The Vampire of Steel

by DarkMark

Buffy reunites with Supergirl to deal with the threat of a Kryptonian vampire.

Supergirl / Buffy:

The Vampire of Steel

by DarkMark

"Excuse me. Is, um, Miss Danvers there? Uh, Miss Linda Danvers?"

The woman in question arched an eyebrow just a tad. "Yes, this is she. With whom am I speaking?"

"Um, Willow Rosenberg. I was told you could like, get in touch with, uh...you know."

Linda Danvers, in her off-white PJ's with the brown trim, sitting on her bed barefoot with a V. C. Andrews novel open face down on it beside her, ran her left hand through her hair. "No, I don't know. Who are you, and what do you want?"

"I'm a friend of Buffy's."

That, thought Linda, made things different.

"I see," she said.

"Oh, thanks. I'm glad you do."

"So...your friend wants me to get in touch with my friend?"

"Yeah. They need you to do it like in FedEx time, if possible."

"Where did our friends last meet?"

"On the Sears Tower."

Linda gave a half-smile, unknowingly. That much was true, so this Willow person had passed at least one test. She had given Buffy Linda's name and number. A year ago, they'd shared a hellacious adventure atop the tallest building in Chicago, almost the tallest building in the world. They'd parted as friends and sisters-in-arms of a sort. But she hadn't heard from Buffy since then.

"All right," said Linda. "What am I supposed to tell her?"

Willow, on the other end, sucked in a deep breath. "She needs to come to Sunnydale, California, ASAP. To the address I'll give you. It's the home of a friend named...ah...I don't know if I should tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know who's listening. Please, Miss Danvers, just get our message to your friend."

"What is my friend supposed to do, Ms. Rosenberg?"

"We can't say over the phone. Just please, please have her come here. Buffy needs her."

The brown-haired girl sighed and took the phone away from her mouth for a moment. She had been looking forward to a little down time between incidents. Plus tomorrow was a work day, on top of that. On the other hand, this might be the sort of thing that she could wrap up in an hour or two.

Then again, was that the case a year ago?

"Miss Danvers? Are you there?"

She put the phone back to her lips. "Yes, I'm here. I'll try and get the message to her. She'll be there as soon as she can, I'm sure. One question, Ms. Rosenberg."

"Yes. What?"

"Is Buffy in danger?"

A sucking in of breath on the other end of the line. "We all are, Miss Danvers."

"Can you call the police while my friend is en route?"

"It's not that kind of thing."

"All right," said Linda. "Sit tight. I'll try and get her."

"Thank you, Miss Danvers. Uh, Miss is okay, isn't it? Not Ms.?"

"Either Miss or Ms. or 'Hey, Linda' will do fine, dear. Sit tight, and I'll hang up and call her. Okay?"

"Thank you, Miss Danvers. Ms. Danvers, too. God bless you."

"You too, dear. Goodbye."

"Goodbye. Hurry."

Linda hung up the phone, got off the bed, stretched, and looked through the rest of the house without leaving her room. The others were all accounted for. Either in their rooms, or watching TV, or, in Mrs. Berkowitz's case, in the kitchen (as usual, for her). She didn't think they'd miss her, but she made sure her door was locked.

She'd lock the window after she left, too.

In the space of a second, Linda stripped out of her pajamas, found the place where a costume compressed to the size of a pea was located, expanded it, put it on, ran a special comb through her hair to change the shade from brunette to blonde and style it a different way, located the place where she'd stashed a pair of flat items that rapidly unfolded to boots, put them on, checked herself in the mirror, loaded her cape pouch with such things as she might need if she needed them (such as her i.d. card, some American money, and her own choice of lipstick in a friction-proof tube), opened the window, tripped the inside lock, exited, and shut the window before the lock had time to catch on nothingness instead of a metal catch, and, moving too fast for the unaided eye to see her, flew into the sky.

Supergirl headed southwest, to southern California.

She could have made the trip in seconds, but she wanted there to be some time-gap so that inquiring minds might think it took Linda a little time, at least, to get hold of the Girl of Steel. Also, with a leisurely, five-minute flight, it gave her time for a little reminiscing over her meeting with Buffy.

It had started late last spring, when a tall, blonde teenager had shown up at Mrs. Berkowitz's boarding house, announced that she was Buffy Summers, and taken a temporary room there. Linda thought she made an okay first impression, even if she was a bit on the gosh-wow side. That turned out, partially, to be an act. Buffy had said she was there to do research on the Sears Tower for a class project. That was mostly an act, too.

As it turned out, Buffy had been a vampire slayer. Which was lucky, because the Tower was being occupied by a gang of vampires.

Luckily, too, Supergirl had been there to help Buffy out. The two of them teamed up to discover that the vamps, a breed of nasty that Kara Zor-El had never encountered before, were really there to raise a demon named M'nagaleh, whose intention was to consume the world. Or something like that. The vampires were successful in the raising, but Buffy and Supergirl got free—just barely—and, while Kara managed to dispose of M'nagaleh in the anti-matter universe of Qward, Buffy dusted most of the vampires. Supergirl had to admit that the sight of a young girl putting a wooden stake through people's chests, and seeing said people explode into a puff of dust, was one of the more unsettling sights of her career. Especially when she staked the last of them against Kara's chest.

While she was flying Buffy back to the boarding house, Supergirl learned that Miss Summers had wanted to be her favorite comic book heroine when she was a kid, and fly just like her, just like this. "Oh, really?" Kara had asked smugly. "What comic heroine was that?"

"Power Girl," Buffy had said.

"Oh," Supergirl had said, and changed the subject.

She'd seen her off at the airport and even flown by her plane in the air to wave to her, and that was the last she'd seen of the girl with the stakes. But she had given her Linda's name and phone number in case of emergencies. She hoped that she'd never have to use it.

But...yeah. That was the problem with 'but'. It always existed.

So now she was coming in over the bright lights of L.A., listening with her super-hearing and watching with her super-vision to make sure she didn't intersect any flight paths, banking to veer off in the direction of the small town of Sunnydale. Kara thought it sounded like something out of a Sixties CBS sitcom, the kind they reran all the time on the cheap stations. When she entered its airspace a few seconds later, she decided her perceptions hadn't been so wrong after all. It was more or less like an updated town of that sort.

But there was something bad here, on a regular basis. Buffy had hinted to her of such. Now, it was apparently bad enough for her to cry for help, through a friend. Maybe Willow Rosenberg played Robin to Buffy's Batman.

Supergirl surveyed the town with her infra-red and X-ray vision, found a few anomalies (such as a graveyard that looked like it'd been disturbed repeatedly), but nothing more out of the order than cops stopping speeders and the occasional drunk. So she checked out the street signs with telescopic vision until she found the right one, and pointed herself downward, arms pointed before her in a V.

At a speed still too quick to be seen, the Argo City Amazon flew barely over the trees and housetops until she found the address Willow had given her. She banked her speed, whirled about to dispel her momentum, and came to a stop in the back yard. Grass felt good to walk on again, even through her boots. She stepped up to the back door and rapped on it.

Within a few seconds, a tall, dignified-looking man in glasses, shirtsleeves, pants, and shoes opened the door. He was carrying a golden cross. Kara eyed it, and then his face. He looked disturbed, even breathless, but carried himself with dignity. Thankfully, he seemed to recognize her.

"Oh," he said, in a British brogue. "You are, that is to say, Supergirl?"

She nodded. "That's me. Are Willow Rosenberg and Buffy Summers here? They asked me to come."

"Yes, well, if you...that is, if you really are the, ah, Supergirl, you should be able to tell." So she had to pass a test, too.

"They're inside," said Kara. "So's a rather skinny guy with black hair. Buffy's lying on the couch and she's got a wet cloth on her head. There's a brown-haired girl with her who I assume is Miss Rosenberg. Correct?"

"X-ray vision," said the Englishman. "Just had to make certain. There are, you see, certain things that cannot get inside one's house unless one invites them."

Supergirl considered that. She'd read Bram Stoker's DRACULA, like a lot of kids her age did, when she was in Midvale Orphanage. But to think that 'enter freely, and of your own will' had some bearing in the real world... She shuddered. Well, if vampires existed, at least they weren't rude enough just to barge in your front door without an invite.

"Excuse me," said Kara, and let the man step aside while she went past him. Once inside, he proferred his hand.

"I'm sorry. My name is Giles. Rupert Giles. I'm a mentor of sorts to Buffy."

"Pleased to meet you," she said, and shook his hand. Then she strode into the front room.

The first of the three teenagers to catch sight of her was the black-haired boy. "Holy Hannibal Lecter," he exclaimed. "Willow. Vision check. Are you seeing the same blonde vision in blue shirt and red hotpants and long legs that I'm perceiving?"

Willow said, "Xander, please. Miss, uh, Supergirl?"

Buffy Summers, in jeans, T-shirt, and bare feet, holding the wet cloth to her forehead by one hand, raised her upper body off the couch. "Kara?" she said, her eyes widening in recognition.

"It's me, Buffy," Kara said with a smile. In a second, the Slayer girl and the Girl of Steel were in each other's arms, hugging.

"Well," said Willow, noting that Giles had just entered the room, "I guess they do know each other, after all."

"Remarkably observant, Willow," noted Giles.

Kara broke the hug partially to look at Buffy's forehead. "Oh, my, Buff," she said. "Not that it isn't great to see you, but how'd you get that?"

"It looked a lot worse an hour ago," Buffy assured her. "I heal fast."

Supergirl had been referring to a large, purple bruise adorning Buffy's brow, with a nasty scratch to the left of it. "Glad to hear it," said Kara. "But how? Was it to do with the reason why you asked me here?"

Buffy nodded, soberly. "Believe it."

Giles said, "The three of us found her unconscious near the major cemetery in town roughly an hour and fifteen minutes ago. She was making her, ah, rounds. We were following up to check on her. Luckily."

"What did you run into?" Supergirl had the idea that the answer to her question bore incisors few dentists had ever treated.

"Sort of a vampire," said Buffy. "Feeding."

"Sort of?"

"Yeah," said Buffy. "I tried to interrupt the feast. Have stake, will travel."

"Tried?"

Buffy sighed. "I gave him the old stake treatment. It...didn't work."

"Didn't work?" Kara was aware that she was repeating Buffy's words too many times, but it seemed like the only thing to say at the time.

"It splintered all to pieces on his back. Like he was made of steel. Then he turned and backhanded me. His arm felt like it was made of steel, too. I hit a tombstone and went brain-soggy till the others found me."

"You said...he felt like steel?"

"Right," said Buffy. "But that's not the worst part."

Supergirl said, "Fill in the last details, dear."

The Slayer drew a deep breath, then went ahead. "Just before I went out, I could swear I saw something. I saw him jump into the air. He never came down."

Silence.

Then Supergirl said, "I think we have a situation here. To say the least."

"And three-quarters," put in Xander.

"Make with the introductions, Buffy," said Kara. "Then let's figure out what we're supposed to do."

"Okay, Kara," said Buffy. "Giles you've already met. He's my Watcher. That means he's in charge of my training and making sure I slay vampires in perfect form. I owe everything I am today to him. But I don't hold that against him."

Rupert Giles smiled. "Old joke. But it'll pass, Buffy."

"And the other outnumbered member of the opposite sex here is Xander Harris," Buffy continued. "He's my classmate at good old Sunnydale High and also one of the Scooby Gang, which is what we call ourselves. You know, after the group in Scooby-Doo."

"And I'd have succeeded with her, if it wasn't for those blasted vamps!", Xander declared.

"Dream on," Buffy replied. "Willow you've already spoken to. She's our resident witch in training. But she's a good witch...at least in terms of intention. As far as quality, she's coming up pretty nicely in that department, too."

"Hi again," said Willow, somewhat shyly. "You're like the first super-person I've ever met."

"Well, you're the first witch I've met. In Sunnydale, that is," said Supergirl, with a slight grin. "If Zatanna ever needs an understudy, I'll recommend you."

"Gosh. Would you?"

"I think she's being facetious, Will," Buffy said. "There are a couple of members who aren't present tonight. One of them is Cordelia, our resident fashion pimp and compadre. The other is Angel, and he's a vampire. But a good vampire."

"A good vampire," said Supergirl. "Oh, no, I'm repeating your words again. Well. Why is this Angel person a good vampire?"

Xander said, "Because he's really neat. He has good fashion sense, and he flosses daily. Also, he does his own laundry."

"Xander, hush," said Giles. "Miss Supergirl, unlike most other vampires, Angel has a soul. That means he helps us fight the forces of evil here in Sunnydale. You'll be very safe from him."

"Well, Supergirl ought to be safe from everything," said Willow. "Except maybe Kryptonite."

Kara shook her head. "No, Willow. Kryptonians are vulnerable to magic. If you performed the right spell, even you could hurt me."

The wiccan girl's eyes widened. "Then you mean, like...well...vampires..."

"Yes, dear. Vampires can hurt me. The last time I met Buffy, they did, several times. But I go where the job takes me."

"Sounds kind of like a Slayer," observed Buffy. "But anyway, Kara, I told them we needed you as a consultant. Has somebody like you, you know, a super-person, ever turned into a vampire?"

Supergirl sat on the couch arm and crossed her legs, dangling one over her knee. "Well, Kal—Superman—told me of a case he was on with Batman in which both of them and the Phantom Stranger fought a marine vampire...that is, a vampire at sea, not one who was in the USMC. Superman was briefly victimized and turned into a vampire, but he got converted back to his old self. There was another instance in which a dimensional portal was opened, and a king vampire from another world tried to drink Kal's blood. But he didn't manage to. Both Kal and Batman once fought a Kryptonian werewolf, too."

"Aha," said Giles. "So there is precedent."

"There aren't many of us left," said Kara. "I don't know of any vampire cases or lore on Krypton. But we are basically human beings, so, yes, it would be possible for one of us to become a vampire. A real one, not the temporary thing that Kal became."

"Makes me feel more secure already," Xander muttered. "Faster than a speeding crossbow bolt, more powerful than a funeral hearse, able to leap tall mausoleums in a single bound."

"Oh, Xander, shut up," barked Buffy. "So you can see where we're at, Kara. If this really is a super-vampire, and not just one of that variety like in Chicago that can turn into a bat, we need your help."

"Precisely," said Giles, looking at Supergirl. "So, our question to you, Miss Supergirl—"

"Call me Kara."

"—all right, then, Miss Kara, is this: how do we slay a vampire from Krypton?"

Supergirl sighed.

"That, Mr. Giles," she said, "is a very, very good question."

-B-

It was said that the residents of Sunnydale were always in deep denial of the doings in their fair town, or all of them would have made it more of a ghost town than it already was. That made things easier for the part of the population that didn't pay taxes anymore.

The newcomer had no idea why things were the way they were. He wasn't stupid, but he'd never been on this world for a very long time. True, he'd observed it. But observation and getting your hands into things directly were two different things.

He was so stupid at first. He'd been spat out like a seed from a pod into this place, staggered around for a while trying to get his bearings, get used to his new body and what it could do, and he'd been approached by someone who didn't look savory. That, he could have handled. It was the one in back of him that he wasn't expecting.

He hadn't been expecting the pain, either.

If he'd been more used to what his body could now do, even that might have had a different ending. But he'd rarely set foot on this world before, and only for a couple of short visits. So the blasted leech on his neck was able to take from him what it wanted, though he managed to ram an arm straight through the body of the one in front of him, and it left him dry.

And he died.

Not permanently, though.

He'd opened his eyes in what passed for a preparatory place for the dead on Terra. It was ghoulish, seeing all the cadavers about him in various stages of dissection. But it was certainly better than what he'd been expecting.

Hunger filled him. Instinctual knowledge, as well. He knew what he was, from the moment he rose naked from his slab.

Even before the Terran in the white coat entered the room, he knew what to do with him.

And now here he was, on the street, in a stolen overcoat, hat, pants and shoes...his own garments wouldn't do at all, obviously...wondering what to do next. He'd already fed, despite that interfering girl who'd tried to put some sort of wooden object through him. There were a few hours till sunrise. Amazing what instinct would tell you, once you let it: he had known from his rising that sunlight would be deadly to him.

Noises nearby. He didn't even have to turn up his hearing to perceive them.

A couple of other interlopers. This town had some interesting nightlife, to be sure. Both of them were humanoid, but not human. They had misshapen heads and hands that simply weren't right, but both of them fit into Terran clothing. It seemed that both of them were smiling, but that was hard to tell.

"Hate to ask, pops, but you know how it is when you're down on your luck," said one. "Can I bum a quarter?"

"Actually," said the other, "we don't even need that. We'll work for food. Of course, you're the food."

They lunged.

He turned his head two separate ways within the space of an instant.

Both of the demons had time to gape as they felt the bolts of heat searing through their middles. They also had time to look at the gaping red holes in their chests those bolts had made.

Then they crumpled to the ground and moved no more.

He surveyed them both for a second, then said, "Never hunt on an empty stomach. You get careless that way."

He turned on his heel, and left.

He was smiling.

-B-

Supergirl was outlining what amounted to a plan for the rest of them.

"He might by Kryptonian, Martian, or Daxamite," she said. "If he's the last, lead will kill him as easily as Kryptonite would kill me. If he's a Martian, which I doubt, fire will do the trick. I'm only telling you that because J'onn J'onzz isn't on Earth anymore, so he won't mind. Don't tell anyone else."

"We won't," said Willow.

"If he's Kryptonian, it's going to take magic or Kryptonite. Since I don't want to handle Green K here, that means we'll need your help, Willow."

Buffy broke in. "Maybe. But the traditional wards against vampires, such as garlic, crosses, holy water, they ought to work, too, Kara. Even if I can't shove a stake through him."

"Good point, Buffy."

"So I want to be there," continued Buffy. "Even if this guy is out of my weight class, I know about vampires. I may not be able to stake him. But I can hurt him."

"It seems to me," Giles said, "that you're ignoring something else. Most likely, if this is a superhuman vampire we're facing here, he's also out of Miss Kara's weight class as well. Just as a normal vampire would be far beyond the strength of a normal human."

There was a pause, as all of them looked at Supergirl.

Supergirl shrugged and said, "Maybe. But I'm a lot closer to his power level than any of you. So that means I take point."

"And we're all your support troops," offered Xander. What he didn't say, and what all the rest knew, was that for once, Buffy wasn't going to be the lead warrior in this one.

"No," said Kara. "It's too dangerous, Xander. You have no idea of what Kryptonian strength, Kryptonian powers, are like. He could just look at you and burn you to a crisp. In fact, he could move so fast, you'd be toast before your brain could process the information."

The black-haired youth swallowed. "It's not like we haven't gone against hairy, evil, death-dealing, life-eating, evil-worshiping things before. That's kind of our job at Sunnydale. Actually, more like unpaid volunteer work."

"One of these days," said Willow, wistfully, "it would be nice if we could tell the city, so maybe we could get paid for it."

Giles gave her a look.

"I'm just saying, is all," Willow explained.

"Miss Kara has a point," said Giles. "As powerful as the likes of the Master are, or were, a being from another planet is outside of our experience. But not outside hers. However, we have shown ourselves adaptable to many sorts of dangers, not a few of which, though you know it not, have threatened our very world."

