Yup, lots of them, six or seven groups of them around town. We figured, you, Jade, Kennedy and Xander would head out tonight, make a few of the groups disappear?" Willow said, casually, as if discussing the weather.
Buffy was disappointed, she was hoping for a little alone time with Jade, but duty called. "Sounds like a good plan to me," she replied, trying not to sound too bummed about it.
"Hey Buffy." The blonde slayer turned to see Jade coming from the bathroom. She had gotten dressed and it would seem that her wardrobe consisted of more colors than black. Jade was wearing dark blue jeans and a white sleeveless top that showed off her extremely toned arms.
She looks good, Buffy thought to herself. But I was really hoping for more along the lines of the shorts she wore to bed. Ok, that's it. Stop. She's female, you're female, and the group's reached its lesbian quotient.
"You ready for tonight" Buffy asked Jade, trying to sound calm.
"Sure, I guess so. I'd feel a lot better if we knew how many were in each group though," Jade answered honestly.
"We'll find out when we get there. We'll set off at sunset," Buffy decided.
Xander asked Willow if she would pick Giles up since he didn't know how long the recon would take, "knowing my luck I'd be late and Giles would be pissed."
"Sure Xander but what about Dawn?"
"Dawn has a plan of her own thank you," the teenager said while walking over to the phone, thinking to herself that Buffy was acting really weird around the female vampire..
Dawn returned to the group to find they still didn't have a definite plan for tonight, they couldn't decide where to hit first. "Why don't you go for the closest place first? That way if something goes wrong you won't have so far to go to get home," Dawn suggested.
"Makes sense to me," Jade agreed.
"Ok, we hit the closest first, and then move on to the next one and so on, yes?" Buffy said, clarifying and looking at Jade. "You think we can get through six or seven groups of Bringers before sunrise?"
"Probably not but I figured we just do as much damage as we can before it's time to come back, the more damage we do the longer it will take for the remaining groups to get their act together, they won't be expecting a full on assault this early in the game," the brunette replied calmly.
"Ok so weapons," Kennedy thought out loud. "I'm thinking something light and compact, maybe something in a small axe or a sword. If we have to move fast we don't want to be loaded down with weapons."
Jade looked at Kennedy and waved both her hands at her, "I'm already carrying mine."
"Yeah yeah, smart ass, you're strong. We get it, we're over it," Kennedy joked.
Jade gave Kennedy a playful punch on the arm; well she thought it was until Kennedy shouted "Ow."
"Sorry Toots."
"Its ok I guess, at least you didn't accidentally break my arm, that would have sucked," Kennedy laughed.
"Ok so let's eat and get organized," Buffy decided. "Jade, you okay on food?"
"Yeah Buffy, but I'm not hungry, I'll eat later when I've worked up an appetite."
As the others went to the kitchen to eat Jade went to the bedroom to change, figuring black was the way to go tonight, stealthy and all that. She was halfway through undressing when Buffy walked into the room.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry," Buffy mumbled, attempting to avert her eyes. Secretly she wasn't sorry as she stood there looking at Jade wearing nothing but a smile and her underpants.
"Don't worry about it, it's your room after all, did you want something or are you just here to check out my rack?" Jade teased.
"What...huh...um...no…I, uh, was...I was coming in here for something but I forgot what it was," Buffy said becoming more flustered than she'd like and mentally noting Jade's amused expression.
"Maybe you were coming in here to change out of your unstealthy clothes?"
Buffy looked down at her bright blue ankle length skirt and her baby pink top, "oh I see what you mean, dress code black tonight then." Buffy looked at Jade while she dressed, wondering if she was going to leave the room while she changed or stay.
"I'll go let you get changed; I'll go over a few last minute details with Kennedy," Jade said, obviously aware of Buffy's being uncomfortable.
As Jade turned and left the room Buffy realized that a part of her had hoped the vampire had stayed, just so she could gauge Jade's reaction while she undressed. She knew she was feeling something for Jade, what she hadn't admitted was that she was desperate to find out if it was one sided or if Jade was feeling something too.
