Actions and Consequences(PART 1)

by Gizmo

Can the Watchers bear the consequences of their actions?

ACTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES

By John MacAmhlaidh



Disclaimer: Joss Whedon, Warner Bros. and Mutant Enemy own the Buffy/Angel characters listed in this fanfic. I profit in no way from writing this.

Thanks: I have two people to thank for their help. Steve Pantovich and Michael T. who have both given one hell of a lot of support.

Steve, you're great. You gave me a lot of help with my first fanfic and me being the ungrateful bastard I am, I never really thanked you enough. Sorry and thank you very much.

Michael, you actually told me to do more writing. For that alone I owe you a lot. Thanks Man.

Spoilers: This takes place between Season's Three and Four just after Graduation but not the one that was in the Buffyverse. If you think you can take the literary abuse of the English language read Comes A Pale Rider to see what I mean.



Read and enjoy. Feedback welcomed.

******

The weather had taken a turn for the worse, something that the Gang had been waiting for. As the rain sleeted down in grey sheets that dulled the colour of everything it touched, a jeep was silently loaded. Most of what had to be said had been said and the gang split into two. As a young man with old eyes got into the driver seat he was joined by a gaunt, wild looking girl. Another form joined them, wrapped in a blanket that shielded it from what light there was shining from the overcast sky. All that passed between the groups before the Jeep pulled away was a single wave.

Driving within the speed limit it took only a few minutes to get to the outskirts of town and then they saw the sign. 'You are now leaving Sunnydale' was more than just a town limit to the driver's passengers. This was the end of an old life and the beginning of a new one. The driver didn't sense any change in emotion at this time but he knew that the impact of the situation would hit home later.

Josephus, the Pale Man, looked at his two passengers. The 'girls' were silent but for different reasons. The girl in the passenger seat beside Joe was leaving a life behind for something she couldn't visualise. She had been a Slayer for only a short time but it had taken over every part of her life both private and social.

The girl in the back was another question. She had made her decision to come literally at the last minute. Leaving the town where she had grown up was nothing to rush into, even if it was an alternate version of her own. The straw that had broken the camels back had been when she had seen a group of students from the High School and realised she had killed all of them. She could remember the squeals of pain as she saw them die most of them by her hand.

The fear she was feeling now was more from the sight of sunbeams that kept shooting across the front seats of the car. She was safely sitting in the back, surrounded by tinted glass and a blanket to cover her body. If the cops stopped them her excuse to be wrapped up was a hangover. Joe had even gone to the trouble of leaving a couple of alcohol soaked rags lying in the jeep overnight.

One thought had hit Joe when both girls agreed to go back to Ireland with him. How was he going to get them out of the country? One of them he could get out with her doppelganger's passport but the other was a known felon. If the border cops ran her passport through the NCIC database bells would ring.

The best way that Joe could come with was for the girls to make a run over the U.S.-Mexico border at night. With their speed and agility they could cover the ground in no time and he'd have passports waiting for all of them there. A few hours flying time and they would be sorted.

The only problem was the trip to the border. He could make the trip at night for Ash's safety and then hole up during the day but that might be suspicious. He had decided that travelling through the day would be safer. At least for the girls anyway.

******

Wesley sat in the library waiting for his remaining Slayer to return. It hadn't been a good day for him so far. The news that Faith had been a Rogue had not been pleasant to report to the Council. But the news that she was now with the
Pale Man, an acknowledged enemy of the Watchers, was worse.

His weekly phone call back to England had not gone well. He had been ordered to keep a closer eye on the Slayer Buffy and if possible report any contact between her and the Pale Man. The Council member he had been talking to had not mentioned anything about their decision on what they were going to do.

The door to the library opened and Principal Giles walked in. Wesley stood and reached out to shake the man's hand but stopped when he saw the frown on his face.

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't come here during the day. It is too hard to explain your presence now that I am Principal."

Wesley puffed up.

"I was just talking to the Council and they have a recommendation. Since you are no longer the librarian here maybe you could hire me to take your place."

The Council's recommendation had been more of an order and they both knew it. But they were too afraid that the Slayer would hear of it and rebel further against their influence.

"I'm afraid that will not be possible. I have been told that a Principal's job here is more for handing out disciplinary decisions than anything else. Because of this I will be able to continue in my position as librarian without any undue strain on my workload."

Wesley sat back down again. He hadn't anticipated this argument. So far all attempts to see his Slayer during the day had been dead ends, either because she avoided him outright or because of classes.

He was so engrossed in his own misery he missed the small smile on Giles' face. The Principal had seen the strain build up in this young Watcher since Joe had arrived in Sunnydale. The strain hadn't lessened. A sort of unspoken agreement had formed between him and Buffy: get rid of Wesley.

It was working.

******

The original plan for getting the girls across the border had gone out the window. Joe had stopped in some town and they had looked at the crossing. Jeeps and vans were being pulled to the side and searched. It wasn't hard to guess that the Customs people were looking for something or someone. By general agreement the plan was changed.

Using what darkness that they had left Joe drove ten to fifteen miles out of town to a motel. While he made the pretence of checking it out the girls made their run across. Joe waited for a few hours and then set off to cross the border well before dawn. Getting past the border wasn't a problem for one person. He had just said he was going on a holiday and that was that. He was certain that the girls would have been tense and that would have been picked up by the K9 units or a good cop. And then he was through.

Ten minutes down the road the two girls were waiting. Joe was happy to see that both of them were looking to the east for the first sign of the sun.

Less than an hour later they were parked at the airport and getting ready to board. The Jeep was abandoned in a long-term car park and what luggage they had was in carry-on bags. After a few minutes of wandering around Joe found the customer service desk and the package waiting there for him. Faith and Ash had complained when they had seen their new passports. Fionnula and Ashley Sullivan had been less than pleased with their photos and even less happy with their new names. But the prospect of flying first class kept their moaning to a minimum.

'Ashley' had started to worry about the prospect of getting hit by some sunlight during the flight. Heavy doses of sun block and heavy clothes took care of that. Faith just kept going on about her photo.

******

Buffy, Willow and Xander walked out of Math class with their heads low, high and low, respectively. Buffy and Xander had had their usual reaction to the thought of a surprise exam. Xander had squeezed his crystal and seconds later flew through he exam with ease.

"What is it with you and that crystal? I saw you hold it and then you got full marks. I don't know who was more shocked, you or the teacher."

"Yeah I know. I just thought I'd try it to see what would happen."

Buffy put her hand on Xander's chest to stop him.

"You know what happens with you and magic, hyena boy."

"Hey that wasn't my fault. Okay, so maybe I'm not exactly David Copperfield when it comes to magic but Joe gave me this."

"It doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't use it unless necessary and math class isn't an absolute necessity."

"Speak for yourself, please. I consider my maths grades to be a big emergency. Anyway this is a part of me; it's my memories. And you used his stuff too. Remember Angel."

Buffy kept walking but her face changed. Angel had left her a note two days beforehand that had said something about a meeting in L.A. but that was all. She hadn't heard from him since he had gone and her mood had been anything but friendly because of it. Xander saw the expression on her face and looked away.

"Sorry. Have you heard anything from Joe?"

Willow spoke up.

"Ash gave me a call before they left for Ireland. She said that he got them passports and everything. They're even flying first class."

"You know Buffy, you should get into his class of Slaying. It seems to have more perks."

Buffy smiled at Xander's joke.

"It sounds good but from what he said it takes about eleven hundred years to get to that level."

"Well you could call on the Watchers for help."

"You know as well as I do that they won't help me. A Slayer slays a Watcher watches. I'll show you."

The three turned the corner and walked into the library. Wesley was inside cataloguing books for Giles. The
Watcher was sitting down at the main desk, thumbing through a list and checking it off. He didn't see the gang come in. Buffy whispered to her friends.

"Can you really see him go against Watcher training?"

She didn't get an answer.

******

The flight to Ireland took the better part of eight hours. When the three of them arrived, the weather was typical of an Irish spring. Faith stepped out and got her first look and grimaced. The sky was very heavily overcast and a light drizzle was coming down. Both of the girls were still dressed for a hot weather climate but only one suffered from the cold. Ash leaned into Faith and whispered in her ear.

"This is one benefit of being a vampire. You don't feel the cold as much."

Faith smiled at the little joke and kept walking. Because they were first class they could get off the plane first and through immigration. Joe turned to the girls and gave them a little lecture.

"You both have Irish passports so just have them open and show the picture at the back to the cop on duty. He'll just look at it and wave you through. If he stops you make like you have a cold and cough a lot to cover your accent. I'll come back and help. Just be calm."

The girls did as Joe asked and they walked by the uniformed Garda on duty. He gave the both of the girls a good look over, but Joe felt he was just getting a good eyeful rather than checking for explosives, drugs etc.

The Pale Man was waiting at the luggage carousel for them. A few minutes later they had got the bags. Joe had little experience in the packing style of women but he had remembered mortgaging his soul to pay for a lot of clothes.

"Where is all the gear I bought you?"

Ash gave him a cheeky smile.

"I gave them to Willow."

Joe shut his mouth. He didn't want to think about all that stuff that the living Willow had bought in certain stores.
He had done a runner after he had gone into the first store.

"There'll be a car waiting for us outside. Come on."

He brought them through customs and out into the rain. A space wagon beeped and pulled up beside them. Its driver jumped out and opened the boot. Without a word he grabbed their luggage and threw them in.

"Get in quick. The sun is supposed to burn through sometime in the next hour or so."

Ash took the hint and jumped in. Joe shook the driver's hand after getting in.

"Jesus, Tommy. What are you doing here?"

"I got the day off and Maura said that you would have new friends with you. She also told me about the paperwork and I decided to come down in case you had a problem."

"Girls, this is Tommy O'Shea. Tommy, this is Ash and Faith. Or as it says on their passports Ashley and Fionnula."

The man waved at the two girls and pulled out of the parking place. Within twenty minutes they were driving fast down the road towards the west. Ash tapped Tommy on the shoulder.

"You said that the sun is coming up soon."

Tommy glanced over his shoulder quickly. She saw the fear on his face for only a second before it vanished.

"Joe said that one of you had an.... allergy to the sun. We had this van fitted with a special film that blocks out UV light. If you are worried there is a blanket in the back."

******

The room was brightly lit by an afternoon sun, brightly enough that the people in the room had to squint against it's glare. One of them flicked his hand to a man waiting by the door. He ran over and shut the massive curtains over the equally massive windows. The room went from well lit, to dark and back to well lit again as lights came on. The attendant who had shut the curtains left the room. The man who had gestured to him stood as soon as his servant had left.

"We have heard the arguments of both sides. We have heard the testimony and read the Chronicles read by both Watchers. And we have learnt of the Pale Man.

I have spent the night going through what we know of this Pale Man and now know this. During a time of great disturbance this creature destroyed whatever it could of the Watchers and killed a great number of our ancestors. And now because of this creature we have lost a Slayer and we may be losing another.

While some of you might say the Slayer Buffy has proven to be the greatest recorded Slayer since Bethany of Toulouse, we must look to her heart. And what we have seen is that the actions of the Rogue Slayer Faith have driven her to murder. And the arrival of the Pale Man has driven us from her.

She is no longer what we want in a Slayer. To remove her would mean that for the first time in our history we would be without direction. And that is not acceptable.

We are the shield that protects humanity from the hordes of demons that wait in the darkness. We cannot stand by and do nothing. For centuries we have been this planets only hope and now we are without hope ourselves.

When this argument first started you declared that I would judge the outcome of this problem before us. I must refuse. We must each decide and vote accordingly."

The man held a bag up. A clicking sound came from inside.

"We choose black or white."

There were no further words spoken as the bag went around. Each person reached in and took out two marbles, one of each colour. Once the bag had done the circle and all fifteen people had shown their marbles, he passed it around again. It went slower this time; the bag dipping below the table as each person put their vote in. When it reached the top the older man added his own and tipped it over to reveal twelve black marbles and three whites. He nodded.

"Let it be shown that this judgement is passed. Before this world is placed in mortal jeopardy both Slayers will be removed. As Chairman of this Council, I must hand over the responsibility for this to the head of our Shields Nathan Wyndam-Pryce."

******

Wesley stared at the phone in his hand. He'd been sitting in Giles' office in the library waiting for something to happen when the phone had rung. The voice that had come from it had been one he hadn't heard in three years. The Wyndams were a large family and ties between some branches were strained at best. He had recognised Althea's voice right off but her message had been easy to understand.

"My cousin is coming to Sunnydale."

Althea's brother was a piece of shit. He had been groomed like Wesley to become a Watcher. Instead he had gone straight into the army as an enlisted man. After a couple of years of silence it turned out he had gone into the SAS and had become an officer in the process. It was only on the death of Nathan's father that he left the army and joined the Watchers. But not as a Watcher.

Wesley was smart enough to read between the lines. If Nathan was coming here then something major had happened because of his last report to the Council. He just couldn't guess what it was that Nathan would want.

"Is there something wrong, Wesley?"

The Watcher dropped the handset in fright and spun in the chair. Giles was standing in the office doorway with a few books in hand.

"N...n... not really. Well sort of. My cousin is coming here in a week or so. He just wanted me to keep an eye on Buffy for the next few days and tell him if there are any problems."

Giles knew enough about the Wyndam family tree not to bother taking a guess.

"Which one?"

"Nathan."

Giles dropped the books onto the table and grabbed the phone. He tapped out a phone number, some of which he recognised.

* 0044.... *

"Let me speak to Beatrice please. Beatrice, what matter did the Council convene over."