"Been there, done that," said Supergirl, simply. "But thanks."

"However," Giles went on, "our very experience, and our resilience in battling this sort of evil, makes it imperative that we accompany her in whatever fashion we may. Our unit...the, ah, 'Scooby Gang', if you will...is a team, and used to fighting together. To leave any of us out without just cause would be a certain mistake."

"How's about getting your heads handed to you by a guy who's more powerful than an Atlas missle?", Kara retorted. "I think that comes under the heading of a mistake, too."

"Kara." Buffy stood up and faced her. "It comes down to this. We all go, or none of us goes. We have the knowledge. You have the power. Make a decision."

The girl from Krypton and the girl from Sunnydale stared each other down for a moment.

"I won't have anyone's blood on my hands," Supergirl stated.

"You will if we don't get off our butts and find this Supervamp," Buffy replied.

The Girl of Steel sighed. "All right. But only you and I take point, and I do the fighting. The others have to stay in hiding. If he even suspects they're around, he could kill them in an eyeblink."

"Eyeblink time might be a bonus," said Buffy. "Compared to what some other playmates have had in mind for us. Deal, Kara?"

Supergirl grasped her hand. "Deal. On those terms."

"Fair enough. So do we up, up, and away?"

"We do. In a moment."

-S-

"Can you hear me now?" said Kara.

The voice in her earphone came through loud and clear. "Yes, yes, Miss Kara. The tracking device is working excellently. Is Buffy holding up all right?"

Buffy, being held aloft in Kara's good right arm, said into her own throat mike, "I'm fine, Giles. Uh. Not that I like it that much, but at least I'm more used to it. Nothing here is as tall as the Sears Tower."

"Thank God for that," Giles answered. Below the two of them, Giles, Willow, and Xander were attempting to follow in the Watcher's car. Kara had taken a tracker and put it in her belt, and both she and Buffy had been equipped with throat mikes and earplugs to communicate with the other unit.

Supergirl said, "We're headed for the park. That's where most of the action happens in this town?"

"More than we'd like to admit," Giles answered. "Does your vision tell you anything?"

Buffy looked at her flightmate. Kara's eyes were focused in a strange manner, and she was looking in the direction of Sunnydale Park. Super-vision, she guessed. To use that, do you need a Supervisor to teach you?

She decided not to make that joke aloud.

Kara's face turned grim. "I'm seeing something I wish I hadn't," she said.

"What?"

"Two murder victims," she said. "Big holes burned right through their chests. Their faces, what I can see of them, look alien."

"Demons," muttered Buffy.

"What?" Kara turned to her, inquisitively.

"Vampires aren't all we have to worry about in this town," she said.

"Glad to know," Supergirl said. "Don't think they've been dead for too long. Hang on. I'm going to check the park out with infra-red, and then we're heading down. Stay tuned."

"Infra-red?" asked Buffy.

"We have a lot of vision powers," muttered Supergirl. The thing was, their enemy probably did, too. If he was in the park, she could probably see him. There were a few people on the periphery, on other streets. But all of them wore normal clothes, not one of them looked demonic, and there was no way of telling a Krypt from a human, or a vampire, just by looking. All of them had heartbeats, too.

"Down," said Kara.

Buffy took a deep breath as the Maid of Might flew them in for a swift landing. They touched ground by the doughnuted demons. The sight didn't agree with Kara. She noticed that Buffy took it in a more businesslike manner.

"Sorry," said Buffy. "In my line of work, you see this stuff more often."

"I'm glad I don't have your line of work," said Supergirl. "Most of the time, that is."

The Slayer stooped and examined the bodies. "Burn marks on the edges of the holes," she said. "That would be that thing you do with your eyes, all right."

"What are these things?"

Buffy turned one of the bodies over, pried open one of its eyelids. "Ghoul demons, most likely. Flesh eaters. They probably went out for dinner, but weren't expecting such a hot meal."

"How can you joke about things like this?"

She looked Kara in the eye. "Because if I didn't, I'd have gone raving bonkers when I started Slaying."

Supergirl didn't have a thing to say to that.

-S-

From a distance, he watched the two women. It was as if it were at midday, and he was only ten feet away from them.

The blonde girl was there again, investigating. With Supergirl. He never suspected she had such connections. But that only made it more gratifying.

Like all those who came from where he did, he had a grudge against the cursed El family. The only one they hated more than Supergirl was Superman. She'd be a fine appetizer, and the blonde would be a chaser.

But not tonight. That would be excessive. Besides, he had much more to learn. But that was all right. He was a fast learner.

Such as: how convenient it was that Terrans sold coffins with lead lining in them.

How convenient, indeed.

At a careful pace, he turned and walked off. Things would be fine as they were.

At least, for tonight.

"All right," said Supergirl. "I've been listening for a heartbeat that might be a bit out of synch with normal, or breathing that might match that of a Kryptonian. But I haven't heard a thing."

Giles adjusted his glasses. "The problem with that, my dear, is that vampires neither breathe nor have very much of a heartbeat. So I fear detecting our...quarry...by those means is useless."

Kara simpered, sitting on the edge of his sofa. "Just fine. So I have to go door to door looking for a vampire?"

"Hey, it's just about what we've had to do, sometimes," said Xander. When Willow and Buffy both glanced at him, he held up his hands. "Okay, okay. Xander, the Invisible Guy. Carry on as before."

"It's okay, Xander," said Buffy. "Supergirl's new to our sort of stuff."

Kara looked up, her blonde hair catching the dimmed light of the candle Giles had burning on the nearby table. "What I can't get is why we, that is, us super-heroes, haven't learned of this by now. A thing called the Hellmouth? You'd think a source of magic power like this would've drawn some of our attention by now."

Willow said, "Maybe it's not supposed to be noticed by you. That is, by the magic super-heroes like Zatanna and such. There are an 'and such', aren't they?"

"A few," said Kara.

"Good point, though," conceded Buffy. "With super-heroes running loose all over the country, and, maybe, five times as many super-villains, you'd think that Sunnydale might have drawn some attention by now."

Supergirl nodded. "From Felix Faust, if nobody else."

"I met him, once," said Giles. "Didn't care very much for the man. Long ago and far away. But I may have a theory behind the, ah, superhuman population not knowing of the Hellmouth."

"And that is?" Buffy looked up at her Watcher.

"It's very possible that the Hellmouth doesn't wish to be known to the likes of the Justice League or the, ah, New Teen Titans. In fact, the population of Sunnydale barely knows of it...or, perhaps, wishes not to know. I have a feeling that only the persons intended to know about its existence, do."

"Super-heroes aren't supposed to know of it?" Supergirl looked at him with amazement. "That's ridiculous."

Giles met her gaze. "Why?"

"Well, I mean, it doesn't seem logical. We've got magical heroes of our own, like the Phantom Stranger and Zatanna, and a few others we have over from Earth-2 every once in awhile."

"Earth-Two?" Xander squinted. "This is beginning to sound kind of Moorcockian, if you know what I mean."

"Hey, I do!" Kara beamed. "You mean you read Moorcock, too?"

"Did I!" Xander struck a pose with an imaginary sword. "Arioch! Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!"

Willow buried her head in her hands. "Oh, goddess. I thought Xander was the only...I mean..."

Supergirl looked a bit sheepish and put a hand to her lips, smiling. Xander, dropping his pose, said, "I'll finish it. You thought I was the only geek here, right?"

"Uh, something like that."

"It's all right, dear," said Kara. "It's nice to be able to contact my inner geek once in awhile."

Buffy sat cross-legged on the rug and yawned. "I should like to point out that I'd like to get a few hours of sleep tonight and this morning, which I can do because it'll be Saturday. If we're going to hunt Supervampire, shouldn't we make some plans and like that?"

Giles nodded. "We were hoping for some pointers from Miss Kara here. After all, she's the Kryptonian in our midst."

"Kara...uh, that is, Miss Kara," amended Xander, "do you think this guy's from the Phantom Zone? I read about that in those true-crime Superman comics and such. With all the gray mists and Jax-Ur and Krypton's Most Wanted?"

The Girl of Steel said, "That's most likely, Xander. Rifts open between the Zone and our world more than I'd like to admit. It's possible he could be a criminal from Rokyn, the world on which Krypton's surivors settled, but I really doubt that. He's more likely a Zoner than a Daxamite, in my belief. That heat-vision damage we saw on the two...demons...tends to rule out him being a Martian. Martians have some super-visions, but they can't do that."

"So if we find him...no, make that when we find him," said Buffy, "what do you suggest we do? You said Kryptonians are vulnerable to magic. We've got Willow, here. I'll bet she could stir him up some trouble."

Willow drew in a breath as both Kara and Buffy looked at her. "Well, I could try."

"That'd be of great help," said Kara. "But my plan, really, is to get a Phantom Zone projector and use it against him when we find him. That'll be a lot easier than trying to fight or kill him."

"What if," said Xander, "he gets out again?"

"Then we put him back again."

Four sets of eyes seemed to be trained on Kara. "Well, what should we do? I mean, I don't play judge, jury, and executioner."

"That, Miss Kara," said Giles, "is exactly what we do. It's what we've always done."

"I will not kill," said Kara. "Not even a vampire."

"Then you'd better be prepared for all of Krypton's Most Wanted to turn into vampires, once you send him back," warned Buffy. "How are you and your cousin Superman going to deal with that?"

"He couldn't infect other Zoners. They can't physically harm each other. Not even bite."

"That's reassuring," said Giles. "But if your Zoners get out as often as you claim they do, what's to stop him from making other vampires every time he escapes?"

Supergirl didn't say anything.

Xander came in with a save. "Supergirl's got a point. We probably can't kill this guy, whether we like it or not. So if she's got something that can get him off Earth, that's probably the best we can do. I vote yeah."

Buffy sighed and stretched back, holding her knees. "Whatever. Just as long as we get him, and get him quick."

"I can go get the Zone projector and be back in a few minutes," said Supergirl. "But he's not likely to strike any more tonight. I can be back this evening."

The Slayer got to her feet and put her hand on Supergirl's arm. "No, Kara."

Kara looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"I mean, you don't have to go to work tomorrow, do you?"

"Well, no, but..."

"I want you to stay over at my house for the weekend," she said. "It's the least I can do for you. Yes. Okay?"

"Oh, no, Buffy. I couldn't. I might give you away to your family. Besides, I don't...I mean, I can't..."

"You have a secret identity. Or you can make a new one just for the occasion. Can't you?"

"Buffy, this is rather irregular," said Giles.

"Giles, please," said Buffy. "Don't worry about my mother, Kara. She knows."

"She...knows?" Supergirl looked at her friend, incredulously.

Buffy Summers nodded. "She does. Sometimes she doesn't like it, but she understands. Or she does her best to. I'm sure she'd love to meet you, and, Kara, I want you to stay."

"But why, Buffy? For Earth's sake, why?"

The younger woman looked steadily into the Kryptonian's eyes. "Because we're friends. Because we're alike in certain ways. Because I want to do something nice for you. And because I like you. Well?"

Kara sighed. "All right. Will you wait here while I go back and get a change of clothes?"

Buffy smiled. "Sure. But don't be too late. And wake me up when you come. I'm going to crash on Giles's couch."

Xander said, "Can I watch when you take off? And do you really say 'Up, up, and away'?"

"Yes, you can, and no, not that often," said Kara.

-S-

Joyce Summers had seen her daughter bring in some pretty strange house guests before, so she was used to surprises. But, outwardly, the woman Buffy brought home with her at 5:15 a.m. wasn't strange at all. Appearances could be, and often were, deceiving. Joyce just hoped that this time they weren't.

"Hi," said Joyce, in her robe and slippers, watching from the open door as the two came up the walk. "Who's your friend?"

"Mom, this is Karla," said Buffy, coming up the steps. "Karla, this is my mom, Joyce Summers. I'll tell you more when we get inside."

"How do you do, ma'am?" Karla, who appeared to be a redhead in the dimmed light of the front room, was wearing a white blouse, a brown blazer and pants, and sensible flat shoes. She looked very pretty, and was more than a few years older than Buffy. So a school friend she definitely was not.

Joyce didn't know whether to be relieved or more worried about that.

Also, there was the box Karla was carrying under one arm, and the suitcase she had in the other. Joyce wasn't ruling out holy water, crosses, and stakes being in either one of the things she brought with her.

She made a point of not inviting Karla in, but the young woman came over the threshold with Buffy. That was a bit more reassuring, at least.

Buffy shut and locked the door behind them. "Okay, Mom. I can't give you all the details right now, but Karla is a woman I worked with when I went to Chicago. She helped me bring down the vampire ring I told you about. Remember?"

Joyce's eyes went wide in sudden comprehension. "You mean, she's...I mean, she can't be...that is, excuse me, miss, you can't be..."

Karla took out a metal comb, ran in through her hair, made it change color to blonde, and styled it in a different way. "Do I look more familiar now, Mrs. Summers? I could change clothes if you'd like, but I'd like to get some shut-eye."

The Slayer's mother stepped closer to study Karla's face more closely. She hadn't paid that much attention to all the news broadcasts and magazine photos of the Girl of Steel beforehand, but since Buffy came back from Chicago with news of having worked with Supergirl, she'd looked up a few articles just to see what her daughter's ally had really looked like. It was sometimes hard to match a 2-D picture to a 3-D face, but not in this case.

"You're her," said Joyce. "You're really her. But...why?"

"We have a case, Mom," said Buffy. "And right now, I really need to crash. Can we tell you later?"

"Well, yes, of course," Joyce Summers allowed. "But...that doesn't mean...well..."

Supergirl took Joyce's hand, in a grip that was reassuringly soft. "You'll be all right, Mrs. Summers. No super-villains followed me into Sunnydale. There's just, I suppose, the usual stuff. Could I use your couch?"

"Oh, well, yes," fumbled Joyce. "Let me go get some sheets and a pillow, and..." She turned away to head for the hall closet.

"I wouldn't put you to the bother," said Supergirl, from behind her.

Joyce turned, and saw her guest standing with sheets and a pillow already in hand.

"I'm sorry," apologized Kara. "I used my X-ray vision to see where your closet was and went ahead and got them. Really, it's just super-powers, no magic. I'd rather not be any trouble."

After taking a couple of breaths, Joyce said, "At least let me help you make the bed."

Thankfully, Kara allowed her to do that.

-S-

When all three of them got up, one by one, the next morning, Kara insisted on doing breakfast for the lot of them. Thankfully, pancakes, bacon, and eggs cooked at super-speed with heat vision tasted pretty much like the results of the normal process, and Kara was a competent cook. Over coffee, Joyce ventured to say, "You do this with your eyes?"

Kara nodded.

"Then, where you live, do you even need a microwave?"

Shrugging, Kara said, "Not really, but I have one. You know how it is. People think something's wrong if you don't."

"I can imagine," said Buffy, between bites of pancake. "I'll take you to lunch today. That is, if Mom's still feeling generous with the money."

"Lucky for you, I still have some," said Joyce. "But I'll take you both out. If that's all right, of course."

"Well, I've got some cash," said Kara. "I could treat you both."

"No, dear," Joyce insisted. "You're a guest. We Summers insist on showing hospitality."

"Especially to visitors from the planet Krypton." Buffy grinned. Then, when she saw the look in Kara's eyes, she backpedaled immediately. "Oh, geez, Kara, I'm sorry. I forgot...your planet blew up."

Setting down her mug of hot tea, Kara Zor-El sighed. "Not exactly. I wasn't born on Krypton. My city died of Kryptonite poisoning. My parents and I are the last survivors."

Joyce, with an expression of sympathy, lay her hand on top of Kara's. "Oh, no. Kara, honey, I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault, Mrs. Summers. At least I still have my parents, and my cousin Kal. Plus all the people of Kandor, the few times I can see them now. But they're on another world, in another dimension, now. Excuse me, I know this does sound bizarre, but it's unfortunately very, very real."

Buffy stood up, went over, and massaged Kara's shoulders through her robe and nightdress. "Honey, believe me. After living with me for the last few years, Mom's got a whole revised definition for 'real'. I also know all about people dying. Too much, actually."

Kara shut her eyes, and Joyce guessed that she was willing herself to be strong. "Thank you. Thank you both, really. I shouldn't be this way, but sometimes...some things you never really get over. Not if you're human."

The Slayer hugged her from behind. "I know how it is, honey. We're both in the same line of work. Sort of."

Smiling a bit, Kara squeezed Buffy's hand lightly. "Well. Now that we've got that out of the way, what say we do some daytime reconnoitering? You can show me all the sights where you do your, uh, business."

"Fine by me, Kara. The joint really doesn't start jumpin' till the sun goes down. But I can show you where the action usually takes place. Prepare for a tour of Sunnydale's most vigorous graveyards, plus a few other stops on the Slayer Tour."

"Where and when for lunch?" said Joyce.

"Let's do the Laughing Greek," suggested Buffy. "Ever since Allison took over as chef, it's actually become edible."

"As long as you don't tell Kara how she got the job," Joyce suggested.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Kara raised her eyebrows briefly, decided she'd been caught out in an in-joke, and kept her peace.

-B-

It was uncanny how one's bodily rhythms woke one up at just the right time, when one was a vampire. Even within a lead-lined coffin, you knew when the sun went down.

He walked from the box in which he had slumbered, brushed himself off, smoothed back his hair, and ventured forth onto the streets of Sunnydale. The place where he had hunted last night seemed to be prime turf for his needs, so he headed there. But this time, he was in search of more than blood.

Of course, blood had to be found.

His eyes could make the darkness into day, could see through the thickest boles of trees, could reveal all there was to be revealed about the park that served as a vampiric game preserve. It didn't take super-hearing to perceive the scream of a woman. But it did take super-speed to get there in time.

A girl was being attacked by two vampires. One looked to be of high-school age, fairly athletic. The other was an older man, in tweeds. The girl was young, not particularly pretty, but she had enough of what they wanted.

The young vamp was about to sink his teeth into her neck.

An instant before he could, a hand with the force of a plane of steel chopped through his neck and sent his head bouncing away from his shoulders. Both head and body separately turned to dust.

The vampire's dispatcher glared viciously at the older vamp. "Stand there," he ordered. The figure in tweeds shook visibly, but he obeyed.

The girl gasped, her eyes tearing. "Oh, thank God," she said, breathily. "Thank God you were here."

Her rescuer opened his mouth wide and bit into her neck.

A few minutes later, it was done.

Leaving the corpse on the ground, the man who had drained her stood and pointed to the vampire who was still quivering against the tree. "You. Give me information, and you will live."

"Anything," muttered the older vamp. "Anything."

"Is there a gathering place where our kind can be found, in this city?"

"Uh, well..."

"Is there?"

"Willy's Place," burst out the old vamp. "At Willy's. Just about everybody goes there, one time or another."

The man stepped closer, and the old vamp widened his eyes at the sight of the strange clothing he wore, with risers on his shoulders and some sort of insignia on his chest.

"Then you and I will go there," he said. "And the ones who survive will become my first army. Lead on."

With an audible gulp, the old vampire did as he was told.

Stirring her iced tea with a plastic straw, Buffy said, "Tell me, Kara. What was it like when you were my age?"

