cemetary } { no one's getting out of here alive this time

[kiss_evilgoodbye]

Buffy: [When it's been almost twenty four hours since Sylar landed in their laps, and he's not making a move to head to the hills before it gets dark, Buffy takes it as a silent indication that he intends to stick around for a while. and if he's going to stick around, he's going to have to learn a few things. So she makes her way into the room where he's staying and tosses a stake at him] Come on. We're going patrolling.

Sylar: [catches the stake and glances down at it, before looking up at her, an eyebrow raised. he doesn't protest, though, just gets to his feet, slipping the stake into his pocket for lack of anything better to do with it at the moment] Lead the way.

Buffy: [nods as she makes her way back out the door, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she goes] We're gonna head to the cemetary not too far from here. They usually have a good amount of vamps to practice on.

Sylar: [follows after her] That seems a little cliche. [not that he's arguing, just ... seriously?]

Buffy: Well. Getting buried is part of the whole member of the undead thing. They have to come from somewhere.

Sylar: So, if they're not buried, they don't end up vampires? Or ... ? [feels kind of stupid asking, but he really has no idea how any of this works beyond the fact that a stake through the heart kills them and being able to fry them makes them burst into flames]

Buffy: There needs to be a dirt component. But complete burial isn't always mandatory.

Sylar: [pops his eyebrows in a sort of facial shrug] Huh.

Buffy: [shrugs] Plus, people don't always recognize the bites -- or don't want to. Most vamp victims we have to decapitate to make sure they don't rise again, which -- is gross, but we need to do it.

Sylar: Just in case. Yeah, I get it. [a beat] And people see what they want to see, most of the time. If ... [hesitates] ... if a friend of mine's niece hadn't jumped off a Ferris Wheel and survived, most people wouldn't even know we exist, even though plenty of stuff happened that just screamed super powers.

Buffy: [a beat] She jumped off a Ferris Wheel? Please tell me there was flying involved, and she's just not a crazy girl with a death wish?

Sylar: [flashes her a dim, sideways smile] She's like me -- she heals.

Buffy: So she just jumped off a Ferris Whell, popped the broken bones back into place, and said "Hi, we exist?"

Sylar: Yep.

Buffy: That's sounds a little short sighted and stupid.

Sylar: She spent her entire life hiding. [shrugs] I guess she was just tired of having to be someone other than what she was. [and the way he says that, he sounds like he's not sure how he feels about Claire's decision to out them all, which is the truth. on one hand, he can understand why she did what she did. on the other ... yeah, she's an idiot]

Buffy: Trust me, I get the whole double identity thing. Being the Slayer is like being in witness protection a lot of the time, except you could actually go to jail. But -- secrets are secret for a reason. Otherwise they wouldn't be secrets.

Sylar: [he could actually go to jail, too, but he's not going to mention that] She's a teenager. [shrugs again -- that's the best explaination he has]

Buffy: [and that's when it clicks] Ah. So I see.

Sylar: [looks vaguely amused] That explains everything, huh?

Buffy: I was one once. I'm familiar with the species.

Sylar: Most people pretend they aren't. [including him. he doesn't want to think about when he was a teenager]

Buffy: I think I'm too close to being one to ignore it.

Sylar: And now I feel old. [amused]

Buffy: [smiles] Not that close -- but still close.

Sylar: Thanks. [a beat] I think.

Buffy: [sheepish] I'm twenty-four.

Sylar: I'll be thirty-four in June.

Buffy: .... So you are a bit far from the teen bracket. I see that now.

Sylar: Like I said. I'm old. [still seems amused, though]

Buffy: Not that old. I've met much much older. [she's dated much much older. compared to Angel, Sylar's a baby.]

Sylar: Fair enough.

Buffy: [nods as they get to the gates of the cemetary. She will now proceed to pull the iron gate open and gesture for him to go in ahead of her] After you.

Sylar: [arches his eyebrows, sobering slowly -- sure, send the guy who can't die in to be potentially mobbed by vampires -- and then shrugs and heads in]

Buffy: [she's got his back! Don't worry. She'll take the lead once the gate's closed, and she does] Okay. Vampire 101. They usually come up hungry, so they're not being smart about it. They just want blood.

Sylar: Should I wait until they're out? [because he could probably decapitate a vampire the second it stuck its head out of the ground]

Buffy: Normally that's the preferred method of combat, but if you can get to them sooner, go for it.

Sylar: [can't help but smirk a bit] If you say so.