Wesley looked on as Giles' face paled.

"Thank you. Goodbye."

He hung up the phone and stared at the floor for a while. Then he ran out the door and out into the hall. Wesley followed behind with a puzzled expression on his face. The Principal stopped at a classroom door and waited there until he had caught his breath. Opening the door slowly he poked his head in.

"I'm sorry to bother you Miss Armitage but could I borrow Miss Summers for a moment."

Wesley heard a mumbled reply and Giles backed out the door. A few seconds later a worried Slayer came out.

"What's the problem Giles?"

"The Watchers have made some decision about you and they're sending the head of Watcher Security along. I do not like the thought of that man in Sunnydale."

Buffy shook her head. If the guy was a Watcher he was mortal and therefore no match for a Slayer. Gwendolyn Pryce came to mind but she had needed magic to oppose the Scooby Gang.

"There is no reason for him to come here except to track Faith. I had better call Joe in Ireland and tell him what is happening. Buffy, I want you to be especially careful in your patrols over th..."

"That is not your area to instruct her in, Giles. You are no longer her Watcher."

Buffy ignored this and just stared at her friend. His concern had got to her.

"I'll be careful Giles. Don't worry. And tell Joe everything about this. If the Watchers come after Faith they'll find out that she is with him. Now I have to get back to class."

She went back to her classes leaving the two men deep in thought.

******

"You didn't have to say that. We don't know..."

"Yes we do. Wesley is a lot more predictable than Giles ever was. That is why he was chosen to be the Slayer's Watcher. He is easily controlled and has little in the way of imagination. So don't worry."

Nathan Wyndam-Pryce sat back in his chair. As much as he didn't like the fact that Wesley knew he was coming the Chairman was right. Wesley had always been a snivelling little git and the Watcher life suited him perfectly.

Nathan wouldn't have considered himself a Watcher. For the better part of ten years he had been a soldier and that would always be the way he felt. The only reason he had joined was the codicil in his father's will that said he wouldn't inherit unless he realised his duty. He had toyed with the idea of telling his father to go fuck him self but his sister had prevailed. Two years had passed and now he had control of the Watchers Shield.

The Shield was an old section of the Watchers and could trace its origins back to the days of King Henry the Fifth. When the Council of the day had run into a nobleman who was using sorcery the Slayer had killed him. But the Watchers had found human allies who had used the nobleman to attack them. And so the Shield had been born. The allies had been attacked by former members of the Royal Guard, one of the best-trained armies of the time.

"I yield to your understanding of the situation, Sir Giles."

Edward Arthur Giles, third of that name and Earl of the Court of Saint James nodded.

******

The space wagon stopped halfway through the journey to Galway when both Faith and Ash started to ask about food. Tommy had copped on quick to the fact that Ash was a vampire so eating in a restaurant was out of the question. So he opted for a drive-through. While he waited in line for the food Joe hopped out with Faith and they strolled down to a butcher they had passed.

"So what do you think of Ireland so far. I know it's a little early in the day to ask you that question but...?"

Faith smiled at the Pale Man as they walked.

"It's cold. And wet. And everything is either green or grey."

Joe winced at the tone. He knew that she was probably kidding but she was still in adjusting to her change in lifestyle.

"Well if you're up to it we can go out tomorrow night. There's probably a dozen parties going to be running."

The party animal in her jumped to the fore.

******

The two of them got back to the car with a couple of plastic bags of home made sausages, black and white puddings and a couple of pints of blood. It had only taken a few seconds to come up with the 'paint thickener' reason and they got lucky. The butcher had proudly announced that they were processing some meat in the back of the shop. Faith had turned a shade of green and Joe had smiled.

Twenty minutes later they were well on the way to Galway. Once the van was on a straight stretch they dug into their McDonalds and plasma. Most of the food wasn't eaten and what was got comments like '..soggy chips...' and '...rotten chicken blood...'. The last comment ruined everyone's appetite except Joe's.

They managed to get as far as Loughrea, a small town some twenty-five miles outside Galway before the sun burnt through the clouds. It was so sudden Ash gave a scream of fright and ducked beneath the blanket. Tommy brought the wagon to a screeching stop, almost smacking Joe's head against the dashboard in the process. Everyone turned to look at the cowering form under the blanket but they couldn't see or smell the smoke that would have come had Ash been hit by the light.

"Did you get hit by the light?"

The blanket stopped shaking long enough to see the vampire's head shake 'no'. Tommy waited until Ash stopped shaking altogether before starting the wagon again and driving off. Half an hour later they were winding their way through the narrow streets of the girls' new home.

Faith looked out at the large town as they drove through. They came in from the east and looped around to come in from the north. One building stood out above the rest. Joe felt a tap on his shoulder and caught Faith's nod towards the spire.

"That's the Cathedral. It's not exactly the biggest in the world but it's nearly the same size as Saint Patrick's in New York. Galway, by and large, is an old town but very young in population. There are four secondary schools, the Irish equivalent of high school and a pair of third level schools, one a technical college and the other a university. All in all, a good third of Galway is aged between 13 and 25, so you'll have people your own age around. And the night life in Galway is without peer."

Tommy turned a corner and the Cathedral was in sight. Driving directly for it, Faith looked out the window and saw groups of students walking about the place. Some turned in by a dark stone wall while others in hospital gowns kept walking on. Joe answered the unasked question.

"That's the university in there. They have a Medical school here too so you'll see a lot of young nurses around. Tommy, I forgot to ask. Did Seamus and the rest sort out the glazing on number six?"

The driver answered without taking his eyes off the road.

"Seamus had a bit of a problem getting the gear so we had to order it from England. Him and his brother popped over to Birmingham to pick it up two days ago. As for as I know the jobs done."

Tommy slowed the car to a stop right in front of the Cathedral and turned right. With a canal on the right and the Cathedral on the left he drove on down and went by a sign labelled 'Nuns' Island'. A minute later the space wagon crunched to a halt on the loose gravel beside an old yellow house. Before Tommy could open the door, Joe grabbed his arm.

"Ash. Make sure that you are covered from head to toe. Faith, you open the door and I'll lift her out. Tommy, have the front door open. We'll go to number six."

Ash wormed deeper in under the blanket as Tommy ran around the corner. Faith went around to the other side of the car with Joe and opened the car door. As carefully as possible so as not to snag the blanket on anything, Joe lifted Ash up and carried her after Tommy.

Breathing a sigh of relief as Tommy closed the front door behind him, Joe let Ash's feet drop to the floor. She timidly lifted the corner of the blanket. When she didn't feel any burning she whipped the blanket off and turned to Tommy with an angry look.

"What did you use that blanket for? Cleaning up dog crap?"

Tommy took the blanket from her and looked closely at it.

"Did you not see the folded blanket just behind your seat? I'm sure it was there."

Joe stifled a laugh. Turning away he pointed upstairs.

"I'll show you you're rooms. Tommy, can you do us a favour and get the bags from the car? We'll need them."

Ash and Faith walked ahead of him going up the stairs until the vampire came to the first window. Joe walked up beside her.

"I've had special tinted glass put in. It'll stop most of the UV from going through."

The vampire walked by the window and winced as the light fell on her. She moved quickly into the nearest room followed by the other two. What the girls saw took their breath away.

The room was large, thirty feet long by fifteen wide. A four poster double bed was up against the far wall and the smell of fresh paint was overlaid by the perfume of freshly cut flowers. A small entertainment centre was up against the nearest wall right beside a massive armoire.

"There's another room like this upstairs. For convenience, Ash should have this room. It'll never get as much light as the room above. Come on."

He showed the girls to Faith's room and then showed them the rest. The house had three floors in all; the upper two almost being self contained flats with a communal downstairs kitchen, sitting and dining rooms. There was a back garden that looked over the Corrib River as it streamed past into the Galway Bay.

"Girls. I'd suggest that we all get some sleep. I know that we aren't exactly normal people but take it from me we can easily suffer from jet lag. Ash, Tommy is bringing up a small cooler of blood for you. Just get him to plug it in somewhere. If you need anything dial 9 on the phone downstairs and someone will sort you out. If you want to wander around town later tell him to give me a call I'll see you in a few hours."

******

Buffy walked down the street.

It was the last circuit of her patrol and she was tired. Just as Giles had said she was talking extra precautions in looking out for trouble. Her bag was strung over her shoulder, full with stakes, holy water and a short sword. In short she was loaded for bear of the demon kind.

What she didn't see was a single man almost a quarter mile behind her, staring at her through a spotting scope. As she turned the corner and onto the street her house was on, he put down the scope and made a note on a pad. Once he was done he drove off. The pad of paper was left on the passenger seat. A list labelled 'routes and times' was ticked off.

******

Joe fell back onto his bed. He had pretty much been able to go with the technology flow over the past two hundred years but flying was not his favourite thing. To tell the truth he knew he was a control freak and putting himself into an aluminium tube filled with a volatile liquid and going over an ocean at great height was not his idea of fun.

* Torture more like. *

He rolled over to the bedside table and took the phone off the hook. He knew the girls would call him after a few hours but damn it, he was tired. His mind started to work over for a second and he remembered something. He grabbed the phone and rang a number.

"Come on, Udo. Answer the fucking phone."

Udo was another Pale Man, the nearest to Josephus geographically speaking. He had been turned about a hundred and twenty years after Joe and the two of them had got along like a house on fire i.e. people running, screaming flames etc. The younger Pale Man had all but retired from the demon slaying and had gone into medicine and business. Because of his money he now ran making abilities he now ran the White Group, all the companies affiliated with and owned by the Pale Men.

"Ja."

That was typical Udo, spilling over with conversation.

"Udo. It's Josephus. Let's go Sumerian."

It was a joke between the two. If anyone was listening in they were going to hear any one of a dozen dead languages. And even if the person did understand the lingo they were speaking the gutter versions and not the dialect that would have been recorded.

"Listen Udo. I had to use some new gear in America and I remembered you saying something about the Family having people in the armaments industry."

"Yes, that's right. We have a couple in Heckler and Koch and a few with Fabrique Nationale in France. What's it about."

Joe struggled to keep awake and sat up in bed.

"I'll send you a report in the morning on what happened. Do me a favour and check into getting some guns fitted for fighting vampires. I'm talking about wooden bullets or something. Think about it for a while, will you. I need to get some sleep."

All Joe got for his troubles was a chuckle and the dial tone. He fell asleep, phone still in hand.

******

It was the middle of the night when he heard the knock on the door. Joe tossed the phone to one side and rolled off the bed. Shaking his head to get rid of the last of the sleep he opened the door to find Ash and Faith outside. Both had changed and he had a suspicion that there was makeup on their faces.

"What's wrong?"

"We were thinking of going out. Want to come?"

* God help me. Teenagers. *

He shut the door and changed. A quick splash of water across his face and he was ready to face Galway at night.
Something occurred to him.

"What day is it?"

"Thursday I think."

"It's going to be busy in town. The majority of the college students go home on a Friday so they all hit the town on the Thursday night."

Leaving the house the girls went to walk towards the car but Joe stopped them.

"There's no point in using the wheels. The pub is just up the road."

He turned to the left and led the way to the far end of the street. After crossing a bridge they all could hear the sounds of music and raised voices. Faith and Ash were happy to see gangs of laughing students going into a pub with the name 'The King's Head'.

"This is the first stop. And here..."

He handed both of the girls a pair of wallets.

"There's cash and credit cards in there. Don't go wild. There's also fake ID in there. It's under the same name as your passports."

The girls had a laugh at this and followed him into the chaos.

As soon as they got in the door a wall of noise assaulted them. It was a mix of the old and the new. The décor was right out of the nineteenth century and the music was Smashing Pumpkins. The music was blaring as loud as possible but the chatter of a few hundred half-drunk students more than covered it. Every horizontal surface except for the bar was being used as a seat. Joe walked up to the bar and pointed towards the ceiling. The barman caught the sign and gestured at Joe. Holding his hand out level with the bar he tilted it side to side.

* Business is not doing too badly. *

The Pale Man grinned and gestured to the two girls. The barman's grin grew wider.

Joe pushed his way through the crowd to a small door set by the bar. A bouncer sat up as they got nearer to the door but sat down when he saw Joe. When he was near enough he held out his hand and Joe shook it.

"Tommy. Swinging free and easy?"

"As always. How was the States?"

"Busy. What's it like upstairs?"

"The usual. You're table should be free."

Joe nodded and opened the door to reveal a narrow winding stairs. He held the door for the girls as they walked by eyes wide with wonder. They came to another door and opened it to reveal a large room in the same style as below. The centre of the room had a bar and the walls were lined with booths. Joe made a beeline for one and sat down. About ten seconds after he sat down three pints were placed before them.

"This is your first taste of Guinness, girls. Enjoy it."

The two sipped the black and made confused faces. But they sat back and relaxed. Faith leaned forward.

"What happens now? With us?"

"You can do whatever you want. There isn't much in the way of demonic problems in Ireland but there is a large amount of friendly ones. No vampires though. As to what you want to do, you can go to college, get a job, settle down, I don't care."

The vampire and the Slayer traded uneasy looks.

"Sorry. I didn't put that right. I care about you both but your lives are your lives. If you want to do something do something. If you need help just ask and I'll try to sort whatever it is out."

Ash smiled and leaned forward.

"Thank you."

Joe felt a warm glow come over him and he knew it wasn't from the presence of the girls or their thanks. He raised the pint glass and saw that it was half full.

* I have to be really tired if the drink is affecting me already. *

"Ladies. If you want to pop downstairs and mingle, go ahead. This very old person is going to have a chat with the barman and go home to bed."

