A Barely Breathing Story: Chapter Fourteen

[jesterladyfic]

Chapter Fourteen: Logan and the Bank Job

Logan’s at the Summers residence for a reason. It’s not what he calls a fun reason, but a necessary one.

“Hey, Dawn,” he says, upon entering and finding her alone in the dining room.

She looks up guiltily and he knows she can guess his reason for being there. The weight of confession’s obviously been on her heavily and she’s been avoiding him.

“Hi, you want Buffy? I can get you Buffy!”

“Sadly, I only want to speak with her if you don’t,” he says, wondering slightly when his moral compass grew to such an extent that it’s starting to take over his whole life.

“I just-" she says and stops. She looks down at her homework. “I’m doing my work,” she says softly. “I haven’t stolen anything since we talked. I’m doing what you said.”

“You’re doing great,” he tells her. “If it wouldn’t be a weird thing to say I’d tell you I was proud of you. But it’s not enough. You’re just lucky it’s me and not Veronica sniffing out your secrets.”

“I’m sure she’s sniffed out plenty of yours,” Dawn rejoins somewhat haughtily.

“More than you want to know,” Logan answers. “But it always seems to work out best when I tell her before she does.”

“Fine, I get the point.” Dawn sighs heavily then yells. “Buffy! Buffy!”

“You want me to go?” Logan asks.

“No, somebody should at least attempt to keep her from killing me,” Dawn says heavily.

Logan finds that humor somewhat inappropriate considering Buffy had actually tried to do that recently.

“Dawnie, I was on the phone,” Buffy says, as he she walks into the room. “Oh, hi, Logan.”

He waves, waggling his fingers at her.

“I have something to tell you,” Dawn says and confesses the whole thing.

Logan watches Buffy’s eyes grow heavy and her shoulders set. He wishes this could be easier on them, especially with Dawn shrinking down in her seat in a way that he can easily relate to.

“Don’t be too hard on her,” Logan says when Dawn’s finished and there’s a pregnant silence. “She’s been clean for a couple of months now.”

“I just…oh, Dawn. It’s just one more thing.” Buffy stops talking and attempts a smile. “I’m glad you told me. We’ll work out a punishment later. For now, do you still have the stuff?”

“In my room,” Dawn says, leading the way up the stairs.

There’s a muffled sound of arguing coming from the kitchen and Logan thinks he can make out Willow’s voice as he follows the girls upstairs.

“That whole ‘Sweets kidnapping you’ thing makes a lot more sense now,” Buffy says.

“And that jacket I gave you for your birthday,” Dawn says, “I hope you haven’t got demon blood on it or anything.”

“Dawn!”

The girls bicker a bit as they enter Dawn’s room, but Logan’s relieved because the bickering means something like normality for them and that’s been missing for way too long.

“Here,” Dawn says, crouching down behind her dresser and pulling on a panel behind it. “Ow! There’s something caught here.”

She pulls harder and then suddenly falls on the ground as there’s a huge crack and a vast cord pulls free of its plaster in the wall and a small dark object falls to the ground. Buffy reacts quickly, pushing Logan out of the way and catching it.

“What is it?” he asks.

“Looks like a…camera maybe?”

“You put a camera in here to spy on me!” Dawn shrieks from the floor.

“Like I would even know how,” Buffy tells her. “No, this is someone else. Someone like a couple of nerds I know of.” She and Logan exchange looks. “We should get Willow to help,” Buffy says, heading out the door. “I’m not finished with you yet,” she calls back to Dawn. “You’re grounded until further notice.”

“Perfect, now I can be ignored in solitude,” Dawn grumbles.

“It’s a start,” Logan tells her, smiling.

“Yeah, yeah,” she says, but she goes back downstairs and Logan joins Buffy who’s about to enter the kitchen when an upset Willow brushes past them and up the stairs and Giles stands behind, looking resigned.

A slamming door sounds over their heads.

“What’s that about?” Buffy asks Giles.

“Whether or not she will consent to training,” Giles says, walking past them himself and out the door without a goodbye.

