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At last, the stake-equipped boots she had taken so long to construct were ready to be put to use. Ivory was just finishing with carving a pencil-thin stake, then carefully fit it into one of the compartments. Next, she pulled the boots on, pacing the room a moment to get a feel for them.
"How is it?" Chase asked, watching her intently from his spot across the room. "Comfy enough for you?"
Ivory smiled, looking at him. "A perfect fit. And I can't even feel the stakes, thanks to that foam we have holding them in place." Her expression contained so much pride and delight in her invention that it forced Chase to grin as well. "This was such a good idea! I'm glad you and my Dad suggested it!"
"Not a problem," Chase answered, throwing a glance out through the window and noting that the sun was close to setting. "Now, how about trying them out? If we hurry, we can make it out there in time to set up."
"Sounds like a plan," Ivory told him, moving to her dresser to quickly apply some peach lipstick and light blue eyeliner and grab her purse. However, they had just made it the door when the Slayer thought to take note of what she was wearing. Fingering the sweats that had worked for more or less being indoors all day, she told Chase to wait outside while she changed.
When Ivory finally did emerge from her suite, it was in her favorite pale pink tanktop and white leather miniskirt, a gold cross necklace clasped around her throat. "How's this?" she asked Chase. "Good enough for the heat but also sufficient in case it gets chilly later?"
"It's perfect," Chase assured her, reaching for her hand and guiding her towards the jeep, all the while trying to bury his thoughts of how sexy the outfit made her look. "Now, come on, let's go!"
Once out at their designated arroyo where they had spent most nights slaying vamps, Chase spread out the blanket in a shaded area, lying down and sighing as Ivory curled up next to him. Casually, he put one arm around her, his hand finding the stake she had partially taped to her back underneath the shirt. Giving her a strange look, he said, "Don't you ever worry about splinters?"
Ivory growled ever so softly. "Chase, really," she chided. "I'm a brave girl. I can take something like that."
He chuckled lightly. "You're right," he answered. "I mean, vampires are almost always worse?"
"Almost always," Ivory agreed, rolling off of him and onto her back, gazing up at the rapidly darkening sky. Sighing, she arched slightly, removing the stake from her back and hiding it underneath the blanket at her side. After a long period of silence, she asked, "Chase?"
"Yes," he replied, prompting her to go on.
Ivory bit her lip, turning her head slightly towards him, studying his shadowed features. "Do you ever wish you weren't who you were? That you had never met Cinnamon and that you weren't going to live forever as a result?"
Chase considered this for a while, then shook his head, much to her amazement. "No," he said firmly, looking back at her. "Because I'm grateful for where I'm at... Meeting Cinnamon led me to you, Ivory, and... My parents aside, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. And without even knowing it, you saved me from her, from... from an eternity spent in darkness."
Ivory considered his words carefully, slightly puzzled. "But... But you said that you escaped her. How could I have saved you, unless...?" Ivory stared at him incredulously. "If we hadn't met, would you have actually gone back to her?!"
Chase realized his error too late, silently cursing himself for letting too much spill. Holding his hands up in a defensive gesture, he said, "Slow down. It's not what you think... Ivory, I..." He broke off, suddenly at a loss of what to say.
"You would, wouldn't you?!" Ivory said with dawning horror. She waited for an answer that wasn't forthcoming, then abruptly stood, feeling sick as she took a few steps backwards, away from him. "Why?" she asked, tears springing to her eyes. "You said yourself she's a monster! Now all of a sudden..." The Slayer shook her head, disbelief turning to disgust. "I still can't trust you, can I?" she asked, turning to run away when he didn't answer.
Chase was up and after her in a flash, simultaneously grabbing the stake she had hidden under the blanket moments earlier. "Ivory, stop!" he pleaded, seizing her by the arm and half pulling her towards him. "You don't know what you're saying." He paused, trying to gather the right words, determined not to screw this up more. "If you just let me explain..."
"Oh, boy, would I love to hear this!" Ivory ridiculed with a note of sarcasm. "Tell me, Chase. Can I trust you? Really and truly?! Can I?!" Her words caused him hesitation, which for Ivory was answer enough. With a cry of disgust, she moved to pull away, but Chase took the opportunity to draw her back, catching her off guard with his next action.