"Fine. We'll see you later.

******

One Month Later:


"We tried to trace the route that this Pale Man took after he left Sunnydale but got nowhere. So I tried something else.

We know that Ethan Rayne stole something from the creature so I backtracked. Rayne flew into LAX five and a half weeks ago on a Delta Airlines flight from Dublin. He used a fake name but he was easy to trace. The flight was booked over the phone from somewhere in Ireland the day before the flight left so I checked there. I checked the Travel Agency's phone records and hit paydirt.

The phone call was made from a phone box in a town fifty miles away from Dublin. I did some further checking and found that a building burnt down around the same time that Rayne was there.

The building that was burnt down was a private research library owned by an old Irish corporation. We traced the ownership to another company based on Ireland's West Coast. A town called Galway. Further checking revealed that the Pale Man is almost certainly living there."

"And the Sunnydale situation?"

"Being monitored as we speak. Compared to the Galway scenario it shouldn't be a problem."

"Do not think that until we have finished both... problems. Murphy's Law rules every situation regardless of planning. Now shut up and find that creature."

Nathan sat back in his chair as his deputy left. As soon as the door shut he let out a little laugh.

*We get this done then we can finally do without the Slayer. *

The Head of Watcher Security was one of the growing number of Watchers who believed that with the technology available demon killing was no longer the sole province of the Slayer. Using some of his resources he had been researching this and the results were not great. But they would improve.

If the killing of the Slayers went ahead then he would have carte blanche to reorganise. He would augment the Action and Investigation Teams and show that technology could be used. Even Rupert Giles' reports showed that the Internet was a viable research tool. And he could make the Council see it.

******

Joe woke up early for once. After a quick shower and breakfast he wandered out the door and down to his office, a small building with the nameplate 'Bain Research Company'. He walked in and waved to the receptionist. She was a small red headed girl barely over twenty with a mass of freckles on her face.

"Morning, Tina. Any scandal?"

She shook her head and held out a sheaf of notes.

"You've had a bunch of calls. Udo called from Germany and said the research that you asked for might be fruitful. DHL called to say that the leftover gear from the States should be arriving tomorrow and this is the bill from the glaziers. The rest is just updates on research projects. Kenny's Bookshop found that copy of 'Ulysses' that you were looking for and Trinity College wants to borrow the restoration people for a month."

Joe grimaced. The College had been looking to keep the company's restoration people, not borrow them. But the benefit of living for a couple of centuries meant you could build a nice big bank balance. And you could pay people accordingly.

"Call Kenny's and tell them I'll call for the book. Get out the chequebook and make out the bill plus twenty percent. Send it with a note 'For a job well done. Thanks, Joe'. And I'll call Udo now. And do me a favour. Get your sister to check on the girls in number six."

He saw the hesitation on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Is it true about them..?"

"What is the Family saying?"

Martina Sullivan paused for a second. She knew enough about Josephus to know that he wasn't entirely human. And that his main line of work didn't exactly appear in the Want ads in newspapers.

"One of them is wanted for murder and the other is a vampire."

Joe hung his head. He'd have to clear this up with the Family sooner or later.

"Right. Two things. One, the one on the first floor is a vampire and the one on the top floor got into trouble. But Ash, the vampire has a soul and Faith is coming around. With some help and kindness they can be a benefit to the Family. Two, I'd be more worried about them when they meet your sister. And I forgot to mention three. Will you type up my notes on the Sunnydale thing? I just have a few revisions to do. And call your mother. We'll meet and talk over lunch."

Martina's mother was Maura O'Connor and the Matriarch of the Family in Ireland. Since Josephus had first started helping the Sullivan, O'Connor and O'Shea families since Cromwell's time, the women had seen to the smooth running of the family while the men had seen to the bread-winning. Some of the roles had changed in the last hundred years but the position of Matriarch wasn't going to be one of them.

Joe shut the door to the office and sat in his chair. Speed-dialling Udo's number he didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"Udo."

"It's Josephus. Let's go Sumerian again. I've a headache coming on."

Udo laughed. He knew that the headache was more likely a Family meeting later in the day.

"You were talking about using guns. I inquired and came up with something. Someone in England was asking about the same thing but was more technical with their questions. They asked one of ours and started his brain going. He came up with something but they left a false contact number. He sent a contact report through channels but it didn't ring any bells here. We think it might be some vigilante."

Joe sat forward. If it were a vigilante it would have to be followed up. Vigilantes were sloppy and unprofessional usually. They let their emotions get out of control and if this guy was going to use firearms it might attract attention to what he was hunting. And that would cause a panic.

"Right. Find out what you can about this guy and call me. And do me a favour and stop leaving me in suspense. You said that our guy tried to get in contact. He must have thought of something."

`"He did. The man asked about using bullets to fire something like holy water. But our boy said that it wouldn't work. Something about compression causing a mis-fire. But he came up with using oil. The oil used by priests during Confirmation and last rights. He checked it out using ordinary oil and modified rounds and it worked."

Joe smiled.

"Okay. Get your man to make up a couple of thousand for say nine millimetre pistols. And see if you can get us some for the HK Mp-5 and the UZI. I can check them out on the Garda firing range here in Galway. Thanks Udo."

"No bother my friend. We'll check into whoever was asking questions too. He might have left a paper trail. Talk to you soon."

"Sorry Udo. I just remembered something. One of the girls who came back with me is having problems. She's not drinking to excess or doing drugs but she's really tearing a hole in the nightlife here. She's out every night, sleeping most of the day."

"We are not talking about the vampire are we."

Joe heard the joke and yet couldn't smile.

"It's the Slayer. Tommy has some of his people keeping an eye on her out on the street, and Maura has her people watching her in the pubs and discos. It's like she uses all her energy at night, deliberately. And it might be getting worse. Tommy told me that she nearly got into a fight with some girls here the other night."

"She's a Slayer. She has more energy than a normal human. But you might be right about there being a problem. She could be suffering from depression or some form of mild psychosis. If you could persuade her to come to Germany I could take a look..."

"I couldn't say how she would react to being poked and prodded. Well actually I could. She'd try to break your neck."

"You could try to tell her."

"I'll think about it. Talk to ya."

Joe hung up and moved around pieces of paper on his desk for a minute. The conversations with Udo were usually happier but this thing with Faith was important. The Pale Men took care of their own. And knowing about the vigilante wouldn't help him work so he decided not to. He hit the page button on his intercom and Tina hurried in.

"Tina, any word from your Mum."

"She only has time for a quick lunch. Can you meet her in Naughton's for a few minutes at noon?"

"Call her back and tell her that's perfect. And tell her I'll be bringing Faith. They can talk."

Tina caught the implications. Faith would be Family one way or another. It was that important to Josephus.

******

Buffy walked down the length of her street on the way to her house. The night had been pretty uneventful for her with only two stakings. The first had been a newborn and the other a mugger working out of the Bronze.

It had been over a month since Angel had moved to L.A. and it didn't seem like he was coming back. Her hands clenched into fists for the fiftieth time that night as she thought about her lover.

* How could he leave like that. How could he? *

She walked on, almost missing the turn into her house. It wasn't until she was reaching for the door when she felt the presence. Slowly stepping back she tilted her head listening for the vampire.

"Buffy."

The Slayer whirled around, stake in hand. It was Angel. And some grungy looked guy.

Angel stepped forward and opened his hand as if to say sorry. Buffy ignored the gesture.

"Where did you go?"

The vampire and his friend didn't move and just stared at the stake that was still poised in the staking manoeuvre. The Slayer took the hint and lowered it but didn't put it back.

"I got a call from Whistler. He said that there was something for me to do in LA and I had only a short time to do it. I'm sorry that I could only leave you a note but it's been pretty hectic over the last few weeks."

"I'm sorry that it was but it doesn't explain hwy you couldn't have picked up a 'phone or something. Even to tell me that you were alright."

Buffy's eyes teared up. It had been hard for her to even think about the possibility of losing Angel again. The nightmare of Acathla had torn her apart a thousand times over a thousand different ways and she would never be over it. Angel stepped forward and she fell into his arms sobbing. Angel kept saying 'I'm sorry' over and over again.

Then Angel's friend coughed.

"How about introducing us?"

Buffy wiped her eyes and gave Angel's friend a hard stare. He was everything that Angel wasn't. Thin, scruffy and very badly dressed. She couldn't wait until this guy met Cordelia. The man held out his hand and Buffy shook it. But not before checking to see if his hand was washed.

"Hi. I'm Doyle. A good friend of Angel's."

Buffy saw her 'boyfriend' roll his eyes at the 'friend' bit. But that wasn't what triggered Buffy's interest.

"I'm not trying to be nosy but are you any relation to Whistler?"

Doyle gave her a patented 'who, me' look and shook his head.

"It's just that every guy I've met who has a one name thing going for them was, well, a demon."

The shaking changed to a nod. The guy shrugged and owned up.

"Well yeah okay. I'm half demon. But don't hold it against me."

Buffy stifled a smile and turned back to her lover. Her smile vanished.

"Are you staying? Is this another 'you're in danger' and goodbye scenario?"

Angel stopped her tirade with a finger on her lips.

"I'm here for good."

And then he hugged her. Until...

"You know I'm all for this luvvy-duvvy stuff but some people are beginning to get cold here..."

******

Faith groaned.

There was something happening Out There and she wanted no part of it. In Here was warm and dark and she needed more of that. And no more Guinness.

On the first night she and Ash had gone downstairs and walked up to the bar expecting to be asked for their ID's. But the bartender had just put two pints in front of them and walked off. They got the hint; Joe had taken care of the tab for the night, however much it would be.

So they had obliged him and done their best. The first night the jet lag kicked in and after two drinks they had wobbled down the road and back to their houses. They spent the next five minutes thinking about how to get in before Faith thought about smashing the glass. Ash stopped her and pulled out the wallet and the key inside.

Once inside they sat down and talked about everything. Ash asked Faith about Willow and Faith asked about a Sunnydale without Buffy. By four o'clock they had exchanged life histories and were friends. Good friends.

Since then they had gone out nearly every night and it was taking its toll. But it was everything that Faith loved, living life right to the edge, pushing the envelope, tearing it open to see what could stop her. And then she would remember the death of the Deputy Mayor and the walls came crashing down. Rolling over she tried to think of something else. Like what to do tonight.

The sound started again and Faith finally identified it as knocking. Pushing aside the cover she got up and staggered over to the door.

"What do you want?"

"It's Joe. Can you come with me? I want to... I need to talk to you about something."

The tone of Joe's voice was subdued and bells started to ring in her head, warning her. But she couldn't hear them over the jackhammer that was working on her left eyeball. She opened the door, averting her sight from the sunlight that streamed in through the hall window. Her head swelled another inch in size.

"What's wrong?"

Joe went to open a curtain and stopped when he heard Faith's whimper. Sitting on the room's only seat he looked over the Slayer. Her eyes were almost swollen shut by her hangover, she was walking slowly and only with support and the list went on.

"We have to talk. You're sliding into hell the way you're going on. You need to talk to someone."

The hangover seemed to burn off in half a second but the headache tripled in force.

"You mean a psychiatrist."

"His name is Udo and he's gone through a lot worse than you have. He's one of my kind but younger than me."

"But he's still a psychiatrist. Right? You want me to see a pshrink?"

Joe was starting to get angry.

"You think that you're not really alive when you're hunting something, fighting it and then killing it."

The Slayer flinched at the word 'kill'. The Pale Man stood and walked over to her just as she sat down on the bed.

"You love the rush of knowing that if you pick a target it's dead. Well Udo went through that. Someone killed a cousin of his and he went nuts. He hunted down every one of the killers and kept on going. When he moved on to killing bigger fish, they killed another cousin of his as a warning and he fell apart."

She was crying now, venting the pain that she'd been storing up for ages. Joe's reserve cracked and he squatted down beside her.

"He has this place in the Alps. A little cabin, six bedrooms, you know the usual sort of thing. We can all talk and sort things out over skiing and the occasional party. What do you say?"

She nodded and hugged him hard.

"I need you to meet someone in town. Can you get dressed? I'll bring up some Hedex or Panadol or whatever.."

"No thanks."

He left the room and went straight to Ash to get her up
.
By half past eleven she was ready for the world. Ash popped up and they talked again until Joe came in and disturbed them.

"Girls. I know that you have things to talk about but I would like you both to meet someone. Come on."

Ash sat up and stared at Joe. She pointed outside but Joe interrupted her.

"There's a little packet on the bedside labelled sun-block. It's a silicone-based gel that gives total protection against UV. That and a pair of wraparound sunglasses should sort you out."

The two living waited for the un-dead to smear the stuff on her arms, wrists, face and ankles. Every other part of her was covered with clothes and a hat. She was tempted to pile on the clothes but it would attract attention and look very stupid.

Joe took them back up towards the pub that they had been in the first night. He stopped for a second and the two could see he was thinking something over. He pointed to the left and the entrance to a small alley. He led them up to a point about halfway and stopped. Pointing at a blank wall he started to speak.

"Two hundred and forty odd years ago Angel was born here. Darla turned him at a place called the Spanish Arch that's about half a mile from here. He became the personification of death for a good part of the people of Galway and half of Europe. And now he's making amends. Both of you feel the same way to some degree or you wouldn't be here. Remember that guilt for the next hour or so and be honest. We are going to meet a woman who will ask you personal questions. They will be to the point and intrusive and you will answer them as best you can.

