ONCE MORE/ PART SEVEN
The bullet hit Rory from the side, just as he was above Buffy, and instantly the vampire fell fast to the floor. Buffy ducked right away, letting the limp body careen over her own until it landed with a bloodied stop. Several of the nearby attackers dropped their kills and fled at the sight.
"Buffy!" Cordelia did a flying leap into the air, knocking a vamp with each leg. "Got you covered!"
The reluctant Slayer was shocked to see Cordelia be so brave. The last she'd seen her, Cordy had been a boy-crazy co-ed, a scaredy cat. Two years had changed her. And she could fight!
"Oof!" Buffy slammed her knees into an advancing bloodsucker, pulling an extra stake from her hair as he fell into dust. "Cordelia!" The other woman turned around. "You SHOT Rory?"
Cordelia flew to Buffy's side, tossing her the gun. "Yup," she replied, suddenly losing her spoiled exterior and becoming someone new, someone Buffy had never seen before. The tall brunette fought well alongside her physical opposite, decking vamps with ease. "I had to defend my club, didn't I? When you left, it wasn't like the vampires ---" An especially burly one threw an acute kick to her head, throwing Cordelia to the floor. Buffy herself was struggling at hand-to-hand with a skinny female, until she noticed Cordelia squirming in the vampire's grasp. There was an intense desire to save her, quickly. The powers were coming back, and Buffy could feel her command over them tightening.
"Wait!" Buffy cried, slamming her head into that of her vampire, knocking it out. She dove into the large vampire, prying him away from Cordelia and into a wrestling match with herself. "Stake! Stake!"
Cordelia had easily jumped to her feet, and was now waving her hands aimlessly. "STAKE!!!!" The voice echoed throughout the whole Bronze. As if in response, one came right into Buffy's hands. She felt the vampire roll off her and onto someone else. And, as she turned around to stake the unconscious female vampire, she saw Cordelia finish the job. Buffy didn't even have time to ask herself who it was before her first attacker was swiftly dusted. Behind his body, Xander came into view, smirking sexily at her.
"Took 'em down, babe." He flashed a killer grin. Before Buffy had a chance to thank him, Cordelia rushed into his arms.
"My hero." Buffy stared at the floor for a few seconds before Xander spoke to her, proffering several stakes. She slipped them into her usual hiding places.
"Okay, Buffy, I got the doors open and most people have already fled, including the vampires. They know you're back now, that's for sure. There are a few stragglers" - he motioned at a couple of advancing loners - "that we have to take care of, but it's past midnight, and we should clean up."
It occurred to Buffy that a fight which had been five minutes to her had in fact taken two hours. "Wait! Where's Willow? Willow?"
"I'm fine, Buffy," added Willow, emerging from the shadows. Her shirt was torn, and her face bloodied, but she was otherwise safe. "That one gave me some trouble, but he only kicked me through the door. I'm fine."
Rory, "that one", had managed to pull himself against the wall, and was sitting patiently, waiting for the wound Cordelia's gun had given him to heal. Most of the pain was already gone, for he sat, covered in thick, soupy blood. He was laughing softly.
Buffy felt rage rise up within her. She grabbed a stake out of Xander's hand. "Fight them off! I'm going in." She stormed over to Rory and grabbed his hair, pulling the matted, bloody mess back behind his shoulders. The three humans stared in awe for a second, then returned to the fight. There were only two or three unhurt vampires left, which could be disposed of speedily. Buffy was left to do her work.
"Listen, you animal," she rasped, putting her mouth as close to his ear as possible. "You won't be laughing when I get through with you. Get off your bloody ass and take me to Spike." Buffy pulled him up in one motion and wrapped an arm around his waist, holding the stake against his chest. "I know he wants to see me."
Wordlessly, the right-hand vampire began to walk, slowly, carefully, across the main floor of the Bronze and towards the entrance. His gait became faster, and faster, until she was running to keep up with him. As they went out the door, Buffy had no time to yell to the others. It didn't matter; they knew where she was headed.
As these thoughts came, without warning, Rory broke out of her arms and into a clean sprint. She realized right away that his wound had healed, and Buffy took off right after him, not slowing up a bit. This game was familiar. He would lead, and she follow. It just wouldn't look that way.
But Buffy hadn't expected where he would take her. Right in the middle of Main Street, the action shifted from sidewalk to gutter. Rory flew into the middle of the street, throwing himself to the ground. Buffy wasn't sure what he was doing until she was almost upon him. Taking a jump, stake ready, Buffy felt the ground drop beneath her. Rory was suddenly gone, and so was she. Falling, falling, falling ...
It was a sewer grate. Somehow, the vampire had opened it. This was where she was meant to go, and he was most likely somewhere below. But she hadn't counted on this yet, this wasn't the way she'd been taught, and as Buffy fell hundreds of feet below Sunnydale she prayed that there was no stone to break her fall. It all lasted less than a breath. Buffy hit the water in a booming splash.
She was on the hunt. She had been here before.