The redheaded woman looked intently at Buffy, both hands holding her coffee cup near her face. "I'd really rather you called me by the right name."

"Right. Sorry, Karla." Buffy was trying to hold her gyro sandwich together at the small table in the Laughing Greek, knowing the thing was probably going to give her a case of the runs inside of an hour and estimating the meal was worth it. "So, when you were my age...like what?"

Kara Zor-El put down her coffee and toyed with her lamb and rice, using a fork. "Altogether, I think I might have had it easier than you. Don't forget, you never know who's listening."

"I thought you could listen really, really good."

"I can. But I'm careful."

Both of them were in a back booth at the restaurant, which, like most places in Sunnydale, had been the site of one of Buffy's adventures. There wasn't anyone in the booth in front of them, and the tables nearest their booth were empty. But the Slayer knew what Kara was talking about. Supergirl wasn't the only one who had a secret identity.

"Which of us had to kill on a regular basis, Buffy? I didn't."

"Well, there is that," Buffy conceded. "But I didn't have to fly through space and save the world from aliens. Just, well, monsters and demons and all that."

"Hmmm. Well, when I was your age, I got my real parents back."

"You did? That was when they, um..."

"They were in another dimension. I'd thought they were dead, but they weren't. It was the happiest day of my life, Buffy, when I got them back. I thought none of us would be able to turn off the tear flood. Didn't really want to, either."

Buffy smiled.

"Of course, there were problems. Mainly, who would I go with, my birth parents or my foster parents from Earth? It was a pretty tragic thing, if you think about it. The Danvers had lost their only son years before they adopted me. What were they supposed to do if I walked out? And how were my dad and mom supposed to make it as Earth people? There was a lot of heartache all over the place."

"I'll bet," said Buffy, remembering how her parents had parted ways after she'd burned down the gym at Hemery High. "How did it get, you know, sorted out?"

"My birth parents went to live in Kandor," Kara explained. "That's the city in a bottle that cousin Kal has up in his Fortress."

"They live in a bottle?"

"They're really small, now."

"Oh."

"My foster folks still live in Midvale. I go to see each of them at different times. They're all friends, but they're kind of glad they don't have to live with each other."

"Uh huh," said Buffy. "Y'know, sometimes I've wondered what it would be like if Mom got married again. With my luck it'd be to a six-armed demon from the Otherworld who'd max out her credit card. Before I had a chance to, that is." She snickered. Kara smiled, lightly. Then Buffy said, "But what about you? Any boyfriends?"

"Kind of."

"How kind of?"

"Oh, none of them have really worked out," said Kara. "There was this one guy who I knew since I came here, just about. A normal Earth guy. But I lost track of him when I graduated, and we tried to get back together again, but it just didn't work out."

"Ah."

"Also, there was Jerro. He was an Atlantean."

"He was from Georgia?"

Kara burst out laughing. "No. No, honey, he was from Atlantis. The underwater city."

"There's a city underwater?"

"Several of them, as a matter of fact. Jerro was a merman. He had a fish's tail."

"A...what?"

"He's like a human male from the waist up, but where most guys have legs, he has a fish's tale."

"Oh, lord." Buffy put her head between her hands. "All of a sudden, my love life is beginning to seem normal. Tell me, Kara, if he's just a fish down below, doesn't that, you know..."

Kara was looking at her evenly.

Buffy went ahead and finished it. "...well, doesn't it put kind of a crimp in the love life?"

"I never went that far with him," Kara said.

"Okay. Okay." Buffy envisioned the goldfish she used to keep as a kid, what they had to do to spawn, and tried to translate it into human terms. No way.

"Plus there was a guy from, well, let's say, somewhere else," Kara continued. "He had it bad for me, still does, but...well, I like him as a friend. But I just can't make myself do more than that. I'm kinda sad about that, for his sake, but you know how it goes."

"What does he look like?"

"He's blonde."

"That's nice."

"Green skin, too."

"Am I beginning to see a trend here?"

Kara snickered. "You were the one who asked."

"Yeah, I can see you've had trouble with your love life, too. Any other real hopefuls?"

"Oh, there was one guy I almost married. He was a prince from an underground world. But I don't really want to get into that. What about your love life, Buffy? Does, well, slaying mix well with dating?"

Buffy frowned. "Don't even ask."

"I'm sorry, dear."

The blonde girl shivered and clutched her arms. "It's kind of complex, Kara. I know you're used to complex, but this is a different complex. Okay? You know this guy Angel I told you about?"

"I remember you talking about him."

"Well, he's a vamp with a soul. That's a contradiction in terms. And we're in...you know."

The Kryptonian woman nodded, but said nothing.

"But there's a real big catch. If I, well, go all the way with him, he loses his soul. Turns back into a bad guy. And trust me, Kara, he was a major bad guy."

Kara maintained her silence. Buffy couldn't look at her, but she tried to keep talking.

"So that's...the situation as it is. We, well, have a major thing going. But there's only so far we can take it. We don't want to lose it, we don't want to lose each other, but it's Planet Frustration. I'm sorry to put it in such a stupid way."

The other woman touched her arm, gently. "Buffy. It's not stupid at all. I'm very sorry for you. How long has this been going on?"

"Over a year. A lifetime." She sighed. "Sorry. Don't want to put the Rock of Gibraltar on your back, even if you probably could lift it."

Kara lay her hand on Buffy's. "Look. Don't think I'm not human, just because I came from somewhere else, or I'm a bit stronger. I'm older, hon. I've gone through a lot of the same emotions. Maybe not in the same configuration, but I'm not too old to remember."

Buffy smiled. "You sound like my mom. Sometimes."

"Maybe a big sister?"

"More likely."

"Well." Kara adjusted the napkin in her lap. "First things primary. We need to find the one we're looking for, and get him taken care of properly."

The younger girl nodded. "You've got that thing you showed me."

"Don't even talk about it. Nobody but you and the group must know it's here, and nobody but I know where I've put it now." Kara was looking at her with deadly seriousness.

"No problem," said Buffy. "I'm kind of used to keeping secrets."

"Yeah," said Kara. "I can imagine. Can you imagine where our quarry would hide out?"

Buffy shrugged. "We've got plenty of graveyards. Death is a blue-chip industry in Sunnydale."

"We don't do badly in Chicago, either. But they mostly don't die this way. Graveyards, then?"

"Graveyards. Definitely graveyards. Dress casual."

-B-

"This isn't the first time I've thought about it," admitted Willow. "Giles, there's a whole world full of super-heroes out there. Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Zatanna—"

"I knew she was going to mention that one," put in Xander.

"—all the way down to the Teen Titans," Willow continued. "But here we are, on top of the Hellmouth, and the only ones left to defend against it is—us. Doesn't that seem, well, a little unequal to you?"

"Why?" The Watcher turned from one of the less faked-up versions of the Necronomicon on his desk. "Haven't we managed to prevail so far?"

"Well, that would seem to be beside the point," said Xander, stepping up. "Except for, you know, the bit about Buffy getting killed once and me having to CPR her, and all of us getting put on the critically disabled list several times a semester, and, well, Dead Boy doing what he did when he went bad again..."

Giles looked up at Xander, stolidly. The black-haired youth knew he'd made a faux pas, considering what the demonic Angel had done to Giles himself and to Jenny Calendar. The look on the Watcher's face told that he would have no trouble remembering everything Angelus had done.

"...Sorry," Xander continued. "But when you consider that the whole Justice League could be put on this thing, and they'd probably have Green Lantern put a plug on the Hellmouth and that'd be it...what are we here for?"

The Brit stood, sighed, and adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps, Xander, you should go a little further with your queries. Why haven't the so-called super-heroes of Earth found out about the Hellmouth?"

Xander kept silent. Willow didn't prompt him, sitting on a chair in Giles's study with her knees pulled up and her arms around them. Finally, Xander said, "I don't know."

Giles nodded. "These are men and women of incredible power, handling world-threatening events month after month. But none of them, to my knowledge, and that includes all the Watcher texts I've read, have ever stumbled upon the Hellmouth. Why, do you think, is that?"

Shrugging, Xander ventured, "Because it's pretty good at hiding?"

Willow interjected, "Because the Hellmouth conceals itself from them!"

"Or because some other force conceals them from the Hellmouth," said Giles. "We've already learned of the existence of a vampiric Kryptonian. What if, for example, there should come a vampiric Amazon, or a vampiric power-ring wielder, or even, God help me, a vampire Batman? How would we deal with them? How would the world deal with them?"

After a pause, Willow said, "Not very easily, I'm sure."

Giles went on. "I've no direct proof, but I believe whatever wards there are on the Hellmouth exist to keep such extraordinary folk as Superman away from it, possibly ignorant of it, that they may not be victimized. It is probable that such as we are the only ones who are equipped, in our own imperfect way, to deal with the Hellmouth problem. Or be dealt with by it."

"So...they're being kept out, just as we're being kept in?" said Xander.

"It would seem so, yes," said Giles.

Willow brushed her hair back from the left side of her face. "But bringing Kara here, have we, well, kind of upset the applecart? Not that there's literally an applecart, of course, and it's been a long time since there's been an applecart anywhere but in a grocery store, but you know what I mean."

"I do," Giles replied. "But the applecart was upset already when the Kryptonian who became a vampire came here. So it became necessary to bring Supergirl to deal with it."

"Provided she can," said Xander. "Provided all of us can."

"We have to," said Giles. "It's what we're here to do, Xander."

"Okay, now I'm questioning maybe more than I should," Xander retorted. "Assuming we can't. What then?"

Giles regarded his protege with silence for a long moment, then spoke.

"God save us from ever having to find out," he said.

-S-

Kara and Buffy were taking their tour of the third graveyard in Sunnydale when the faux redhead simply sat down on the grass, between two rows of headstones and crosses. "This...is terrible," she said.

Buffy paused, about to point out the site of another landmark battle. "Hey, I agree. Being on top of the Hellmouth is like seeing Saving Private Ryan about five times running."

"No," Kara said, looking a bit haunted. "Don't you understand, Buffy? The dates on so many of these tombstones...they're so young. So young, Buffy. Most of them aren't even out of their teens."

The Slayer knelt beside her friend. "I know. Believe me, I know."

"It's like an Auschwitz. A death camp for young people. Buffy, we have to stop it."

"That's something I've never been able to do, Kara," said Buffy, honestly. "I doubt even you could do it."

"We have to try. Rao, Buffy, I could get the Justice League. I could summon dozens of heroes to deal with it."

"Don't know if that'd be such a good idea."

The Argonian looked at Buffy. "You must be kidding me. You want to see more kids murdered in this town?"

"I don't want to see a single other person murdered in this town. Not even the principal. That, by the way, is a joke. But there's only so much we have power to deal with."

"I'm not talking about your power. I'm talking about super-hero power, combined. There are many of us, and we've had to deal with all sorts of menaces, including magical ones."

Buffy sat beside her friend, cross-legged. "I know. I've read a lot about your friends. But I don't know that they're ready to handle this sort of thing. The Hellmouth may be out of their jurisdiction."

"We won't know that unless we try."

"Kara." Buffy lay a hand on Kara's shoulder, sternly. "There's a reason why I'm here. Just as much as there's a reason why you're not. Let's work together on this thing, okay? Later on, we can discuss Slayerette Two-In-One, okay?"

"Two-In-One?"

"Sorry. Guess I've been looking at too many of Xander's comic books. Look, I know this is weirding you out. Going to that satellite where the Justice League hangs out would give me the major wibbles too, okay? But, like Giles always tells me, stay focused. We're here to stake the Vampire from Krypton. Right now, that's what we do. Right?"

Kara Zor-El sighed and hugged her knees. "All right. But after that, we're going to have to discuss things."

"If you feel like it later, we will." Buffy stood. Kara held out a hand. Buffy stared at it.

"Aren't you going to help me up?" asked Kara.

Wordlessly, Buffy grasped her hand and helped Kara to her feet. "Why?" she asked.

Kara dusted off the back of her pants and smiled. "Oh. Just force of habit. Sorry."

"Don't be. Kind of neat. But it's going to be dark in a couple of hours. Then I have something in mind for us. Even more educational. But you can duck out if you want to."

"Not on your life, dear," said Kara. "What is it?"

"Bar-hopping. And trust me, even in Chicago, you've never seen this kind of bar."

-B-

The moon was up and the night was, thankfully, almost cloudless. Willy's Bar was a place which the living had no business visiting. It still had a bustling and varied clientele. It was run by a bumbling demon who trucked with the criminal supernatural element (which, in Sunnydale, was just about all of it), and you could find pretty much your phantasmagoria of ghoulies, ghosties, and long-leggity beasties there, with their beverages of choice.

Buffy and her friends were among the few breathing folk who came there in a capacity other than as victims.

This time, the Slayer went in with her redheaded friend, the latter of whom was wearing her Supergirl outfit under her jumpsuit. "Remember, we're here for a fact-finding mission," said Buffy. "Let me do the talking, and the fighting. Or most of it, anyway."

Kara shrugged. "I'm good on improv."

Buffy pushed open the door and went in. She didn't need to worry about what kind of entrance she made. Within three seconds, every eye in the room, in whatever multiples they came, was on her. Secondarily, those eyes also took in Kara.

Willy, who always seemed to be swabbing a dirty glass behind the bar, looked up and dropped the mug he was scrubbing. "Holy jamole," he said. "Uh, Buffy. Uh, hi. Been, what, almost two weeks, ain't it?"

"Not quite," said Buffy, muscling a dhampir out of the way and heading towards the bar, Kara following in her wake. "Nice you remembered, though, Willy."

Kara's instincts went on red alert as she stepped across the doorway, warning her of the presence of magic. Deadly magic. Even a Kryptonian couldn't laugh that off. But, internally sending her fear to Sheol, she followed, joining Buffy silently at the bar. A biker werewolf seemed to be appraising her critically. She ignored him.

Willy had his mouth open, and was apparently trying to make sounds. Buffy finally saved him. "You're trying to tell me something you want to tell me in private, Willy? Is that it?"

He finally managed to say something, hoarsely. "Get out, Buffy. Please, please, believe me, get out."

"Why?" The Slayer fixed him with an unwavering gaze.

Kara felt the vibration below them a nanoinstant before the rumble came, but it didn't make any difference.

The floorboards beneath their feet exploded upward, as a tall and muscular form in green, red, and gold raiment shot up like a human geyser from whatever lay below. It stopped just before it reached the ceiling, descended quickly to the floor, and looked at both women with an expression that baled together hatred, satisfaction, hunger, lust, and some emotions neither one of them were comfortable appraising. The denizens of Willy's cleared away from his landing place, making for the door or hugging the walls.

The person before Kara and Buffy said three words:

"Because of me."

When you're a Kryptonian, you can deal with your shock reaction a bit faster than most people.

Supergirl, still wearing a light purple jumpsuit, shoved Buffy out of the way and lunged forward, slamming a hard right into the face of the Kryptonian vampire before her. It knocked him off his feet, slammed him across the floor and into the jukebox. His head and upper body went right through it, shattering CD's and electronic equipment. Looking on, Willy groaned, knowing it'd be days before he could hear "Stairway to Heaven" again.

Buffy got to her feet and said, "Watch out, Kara," before the jukebox came flying their way and crashed through the wall behind them.

The vampire was out of the jukebox and didn't look pleased at all. Buffy doubted the music was to his taste, anyway.

The Girl of Steel didn't hesitate. She shot forward so quickly it hurt Buffy's eyes to follow her. Immediately she was grappling with the intruder. But...the vampire in the strange outfit got one hand on her throat, another on her wrist, and began bending her backward. Kara's face began reddening, but she tightened her neck muscles and fought back. Fat lot of good it was doing her, thought Buffy.

"Who the hell is that?" rasped Willy. "Slayer Mark II?"

"Willy," advised Buffy, "shut the hell up." She was running forward and reaching into her handbag without looking at it.

Hearing her, Supergirl said, "Buffy, get back," in a choked voice.

The vamp was showing his game face in a horrific grin, now. "Come to me, little Earth girl," he said, not easing his grip on Kara's neck. "Come to me, and show me the might of a Slayer."

"Will do," said Buffy, and threw some flash paper in his face.

The burst of light wasn't enough to blind him—Kryptonians can even fly into the sun, once they've set their eyes for it—but it was enough to startle him. That was enough for Supergirl to give him a knee in the gut, bring up her arm and knock his arm away, and zap him in the face with a strong burst of heat vision. He shouted in pain. Supergirl broke free and leaped backward, her feet not touching the floor till she landed.

"Thanks," she said to Buffy.

"Don't mention it," said the Slayer.

The heat-blast had hurt the vampire, but that was about it. He brought his horrific visage up, fangs bared, and Kara had to fight to quell a streak of nerves in her being. "So," he said. "You like using heat-vision? Well, thank you for the inspiration!"

His eyes began glowing redly. "Oh, frab," muttered Kara. "Buffy, get the hell out of here. Now."

"Not without you," said Buffy.

"Oh god oh god ohhhh gawd, I'll never get insurance for this place now," moaned Willy, hiding behind what was left of the bar.

The vampire's eyes let loose twin bursts of fiery fury.

Supergirl grabbed her friend and bore them both to the floor. The bolt of heat passed over them and hit a shark-headed female demon behind them, who wasn't so lucky. The stench that went up as she vaporized was almost enough to make the both of them toss their cookies. The vampire raked the rest of the barroom with his eye-gaze, still standing, breaking the mirror, shattering the bottles of booze and sending their flaming contents across the counter, setting the studs and sheetrock and insulation and wiring on fire. The lights in the place began to flicker and went dead.

And the dead, semi-dead, and other denizens of Willy's who were still there went for the door. There was a minor pileup there that looked like something from a Who concert, until a ram-headed demon hauled off and punched the lot of them through the opening with his horns.

The vampire was standing in the midst of things. His eyes were no longer glowing, but he was advancing on the two women with deadly intent.

Buffy, still prone on the floor, slapped a stake into Kara's hand. "Take this. You'll need it."

Supergirl hefted it in her hand. Then, rising, she took in a breath and exhaled in a circle. The force of her mighty lungs put out the fire, though Willy's place was almost a total loss. As for Willy himself, he was incongruously thanking God over and over again and still hugging the floor. Kara didn't take much note of that. She just sprinted at the vampire as he started running for her.

With her left, she stiff-armed him in the neck. With her right, she slammed Buffy's stake hard right over his heart.

Unfortunately, as she expected, it shattered into matchstick-sized fragments.

She had time enough to see his grin before an uppercut found her jaw and lifted her away.

It took all of her concentration and strength to manage to just crash through a bunch of tables, chairs, and part of one wall. Supergirl shook her head, feeling the pain. Gauging his strength from the blow, she estimated that he was stronger than her, by a sight. Possibly stronger even than Kal. It was as she feared: a vampire from Krypton was as much stronger than a normal Krypt as an Earth vampire was over an ordinary man.

But she and Buffy had to find a way to take the guy out.

While she was picking herself up, Kara saw Buffy dash forward. "No!" she shouted, hauling herself out of the debris. But it was too late to do anything about it. Buffy was almost within reach of their foe, and he was about to take advantage of it.

Except that she had a glass bottle of something she'd taken from her bag and, in one swift throw, smashed it into the side of his head.