She is the Matriarch of the Family and will determine how much you will find out about them. The more honest you are the better it will go. Now we have to go. Come on."

******

It was nearly dawn when the Cadillac drove into the mansion's garage. The building was anything but a stereotypical hiding place for a vampire, with its angular walls and massive windows. Parking the car, Angel dove out just as the tip of the sun came over the horizon and his coat began to smoke. Doyle ran after him.

"Why didn't you tell her you were here? The real reason."

Angel shrugged off the coat and looked up at the cloth-draped windows. Seeing that there were no telltale streams of golden sunlight streaming through, the vampire walked over to the centre of the room and sat down. Doyle went over to a cabinet and opened it, looking for liquor. Or anything alcoholic, for that matter.

"What can we tell her? That you have these visions of people in need and there was one of her. And that in this dream you saw a guy's face and heard the words 'No More Rules'. Then you had a vision of her fighting this guy and getting ripped in half. That'll really calm her down. And then when she asks about the guy you'll say ' Sorry I can't remember what he looked like that well'."

Angel's sarcasm was biting and completely unlike him. Doyle stopped rummaging around and came over to sit by his friend.

"You know that I'm as new to this as you are. And the feeling I got was that Buffy is in danger and you are to protect her. The only thing we can do is keep watch and hope we see whoever this guy is."

******

"Sir. We had some luck. It was near impossible to put surveillance on the company offices of Bain Research but one of my people lucked out. We spotted the one called Josephus coming out of one of the houses down the road. We did some checking and found that that company owns four of the houses in that street.

Sir, I also have to say that we spotted the Slayer coming out of another house with the target. There was another girl with them. We have no ID on her."

Nathan frowned and picked through the bundle of Wesley's reports.

"Describe her."

"Small to medium. Short, dark hair most possibly dyed. Very pale. And something peculiar. She was wearing a lot of clothes and it's very warm here."

He paused and removed the next to last folder from his cousin. Leafing through it an expression of disgust came over his face.

"She's a vampire. He's enabling her to walk around during the day. What is the probability for a successful assault on the house where the Slayer is staying?"

"Very low, sir. The last time a Watcher was here was before they built a police station across the road. Should an assault be made, a diversion would have to be carried out. A large one."

Nathan understood the phrase. From what he knew of Galway it had one police or Garda station. To get rid of the personnel stationed there would be difficult. A very violent attack on a Garda on the far side of town would do it. And the consequences would be unbelievable if it went wrong. Nathan's mind went into overdrive for a moment. Then it hit him.

"There is a significant student presence in Galway. Find a large crowd of them and stage a riot. Draw as many police as possible. Keep someone by the station and once the majority of the personnel have been removed, attack. Do it tonight. And your target list has increased to include the vampire and the Pale Man."

The voice at the other end paused. The team that was in Galway was at least the equal of any Quick Response or SWAT team a police force might have. Nathan had served in the army with the man on the phone and knew he would follow orders. But he wouldn't like them.

"Yes, sir."

******

The meeting with Maura went well. Sort of.

Once the Matriarch understood that she was sitting across from a vampire, her greeting was frosty to say the least. Joe nearly went Pale Man on her to stop her from doing something stupid. Once she understood that she started to ask very personal questions and was surprised at the answers. She soon understood the pain and loss that Faith had gone through since she had become a Slayer. She even managed to realise that Ash had had no chance when the master turned her. And once the groundwork had been laid she told them about one of the Family's skeleton.

"I'm sorry for treating you so roughly at first Ash. But our family has had its black sheep. Liam Sullivan is one of them. He was raised by a loving family and had ten times the opportunity of anyone of the time. And then he became Angelus."

Faith sat back in shock. Joe took over.

"I didn't say anything in Sunnydale when I met him because of the situation. He was too volatile to trust and it wasn't a subject that needed to be discussed at the time."

Once the chat was over they all returned to the house. Ash popped back upstairs to change into lighter clothes and Faith went to sit out in the back. Joe sat down and started to write out his report on the Sunnydale Event when the phone rang in the hall. Before he could get up Faith answered it.

"Yes. Okay. I'll tell him."

"Joe. Martina says 'Call Udo'."

Joe stifled a curse and ran to the phone. Faith handed it to him and left.

"Udo. It's Joe. What's wrong?"

"I did some checking. The man asking questions has a name you might remember. Wyndam..."

Joe started to curse in two languages. It took him a minute to calm down.

"Right. That bunch of pricks is up to something. Just in case do me a favour. Be ready."

******

Udo looked out at the afternoon hustle and bustle of Munich. The information he had dredged up for Joseohus had turned up old enemies for the Pale Man but not ones that Udo had fought. But that did not matter. Joe had helped him against an enemy before and they had done their best. Udo knew that the Order of Teraka had survived their attack but it had learnt a lesson: Do not cross the Pale Men.

******

1309 Berlin

Udo lay the priest's head down on the ground and closed the dead cleric's eyes. He sat down beside the body and prayed for his friend while he waited for a comrade to return. The bang of metal tipped shoes against cobbles caused him to clench his sword a bit tighter but that was all.

Josephus opened the door slowly and held up a lantern. His other hand held a bloodied sword that still dripped from its last kill.

"I got the bastard just before we hit the bridge. He's dead but he managed to get close enough to the water that I couldn't stop the body from being swept away. I have this though."

He held out a gore-covered ring. Udo reached out and rubbed the metal off his sur-coat and looked at its emblem. The Order of Teraka.

It took Udo, Josephus and Whip three months to shatter any organisation that the Order had. A sort of cease-fire was called when two surviving members of the Orders senior committee met with them in Austria. When Udo had finished killing them the three Pale Men thought over the offer.

No contracts would be accepted on people who had no direct or indirect involvement with magic or other sources of arcane power. All contracts on known allies of the Pale Men would be forwarded to the Pale Men and then turned down. Any member of the Order who disobeyed these edicts would be handed over to the Pale Men for judgement.

Udo wanted more but Joe and Whip liked the offer and send it back, signed and with the heads of the two committee members included.

It took a while for Udo to accept what had been done but his grandson was avenged. He swore to help the others if they ever needed help and now Joe had called in the marker.

******

"Janna. Cancel all meetings for the next two weeks. Get the Gulfstream ready to leave at one hours notice and have my travel pack ready."

******

Ash sat in front of the dresser and stared into the mirror. Nothing looked back.

Faith had come by earlier to ask if she wanted to go out. Ash had absentmindedly said no so now the Slayer was flicking through channels on the TV in her room.

It was the first time since she had become a vampire that she really understood the consequences of her action. The Master had walked through the streets of Sunnydale and picked her off like a fly. He never had to enter a house. He would just walk up to the door and use his brand of hypnosis to call out the family or whoever was inside.

The only thing that had stopped him from killing her was her beauty and now she couldn't see that. He had given her a choice: Rot in the ground and have worms crawling through her or live forever. Not much of choice.

And now here she was. Sitting in front of a thing she could never use to see if she was still beautiful.

She clenched her fist and thought about smashing it through the glass. But she only thought about it.

******

Faith sat down and turned on her TV. There wasn't a great choice of programs on and those that she recognised were repeats.

* A change in atmosphere is required. *

It took all of ten minutes to change, the noise covered by the ad for 'Bulmers'. Pulling open the window she leant out and grabbed onto the drainpipe. The one good thing about Josephus having the house refurbished was that the builders had replaced the drains.

Shimmying down the pipe the Slayer landed on the roof of the shed. A little jump to the ground and she ran across the lawn to the garden wall. Another jump and she was on the bank of the Corrib river and well on the way to getting to a disco. She turned left and walked towards an old walkway that ran across the rushing waters. If she had gone the other way she would have come out over a wall and directly in front of the cop-shop.

Moving quickly and surely across the decrepit old bridge she thought about what she was doing for a few minutes. The conversation with Joe this morning hadn't been good. She'd hid, or at least tried to, most of the emotions that she'd felt when Joe and her had talked. She trusted him and he wanted to send her away to Germany to some stranger. He tried to soften it by saying he'd stay with her but... she knew that if this shrink was going to talk to her she wouldn't react well. And this guy was a Pale Man.

They'd kill each other.

******

Nathan's team was on-target a good hour early. It wasn't a real military operation but it was going to be carried out like one. They would scout out the ground, select the most promising individuals and pick a fight. The fight itself wasn't a problem. The men selected for that little task were former army men and heavy into the 'Jap-slapping' as they called it. They had all the belts, medals, bells and whistles to prove it. Nothing short of an Irish Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee would stop these two.

And then everything went to crap.

The men had picked one of the larger and rowdier discos in town, 'Setanta's'. Separating into two teams, each of two pairs, one team entered the disco and the other stayed outside in their van. The Disco team split into pairs once inside, one staying by the door and the other by the bar. The Van team first got notice of their plan changing when they caught sight of Faith, happily strolling down the road towards Setanta's with a smile on her face.

******

"Keep to the plan. The team inside won't be able to take her so we'll try and force her outside. If we do that then we take her down hard. If the cops come take them down soft, broken bones only."

Running into the disco as fast as he could, Johnny Markham, a former police officer from London, got his teams attention. They didn't have time to tell the Nuns' Island team about their missing target but that wasn't an issue. Nathan would expect the team to take care of this using their initiative. They were to speed up the plan.

The team watched the Slayer pass them by and they were pissed. Nathan's hand picked team was very good but not that good. They couldn't openly attack her for the simple reason that it was too open and she would take them. Their original plan was to get close to a group of drunken students and start slapping the crap out of them. The students would shout back and the shoving would start.

This is just about what happened. The pair of Watcher's Shield on the door watched a group of half drunk students come in the door singing some song by Oasis. A simple gesture to the team at the bar and both pairs converged on their target. Bumping into their chosen targets, shouts and insults were thrown first. After about ten seconds the first blows were thrown and a bottle went flying.

It was as if a switch was hit.

The leader of the teams had been keeping an eye on the Slayer ever since she had come in. Keeping his distance from her and his Disco team had been hard in this place but he had managed. He watched as she took notice of the group tussling in the corner and saw her smile as the bouncers from the front door piled into the room. The smile disappeared as the bouncers fell in a heap when two men attacked from behind and knocked them all down.

* They weren't supposed to do that. *

The words were barely formed when he realised that the original plan hadn't been formulated with a witness like the Slayer in mind. She was looking hard at his men now and her head moved from side to side, picking out his other men, now in the middle of the drunken students. Stepping back he tried to put a group between them but failed. Their eyes locked and she moved.

******

Faith had expected nothing much from the night out except the usual. She'd go to the door and get waved through by the bouncers, most of them off duty Gardai making a few extra pounds. The booth operator would wave her by and the barman would throw down the free drink.

* The benefits of friendship with the Pale Man. *

It was one of the differences between the Mayor and Josephus. Wilkins had asked her to kill and tried to make her happy. Josephus had just made her happy. She had everything she wanted: a new start, money but no life.

And now this.

She had her suspicions that someone was watching out for her. When she got into that shouting match with those English women the other night, the bouncers had arrived and stopped anything lethal from happening. Ash had even wanted to get it on for a second but the nerdy Willow end of her personality had held back. The English girls had been barred but not them.

Her mind jerked back to the present and the man she was looking at. He was thin but athletic looking. And he looked at her like he hated her. Instead of trying to hide he moved out and she saw his eyes flick past her, over her shoulder. She finally understood what was happening. Turning quickly she saw the another of the bouncers go down, courtesy of a spin kick from another very fit looking man.

Running, she launched herself at the spin-kicker and hammered her heels into his stomach. Landing in a tangle with the now unconscious man she lifted her arm and blocked a kick from a second man.

Sweeping her legs forward she kicked out and heard a crunch as the man's leg broke under her Slayer strength. The first guy, the watcher, was by the door now, joined by two others. Getting up, she brushed herself off and ran at them.

* Watcher. *

She came to a complete stop as it hit her. The men were Watchers. They were the only people who would be looking for her. She changed direction and ran for the bar. A few quick words with the bartender and she had a phone in hand.

* I'll call Joe and he'll sort these fuckers out. *

******

The team outside was shaving a lot more luck than their comrades inside.

They'd selected a group of students who'd been refused entry to Setanta's and were being very vocal about how angry they were. But they were only being vocal. For the moment. The Van team, minus their leader, made a beeline for the students and started smacking them about. The bouncers were torn between helping and guarding the door when a shout came from within. Six of the big men ran inside and left two behind. Baseball bats came out of hiding from the booth and a large space opened around the bouncers.

The Watchers didn't mind. As long as the bouncers were out of it, one way or another, it suited them fine. Turning their full attention to the shouting students they let loose. The students weren't really used to the level of violence that rained down on them and they tried to make a run for it but the Watchers had herded them into a corner.

Their saviours arrived in a rainbow of flashing lights. Or so they thought.

Two of the watchers flung building bricks straight into the windscreen of the approaching car and its surface smashed. The driver, blinded by fear and shock, swerved and drove straight into a car before bouncing off and clipping a telephone pole before crunching to a halt.

Both men crawled out of their car, in pain. One of the Gardai went down, his face cut open by shards of his own windscreen. His partner screamed into a radio for assistance until two Watchers came around the squad car and beat on him screaming 'String the pig up'. The whole act got the desired response. The duty desk sergeant heard the scream and called on every squad car in the area to get to the riot.

Leaving the two Gardai unharmed but unconscious at the side of the road the Watchers ran, their job well done. The two surviving Disco team members ran out with their leader, into the milling crowd. Gathering together they waited for the Slayer to come. The Gardai arrived first. Getting into the van the Watchers disappeared. Students streamed out from behind them and from nearby discos and pubs to see what was happening and were pushed into the blossoming fight.