Buffy’s shoulders slump and Logan feels awkward. He knows Buffy and Giles haven’t really made up since he left the time before. But he has no idea what he can possibly do about it.

There’s a smashing sound from upstairs.

“You wanna ask her or should I?” Logan asks.

In the end they both knock on her door and after an initial moment where she yells at them about leaving her alone, she opens the door and they explain and an almost perky look appears on her face and she heads downstairs to her laptop.

“I’m gonna call Mac up,” she says, chattering as she works. “She can work the magic on her end and she knows just as much as I do about this, maybe more since helping Veronica with stuff.”

Buffy and Logan don’t have too much of an idea what she says after that and Logan shares a wry smile with Buffy.

Mac’s face pops up on the screen and Logan winks at her.

“Long time no see, Mac. How you holding up?”

“Better with the ‘not missing you’ bit,” she says tartly and then Willow launches into a long explanation of something using words like signals, systems, networks, relays and other jargon he doesn’t understand.

Mac seems to, though, because there’s intense concentration on both ends now.

Buffy appears every few minutes, pacing impatiently, asking whether or not they’ve got anything.

“Should have something once I get tapped into the fiber-optic network. We're gonna use the feedback relay to, uh, get their signal routed into our system.”

“Technology's pretty sophisticated, lots of booby traps and firewall stuff,” Mac agrees.

“But can you get us a location?”

“Well, hey, I'm still me,” Willow says. “Just one- whoa.”

“What?”

“There are other cameras,” Mac says when it’s apparent Willow doesn’t seem able to answer.

“I’m calling Veronica,” Logan says after Buffy’s three-minute tirade on How! Why! Where!

Veronica’s patrolling with Spike as it turns out, so Logan calls them both home early.

Willow appears less than thrilled at the idea, but Logan doesn’t know a better person for the job of figuring out Buffy’s questions than Veronica, and Spike’s always good for distracting Buffy.

When Veronica gets there she goes right into decoding the location feeds that Willow and Mac give to her. Willow and Mac keep on with hacking into the camera system and finding out where they all are.

They’re everywhere as it turns out. The Bronze, the Magic Box, the campus, everywhere.

“I’ve got where it comes out,” Veronica finally says in triumph. “Right where the demon got you, Buffy. Looks like we were on the right track there.”

“Then that’s where I’ll be,” Buffy says, grabbing her coat.

“Not alone,” Spike tells her.

Buffy huffs a little sigh that’s more fond exasperation than anything else.

“I’m coming too,” Logan and Veronica say at the same time.

Buffy just laughs.

“Fine, we’ll all go. Just…follow my lead, okay?”

“O, Captain, my Captain,” Logan tells her, giving her a mock salute.

He’s not really sure why he wants to go, unless it’s because he wants to keep Veronica out of trouble. If he can’t stop her, he’s gonna join her, or something like that.

It’s not far to get there and Buffy and Veronica quickly figure out where they were attacked before and Veronica uses the papers she printed out to find the right house. It looks dark and vacant, but Logan doesn’t suppose that really means anything.

“You two stay out here,” Buffy says, pointing to Spike and Veronica.

Logan raises his eyebrows.

“You want moi with you?”

“To keep an eye on you,” she says, pushing him ahead of her slightly.

He laughs and then shuts up as they enter the basement.

“Empty. Disappointing,” Buffy says from behind him. She walks toward the center of the room. “I’ve had more nerd-y trouble than I care to these past couple of months.”

There’s a buzzing from behind her and his eyes widen.

“Look out!” he yells, stepping forward as a huge saw looms up behind her out of the black.

Buffy glances back and then jumps off the ground, flipping backward. The saw misses her.

“Grab the stuff!” she yells, concentrating on stuffing papers into her pockets.

He grabs the discs and papers by the door and then ducks as a saw appears where his head was about two seconds before.

“There’s more,” he tells her, backing up the stairs.

There’s more buzzing and three saws going three different directions surround her and he honestly doesn’t know how she’s going to get out of there. His heart is in his throat and this is the part of this whole life he hates. It may not be Veronica standing there in danger, but it’s someone else he loves and he hates it.