It happened so suddenly that Ivory scarcely had time to think, let alone react, as Chase's lips pressed roughly, almost desperately, against hers. It took a solid thirty seconds before she regained her senses, during which his mouth explored hers, hungrily but still tenderly.
Then, Ivory broke away angrily, simultaneously slapping him. Panting slightly, she reached forward and seized the stake he held, thrusting it up under her right shoulder to slay the vamp she had sensed approach her from behind. Feeling a shower of dust coat her back, Ivory said evenly, "What is wrong with you, Chase?"
For a moment, Chase was speechless, then he scowled. "What is wrong with me is that I'm getting a little sick of this attitude you keep pulling on me," he retorted. "So what if I may have, for a few seconds, considered going back to Cinnamon before...? That shouldn't make me any less reliable, Ivory! It's not fair of you to label me as such!"
"And what was fair about you kissing me just now?!" she yelled. "Especially when you know I'm seeing Kenyon?! Chase, if you can't be content with keeping things platonic, then maybe you shouldn't be here!" The words were out before Ivory could stop them, and, judging by the subsequent crushed look on his face, she very much wished she could take them back.
They stared at each other in silence for the longest time, then Chase's expression changed to one of anger. "Fine," he said quietly, his voice not betraying an iota of how he felt. "If that's how you want it, then maybe I will leave... You don't need me to get your Mom out, Ivory. You and your father and Cordelia should do just fine on your own!" With that, Chase turned on his heel and strode away under a cloud of anger, tears of fury rising to his eyes.
Ivory, too, was reduced to tears, but hers were due to a more complex emotion. "Chase," she whispered, her voice carried out of his hearing range by the gentle desert winds. She merely watched him go, not having the strength nor the courage to run after him.
For a few minutes after she lost sight of them, Ivory wandered listlessly in the direction he'd gone. She had just reached the top of the arroyo, blanket in tow, when she stopped, looking around in slight fear. Holding her breath, Ivory dropped the blanket, squatting down to remove all four stakes from her boots and placed two of them nearby for easy access. Then, she stood, standing in plain view for her quarry to see her.
She didn't have to wait long, as she saw a group of people, mortals and vampires alike, crossing the desert headed in her directions. Scanning the bunch of them, the Slayer picked out five vamps at least, and she calmed slightly, thinking such a small amount should be enough to handle. Quickly, she hid the stakes in the waistband of her skirt, knowing she'd need them right away later.
When they came within speaking distance, Ivory stepped forward, already having it planned out what she'd say. "Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed. "Maybe you guys can help me! My boyfriend just stranded me here in the middle of nowhere while I was taking a nap. And, I haven't a clue as to which way the road is..."
One of the male vamps was quick to jump forth with information, but Ivory was only half-listening. Instead, her gaze was focused on the tiny brunette female to his left, who was staring at her intently (distrustingly) in turn. *Why is she looking at me like that?* Ivory thought. *She couldn't possibly know...*
The brunette silenced her partner suddenly, placing one hand on his arm. "Shut up, you idiot!" she said sharply. "And you, Slayer! You can stop the act! I see right through you!" To the boy vampire at her side. "Marcus, why don't you see our human friends safely to the caves?"
Quick as lightning, Ivory had the stakes out, one in each hand. "Oh, I'd have to disagree with that plan, Marcus," she quipped, throwing one of her weapons at him and watching as it hit its mark flawlessly.
Unfortunately, this action caused two of the other bloodsuckers (and the brunette) to rush Ivory, while the fourth hurried to escort the humans away. In between dodging punches and kicks, however, the Slayer could only watch them slip through her fingers, and she cursed the fact that Chase wasn't here to assist her. Nevertheless, she held her own pretty well, as she dusted first one, then another of her attackers.
The brunette, however, proved to be the best fighter of the pack, and Ivory was having a difficult time at bringing her down. Finally, seeing a potential opening, Ivory went in for an uppercut, only to be caught off guard when her opponent flipped the Slayer over onto her back, winding her badly.