As Jade entered the main part of the apartment, she saw that both Xander and Kennedy had thought the same as her, that black was the best choice of clothing. As the three waited for Buffy, Jade let her thoughts wander back to behind the closed bedroom door. I really wanted to stay, she thought to herself. I don't know if I'm developing feelings for this girl or if I'm just trying to make up for what I lost when Alyssa, well died. But I'd kill to see what she's hiding under those clothes. As the vampire's thoughts headed in a direction that was more explicit than she needed at the time, Buffy exited the bedroom wearing the combat gear from when Riley had been in town.
"We ready to do this?" the blonde slayer asked, quickly surveying the gang.
"Sure are," the three answered in unison, each with their weapons and loyalty to Buffy as their protection.
Chapter Eleven
Following the map given to them by Willow the gang made their way to the first location. Walking in silence, their senses alert, and their bodies ready for action. Jade was eager, she couldn't wait to get there and test out her skills. She hadn't really fought much since becoming a vampire; she was ready to let loose on these guys.
As they got closer to the first location, Buffy stopped the group, "first of all we need to do a little recon, find out how many we're up against, locate any escape routes, etc. We don't want any of them getting out and tipping off the others."
The building the Bringers were holed up in was an old warehouse with one way in and one way out; all the windows barred and locked. Looking inside Jade reckoned there were twelve to fifteen Bringers. It was just floor space, no other rooms, no second floor so she could see all of them quite easily.
"Kennedy, Xander, Jade and I will go in first, you hang back and guard the door," Buffy said as she stood beside the brunette.
"But Buffy, I want to kill something, Jade told me I'd get to kill something," Kennedy whined, sounding like a chastised child.
"Kennedy, where do you think the Bringers will head once they realize they are under attack?" Jade asked.
"Oh right, got ya," Kennedy said, slightly embarrassed by her previous outburst.
"What? Um, wouldn't it make more sense for me to be somewhere other than the door then?" Xander almost begged.
"Try not to worry Xander, I took out twenty of those buggers the other night, I think the four of us can manage to take fifteen out with out even so much as a scratch," Jade said, smiling at Xander.
Buffy looked at Jade, "ok, on three?"
"You're the captain Buffy," Jade replied.
"One...two...three." Buffy and Jade charged in first, Xander and Kennedy did as told and hung back guarding the door. They watched while Bringers flung themselves at Jade and Buffy. Jade took out four Bringers without even breaking stride and another three felt the pointy end of Buffy's sword.
Kennedy turned to Xander, "see I knew I wasn't going to get to kill anything."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Xander replied pointing at three Bringers coming their way.
"That's more like it," Kennedy said, excitement in her voice.
Two of the Bringers went for Kennedy while the other went for Xander. Kennedy took her Bringers out easily with a few sweeps of her sword. Xander however was left wishing he had brought a sword instead of his axe. It was too short and required him to get close to the Bringer to use it; every time he did the Bringer punched him and waved his knife around.
Kennedy, noticing this shouted to Xander while throwing him her sword, he caught it and turned to the Bringer, smiling. "Not so smart now are we Baldy?"
With one swing Xander cut off the Bringers head. He and Kennedy joined Buffy who was watching Jade take out the remaining five Bringers.
"It's almost graceful," Xander said of Jade's style while fighting.
"She's kind of hot for a vampire," Kennedy said without thinking. "But as far as Willow's concerned I never said that."
Meanwhile Buffy was flashing back to the 'hungry and horny' speech Faith gave a few years back when she first arrived in Sunnydale. "Well at least I'm not hungry," Buffy said more loudly than she had intended.
"Huh?" Xander asked looking confused.
"Oh nothing, forget about it."
"We should do a quick sweep inside and out," Jade said as she approached the group, wiping the Bringers blood off her hands. "Make sure we haven't missed any, or you know to check for clues or something. Xander, Kennedy, stay on the door, Buffy, we'll check inside then have a check around the perimeter, aye?"