Then she does one of those moves that remind him she’s not normal and launches herself into the air, twisting almost parallel to the floor and lands right in front of him.

“Let’s go!” she shouts, pushing him up the stairs. He stumbles up them. “Oh, they’re going to pay for that. I love this jacket,” she mumbles from behind him.

Spike’s already halfway down the stairs as Logan starts up.

“We’re fine,” Logan chokes out.

They all stand up in the night air, Logan and Buffy breathing hard, and it’s slightly weird. Logan’s just glad to be out of there. He’s no coward, but he’s starting to feel like the ‘flirting with danger’ routine that he liked to pull in high school just isn’t worth it anymore.

“Maybe you can work with this stuff we got,” Buffy says, pulling stuff out of her pocket and giving it to Veronica. “Get some intel or whatever on the whereabouts of our annoying friends.”

That’s the plan but it’s running past midnight and Logan doesn’t really run on vampire time. When they get back to the house, Dawn’s asleep and Willow’s disconnected from Mac, though feverishly still typing.

“You’ve got nothing to prove, Will,” Buffy says softly. “Get some sleep.”

Logan doesn’t stick around to see how Willow takes that. He just grabs Veronica and goes.

He has a class the next morning and he goes and honestly tries to pay attention, but his mind is full of the previous night’s events. Still, when Veronica calls and tells him to come over to Buffy’s, he does.

She’s in full on investigate mode when he gets there, giving Buffy the lowdown on all the information she’s pulled from the papers.

“These are the key,” she says, pointing to specific bits.

“To what?”

Buffy looks just as puzzled as everyone else.

“Banks, armored car routes, corporate vaults. This is big and it’s like they're looking to score some serious dinero. I don't think they're planning just one job.”

“Spree, anyone?” Logan asks.

“I-I can't cover all of these at once,” Buffy says, looking disappointed.

“You don't have to. I think there's one they may hit tonight. It's time sensitive.”

Spike bursts in the door and they all look up in surprise.

“What’s wrong?” Buffy asks.

“Your little boy-ish problem just hit puberty,” he says. “They were at a bar, Robot-Boy packing a lot more punch than normal. Something’s skewed up.”

“Are you okay?” Veronica asks.

“Yeah, even if they weren’t all mighty, you wouldn’t have been able to…” Buffy asks, her voice fading away. A look of guilt flits over Spike’s face. “Did you go after him on purpose?” she demands.

“What of it?” Spike says, cocking his head defiantly.

“You can’t hurt humans,” she yells. “And it’s my job you’re trying to do.”

“It’s what you would do, innit?” he yells right back.

“You’re not me.”

“But I can’t be me either, can I? Can’t figure out what to do without your bleeding hand jerking me every which way. Cause I don’t have a soul. Pity the whelp’s on his honeymoon otherwise I’m sure he’d be happy to remind you.”

“Where is this coming from?” she asks in confusion, anger still lacing through her words.

“From you, from the bloody universe,” he says angrily. “I won’t ever be- no, bollocks to that. It's the chip! Steel and wires and silicon. It wouldn't let me be a monster. And I can't be a man. Just your pet vampire and now when you- I'm nothing.”

He ends on a softer, despairing note and then turns around, stalking out the door and slamming it.

There’s no end of confusion in them all, except perhaps Veronica, who’s staring after him with what Logan calls her I’m Going to Uncover Your Secret and You’ll Wish You Were Never Born face.

“Buffy…” Willow says reluctantly, looking both glad and apologetic.

“I can’t focus on him right now,” Buffy says slowly. “I’m gonna take Warren and his minions down and take them down hard, no matter what Mighty Mouse tricks he’s got up his sleeves.”

She goes upstairs.

“She’s still not going alone,” Veronica says determinedly. “Spike’s the best back up she could have, but if he’s off sulking somewhere, then Logan and I will have to do.”

“You’re not the Slayer,” Willow says and Logan almost agrees with her.

