Of Birds and Slayers

(Esthero – Blanket me in you (Never is so soon))

Once again, Kennedy had come back from patrol with several wounds. Faith couldn’t stand seeing her in such a wrecked state. The Latino Slayer was sitting in the couch of their meeting room, not really paying attention to Willow’s speech about the First’s Offspring.

“I didn’t find out yet how we could kill him, but the new Council is trying to gather information.” The redhead confessed to the Scoobies.

“Are we sure we killed The First? ‘Cause maybe this bad guy is still our old friend!” Xander asked.

“This demon we slayed the other night...”Buffy said. “What was his name? Gandalf? Gunter?”

“Gubald...” Kennedy sighed.

“Yeah!” Buffy exclaimed “I knew it was a G name! Anyway, he said TFO wanted to destroy us.”

“Isn’t that what they all want?” Kennedy muttered, still being in a huff. The blond Slayer ignored her and went on.

“An attack would be useless. We need to know how to kill him before thinking about a plan.” Suddenly, Willow turned around and looked at the window, an expression where both fear and confusion were mixed on her face.

“What’s wrong Will?” Buffy urged to her side. The witch was gaping.

“Nothing, it’s just...nothing” she replied before walking back to her chair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I didn’t find out yet how we could kill him, but the new Council is trying to gather information.” Willow was saying.

‘Will...she didn’t change that much in six months, same hair, same smile.’ Shannah thought. She was watching them, her family, or rather ex family, from the window. It was dark outside, they would never see her. She stared at them, studying them one by one. Buffy, still blonde and ingenuous, still generous and strong. Xander, his patch on his eyes...he looked like a pirate. But a very nice and funny pirate. Dawn was next to him.

‘Wow, she’s more and more beautiful. Buffy must be mad that she’s way taller than her’ the Phoenix chuckled. Giles wasn’t here, he was still in England, working on the new Council.
She laid her eyes on Andrew and gasped. He was not the same jerk she had known six months ago. He was wearing glasses and a black and white suit. His hair was well combed.

‘He must have found a good job...’

Then Shannah stared at Faith, and a lump formed in her throat. She had never apologized to her for the way she had behaved. Faith was her best friend ever, the kind you find only once in a lifetime. And Shannah had let her down. Her ex-cellmate’s gaze was darker than usual, she looked pretty tired and her clothes were a mess. Finally, the Phoenix turned her head to Kennedy, and the lump in her throat became bigger. She was very pale and had several scratches and a few wounds.

‘It’s my fault... I broke her down’ Shannah thought, the guilt once again eating her from the inside since that day she had left. The Latino girl she loved wasn’t there anymore, and it was because of her. Shannah put her hand on the window, unconsciously. She wanted to touch her, to make her feel loved.

‘It’s my fault, I’m an animal...’ she tighten her fist and her claws went out of it. All of a sudden, she saw Willow moving towards the window. The brunette rushed to her stolen motorcycle parked two streets away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Papa Roach – Scars)

Kennedy was following Buffy and Faith on a road boarding the Lake Erie. The Rogue Slayer had invited her to come with them to a rock show. At first Kennedy had declined the offer, but she finally had given up when the brunette had threatened her to tie her naked in the middle of the Academy’s hall if she didn’t come.

“It’s a band from Boston, Cyko Path. They’re quite good Jeena told me. Remember Jeena? Tall, tanned skin, green eyes and a tendency to slay lamps?” Faith laughed.

“Jeena Grissom? She’s here since three weeks and you already know her that much?” Buffy teased her girlfriend. The brunette just shrugged and kissed her girlfriend. She turned to look at Kennedy who was still in broody mode.

“Hey Junior! Ready to have fun?” Kennedy stared at her as if she had horns on her head. They entered the club and went to the bar to get some drinks. The place was very crowded, a lot of teenagers were there, bouncing on their feet to the music. Kennedy sighed and took a sip of her cocktail.

‘Damn, why did I come...never mind, I can still get myself drunk enough to faint.’ She thought to herself. Faith and Buffy took her to a table and they sat in silence. On stage, a guy was screaming in his microphone. There was a cute redhead bassist whose clothes were very short in some places, and by her side another guy or girl who was turning his/her back to the crowd.

“They’re fucking good don’t you think?” Faith applauded as the song ended.

“Yeah...” Kennedy replied casually.

“Thank you guys, now I let the microphone to my guitar player friend Beast! She’s gonna sing a cool French song! Here comes ‘Sans décrocher!” the singer said and the crows applauded. The girl came in front of the microphone and turned her cap on her head so Faith could see her face.

“Holy shit!” the Rogue Slayer exclaimed. Buffy and Kennedy both turned to look at the girl and opened their eyes wide.

“Shannah...” Kennedy mouthed.

(Superbus – Sans décrocher)

Shannah was feeling quite good despite the fact that she was in Cleveland. She loved being on stage, singing, playing. She listened to Bart who was playing the intro on the piano. The melody was like a lullaby.

“J'y repense encore, sans jamais décrocher
Mon estomac se tort, mes yeux sont mouillés
J'ai fait des efforts depuis que tu m'as laissé
Mais quand je m'endors, je n' fais que penser
A toi, à toi...” She sang in a very good French. A few meters away, Kennedy was frozen. She couldn’t believe it was Shannah who was there, singing. She looked so different... Her long brown hair was not there anymore. She was almost shaved.

“She looks like Demi Moor in that movie about GIs...” Faith commented, stunned. Indeed, Shannah was wearing a camouflage baggy and a black tank top. Kennedy’s eyes stopped on the big scar on the girl’s chest.

‘The bullet hole...’ She thought and immediately felt guilty. The flesh was paler on the scar, like a disgrace on this beautiful body.

“Je fais des efforts depuis que tu m'as laissé
Mais quand je m'endors, je n' fais que penser
A toi, à toi...” Shannah was still singing on stage, now strumming her guitar. The song exploded, and Kennedy shivered. Her whole body was in trance because of the music, and especially Shannah’s voice. Suddenly, her eyes locked with her and Kennedy felt like someone had frozen time. Her heart skipped a beat, like Shannah’s one. The two girls stared at each other deeply, their faces unreadable.

“Je fais des efforts depuis que tu m'as laissé
Mais quand je m'endors, je n' fais que penser
A toi, à toi
A toi, à toi...”

‘I made efforts since you left me, but when I fall asleep, I can’t stop thinking about you’ Kennedy thought. Those were the lyrics of the song. ‘She sang it to me once, when we were...’ She held back her tears and kept staring at her ex-lover. Suddenly, there was an awful din and a bunch of guys emerged from the backdoor.

“Vampires at ten o’clock!” Faith warned her friends and rushed towards the newcomers. People were panicking and running to the doors, trying to flee. On stage, Shannah threw her guitar to Bart and drew her claws out, to the drummer’s surprise.

“Damn!” he yelled, his eyes never leaving the metal blades. Shannah jumped off the stage and soon two vampires were beheaded. Two others replaced them. In the fray, Kennedy found herself just next to Shannah, but the Phoenix didn’t say a word, nor looked at her. She was focused on the enemies. There was dust everywhere, and it was burning Kennedy’s lungs when she breathed. Three Slayers and a Phoenix against four dozens of undeads. It was quite reasonable! Soon the last vampire exploded in dust. Kennedy stood up and looked around. The brunette was not there anymore.

“Hey K! Are you alright?” Faith put her hand on the young girl’s shoulder.

“Yeah...I guess...” the Latino Slayer murmured. “I need to go, I’ll meet up with you at the academy.” She walked out from the club, leaving two worried Slayers behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, a little tribute to my fav french band (For those who wonder I'm French)