Slayers, Vampires, and Genetically Engineered Oh My!

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns Buffy and all characters pertaining and created therein; Cameron, Eglee, and the Fox guys Dark Angel and all characters and associations.

Chapter 10

She was almost asleep when he asked, "You're not completely human, are you?"

Angel could feel the tension spring up in Buffy as she suddenly stiffened in his arms, and a heartbeat later, she spoke as she turned around in his arms.

"No," she admitted, searching his eyes for something. He sighed and tightened his grip slightly, one hand starting lazy circles gently on her side.

"I thought so."

"I figured you would have known," she spoke again, softly. "Vampire senses are keen, and it's been rumored in the Watchers Diaries that you have the keenest nose of any vampire. I guessed that you had to have been aware, at least a little bit, with as close as we are."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked, his turn to search her eyes, careful to keep his expression neutral.

Buffy ignored the mask and plunged onward.

"The same reason you didn't want to tell me you was a vampire. I was afraid."

"I wasn't afraid," he insisted, frowning slightly. "I was just cautious, and I didn't want to frighten you off or increase the possibility of being staked. I like you."

"Sure, that too," Buffy rolled her eyes, laying her arm on top of his, fingers making random patterns.

"So you knew I was a vampire even before I told you," he said slowly, trying to get things clear.

"Yes. I smelled you," she nodded, smiling. "Besides, I couldn't hear your pulse or heart beat, or blood flowing in your body, large indicators you weren't exactly your average Ordinary human. Then there was the smell."

"Smell?" Angel cocked his head, intrigued despite himself.

"Yeah. I call it the Vampire Smell – not quite human, slightly sulfuric, and cold, almost like a reptile. I don't know, it's hard to describe, but most vampires have that unique scent. A signature scent if you will. Just as werewolves and other preternatural creepy crawlies do."

"And you could smell that?"

"Yeah. I also figured you'd tell me when you were ready, and you did. Not human myself, see?" She sighed, turning her head away. "I'm not even real."

"What do you mean? You look, feel, and smell real enough to me."

Her second sigh told him she hadn't meant for him to hear that last part. She was silent another moment before trying to explain herself once more.

"What I mean is, I'm not supposed to be possible. I'm the product of five thousand years worth of selective breeding, and the last hundred years worth of scientific breakthrough procedure, and at least fifty years of scientific and government experimentation on splicing animal D.N.A. with human to create the perfect supersoldier. Me."

"A supersoldier," Angel repeated slowly.

"Yeah, little ole me, Uncle Sam's worst and best kept secret of a sorts. Created using the best human and animal stock around, they bred, designed, and trained me and others just like me to become the perfect biological weapon, each a weapon in our own right. We are genetically, physically, and mentally greater but at the same time lesser than our human creators and handlers. We were, are, just a tool, a means to an end." Buffy shrugged.

"And the story you told your mother, Joyce. That was true wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Replace orphanage with ultra secret government black ops facility and child soldiers for 'special' kids and you have my unit and I. As well as others like us who didn't have a chance or the inclination to escape."

Thoughts of Jace flashed through her mind and Buffy could only hope that her sister was content, if not happy, with the decisions she had made.

"So…you knew I wasn't human," Buffy went on, and it was Angel's turn to nod.

"Yes. I could smell you," his lips twitched at his intentional use of her explanation.

"I've fought and killed and known several Slayers in my time…and I have to say, while I could smell the Slayer power in you, you also smelled…"

"Good?" Buffy supplied hopefully, this time eliciting a more real smile out of him.

"Feline."

Buffy arched an eyebrow at that, a slightly bemused expression on her face, outmatched by her curiosity.

"You could break down the individual components of my D.N.A.?" she asked.

That was just an exceptional concept.

"I smelled feline, something aquatic like a shark or something, and something avian, in addition to your human scents," Angel explained. "Those were the main traces I could detect. There were others, but I can't exactly pinpoint them."

"No, that's all right. You were right about the feline…and the shark. The avian is surprising, though I would guess that it would have to be something carnivorous, as the majority of the animals spliced into us were predators. Or at least pretty dang good defensively."

The pair was silent, laden down with their heavy thoughts, touching and stroking each other almost chastely. Angel was the first to break the stillness; risking the chance he'd wake Buffy up, her head nodding sleepily.

"If you knew what I was…why did you scream when I revealed myself?"

He tried to sound indifferent. He tried to make it out as casual and unimportant as he could. But from the weight of her gaze and the deepening of her breathing, he knew she knew it was important to him what she answered.

"In my defense, I was kinda in the kissy moment, and then to suddenly be confronted with your game face at that particular moment when I wasn't paying attention…"

Buffy stopped, looked down, found herself looking at Angel's chest and averted her head to the side, hair covering her face from his view.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I neglected the very first piece of training ever drilled into my thick head: never let your emotions cloud your judgment or hinder your senses for pertinent information. The area and scene may not be what it appears and you could make rash and deadly decisions based on faulty assumptions. I can't believe I was so stupid!"

"Hey, it's okay," Angel's hand left her side to cup her face.

"I hurt you. I should have realized in the kitchen that you hadn't attacked my mother, that it was Darla, but I was so confused, and hurt."

Buffy's eyes turned to meet his and something in his undead body clenched at the heartbroken look in her eyes.