“But I am her friend,” Veronica says, “and I’ve been training for this. So has Logan. And Buffy has to learn that she doesn’t have to do everything alone. She’s not alone.”

He can’t really argue with that. Not when he’s been arguing for it all along.

“I generally ask ‘how high’ when the blonde girl says ‘jump,’ ” he tells Willow and follows Veronica.

They quickly prepare to go and Buffy doesn’t argue with them when they tell her they’re going too. It appears she’s learning how to let go, herself, somewhat.

Willow leaves to work on campus and since Tara has a late class that day, Buffy calls Giles and asks him to stay with Dawn. When Dawn complains, Buffy tells her that it’s part of her punishment and Dawn subsides grouchily. In the meantime, they head out to find Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew. Logan’s curious to meet the nerds who’ve been causing so much trouble.

“Stay back unless I need you,” Buffy tells them seriously. “I appreciate the back-up, but this is my gig tonight.”

“The stage is yours,” Logan tells her, and he means it.

He’s never going to back down from a fight, but he does realize the wisdom of doing so when one can. And the wisdom in letting those who are meant to do the fighting do it.

Plus, it’s pretty impressive when Buffy stands on top of the bank and jumps down on the bad guys.

“Is this your bank? Because if not there’s gonna be a fee for that.”

Except something’s all wrong because Warren’s fighting large and strong and utterly wiping the floor with the Slayer. Logan wants to step in except he doesn’t know what to do.

“You know who I am? Huh, Slayer?” Warren asks, knocking her down.

“You're a murderer,” Buffy says, struggling to her feet.

“Well, that too, but more to the point…I'm the guy that beat you. And it's not the muscles, baby. It's the brains.”

He punctuates each point with a kick and Buffy gasps.

“I'll remember that when I knock 'em clean out of your-“

She doesn’t get to finish her jab because the smallest nerd jumps on her back and looks laughable hanging there.

Warren does laugh, telling him he didn’t think he had it in him. Logan thinks there’s something else going on, but then Buffy shakes him off and Warren knocks her down again. He looks to his left and sees that Veronica has collared the remaining nerd and is holding him firmly from straining to get to Warren.

Warren leans over Buffy and Logan starts forward, but sees her grab something from around his waist and smash it to the ground. There’s a bright, blue light and Warren staggers back.

“Warren!” cries out the nerd in Veronica’s possession.

“Shut up, Andrew,” the other one, Jonathan seemingly, says.

“Not tonight, baby,” Warren says angrily.

He flings back his jacket revealing a honest-to-goodness jet pack on his back and fires it up, flinging himself into the air.

“Oh, that’s just not fair,” Buffy says, looking at the skies.

“Don’t leave me!” Andrew wails, shoving an elbow into Veronica’s stomach and trying to fire up his own jet pack.

“Uh, how come I didn’t get one of those?” Jonathan asks, but he remains where he is.

“He left me,” Andrew whimpers. “I can’t believe he left m- uh, us.”

Jonathan shakes his head and Logan has to agree with the sentiment.

Veronica shoves Andrew towards Logan and he sets him down beside Jonathan on the ground while she calls the cops.

Buffy squats down in front of the nerds, addressing Jonathan more than Andrew.

“You know where he’s going?”

“Obviously not,” Jonathan says bitterly. “Seeing as how he was planning on leaving me here.”

“Why are you with him in the first place?” Buffy asks incredulously. “What happened? Didn’t we talk about this after your spell?”

“Oh, we had a moment, and then you walked away,” Jonathan says, but swallows hard. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, I swear. He-he started doing things and it was gonna be fun, but then the girl- and he…”

Buffy sighs and puts her hand on his shoulder.

“Being in over your head isn’t fun, but that’s when you get help.”

“I-I, I’m sorry,” he stutters, not looking at her.

“So am I,” she says. “I have to let the cops handle you now. There’s not another option.”

“I- okay.”

Andrew’s lost in his own Warren-deprived world and doesn’t protest when the cops come either. They’re taken away in blue flashing lights and Buffy gives a wan smile watching them go.