******

News of the riot hit Nuns' Island a couple of minutes later when Galway Bay Radio blared out a 'Sudden Newsflash'. Joe knew that more than a few of the Gardai in Galway were Family and thought about calling Maura. He dismissed the thought after a second. If she had heard of the riot then she would be checking things out. If he called he would only be taking up precious time.

He remembered the girls and it hit him. They had said that they were going out earlier. He reached for the phone and dialled Number Six. It rang for a few seconds before Ash answered.

"Hello?"

"Ash. Is Faith there with you?"

The vampire paused before answering.

"Yes. As far as I know she is. Is something wrong?"

"I just heard about rioting down in Salthill and thought... Listen, it's all right. Do you want to pop over for a drink or something later?"

"No thanks. Faith and myself are going to have an early night. But I wouldn't mind if you came over. I have to ask you something!"

Joe thought he could hear something in her tone but couldn't really pin it down. Women hadn't been much of a factor in his life since he had become a Pale Man. Whatever relationships he had had over the years had been one nights at best. He knew that both of the girls were extremely attractive and wouldn't mind starting a relationship. But that was not a factor. He had been living for over a thousand years and a human life measured less than a tenth of that.

Ash was a possibility for a companion but... He knew that the Family would resent it for a good while. They might even reject her altogether. When the Matriarch had explained their aversion to vampires he had watched Ash for a reaction. And hadn't been able to spot any.

He owed the vampire, the girl, something. He agreed to come over and hung up. He didn't wait for long. Closing the front door behind him, he turned to walk down the few yards to the girls' house when the lights in the street cut out. A few seconds later he heard the over revving engine of a speeding vehicle and saw it come down the street towards him.

Joe reacted. There was no reason for a car to come down here the wrong direction. He ran the last few steps and swung his fist at the door smashing it open. Before it hit the hall floor he had become fully Pale Man. Ash poked her head out the sitting room door and goggled at the sight.

He reached in and grabbed the vampire.

"Up the stairs. Quick."

He pushed the girl ahead of him and stumbled in the process, just as one of the attackers came in the front door and swung his machine gun towards them. Joe turned and grabbed the first thing in reach, throwing it at the gunman. The phone hit the man in the shoulder and spun him around but not before he pulled the trigger.

The stairs was surrounded in a flurry of splinters as the burst chewed through the wood. A trio of holes appeared in Ash's back and the vampire stood straight in shock before collapsing with the pain. Joe got to his feet and literally threw himself up the stairs before grabbing Ash.

The Pale Man rounded the first corner ran into Ash's room, slamming the door behind him. There wasn't a lot else he could do for the moment. He just hoped that Faith would hear the noise and keep her Slaying head down.

******

The gunman, Maurice Pratt, pulled himself erect as his partner came into the house. He was trained in this sort of thing and knew that they couldn't let up on their attack. If they spent too much time clearing the bottom of the house the principal targets would get away. Help would be good at this time. There were two other men were clearing each of the other two houses but he knew that they weren't going to have any problems. All the targets were here. He was tempted to send for them but that would take time they didn't have. Even as they moved into the house the local cops were coming.

He moved forward slowly to the first turn in the stairs. He waited until his partner was right behind him before throwing himself to the ground and firing straight ahead. As soon as his second long burst ended his buddy ran ahead and kicked the first door open. A flash bang grenade was thrown in and both men covered their ears.

It went off and blew out the windows in the room. Even through their closed eyes the flash half blinded them. As soon as they could they both ran into the room and opened fire.

Pratt emptied what was left of his magazine while his partner kept watch for anything that moved. Nothing in front of them did. Joe launched himself from over the door and collided with the two sending them sprawling.

The grenade had caught him off guard. At first he had expected a massive shower of shrapnel and closed his eyes against it. The blast deafened him and spots of red blinded him even through his eyelids. Joe felt trickles of fluid stream from his ears and down onto his shirt. He didn't need to look to know that it was blood. But unlike normal people he would heal in minutes from the damage. He saw the two roll into the room and open fire, strafing the walls and furniture. Ash was under the bed and that would be first place they would check. But they wouldn't bother looking. They would just shoot the crap out of the bed and anything under it.

Joe jumped down and hit the first attacker hard, rolling into the second. The second one was the more dangerous for the moment. He had a loaded gun. Using all of his strength he kicked out and knocked him back. But it didn't loosen the man's grip on his gun. The guy swung the weapon up one handed and tensed to absorb the coming recoil.

Joe acted as the attacker fired. He kicked out as the rounds from the gun stitched the wall behind him and sent the gunman flying through the broken window. Joe spun around as the last few shot's slammed into his left arm, shoulder and side. Bloodily he fell back and tripped over the first gunman. Raising his right arm to deliver a killing blow he stopped when he saw the man was unconscious with a very broken arm folded under his body.

The Pale Man got up slowly and moved to the bed and shoved it aside to drag Ash from under it. The vampire was still out of it. The wounds were small, both the entrance and exit wounds. He could only guess why the rounds hadn't behaved like normal. The Pale Man reached for the cooler in the room and jerked it open, grabbing a few of the blood bags in there.

He shoved the bag into her mouth and ripped it open on her teeth. She swallowed convulsively as the fluid entered her mouth but her eyes snapped open and looked at him. She snapped her mouth down on the bag and drained it dry.

"I have to go check on Faith. Drain a few more bags and stay down until you're okay. I'll come back as soon as I can."

He saw her mouth move but heard nothing but a whisper. Until his hearing clicked in just in time to catch her last words.

"...that them all?"

Joe was shocked. Ash had thought of a possibility that hadn't even entered his mind. He carefully laid her back down and crawled over to the fallen gunman. He picked up the man's machine gun and recognised the make. An AK-47 with a typical banana shaped magazine. He popped it out and saw that it was empty. He fished around in the attacker's pockets and came up with a replacement. And a cross and stake.

Those two things raised questions that would have to be answered later. Barely a minute had passed since the men had barged into the house but Joe knew that if Ash were right, other attackers would be on the way.

The Pale Man sidled up to a window and glanced out. He saw the body of the gunman he had tossed out. It had come down at an angle across a car and his spine was very broken. What really got his attention was a van with its engine running. It was parked in front of his house and he could see the muzzle of a gun poking out the driver's window.

Joe aimed his gun one handed and emptied half the magazine into the van, stitching the rounds up its side and into the front seats. The van lurched and died as quickly as its driver. The next thing the Pale Man heard was the impact of rounds hitting the wall and window around him.

He jerked back and grabbed Ash from where she lay. Taking her up in his damaged but healing arm he ran out of the room just as a pair of flash bang grenades arced in the windows.

Joe dropped the vampire and stumbled, flattening himself against the wall just outside the room. Sheltered by the stairwell from the flash he saw two men come up and he emptied the last few rounds in their direction. He dropped the gun, grabbed the vampire and ran up the stairs. Ducking and rolling as he entered the Slayer's room he expected to get a face full of chair or something but all he got as the sight of an open window. But he didn't have time to worry about where she was. He had to keep himself alive.

******

"Armed Gardai. Place your weapons on the ground and stand back."

Never had Joe heard words that sounded so sweet. There was a hail of gunfire. Joe could hear the roar of AKs and the crack of the Gardai's return fire. Then it was over. Making his way slowly down the stairs, he gestured to Ash to stay in the room and made his way down to the hall.

Before he was down by Ash's room a familiar voice rang out.

"Joe. You there!"

It was Tommy in full Garda uniform, the insignia of Inspector bright in the darkness. Joe stepped out slowly, keeping his hands in full view. As he rounded the last corner he caught sight of Tommy behind a pair of Garda marksmen.

"Tommy. It's me. There's one on the first floor."

The Inspector tapped both men on the shoulder and they went by the Pale Man. Both of them were Family. Tommy came in over the remains of the front door and looked over the devastation in the hall.

"What the fuck is going on Joe? We were all on a call out in Salthill when we got word of this shit. Who the fuck are these bastards?"

"I don't honestly have a clue. Is there anyone hurt?"

Tommy gave Joe an annoyed look but answered.

"We have two men injured from the riot and one from here. We were lucky. Are Ash all right?"

"She got hit a couple of times but she's fine. I was hit but the wounds are nearly closed. I don't know what happened to Faith. She's gone somewhere. What exactly happened? Ye got here fairly quick. I had just heard of the riot when these arrived..."

"We got a call from one of our lads to say that they were being attacked. The duty sergeant heard someone scream
'Kill the cops' or something. He sounded the call and we all rushed out to find a bunch of students sitting down and taking care of our boys. Faith was one of them. She filled us in on what she thought she knew.

We sat there like a bunch of spare pricks, loaded for war when Maura rang to see if any of our lads were hurt. Next thing she starts screaming something about guns and we hear shooting. So we come over to find war had started here.

There were four coming out of your place when we arrived and they started shooting. There are three dead not including the one bent in half and the two in the van. We have one outside in the car and the boys want to use sticks on him.
And could you tell me about the one upstairs?"

"He's alive."

Tommy's eyebrows lifted.

"How's Maura?"

"Jesus. Sorry. I forgot. She's fine but we sent her to the hospital. Now could you please tell me who the fuck these guys are?"

Joe shook his head and turned away for a second. He had to find out who these people were and if they were going to try again.

"I don't know but we can find out."

"What are you talking about?"

The question was barely out of Tommy's mouth before he realised what Joe was talking about. He knew who Joe was and what he could do from the stories he had read but he had never come face to face with what the Pale Man could really do.

"Get two men who can keep their mouths shut. Get the fucker who's outside and bring him into my place without any questions being asked. And get Faith here."

The two marksmen came down the stairs with their captive. He was conscious and in obvious pain. Joe stopped the trio from leaving.

"This one two."

Tommy nodded and beckoned them forward. He whispered to the Gardai and they pushed the attacker outside.

"Can you help me with the girls?"

******

The two Gardai manhandled the injured attacker into the front room of Joe's house. It too had got the seven shades of shit shot out of it when the men had swept each room. Bullet holes pockmarked the walls and furniture, turning expensive décor into so much crap. Joe felt the anger boil up and suppressed it. He had to remain calm for the next few minutes.

As the two cops shoved the first man down into a seat Tommy dragged the second one in by the hair. Joe could hear people and cars moving around outside and soon the strobes disappeared.

"I had them go back to the station. There are a couple of men at the end of each street and I've told my superiors that we'll put these two in the army barracks for the night. They agreed. A forensics team is on the way here but I'll have them do the other house and then Maura's place before coming here."

He forced the man down towards his friend but he balked. Tommy planted a kick in the back of the prisoner's knee and dragged the man into a chair as his legs buckled. The two girls came in, Ash wrapped in a blanket to cover her bullet-holed clothes and Faith wide eyed and flushed with excess adrenaline. Joe hugged her hard and then turned to the matter at hand.

Joe looked at the two Gardai and didn't recognise them offhand. He could see the O'Shea nose and an O'Connor chin couldn't place their names. Before he could ask Tommy introduced them.

"This is Maura's nephew, Marcus Kelly. He's Annie's son. And this is Johnny Walsh. He's my first cousin."

The two lads shook hands with Joe and held eye contact with him. They weren't heavily into the Family but that was about to change.

"Lads. I have some bad news. When you go home next time your parents will take you aside and have a chat with you that's going to be worse than that chat about the birds and bees. What I need you to do now is take what you see on faith and keep quiet. Okay?"

"Yes, sir."

Joe sat down on the only untouched chair in the room. He remembered something.

"Tommy. I need the crystals in the hall."

The Family member ducked out of the room and came back in with a large metal case. He handed it over to Joe and stepped back. Sounds of a van arriving came from outside and he waved goodbye to Joe. He would keep the team outside occupied for a good while, more than enough time to do what was necessary.

Joe turned the case towards himself and opened it. He pulled out a trio of crystals and laid them on the ground. He stood up and walked up to his captives.

"In my day we'd spend the better part of an hour beating the shit out of you while the irons were heating up in the fire. But I've grown out of that. Mores the pity. My version of torture is a lot more humane now. Your bruises will be gone before you leave the house tonight."

******

Ash sat down in Joe's chair. She was still weak from the shooting and had a few more bags of blood to help the healing process along. The problem was the humans in the room with her. She knew that the sight of her drinking wouldn't really affect Joe or Faith but the two policemen would. As would the two prisoners but she wasn't worried about them. In fact if she hadn't had the blood in the bags she could go for some free range.

She looked down at the crystals at her feet. They were all basically the same in shape but were of different in size and colour. The first was a deep red and about the size of a small orange. Roughly cut edges spoiled what could have been a perfectly smooth ball. The second crystal had an intricate gold lattice woven about its surface, which was a blend of sky blue and white flecks. The third was frightening. It was like the others only in that it was vaguely oval in shape.

But its surface was a pitch black that seemed to move about as she looked on. A chord was struck in her that she recognised as the demon that was still within her. She could hear the demon's screams of pain grow louder as she kept looking on into the crystal.

Joe snapped his fingers in front of her face and brought her out of it. He smiled down at he and moved closer, whispering into her ear.

"I need you to do me a favour. When I look back at you take the blood out of the bag and feed. Do it with your other face on. I need to scare these two for a second. And don't look at the stones again. They don't have a good affect on vampires."

He waited for her nod and went back to talking to the prisoners.

"You two pricks had to have some idea of the targets you were hitting if you were carrying stakes and crosses, so I don't have to treat you like novices. What I am going to do is give you pain."

