The November Project - Part 4

TITLE:	The November Project (4/10)
AUTHOR:	-Andy- see2go4me@yahoo.com)
STATUS:	Words: 1,409.
RATING:	18/R
DISCLAIMER:	This is a derivative work. All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, Panzer/Davis and others. I don't own any of this, just the words gluing my story together.
SUMMARY:	A Third Slayer Tale
SPOILERS:	All seasons of BtVS and Highlander.
DISTRIBUTION:	My blog fanfic pages. TtH eventually. Anyone else, e-mail me please.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:	This is my NaNoWriMo entry. Quantity over quality. Don't expect anything better than a rough draft until the whole thing is done. Then I'll revise it.

Immediately putting her plan into action, Amanda had purchased a small building on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona with an adjoining house and garage intent on turning it into a place she could train Fann in the finer points of her profession.

"Why?" Fann had asked when they arrived in Tucson.

"Right now, how much do you know?" Amanda asked, leaning against her car and looking at the young woman.

"About your job?" Fann wasn't really sure how to refer to Amanda's profession without sounding to herself like a cliche. "I know you, ah, liberate objects from all sorts of places and sell or keep them. But how? Or why? No idea."

"Well, If you are going to be my assistant I need you to learn as much as you can about things like how people protect their possessions and how to get around them." Amanda waved at the building. "And you need to learn that in a safe place. Before you actually start helping me."

"Okay." Fann answered. "Where do we start?"

Two months of intense training followed their arrival as Amanda drilled what she called the pillars of her trade into Fann.

In the mornings Amanda taught Fann how to use a wide variety of different kinds of burglary tools and other equipment she'd found useful over the years. Afternoons were spent with the physical aspects of her craft. Evenings they spent pouring over details about various jobs Amanda had done in the past and how they had gone either good or bad.

It wasn't just knowledge of hundreds of locks and security systems that had made Amanda successful. A master thief of her stature and experience required the skills of a trained acrobat.

While Fann had the manual dexterity and flexible mind to learn to use the tools of her new trade, it was the physical aspect where she really shone. She was continually amazing Amanda with her strength and agility. And she seemed to be able to pick up any task Amanda set her quickly.

Fann twisted in the harness, head down, as she struggled to unlock the door. "Why am I doing this again?" she grumbled to herself as she tried to move only the barest amount.

"Because I told you to." came a quiet voice off to her left. "You aren't always going to be able to easily access a door. Now that you've learned to pick any mechanical lock you might run into you have to be able to do it when you can't touch the floor or even the door itself."

Twisting her head slightly, Fann stuck out her tongue at the blonde master thief. "Well, you've had years to learn how to do this. I've only been learning this for the last month." she pretended to protest.

"This is only the beginning. The easy part. If you want to work with me there are a lot of things you need to be able to do like this that combine the different things you've been learning." Amanda shook her head. "They don't just leave things lying around waiting to be picked up. That's a bit much to expect, no matter how much I would like it." Amanda grinned. "And we want to get in and out without being noticed. It's safer that way. And more challenging."

Fann had continued to work on the last lock even as Amanda chastised her. With one last click the door opened. Fann hung there for a minute, squirreling her tools securely away in a pocket. "Happy?" she asked the other woman.

"Yes. Why don't you get down from there and we'll go get lunch." Amanda told her. "We can talk about the next part of your training."

Fann reached up above her harness and pulled herself upright. She quickly disconnected the harness from the rope and dropped down lightly beside Amanda who just shook her head. "What?" she asked.

Amanda tilted her head and gave her another look. "I'm just amazed at how strong you are."

"There's nothing special about me." Fann protested.

"We both know that isn't true." was her answer. "I'm sure there's a reason why you are so strong and why you're learning things so quickly."

"It doesn't feel quick." Fann grumbled. "You've had me working on those locks and safes for weeks now."

"Take my word for it." Amanda told her. "I don't know anyone else who could learn this quickly. It's almost like magic."

"Magic?" Fann looked at her in amazement. "You mean spells, and wands, and things like that? It isn't real."

"You say this from your lofty seventeen years?" Amanda shrugged. "I don't know about the things you've mentioned but magic is real."

"How do you know?" Fann had never mentioned the things she still occasionally dreamed about to Amanda. Even now it all seemed so unreal.

"I've occasionally run into people who could use it." Amanda shrugged. "At the rate you're learning we should be ready for a real job in another month. I've got just the thing but I need to check something first with a friend. If you want to meet a real witch that'll be your chance."

"A witch? Does she have a name?" Fann asked curiously.

"Cassandra." Amanda told her, motioning her towards the door and her car.

"Like the Greek Cassandra?" Fann gave her a look. She'd gotten used to the idea of Amanda being immortal because she seemed to be so normal but occasionally she would mention something that reminded Fann how old she really was.

"Yes. That Cassandra." Amanda winked at her. "Though according to her she isn't actually Greek."

"Can you trust what she says?" Fann asked.

"Yes. Now, where did you want to have lunch?" Amanda asked as they climbed into her small car.

"Surprise me." Fann told her with a smile. "You know I can eat anything you like."

"Okay. Prepare to be surprised." and with that Amanda started up her car and they drove off.

They easily found seats and ordered lunch. Fann looked around trying to see everything. "This is different."

"Yes. I try to come here at least once every time I'm in Tucson for more than a week." Amanda told her, amused. "It's also very private."

"Okay." Fann took a sip of her iced tea and leaned back with a sigh. "So what did you want to discuss?"

"Self defense." Amanda told her. "It's something you need to start thinking about."

"Why? It's not like I have people trying to kill me." she responded.

"Not yet." Amanda said. "You have two reasons to learn how to defend yourself."

"What?" Fann asked curiously.

"One - You are working with me. While another immortal probably isn't going to attack you they might involve you in any attempts to attack me. If you can take care of yourself you are less likely to become a hostage."

"Oh. So some immortals like to play rough?" Fann asked faintly. This wasn't an aspect she'd thought about.

"Very. And two - we're in a very competitive business. Other people will try to stop you or try to steal from you. You are strong enough to protect yourself, once you know how."

"Okay. But how am I going to do that?" Fann frowned at Amanda. "You already have me so busy I don't have any time left for anything else."

"Well, unless you want to learn just how to use a sword..." Amanda grinned slightly. "I'm not the best person to teach you how to defend yourself. And we probably won't be in Tucson long enough to start learning here. But I do have a friend in Washington who runs a dojo who would probably be glad to train you."

"So what is the plan?" Fann asked.

"Next month we'll go visit my friend. You should be ready for some real world experience by then." Amanda paused for a moment to take a bite of lunch. "We'll do a few small jobs I have lined up."

"What kind of jobs."

"A couple favors for a friend. Real enough but not too dangerous."

"And then what?"

"We can visit Mac in Seacover." Amanda grinned to herself.

"Mac?" Fann asked.

"Duncan Macloud. He's the friend with the dojo."

"How long should that take?"

"I don't know. At least a few months to get the basics. We can do some smaller jobs as training while that is happening."

"Okay."

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