Buffy: [smirks as she keeps her eyes peeled, looking for any sign of movement]

Sylar: [looks around, too, his hands held out at the ready, wanting to show her what he can do, to show off a little]

Buffy: [but it's quiet for the most part. which is never really a good sign, but Buffy isn't going to let that on quite yet]

Sylar: [flexes his fingers a bit, waiting -- any day now, vampires. gets bored after another minute or two and glances over at her] How long does this usually take?

Buffy: Not this long.

Sylar: [in that instant, he can't help but wish he had his hearing still, and he makes a face at the thought. still, though, he's not entirely helpless and he drifts a few feet away from her to the nearest tombstone, brushing his fingers over it, trying to read the most recent impressions to see if he can get an idea as to where all the vampires are]

Buffy: [takes a couple of steps forward in the opposite direction, fanning out on instinct. She gets past an ugly looking tree, and there's a tall, broad vampire, grinning at her with his game face on]

Vamp: Hello, Slayer. [and with that, there's a few blows, some lifting, and some throwing]

Buffy: [lands against a headstone] ... Ow.

Sylar: [ ... well, so much for figuring out what's going on before bad happens. wheels around on his heels and marches in that direction, a hand coming up as he gets close so he can throw the vampire back telekinetically]

Buffy: [is already bouncing back onto her feet, but the rest of the gang is starting to close in]

Vamp: Oh, look. The Slayer brought a friend.

Sylar: Guess she figured since it was a party, it was okay if she brought along a plus one. [and since there's more than one, regardless of how morbidly curious as he is to see how much he could do to a vampire and still keep it, relatively speaking, alive, he figures he should probably start doing something. he can always save one of them when they've gotten rid of the rest or something. that in mind, he turns to pin one of them down against the tree that Buffy passed and brings up his other hand, slashing his fingers through the empty air viciously. three guesses as to what happens to the vampire's head]

Vamp: [isn't even hitting the ground before it turns to dust]

Buffy: [smirks] Come on. I thought this was a party.

Other Vamps: [surge forward, and they all start fighting]

Sylar: [keeps them mostly at a distance, even though he can't be killed -- being bitten wasn't particularly fun, and he doesn't want it getting out that there's an all you can eat buffet walking around, assuming one of them turns tail and runs -- and relies entirely on his abilities, the stake she gave him largely forgotten. it's harder than it looks, even so, considering he has to watch who's doing what so he doesn't accidentally electrocute Buffy, and it's kind of hard to decapitate someone when there's nothing to pin them to beforehand, but he's managing and he can't say it's not fun. Peter hasn't let him do practically anything since they've been BFFs, afraid that he'll get arrested if and when the FBI makes the connection between his murders and specials, and well, redeemed or not, he can't say getting to kill isn't doing something for him, even if they're not technically human]

Buffy: [Well, Buffy relies on her stake more than anything else, so to each their own. She gets a few of her own in, using her trademark kicks and other fighting skills, before shoving in the stake and carrying on]

Sylar: [and eventually they're down to just a few vampires. Sylar pins one to a tree to keep alive for the time being and casts a glance over his shoulder to see how Buffy's doing, since beyond making sure he didn't hurt her, he wasn't really paying attention]

Buffy: [she's pretty much peachy. She takes out two of the ones left, and is starting on the third, not really playing attention to Sylar either]

Sylar: [is kind of curious as to whether or not he can pick up his last vampire's face and add it to his repertoire of shapeshifts. doesn't really have a reason to need it, he's just curious. then again, though, he doesn't want to end up a vampire accidentally or something. debates it for a moment or two before deciding against it, and punches through his chest over his heart, telekinetically, curious as to whether or not that will kill a vampire, too]

Vamp: [doesn't dust. just looks annoyed] Really? Was that necessary?

Sylar: I was testing a theory. [shrugs and proceeds to light him up with electricity casually. there. better?]

Vamp: [doesn't have time to tell you. dusts too quickly]

Sylar: [shrugs again and wanders over to Buffy]

Buffy: [is finishing up the last of the vamps, before glancing over to him] You good?

Sylar: Yep. [a beat] You?

Buffy: I'm good.

Sylar: Good. [glances around just to make sure there aren't more of them coming, and then] You think they knew we'd be coming? Or were we just in the wrong place at the wrong time? [sort of. they did come here looking for trouble]

Buffy: [shakes her head] No, that was definitely an ambush.

Sylar: I'd ask what they were hoping to get out of that, but you seem to be on everybody's hit list.

Buffy: Me dead, the other Slayers lose their leader. Cut off the head, lose the body.

Sylar: [cants his head to one side, looking down at her thoughtfully] Think you could've handled that if you'd been alone? [isn't doubting her ability or whatever -- is genuinely curious, since he really doesn't know what she's capable of beyond apparently being able to stand up to vampires who are as strong and fast as he pretends to be]

Buffy: [shrugs] I would have done okay. At least beat them back enough to retreat. But that's the rule in Cleveland -- you don't patrol alone.