He turned and grabbed the blue and gold stone and pressed it to each of the men's chests, mumbling while he did so.

"I bind thee against moving and doing harm to others or to yourself."

Joe threw the stone back onto the ground and took up the cast iron coal tongs lying beside the fireplace. He gripped the dark crystal tightly with the tongs and dropped it into the lap of the injured prisoner. He flinched when the stone touched him but relaxed when he couldn't feel anything happen. Joe stood back.

"It'll take a minute or so for that to get working properly so I'll introduce myself."

The colour leeched from his face and all emotion went with it. He bent down face to face with the prisoners and looked into their eyes.

"My kind are older than recorded history. We have been judge, jury and executioner to entire races. And you attack me."

The Pale Man straightened and took out the cross he had removed from the man in front of him. Taking a good grip on the prisoner's lapel he pushed the cross into the struggling prisoner's face. Smoke billowed from the contact and the man screamed shrilly at the pain. After a second or so Joe removed the cross.

He let the man fall back into the seat. Joe held out his hand to Ash and she picked up the last stone, handing it too him.

"What's your name?"

The Pale Man didn't wait for the response, touching the tip of the cross to the already damaged face. The man tried to jerk back but couldn't.

"Pratt. Maurice, Pratt."

He shielded the red burst of light from the truth stone from their sight and bent down again.

"Well Maurice, that's how a vampire feels when you shove a cross in its face. It's not really afraid of the cross, just the purity that it represents. The stone in your lap contains the 'soul' of a fairly powerful vampire and by touching you it gives you the essence of a vampire. The longer I leave it on you the more demonic you become. If I take you out the back and leave you, by dawn, when the sun touches you, you'll burn."

Joe turned to the other prisoner and saw that he was rocking slightly in his seat.

"I've placed a binding spell on both of you. It's not very powerful but it'll keep you in that chair long enough for me to start working on you after this fucker is extra crispy."

Glancing back at Ash he caught her eye and she started to play her little role. Her face morphed as she bent down again and she took a bag of scarlet fluid from a fold in the blanket around her. Her eyes gleamed an unhealthy yellow as she bit down and blood spilled across a label bearing the caduceus of the medical profession. Joe smirked at the blatantly dramatic act and then wiped the smile off his face.

"If she doesn't have enough in that bag to heal her wounds one of you will volunteer to help her out, donor-wise. If you have something against volunteering put your hands up."

Joe laughed out right as he saw both men struggle. He shielded the red gleam of the last stone from their sight and bent down again.

"Very simple question to ask you. Are you willing to co-operate?"

Both men nodded violently but Joe knew that both would bullshit their hearts out if it came to answering questions.
He opened his mouth to ask when the phone rang outside. Reaching down beside Ash he lifted the handset of a companion phone.

"Joe here."

"It's Udo. I just got word from the Order. An organisation in England has problems with a few people. I'll read out the list. Joe Sullivan and two girls called Faith and Buffy. They recognised your name but still initiated a heavy contract on the last two."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. Right. Udo, can you come over here as fast as you can with the jet? Once you're here you keep an eye on the girls and I'll head to the States to take care of the last name on the list. If you can, contact Whip and tell him to take care of the Order. Make sure that he stops the contracts on the two Slayers."

"Two Slayers?"

"I'll explain when you get here. See ya."

He dropped the handset and turned to the prisoners.

"Right, I just had news that the Watchers know your lot fucked up and they've decided to use the big guns. Get rid of them."

He took up the tongs again and removed the dark stone from Pratt's lap. The burn on his cheek melted away as soon as the crystal stopped touching him. That done the two cops went to move the men and stopped. Joe grimaced and touched both captives with the blue and gold stone again. They shot up off the seats and bowled both of the Gardai over. Pratt wheeled around and dove for the door, supporting his broken arm with the other. His companion kicked wildly out at Joe and landed a glancing blow to the Pale Man's stomach.

Pratt had just made it to the door when Faith swung her fist into his broken arm. He reared back in agony at the pain and slammed his head into the wall before slumping to the ground. His mate didn't do much better. Seeing the Slayer's attention was on Maurice he dove straight for her and shouldered her into the doorframe. She cried out as his weight squashed her and she fell into the hallway. The attacker raised his foot over her head to deliver a killing blow when a shot rang out. He dropped to the floor, dead with a bullet hole in his chest.

Inspector O'Shea stepped forwards and lowered his gun as he checked the dead man. Joe stepped over the unconscious one and gripped Tommy's arm.

"What happened?"

"The made a run for it and caught us all off guard. Your two lads are embarrassed but fine. Do us a favour and get a squad car here to get this one out of here and another for us. We're heading for Shannon airport."

Tommy glanced at the Pale Man and froze for a second. The policeman in him was loath to let a witness to a possible terrorist act go waltzing around. But the practical side knew that if Joe had to he'd walk through a Garda station and all the people inside if it were necessary.

******

Udo was in the air before Joe and the two girls were on their way to Shannon Airport. The second largest of the three international airports in Ireland, it was only a forty-minute drive south. In the squad car it took thirty.

Joe spent the whole time thinking about what the hell was going to happen next. The Watchers had made a move that was beautiful in the extreme.

The two attackers would be identified as ex-army, most probably mercenaries. They wouldn't be linked to any organisation and because of the political troubles in the North the Irish government would make sure that the attack would be ruled as a kidnapping or a robbery. Joe groaned.

During the centuries of the Inquisition, Josephus and some of the other Pale Men had butted their heads against the wall of bureaucracy and politics that made up a good part of the Catholic Church. That organisation had been the most obvious choice to work with, because of its resources. If you had a piece of paper with the Holy Seal of Rome stamped on it you had a pass to go anywhere. But the excesses of the church had come to the forefront and spoiled whatever feelings Josephus had had for any politics.

But Udo had shown some flair in the area. When the Pale Men had stopped working with the Church it had been Udo's flowery words that had stopped an army from being sent after them. Since then Udo had been 'The Man' when it came to working with bureaucrats and government officials. And he also knew how to work the media to his advantage.

The squad car pulled into the Departure lounge of the airport and the three ran into the terminal. It was still early in the morning but by the time the jet had arrived it would be dawn. The airport Gardai shepherded them into a secure waiting area and left them there. Joe nearly went insane until he got a call from Udo.

"I'm on the plane and we are about half an hour out. What is the matter?"

"The Watchers made a play. They sent their own team in to get us and it went wrong so now they're using the Order. Is there any word from Whip?"

"He had left Rome and was heading North to Milan. He said something about 'knowing some people there'. He'll send word when he can. What do you want me to do?"

Joe thought for a minute.

"Get Maura to call all the TD's on her list. We need to cripple any official and unofficial support that the Watchers have in England. If we can do that we can launch an attack of our own. But I don't know what sort of attack."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"I'll see you in a while, Udo."

Joe hung up and sat down beside the girls.

"Who is Whip?"

Joe stared at Faith. Her question had caught him off guard. He'd been too busy trying to predict the next move that the Watchers would use.

"He's another Pale Man. A bit of a lady's man. That's where he got the name from."

All you got for a response was two pairs of raised eyebrows.

"Not for that. It was about two hundred years ago and we were in France, resting. We'd stopped by this inn and were getting ready to move on when we heard Whip screaming. We thought that some Elder demon was attacking so we run around the back of this big building, armed to the teeth. But he wasn't being attacked. Sort of.

It turns out he was making the moves on some girl and her mother took exception. She'd dumped some cold water on him and started laying into him with a switch. We just stood there and laughed our asses off. Here's this super human warrior getting the crud beaten out of him by a woman half his size and weight."

They all laughed at the picture that Joe's story created. The tension in the room eased off as they settled down to wait for the plane. Then it rocketed back up again as Joe sat up with a curse.

"Shit. I forgot Buffy."

He raced to the wall again and took a personal organiser from his pocket. Dialling the Californian coast took a couple of seconds and only drew another swearword when a busy signal was heard. Hanging up, Joe dialled another number and got lucky.

"Hello, Mrs Rosenburg. Could I speak to Willow for a moment? This is Joseph Sullivan from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland."

Joe's tone was calm and soothing but his body language was as tense as hell. It only got worse as the seconds went by. He shouted when he heard a gilrs voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello?"

"Willow. It's Joe. Shut up and listen. Get over to Buffy's house and tell her to go to my place in town. The Order of Teraka has been hired to kill her. I'm going to be in Sunnydale in about ten hours or so. And Willow, make sure that Wesley and Giles know nothing of this."

He hung up before she could reply. He knew that the girl would have a thousand questions but they could wait until Buffy was safe.

******

The jet arrived not long after the call to Willow and the two girls got their first glimpse of Udo. He was four inches over six-foot in height and everything Joe wasn't. His looks were almost regal, framed by a full head of sun-bleached blonde hair. His Armani suit was slightly rumpled from the flight.

Once inside the door he stepped over to Josephus and they clasped forearms and then bear-hugged each other. Udo stood back and looked at his friend.

Joe hadn't bothered to change after leaving Galway. Udo opened his fellow Pale Man's coat and looked in at what had been a good set of clothes. The whole left side of the T-shirt was soaked in blood and had several small holes in it. The stench of cordite and blood was almost palpable.

"What happened?"

Joe gave his friend a quick run down of the evenings activities.

"We need to hit the Watchers now. They'll use the Order's attack as cover to launch another strike against us. If we're lucky and Wesley is as incompetent as I think, the Watchers Council thinks that I'm the only Pale Man. Do me a favour and make sure that they know that that's a mistake."

"My pleasure. What about these two?"

Udo nodded towards Ash and Faith who were both standing up.

"I'm sorry. This is Ash..."

The vampire wrapped the blanket around herself and shook hands with Udo.

"...and this is Faith."

Now the Slayer reached out to meet the Pale Man. He smiled at both of them.

"How do you like Ireland so far? Quiet little country, he says. Never any trouble here, he says. "

Neither of the girls reacted to the joke.

"They stay here with you."

Ash sat down in shock while Faith ran forward and stood toe to toe with Josephus. He stopped her from launching into an argument.

"It's very simple. You are a target and I am not. Neither is Udo. So here is the game plan: one of us stays with you and the other goes to America. Since Buffy knows me I am the logical choice to go."

"So there's no reason for ME not to go."

Joe looked at Ash in shock. The vampire had made one hell of a recovery in the few seconds since she had found out about being left behind. Dropping the blanket to the floor she stepped up beside the Slayer. She didn't look any better than Joe. The entire front of her blouse was soaked with dark blood and three ragged exit holes were plainly visible. What was even more visible was the wounds that were still very much in evidence. And the fact she didn't have anything on under the blouse.

She looked down when she saw the two men staring and her face went crimson with embarressment. Her hands covered the holes and she turned away from them. Faith draped the blanket over her and gave her a reassuring hug. But it was plain to see on both their faces that they wanted to go. Udo spoke up.

"I'm sorry for embarrassing you Ash but what we are doing here is important. We, the Pale Men, have been hearing stories of the Watchers killing Slayers if they were badly wounded or disobeying orders. What we have here is a golden opportunity to stop them but only as long as both of you are alive."

Faith was puzzled and it showed on her face.

"You know that if a Slayer dies another is chosen to take her place. The Watchers monitor all potential Slayers and the second one of them becomes a Slayer the Watchers win. As long as both of you live the Watchers loose their reason to exist as an organisation. We just need to keep you alive long enough to do see that happen. Okay."

He put his arm around her shoulders and smiled as she nodded. He had seen the anger that came over her face when he had mentioned the Watchers and knew that sticking it to them would get her attention. Now he would have to keep her focused on that until she accepted it as her duty. He looked up and nodded to Joe who was standing beside Ash. They too were talking and it looked like he was not going to be a lucky.

******

"I don't see why I'm not allowed to go."

Joe shook his head and frowned.

"As long as you are with us we will be restricted to moving at night or in dark places. It's summer and that leaves us only a couple of hours mobility every twenty-four. The rest of the time we'd need to lay low and with the Order hunting Buffy that's not a good option. If we are being hunted the most important thing is being able to escape during the day and night."

"You're not going to fight them."

"If I had more people I would but in this case running is the only option. I'll keep moving Buffy as much as possible until Udo has worked his media mojo and I can come home."

Ash wanted to agree. She had been a hunter of people to know that Joe was right about keeping mobile.

"What will you do?"

He shook his head again.

"I don't honestly know. There are too many unknowns: who is after her, what are their strengths, what are they willing to do? We'll just have to play it by ear and hope we come out ahead."

******

Willow dropped the phone and ran to her room. Her mother shouted at her for a second to ask what the call was about but she didn't answer. The witch paused long enough to grab a bag of Wiccan potions and run out the French windows of her room.

It took her fifteen minutes to get to Buffy's house, running as fast as she could. She knew that the Slayer was at the house when she heard the quiet hum of a hair dryer from the open window upstairs. Without pausing she ran to the door and flung it open. Her friend was at the top of the stairs with a sword in hand before the door was shut. Once Buffy saw it was her friend she dropped the sword to the floor.

"What's wrong?"

Willow tried catching her breath while telling her friend.

"Joe called....GASP.... Said that the Order of Teraka is after you...GASP.... Said that you should hide in his place until he gets here."

Buffy picked up the sword again and ran down the stairs. She glanced out the door, trying to see if any of the Order was already there. There were some people moving about out there but they were all people from the neighbourhood.

"Did he say who sent them?"

"No. But he said not to tell Wesley... or Giles."