Buffy loved Jade's Scottish accent, especially the way she said Aye, cute.
"Buffy, did you hear me?" Jade asked.
"What, oh yeah, right behind you".
"I tell you," Kennedy said, "if the rest of the locations are as easy as this we might be home in time for supper."
"Nah, they'll only get harder the further we go, it's like an unwritten rule or something." Xander said distractedly as he watched the door.
Kennedy was fond of Xander, he had been the one who saved Willow when she went evil after Tara had been killed, without him there would be no Willow and no world and Kennedy loved him for that. It was like having a big brother that you could always depend on no matter what, unless of course you needed to be somewhere on time.
Buffy and Jade walked in silence scanning their surroundings. "Nothing here Jade, I think we got them all," Buffy said quietly.
"Ok we'll do a quick sweep outside and move on to the next location," Jade answered.
After their sweep turned up nothing outside Buffy decided it was time to move on. "Same scenario as before guys," she said as they started towards the nest location.
The next location was about thirty minute's walk away, Jade and Buffy walked upfront, Buffy turning her head every now and again to look at Jade. She was still amazed by Jade's strength and was thankful that she was on their side. As Jade walked along she could feel Buffy looking at her but she thought it best not to look back, she wanted to stay focused on the job at hand, and looking at Buffy would be a distraction she didn't need right now.
As Kennedy and Xander walked along behind Buffy and Jade, Xander turned to Kennedy, "what's up with those two? I'm sensing a weird vibe coming from them."
"A weird vibe? It's called attraction you dolt," Kennedy answered quietly.
"What, why would there be attraction and how can you tell?" Xander responded, disbelief evident in his voice.
Kennedy giggled at Xander, "hello, lesbian here, Jade's definitely gay and she likes Buffy, that much I can tell. But Buffy, I've never gotten the gay vibe from her but she sure likes Jade."
"But how can you tell, why can't I tell."
Kennedy rolled her eyes, "you're straight Xander, you don't have gaydar, or at least I hope you don't."
"No I'm gaydar free, sure is a handy skill though, so you really think Buffy's into Jade?"
"Yeah. I'm not so sure she's realized it yet though," Kennedy said as she watched the two slayers walking up ahead.
As they arrived at the second abandoned warehouse, Buffy turned to Jade "what's the deal with evil things and warehouses?"
"I don't know, maybe it's the dankness?" Jade answered with a shrug of her shoulders.
Two exits this time but only seven Bringers that Buffy could see, at least on the first floor. The second floor of the warehouse, and any inhabitants were up for debate. Luckily the windows were also barred up. "Okay guys almost the same as before but Xander and Kennedy, take an exit each and this time be extra alert, we've got a second floor and there could be more of them up there."
Jade loved the way Buffy was always in command, it reminded her of Alyssa. Alyssa always took charge, whether it was out in the field or in the bedroom. Stop thinking of Alyssa, she's gone, she went evil and tried to kill you, focus on the job at hand, Jade told herself.
"So I guess we go on three again," Buffy stated.
After Buffy got to three, the two slayers charged in, while Xander and Kennedy took to the exits. All seven Bringers charged at Jade, which was no problem for her; as Buffy quickly realized by how quickly the vampire made them history. As she tore her eyes away from Jade, another twelve Bringers were jumped towards her from the second floor.
"Jade I need you, got another twelve from above," Buffy shouted.
Jade heard Buffy and made quick work of the last two Bringers, rushing to the blonde's side. Four of the Bringers broke away and charged at Xander. Jade knew there was no way he could take on four himself.
"Kennedy, help Xander," Jade yelled at the younger slayer.
Kennedy did as she was told and ran over to the exit Xander was guarding, together the two of them fought the four Bringers, but one made a dash towards the exit.
"Jade, three' o'clock, one's about to go AWOL," Kennedy yelled.
Jade turned and saw the Bringer almost at the exit, and then she turned to Buffy, and saw five Bringers around her. Sensing her dilemma Buffy shouted at Jade to stop the lone Bringer escaping, "I'll be fine, just don't take forever ok," the blonde reassured her.
