AN: So, I am rewriting every single episode of Buffy, with one slight change – Jenny Calendar (killed off in Passion, season 2 episode 17) will be in every single one. Don't like it, don't read it. That simple. If you do like it, I would also suggest that you start out by reading 'Welcome To The Hellmouth Rewritten' before you read this.
In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer…
Inside the mausoleum, Luke tried to bite Buffy, but burned himself on the cross hanging around her neck and jerked back. Buffy seized the opportunity and push kicked him out of the coffin. She climbed out of it and raced outside. Buffy ran to catch up with Willow, Xander and Jesse. She heard a vampire roar and a girl screaming and ran toward the sounds. Willow was on the ground, about to be bitten.
"No! Get off!" Willow struggled.
"Hey!"
The vampire looked up, and Buffy snap kicked him off of Willow. He got up and ran away. Willow was shocked by what she saw. Buffy quickly started the hunt again. Willow got up and ran after her.
Xander was being dragged away by two vampires.
Willow appeared between two gravestones. "Xander!" First Jesse, now Xander. What a night.
The vampires were distracted. Buffy took advantage of the opening and jumped in, high punching one and side kicking the other. She noticed a dry branch on a tree and broke it off. As one of the vampires got up, she plunged the stick into him.
Willow rushes over to Xander, who was still on the ground. "Xander, are you okay?"
"Man, something hit me."
"Where's Jesse?" Buffy asked.
"I don't know!" Willow worried. "They surrounded us."
Xander provided the answer, "That girl grabbed him and took off."
"Which way?" Buffy asked.
"I don't know."
Buffy stood up straight and slowly scanned the cemetery. "Jesse," she whispered.
The globe up on the stack level was spinning in the library. Giles stopped it while he lectured and made his way down to where Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Ms. Calendar were at the study table. "This world is older than any of you know. Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their... their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures."
"And vampires," Buffy added.
"Okay, this is where I have a problem. See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a talk with vampires in it."
"Isn't that what we saw last night?" Willow asked.
"No. No, th-those weren't vampires, those were just guys in thundering need of a facial. Or maybe they had rabies. It could have been rabies. A-and that guy turning to dust? Just a trick of light."
Xander gave Buffy a look.
"That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire. Well, after I was done with the screaming part," Buffy explained.
"Oh, I-I need to sit down," Willow stated.
"Willow," Ms. Calendar said. "You are sitting down."
"Oh. Good for me."
"So vampires are demons?" Xander was trying to grasp this truckload of new information.
"The books tell the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood -"
"Books, books, books. It's always books with you. The interwebs have a lot of information, as well," Ms. Calendar interrupted.
"Which is only accessible to people who know how to work the contraptions. However, I digress, as this is not the time for an argument. Back to what the books said, he was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding... Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return."
In the sewers, Darla and Luke were forcing Jesse into the Master's lair.
"Move!" Luke barked.
They reached the lair, which was actually what remains of a church, and Luke forced Jesse down the slope to the floor below.
The Master approached. "Is this for me?"
"An offering, Master," Luke answered.
"He's a good one! His blood is pure!" Darla stated.
The Master drew the obvious conclusion. "You've tasted it."
Darla looked down in shame.
"I'm your... faithful dog. You bring me scraps." The Master was not happy.
"I, I didn't mean it-"
"I have waited. For three score years I have waited. While you come and go I am stuck here, here in this house of..." The Master's next word is said with extreme contempt. "Worship! My ascension is almost at hand. Pray that when it comes..." He took Darla by the neck. "I'm in a better mood."
"Master, forgive me! We had more offerings, but there was trouble. A girl!"
Luke came to Darla's aid, "And there was a girl. She fought well and she knew of our breed. It is possible that she may be..."
"A Slayer!" If The Master hadn't been pissed before, he was now.
In the library, the five carried on their conversation.
"And that would be a what?" Xander asked.
"For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One," Giles explained.
"They love doing this part," Buffy told Xander, referring to both Giles and Ms. Calendar.
"Alright. The Slayer hunts vampires, Buffy is a Slayer, don't tell anyone. Well, I think that's all the vampire information you need." Giles was thankful that Buffy's attitude seemed to have simmered down a bit.
"Except for one thing: how do you kill them?" Xander asked.
"You don't, I do," Buffy answered.
"Well, Jesse's my-"
Buffy interrupted, "Jesse is my responsibility. I let him get taken."
"That's not true."
Willow joined in, "If you hadn't shown up they would have taken us, too. Does anybody mind if I pass out?"
"Breathe," Ms. Calendar stated.
"Breathe," Willow repeated.
"Breathe," Buffy jumped in.
"Breathe," Willow repeated once more.
Buffy addressed both Giles and Ms. Calendar, "This big guy, Luke. He talked about an offering to the Master. Now, I don't know what or who, but if they weren't just feeding then Jesse may still be alive. I'm gonna find him."
"Uh, this may be the dumb question, but shouldn't we call the police?" Willow asked.
