First Contact Sequence
By Marcus L. Rowland
This is a crossover between Buffy, Angel, and the DC comics univers. Minor spoilers for various episodes of Angel including Smile Time and Not Fade Away.
Characters are the property of their respective creators and are used without any intention of infringing copyright. This story may not be distributed on a profit-making basis.
I'm British, so's my spelling. Live with it.
FIRST CONTACT
Voices, an engine, straps binding him, something over his eyes. He lies, groggy, feigns unconsciousness.
"He's human." A woman, Californian.
"You sure?" Another woman, same accent.
"All tests negative."
"Twenty bucks, B." Woman again, Boston.
"What now?"
"Release him."
"What about the mask?"
"We agreed, no peeking if he's human."
"Aren't you curious?"
"Nope. So not our problem."
"Where we gonna leave him?"
"Somewhere safe... that car park."
"Works for me."
The van stops. He's lifted out, it roars away. When he's free of the stretcher they're gone. He gathers evidence, then heads back to the Batmobile.
This isn't over.
SECOND THOUGHTS
"At first I thought they were looking for metahumans," says Batman
"But now you don't?" asks Robin.
"I was out barely twenty minutes, still don't know how they got me. A meta-gene test takes three hours."
"That's odd... any fingerprints?"
"Nothing on the stretcher or straps."
"What about you?"
"Me?"
"Your suit. They must have touched it."
"Worth trying."
They find seven partials. Five match no records, the others...
"Faith, no other name. Murderer, escaped con."
"Says she died in the Sunnydale disaster."
"Easily faked. Check associates."
"Only one current address, a private eye named Angel."
"I'll start with him..."
THIRD PARTY
Bruce's arrival in LA is high profile, but he shakes off the paparazzi to visit Angel Investigations. The building is closed, enquiries forwarded to Wolfram and Hart. He knows their reputation, doesn't want to get close without more information.
At the third cocktail party an acquaintance mentions the lawyers' reclusive new CEO. Their web site has pictures.
That night's local news mentions sick children, unconscious, their faces ghastly smiles. The Joker's work? If it is, Angel can wait.
Oracle suggests a link to a children's show. Batman scouts the studio, sees someone breaking in. He recognises Angel, follows him in.
FOURTH POSSIBILITY
"Might as well come out," says Angel, "I know you're there."
Batman hesitates, then steps into the light. Most people seeing him are scared; Angel looks mildly surprised.
"What brings you to LA?"
"Don't you know?"
"You first."
"I think the Joker's using subliminal signals to hurt children."
"That's kinda why I'm here, but I don't think it's the Joker."
"What then? A foreign power? Aliens?"
"My guess is it's demons."
"Demons?"
"I'm pretty sure. Some kinda evil magic anyway. Somewhere in that direction." He heads towards a door.
Batman shrugs and follows him into a blast of blinding light.
FIFTH RING
"You're a wee puppet-man," jeers the peroxide-blond Englishman, "With a little bat-puppet pal."
Angel growls and leaps at him, Batman throws a felt Batarang and line to entangle his legs.
The blond topples through a glass wall, Angel head-butting him as he goes down. Batman kicks his ribs, realises he's still got his strength. During the fight he notices that Angel and Spike are both much stronger.
. . . . .
"You could be stuck like this," says the girl called Fred, "unless we can find a counter-spell."
"Not acceptable," says Batman, pressing phone buttons with stubby fingers.
On the fifth ring Zatanna answers.
SIXTH SENSE
They return to the studio, fight the puppets Angel claims are demons. Looks like he's right.
When they get back the first kids are recovering and Zatanna's reached LA. She won't visit the office, so Fred drives Batman to Griffith Park.
"Teppup emoceb Namtab"; suddenly he's human again. Zatanna studies him, frowns, then says "Someone else enchanted you?"
"I don't think so."
"My sixth sense disagrees. Someone used another spell on you several days ago."
"To knock me out?"
"Maybe. What happened?"