The vampire shrieked and backed away, grabbing the place where the liquid within the bottle had struck him. His face was sizzling as if acid had been thrown at him.

Buffy produced a cross and held it before her as she backed towards Supergirl. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"We can't hide from him," Kara said. "We've got to stand and fight."

"You mean die!"

"What did you hit him with, for Rao's sake?"

"Holy water. Looks like it's proof against vampires from outer space, too. Move it!"

The advice was too late. The Kryptonian was made of pretty stern stuff. The holy water had hurt him, had burned his face badly, but it hadn't taken him out. He was on them both before they could leap away, and Kara feared that not even her strength would be enough to save Buffy's life. Or maybe her own.

"The first two," he said. "The first two sacrifices. And one a Kryptonian. How appropriate."

Buffy thrust the cross against his cheek. Nothing happened.

"Buffy," gasped Supergirl, trying to claw the burned place on his face, "he's not a Christian."

"Well, convert him!" choked the Slayer, seeking without luck to pull her foe's fingers from her throat.

At the precise moment when his hands began to tighten, a burst of purple fire smacked into the vampire from behind. It was a lot more effective than the holy water had been, for one reason or another. He screamed and dropped the two girls. Before she could even fall to the floor, Kara high-kicked him in the jaw, sending him ass-over-teakettle across the floor.

Somebody was leaning through the broken remains of the window. The girl, Willow. Her hands were glowing with violet flame and she was muttering something Kara didn't even know that she wanted to hear. Nonetheless, she looked as though she was ready to throw another fireball.

The undead Kryptonian snarled, "For now...", and didn't have to say anything more. He leaped upward, made another hole in the roof, letting down a shower of plaster, wood, and building material, and was gone to their sight.

Buffy picked herself up, massaging her throat. Supergirl shook her head and tried to pick up their foe's trail with her super-vision, but he was long gone. Willow had withdrawn from the window and was coming through the doorway, stepping over the fragments of door. With her were Giles and Xander. "We thought you might need some help," she said, timidly.

"You thought right," said Kara.

"In spades," added Buffy. "Thanks, Will."

Rupert Giles took both women gently by a shoulder apiece. "Are you all right, ladies? Relatively speaking, that is?"

"No broken bones, no major lacerations, just bumps, bruises, and considerable property damage," Buffy reported. "That is, from me. How about you, Kara?"

"I'm fine," said Supergirl, tentatively. "At least we survived Round One."

Resignedly, Xander said, "And I'm stuck being card boy for the fight, as usual."

Buffy smirked. "Only if you agree to wear a pair of briefs when you hold the cards."

"Didn't know you cared."

"Enough of the repartee," Giles ordered. "Point one: both of you almost died tonight. Point two: we've learned that our vampire is vulnerable to magic, hence, Willow's effectiveness."

"All Kryptonians are," explained Kara. "As an ace in the hole, you were great, Willow."

"Thank you." The young witch almost blushed, but it was hard to tell in the flickering neon from outside, which was the only available light.

"Yes, but our enemy will know of her now, and will make preparations for her presence next time," Giles said. "Thus, we must make our own counter-plans, and that quickly."

Willy arose from a tumble of plaster. "What about me? Every time you come here, my place gets wrecked, and this is the worst yet! You just plain demolished it!"

"That wasn't us," said Buffy, petulantly.

"Yeah, well, who else you gonna blame?" said the demonic barkeep. "You guys are the worst kinda lightning rod since that mummy on the Titanic."

"There wasn't any mummy on the Titanic, Willy," said Xander. "That's just an urban legend."

"So's vampires. What'm I gonna do? I ain't got money for this kind of rebuilding."

Supergirl sighed. "Look. Once this is over, I'll see about building you a new bar. Not the same decor, though."

Willy suddenly beamed with hope. "You will? I mean...you really will?"

"Of course, there will be a price, Willy," interjected Giles. "You will have to provide us with information. All you know about this...vampire of steel."

"Uh. Oh. All right. Can ya, like, get me inta some kinda protective custody? Like, maybe, that Fortress of Solitude thingie?"

Kara rolled her eyes. "No way. Not even thinkable. Forget it."

Xander said, "Why don't we let him stay with Dead Boy?"

"Angel?" Buffy wrinkled her nose. "He'd never talk to me again."

"Sure he would. He'd never let you hear the end of it. Where else do you want to put him? Your house?"

Buffy stared into Xander's face as if he were an unrepentant Grinch. Then, catching herself, she said, "We can talk to Angel. We'll see."

Brushing himself off, Willy walked up to Kara. "'Scuse me, miss, I gotta ask. How'd you do that thing with your eyes? What kinda demon are you, anyway?"

"I'm not a demon," said Supergirl. "And, Willy, if you're going to work with us..."

"Yeah?"

"Get a bath."

-B-

Supergirl made a brief and fruitless patrol that night before turning in. She and Buffy breakfasted with Joyce after they got up, then went over to what Buffy described to Kara as Angel's mansion for a morning meeting at 10:30. The place was old, all the windows were either painted over or heavily curtained or both, and Kara had no problem believing it was the home of a vampire.

Once inside, she was introduced to three other Slayerettes. Angel himself was the first, and the most imposing. Tall, handsome, brown-haired, and rugged-looking. She had no problem understanding why Buffy had a crush on this guy, but the idea that Angel was a vampire and on their side took some getting used to. He was sitting on his front couch, looking a bit tired (up past his bedtime?, she thought), wearing a leather jacket, a white pullover shirt, jeans, and boots. Thankfully, he didn't seem to make over her much when he was introduced to her and shook her hand. She sensed his strength was superhuman, but hardly on a par with her own. That was somehow reassuring.

Then there was a boy they called Oz, who affected the casual clothes and attitude of a budding rock star. Buffy had told him that was what he was, or hoped to be, since he played guitar in a group that Kara thought had a disgusting name. But he seemed a nice enough guy, and Buffy had confided that he and Willow had a thing going. The problem was, three nights out of the month, he was a werewolf and had to be kept locked up.

Kara supposed that love conquered all, but in this case, she figured it'd have to make one heck of a campaign.

Finally, there was Cordelia Chase, whose vision Buffy had said prompted her to go to Chicago and meet Kara last year. She looked beautiful, albeit more than a little pretentious, and Kara had a tough time believing she could take part in the missions Buffy's gang had to undertake. Still, the others had reassured her Cordelia could pull her weight, so Kara decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Even if she did remind her somewhat of Veronica in the Archie comic strip.

The others were there, as well: Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, and even Willy, who was sitting on the couch beside Angel in a T-shirt marked BAYONNE A.C. and a pair of lounging pants tied up with a piece of twine. If those were provided by Angel, Kara guessed that the vamp would give them to Willy afterward, or burn them. He was blinking too often and trying to be helpful and ingratiating, but overdoing it. Giles had to gently reprimand him at least twice about interrupting.

"The floor is Kara's," said Rupert Giles. "Perhaps you can tell us what you've deduced?"

"Simple enough," said Kara, sitting in a wooden chair, wearing shirt, pants, and heels and drinking some rare-flavored tea that Angel had provided. "As you might expect, I know of this man."

"Where from?" asked Xander. "Krypton's Most Wanted?"

"Xander," warned Buffy.

"Almost," Kara acknowledged. "He's a Zoner, all right. Superman and myself know the basics on every inmate of the Phantom Zone. You might call him a second-tier member. I recognized him as Zol-Am. He was sent up for treason."

"Treason?" asked Angel.

"You mean, like Benedict Arnold?" put in Willy.

"He was an advisor to and collaborator with General Zod," said Kara. "Zod was a military genius who tried to take over Krypton's main continent with an army of artificial humanoids. Zol-Am was in charge of weaponry, secondary strategy, even leading in the field at times. Nobody was really sure if he believed in Zod's cause or not. But everybody knew he did believe in power."

"Hmph," Giles humphed. "A junta, on Krypton."

"When Zod was brought down, Zol-Am was sentenced with him. The two despised each other for what each saw as the other's failure, and as far as we know, they never collaborated again. Zod seemed to take pains to keep Zol-Am inside the Zone whenever he and some of the other big boys broke out. Zol did escape in the mass breakout under Faora Hu-Ul, and on a few other occasions, but he was mostly what you'd call a face in the crowd. Now, he may have found his star turn."

Oz spread his hands. "For a limited engagement, this week only, Sunnydale welcomes Zolly and his Krypton Headbangers. Tickets at the door, $15 a head or $10 and a pint of O-positive."

Kara looked at Buffy. "Is it always like this?"

"Always," confirmed Buffy. "It's a coping mechanism."

Cordelia said, "Well, now that you've had a chance to meet him, Ms. Supergirl..."

"Just Kara, dear."

"All right, Ms. Kara, do you have any ideas of how we can, like, slay him? Can you use Kryptonite on him, or something?"

Supergirl sighed. "I'm not sure what kind of effect it would have on him. We've never had to deal with a vampire from Krypton before. Technically, he's dead. I don't know if it'd hurt him or not. But the problem is, the stuff is definitely deadly to me. So I don't like using it, except as a last resort."

Giles nodded. "But that last resort may be coming up faster than we think."

"Agreed," said Kara.

Willow spoke up. "We know that magic can hurt him. At least, my magic hurt him. Also, Buffy burned him with her holy water. So even though crosses don't have an effect on him, other kinds of things do."

"Why can't vampires all be ex-Christians?" groused Xander. "It'd make things so much simpler, y'know."

"Are you some kinda bigot?" demanded Willy. "I was a good Baptist, I'll have you know."

"Peace and time out, Willy," said Willow. "I'm Jewish, you know, so I have another religion covered."

"I don't think he's Jewish, Willow," Angel added, cynically.

"How do you know?" said Xander. "Do you say to him, 'Funny, you don't look–'"

"Shut up, Xander," said Willow.

Giles said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please. Lay aside the levity. We're in the midst of a crisis now, and this is the time we have for planning and preparation. Kara, is there some form of Kryptonian religious symbol we could use against him?"

She considered it. "He was a Raotian. Rao was symbolized by our sun. Krypts didn't go in much for iconic symbolism that you could touch, like a cross or a wafer. But we did have sun-disks, sometimes. Priests carried them on small chains around their necks."

"Can you get one?"

"Uh, I doubt it," she said. "We don't have any real ones in the Fortress. There are Raotian priests on Rokyn...that's the planet Kryptonian survivors colonized...but it's in another dimension now, and I can't get to it for some time yet."

"Is anybody else as confused as I am?" asked Willy.

"That'd take a big effort," said Oz. "But I think I'm getting there, Willy."

Supergirl continued. "We could try to tag him with a Phantom Zone projector ray. Despite my feelings about what he'd do to the other Zoners, it might be our best bet. Also, you say that vampires here can't stand the rays of the sun, correct?"

"Right," said Angel. "Gives us a burn even Coppertone won't handle."

"So, theoretically, I could bait him into following me onto the side of the Earth that's lit by the sun," said Kara. "That might be one way, if he was dumb enough to fall for it. I doubt he would be, but it might be worth a try."

"If he doesn't kill you on the way," said Buffy. "Sorry, but I thought I'd point that out."

"Also, stakes are out with this guy," said Xander. "And that goes for trying to cut his head off, too, unless you've got some kind of magical rune-encrusted ebony blade. You don't, do you?"

"Not in our standard kit, Xander," Kara replied.

"Just checking." He smiled. "You're getting to be one of us."

"Perhaps she should leave while she's still ahead," said Giles. "But we've explored several options. Magic, Kryptonite, a Phantom Zone projector, the rays of the sun. The problem is surviving any attack he visits upon us while trying to use any or all of them."

"Also, trying to figure out what he wants here," said Angel. "If this guy is the military type that Supergirl described, I doubt that he'll be satisfied with just tapping a vein a night."

"Oh, he's out for more than that," said Willy. "I know."

The eyes of all the rest were on Willy within five seconds.

"I mean, I don't know I know," amended Willy. "But I'm pretty sure I know. You know?"

Buffy sighed. "What do you know, Willy? Tell us."

"Well, it's just a logical deduction," said Willy. "While he was there, he asked about outside talent, had some of us make some phone calls, and there may be some heavy hitters coming into town soon."

"And what're those heavy hitters up to?" asked Buffy. "Another vampire gang war?"

"No. At least, I don't think so. But it's only a hunch. A deduction. Ain't that right? Or is it just something you put down on your taxes?"

"Willy," said Giles, "enough. Tell us."

Willy paused.

"I think he's gonna open the Hellmouth," he said.

"That's it," said Supergirl. "I'm calling the Justice League."

"Oh, dear," said Giles, and folded his glasses before putting them in his pocket.

Supergirl was already on her feet, headed for the telephone. Buffy ran to her and grabbed her arm. "Kara, wait."

"Wait for what?" She turned to look at the Slayer. "Wait for Zol-Am to open that demon portal you have underneath this town? When I can help stop him just by making a call? I think the time for waiting is over with, Buffy."

"You may be right," said Buffy. Kara was already dialing a number, holding her body to prevent Buffy from shoulder-surfing. "But then again, Giles may have a point."

"What point?" Kara's finger was hovering over the last button to push.

"The Justice League might be able to stop this guy. Or they might get corrupted. It isn't their usual beat."

"They don't have a usual beat."

"Okay. All right. Let's admit defeat. Let's just go ahead, call in the troops, and let them raze Sunnydale. I have enough of a time keeping my own activities a secret, Kara. Do you honestly think we can keep the lid on things when the Justice League come to town?"

"Start making sense."

"I am! Do you know how strong most people's sense of denial is? In some cases, it's the only thing that keeps them going. Look. What do you think would be the effect when people all over the country learn that vampires really exist?"

The Kryptonian girl considered it. "They already know a lot of evil things exist, Buffy. Super-villains, criminals, alien enemies from dozens of planets."

"True enough," conceded the Slayer. "But supposing they learn that there are really things out there in the night that want to kill them, suck their blood, and make them like a recruiting poster with Dracula pointing at 'em and saying, 'I Vant You'?"

"Very creative, Buffy," said Xander from the other room.

"Thanks," she responded. "Vamps and demons and werewolves are a whole other psychological mix from crazies that can fly and punch through walls, Kara. If you have to, put the League on alert, yeah. But if we can handle this ourselves----"

"Oh? Like we handled it last night?"

"—if we can handle this ourselves, like I was saying, you won't have to. It'd be better if they weren't rung in at all. It's like sending in a whole army where a tiny band of guerillas will do. You follow?"

"I follow," said Kara, leaning against the wall and holding the phone, "but I'm not so sure I agree."

"Fine," said Buffy. "Do me something. Just 48 hours. That's all we need. Just 48 hours to beat this thing. Then, if you want to, call in the Justice League, the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, even the, I don't know, the Challengers of the Unknown. You're on our turf, Kara. Please? For me?"

Kara Zor-El sighed and shook her head. "Give me a minute."

Buffy watched as she touched the last button.

After a moment, Kara spoke one word: "Supergirl." She paused, then said, "Ralph? Yeah, it's Kara. I'm fine. How is Sue? That's good. Well, I'm on a case. You've already got my location, right? I expected as much. Now, listen. Can you keep a secret for 48 hours? I don't know that expression, Ralph, I never heard of 'pinky square'. Does that mean you will? All right. I've been called in to help a bunch of friends with a problem. I'm going to leave a message on Kal's response line. If I don't contact you before the deadline is up to tell you it's over, or if I call for aid, I want you to access that message. Got it? Because, Ralph. We want to handle this on our own. Understand? Good. Thanks. Yeah, I wish Atom's marriage had worked out, too. You take care. Say hi to Diana. Bye."

Buffy bore a look of amazement and curiosity. But she held her peace as Kara pressed the plunger down, then let it up and dialed another number. After a moment, Supergirl said the word, "Kara." This was followed by a large number of words in a language which Buffy had never heard before. Afterward, Kara put the phone back on the hook.

"Was that...your native language?" asked Buffy.

Kara nodded. "Kryptonian. Now, why don't you do a favor for me?"

"Anything."

"Dream up a way to take down Zol-Am."

Buffy fell against the wall. "I was hoping you wouldn't define that as 'anything'."

-B-

Zol-Am was in his coffin, mulling things over in preparation for sleeping. As a military man, he'd learned to catnap, to sleep when and where he could and thus maximize the efficiency of his waking time. As a vampire, he had to stay under cover during daylight hours, and about the only thing you could do during that time was sleep.

Of course, as a Kryptonian, he could do with less sleep, but needed the dream time. Nonetheless, every good general knows when he's gone as far as he can during a day, and when to leave it to other hands. There were soldiers on his side, capable of operating in daylight—the monstrosities Earthers called demons, and Kryptonians called k'nyaak, in their legends—and to them he left certain responsibilities. Such as making sure more recruits were gained for his Army of the Night, and that they would show up in the right place at the right time for an important meeting.

The problem, as he saw it, was that this rabble had never been organized as an army. It was no wonder that small bunch of organized and trained commandoes had been able to stymie them. Soldiers think and act as a unit, or they die as individuals. But, given the proper instruction and motivation, his bloodsucking brethren could be making advances the likes of which they'd never known.

Physically, they were tougher than any normal human. Better yet, their ranks could be increased by simple killing and bloodshare. That was better than any recruitment appeal or draft. The appeal to a commander like Zol-Am was palpable.

Of course, to get their loyalty, he needed more than just brutality. A concrete show of what their forces could accomplish, would accomplish, would be necessary. Zol-Am had two things in mind.

First, he would open their Hellmouth.

Then, he would kill the Supergirl, the Slayer, and all that stood beside them.

After that, Zol-Am estimated he'd have at his disposal an army old Dru-Zod could only lust after in his wildest dreams.

"Dream on, General," whispered Zol-Am, and finally went to sleep.

-S-

Buffy awoke, heard voices from below, and figured that Kara was up before her. Again. She threw on a robe and slipped on her houseshoes and went downstairs.

Mom had French toast and bacon fixed and she and Kara were scarfing it up. From the looks of her, Kara didn't have to worry about carb intake, and Buffy immediately felt a pang of jealousy. She smiled at herself. It was nice to be jealous of somebody else's power, for a change.

"We've got yours in the microwave, honey," said Joyce. "It's all set, just press the button."

"I could warm it up with my heat-vision," offered Kara, helpfully.

"Don't bother," said Buffy, heading over to the machine. "That's why God gave us microwaves in the first place." She activated it and then poured herself some coffee. "So. It'd be really helpful if we could get this finished up pronto. School and all."

"Yeah." Kara nodded. "I've got to go back to work soon, too."

Joyce marveled at them both. "Well, I must say. I mean, here you both are, here we all are. There's a kind of super-vampire out there, something neither one of you can take on by yourselves. You say it wants to open the Hellmouth, and your big worry is about getting back to school or work on time?"

Kara nodded. "I want to save the world, but I don't want to get fired. Hunting jobs is tough."

"So's school," said Buffy. "I'm in enough trouble academically right now. We gotta live in the world after we save it."

Joyce half-smiled. "Guess that's an admirable perspective. I've got to set things up at the art gallery. Will you girls be too busy to help?"

Kara, in her dressing gown, said, "Is there anybody at the gallery right now?"