“Two down,” she says.

It’s a start anyway and Logan goes home feeling pretty good about the whole situation. Tara’s just getting home as they do, and Veronica starts explaining the situation to her as they head inside their room. Logan finds his own room just down the hall and goes to bed.

The next day finds him with Veronica en route to the Magic Box. Logan’s going to train while Veronica works a shift. Giles is watching over the place with Anya on her honeymoon.

Logan heads into the back and finds Spike pounding the punching bag so hard that it explodes.

“Hazard a guess that you’re not doing so hot,” Logan remarks carefully.

Spike doesn’t turn.

“Private Eye here?”

“Yeah.”

“Nab her, yeah? Need to talk to you two.”

Logan goes and gets Veronica who only comes because it’s Spike.

“What’s going on?” Veronica asks.

“Chip’s fritzing,” he says simply. “Doesn’t always work. Mostly, but not always. Not just on Buffy.”

“So?” Logan asks.

“So now he’s worried about what Buffy will say. And whether or not he can handle the temptation,” Veronica says.

“She’s got it in two,” Spike says, not really looking at them.

“That’s what all that talk was about last night,” Logan says, realization coming.

“I’m-I’m trying,” Spike growls. “But she’s what guides me and she guides me cause I’m with her. If she doesn’t want to – and I won’t try to force it, not anymore – than what the bloody hell am I going to do?”

“Vigilante crimefighter?” Logan suggests weakly.

“Not helping, Scottie.”

“Look, Buffy loves you,” Logan points out. “I don’t care if she doesn’t know it herself, she does. And no one doubts that you love her. This is just another setback. If you choose not to be evil, you won’t be.”

“Ain’t that cut and dry,” Spike says.

“You’re different than other vampires,” Veronica tells him, watching him closely. “You’ve always been. What, you want to end up like Angel? Always brooding, making everybody’s choices for them? Or do you want to live your life?” He opens his mouth but she cuts him off. “No remarks about not being alive.”

Spike laughs slightly, but his shoulders still sag.

“Come on then, you two, wanted you there when I told her.”

It’s obvious he thinks he’s going to his doom. Logan hopes not.

Still, he and Veronica accompany their vampire friend across town, using Logan’s tinted windows and a blanket. When they get there, Spike hurries ahead of them to avoid burning to death and that’s why they come upon a scene they probably shouldn’t.

Willow and Tara are standing in the kitchen, Willow reaching out for her.

“No, Willow,” Tara says, ducking away. “I-I’m sorry. I-I wish things were d-different. But-but they’re not. You made a choice and now we-we both have…to live with it.”

Willow’s crying and Tara’s just now noticing them and Logan begins backing away apologetically into the other room. Veronica and Spike follow his example and Buffy joins them, coming down the stairs.

“What’s up? Spike, where have you been?”

Logan looks from one room to the other and suddenly wishes he were any place but here. Spike screws up his face and starts to say something, but it’s all moot because the door bursts open and Warren rushes in.

Spike has to dive for cover as the sun bursts on him and Veronica jumps to grab a blanket for him.

Warren’s waving a gun and yelling madly.

“You think you can just do that to me? You think I'd let you get away with that? Think again.”

Shots ring out and time becomes very slow for Logan. The gun’s not steady in Warren’s hand and the first bullet flies past him down the hall and there’s a splattering, thumping sound and there’s a cry of ‘Tara’ that echoes dully in his ears. He doesn’t fully understand, especially as all his attention is on the gun and the next bullet that’s headed directly for Buffy.

He’s not a coward, but he’s not brave either. At least, he doesn’t think so. He fights and he has a high pain threshold and he will literally do anything in the world for Veronica, but he’s never thought he’ll do this.

He jumps forward, pushing Buffy as hard as he can. There’s a sharp pain in his chest and he falls to his knees, fuzzily wondering why, why when he’d saved her.

Except there’s something red on his chest and he can’t see and Veronica’s voice is yelling from a very long way away.

He hopes she’s okay. He hopes-