Leeloo didn't give Ivory a chance to recover, as she grabbed the Slayer's shirt in her fist and hauled her up, striking her hard across the side of the face. Seeing the dazed look on Ivory's face, Leeloo couldn't help but laugh. "Well, isn't this interesting?!" she asked ironically. "You're not quite as flawless as you were made out to be! You wouldn't believe all the stories I've heard to the contrary!"
Ivory shook her head to clear it, attempting to get a punch in that Leeloo efficiently blocked. "Who are you?" the Slayer asked. "How do you know me?"
Leeloo scowled slightly, pushing Ivory face-first to the ground and straddling her to prevent much movement. Pinning the Slayer's hands above her head, Leeloo morphed into vampire mode, slicing clean through the back of the tank top with one free claw. Pushing the pieces of the tattered shirt aside, the brunette vampiress stared in amusement at Ivory's unmarred (though not for long) skin. "Boy, isn't this going to be fun?" Leeloo said in a tone that chilled Ivory to the very bone...
He had made it all the way to the jeep, even settled into the driver's seat, when second thoughts caught up to him. For a time, Chase just sat there, at one point throwing a punch at the steering wheel. Finally, he leaned forward, arms crossed on the dashboard.
"Jesus, what am I doing?" Chase whispered to himself. "Why did I get so freaked out? I'm usually more levelheaded than that..." Sighing, eyes darting skyward, he said to himself, "This has to end, man. You can't be with Ivory and not be totally honest." Chase sighed again, then slowly exited the jeep, stuffing the keys in the pocket of his jeans. "'Well, enough's enough," he muttered, starting back to where he'd left her. "It's time she knew..."
Ivory shrieked as Leeloo raked one claw down her back, drawing blood. Tears of pain rising to her emerald eyes, the Slayer turned her head slightly to one side. "Why don't you just kill me?" Ivory asked. "Isn't that what your kind does?"
Leeloo growled loudly. "You shut up!" she snarled, opening another gash on Ivory's back. "You don't know what my kind is!"
This puzzled Ivory to the core; she could tell just by looking at Leeloo now that her opponent was obviously a vampire. But, was she something else as well? "Why don't you tell me?" Ivory said in a somewhat placating tone, even though she didn't expect to get out of this alive.
Leeloo shook her head. "No," she said with a petulant voice. "I think I'm having just a little more fun torturing you." Ivory winced, gritting her teeth, as another slash was made, then listened to her adversary speak. "Now this is what I call poetic justice," Leeloo said. "After all the stories I heard about how perfect you are, how easy you had it growing up, I must admit I'm jealous, Ivory!" She made a fourth wound, fury in her dark brown eyes. "How do you think it was spending the first ten years of your life imprisoned?"
"I wouldn't know," Ivory managed to get out, feeling the blood trickle from her back down her sides.
"I would," Leeloo replied dangerously, leaning closer. "And I can tell you it was a living hell. If I had a choice, you'd have been right there with me!"
This time, Leeloo used all four of her claws to open gashes in Ivory's back, causing the Slayer to scream in anguish. Panting for breath, hot tears blurring her vision, Ivory asked, "What do you want with me? I don't even know you..."
"No, you wouldn't, would you?" Leeloo said calmly, sitting up straight. "Well, I'll tell you... We have more in common than you think, dear Ivory. After all, we are..."
Leeloo's words were cut off by a loud whapping sound, and Ivory felt the vampiress fall lifelessly over her, nearly crushing the Slayer with her weight. Before Ivory could wonder, Chase came into view, throwing aside the rock he'd used to knock out Leeloo.
Hurriedly, Chase pushed Leeloo off of Ivory, moving to help the Slayer to her feet. "Come on," he said. "We have to get out of here before she wakes up." With that, Chase began running off in one direction with Ivory in tow.
The Slayer, however, stopped him before he got too far, gasping in pain. "Chase, I can't," Ivory moaned. "It hurts too much!" Groaning slightly, Chase stopped and picked her up in his arms, taking care not to hurt her further. But, it didn't stop Ivory from passing out during his run, as Chase headed to the nearest, safest place he knew...