Title: Deception
Fandom: Buffy
Rating: M
Length: 1349
Content notes: Buffy/Darla, Vampires, Dark, Mistaken Identity
Author's notes: For the Femslash52 prompt "Deception", the 100Ships/Femslash Color prompts "White", the Ladies Bingo prompt "Enemy",
Summary: Her first few weeks in Sunnydale, Buffy runs into a girl who seems to like her. But are things really as they seem?


"Ooh, what's a good little girl like you doing out on a school night?" A voice said, startling Buffy on her patrol.

"Oh, you know, just taking a walk," Buffy said, eyeing her. The girl was blonde, and dressed like a teenager, but Buffy didn't recognize her. Which wasn't entirely surprising, when it came down to it.

She'd been in Sunnydale for all of a week, and though she had a decent handle on her fellow high schoolers, she didn't even know where to find the UC Sunnydale campus, let alone what any of the college kids looked like. For all Buffy knew, this was just another college girl, and not someone suspicious, like a vampire. She was wearing a bright white button down shirt, with a black sweater draped over her shoulders, and a black and white plaid skirt. It might be a little cliche, and a bit of a walking 'bite me' sign with that bright white, but that actually lent credence to the 'not a vamp' theory.

"You should be careful walking around here at night," the other blonde said. "There's a cemetery up the road there, and it can get pretty creepy at night. My ex boyfriend, William, swore he saw a ghost there once!"

Resisting the urge to tell the other girl that she was the one who needed to be careful — with that bright white top — Buffy ran a discreet hand over the back pocket of her jeans, trying to make sure that the stake she had tucked here wasn't sticking out obviously. "Wow, do you believe in ghosts?" she asked. She really needed to finish her patrol, but if this girl had seen something otherworldly, that could lead Buffy to the local vampire scene.

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. I know lots of strange things have happened in this town, but ghosts?" she chuckled. "I'm not so sure about that."

Well that was a dead end. Not that Buffy wasn't kind of happy to follow the 'no news is good news' adage when it came to vamps. She'd just as soon there were none to be found here, despite Giles' worrying. She'd hoped to get away from the slaying thing when she moved here! "Yeah, me neither," Buffy said quickly. "Well, I'm gonna... keep walking."

"Do you want some company?" the girl asked quickly. So quickly that Buffy wondered if maybe she did believe in ghosts and monsters, and didn't want to be out alone.

Buffy quickly weighed her options. She really didn't need someone tagging along and seeing her stake a vamp. But on the other hand, she hadn't seen anything lurking around tonight, and maybe this girl could give her some hints about other strange rumors that she could pass on to Giles. Or at least tell her how to find the rest of the town! "Sure, I guess."

She took a few steps forward and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Buffy. I'm new in town."

The other girl smiled warmly and shook her hand, then threaded their fingers and dropped their hands down to swing between them. It was a little more friendly a greeting than Buffy was used to, but she wasn't going to rip her hand away or anything. This might be the start of a wonderful friendship, like in the movies. "I'm Darla," she said. "I've been here forever."

o

Several hours later, Buffy slipped back into the house and managed to get into her room without her mom waking up. It normally only took her a few minutes to empty her pockets and slip into her PJs, but tonight she lingered over them — especially the stake she'd kept in her back pocket.

The last thing Buffy had expected when she went out on patrol tonight was for it to turn into a date! She hadn't even realized that's what was happening when she met Darla, even though the other girl had held her hand almost the entire way. Buffy had been so busy keeping an eye out for skulking types that might be vampires, and worried that Darla might see the outline of the stake in her pocket, and trying to take in all the information that Darla knew about the town, that she had completely missed the obvious!

When Darla paused outside a gated driveway bordered by a hedge and shyly said, "well this is my stop," Buffy had naively assumed that was that. Her new friend was going home now, and Buffy would finish off her patrol before heading back home herself. She had been caught completely off guard when Darla leaned over and kissed her!

Luckily it wasn't her first rodeo, and Buffy recovered fairly quickly and managed to kiss the other girl back. They made out for several minutes, and it wasn't until Darla had already stuck her hand into Buffy's pocket that she even registered where they had been roaming. As soon as her hands wrapped around the stake — by way of attempting to wrap around Buffy's rear — Darla broke the kiss and pulled back, a look of confusion on her face. "What's that?"

"Uh, it— it's for self defense," Buffy stuttered. "Everyone in L.A. has them. I did mention I'm from L.A., right?"

"You did," Darla said, still looking confused.

"Well, you know, pepper spray is so passe." Buffy lied.

"So everyone carries around little sharpened sticks?" Darla seemed doubtful.

"Well, they did in my neighborhood," Buffy said. "But ob— obviously that hasn't really caught on here in Sunnydale."

"Mmm, I can't say it has," Darla shook her head. Just when Buffy thought she had completely ruined everything, Darla leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Well, this has been fun, but if I don't get inside soon, I'm gonna be grounded."

"Overprotective mom?" Buffy asked, hoping that her claim was the truth, and not just an excuse to get away from the weirdo stake girl.

"Older brother," Darla said, rolling her eyes. "But um… I'll see you around? Tomorrow maybe?"

"Uh… yeah. Yeah I'd like that," Buffy said.

Before she knew it, Darla had slipped through the gates and disappeared up the driveway. Checking her own watch, Buffy saw that she was going to be late too, so she raced back home.

Now, as she tucked her stake into her hope chest, she looked at the other weapons, trying to think of something less obvious that she could use in the future. It went against her every instinct to go out without some kind of weapon, but she didn't want to risk losing her first friend — and possibly more — because of her slayer past. Darla had handled the whole thing really well, and Buffy had managed a somewhat plausible cover story, at least, so perhaps all hope wasn't lost.

Heaving a deep sigh, Buffy decided to sleep on it, and see if she had any better ideas in the morning. Locking her trunk back up, she finished getting ready for bed and slipped between the crisp white sheets. Soon, she was fast asleep, dreaming of sharing another kiss with Darla.

o

"I see you came home alone," Luke observed as Darla slipped into the lair.

Darla slipped her sweater off with a twirl of her skirts and giggled. "That's certainly what it looks like, isn't it?"

Luke sighed. "What game do you play?"

Darla skipped up to the wards that held their Master, getting as close as she dared. The candle light caught her white shirt, making it almost glow in the darkness. "I found a perfect gift for you, my Master, but it will take a little time to bring her here."

"What makes her different from any of the others you have lured to your side?" Luke frowned.

Their Master just waited patiently for her answer; he knew Darla would only bring him the best. And tonight she was going to prove her loyalty. "I've found you a Slayer."