Buffy knew that could only mean the Watchers. But why?

She didn't wait long enough to answer her own question. She left Willow at the bottom of the stairs and ran up to pack a few things, most of them being weapons.

******

Buffy was at the door and ready to leave when a knock came. She opened her Slayer bag and gripped the end of a stake before answering the door.

"Xander. What are you doing here?"

"Did I get the date wrong? You and me were to get together and go over to the library for training. You know the Xander bashing that you coloured in on your diary."

The Slayer let the death-grip on the stake loosen long enough to drag Xander into the house. She pointed towards the kitchen.

"We go out the back door and get a cab at the end of the block. We can get off at the town center and walk from there."

Xander and Willow walked ahead of the Slayer, out into the back yard and through the link fence.

"What's the beef Will? We got a new Apocalypse thing going on?"

"Joe rang. Someone has sent the Order of Teraka after Buffy again. It night be the Watchers."

Xander risked a quick look at his friend and saw that she was in full Slayer mood. She knew that the last time Buffy had gotten jiggy with the Order Oz had been shot and Willow, not to mention Cordy and himself, had nearly been killed.

"You mean bug guys cousins are on their way here. Oooh! I feel the need for a shower."

Suddenly an idea occurred to him.

"Hey! I'll go to the library and grab the book on the Order. We'll know who to look for then."

The Slayer stopped when she heard Xander's suggestion and thought for a minute. The book was massive and it had taken over an hour for them to find the first assassins the Order had sent. But it was better than nothing.

"Okay. But be careful. And when you come to Joe's place make sure you aren't followed!"

"Please. Who are you talking to here? On second thoughts don't answer that."

Xander ran off in the direction of Buffy's house.

******

Xander didn't make for the library immediately. His first stop was his house and the stockpile that he had been building up in the last few weeks since Joe had left.

The memory crystal that Xander had got from the Pale Man had been in use nearly every day and with the knowledge that it brought, ideas had sprung forth. Xander had doen some very illegal shopping over the last two weeks with the few meagre dollars that he had saved. But the stuff he had got was unbelievable.

A trip to an Army/Navy store got a Baby Fairburn, a World War Two fighting knife that was still considered to be the best invented. The second item had been a lot harder to get. After the Mayor had been dealt with, the Pale Man and his allies had dumped the weapons used into an old sewer main. Xander had had to get old diving gear to follow the path taken by the firearms but he got very lucky. Two of the pistols that Joe had got had lodged themselves onto something that Xander didn't really want to know about. After twenty showers and a few good cleanings, booth him and the guns were ready for action.

The finishing touch was the silencers that he made in the shop classroom in the high school. Buffy and her training sessions meant that Giles was usually the one who shut the place down at night. Xander simply borrowed the keys and used the lathe on a hunk of mild steel. It wasn't perfect but he stuffing the tube with steel wool would work for to silence or at least muffle a couple of shots.

The silencer wasn't necessary now. Twisting it off, he took a couple of seconds to check the magazine and then jammed the gun into the pocket of his jacket.

******

Even running it took Xander twenty minutes to get to the high school and another five to get past the janitor. He knew that Giles would in all probability be there, even though it was graduation. And if Giles were there, Wesley wouldn't be too far away.

******

Wesley flicked through the list again and counted the ticks he had made on the page.

* It doesn't add up. *

The Watcher slammed down the list and saw it disintegrate into a spreading pile. Since he had made the choice to take Giles' offer of the post of assistant librarian the former Watcher and now Principal had lumped him with the task of cataloguing all the books. It had only taken twenty minutes before Wesley had seen the full extent of the job ahead.

Because he was on his knees picking up the list he didn't see Xander sneak in the door and crawl over the counter. Using all of his swearwords the Watcher stood and carried the list over to the worktable just as the door opened.

Wesley turned on what he called charm before he saw it was a police officer. His spine turned to jelly as he asked.

"How can I help you officer?"

******

Xander froze when he heard the door open. When he heard the word 'officer' his heart nearly stopped.

* Fuck! A cop saw me sneak in here. *

He heard the cop reply to Wesley's question and the hairs on the back of his neck rose. For some reason the cop was settings off alarms and he couldn't pin it down. He moved his hand down to the ground and started to crawl towards Giles' office where he could get better cover. It took him a minute, all the time listening to the cop and the Watcher talk. He had nearly reached the door when he heard Giles' speak.

"Xander what the hell are you doing here?"

The cop and the Watcher turned as Giles walked out of his office and Xander stood shamefaced. That expression disappeared as the boy got a look at the cop's face.

It was the female assassin who had tried to kill Buffy the first time.

Grabbing the nearest book he threw it at the women as she drew her gun. The volume hit stopping the fluidity of her pull and destroying her aim. The gun cracked against the Watchers head and he slumped to the floor, his forehead gashed and his eyes glazing over with pain.

Xander's draw was a lot smoother.

He saw the killer's gun line up for a shot on his chest when his gun bucked in his hand, once, twice. The gun barrel facing him dropped and bloomed with fire itself and he felt a punch and pull in his side. He fired again and saw it wasn't necessary, both of his first shots had been centre chests.

The pain hit him and he knelt, blood streaming from his side but he kept his gun aimed at the woman's head until she stopped twitching. Giles ran out and looked to Wesley first and pressed his fingers into the man's neck. A pulse beat soundly under his touch

* He'll live. *

Rushing over to Xander with a First Aid kit in hand he forced the young man to lie down and removed the gun from his hand. Running his hand down the boy's side he saw that his whole side was wet with blood. Lifting the T-shirt up he saw a small hole in Xander's side. Rolling him over slightly he saw another hole a few inches behind.

* A flesh wound. Thank God. *

Packing gauze pads into the wound he listened for and was glad to hear the wail of approaching sirens.

******

SUNNYDALE: Joe's Palace

Willow and Buffy got to Joe's Palace by way of the few back alleys they could access. The inside was covered in a layer of dust that seemed unnatural in depth. They couldn't really believe that a month had passed since they had been inside these walls.

Buffy dropped her bag onto the floor and both girls coughed as a cloud of dust was raised. The next hour wasn't much better as they opened windows and let the wind, as poor as it was, stream through the old building. Wielding the Dust Buster like a weapon of old Buffy declared war and soon the demon dust was beaten back. But at a cost. Both girls were black and grey with dirt and grime.

Tired beyond reckoning they sat down in the reclaimed chairs only to jump when the phone rang. Willow answered it.

"Hello."

"It's Joe. Listen very carefully. I've found out that the Watcher's Council commissioned the Order of Teraka to kill Buffy. Is she there by the way?"

Willow tilted the phone to Buffy so both of them could hear.

"I'm here."

"Good. Now listen. You can ask questions later. The Watchers came after me and the two girls in Galway and we found out that the Order is after us all. The contract was refused on me but they are still after you. Stay low. I'll be in Sunnydale in a couple of hours. In the mean time keep your head down."

Buffy snatched the phone from her friend's hand.

"Why are the Watchers after us?"

"We don't know yet but we'll try and find out."

"Who is 'we'?"

"There are two other friends of mine in on this. They'll turn something up. Listen I have to go. I'll be in Sunnydale in a few hours and we can talk then."

He hung up and pursed his lips.

* Until Whip comes up with something our arses are hanging in the wind and the temperature is dropping. *

He got up out f the plush seat and walked forward to the cockpit. The pilots were talking to the tower with worried voices. Joe got a good look outside and saw massive grey and blue clouds, heavy with rain and ready to burst.

"How long until we land?"

The pilot didn't turn around to answer.

"There's bad weather right in our flight path at the moment. We have to think about diverting our course but we might get lucky and get through it before it..."

He nodded in the direction of the storm front.

"... gets too bad . Strap in. We'll be hitting it in about twenty minutes."

Joe went back and sat down. He spent all of ten seconds strapping in and checking the chair and seatbelt before he reached for his carry-on bag.

It was a plain brown knapsack, worn from years of use. The gear inside held most of his 'big guns'. A couple of healing crystals, energy crystals, soul stones, focus and binding stones and the dark crystal. The last one had been thrown in because there wasn't anywhere safer to put it. Joe grabbed a napkin and wrapped it around the stone.

* No sense in getting hurt by accidentally touching it. *

Once the stone was safely tucked into one corner he went back to thinking about the attack. Something was bothering him. The gunmen back in Galway had shot the crap out of every inch of his house looking for him. They had wrecked everything and that was unusual.

If they had been your typical SpecOps assassination job they would have hit the house and shot at him. But the damage was consistent with an intelligence raid. They had been looking for something and he had no clue as to what.

It was of no consequence. What was done was done. It was up to Udo now to hit the Watchers and do some damage.

******

GALWAY

The Pale Man in question sat up straight as the camera lights came on. Sitting forward and leaning on his elbows he listened to the Garda Inspector's speech.

"Thank you all for coming. I have an announcement to make concerning the attack in Galway last night. I'll take questions after. Last night, six armed individuals attacked a number of houses in the Nuns' Island area of Galway. Luckily there was no one home and the attack failed but not before armed Gardai arrived on scene. Gunfire was exchanged and two of these men were taken alive."

Tommy read from the notes on the lectern in front of him.

"Preliminary investigation shows that this was not, I repeat, not a terrorist act. Interrogation of the two surviving attackers leads us to believe this was maybe an attempted kidnapping. Because of this we are working in conjunction with the Bain Research Company and their parent organisation. Evidence arising from this indicates that a group of people possibly located in England to be behind this attack."

The media, newspaper and television people alike shot out of their seats and started to shout out questions.

"Please wait until I have finished. We are now working with the Metropolitan police and will be handing over the evidence we have to them. Hopefully this will lead to a joint investigation. Now I will take questions."

One reporter, quicker on her feet than the others, got out a question.

"Do you have any idea of the nature of this group?"

Tommy stood again.

"Again I have to stress that we are unsure of this group's motivations but we hope an investigation will lead to prosecutions for this attack."

"Mister Reinher. Can we have your reaction to this attack?"

Udo and Tommy put their heads together and made like the cop was telling him not to answer. The Pale Man then stood up and took the lectern.

"I condemn this act as a despicable act of cowardice. And because of this act I feel it is only right to take action. But not with the means that these people use."

Udo gestured to the back of the hall where Tina and a group of other Bain employees were waiting. At his signal they began to move among the media people and hand out slim packets. Tommy's face darkened with apparent rage at being one-upped like this.

"Folders are being passed out to you as we speak explaining why this attack took place. But I will give you an explanation. Bain is a research company and we have no real limits to what we research. Six months ago Bain was hired to find several books for a company that was based in England. We accepted the commission and found that these books were on the occult and similar practises. Because of the nature of these books we felt that additional research was required and delved into the background of the company."

Udo looked down and saw that the print media people were going through the folders and barely listening to him. There was enough on the Watcher's Council in there to whet any reporter's appetite and a few more releases of information would have them foaming at the mouth.

"The company was owned by a series of directors who have connections to groups long considered to be practitioners of the occult. Using the information in the books we were able to find similarities between murders in England over the last forty years and deeds outlined in the books.

Apparently our investigation was found out and this attack was authorised."

Udo's eyes teared up.

"We are very lucky that only one person was injured and I regret that those men died. But I will sleep easier knowing that this organisation has been shown for what it is."

******

LONDON

The Watcher's Council looked on as a tear coursed it's way down Udo's cheek. They had come together to discuss the consequences of the attack when one of their assistants had rushed in and turned on the television. It hadn't taken long for them to see that the Watchers would come under the public eye very soon. Other assistants rushed in and spoke quietly with the Chairman before running out again.

The Chairman stood.

"We are being attacked at a level that we have never thought possible. But we will prevail. I have given orders to clear out our most important libraries and have them secured in vaults and other facilities that have no connections with us. As to our own futures, I speculate that this Pale Man has listed us in those folders as well as our most powerful people in government and the civil service. This is a dark, dark day.

I would ask that you go now and take care of your affairs."

The Council stood and left quietly. Sir Giles was sure that every one of them was thinking about the possibility of jail and the ignominy of the publicity that trials would bring. As soon as they had left three men came into the room.

All of the men were trim and middle aged and bared the marks of military service.

"Justin. Is there any word of Nathan?"

The Deputy of the Watcher's Shield shook his head.

"No, Sir Giles. He was on his way to Sunnydale to take command of the situation there when this broke. For all intents and purposes we cannot contact him for at least another couple of hours. Hopefully he will hear of this and contact us."

Giles grimaced.

"Hope has no chance in this situation. The Americans are unlikely to take any heed of this unless our senior people over there notice it. And it is doubtful that they will survive if an investigation is launched. This Pale Man knows too much."

The smallest of the three men and the least fit looking sat down and eased his leg forward.

"Sir Giles. I know at least three reporters in that room and they will be faxing me copies of that folder soon. But I fear that you are correct and much of our organisation is exposed, but what do we do? What can we do?"

"Nothing for the moment. Thomas."

The Chairman gestured to the last of the three.

"What do you think?"

The young man scratched his head. Junior by a good decade than any of the others in the room, he was a recent appointment to the staff of the Chairman. He had been the one to alert the Council of the press conference.

"With all due respect, Sir Giles. The Watchers are fucked."

All three men started to grumble at the profanity but didn't stop the man from speaking his mind.

"This 'Pale Man' has landed two separate minefields in front of the Council. The tabloids will grab hold of the forty-year-old conspiracy theory and play it to the hilt. People will cry outrage. The older and more sensible papers will run with the power broker story and crucify whomever we own in Parliament. And people will cry outrage. As I said, the Watchers are fucked."

