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The school year ends. Bella's routine goes from wake - morgue - school - Giles - school - Giles - Sherlock - sleep to a version of same without the "school" parts, although she mostly keeps up with Giles via brainphone instead of in-person visits except when she needs to swap out stacks of books, and she hangs out studying and playing with fire in the house that is Jarvis a fair amount even during the day while Sherlock's sleeping. (Her schedule, unanchored by regular attendance at Sunnydale High and enticed by Sherlock's necessary nocturnality, shifts a few hours later, and Charlie has calmed down about the curfew issue; as long as she calls before eleven to report on her whereabouts and usually sleeps in her own bed, all is well.)
Long-term experimentation shows that, at least as long as she's not getting bloodily injured in regular fights with Los Angeles's demon population (and she can generally make it through unscathed, and now every supernatural creature in this hemisphere knows that the Slayer can set you on fire with her mind and some demons keel over with no visible injuries if she just looks at them), she can operate in fine and suitably Slayery condition while being nibbled on most days. It would probably not be a wise exercise for Sherlock to attempt to subsist solely on her, though, so the brick house does acquire a fridge and a microwave thanks to Sherlock's slightly stolen inheritance.
This afternoon, Bella is sitting in an armchair in the house that is Jarvis, reading about some neutral demon species and taking dutiful notes.
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[Oh, great. Maybe there's a nest of them in the library or something camping out on the Hellmouth.]
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[Not really. This creature doesn't care that the Slayer is chasing it. I'm not looking forward to meeting twelve of it.]
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[Giles,] says Bella, when it's clear that this is in fact where the creature is going, [it's headed for the school. Probably the Hellmouth.]
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[Have you been in the library lately or do you take summers completely off - do we know how long a nest of 'em could have been sitting there?]
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[Okay. Considering tackling it before it gets there, so I can see how tough one is alone instead of seeing how tough twelve of it is.]
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[Not a strong reason. It just seems like it's in a hurry, and it's ignoring me, even though I'm right behind it - if I were it, I'd fight me, unless I was going someplace that was better ground for me to fight in.]
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[Sherlock, opinions on engaging it now before it introduces us to any friends it may have?]
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[I can't see you, but are you keeping up well enough, can you cross its path - we'll see if it reacts, go from there?]
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The strange creature swats him aside like he's no more substantial than a balloon and keeps going, not slowing.
[Shit, are you okay -] Bella makes a jump for it and manages to land on its back. It doesn't seem to care. It doesn't slow down.
[Shit, are you okay -] Bella makes a jump for it and manages to land on its back. It doesn't seem to care. It doesn't slow down.
eversomuchfun
[I am less certain that engaging is wise,] he says, but he picks himself up off the ground and chases after them both.
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[Giles, this thing just knocked Sherlock across the street like he was a ping-pong ball. I'm riding it piggyback now trying to twist its neck or something - no face, by the way - but it's acting like I'm not even there, I can't budge it.]
She swings around its shoulders to try from another angle.
It grabs her off of it, hurls her to the ground, and steps on her in its unslowed quest for the school.
She doesn't move.
She swings around its shoulders to try from another angle.
It grabs her off of it, hurls her to the ground, and steps on her in its unslowed quest for the school.
She doesn't move.
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The demon falls over and, with its considerable momentum behind it, skids. It does not move either. Unlike Bella, no heartbeat was evident before, and none is evident now. (Bella, however, is still alive.)
"Hello?" Charlie says to the phone.
"Hello?" Charlie says to the phone.
poeticterms
"Bella has encountered some trouble. She is alive, and will almost certainly be fine, but she needs to be taken to the hospital. Please arrange for an ambulance at Chester and Oak; you can most likely prompt faster reaction than I."
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Charlie blinks.
He sets the handset of the landline down on the counter and radios for an ambulance, barking orders at the paramedics.
When it's on his way, he picks up the phone again. "Who are you and what happened to my daughter?"
He sets the handset of the landline down on the counter and radios for an ambulance, barking orders at the paramedics.
When it's on his way, he picks up the phone again. "Who are you and what happened to my daughter?"
poeticterms
"My name is Jarvis. She ran afoul of a Sunnydale hazard, which has since been neutralized."