"Well, no. Not for another thirty minutes or so."

"You have your keys?"

"Well, yes."

Kara was not in the chair anymore. A second later, she was beside it, in her Supergirl costume. Buffy and Joyce could scarcely credit their perceptions. She took her cape off and wrapped it around Joyce. "You'll have to tell me what you want done."

"What?"

A whoosh of air later, Kara and Joyce were gone.

Buffy stared at the space where her mother had been sitting. The door had opened and closed so quickly that the sound reached her ears an instant after it occurred.

"Up, up, and away," she sighed.

-K-

Not long after that, Willow Rosenberg got a call from Rupert Giles. She came over to his home, found him fully dressed in gray shirt, brown pants, Oxfords, and his inevitable glasses. "Willow," he said, taking her hand. "Glad to see you on the usual short notice."

She tried to smile. "Oh, Giles, I'm kind of used to that. You know, Slayer duty comes, all of us are on 24-hour call, especially if you like need some witchy spells or stuff. You do need that, right?"

Giles nodded and drew her towards his dining room. "Precisely that, Willow. I've something in mind that may be able to help us dispatching our vampire from Krypton." He gestured to the table with his free hand.

There were only five normal stakes upon it, made from teakwood.

"And these are different how?" Willow examined them closely.

"Right now, they're not," said Giles. "But with a little help from yourself, they should quite efficient."

"What kind of help?"

Giles looked patient. "Willow, do you recall Supergirl discussing Kryptonians' two primary weaknesses? Kryptonite, and what else?"

A look of comprehension. "Magic," said Willow.

Giles nodded. "So, if you can lay an enchantment on these stakes—"

"They might be able to kill him! Oh, Giles, that's wonderful!" Willow clapped her hands together, then caught herself. "Uh, I didn't quite mean it like that."

"Understood, Willow. I'll be here to supervise you. Now, if you please."

"Sure. Just let me get the stuff." Willow went to a certain place in a certain room of Giles's house, came back with the necessary accoutrements, and, after doing the necessary things with them, began her incantation.

Rupert Giles looked on, and hoped that the Powers That Be were listening.

-S-

"You there, dead boy?"

Angel turned over and opened up one eye. "Harris. Go to hell and let me sleep."

"Nope. First, I ain't playin' messenger boy for your old pals. Second, you can miss an hour and still bounce back tonight. Am I right?"

Angel, aka Angelus, aka one of the most ruthless vampires in history until his reaquisition of a soul, sat up in his coffin in his p.j.'s and looked bleary-eyed at Xander. "If you don't get out of my house in twelve seconds, when I get up this evening, I'm gonna bounce you like a basketball and make 17 points with you down at the hoop down the street, and I promise you, it is not gonna be nothing but net. That's a promise."

"Why twelve?"

"Ten is such a cliche."

"Angel, I wanna talk. Is that so bad?"

"Always. With you, it's always bad. You haven't got the courtesy of a mollusk."

Xander sat on the edge of the coffin. "Peace, brother. I just kinda wanted to talk about myself. And especially about Buffy."

"Oh." Angel sighed and slung an arm over the side of his casket. "So now I'm Dear Abby as well as Dead Boy? Go home, Harris. We can talk later."

Xander paused. "You're sure of that?"

"Sure, I'm sure. Go put on some coffee."

Xander grinned. "Two sugars for you?"

"Absolutely not. You think I want to rot my teeth?"

Angel's mansion was heavily curtained to keep the sun out, and even Xander Harris had a tough time getting in. But it did have the comforts of home, though they weren't used much during the daytime. Angel favored Folgers, though around Giles's digs he usually had to settle for Taster's Choice. Irregardless, they were both drinking decaf in Angel's kitchen.

"So. You've fallen in love with Supergirl, right?"

Xander looked up from his cup. "Hey, now, wait a minute! No!"

Angel smiled. "New one for you, Harris. No teachers that turn into praying mantises, no age-old mummy women, not even a Ninja spirit. Just a girl in a cape and hotpants."

"Would you cool it? This is not about me. Extremely not about me. Well, mostly extremely not about me."

Angel waited.

"I think Kara's upsetting the applecart, and I'm glad she's only here for a short stint," confessed Xander. "Provided, of course, we stop this Krypton vampire guy and he doesn't open the Hellmouth, take over the world, destroy us all, and that sort of thing. I mean, I'm taking the positive spin version of things."

"Of course," said Angel.

"Don't get me wrong. I am totally not opposed to the idea of a super-powered flying woman who can outspeed light and lift mountains, on principle. I am, like, a big fan of Superman, and I will confess that I find Miss Kara totally hot."

"Why wouldn't you? She's female. That meets all your qualifications."

"Ha ha. But, look, Angel. I don't think Buffy is operating at peak efficiency with the Krypton Hottie around. Think I'm right?"

"Deponent stands mute."

"You don't think I'm right?"

"I think you need to keep talking."

"Okay. Okay, I will. Here's my theory. One, Buffy is used to being the most powerful one in our bunch. Which, of course, she is. Slayerhood and all its privileges, not the least of which is super-powers. I'm sure you know about them, being similarly endowed, but..."

"Harris."

"All right. Two: now that Supergirl is here, Buffy is relegated to being number two, power-wise. Let's face it, Miss Kara has points that knock her straight off the board. Right out of the comic books. She can survive a nuclear explosion. She can fly into the sun."

"But she can get hurt by a vampire bite," said Angel.

Xander stopped in mid-mouth-opening.

Angel continued, "She also has a problem with magic. Most of the baddies in this town, last time I looked, were based in that. She's out of her turf here, Xander."

"Uh, yeah. Theoretically. But..."

Angel held up his hand. "No, Harris, let me talk. It's true, Buffy is way outclassed in the power game with Kara. Not even in the same ballpark. But Buffy has something that Kara doesn't have, in this league. Experience. Know-how. Supergirl's picking things up, but she's still on the farm team. Nowhere near the majors, yet."

"Huh. Does that put me in the scrubs?"

"Your words, pal, not mine. Though let's just say you're a decent guy to have in the bullpen. Don't take up chewing tobacco just for me, all right?"

"Have we run out of the Field of Dreams analogy yet?"

"Just don't try to sing the Star-Spangled Banner on opening day either. It's like this. Supergirl is like a cop Buffy has called in to help with a case, because she has some knowledge of the perp and his m.o. Capish?"

"Uh, so far."

"Good. Now, said consultant may be good, and in fact, is. Damn good. But she's still out of her regular beat. Miss Kara, you may have noticed, doesn't have much of a taste for hanging around graveyards, rousting out demons, or staking my kind. Buffy does it as a matter of course. Often without thinking about it."

"Point being?"

"Point being that yes, Buffy may be a little overshadowed, in her own mind, by Kara. But she knows, deep down inside, that Kara is a friend and a good hand to have around, especially when the perp they're looking for has more power than both of them. Agreed?"

"Well, maybe."

"Well, definitely. Supergirl is also not acting arrogantly, am I right? You've been up a lot more than I have, so you'd be able to tell better than me."

Xander considered. "I haven't seen her as much as the Buffster has, but, no, I don't think she's acting Miss Haughty-Snotty. She seems like a nice enough babe. I mean, gal. I mean, woman."

"Uh huh. Also ten years older than you, Harris, plus."

"Hey, I resent that. I've been hit on by women hundreds of years older than me."

"And had to be rescued from them, every time. Suppose you had to be a consultant to help her out with Lex Luthor, if he decided to team up with, I don't know, let's say Spike. You might be able to help out with Spike. Don't ask me how. Maybe handing out the crying towels or something."

"Hey!"

"Just let me ramble, Harris. But how do you think you'd do against Luthor?"

"I don't know. I mean, the guy doesn't have powers. I've heard he does have a warsuit, though. That might be pretty tough. Unless I could put sand in his joints, or something."

Angel waited.

"I might be no good at all with Luthor. But then, theoretically, I might be great. You never can tell."

"Really?"

Xander's face fell. "I would undoubtedly suck."

Angel sighed. "But, if you had a stake in one hand, a cross in the other, and a vial of holy water in your belt, you'd know what to do with Spike. If he let you. Right?"

"Oh, yeah."

"And you're worried about this when we're facing a vampire who has power enough to crush just about the whole world in his bare hands."

"Uh huh."

"Well, at least you've got your priorities straight. What else?"

Xander looked at him. "Uh? I implied there's an else?"

"You said you wanted to talk about you."

"Oh. Me. Well, it's just that I'm upset over Buffy. She's a friend, and if she's uptight, it makes me uptight, too, by osmosis. Empathically. Not exactly like the Corsican Brothers, but a much lesser analogy of same. You know?"

Angel scratched his forehead. "And you think you're falling for Kara."

"Damn."

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't have that heart on your very short sleeve, kid."

"I don't know, Angel. There's feelings there, but not strong ones. I feel like a dope."

"Because you feel like you're transferring feelings from Buffy onto Kara?"

Xander stared at him. "Where'd you get your doctorate in psych?"

"Transylvania U. But don't worry. It's normal, it's natural, and it'll go away when she does and leave a beautiful memory."

"You really think so?"

"Sure, kid. Take it from Dead Guy. I've had centuries of experience."

"Gosh." Xander smiled. "Put her there, Dead Guy."

Angel shook his hand. "Now, Harris, one more piece of advice. And you absolutely have to take this one, okay?"

"Sure. Anything. What?"

"Get the hell out of here and let me sleep!"

-X-

Buffy got the call from Giles around lunchtime and went with Kara to see him and Willow at his house. Giles led both of them into the dining room, where Willow and the stakes were waiting for them. He gestured to the wooden weapons. "Behold. Giles's and Willow's Enchanted Stakes. Though perhaps I should put Miss Rosenberg's name first."

Willow, sitting at the table, smiled nervously. "It's kind of a first for me. I never really tried enchanting a stake before. But when you think about it, it's logical. I mean, if this Krypton vamp has a problem with magic, and vampires have a problem with stakes, put them together and whoomp! There it is!"

"Whoomp," agreed Buffy. "Could be a great idea. What do you think, Kara?"

Kara, still in her civvies, reached out, took one of the stakes, pointed it at her chest, and shoved it home.

"Kara!" Buffy cried out in fear.

The wood splintered against her chest in all directions, like a cigar pushed against a tabletop.

"Oh," said Giles, in concern. "Oh, dear Lord."

Supergirl said, ruefully, "Not that it wasn't a good idea, you two. I can feel a scratch on my breastbone. But it just wasn't good enough. The enchantment is there, but the wood itself isn't strong enough to penetrate me."

Willow said, "But, Kara, what if it'd, well, gone through you?"

"I wouldn't have pushed it in, if I'd felt more than a scratch," Kara assured her.

Buffy sat down in a kitchen chair, somewhat crestfallen. "Okay. Then it's back to square one, right?"

"Not necessarily," said Supergirl. "Good idea. Just lacked one element."

Giles adjusted his glasses. "And, Kara, what would that be?"

She took him aside and whispered in his ear. Giles's eyebrows rose. "Well. That's not a bad idea at all. If it works, and if you have time."

Willow and Buffy both looked hopeful. To Buffy, Kara said, "Like to take a trip with me? Hopefully, it won't take that long."

"To, um, where?" Buffy looked at her suspiciously.

Supergirl shucked her jumpsuit and stood revealed in costume again. "Let's make it a surprise." She took her cape, wrapped it around Buffy's body, opened the back door, and turned to Giles and Willow. "We'll be back before nightfall," she promised.

"Should I shut my eyes?" asked Buffy, holding Kara's hand.

In another second, Kara's super-speed had taken them from view.

Willow said, "And, they're going...where?"

Giles rubbed the back of his head. "Somewhere I would really give one of my eyeteeth to see."

-S-

The trip was so rapid Buffy Summers didn't have time to be airsick, only to consider the concept. Everything about her was a blur, and she could tell by the red aura around Supergirl that Kara was picking up a lot of air friction heat. That, she supposed, was why Buffy had the super-cape wrapped about her.

Buffy was travelling faster and farther than ever before in her entire life.

Then, in a matter of minutes, the flight was over. Kara set Buffy's feet down in crunching snow, faced her, and bathed her in low-level heat vision. "Just so you don't shiver yourself to death," said Kara. "But keep the cape around yourself for now."

She had been set down outside a huge, snow-covered mountain in icy territory. The only part of the mountain that wasn't covered by white stuff was a huge, golden metal door with a big keyhole in the center. Buffy looked upon it with wonder, and clutched the red cape around her throat with one hand.

This was unreal.

A few seconds later, a great oblong shadow was cast on the ground. She looked up, and saw a gigantic golden key, being carried and propelled by a small, blue-and-red blur at the back of it. An instant after that, the great key was shoved into the keyhole. Kara turned it in the lock, as easily as if she was trying to get into an apartment. Buffy gaped at her strength.

Then Supergirl, keeping hold of the end of the key, pulled the door open, flew back to Buffy, wiped her hands on her hotpants, and grinned. "It's warmer inside."

"I don't ever want to get you mad at me," murmured Buffy.

"Don't worry." Supergirl took her by the hand and led her within. Once they were inside, the door closed, on its own, or maybe not. Buffy reflected that Kara had been right. The place, wherever it was, was warmer on the inside. So much so, that Supergirl was reclaiming her cape.

They were in a hallway, lined with gray-green stone.

Further down the way, in the near distance, Buffy was certain she saw something that looked like an ocean liner suspended from the ceiling on chains. Kara saw her looking.

"Welcome to the Fortress of Solitude, Buffy," said Supergirl. "Step right this way."

To be continued...

Buffy / Supergirl:

The Vampire of Steel

Part 7

Buffy Summers could scarcely credit her eyes. True, she had become used to the charnel-house splendor of the hidden parts of Sunnydale, things she would never have dreamed existed before she set eyes on them. But this...this was so much more than that.

Best of all, it was a thing of wonder, not of terror.

The floortiles were green and of a composition Buffy had never seen in flooring. They were highly polished and didn't even seem to scuff or smudge when she moved her feet across them. The next quantum leap beyond Lemon Pledge, she thought. But the floor only held her attention for a moment.

When you have an ocean liner suspended from the ceiling by chains, that tends to grab one's attention first.

"Kara," Buffy called. "Hey, Kara!"

The Girl of Steel zipped back to her companion in an instant. "What's up, Buffy?"

The Earth girl gestured. "That, um, thing up there, that whatever, that ship, it's not gonna, um, like, fall?"

Supergirl smiled. "Nope. Not ever. The chains are of an alloy Kal made himself with help from Dr. Will Magnus. We've also got an anti-grav balancer under it. If it falls, it's gonna fall up."

"Oh. That's reassuring." Buffy walked on. There was a huge green dinosaur under the ship. Tentatively, she peered at it. The skin and musculature looked a helluva lot more realistic than any of the dino models she'd seen in museums or on TV. "Ray Harryhausen stuff," she muttered.

"Oh, that? It's real." Kara ran a hand along the dinosaur's back. "From another planet. It was already dead. Kal stuffed and mounted it. He always wanted one of these."

Buffy's hand jerked back from the dinosaur. "This thing is for real? It is, like, a formerly living dinosaur? Emphasis on the formerly?"

Supergirl nodded. "Yeah. Can I show you around for a second? We don't have much time."

The Sunnydale warrior-girl craned her head to look at the high-tech equipment lining the walls, at the three tiers of levels this Fortress seemed to have, at the unusual and seemingly-ordinary trophies alike. A pterodactyl hung on wires from the ceiling, flanked by a winged bat-creature that seemed half-human, both of them as lifeless, thankfully, as the dinosaur. There were odd, odd animals in some glass cages not far away, and...

...some of them were moving.

"Oh, ah," said Buffy. "Not that I'm really concerned, Kara, but those, uh, zoo-things. They can't get out, can they?"

"No, dear," said Supergirl. "Just samples of animal life from other planets." She took Buffy's hands. "Look. I know this is weirding you out. Right?"

"Good observation."

"Well, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. When Kal brought me here, not long after I landed on Earth, I felt almost the same way. And I'm from a Kryptonian town, not Earth, to boot. Look over there, Buffy." Kara pointed.

She was pointing at two statues, of a man and a woman, each one with an arm upraised, supporting a huge globe in one hand apiece. "Are those...from your planet?" asked Buffy.

Supergirl said, "Those are Jor-El and Lara, Superman's parents. What they're holding up is a model of Krypton, our homeworld." Buffy saw Kara's eyes misting over. She felt a rush of sympathy for her friend, and caught herself. How strange it was that she could think of herself as a friend to Supergirl.

But perhaps...no, definitely...she was.

"Let me show you something else," Kara said, and touched one of the disks in her belt. The globe Jor-El and Lara were holding seemed to expand, to puff out, to burst into pieces. All soundlessly. Buffy almost threw a hand up to protect her face, but she sensed that something in the display was less than physical.

Kara flew towards the globe. "Just a holographic display. You're seeing an interpretation of the Destruction. The day Krypton died, when its uranium core exploded. Now...here." Her index finger pointed out a chunk of planet spinning into space from the blast, with something shiny upon it. "This is Argo City. It was shielded by an atmospheric dome, which held it together. That's my hometown, Buffy. I come from this city. I was born there, seven years after the death of Krypton."

Buffy breathed in, deeply. "I'm sorry, Kara. I'm sorry for you."

"It's not your fault, honey. But I never go by this display without feeling..." She sighed, looked down, composed herself. "Never mind. Let me take you where we need to go."

"Come down here for a minute, Kara," said Buffy.

"What for?"

"Just come down."

Without a word, Supergirl flew down and lit on both feet before Buffy. The Slayer reached out, embraced her, and hugged her firmly. "Kara, I may not come from outer space, and I may not have powers like yours. But I know what it's like to lose people. Not like you, but...you know."

Supergirl hugged her back, gently. "Thanks, hon. Sorry to get so sloppy-sentimental there for a moment."

"Don't you be sorry for a thing. Now, what is it you came here to get?"

"I didn't come here to get anything. I came here to go someplace."

Buffy stepped back from her. "What?"

Supergirl said, calmly, "Let me show you where I have to go. I'll have to take you to the third floor."

"Where's the stairs?"

"I'm the stairs." Supergirl grabbed Buffy and flew with her up to the third level.

The Slayer had gotten used to flying with Kara by this time and wasn't awed when her ally set her down on solid footing this time. There was more high-tech equipment up here, Buffy reflected, stuff that would make the bridge of the Enterprise in Star Trek: TNG look like a Mom-and-Pop store by comparison. She couldn't comprehend it and didn't attempt to.

"So, where do we go now? The transporter room?"

Kara raised an eyebrow. "You're not far off. But I warn you, Buffy: everything you see here has to be kept a secret. Everything."

"Stake my heart and hope to die, Kara."

Supergirl nodded. "I trust you. Don't ever give me a reason not to trust you, Buffy. Honestly."

Buffy had no answer for that. Kara didn't expect her to. The Girl of Steel walked on and Buffy followed. There was a clear plastic railing on one side of the concrete walkway and various banks of equipment on the other. A few portable seats were available. Buffy noted that all the controls on the machines, or at least what looked like controls, were not on regular human level. Flight was a pretty useful thing to have.