Sir Giles' face crumpled. In his lifetime he would see the Watchers triumph over some of the greatest evil and now would see them destroyed. Thomas coughed again and Giles looked up. A hopeful look came over his face.

"Has the move started?"

"Yes sir. But I amended your orders slightly. The researchers were sent home in case the police came by and tried to stop the loading of the books. If they do come by the movers have been ordered to send them on a wild goose chase and keep loading."

"Good idea, young man."

Thomas coughed again and Giles looked up into his face. His expression changed into one of barely suppressed contempt.

"I was asked to give you this."

Thomas handed over the letter and left the room. Giles looked down at the letter in his hands and knew something was very wrong. He gestured to the Deputy Shield even as he opened the envelope.

"Bring him back."

The man left the room and his other companion stood to stand behind the Chairman as he read the letter. They both gasped as they read it.

Dear Mr. Chairman,

My 'accomplice' is just after handing you this letter and walked away. I would like to say now that should anything happen to this young man the fate of the Watchers will be worse than anything you could ever predict.

I sent you this letter to explain what and why this is happening. To put it mildly, you crossed the line and you now have to reap what you have sown.

In this case it means the end of the Watchers, as you know it.

As we speak your libraries have been emptied by people hired by Thomas, your former assistant, and delivered to us. Your politicians cannot stop us and neither can you without attracting attention to their motives.

With this letter is a ticket. We will meet, alone in a place of our choosing. You will comply.

Yours Sincerely

The Pale Men.

Giles looked down in horror at the letter and crumpled it as a wave of anger swept through him. Justin returned to the room just as the paper soared across the table and hit the far wall.

"He was getting into a taxi as I got to the front door. I wasn't able to find out where he went."

The limping man moved away from the Chairman and laid a hand on the Shield's arm.

"It doesn't matter now. Get what men you have and send them to the libraries. We may be able to stop the movers. The Pale Man owns them."

Justin turned white himself for a second, so white that the two men thought that he may have been another spy in their midst. Then his face went bright red with rage and he ran from the room. But nothing he could do would change one fact.

The Watchers were destroyed.

******

MILAN

Not even the worst acidhead would call the décor anything but 'shit-hole black and brown'. In it's good days it would have settled with just shit-hole but business hadn't been the best. Especially since the Order of Teraka had taken over. Most of the usual clientele had moved onto greener pastures but some had been kept on to bring the illusion of being nothing out of the ordinary to it.

The actual business took place at the tables in the back of the bar. A group of four thugs stood and sat between the door and this table which had only one small man sitting at it. His head nodded back and forth as if listening to music but the murmur that escaped his lips was anything but lyrical. On the table in front of him lay a stack of papers, each with a name, face and other details. In the bottom of each page was a figure that could make Bill Gates choke with envy.

The front door swung open and was shut quickly, letting only a small amount of light into the room. The two thugs nearest the door sat up straighter and looked at this 'customer'.

He was small, just over five and a half feet tall but built like a brick shit-house. His clothing was dirty but of good quality, his leather three-quarter length the only piece of clothing still worth something from the look of it.

Walking over to the bar, he leaned over and had a quick few words with the bartender. Whatever he had asked got a smile when answered and then he reached out and broke the barman's jaw.

The thugs stood in shock for a second and then moved. But not before the man changed.

The light in the room wasn't good but they didn't miss the skin going an unearthly shade of white and all emotion leaving his face. And they certainly didn't miss the sawn off shotgun that came from under his jacket.

With a flick of his wrist, Whip shot the two thugs, one barrel each. Dropping the now useless gun he pulled his only other weapon, a short sword called a gladius. He had carried a sword like this for nearly two millennia and it showed. The second pair of thugs came in and stopped just out of Whip's range. One pulled a sword and the other changed his hand's morphing into blades almost a metre in length.

The changeling came head on and assumed a defensive position, batting aside Whip's attack while the Order's swordsman circled around behind.

The Pale Man saw this coming.

He jumped back from the changeling and attacked the swordsman, killing him before he could react. Grabbing the dead man's sword he threw it like a javelin and scored a hit on the changeling's leg. Distracted by the pain, the creature couldn't even defend itself against Whip's killing blow.

The colour came back into Whip's face as he strolled over to the sitting man and sat down across from him. The mumbling had stopped and his face was now up and visible to see.

He had no eyes.

Clumsy stitches scored the tissue around his eyelids but the motion of his head told Whip that he could 'see' him even without eyes. It was no surprise to the Pale Man. The Order had been using Seers and Senders for communication purposes ever since the Pale Men had attacked them so long ago. They had reorganised into cell systems, only communicating by these creatures that had no point of reference other than the glow of minds across the world.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes. Pale Man."

"Good. Now listen and repeat to your superiors what I am about to say. Word for word."

The blind man nodded.

"You accepted a contract..."

The mumbling started again.

"... on a Pale Man."

The mumbling stopped and the Sender tilted his head up.

"We contacted you as to the contract and contractor. We made it known that we had not accepted contract on Josephus, only the Slayers."

Whip stopped at that. He knew that there could be only one Slayer. But this was neither the time now the place to be asking questions, just giving orders.

"They are under our protection. We know that you will return the contractor's money because of this but we will equal this lost income only with the provision that no more contracts will be taken out on these girls."

Whip stopped at that and got up to leave. The Seer's hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

"We sense that you have more to say."

"You can accept the deal or ten Pale Men will come after the Order and grind it into oblivion."

The Seer's head tilted again and 'looked' straight into Whip's face.

"We accept."

******

Whip returned to his hotel room in a nicer section of town and changed into a suit and tie. The bedside phone rang.

"Luciano."

"Luke, Udo."

The older Pale Man grinned and sat down on his bed.

"How's Germany these days?"

"I don't know. I'm in Ireland. Someone attacked the place in Galway."

Whip shot up out of the bed and shouted into the phone.

"WHAT? I just spoke with Teraka. They said that the contract was void from the beginning."

"Calm down. It wasn't them. It was the... Let's change to Sumerian."

Whip sat down again.

"Fine. What didn't you want someone to hear?"

"It was the Watchers. Someone stole one of the Family's books and ran for America. Josephus followed and ran into the Watchers little secret; two Slayers. He got the book back and things were said and done and one of the two came back to Ireland with him. The other has cut herself off from them altogether. They're reaction was, I have to say, a little over the top. They sent a bunch of mercs after the one in Galway and they destroyed Nuns' Island. And then they hired Teraka to get them both when their own people failed. That's the whole story."

Whip laughed at the story.

"So then you came along and do your fifteen minutes of fame thing on television. So you were attacking the Watchers?"

"Yes. I've weakened them enough that another attack won't happen. But I'm going to meet with their representative in the next few days. Josephus has gone over to America to ensure the other Slayer's safety. He is of the opinion that if the Watchers succeed in killing this one they will get another Slayer and maybe use her against us."

"You know that a Slayer would have no chance against us. Why is he going? A Slayer would be more than able to take a bunch of humans."

"I don't know and I don't care. I owe both of you favours and now I am discharging one. Can you come here and help supervise shutting down the Watchers with me? We have shut them into a corner and I would prefer if they do not act like a trapped animal and attack."

"I'll be there. See you... Tomorrow at the latest."

"Thank you. Wiedersehn."

Whip hung up and redialled for reception.

"Please book me the first available flight to Ireland for today or tomorrow. I'll be checking out."

* At last, some fun. *

******

LOS ANGELES

The bottle smashed into the far wall and tore a chunk out of the cheap plaster. Another bottle followed but this one bounced off and hit the floor with a 'thunk'. A roar of rage sounded through the room.

Nathan Wyndam-Pryce was, in his own words, 'fucking livid'. He had spent the better part of a day in a small aluminium box flying halfway across the world and only to find out that his organisation was a thing of the past. The 'phone joined the two beer bottles in crashing against the wall. Even worse was the fact that the Slayer had disappeared into thin air and the only reliable source of information he had for finding her was unconscious in a hospital bed.

But he had one thing going for him. The Pale Man was coming to Sunnydale and that Nathan had all of his flight details. The plane was a private flight in from Germany via Shannon in Ireland. It would come into a private hanger and the creature would disembark. From there to Customs and then on to the Hellmouth.

There was a twelve man Watchers Shield team in Sunnydale, standing around doing nothing. With a minimum amount of preparation they could at least get something out of this.

******

LAX AIRPORT

The weather coming into LAX was unseasonable. Ever since the El Ninio thing had started up, the climate in the States had gone very slowly to shit. Josephus clung to his seat with a death grip, crushing one of the arm rests. The buffeting going down was unbelievable but they were lucky. Just as the pilot was thinking about waving off they entered an area of calm and landed.

By the time they pulled into the hanger Joe had managed to down four shot glasses of the most powerful drink he could find. He may be a Pale Man but he fucking hated to fly.

When they came to a stop, the engineer popped the door and Joe jumped out onto Terra Firma and to total safety. He waved goodbye to the crew and walked quickly towards Customs only to find there was some repair work going on. A handmade diversion sign hung from one wall and Josephus followed it into a dark corridor.

Mental alarm bells started ringing in the Pale Man's head. It was too dark to allow anyone down here safely. There were no security people and no workmen. And that was what set Joe to running.

He was halfway down the corridor and right beside a doorway when someone stepped through. The Pale Man spotted the silhouette of what looked like a gun and swung out with the bag clipping the assailant's head. Spinning back into the wall the man dropped the gun onto the floor. Joe stooped and grabbed it, swinging it back down the hall and then up to it's far end.

He studied the weapon as he pointed it out ahead. It was a heavy pistol of some make, silenced just for the occasion. Kneeling down beside the fallen man he checked for a pulse and got one. Then he checked for ID and came up blank. The clothes were a dead give-away though, heavy dark overalls covering casual clothes. Typical Cleaner's clothes the mark of a trained professional.

Standing slowly he walked forward, keeping low and to the wall. Joe could see a couple of more doors ahead, all of which could hold more attackers. And then he found out that they did.

Pouring out of the rooms, two from each, the men ran forward and fired wildly with their silenced weapons. The hall was filled with a muted cough and swish of silencers struggling to do their jobs. The Pale Man cut loose and emptied his magazine in a few seconds, dropping five of the men. The other three ran on.

Joe felt the rage pull him and slipped into the Pale Man. His emotion focused and fuelled his reason, giving him a sense of judgement that his attackers didn't have. Spinning around he ran for the door behind him. If he got through that then he would be able to hold them off for longer than he could in this hallway. There had to be...

All thought was cut off as a blast of fire hit him in the back, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. Blood leaked from wounds and poured from others as he rolled face up, his eyes open and glazed. One of the remaining attackers stood directly over him and aimed his weapon directly into the Pale Man's face. Seeing the expression and the look of death, Nathan dropped his gun to the ground and walked away with the other two.

He still had a job to do in Sunnydale.

******

Fragments of conversation, shouted by people.

Lights, bright and sterile.

The wailing of a child, high and repetitive.

Josephus felt someone search him roughly as he was lowered face first onto a stretcher. Someone cut loose the remaining scraps of his backpack and lift it carefully away. Chunks of skin lifted as the stretcher swayed and he realised.

* Ambulance. *

Awareness slowly filtered back, but tinted, as if he was drugged. But that was impossible. As a Pale Man drugs were burnt away by his healing factor in seconds.

"Shit. What the fuck was he carrying? Jack. Radio ahead and tell them that there's a shit-load of glass embedded in this guy."

"They'll want to know if he's stable."

The medic checked the blood pressure cuff and the ECG monitor.

"He's fine. In fact, he's healthier wounded than I am working out. He'll live, but he might be paralysed."

Joe heard all of this and flexed his toes. He felt them move and scrape against the heavy leather of his shoe.

* I have to get out of here. *

Breathing in heavily, he was held down by the restraints that strapped him down to the stretcher. A neck brace was holding his head in place but a slight twist of his head gave him a sense that he could snap it with ease. Moving the arm hidden to the medic, he dug his nails into the flesh of his leg and cut himself. He waited for a few seconds to see if the medic would spot the wound. He didn't.

* Perfect. *

Joe 'reached' out and became the Pale Man. And with the change came a sense of freedom he had never felt before. He tested the limits of this knew feeling and knew that the old Pale Man was gone, the new one in control of his emotions. He was so into this rush that he almost missed the medic's reaction to his change.

"Jesus. He's bleeding out. Jack, floor it. We need to be there now."

The medic removed the strap and ran his hands down the length of Joe's body. The hand stopped when it came to the cut in Joe's thigh. He reached forward with his other hand and rolled the Pale Man to better see the wound when Joe moved.

Grabbing the medic by the hands he turned onto his back and sat up. The man screamed in shock at seeing his patient but the shock changed to horror when Joe slammed him into the far wall of the ambulance. A shouted question from the front told Joe he had better end this quick. Releasing the medic's hands he kneed the man in the chest and then smashed him back into the far side of the vehicle. The ambulance rocked with the force of the impact.

Joe sat back in shock.

He had nearly killed an innocent.

As long as he could remember, and that counted the memories from other Pale Men, none had ever killed an innocent deliberately. And he had nearly done it deliberately. The Pale Man felt a wave of emotion run through him, a pleasure that was almost tangible. The ambulance started to slow and Joe moved quickly.

Rolling over the body of the medic he stripped the heavy coat off the man and shrugged it on. Looking down, Joe could see that it would cover the mess of blood that dirtied his shirt. Bundling up the remnants of his bag in a blanket, the Pale Man kicked the door open and jumped out into the night.

******