Chapter Text
Buffy knew her mental state wasn’t what it should be. At least it wasn’t what everyone expected it to be. Angel, he wanted her all mopey and missing him no matter how he tried to pretend differently. Giles, he wanted her serious and Slayer-ready. Mom, she wanted her serious too, only school serious. Willow and Xander, they expected her to be a balance of serious Slayer and fun friend. They weren’t really seeing her. Not the real her. The real her was utterly complicated. Mopey and missing Angel, yes, but also bitter and resentful. Serious, deadly serious. More serious than they would be comfortable with if they knew. Fun friend? Nope. She just didn’t have that in her anymore.
“Buffy,” an eager voice called out to her.
She looked over her shoulder. Great. It was Riley Finn. The TA who kept giving her the puppy dog eyes. He was cute enough. If cute is what you were looking for. Which she wasn’t. “Riley,” she said, giving him a big smile. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if maybe you would be free for coffee or something,” he asked, hands in his pockets, smile looking somewhat strained in his discomfort.
He was nervous. She actually felt bad for him. Maybe she should go for coffee. Just to give the guy a break. She took a step towards him, ready to tell him it was a date, when she noticed a smell. She leaned in and sniffed.
“Uh, Buffy,” Riley said nervously, backing away.
Buffy looked up at him, her green eyes searching. “You smell,” she accused.
Riley shook his head, embarrassment and confusion flooding him at once. “Sorry, maybe I should just go and shower then. Coffee can wait.”
Buffy nodded her head, watching him go with keen eyes. He smelled. Her hands clinched into tight fists as a slow rage started to build inside of her. He smelled!
“Buffy, what’s wrong?” Willow asked. She’d been about to catch up to Buffy for their next class when she saw Riley make his move. She was rooting for the big guy. Something had obviously gone really wrong though.
“He smells,” she said, not even turning to look at her friend. Her eyes were tracking the boy across campus.
“Oh, well…” Willow stuttered, thinking about what her friend had said. “That’s just wrong. No smelly boys. Boys should shower, but still, you seem a little overly upset. Did he say something offensive to you?” a tiny flash of red on the sidewalk caught Willow’s attention and she glanced down. Blood. Another drop hit the glaring white pathway. Willow’s eyes darted up to Buffy’s hands. “Oh my!”
Buffy finally looked at Willow. “What?” she practically growled, annoyed at having her concentration broken.
“You’re bleeding, Buffy,” Willow said.
Buffy looked at her hands. “I’m mad,” she said as if that explained everything.
“I know, you told me, but you didn’t tell me why,” Willow reminded her. Something was really wrong here.
Buffy gave the redhead a hard look. “He isn’t who you think he is, Willow. He smells. He’s doing something bad.”
Willow realized that it must be a Slayer thing and she felt a huge wave of relief come over her. “Oh, okay. Good. I mean not good, that he’s a bad guy, but good that it’s a normal Hellmouthy kind of thing.”
“Yeah, good,” Buffy said. Her eyes turned back to follow Riley’s retreating form.
“Aren’t you going to come to class?” Willow asked.
“Class?” Buffy laughed. “No, Willow. I’m not coming to class. I have to do something.”
“Do you need me to call Giles?” she asked. “Do you need help?”
Buffy shook her head as she walked away. She did need help. She needed real help. Giles, Willow, and Zander just weren’t going to cut it. Not this time. This time she needed the real thing. She thought about her options as she traced Riley. He’d disappeared from her line of sight, but now that she scented him, she could pick up his signature. It was a new trick. As in it just came to her about five minutes ago. She followed the trail back to Lowell House, quietly walking around the perimeter of the building. There was something going on here. Something wrong. Something that needed to be stopped.
She found a dense bush and settled herself in, keeping watch on the house and figuring out her plan of action. Drusilla would be her first choice but she had absolutely no idea of how to contact the crazy vampire. Going to the gang was a total impossibility. They were neither strong enough to help nor were they capable of understanding. That left only one person who could help her. She just had to figure out a way to get to him first. Then she’d have the difficult task of convincing him to do what she wanted. Not an easy thing. Not with him. He liked to things complicated.
The day passed. Night fell. Eventually they emerged, just as she knew they would. Oh, they didn’t seem too obvious. Their clothes were nondescript, but as she followed them into the trees, they began adding things. Tasers. Masks. They were the commandos. Big surprise. And they all smelled. She could feel something inside of her stirring with rage. It was something wild. Something primal. Something given to her first by the Master and then by Angel. She rubbed absently at the bites on her neck.
The Slayer watched their moves throughout the night. Watched them catch demons. Most deadly, but a few were harmless. The idiots didn’t care. The idiots didn’t know any better. They were nothing more than children playing at a game they had no hope of understanding. They were way out of their league.
It was not to Lowell House they took the demons. It was to another place. A secret place. A cave that led to somewhere else. She waited outside the cave but only others emerged. Never the original ones she’d hunted. Eventually she decided to go back to Lowell House. Sure enough, their signatures registered strongly. She scaled the side of the house, peeking into windows to make sure her nose and her mind were of one accord. Yes. They were back. The cave entrance was connected to Lowell House. She had the way inside. Now she just needed help.