A little further on, Supergirl stopped and turned to her. "This is one part we don't show to many of our visitors. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to wait here, Buffy."

"Well, okay," said Buffy, a bit disappointedly. "What's behind there? A doomsday bomb?"

The Argonian shook her head. "It's more or less our version of the transporter room."

"Oh." Buffy considered. "I guess I'm a good guesser, huh?"

"Very good," Kara conceded. "Have you ever heard of Kandor?"

The Slayer focused. "Let's see. Uh, sorry. Xander might know about these things, he's the big Superman fan. Like I said, I read Power Girl. Fill me in."

Patiently, Kara explained. "Kandor was a Kryptonian city, like Argo, the one I came from. A villain named Brainiac shrank it and put it in a bottle, a few years before Krypton exploded."

"In a bottle?" Buffy's eyes widened.

"Yes. Buffy, I know this sounds incredible to you, but you have to remember: Krypton was a lot more scientifically advanced than Earth before the Destruction. Brainiac had knowledge even beyond ours, too. He stole cities, with the people inside them, and kept them in controlled environments in bottles. Like your ant farms."

"Major unbelievable." The younger girl flashed on a vision of Smallville, shrunken and put inside an industrial-size bottle like the ones in Chemistry class. People mowing their lawns, driving their cars, going to their jobs, all knowing there was a wall of glass ringing them round about and somebody looking in on them every time he wanted. She shivered.

"Yes, but it had one great benefit. It preserved the lives of millions of Kryptonians until Superman could fight Brainiac and get the bottle away from him. He kept Kandor here in the Fortress, down on the second floor, until we could find a way of enlarging it, and everyone who lived there."

"How did you...talk to them?"

"We had communications devices. Also, Kal and I had a shrinking and enlarging device, but it wouldn't work on everyone. Even the Atom couldn't manage to restore Kandor to its correct size. But we could visit, and I loved doing it. Now, Buffy, we don't have a lot of time, so just let me talk, okay?

"We finally got the enlarger device away from Brainiac and Kal and I restored Kandor to its normal size on a planet way out in space. They named it Rokyn. The thing is, it's a phase-planet. Sometimes it exists in normal space, sometimes in another dimension. That's an even harder concept, but I'll go into it some other time.

"Kal and I needed to find a way of traveling to Rokyn when we needed to quickly, without having to fly through space and hunt out space warps. Or when it was out of phase with us. My real parents live there, and I'm not about to just see them once a year. So we got together with the Rokynian Science Council and worked with them on improving an invention Jor-El and an Earth scientist made, decades ago. It was a transmitter intended to send people across space. Like that Star Trek transporter. It didn't work at the right time to save Jor-El and Lara, but...well, enough of that. Between the lot of us, we built an improved model, and it's called a WarPort. It's a combo of the original device, the things the Justice League uses to get up to its satellite and across dimensions, and our own designs.

"We have a transmitter / receiver in the Fortress, and there's one on Rokyn. It allows us, or people from Rokyn, to travel to each other's world, except when we're extremely out of phase. I'm going to travel there in a minute, get something that may help us, and come back. I'm hoping it doesn't take more than a few hours."

Buffy considered it. "You say you're going there. What about me?"

"You get to stay here. I'm sorry, dear. We have tight restrictions on who can cross and who can't."

"Nuts." At the same time, Buffy was a bit relieved. Coming here to the Fortress was adventure enough. Going to another planet, possibly in another dimension, even though she'd hopped time-planes on Earth and hit an alternate future a couple of times, was a bit more of a new experience than she was ready for just yet.

Maybe tomorrow.

Then she asked, "Why did you bring me here, Kara? I mean, it doesn't seem as though you need me for anything. Not that I don't appreciate it, but, well..."

Supergirl sighed. "Haven't you figured it out yet, Buffy? First, we're up against a vampire from Krypton."

"Point one taken."

"Second, you don't want me to call in the Justice League."

"Point two."

"Third, you're a sister in arms and, yes, a friend. So I wanted to do this as sort of a gift. One way or the other, this may be the only time you get to see the Fortress of Solitude. Is that all right by you?"

"Is that all right?" Buffy grasped Kara's hand. "Oh, Kara. Punch me if I start acting like one of those anime fangirls I see at the vid stores. I've seen a lot over the last couple of years...a ton of things I never dreamed existed. I know vampires, I mean, that's my job. I've seen...well...terrible things. Nightmares in the real world. Demons, werewolves, bad-guy sorcerers, the whole nine yards. I've had to kill the vamps and demons, too. Again and again and again." She noticed Kara flinching, but pressed on. "But this is something strange, from a different angle. It's, well, awesome, unbelievable from my standpoint. But it's positive. I mean, it's a positive thing, not scary. That's, from where I'm coming, at least, a very, very good thing. Uh, sense is being made here, right?"

"So far, you're doing swell." Kara smiled.

Carefully, Buffy leaned back against the plastic railing. "You know, I do what I do just about every night. I get off school, eat, do what I want for a few hours, then I spend my time touring Sunnydale's most scenic graveyards. That is, like, what I do. I don't even take off Sundays. There are monsters out there, Kara. Real monsters. Lots of times I wish I didn't know about them. Before...before I did this sort of thing, Kara, I was a cheerleader. A little, fluffy-headed cheerleader. You know, one of the head girls in school, that sort of thing. If you'd told me, even suggested to me, that I'd kill something, anything, even something that wasn't technically alive...my God. I would have run away from you and called the cops. I would."

Supergirl moved to touch her arm, but Buffy shrank away, hugging herself. "Then I got thrown into this. I found out I had super-powers all of a sudden. Not like X-ray vision, but strength, speed, kind of a Slayer-sense...all that. There was a weird guy, somebody I really didn't want to know, and he told me he was my Watcher. I thought he was a major pervo. But that was when I started seeing the things that most people don't get to see. Like the vampires that were turning up and killing people. And he told me I was one of the only people in the world who could do something about it. And that I had to.

"So I did. I staked them, over and over and over again. I'd get vampire dust all over my clothes, and blood a lot of times...not from them, from me. I couldn't even tell Mom what I was doing. And my first Watcher, Kara, my first Watcher...Merrick...died. I saw him die. I had to...well...avenge him. Little old Buffy Summers, the cheerleader girl. I had to kill the vamp that killed him." Buffy sighed, sat down cross-legged on the concrete floorway. "Growing up in a hurry. At least that way."

Supergirl came and sat beside her. "I'm sorry, Buffy."

"Sometimes I am, too. I ended up burning down the high school to save people. Don't laugh."

"What's to laugh about, dear?" Supergirl put her arm around Buffy's shoulders, like a big sister. Or, Buffy thought, like a big sister's supposed to. She continued her tale.

"My folks got divorced over that, Kara. I mean, I lost my father, my dad, over that." Tears glittered at the corner of her eyes, but she fought them back. "We ended up moving, living in Sunnydale. I met Giles, met all the others, and found out I had a lot of work, a lot of bad things to kill, there. I wasn't Cheerleader Girl anymore. I mean, I tried out, but that's a whole 'nother ball of wax. Call me Graveyard Girl. So that, when I get to see something as wonderful as this place is, even though some of it creeps me out a bit..." She paused, then looked at Kara. "You see why it's a really nice change of pace."

Supergirl embraced her. "I know, honey. I can imagine. Or maybe, I can't. Can I tell you something? Then I really have to go."

"Sure. Anything. This is your house, after all. Or almost."

"I can't believe what it must be like to live in your world," said Kara. "I do what I do. I fight the super-villains, the alien invaders, what Kal and I classify 'cosmic menaces', and all that. But I don't have to kill. Or at least, I haven't yet. Vampires, demons...that's a new arena for me. One I really don't like. At yet, you have to deal with that, as you said, every night. I wouldn't want to do that, Buffy. Not on that basis. So don't you think you deserve a little credit for being brave enough to do what you do?"

"Uh. Well, we've compared notes before, Kara. But what I do is on a different scale. Yeah, I've saved the world once, but..."

"You saved the world. Only once?" Supergirl wrinkled her nose and grinned. "Isn't that enough? How many people get to do that, even one time?"

Buffy giggled, despite herself. "When you put it like that, it does sound funny."

"And if you hadn't been there, what would've happened?"

"Uh, the Master probably would have gotten loose and taken over the Earth. That sort of thing."

"You operate well in the place where you have to be," said Supergirl. "I perform where I have to, the best I can. Isn't that all we can do?"

"It is, definitely."

"So. Don't sell yourself short. In a way, I can admire you."

Buffy dropped her jaw. Kara kept smiling. "Now, I've got to go. I don't want you to follow me, but you can take a look around the place all you want. The sensitive stuff is on lockdown, and it won't respond to your touch. The animals can't get out, so they can't hurt you, or you them. Clear?"

"Crystal, so far."

"Two more important things. One, the bathrooms are on the first floor, on the left, not far from the opening of the hall. Two, the commissary is on this floor, down that way." Kara pointed. "You can get what you want by verbally ordering it."

"Verbally ordering it?"

"Think of it like ordering at McDonalds at the drive-in and you'll be fine. But don't try to get past the locked doors. They're private. Okay?"

"Majorly okay. Will you be all right, Kara?"

She ruffled Buffy's hair. "Hey. I'm only going to my favorite place for a couple of hours. Should be fine. Stay out of trouble, honey."

"I'll try."

"Just don't follow me. I'm sorry. We used to have robots that could show you around, but they aren't around anymore. See you in a few." Kara walked to a door between two banks of equipment, touched her hand to a plate, and opened it. She stepped through. It locked behind her. Buffy looked at it for a few moments.

Then she looked around for the stairway. Thankfully, she found it. There was a tube with a platform in it that was anchored in the ceiling and grounded in the floor, with doorways for each level, as well. But she didn't feel like trying that one.

Stairs were something that were the same in every world.

She hoped bathrooms were, too.

-K-

Willy was sitting in Angel's mansion with a pair of headphones on, listening to his host's collection of music. It ranged from Green Day and Pearl Jam all the way back to wax cylinders, and Angel had informed him not to even think about touching the latter, as he'd make him wish he'd never been demonized if he did. But Willy was having fun, listening to everyone from Duke Ellington on up on records, tapes, or CD's. Hell, Angel even had 8-tracks!

If the world was going to end tonight, at least he had a good soundtrack.

Still, there was time to think about things. If this Zol-Am was as tough as Superman, opening the Hellmouth shouldn't be that much of a problem for him. Unless the problem wasn't strength.

From what Willy had heard, Superman had a problem with magic. Maybe that was why Zol-Am hadn't busted the thing open like a jar of pickles already. Could he be repulsed by magic, too? Of course, being a vampire, he was already kind of a magic-spawn as it was. Wonder if that hurt him?

Obviously not. Or if it did, he was really concealing it.

Deductive thought wasn't Willy's strong suit. But when he got an idea, it was something so unique that he couldn't imagine keeping it to himself. He yanked the phones off his head and out of the stereo, causing the music to become audible all through the room. Then he scurried to another phone, the kind that hung on the wall. Within seconds, he was placing a call to Rupert Giles.

"Yes?" came the voice on the other end.

"Giles? Willy here. Got me a think about the problem."

"Oh? Enlighten us, Willy." The demon didn't like the snottiness he perceived in Giles's voice, but what the hell. As a human, Willy had been a telemarketer once, and he'd dealt with Limeys beforehand. They were snotty and never bought anything from him, so it was probably a cultural trait. So he bypassed it.

"Hear me out on this one, okay? Okay. Guys like Superman have a problem with magic. Am I right on that?"

"Right, Willy."

"So when our boy became a, you know, that put him at least halfway into magic territory. I'm on solid ground so far, ain't I?"

"Oh...about as solid as I care to contemplate. What's your conclusion?"

"Well, supposin' he's havin' trouble holdin' both sides of himself together? Like they was joined by Elmer's Glue and they were pushin' against each other all the time?"

Silence on the other end.

"Giles? You there?"

Giles spoke deliberately. "You may have something there, Willy. I might not put it quite like that. I'd probably think of it like an organ transplant being rejected."

"Well, whatever. I'm a simple guy, Giles."

"It's all right, Willy. Even though we haven't quite seen evidence of such, that's a concept that bears some thinking on. I'll pass it along to the others and see what we can come up with."

"So you think it's all right?"

"Yes, Willy. I think it's eminently all right. You did well."

The demon's chest swelled so much he thought he might burst his black Van Halen T-shirt. "So...when you think we're gonna get together?"

"Not before evening. A couple of our friends took a short trip. Besides, your host won't be up before then, anyway."

"Oh. They going to be home in time for dinner?"

"I should hope so, Willy. I should sincerely hope so. And by the way, is that Duke Ellington I hear in the background?"

"Uh...yeah."

"Good. If you have it, give a listen to 'Mood Indigo'. It's superb. Talk to you later, all right?"

Willy grinned. "Anytime, pal. Anytime."

-B-

In the place below the streets of Sunnydale, Bill Goodwin, the demon with half his face a few inches higher than the other half, was speaking as articulately as he could to his audience.

"Ish like this," he proclaimed. "We've shtooged for a lotta front guys, but thish ish the first shtime we ever been ashked ta be part of an arrmy. It's probably gonna be more like a, I dunno, like a union. It shtarts when we open the Hellmouth shtonight."

"Tonight?" asked a regular-line, swivel-horned demon. "No lie? After all this yeah-we-will-no-we-won't, we're really gonna be openin' the Hellmouth?"

An eight-foot Bludgeoner, his massive hands hanging around his knees, spoke up. "You haven't seen this guy, Junior. I have. Take Superman, put fangs on him, and that's what we're working with. Plus they say he was career military, where he comes from."

Junior nodded. "Concept to work with," he said.

Another one of the gathering, a gill-faced girl demon with a diving helmet full of water on her head, spoke through a vocalizer made for throat cancer patients. "But what about the Slayer, and that Slayer Mark II? What's the plans for them?"

"The plansh aresh ta kill them," rasped Bill. "If they schow up beforehand, during, or after the Grand Opening, they're shtoast. Well? You in or you out? Anybody in, raise your hands."

Hands went up all over the place.

It looked to Bill Goodwin like Zol-Am had his army.

Buffy was in the communications center watching Passions when something came up on her from behind. Before it could call her name, she was out of the chair, stake in hand, and whirling in its direction.

Supergirl stood there with a large valise in hand. "Nice reflexes," she commented.

The Slayer caught her breath. "Don't ever do that! I mean, sorry. This is your house and all...I just get jumpy. I might have..." She looked at Kara. "I might have hurt myself."

"No problem. Obviously, I'm back."

"Yeah." Buffy stashed the stake back in her handbag. "Sorry. Um, I was watching soaps."

"That's cool. Did you ever get into 'Secret Hearts'?"

"Kind of before my time. And anyway, I could never stand that woman who played Margo Hatton, you know? She was such an irritating bitch."

"Uh. Anyway, Buffy, we don't have that much time. I wanted to show you a few things I've brought back with me. Then, of course, I'll have to show them all over again to your group. Observe."

-K-

Willow felt the heft of the stake in her hand. "Doesn't feel any heavier than the usual. I mean, is this a .38 caliber stake, or what?"

Buffy said, "Giles. Do you have a book or something you're not using? Preferably a hardback?"

The Watcher looked up from the opened valise around which he, Kara, Cordelia, and Xander were gathered. "Oh. You want a demonstration? Just use this." He pulled a book from a standing shelf and tossed it to her. Buffy caught it on the fly.

She looked at it. "A Baptist hymnal? Giles, I am so not going to desecrate this book."

"All right, then." He threw another, heftier book at her. She caught it. "Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag. He was always a rather lightweight poet."

"The book isn't," said Buffy. She held it before her in both hands. "Push against it, Will. A little."

Willow came at the book, her staking arm back as if she was going to throw a forward pass. Buffy said, "Stop, Will! I said a little, not a lot. This is our Kryptonian stake demonstration."

"Oh." Willow stopped, then walked to Buffy, put up her hand with the stake, and gently pushed the tip against the book cover. It went through the whole book with a single thrust, pushing out paper pulp and cloth-covered cardboard. Willow's eyes widened.

"Weird," she pronounced.

Xander said, "The new improved Stake-O-Matic from Ronco. It penetrates, defenestrates, and...somebody give me a good rhyme here."

"Xander," said Cordy, in despair. "Get with the program."

Kara said, "These stakes are from the wood of a Rokynian tree. In Earth's environment, they become super-hard. They can punch through even Kryptonian flesh. They are not toys, and after our exercise, every one of them has to be recovered and sent back with me."

"Understood, Kara," said Giles, feeling one of the stakes gingerly. "Just the thing I've had to do with many of the magical accouterments around here. Dangerous materials must be handled with care."

"And he fines you if you don't put 'em back," added Xander.

"Yes. That's the librarian in me."

Willow went back to the table, holding the stake in both hands. "Yeah. I know what you're thinking. Did he stake only five vamps, or all six? Well, let me tell you, punk..."

"You didn't watch that movie, Will," said Cordelia. "Tell me you really didn't watch that movie."

"What?" Willow dropped her hands to her sides. "I'm only supposed to watch girl movies? I can't watch Clint Eastwood if I want to?"

"Well, you could watch him in 'Bridges of Madison County.'" Cordy held up a golden medallion on a chain. "What does this do?"

Supergirl took it from her, gently. "This is a medallion of Rao. Priests wear it on Rokyn. This, especially, has to go back with me. It may, probably will, have the same effect on Zol-Am as a cross would on a Christian, or ex-Christian, vampire. If we get lucky with it, we may not need anything else other than a stake."

"If," said Buffy. "Always the operative word. And usually not even operative."

Kara gave her a serious look. "You're right." To all of them, she said, "This is just the stuff I brought from Rokyn. The box I brought with it comes from the Fortress. I only want Buffy, Giles, or Angel to handle what's in it. Understood?"

"Sounds like hazmat," offered Xander.

"Very hazmat," said Supergirl, taking the box from under the table. "You two, follow me."

Willow, Xander, and Cordelia watched the threesome leaving the room. "What do you think they've got in there?" asked Willow, tentatively.

Xander sombered a bit. "There's only a few things that can kill Superman. My guess is she brought a few of them back with her."

Cordelia said, "And if it can kill Superman, it can kill..."

"You aced the pop quiz, Cordy," said Xander. "That's why it's on a need-to-stake basis."

-B-

In the kitchen, Kara paused and looked all about the room before setting the box down on the table. "Why'd you do that?" asked Buffy.

"X-ray vision," said Supergirl. "Also telescopic. I can't afford to open this without making a check first."

Rupert said, "With all respect, Kara, please don't flaunt your extra powers around that much. We know what you can do, in theory."

"Giles," said Buffy. "I'm all right with this, okay? I know Kara can do more than I can. I'm not about to become Inferiority Complex Girl, okay?"

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to put anyone down by comparison," Kara said. "I know what it's like, believe me. I didn't always have powers."

"Neither did I," said Buffy. "Sometimes I think I'd like to be back there."

"That makes two of us," Supergirl said. "Let's not worry about that right now. Mr. Giles, if you would, pick up this box for a moment."

Giles reached out, grasped the box, and lifted it. "Hmm. A bit heavier than your...normal box, I would think."