Sylar: [nods] I can see why.

Buffy: But I'm also really hard to kill. So that's the upside.

Sylar: But not like me. [is pretty sure she's starting to bruise a bit in a few places. then again, though, it's dark and it's not like he has night vision. it could just be shadows]

Buffy: [huffs a laugh] No, the auto-spackle definitely isn't one of my ... skills. But I don't stay dead long, at least, not usually.

Sylar: [snickers] Auto-spackle. [apparently thinks that's hysterical, but at any rate] If I stick around, you won't have to worry about that off chance. [a beat] I said I could help if anyone was hurt the other night, and I meant it.

Buffy: [head tips] How do you mean?

Sylar: My blood ... [is magic heal anything blood] ... heals. If you were hurt or dead, and I gave you a transfusion, it'd do the same thing for you it does for me. No strings attached.

Buffy: ... Huh. [she's processing. Coming back from the dead is a tricky subject for her]

Sylar: [shrugs. figures that might be a little weird for her, since as far as he understands vampires, there has to be sharing of blood to become a vampire and that might hit a little close to home]

Buffy: [well, that and Buffy is of the belief that death should be permanent] If you need to help the injured in a pinch, we'd appreciate it.

Sylar: [and he shrugs again] No problem.

Buffy: [nods, as she glances around, before tipping her head towards the rest of the graveyard] We should keep going.

Sylar: [flashes her a sideways smile] Walk into another ambush?

Buffy: Don't be so negative. I like to think of it as finding a party.

Sylar: [hums] My mistake. [and that said, he moves to head further into the cemetary, his fingers ghosting over the occasional tombstone as he passes, trying to read surface impressions]

Buffy: [keeps her eyes peeled for said ambushes, occasionally watching him as she goes]

Sylar: Well, they definitely came this way. [can't really tell much more than that, though, the headstones old and full of layers of memory, too hard to pull apart with just a second or two of touch]

Buffy: Which means their crypt is probably around here somewhere.

Sylar: I take it that's their nest? The crypt?

Buffy: [nods] Vamps like to hang out somewhere dark during the day, so it's either hang out in a crypt or take to the sewers. Crypts are a little more classy.

Sylar: Not by much. [or so he imagines, anyway]

Buffy: Some crypts can turn out pretty nice. I knew a vamp once who made one pretty homey.

Sylar: I didn't know vampires were into collecting knick knacks.

Buffy: They're still people-ish. They just lack remorse, guilt, or ... any other kind of feeling.

Sylar: [that sounds vaguely familiar, and a shadow of guilt passes over his face, hopefully lost to the gloom] And the capacity for change?

Buffy: [glances over and nods] They've got it. They just have to be willing to try.

Sylar: [just nods mutely]

Buffy: I knew a vamp once -- same vamp with the nice crypt -- and he ... was one of the most feared vamps of the past two hundred years. But he decided that he wanted to be good. He did whatever it took to got it, and he wound up saving the world. [a beat] Twice.

Sylar: [hesitates and then softly] Sounds familiar.

Buffy: [looks over] Does to a lot of people.

Sylar: Least it's not just me. [oh, look. there's the crypt!] ... should we just barge in?

Buffy: [glances over and shrugs] We could knock?

Sylar: [makes a gesture to the crypt] Be my guest.

Buffy: [moves closer and "knocks" before sticking her head in] Anybody home?

Sylar: [he peeks his head in over Buffy's shoulder, his face the picture of innocence, and there's a handful of vampires playing some sort of card game on top of a tomb in the center. they stop the second he and Buffy stick their heads in, though, and then get up abruptly to come after them]

Buffy: [ducks when one swings at her, before charging her way inside to the heart of the nest]

[follows her in, shoving one of them back as they charge at him, just so he has a bit of breathing room]

Buffy: [isn't used to breathing room, and just throws herself into it, taking out as many vamps as will let her]

Sylar: [isn't used to melee combat, so ... he needs his space. but either way, there aren't many vampires here, surprisingly -- probably because they wiped most of the ones from this particular crypt off the face of the map earlier -- so it doesn't take him long before his half off the group is nothing more than dust]

Buffy: [isn't that far behind him, adjusting her grip on her stake as she relaxed her fighting stance and takes a breath]

Sylar: [turns in a slow circle, taking stock of the room] I guess we killed most of them earlier.

Buffy: [nods] Guess so.