"And they'd believe us, of course," Giles replied.
"Well, we don't have to say vampires. We, we could just say that there's a, a bad man."
"They couldn't handle it even of they did show up," Ms. Calendar replied.
"They'd only come with guns," Buffy added.
"You have no idea where they took Jesse?" Giles asked.
"I looked around, but soon as they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just, voom!"
"They can fly?" Xander asked, amazed.
"They can drive."
"Oh." He never failed in making himself sound like a moron.
"I don't remember hearing a car," Willow said.
"I know! Let's take an enormous intuitive leap, shall we, and say they went underground." Ms. Calendar locked eyes with Giles, hoping to get kudos for using the word 'intuitive'.
"Vampires really jam on sewer systems. You can get anywhere in the entire town without catching any rays. But I didn't see any access around there."
Progress, Giles thought. He was glad it seemed Buffy was willing to drop whatever personal disliking she held for Ms. Calendar to be able to work with her. Even he knew she was hard to work with sometimes, but he didn't downright dislike her out of the blue.
"Well, there's an electrical tunnel that runs under the whole town," Xander stated.
"If we had a diagnostic of the tunnel system it might indicate a, a meeting place, it would, uh... I suppose we could go to the building commission," Giles suggested.
"We so don't have time," Buffy stated.
Willow thought back to an earlier occurrence, and found something useful. "Uh, guys? There may be another way."
In The Master's lair, The Master is still reeling, "A Slayer! Have you any proof?"
"Only that she fought me, and yet lives," Luke answered.
"Hmm, very nearly proof enough. I can't remember the last time that happened."
"1843. Madrid. He caught me sleeping," Luke had remembered.
"She mustn't be allowed to interfere with the Harvest!"
"I would never let that happen!"
"Don't worry about it. I believe she'll come to us. We have something she wants."
Luke smiled at Jesse.
The Master announced his logic, "If she is a Slayer, and this boy lives, she'll try to save him."
"I thought you nothing more than a meal, boy." Luke moved behind Jesse, taking his neck. "Congratulations, you've just been upgraded. To bait."
In the library, Willow had the city plans pulled up on the computer monitor. One of the few computers that lived in the library.
Buffy pointed. "There it is."
"That runs under the graveyard," Willow informed.
"I don't see any access," Xander stated.
"So, all the city plans are just, uh, open to the public?" Giles asked.
"Um, well, i-in a way. I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally decrypted the city council's security system," Willow answered.
"Someone's been naughty," Xander commented.
Ms. Calendar proudly chipped in, "Happened in my class. Willow is one of my smartest students."
Willow blushed. "Thanks," she murmured.
"There's nothing here, this is useless!" Buffy huffed.
"I think you're being a bit hard on yourself," Giles stated.
"You're the one that told me that I wasn't prepared enough. Understatement!" She exhaled. "I thought I was on top of everything, and then that monster, Luke, came out of nowhere..." She flashed back to the fight in the mausoleum.
"What?" Ms. Calendar asked.
"He didn't come out of nowhere. He came from behind me. I was facing the entrance, he came from behind me, and he didn't follow me out. The access to the tunnels is in the mausoleum! The girl must have doubled back with Jesse after I got out! God! I am so mentally challenged!"
"So, what's the plan? We saddle up, right?" Xander asked.
"There's no 'we', okay? I'm the Slayer, and you're not."
"I knew you'd throw that back in my face."
"Xander, this is deeply dangerous."
"I'm inadequate. That's fine. I'm less than a man."
"Buffy," Willow spoke up. "Buffy, I'm not anxious to go into a dark place full of monsters. But I do want to help. I need to."
"Well, then help me. I've been researching this Harvest affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless. I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details. It may be that you can wrest some information from that dread machine." Everyone else looked at Giles. He looked back at them all. His next words were general, but there was a bit of an inside joke to them for himself and Ms. Calendar. "That was a bit, um, British, wasn't it?"
"It was, Rupert," Ms. Calendar answered.
Buffy smiled. "Welcome to the New World."
Giles next addressed Willow and Ms. Calendar, "I want you to go on the 'Net. Both of you. Maybe some useful information can be pieced together that way." He was bent on computers being good for nothing.
"Oh, sure, I can do that," Willow replied. She began to type.
Ms. Calendar went off to another nearby computer.
"Then I'm outta here. If Jesse's alive, I'll bring him back." Buffy started to leave.
"Do I have to tell you to be careful?" Giles asked.
Buffy turned back, gave Giles a look, and continued out. Once outside, Buffy made strides towards a side gate. Mr. Flutie was there and stopped her.
"And where do we think we're going?"
"We?" Buffy faced him. "I... Me..."
"We're not leaving school grounds, are we?"
Buffy said the first excuse that came to mind, "No! No, I'm... just admiring the fence. You know, this is quality fence work."
"Because if we were leaving schools grounds on our second day at a new school, after getting kicked out of our old school for delinquent behavior... Do you see where I'm going with this?"
"Mr. Giles..."
"What?"