The Argonian nodded. "Lined with lead. That'll be suspicious enough to Zol-Am when we get into battle. But it something that can't be helped. I'm trusting you and Angel to keep this out of sight and out of conspicuousness when we get there, but have it near to hand. What I'm about to show you stays here and doesn't go out. Agreed?"

"Agreed," the two others echoed.

"All right, then." Kara opened the box.

Inside was what looked like a large, red, circular projector with two buttons on the back, and a much smaller metal box. "And this is...what?" asked Buffy.

"I do believe I know," said Giles. "I'm not quite sure I'm comfortable with it. At all."

Supergirl nodded. "These are our two last lines of defense. This," she said, gesturing to the projector, "is a Phantom Zone ray. Just worry about the white button. If you touch that, whatever you point this at will be instantly banished to the Zone. This one I've set to burn out its power element just two minutes after activation. That should prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. If all else fails, use this on Zol-Am. I don't want him back in the Zone. I don't know if he can infect other inmates there with vampirism, and I don't want to find out. If I don't have to."

"Yeah. One vamp with powers to change the course of mighty graveyards is all we need for now. And what's in this little box?" Buffy reached for it.

Kara grasped her wrist. "Don't."

"I know what is in there," said Giles, quietly. "Kryptonite."

"Kryptonite?" Buffy jerked her hand back, with Kara still holding her wrist. "You're serious?"

"What do you think?" asked Kara, softly. "If even the Zone projector fails, you have to use this against Zol-Am. It must be in close proximity to him for several minutes to kill him. If it gets knocked too far away, or he manages to fly off, or lead gets between it and him...he can recover. Also, don't expect him to be too pleased."

"We can't use that against him while you're around."

"Buffy." Kara took her friend by the shoulders, gently but firmly. "You'll only use this as a last resort. But if that happens, you will use it whatever the circumstances."

"But..."

"Whatever the circumstances. Am I clear?"

Just as gently, Buffy removed Kara's hands from her shoulders. "Kara. Reality alert. Have I told you that I've died before?"

"You? Died?"

The Slayer nodded. "Drowned by an ubervamp called the Master. Xander brought me around, just barely, with artificial resp. I've not only died, I've killed. I killed Angel, too. Seriously killed him."

"The...vampire guy?"

"The very same. I killed him to save the world. Your line of work, I know, but you weren't available at the time. Sent him to Hell, and he came back a nice guy again."

Rupert Giles said, "Buffy, I believe that's enough. I would really rather you didn't get into further details, if you please."

Buffy shot him a look. "Should I tell her about Jenny Calendar?"

"No, absolutely not."

Supergirl looked from Buffy to Rupert and back again. She had a feeling that, even though she'd seen more than either of these two would in a lifetime, there was something she'd missed. Like lifting up a board in an empty lot and seeing the beetles, grubs, and worms burrowing about. Something from which she'd possibly been shielded before. She had better sense than to ask about Jenny Calendar.

"So you see," said Buffy, "you're dealing with a professional here. I may not work the same side of the street. But we're in the same line of work."

After a pause, Kara said, "Then you think you can put me out of work, if it comes to that?"

"If it has to come to that," said Buffy, trying to keep her voice steady, "it isn't going to be anybody does that but me."

-S-

Angel awoke slightly before sunset, showered, and dressed quickly. The group was already assembled in his living room. Buffy, Giles, Xander, Willow, Cordy, Willy and Supergirl. "Well," he said. "Anyone got a pithy comment to toss off before we go to war?"

"Only that war is just what we're going into," warned Kara, sitting on the arm of a stuffed chair. "This guy is a military professional, Angel. He was a subordinate of a guy who almost conquered my homeworld. You can't expect an easy time with him."

"Boy, does she have us pegged," said Xander. "Not."

"That's gallows humor," said Buffy. "We're good at it around here. Comes from practice."

"It doesn't mean they're not taking this seriously," Giles said. "Just that they're using humor as a coping mechanism."

"Me, I'd rather use fashion as a coping mechanism," said Cordelia. "But, hey, we all have our burdens."

"Well, we won't have them if we don't, you know, win tonight," Willow put in. "I mean, we are facing somebody with super-powers. Even more than Kara, here."

"Thanks for reminding us, Will," Buffy noted. "So it's going to be tough. We're fighting somebody who's got more strength than any vamp we've ever faced before. Like Kara says, he's a tactician. He's probably got numbers on his side, too, by now. But he does have the old Achilles heel or two, and we're gonna use 'em. Kara and I whipped M'nagaleh together, and this guy has a lot less power than that guy...or glob...or whatever had. Am I right?"

"Definitely right," said Kara, glad for a chance to see an upside again.

"So we're going out to take the war to Zolly now, and if it doesn't take too long, we're gonna celebrate at the all-night Doublemeat place," Buffy finished. "I know it's kind of a short beer for you, Kara, but that's all I can offer right now."

"Hey, it's enough, Buffy," said Supergirl. She noticed a sour expression on the Watcher's face. "Something wrong, Mr. Giles?"

Giles said, "I was just reflecting on some truly horrible movies that I used to watch as a child. Mostly, we saw them on TV...we had Creature Features in Britain, too. They must've been made in the Fifties and early Sixties. Monsters or aliens would land in a small town, a bunch of teenagers would be the only ones who knew about it, and they'd be forced to defeat the monster. Then they'd go back and hit the malt shop afterwards.

"When I got out of my youth, I thought those were the stupidest movies I'd ever seen. And now, God help me, it seems they're a preparatory text for my life."

Angel grinned. "I remember those times. And those movies."

Xander said, "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's, like, go wipe out the monsters, Daddy-O!"

"Hmm," said Willow. "Could this possibly be called a monster rally?"

"Will," Buffy advised, "shut up."

-B-

The army was already on the march.

Zol-Am wasn't wasting time with things, as it was. The first inkling Sunnydale had that things were amiss was when a squad of demons stopped a patrol car near the park with their bare hands. There were enough of them to do that. The cops radioed in a report to the station, but they were yanked out of the prowl car by creatures who were strong enough to tear the doors off their vehicle. A demon driver got in the car itself afterward and took it to a secluded place within the park proper.

Before too many minutes were past, Zol-Am's troops had expanded outward from the park, on the march. The few late walkers and disreputable types who caught sight of them were snatched, dealt with, and disposed of. For what little time he'd had to train them, Zol-Am had the vamps and demons acting like a reasonably efficient regiment.

The mayor received a report on the activity from a frightened flunky. He issued an order to keep an eye on things, but not to intervene. Not entirely ignorant of the situation, he judged it a time when he, too, hoped the Slayer would pull them through.

Bill Goodwin, who had been made Zol-Am's second-in-command thanks to doing a short stint in the Army, looked sideways at his topkick. "Sir, permission to ask a question."

The Kryptonian didn't bother to turn his head. "You don't have to ask permission, soldier. I may not answer, though. Proceed."

"Begging the general's permission, sir, but, given the fact that you've got enough power to put the rest of us in the sunlight..."

"That is a given, soldier." Zol-Am permitted himself a smile.

"...and the fact that you can fly, and shoot heat through your eyes, and all that comic-book stuff..."

"Comic book?"

"Begging your pardon, sir, I'll explain comic books one of these days when you have a lotta time. Well, you've got powers far beyond the reach of ordinary mortal, or immortal, vampires. So why do you need us to help you open the Hellmouth?"

Zol-Am, still on the march, considered his choices: telling the truth, keeping mum, or tearing the head off Goodwin and finding a new lieutenant. The last would take time, and he felt like hearing himself, so that left out the second choice. However, admitting a Kryptonian's vulnerability to magic outright, even if some of the troops may have suspected it, would be bad form.

"Lieutenant," said Zol-Am, "would it be an army if the general could get everything done by himself?"

Goodwin considered it. "Probably not, sir."

"Definitely not, lieutenant. It's not just the fact that the general can get things done better, it's that he knows how to delegate responsibility. To make sure that all his men get a taste of action. Isn't that so, lieutenant?"

"Sounds affirmative to me, sir."

"I believe we're on the same wavelength here, soldier. Now, you take this—" Zol-Am waved one hand at the throng about him. "—Just a ragtag bunch of raw recruits a couple of days ago, each one fighting for his daily blood. No pride, no accomplishment, just a leech off of the greater society. That was where they were two days ago.

"But now, look at them. Well, just look, lieutenant. We've given them something to strive for. We've given them discipline, regimentation, training. We've given them inspiration. The chance to fight for their community. I tell you, lieutenant, this will be a day to mark down in your calendars, and I've noticed your special days are marked in red, which makes it even more appropriate. Have I told you about our campaign on the Great Plains, with the Duplicates of General Dru-Zod?"

"Uh, begging the general's permission, yes, sir. A few times."

"That's all right. We'll save that for later." Zol-Am sniffed the air. "But you have to understand inspiration, lieutenant. It thrives on spectacle, on the sight and experience of a well-won victory. That's exactly what we're going to give the men tonight."

"There are women, too, sir. Demons, vampires, werewolves."

"Soldier." Zol-Am looked at Goodwin stonily. "In this outfit, there are only men, regardless of their sex. Is that clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Now, then. We're going to give the troops their spectacle. They're going to participate in the slaying of this...'Slayer' of yours, and her guerilla band. Myself, I'll see to the destruction of my worldsman, this 'Supergirl'. After that, we'll open your Hellmouth, and things will proceed from there. Understood?"

"Received and noted, general." Goodwin was getting tired of being a yes-man, but at least it was better to be a yes-man to this guy than, say, the Master. Maybe. Definitely better than some fat slob demon who had to have broth poured all over his body.

He thought, idly, that this might be the place where he could be all that he could be.

-S-

"They're on the march," said Supergirl, hovering 20 feet off the ground and using her telescopic and infra-red visions to scout the darkness.

"I think we can guess their intended theatre of operations without much difficulty," said Giles. "Well, troops, should we 'bug out', as they say?"

Cordelia eyed Giles's Citroen. "Do I really have to ride in that thing? If I'm going to get killed, I'd prefer it to be in a sportier car."

"How many of you can cram into a car?" asked Supergirl, calling down to them.

Buffy reflected. "Well, there's Giles's and Xander's. So I guess the bunch of us could manage to fit into both."

"Oh, god," moaned Willy. "Am I gonna have to sit over the stick shift again?"

"Get in," said Kara. "I'll show you how to get to the battle site quickly and in style."

"I'm sure that last part will appeal to Cordelia," remarked Willow.

The Scoobies piled into both cars. Angel and Xander shared the front seat of Xander's car, with Willow and Willy in the back. "Now what?" asked Xander, at the wheel. "Does she, like, use her superbreath to blow us there, or what? Hey! What're you doing there?"

He'd caught sight of Supergirl at the front of his car.

"I think she's going to move us, Harris," remarked Angel, a second before Kara took hold of the front bumper and towed it gently but swiftly to a spot just behind Giles's tried-but-true Citroen.

"Wow," said Willow. "Talk about Girl Power. I wonder if she'd talk to Wonder Woman about getting me into Amazon training, or something."

"Hey, forgive me for noticing, but I thought you were still learning to be a witch," said Angel.

"Yeah, I know. But maybe I could audit, or something. A double major."

Willy sighed. Then his eyes bulged as though Ed McMahon was standing there with a Publisher's Clearing House van behind him. "Hey. Hey! Waitaminnit. What's she doing?"

Supergirl had her cape off and had looped it around Giles's back bumper and Xander's front bumper. She tied both ends of the stretchable red garment together, with one set of Scoobies looking back at her and the others looking forward. After she was done, Kara went to the driver's side on Xander's car and spoke to them. "You're all buckled up. Good. Stay that way, and believe me, this won't take more than a minute or two."

"Oh, no," gulped Willow. "I bet this'll be worse than the Matterhorn at Disneyland."

"Just hold on tight," advised Angel, "and think of England."

"Why should I think of England?" asked Willow, seeing Supergirl speaking to the group in Giles's car.

"Figure of speech," Angel said, just before the girl in blue grasped Giles's front bumper and hauled both cars into the night sky.

Willow was right. It was worse than the Matterhorn. But, thankfully, the ride was over a lot sooner.

-K-

Even the vampires were startled by the sight (or what they could catch of it, in the subdued night lighting) of a flying woman in blue, yellow, and red coming down in the parking lot of Sunnydale's high school with two cars in tow. Their troops hadn't quite stormed the school yet, but that, everyone knew, wasn't far in the future.

In an interval of time too fast for human eyes to see, Supergirl untied the cape from the bumpers and fastened it to her shoulders again. The Scoobies piled out of the cars and assembled, as well as they could manage. Both units stood facing each other across an intervening street, for a long moment.

Then Zol-Am, rising from the mass of demons and vamps by his flight power, pointed at them and made a proclamation. It was simple enough for the troops to comprehend.

"There stands the enemy," he said. "Attack!"

By the time he had the last syllable out of his mouth, Zol-Am had the holy medallion of Rao pressed to his forehead by Supergirl. It made him scream, which made him very angry. There was no excuse for showing him up in front of his troops like that. With a ferocious blow, he smashed Supergirl away. She couldn't come to a stop before she'd torn up several yards of asphalt on the street below her.

The Kryptonian felt as though someone had stuck a triple-thread burner against his brow. But he forced himself to smile.

"Is that the best the enemy can do? Put youself in the casualty list already, Kara Zor-El!"

"Kara!" Buffy cried out, started after her. The Girl of Steel was picking herself up from the street, looking woozy.

Giles stopped Buffy, grabbing her arm. "Just a moment, Buffy. A show of weakness is...not what we can afford right now. Give her a chance."

"Giles, she's hurt!"

"He's right, Buffy," said Angel, seriously. "Supergirl is our biggest weapon right now. If she doesn't come up to scratch, we've got our heads in a potful of garlic."

Supergirl got back on her feet and shook her head. The Zoner was, indeed, stronger than she was, just as a normal vampire was stronger than a normal human. But she was the only one anywhere near his power level. She really should have called in the Justice League, all things considered.

But that was Monday morning quarterbacking. Provided, of course, she lived till Monday morning.

Zol-Am was already landing in front of her. With a motion borne of super-speed, he grabbed the medallion by its chain, not touching the disk itself, ripped it from her neck, and threw it away. "What now, girl? Any other weapons in your armory?"

"Could try this," said Kara, and hit him with an uppercut that knocked him into the air.

"Good lord," exclaimed Cordelia, watching the Zol-Am-shaped missile soar higher and higher.

"Yeah," said Xander. "That's a woman you seriously do not want to leave the toilet seat up on."

Willow drew in a deep breath. She and Giles were both wearing backpacks. Giles had the box with the Kryptonite in his. She had the Phantom Zone projector. Hopefully, the spell she'd cast would make the objects undetectable to the enemy. But if Supergirl's latest gambit didn't put some points on the board, they'd have to use the weapons Kara had gave them.

She prayed to whoever she thought was listening that it wouldn't come to that.

Kara was wiping blood off her mouth. Buffy was charging full tilt boogie into the street, stake upraised. "You want to open the Hellmouth? Make my day, punks!"

Cordelia babbled, "She watches them too? She watches Clint Eastwood, too?"

One of the flappy-eared demons turned to Bill Goodwin. "Orders, sir?"

"You've got your freakin' orders, soldier!" snapped Goodwin, hoping he sounded enough like his old sergeant. "Kick their butts!"

"Affirmative, sir!" shouted Flappy Ears.

Goodwin told himself he really didn't hear him say that.

The Scoobies and the vampire / demon army began to rumble. Supergirl flew into action against the enemy troops, acting at super-speed to knock the lot of them down, rendering as many unconscious as she could. Then she paused, staggered, by something unknown.

And something bit her on the hand. Despite herself, she cried out in pain.

A female vampire was biting her on the hand.

In an instant, Buffy Summers was on the back of the vamp, yanking her head back with one hand and staking her with the other. The vampire collapsed into dust. "Kara," Buffy said with sincerity, "watch your ass around here."

"I'll remember that," said Supergirl. Clenching her teeth, she trained her heat vision on her hand and cauterized the wound. Then she whacked a demon coming up behind her in the labonza with her good arm, without turning around. He sprawled on the street, clutching his gut and groaning.

"Make sure you do," said Buffy, and staked a vamp in the chest who had been similarly coming up from behind her, also without turning around. She'd wanted to try that, she reflected, ever since seeing something like it in an old Sabata movie with Lee Van Cleef.

Angel, Giles and company were fighting, staking, trying to turn the tide. Kara's maneuver had given them plenty of help. The ensouled vampire was bashing demons' heads together with both hands, dodging wooden weaponry, kicking out in grandest streetfighting fashion. Willow was doing her Dr. Strange number as well as she could manage, bowling over and blasting vamps with spells from her outstretched hand.

Xander and Cordy were standing back to back, stakes raised, wondering when the main action was going to find them. "Why aren't we doing anything?" asked Cordelia.

"Sometimes," said Xander, "they also serve who only stand and shiver."

Then everything was pretty much put on hold when Zol-Am fell from the sky and landed on his feet not far from Supergirl and Buffy.

He did not look happy about the turn of affairs and his fangs were bared. Buffy started for him out of reflex, as much as anything. Kara held her back with one arm. "Stay," she said.

Zol-Am stopped and pointed dramatically at Supergirl. "With your death, the new era begins. Soldiers, destroy the guerillas. We'll see which of us gets finished first." He started forward.

Supergirl held up her hand. "Hold! Zol-Am...Personal Combat Challenge."

One of the demons, who sported a nose that hung way below his chin, offered, "Say what?"

"What're you talking about?" asked Buffy. But Zol-Am's jaw was hanging open.

"Giles, what's going on?" asked Willow, tensely. "What's she doing?"

The Englishman, squatting on top of a vampire and pressing a cross into its face, looked up. "My word. I've no way of telling, but this may be, well, their equivalent of David and Goliath."

"And her without a sling," said Willow.

"Hey, will you watch it?" snarled the vampire under Giles. "That hurts!"

"Sorry," said Giles, apologetically, and staked him to dust.

One of the vampire troops was running forward with a stake aimed at Angel's back. Zol-Am caught sight of him, adjusted his eyes, and blasted a hole in his back with heat vision. He collapsed to dust on the spot, the stake clacking down on the street in front of him. Even Angel was impressed.

"No combat till we have this sorted out," declared Zol-Am. "It is our law."

Bill Goodwin gaped. "Sir, beggin' your pardon, but is this really a decision you wanna go through with? I mean, that's just not the way things are done down here."

Supergirl addressed the crowd of demons. "Let me explain, for those of you who weren't born where we were. The Personal Combat Challenge is a form of military conduct that was implemented on Krypton. It allows a soldier to make a challenge to another soldier, regarding personal battle. If the challenge is accepted, nobody else can interfere in the fight. I'm challenging Zol-Am right here, right now. The rest of you, back off. Nobody on my side or your side will fight till we're done."

Then she put her hands on her hips. "If your commander is too scared to face me one-on-one, I'll understand."

A gasp and a sort of watermelon-cantaloupe buzz went up from the crowd. The Scoobies looked at each other. Buffy clutched her stake more tightly. "Kara, I hope you know what the hell you're doing," she muttered.