Sylar: So what now? [never mind the fact that he's wandering around, touching everything, wanting to make sure that was it for now]

Buffy: [takes a breath and shrugs] We start heading back. Hope we don't run into anything else along the way.

Sylar: I think we're good. [puts down the stack of cards he was thumbing through and shrugs] As far as this pack ... group ... whatever goes, we got them all.

Buffy: [nods, not sure she wants to ask how he's so sure of that] Good. Let's go home, then.

Sylar: [she doesn't ask, but he's going to tell her anyway -- mostly because he realizes how suspicious that must look. and because he doesn't want to look entirely OCD. gestures to the cards as they head out] I can see the history of anything I touch. Where it's been, what it's seen, that sort of thing. [shrugs] The gravestones outside were a little hard to read -- too many memories -- but those cards are relatively new, and the whole team got together for a go team bad guy pep talk earlier.

Buffy: [nods and smirks] Good to know those aren't Good Guy exclusive.

Sylar: [amused] Guess not.

Sylar: [a beat] That's not all of them, though, is it? The city wouldn't be like this if it was just that one group.

Buffy: [shakes her head] There are groups like this everywhere.


Sylar: Why not just let them have it? They'd starve to death eventually if you made sure they couldn't leave, right? Like ... like a blockade.

Buffy: [shakes her head] That'd be like letting Hitler keep a stash of nukes. They feed off the Hellmouth.

Sylar: [makes a face] My mistake.

Buffy: It's okay. Not everybody is a walking encyclopedia of all things supernatural. [a beat as she looks around] Besides, if the activity is this bad, it means there's something wrong. Something happened to make it like this.

Sylar: Like what? And what stops whatever group you're not taking out at the moment from just using those nukes?

Buffy: To be honest? I don't know. I've never seen a city this bad. There had to have been some kind of surge of energy in the Hellmouth, but -- I don't know what could have done it. I mean, you saw the signs. I have a feeling that whatever caused those? Did this too. As for the using the nukes ... [shrugs] Destroying the Hellmouth takes a souled vampire and a special amulet, and ... both of those things got lost when Los Angeles went to Hell. Literally.

Sylar: Fun. [obviously not, but sarcasm is actually fun]

Buffy: Yup.

Sylar: So ... what? You just keep killing vampires until they're all dead or until you can find a way to close the Hellmouth?

Buffy: Pretty much.

Sylar: Fair enough, I guess.

Buffy: Believe me, we're working on a more permanent solution. But for right now? Wearing them down slowly is all we can do.

Sylar: ... if I stuck around, I could at least make it go a little faster. You've seen what I can do. [a pause for effect] Mostly.

Buffy: [watches him for a moment] It's not going to be easy. Your abilties aren't always going to work.

Sylar: Unless there's an eclipse, I doubt that.

Buffy: No, I mean -- they won't always be effective.

Sylar: They'll keep me alive, at least. [or, well, his healing will ... though, if he goes up against something that his powers don't work on, he'll be relatively screwed otherwise. looks a little sour at that]

Buffy: [nods] Yeah, that's true. [a pause] If you want to stick around, I won't stop you. We need all the help we can get.

Sylar: I'll have to let a friend of mine know. [and Peter will probably yell at him for running off and then staying, but whatever. it's better than being under house arrest back in New York] And you'll have to teach me how to fight if you really think my abilities won't always work.

Buffy: Totally doable. We have training sessions every morning.

Sylar: What time? [not that he sleeps much and therefore plans on sleeping in, he's just curious]

Buffy: Around noon. We work nights.

Sylar: [amused] You think I would've thought of that.

Buffy: [smirks back] Most people skip over the whole creature of the night thing.

Sylar: Most people don't have the same sleep schedule I do, either. [he could get up at six am after doing this all night and be perfectly fine] I forget that most of the time.

Buffy: [shrugs] It happens.

Sylar: Guess it does. [shrugs, too]

Buffy: So training, plus book work so you can learn about the other supernatural stuff, and you'll be a hunter in no time.

Sylar: Less, probably. I'm a fast learner. [he's half right -- he'll probably pick up the lore easily enough, but fighting without his abilities may be another story]

Buffy: Good. We could use more of those.

Sylar: [just shrugs and stuffs his hands in his pockets idly as they head back towards the house]

Buffy: [and eventually they get there, and she starts to climb the stairs to the porch] I'm gonna go shower off. You need anything?

Sylar: [shakes his head] I'm good. [though he may take a shower of his own in a bit, just to get the vampire dust off]

Buffy: [nods] Well, if I don't see you before then -- good night.

Sylar: [hums] Night.

Buffy: [nods and jogs up the stairs to where she and the other Slayers sleep]