He tells her. "Any idea who cast it?"
"Wicca, powerful. Beyond that..." She shrugs.
Maybe Angel has answers.
SEVENTH SEAL
"Faith?" says Angel. "Isn't she dead?"
"Corpses rarely leave fingerprints," says Batman. "You should know."
"Zatanna told you?"
"She recognised your name."
"How about me?" asks Spike.
"No."
"Bloody hell..."
Angel briefly smirks. "If Faith's alive...?"
"She's a murderer."
"She's paid for it," says Angel. "A thousand times over."
"She's still wanted."
"If we don't co-operate?"
"I'm sure I'll think of something.
"You could try."
Angel thinks, then says "If I send you to someone who might help, will you promise to talk first?"
"Yes."
Angel goes out, returns with an address. The Seventh Seal Diner, Metropolis. "Ask for Oz."
EIGHTH AVENUE
The diner's a Goth hangout on Eighth Avenue. By day it's almost empty. In civilian clothes, his Matches Malone disguise, Batman feels horribly conspicuous.
He orders coffee and asks for Oz; the counter-hand says "Outside, the guitar."
Oz is a short skinny redhead, playing acoustic rock. There are a few coins in the guitar case, Batman throws in a quarter and says "Angel sent me."
"From Gotham?"
"Yes."
"Okay. You want Faith?"
Batman nods.
"Not yet."
"What?"
"You're angry. That's not the path to enlightenment."
"What?"
"I can smell it. You're angry."
"So?"
"Chill out. Relax. Then we'll talk."
NINTH SYMPHONY
"Well?" Batman asks after ten minutes.
"Still simmering a little," says Oz, strumming Beethoven's Ninth, "But better."
"What are you? My therapist?"
"You get mad, I get mad. You wouldn't like me mad."
"Like that TV show?"
"The Hulk? Kinda."
"So... Faith?"
"You know what she does?"
"Kills people."
"She was kinda... unbalanced."
"She isn't now?"
"She gave herself up, did time."
"She escaped."
"She was needed."
Batman waits.
"Remember the LA blackout, the mass murders? She stopped that."
"Single handed?"
"Almost."
"How?"
"Helped kill an invulnerable demon."
"Why her?"
"Becase she's a Slayer."
"A what?"
"A Vampire Slayer."
TENTH HOUR
It's dark, nearly ten, when Oz finishes explaining.
"So your friends checked..."
"To make sure you weren't a vampire or a demon."
"Why me?"
"You've got that creature of the night schtick, lot of blood gets spilled around you. They had to be sure it wasn't a cover."
"They? You aren't part of it?"
"I help out sometimes, if they need my talents."
"Which are..?"
"You don't like the music?"
"That all?"
"I smell vampires."
"Useful."
"That was an observation, not my resume." He hands Batman a steel mechanism with a wrist strap. "Wear this under your sleeve, company's coming."
ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT
Six of them, moving like they own the night. Oz blocks the doorway, smiles, says "Diner's closed."
"We'll eat outside," says the leader, grabbing him and sprouting fangs. Oz bites his hand, takes off fingers.
Two notice Batman, suddenly he's fighting for his life.
Fangs hit his kevlar undersuit, he snap-punches that attacker's heart, dust spills as the spring-loaded stake thuds in.
Something monstrous... Oz... tears at screaming vampires.
Batman blocks a kick, twists the ankle, stakes his vampire as it goes down.
Crossbow bolts from above take out the survivors.
"Up here, unless you're staying for the cops!"
Faith.
TWELFTH PAIR
"Did I bite you?" Oz asks on the fire escape. He's back to his usual size, features still changing, clothes ragged.
"No."
"Good. Lycanthropy's infectious."
"What about vampire bites?"
"No." Faith tosses Oz a T-shirt as they reach the roof, says "Your fly is torn."
"Damn. Twelfth pair this year."
"Nothing I haven't seen before. You look kinda ragged too."
Batman's clothes are ripped, Kevlar showing through the tears.