On Buffy's command Jade ran after the lone Bringer, taking it down with a rugby tackle. Gotta love a rugby tackle thought Jade, she could never understand the American's need to suit yourself up with layers of padding and a crash helmet just to play a game of rugby. She grabbed the Bringers head and smashed in into the floor, immediately getting up and running over to Buffy. She had taken out two Bringers and was struggling with the remaining three. Jade took out two by ripping their heads off, leaving Buffy fighting the final one. She really does have a thing for ripping the heads off things, Buffy thought while cutting the head off the remaining Bringer. I gotta remember to ask if she had Barbie's growing up.
Once all the Bringers were dead Kennedy and Xander returned to their positions while Buffy and Jade did a quick sweep inside and out. That fight had really taken it out of Xander, he wasn't like the other three, he wasn't a slayer or a vampire, or a vampire vampire slayer, he was just a regular guy. But hey I do ok for a regular Joe, he thought to himself. Kennedy took one look at Xander and knew he would struggle at the next location. She hoped it would be easier than this one.
Chapter Twelve
"Ok," said Buffy checking the map. "We have four locations left, three of which are too far away to get to on foot tonight, let's hit this last one and call it a night. It's only about ten minutes from here. We'll come back out tomorrow with Xander's car."
Kennedy turned to Xander, "you know that unwritten rule you talked about before? Well I don't like it, it mean's this next place is going to be worse than the last two places."
Xander smiled at Kennedy, he wasn't sure of her when she first came on the scene, he was terrified Willow would get hurt again, but Kennedy had proved him wrong.
"Hey you wanted to kill things," Jade shouted from upfront, "be careful what you wish for toots."
Buffy turned to Jade, "so you having fun?"
"What killing and maiming? Aye I'm having a blast. That last place was pretty hairy though, what about you, is this fun for you?"
Buffy decided to put it out there, "I'm having fun being with you."
Jade looked at Buffy and smiled, "aye, me too. You're not bad for a slayer," she added with a wink.
They got to their final location of the night and were surprised to find it wasn't an abandoned warehouse but an old cinema.
"I don't like this Buffy, no windows, plenty off nooks and crannies inside," Jade said, concern for her new friends evident in her voice.
"There's got to be a way to see in somewhere Jade, there's only one door upfront, maybe there's a fire exit round the back," Buffy answered, looking intently at the cinema.
Jade signaled to Xander and Kennedy to follow. She felt sorry for Xander, he looked wiped, and she kept forgetting he was just a regular guy. Still she was pretty impressed by him, he did good for a human. They came round the back of the building and sure enough there was a fire exit, no window on the door though.
Jade whispered to Buffy, "I'm going to try and open the door a crack, see what's going on."
"Be careful," Buffy told her, affectionately touching Jade's arm.
As Jade made her way towards the door she could see it was already open. Good saves me a job, she thought. Looking through the crack in the door she could make out at least thirty Bringer's and seven vampires. Not in this life, she decided. She walked back over to Buffy and the rest of the gang and told them what she saw.
"There is no way we can deal with that many. If it was just bringers sure, but there are at least seven vamps in there and judging by the amount of Bringers guarding them, they ain't no ordinary vamps," she said, meeting each set of eyes in turn.
"But you're super strong," Kennedy said quickly. "You can take them out while the three of us deal with the Bringers."
"No way can I take seven of them out, if they are each as strong as me that's like me times seven. Besides, no offence, but I doubt very much that the three of you could take out thirty Bringers alone and there's no guarantee that those vamps wouldn't come after you guys, it's way too risky," Jade said, pleading her case by holding Buffy's eyes with her own.
"I agree," Buffy said. "I think it's time to go home and regroup, Giles should be there by now, maybe he'll have some ideas."
"Fine," Kennedy grumbled, disappointed that they didn't get to finish their mission. I suppose Jade's right, going homes better than dying, she thought as they turned back towards the apartment.