Back and better than ever

Irene was still so incredibly unsure of whether or not her decision to not only be with Tre, but to keep him safe was the right one. If for no other reason, she took comfort in knowing what he was doing most of the time, therefore knowing that he’s not the one of the ones off doing terrible things. Still, he wasn’t the same. She didn’t doubt that anymore. Hesitantly and rather reluctantly, Irene walked over to the bed in the hotel room. She sat just the right distance away, not too close to encourage any uninvited behavior, but not far enough to be obvious. “The future?” She had in the past, but it was becoming increasingly clear to her that she might not have much of a future to even think about. “Of course I think about it. Everyone does.”

Tre shook his head. "Not like that, I mean our future. Like what's going to happen with us." A vampire and Slayer relationship was not an easy thing to keep alive and both of them knew it. Buffy was already on her second, but even that one seemed only to have minor stability at best. Irene was too logical not to have thought this through. "When we got back together, you must have been thinking about it, right? If you didn't think we had a future, you wouldn't be here, would you?"

Irene knew that no matter what she said, it wouldn’t be the right thing. They didn’t have a future, and anyone they could potentially have, she wasn’t sure if she wanted. She used to imagine a future between the two of them, but that was swiftly shattered when he passed. “The future is too unstable to put any sort of emphasis or reliance on it. How I may or may not see the future hardly matters when you take the bigger picture into consideration.”

Tre was getting annoyed with how Irene was dodging his questions. She knew what he wanted to talk about, at least in general, but she was avoiding why? Because she was unsure or because she was conflicted? He didn't know, but them being together wasn't going to work the way they were currently, and Irene seemed like she might be willing to commit to him fully if she wanted to get back together even after all that had been going on. Bringing up his idea for them seemed more right to do now than ever before. And if Irene didn't say yes, Tre still had some vampire family who'd love to see a slaypire. "It doesn't have to be so unstable you know." He reached for her hand, feeling her warmth and blood pulse in her veins as soon as he touched her. God, he was sure she tasted good. Probably better than Faith. "There is a way we could make this easier, for both of us. Make sure we stayed together." He looked up at her and smiled, saying, "we could have forever."

Irene’s heartbeat increased as he spoke. She knew exactly what he was referring to, it was painfully clear. She honestly never considered the possibility, not even once. Mainly because she never thought he would consider it either. Maybe she was likening the man sitting before her too much with the man she loved. It was a painful realization, and it was one that had been in the making for a while now. But Irene wasn’t going to say anything until he spelled it out for her. She had to hear him say it before she would decide how to react. “What do you mean Tre?”

Tre scooted closer to her and nudged her a little. "You know what I mean." He moved her hair from the side that he was on, exposing her neck. It was beautiful, all pale and white and practically calling his name to decorate it with color, a beautiful red. "It doesn't even hurt that much, I'll make it nice and quick. You won't even have to crawl out of your grave like I did. We can just lay you down and wait until it happens." Tre was getting into his exciting babbling phase, overjoyed that Irene might be considering it herself. He didn't want to force her, but he would if he had to. "What do you think?"

Irene could feel, for the very first time ever in his presence, fear building up inside of herself. As she felt the soft but cold brush of his hand against her neck, she realized just how dangerous of a situation she was in. It was obviously something he was enthused about, something he no doubt had been planning. Tre wouldn’t have wanted that for her, he never would have asked her to do such a thing, to willingly defile herself. “I-“ she started, then realized that if she said no, there was no telling what he’d do. “I’ve never thought about that before. Do you really think it would be the best of ideas?”

Tre put his hand down and turned so he was looking into her eyes. "It's really our only shot, isn't it? We can't keep hiding like this, and even if we could, you'd keep growing old and I'd just be the same. I want to be with you always and after what happened, it seems to be the only way. I wish it wasn't, but at least we have something, right?" He picked up her hand again and kissed it. "I love you and you're all I want. This is what you want too, right? To be together forever?"

Irene couldn’t believe she was even thinking this, but if her only reasoning to be keeping him safe was because he was /her/ Tre, and that he was good, then she no longer had that validation to support keeping him safe. She could tell him no, run out and never look back. But then he’d most likely retreat to Angelus, and that was not something she was willing to allow. So she had to fake it, until she could form a better plan. “Tre, of course I want to be with you forever. That’s all I’ve wanted for a while.” It would have hurt less if she wasn’t lying, if those weren’t things she had felt before he had died.