Zol-Am didn't trust himself to speak for a moment. When he did, he said, "You forget yourself, woman. Don't you know that the Challenge can only be made by one soldier to another?"

Supergirl smiled. She reached inside her belt and pulled out a metal object. "Take a look at this, Zol. Can you tell everyone what it is?"

He took it from her, looked at it, and glared at her. "A registration. In the Defense Corps."

"I enlisted when I was in Rokyn yesterday," said Kara. "Thought it might come in handy. Ordinary Soldier Kara Zor-El reporting for duty, sir."

Silence for a moment. Then Zol-Am grated, "R damn you!", and struck.

Buffy cried out as she saw the Argonian girl go down. She hurtled forward, stake in hand. Angel tackled her from the left and brought her to the street, for which maneuver she showed little gratitude. "Get off me, dammit!" she yelled.

"No, Buffy," said Angel, pinning her arms to the asphalt. "Weren't you listening, for Pete's sake? This is a duel. If either of us, any of us, interferes, that violates the terms. Their army will be free to attack again."

"Oh, I am so concerned about that!"

"You'd better be, Buff. If Kara wins this one, we win the entire enchilada. If she loses..."

"Yes?" Buffy looked up at him, defiantly.

"Let's not think about that," said Angel.

"Get off me," groused Buffy.

Angel complied, but stood by warily. Giles and the others were also scrutinizing her. The Slayer brushed off the back of her begrimed blouse and the seat of her pants. She still held her stake in the other hand. But she didn't move to attack Zol-Am.

Supergirl was back up, but Zol hit her again, driving her before him. The demonites watching the fray had to give way before her passage. She was showing the effects of his blows, especially on her face, which was starting to bruise...Sheol, starting to bleed. But as the vampiric Zoner closed to deliver another smash, Kara, who had been crouching, straightened up, grabbed his descending arm, wrenched it powerfully, and smashed it across her knee. Zol-Am cried out.

"Score one," said Kara, and, using her flight power to help, kicked him hard in the face.

"Wooow!" shouted Xander, pumping a fist in the air. "Go, Kara! Go, Kara! Smackdown on Supervamp!"

"Yeah, Xan," said Cordelia, tensely. "But it's still not good enough. Take a look."

Supergirl had grabbed a stake from where she had stashed three of them, under her belt. But Zol-Am had her by the arm, twisted it, and forced her to drop the weapon. His strength was undeniably beyond her own. While he did so, his eyes blazed, and Supergirl cried out. He was burning her face with heat-vision. She reciprocated with heat-blasts of her own, and thrust her free hand at his Adam's apple. He blocked the blow, but she managed to pull free. The two separated.

Kara looked to be breathing heavier than the vampire.

"Go get her, General," opined Bill Goodwin, loudly.

"Clam up, or I'll turn you into K-rations," snapped Angel.

Supergirl said something in Kryptonese. It was apparently insulting. Zol-Am closed with her. The two grappled, flew into the air, began fighting so rapidly that the eyes of both human and demon could not register their forms.

Buffy grabbed Giles by the shirtsleeve. "Over here," she demanded.

"Buffy, what?" asked Giles, tensely.

"We need to talk. Us and Willow." She dragged him over to the girl-witch, whose face was registering fear. Once they were near her, Buffy had the three of them huddle.

"Kara isn't going to win this without help of some kind," said Buffy. "If you're not going to hit the Vampire From Outer Space with a spell, Will, I have something in mind. Literally."

"What?" asked Willow.

The Slayer dropped her voice. "Can you do a Vulcan mind meld?"

"Buffy, exactly what are you suggesting?" asked Giles. "Explain, quickly."

"What I mean is, Supergirl has a helluva lot less experience in fighting vamps than I do," said Buffy. "Can you put my mind inside of hers?"

Willow's eyes widened again. "I, I don't know, Buffy. I've never tried something like that before. I mean, theoretically, it's possible. But I don't have my, uh, my equipment at hand here. And if they saw me, y'know, making patterns with chalk on the street, they might call off the truce. Which is, like, totally fine by me if it's fine by you. Trusts with vamps are pie-crust. Lousy pie-crust at that. Not Betty Crocker."

Giles stepped in. "But we may not require that, Willow. A spoken spell and, well, focus may be enough. Either of us by ourselves might not be able to complete the process, but the two of us, under my guidance, might accomplish it. However, Buffy, what do you intend to do once you're in contact with Kara?"

"Try to use my skills to help her kill this guy," said the Slayer. "We don't have that much time. We try, or we die. And she dies. Well?"

"I think we had better give it a try," said Giles.

Bill Goodwin caught sight of the small huddle. "Hey," he said. "Just what are those guys doing back there?"

Angel smiled. "You ever heard of a prayer group, friend?"

Zol-Am's lieutenant wasn't mollified. "I'm gonna go over there and see just what–"

The vampire in the black duster stepped in front of him and put a hand gently but firmly in his chest. "One more step and you'll be violating the truce," Angel said. "If you do, you'll get a chance to test your military skills out on me. Care to engage?"

Goodwin took a good look at Angel's unmoving countenance and stepped back. "Won't forget this, buddy," he said.

"Nobody will," answered Angel.

Giles and Willow were crouched with Buffy, each holding one of her arms. All three had their eyes shut, and the two mages were chanting. Buffy had learned long ago not to listen too closely. There were some things that she figured she could do without in her brain. Except, of course, when this was, hopefully, going to thrust her into somebody else's brain. It all seemed too X-Men to believe.

Worse yet, she realized that, if she made contact with Kara, she might very well feel what the Girl of Steel felt. Especially whatever Zol-Am did to her.

Conceivably, they might die together.

But it wasn't like she hadn't done that before.

For a long moment she was just checking out the insides of her eyelids, which was a comfortable enough thing to do. Then...

...she opened her eyes and there was blood in them, and a Kryptonian's face beyond her, snarling at her. And she felt pain.

A lot of it.

Kara?>

She spoke through her mind. Buffy didn't know it was possible, and she had done it before even, well, thinking about it. Did it work? Could it work?

What?>

The "voice" that answered was, reassuringly, Kara's. But it was weaker than she'd have wanted it to be, and she could feel the bruises, the burns, the hurting in Kara's body. The Girl of Steel was in defense mode. The Vampire of Steel was conceivably not that far from killing her.

This is Buffy,> she sent. Don't ask. I've got a telepathic hookup.>

What are you doing here?> This was punctuated by the sight of Kara putting her foot against Zol-Am's chest to prevent him drawing her close enough to sink his fangs into her neck.

Kara, don't think, just listen. You don't have experience fighting vampires. I do. You need to let me take over here, to guide you. If you don't, you're going to die, and so are all the rest of us. That wouldn't please any of us, or Superman, very much. Do you read me?>

Buffy, this...>

Kara, shut up and let me drive!>

The Slayer still wasn't sure how it was done. Evidently, Supergirl had a lot of trust in her. It felt like shifting gears on an old truck. A lurch, and then she was in. She felt the strain of pushing Zol-Am away, felt his greater strength drawing her nearer.

So she stopped resisting him and brought their foreheads together with a bang.

Zol-Am was as much surprised as he was hurt. Buffy wrenched free of him in that moment, awed by her newfound power, her great speed, and...

...the fact that she was several hundred feet above the ground with nothing under her.

"Oh, God," she said aloud. "Oh, God. What do I do now?"

"Elementary, my dear," snarled Zol-Am, game-facing her in horrific fashion. "You die."

The sight of Zol's vampire face broke her out of hesitation. "Sorry. Not in my appointments book." She lashed out with a ferocious spin-kick, followed up with another and another and a bunch of others, the likes of which she abruptly lost track.

Wow!, she thought to herself. This super-speed stuff is a kick. And I thought I was Lady Dynamite with my slayer powers.

Keep your mind on the job, for R's sake!>

Sorry, Kara!>

Zol-Am, staggered, nonetheless rallied himself and swooped in for an attempted killing stroke. Supergirl / Buffy sidestepped him in midnight air and landed a double-handed smash to the back of his neck. Even the vampire was staggered by that.

How in the name of Rao had she managed a turnaround in mid-battle like that? If she was bluffing beforehand, he was damned glad he'd never been in a barracks chance game with her. She'd have taken him for a year's salary.

An elbow strike under the chin. A knee to the groin. Another spinning kick that did damage to his ribs. This thing was getting serious.

Zol-Am slammed an uppercut into Supergirl's jaw and, thankfully, knocked her several hundred yards away. That was enough time for him to regroup.

Inside Supergirl's mind, Buffy reeled. That was possibly the toughest blow she'd ever taken, and she'd taken a lot in her time. Zol-Am was coming on like a locomotive without rails. Kara was yelling at her, mentally.

Get UP! He's coming in for the finisher!>

Yeah, yeah. I'm kind of aware, Kara. Quit inhibiting me. We've got to kill this guy.>

Kill?>

You don't put vampires out for the count, Kara. You stake with extreme prejudice.>

With that, Buffy used her borrowed hand to pull Supergirl's last Kryptonian stake from the back of her belt. But she was a little late. Zol-Am was upon her, slamming a powerful hand into her arm, knocking the weapon out of her hand. It fell, end over end, three hundred feet to the ground. It landed on the lawn of the Sunnydale High School. It was, incredibly, pointing up.

Looking at it, Cordelia said, "What does that mean?"

Xander said, "It means...watch out for falling Supergirls."

Buffy used Supergirl's eyes to follow the stake's progress and its landing place. Zol-Am had his hands on her neck, and his face was coming incredibly close. "You, I'll kill," he said. "You, I'll share blood with. You'll be so much more valuable to me as a second-in-command, and whatever else I desire from you. Quit resisting, woman. Just lift your head a little more, and make it easier."

Gritting her teeth, Buffy / Supergirl said, "Sorry. I just can't do that. Not with a borrowed body."

He stopped, and looked at her curiously. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"This!"

She exerted all her borrowed power to put herself on top, in mid-air, with Zol-Am positioned between her and the ground. Then, with all the strength and speed left to her—and it was considerable—the Slayer in Supergirl's body shoved both of them towards the Earth.

Zol-Am barely had time to figure out what was happening, and not nearly enough to resist.

Seeing it, Angel shouted, "Take cover!" to both allies and demons alike. The two camps didn't have to be told twice. The soldiers of Zol-Am's ragtag army scattered, hitting the ground. Cordy and Xander flattened out. Giles, Buffy, and Willow still remained in their trance, immobile but understanding.

A two-person meteor fell from the sky and slammed into the ground with the impact of a moderate California earthquake. It would have taken a sharp eye indeed to see the effect of a wooden stake coming up through the back of the Zoner who contacted the ground first, penetrating his heart, causing his eyes to widen to an incredible degree and his mouth to open for a curse and a shout of pain, neither of which he could manage to render.

Within an instant, Zol-Am turned to dust.

Supergirl lay there on her hands and knees, panting, the stake below her just abutting her blue-clad stomach. She put out a hand and knocked it flat. Then she collapsed, getting her face in the dirt that had been Zol-Am a few seconds ago.

Kara?>

Yes, Buffy?>

We're finished.>

Good. I want my body back.>

With pleasure. But I gotta tell you, you've got a really great setup here. Do you think, maybe, sometime...>

BUFFY.>

All right, all right.>

The Slayer, instinctively, unlinked from Kara's mind. Her sight, hearing, sensation, smell-sense, everything else vanished for a nanosecond. Then she saw a familiar darkness, felt a familiar form. Her own. Buffy Summers opened her eyes.

Feeling it, Giles and Willow did the same. "You both all right?" asked Buffy.

"Yes," said Giles. "Yes, Buffy, we're quite exquisite. How, ah, is Miss Kara?"

She looked across to the lawn where Kara was sprawled. Cordy and Xander were helping her up. Angel was talking to Bill Goodwin and the demons. None of the latter seemed intent on advancing.

"She got beaten up, Giles," said Buffy. "Both of us took a real pounding. But we won."

Willow said, "Buffy. What'd it feel like? Being part of Supergirl, I mean?"

She considered her response.

"Well, Will, I wouldn't wanna do that on a permanent basis. But taken in small doses, as per the Surgeon General's warning...it ain't that bad. Not that bad, indeed."

"Shall we see to Miss Kara, then?" asked Giles.

"It's an idea," Buffy said. The two of them helped her to her feet, and, collectively, they approached Supergirl, still lying on the lawn, being tended to by Cordelia and Xander.

To Bill Goodwin, Angel said, "Let's discuss surrender terms. The terms are, you guys get the hell out of here and don't pull anything like this again, and we let you live. Agreed?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Goodwin. "See you around, Angel."

"You'd better not," warned the vampire, and turned on his heel. Behind him, the lost army of Zol-Am dispersed. Angel trudged over to the spot where the Scoobies surrounded Supergirl.

"How's our guest?" he asked.

Tiredly, Supergirl raised herself up on one elbow and looked at him. "Outstanding, sir. Outstanding."

Buffy Summers smiled.

-K-

"You shoulda seen it, Mrs. Summers," said Xander, excitedly, standing behind the breakfast table. "Out of the clear, black sky, boom! She comes down with him on top of that stake, and he blows up like a Spinal Tap drummer."

"Creative use of metaphor there, Xander," commented Buffy, working on her scrambled eggs. "But honestly, Mom, it was all right. The good guys won again."

Joyce Summers held her coffee mug thoughtfully. "Yes. Well...thank God for that, anyway. I certainly hope this sort of thing doesn't happen again."

Sitting across from her, Kara, in her civvies, said, "I'll keep an eye out, Mrs. Summers. It won't if I can help it."

Willow said, "That's the first time I've ever done a spell quite like that. I'm glad it managed to work as planned. I mean, you can't take a spell back to the manufacturer if it doesn't."

Cordelia winced. "I'm just glad we didn't have to use that projector thing. What does it do, turn them into a slide you show on the side of somebody's house?"

Supergirl smiled. "Don't worry about it, hon. I'm taking it back to the Fortress with me, along with the other stuff. I'll resign my commission in the military once I go back to Rokyn. Soldier girl for a day, that's me."

Buffy eyed the box near Kara's chair. "Too bad. Those super-stakes would really come in handy, in my line of work. But I guess I'll have to make do with what I've got."

"Seem to have been doing okay so far with 'em," said Xander. "Old-fashioned vampires call for old-fashioned stakes."

"Kara," said Willow. "Is this...well...goodbye?"

The Argonian girl ate her last forkful of French toast before replying. "Yes, Willow, I'm afraid it is. Au revoir, for awhile. But before I go, I'd like to talk with Buffy a bit." She looked at the Slayer. "If that's all right, of course."

Buffy shrugged, deliberately. "Sure. Why not? Let me get a bit more dressed and we'll go out."

A few minutes after that, she and Kara were walking down a Sunnydale street in the early light of morning. The box of accessories from Rokyn was under Kara's arm. "Strange, isn't it?" commented Kara. "A nice little town like this, a few hundred miles from where I used to live..."

"You lived in California?" Buffy eyed her. "Where at?"

"Oh, San Francisco. For a time. But what I meant to say is: all this niceness covering up all that evil. And when I leave here, Buffy, it's still going to be around."

"Yeah," said Buffy, not knowing what else to say.

"I don't see how I can do it, Buffy," said Kara. "I don't see how I can just go, and leave it here. Knowing more people may die, knowing more danger is just under the surface."

"Kara." Buffy stopped, forcing Kara to stop with her. "You leave, because you have to. This is our fight. We're more equipped to fight vampires and dead, undead, semi-dead, and Grateful Dead things than you are. Just like you're better at fighting Lex Luthor and his bunch of Backstreet Boys. It's our responsibility."

"It's my responsibility to fight things of evil," said Kara. "I'm a super-hero."

"Yes. But you're not a Slayer. There's a good reason why you and your friends haven't come across the Hellmouth, Kara. It's...in a way, it's too dangerous for you."

Supergirl stared at her.

Buffy continued, "There's forces that enable us to fight what we do, forces that make me a Slayer, that'll choose another one if I die. I mean, if I die again. We call them the Powers That Be. They keep the evil from spreading far beyond Sunnydale. At least, they have so far. If they needed you here, they would have called you here."

"They did call me here," said Kara.

The Slayer nodded. "To help us. On this one case. You might be a great help to us in our regular work, Kara. You really might. But only for awhile. The Powers on the Other Side would find a way of dealing with you. Maybe even of turning you. Believe me..."

She thought, briefly, of the time when Angel had lost his soul, and shuddered. Kara looked at her with concern. Buffy went on. "...Believe me, it could happen. I know."

"Then, what am I supposed to do? Just go, and pretend that none of this exists?"

"No," said Buffy. "You're supposed to go, and leave it to us. We're the trained professionals in this thing. We know what to do, Kara. Just like...and, well, you know I hate to bring this up...just like when I was in your body."

Kara didn't say anything.

"I don't know that much about super-heroing, but I'll bet that Batman doesn't call you up every time the Joker and he have a throwdown," said Buffy. "You all have your spheres of influence. So do we. That's why we're here, Kara...and that's why you're there."

Finally, Kara said, "All right. But I'll check on things, from afar, when I can. I'll depend on you to make good on your promise, Buffy. Because, like it or not, if you and your friends can't keep order in Sunnydale...we'll have to intervene. You understand?"

"Yes, Kara. I totally understand."

Kara looked down at her feet. "You know," she said, "I didn't like what you had to do in my body."

"You mean, possessing it?" said Buffy. Then she caught herself. "Oh. Oh, now I know, sorry. Miss Obtuseness, here. You mean killing Zol-Am."

Kara nodded. "Neither I, nor Superman, take human life," she said. "I know Zol-Am wasn't technically alive. I know he was post-human. But still..." She held her hands up. "These hands destroyed a thinking being. I realize why it had to be done. I destroyed M'nagaleh, when we last met. But it's not something I'm proud of."

Buffy sighed. "I understand. Even though you might think I don't, I understand. And you know what, Kara?"

"What?"

"Sometimes, I wish I had your job. But I've got my own. Why don't we leave it at that, okay? I think we're both pretty good at what we do."

Supergirl smiled. "I think you're right, Buffy. I do believe you're right. If you have any problems you can't handle, you know how to reach me."

"I do," said Buffy, wistfully. "I hope...well, I hope we get to see each other again."

"If you want to come to Chicago, let me know and I'll show you the sights." Supergirl grinned wryly. "In between fighting super-villains, of course."

"And you'll have a place to crash in Sunnydale, if you need it," promised Buffy. "Uh...is this it?"

"I'm afraid it is, Buffy." Supergirl reached in and hugged her with her free arm. "You take care, okay? Don't get killed on me."

"I'll try not to," said Buffy, hugging back. "You too, okay, girlfriend? Take care."

A few seconds later, they broke the hug. Supergirl crouched, straightened, launched herself into the air. She accelerated and was lost to sight within seconds.

Buffy looked after her for a few minutes, then turned and began to walk back home. To have that kind of power on a permanent basis, to have the strength and speed she wielded for a few, never-to-be-forgotten moments...

"Yeah," Buffy said to herself. "Me. Slayergirl. Dauntless defender of non-vamps." Then she thought. "Nah. I really don't go for capes."

She straightened up, and walked in the direction of the morning sun.