"He asked me to get a book for him. Well, actually, for Ms. Calendar, because she, uh, needs it for one of her classes and, uh, the library doesn't have it. So I need to get it, uh, from the store, 'cause I have a free period, and I'm a big reader. Did it mention that in my transcripts?"
"Mr. Giles? Ms. Calendar?"
"Ask them."
Mr. Flutie swung the gate closed. "Well, maybe that's how they do things in Britain, they've got that royal family and all kinds of problems," He locked the gate. "But here at Sunnydale nobody leaves campus while school's in session. Are we clear?"
Buffy made one meek, last attempt, "Ms. Calendar's not British…"
Mr. Flutie stood firm. "Are we clear?"
"We're clear."
"That's the Buffy Summers I want in my school. Sensible girl with her feet on the ground!" He turned and left.
Buffy watched him go. When he'd gone a ways she crouched and leaped the fence.
Xander slipped out of the library out of boredom, since Giles hadn't had a job for him. Maybe he'd follow Buffy. Or maybe he'd just go to class.
In the library, the ladies were diligently typing away, and Giles was buried in research. The bell rang.
Willow jumped. "Oh-Oh! Gotta run, class!" She gathered her stuff and bolted out of the library.
Ms. Calendar laughed, shaking her head. "Well then." She continued scanning the monitor for a few moments. Then she glanced at the clock. "Oh, I've got class t-" Then she realized that was her 'prep' period. "Nevermind."
"Has that dreadful device given you any good information yet?" Giles asked.
"Not as of late, I'm sure it will come through, though. How about your books?"
"Well, actually…" He may have just found something. "No, nevermind."
"What was it?" Ms. Calendar asked.
"Unicorn eaters…"
Ms. Calendar laughed. "And you've got a problem with computers."
"Yes, I do, thank you very much."
"I'm going to bring a class in here someday."
Giles gave her a horrified look. "You wouldn't!"
Ms. Calendar smirked. "Watch me."
Willow and Xander were walking down the hall.
"Murder, death, disaster. What else?" Willow asked.
"Paranormal, unexplained, did you get natural disasters?"
"Earthquake, flood."
"Rain of Toads."
"Right."
"Rain of Toads! Do you think they'd have anything like that in the paper?"
"I'll put it on the computer search. If it's in there, it'll turn up. Anything that'll lead us to vampires."
"And I, in the meantime, will help by standing around like an idiot."
"Not like an idiot, just... standing. Buffy doesn't want you getting hurt."
They stopped in front of their next class.
"I don't want you getting hurt," Willow added.
"This is just too much. I mean, yesterday my life's like, 'Uh-oh, pop quiz.' Today it's 'Rain of Toads'."
"I know. And everyone else thinks it's just a normal day."
"Nobody knows. It's like we've got this big secret.
"We do. That's what a secret is, when you know something other guys don't."
"Right. Look, maybe you should get to class." Xander indicated the door.
"You mean 'we'. We should get to class."
"Yeah."
"Buffy'll be okay. Whatever's down there, I think she can handle it."
"Yeah, I do, too." He didn't.
"So do I!"
Buffy was in front of the mausoleum from before. She entered slowly, looking and listening. She scanned around. Satisfied that no one was there, she walked down the steps to the floor. She heard a rat behind her and twisted to look toward the sound. She continued and found the tunnel access. It was locked with a chain. She lifted the lock.
The same stranger from before appeared behind her, the one who had given her the cross. He exhaled.
"I don't suppose you've got a key on you?" Buffy asked.
"They really don't like me dropping in."
Buffy faced him. "Why not?"
"They really don't like me."
"How could that possibly be?"
" I knew you'd figure out this entryway sooner or later. Actually, I thought it was gonna be a little sooner."
"Sorry you had to wait." She exhaled. "Okay. Look, if you're gonna be popping up with this Cryptic Wise Man act on a regular basis, can you at least tell me your name?"
"Angel."
"Angel. It's a pretty name." She turned to the tunnel entrance.
"Don't... go down there."
Buffy turned back. "Deal with my going."
"You shouldn't be putting yourself at risk. Tonight is the Harvest. Unless you can prevent it, the Master walks."
"Well, if this Harvest thing is such a suckfest, why don't you stop it?"
"'Cause I'm afraid."
She looked at him for a moment and then spun around quickly, kicking open the doors to the tunnel. She turned back to him.
"They'll be expecting you."
"I've got a friend down there. Or at least a potential friend. Do you know what it's like to have a friend?"
He lowered his eyes as a look of sadness filled them.
"That wasn't supposed to be a stumper."
They looked at each other a moment longer.
"When you hit the tunnels head east towards the school. That's where you're likely to find them."
"You gonna wish me luck?"
Angel said nothing. They looked at each other for another moment, then Buffy turned and headed into the tunnels. He watched her go. "Good luck!" he whispered.
"Hey, England!" Ms. Calendar called.
"Yes?"
Ms. Calendar started laughing. "Didn't expect you to answer to that."