A grin spread across Tre's face. This was going so much better than he thought it was going to. The vampire squeezed her hand and reached for her face to give her a kiss on the lips. He held his hands there first, feeling her quick heartbeat. His smile faltered slightly as he said, "don't be scared. I know it is an unknown and those are always scary, but it will be great. And we can go wherever you like! The world will be our oyster."

Irene knew that maintaining her composure was important, as was keeping him on her side, trusting her. That didn’t make kissing him any easier though, especially since it was so incredibly unexpected. If he questioned why she didn’t seem very into it, she could easily just say she was caught up in thought. “You’ve truly thought a lot about this, haven’t you?” In a way, Irene could hardly believe that it took something this drastic for her to finally admit the truth to herself, it didn’t make it any easier, but at least she knew what needed to be done now. “I just need to go to Charlotte’s, so I can get my things. No doubt she won’t be willing to let me inside afterwards.” She said it with a smile, in order to make it just believable enough, and Tre hated Charlotte just enough to undoubtedly buy it.

Tre nodded, so glad that she was agreeing enough to go get her things and that she was treating him like she used to that he didn't even notice her hesitation, beyond the obvious. Anything you hadn't done before was intimidating. "Alright, great! I'll be right here. I love you."

Irene returned not too much later, after getting off the phone with Faith she realized that she had to at least return with some things from Charlotte’s otherwise her faulty reasoning would be found out. She packed a duffle bag mostly of clothes and books, then returned to the hotel, hoping to god that Faith would arrive soon. She opened the hotel door then dropped the key on the ground in the hall, so Faith would have access, before closing the door. “I’m back.” She said, mainly just to make sure that he was in fact still there.

Tre left the small kitchen area and ran back to the door. Irene had her things and still looked a little nervous, but he smiled at her and reached out for her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles as soothingly as he could. He squeezed her hand and said, "I'm so happy you're willing to do this. I know it's scary and strange, but you're going to love it. We'll be free together forever. Leave all these people behind."

Irene was used to hiding her bluff. Used to manipulating her body language to throw off her opponent, which in this case, was Tre. She didn’t pull her hand away from his, despite an itching desire to, and she forced an effortless smile. “I’m not scared.” She said it not only trying to convince him, but to convince herself. “Where do you want us to go?” Making small talk until Faith got there seemed to be her best course of action, after all there didn’t seem like anything else that she could do.

Faith felt the sore reminders of her last encounter with Tre as she ran. Wasn't far now. Irene seemed to have things under control; if anyone stood an intellectual chance against Tre, it was her. That she got a call from Irene in the first place came as one hell of a surprise. This was serious. No one deserved to have the person they love turn into a monster and then try to turn /them/. Faith wouldn't wish that on her worst enemy. The hotel came into view, and she wasted no time in running to the room. The key was there, as Irene said, but did she /really/ think that was gonna be a thing? Faith kicked down the door. Tre and Irene's hands were touching, but only one of them looked surprised. Tre would figure it out soon. "Sorry, forgot the housewarming gift." Faith charged in, drawing her dagger from its sheath. "I'd say step away from her and no one gets hurt, but man, you got /no idea/ how much I've been looking forward to this."

Before he could answer, Tre turned his gaze to the door that was opening. And it was Faith? How was she still alive? And why the hell was she here? Whatever, didn't matter. She'd be dead soon enough. Tre moved Irene from between him and Faith and said, "the feeling's mutual. Angelus might be a little upset when you're dead, but I think he'll get over it." As he said this, Tre charged forward, face morphing and snarled as he started to punch and kick at Faith. Hopefully she was still injured enough that she would be compromised while they fought. He aimed for the places he had hit her before, her ribs, the thigh his knife had been in, all her weak points.

Faith spared Irene a glance to make sure she was all in one piece; didn't seem like Tre had harmed her yet. That was good. Just in time. Faith knew what Tre's game would be-- he was brain over brawn, and he knew exactly what parts of her were still hurting. She had to be careful and finish this fast, before he got the chance to make it count. "There's a reason he tied me up," Faith said, ducking under Tre's punch and kicking him in the gut. "I kicked his ass before, and you? You're not even a tenth as tough as he is." He was inexperienced. Never had to fight a day in his life as a human, and it showed. Faith clocked him in the face, blood sticking to her knuckles. There was a stabbing pain in her side-- not from a knife this time, but Tre's fist. She tried to hide her wince. If he noticed, he wouldn't have time to think about it-- she grabbed him by the wrist and swung him into the wall, causing it to crumble.