"Got anything in my size?"
"There's a straight line..."
"It can wait. We need to talk."
"That's my line," says a familiar voice. They turn.
Floating in mid-air, Superman's watching them.
TRISKADEKAPHOBIA
"Do I know you?" asks Superman.
"Don't bother, they know I'm Batman."
"Okay... so what brings you to Metropolis?"
"It's... complicated."
"It always is. Want to introduce your friends?"
"Oz," says Oz.
"Faith."
"Not very chatty. Do I need to worry about this?"
"Nope." says Faith.
Batman thinks of saying "she's a wanted fugitive" but says "No."
"Okay." Superman vanishes, reappearing with a bundle of clothes. "You know where to send this."
"Yes."
"Clear away the crossbow bolts outside the diner before you leave. Someone might get hurt." And he's gone.
"Holy shit," says Faith.
"Now," says Batman, "We'll talk."
FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT
"You're wanted..."
"Was," says Faith. "I'm officially dead."
"Until the police find your fingerprints. Planning to spend your life running?"
"A couple more weeks."
"What happens then?"
"I turn myself in, and the California Supreme Court reviews my trial. Something about Due Process."
"Then what?"
"My lawyers are trying to negotiate a suspended sentence for breaking out."
"And if they can't?"
"I do the time."
Oz climbs back to the roof with the crossbow bolts, says "Are we done?"
"I think so," says Batman.
"Great," says Faith. "See you around."
"If you don't turn yourself in you can count on it."
FIFTEENTH FLOOR
Bruce rarely pays enough attention to Wayne Foundation business. He's passing through the fifteenth floor cafeteria when he notices Faith, drinking coffee with a man with an eye patch.
In his office Bruce checks the computer; she's booked for a meeting in the Human Rights department. They're helping her with her case, of course.
He reads her dossier, compares it with Oracle's version. Neither makes pretty reading. The background report on her family is worse.
He hesitates, then sends a memo giving the case priority and extra funding.
Faith hasn't had many breaks; he hopes this one will be enough.
SIXTEENTH DAY
"What happened?" asks Batman.
"Senator Bruckner," says Oracle. "Denounced the court's leniency, next thing they'd voted a year's imprisonment for the jailbreak."
"She's always been big on law and order issues..."
"Want me to dig, see if there's more behind it?"
"No, we've other fish to fry." He pushes Faith to the back of his mind.
Sixteen days later Bruckner's dead, LA's burning, and a dozen metahumans are hurt before things are under control.
The investigation reveals corruption in the California Supreme Court, cases where Bruckner used her influence illegally. Faith's released after two months.
EPILOGUE I: SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Founded in 1635, Gotham has plenty of crumbling architecture. The earthquake a while back didn't help.
"..and now we're gonna have a Hellmouth," says Faith, "if demon guy can't be stopped."
"Okay," says Batman, looking out across the city. "Etrigan opens the Hellmouth on Friday, a vampire's rising in Arkham cemetery tonight, and the Penguin's stolen $230,000,000 in Monopoly money."
"Yeah. What the hell is that about?"
"Damned if I know."
"You take the Penguin, I'll stake the vamp, meet here Friday for demon guy? Movie afterwards?"
"Works for me."
"It's a date."
They kiss, and vanish into the night.
EPILOGUE 2: EIGHTEENTH STOREY
"Mister Kent?"
"Yes?"
"Daniel Osbourne. Call me Oz. People say you can get messages to Superman."
Clark recognises the redheaded man he saw with Batman a week ago. "Sometimes. What's it about?"
Oz looks around the eighteenth-floor newsroom, says "It's kinda confidential."
"I'll need more than that."
"Not for publication."
"No guarantees, not if it's newsworthy."
"Okay." Oz shrugs, seems to think of leaving, then sniffs. His eyes widen. He says "On the other hand, you.. um.. look trustworthy. I want to brief you... him... on my organisation, what we're doing in Metropolis. What do you know about vampires...?"
End
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