"I promised myself, years ago after the escape, that if I ever fell in love I'd do everything not to hurt him. I failed…and I almost killed you because I'd let myself ignore important information. And these damned seizures are making me so freaking emotional and I hate being so weak and now I'm going to cry again," she wept softly into his chest, ignoring for the moment his chuckles as she ended her rant.

Angel was amazed, if he hadn't been feeling her tears on his chest and seen her shoulders shake with her sobs; he couldn't have told that she was actively crying she made no sound.

"I'm done now," she sniffled after a few minutes.

Angel wondered if she meant the crying or the ranting. He decided it was the better part of valor and a good survival technique not comment. Instead,

"So you weren't paying attention to the scents, just reacting."

"Yeah, you were kinda all I was thinking about. At the time. You do seem to have that affect on me," she blushed. "I was so focused on you and how stupid I was for freaking out and sending you away and how irritated I was, that I let Darla manipulate me into going after you."

"She has-had- a habit of doing that to people, not just you," Angel assured her, looking away in pain.

Buffy softened and her heart melted at the pain in his face. Mentally, she knew that Darla had been Angel's sire, and that the pair had been lovers for more centuries than she'd had birthdays, wreaking havoc all over Europe. She knew he had to have loved her somewhat for as long as he'd stayed with her in his unlife.

She reached a hand up and curved it around his neck, forcing his head down so she could touch her forehead to his. Just being a comfort.

"What about the crossbow?"

"What?"

The abrupt topic change caught her off-guard, and she released his neck, pulling her head back and to the side to get a better look at him. Angel chuckled at her startled look.

"The crossbow," he prompted with a hint of his old smile, eyes dancing with mischief. "I thought Slayers, and soldiers, didn't miss."

"Well, I didn't want to hurt you, kill you, not really. I actually wanted to try and talk about it, but also be prepared in case I truly had to do it. You kinda pissed me off, taunting me, poking fun at me. I fired in warning, but you were also faster than I'd thought, really fast."

"Your version of talking things out includes hunting and assaulting me with a crossbow?"

"What can I say? We transgenics are violent creatures in nearly all aspects of society and social interaction. Our version of 'play' isn't great for all until the blood's flowing, ribs cracked, and the bodies are bruised."

"So, Buffy isn't your name…your real name."

She was silent again, swiping at her nose while she gave a sniffle, and finally shook her head no.

"No…we never had names, just designations, a series of numbers. But my family, my unit, decided one night we'd name each other. I don't think we'd been the only unit to do so, but they never let on to us or anyone else. My designation's X5-332340090210, or simply X5-210. I have the barcode to prove it, though it's covered up for the time being. My, my real name, the one my unit gave me is…Jondy."

The name rolled off her tongue like an old friend, and pausing, Buffy was surprised to find out the name still fit, even after nearly seven years of being Elizabeth 'Buffy' Anne Summers. As a matter of fact, it sounded right, coming from her lips. She smiled, which Angel noted, and nodded decisively.

"My name is Jondy," she repeated, pleased at the sound.

It was her name, something uniquely her own, given with love after the utmost contemplation on what would suit her by the only creatures who had cared about her back then. That made it special, and that no one, not even Manticore though they tried so very hard, could take that away from her.

"Jondy," Angel repeated, trying it out, and even if he had hated it he couldn't deny as Buffy's eyes lit up at hearing her true name flow from her beloved's lips.

"Jondy," she echoed, gazing up at him with a soft smile.

"Jondy and Buffy. Buffy and Jondy. They both suit you, kind of."

"Right," Buffy rolled her eyes, giggling. "Hank, my adoptive father, didn't like having to say Elizabeth Anne, and he didn't want an Eliza, or Liz, or Beth, or Betty, so he somehow came up with Buffy. I don't know how, but then again, I wasn't going to complain. My own name is Jondy, I have a sister named Max, and another named Tinga and Jace and Syl. Krit, Zane, Ash, Ferro, and Cypress are some of my brothers. Who was I to complain about names?"

"Who do you think of yourself as? Jondy or Buffy?"

"You know what…I never really thought about it. I guess I'll always consider myself Jondy, though in intense situations or periods of self-loathing I'll call myself 'soldier' or 210. I don't think it's the name that defines the person, but the person who defines the name. I'm still the same person whether I'm Buffy, Jondy, or X5-210. But Buffy's been me for the last six and half years. Besides…"

Buffy yawned again even as she snuggled deeper against Angel and her pillows, her voice tapering off.

"As long as it was different enough from my real name, the safer I'd be from Manticore."

"Manticore?" Angel cocked his head at her slip. "What does a mythical creature have to do with anything?"

"Everything and nothing…tell you later."

With a weary sigh, the Slayer was gone, oblivious to the rest of the world as her body shut down to heal for some much needed healing.

"Good night…Jondy."

Jareth: Hey!

Me: Don't blame me, this was your idea. Kind of a lame finish to the other two.

Jareth: But it had to be done!

Me: I know, I know! I'm just not happy with the way it…fizzled at the end.

Jareth: (huffing) Well, it was a filler chapter, a bridging chapter. Don't be mad at me because you hate writing transitional chapters! That's why you haven't continued on with your other Dark Angel story.

-Me twaps Jareth- That's private information! Please read and review!