Tre would have been impressed with Faith's ability to fight if he wasn't so pissed off that she was here. This should have been the happiest day of his life, the beginning of his eternity with Irene, and now the torture and murder Slayer decided to find them? That sort of cruel twist of fate was that? She was dodging almost everything he sent her way, and landing plenty of punches in kind, but he knew all he had to get were a few good hits and she'd go done. Tre hit her in the side and saw a wince of pain, leading to his own satisfaction, until she grabbed him and through him through the air, bringing down a wall. He quickly stood up and regained his fighting composure, more fueled with rage than ever. He heard a scream from behind him, most likely the residents of the room that now only had three walls, but he could care less. Tre lunged at her again, and aimed an obvious punch at her face, while his foot connected with her shin. He heard a small crack and grinned, hoping desperately that it was her bones breaking. "Maybe you've gotten a little rusty."

Irene was in a bit of shock at how quickly such an intense fight formed. It was disorienting to see Tre acting in such a violent manner, it was really just another reminder that he truly was no longer the person she wanted him to be. He was a monster, and it was beyond foolish of her to hope for anything else. After seeing Faith getting the worst of the fight, Irene realized that she couldn’t just stand there, gawking in disbelief. She rushed over to where they were fighting, and grabbed Tre by his shirt, pulling him off of her. With all of her strength, she pushed him up against the wall that was still standing, holding him there with her forearm pressed up against his throat.

Faith grabbed Tre's arms to block the punch and felt a her bone crack as his foot connected with her shin-- same place as last time. She hissed and swung him to the side, but he was ready for it and doubled back. Another kick at her injured leg and she was down. Had to roll and get back up before-- Faith had braced herself to kick him away when she saw Tre being pulled backwards by Irene. Who looked... well, seriously pissed off. Faith hoisted herself up and leaned against the counter, watching intently in case Irene needed the back up-- but she knew whose fight this was. Only one of them could end it.

Tre was so pleased to see Faith down and ready to be out, that he let his guard down. He was pulled backwards and pushed up against a wall with force an arm at his throat. It was Irene. Tre was so confused and high on adrenaline in that moment, he had no idea what was happening. But the pieces started falling into place and he looked at Irene, heart shattering. "You invited her here, didn't you? To kill me." He should have struggled or tried to get past her, but a deep sadness washed over him, his eyes tearing up. "I thought...I thought you wanted this with me. I thought you loved me. We can get it back the way it was, I promise. I don't want to lose you. I love you."

Irene started shaking slightly, despite knowing that he was no longer really /Tre/, it hurt her so much to see him like that, and to know she caused it. But she refused to let that show, she needed to push those feelings down, they weren’t important right now. “It can never be how it was.” She said, softly and coldly. Without lessening the force holding him against the wall, she reached over to her bag and pulled out a stake. She avoided eye-contact with him while she did so. Seeing him like that only made it harder. With the sharp piece of wood clenched firmly in her hand, she looked back up at him. “I don’t love you.” She said, despite her eyes telling a different story. That didn’t matter anymore though. Quickly, as she didn’t want to draw this out any further, she shoved the stake into his chest, and he fell from her grasp into a pile of dust.

Faith was ready. The terrified look on Irene's face said more than the words that came out of her mouth, and Faith had her doubts that anything would happen to Tre without intervention on her part. But then the stake came out, and before she could blink, Tre was a pile of dust on the dirty hotel carpet. Irene didn't look any less relieved-- it would take a few minutes for it to sink in, what she did. Faith took a cautious step towards her, mouth hanging open. She did it. She really did it. Wasn't exactly a 'congratulations' moment though, was it? She extended her arm to Irene-- slowly-- and lightly rested her hand on the younger slayer's shoulder.

Irene tensed up as she looked down at the ground. She knew it was the right thing to do. Tre wouldn’t have wanted his body to be plagued by that monster. But that didn’t make the pain hurt any less. She let the stake slip from her hands, and it landed on the floor with a soft thud before she reacted. She took a tentative step away as tears formed in her eyes and she desperately tried to keep them from escaping. Despite Faith being the last person Irene would have gone to for comfort, she was glad that she wasn’t alone in that moment, which wasn’t usual for her.

[pm] Yes. Peyton and Estela: involved, or not?