Chapter Two

Inside his small cottage on the grounds of the newly founded Watcher's Council, Giles lay awake in his bed. He thought it would be wise to be close to the Council chambers in case of an emergency, and just to keep an eye on things.

A knock at the front door startled him. Climbing out of bed, he grabbed his glasses, dressing gown and put on his slippers then shuffled downstairs. He slid a latch across and pulled open a small square section of the wooden door. Peering out he saw Buffy, with Spike and Angel standing behind her.

He closed the "peephole", unlocked another latch and opened the door with a loud creak. He needed to oil those bloody hinges.

"Good morning." Giles greeted the threesome in a drowsy, yet friendly manner. "What brings you here at this time of the night?"

"A vampire attacked me." Buffy stated simply; she was clearly exhausted. Giles stepped aside and allowed them in, closing and locking the door behind them.

"Is that something out of the ordinary?" he mocked, following them through to the living room.

"She's not just an ordinary vamp, Rupert." Spike began. "There's something else you need to know about her."

"And what might that be?"

"Well, vampire is only half of who she is." Angel stepped in. He paused, exchanging glances with Giles and Buffy. "The other half of her is Slayer."

Giles' eyes went wide, as did Buffy's; she was unaware until now. "Excuse me?" Giles stuttered. "Did you say Slayer?"

"Yeah." Angel didn't seem phased by the idea much.

"How? I mean, you said she was a vampire."

"She is. And she's a Slayer too." Spike continued. "Or rather, she was a Slayer. She's obviously dead now."

"This is... unheard of." Giles commented, removing his glasses. "Never in all my years of being a Watcher have I head stories of a Vampire Slayer who was also a vampire. This is unbelievable..."

"Well believe it Giles because we know that she is." Angel said. "We've been following her for over two months now after she led us to believe there was something more to her than just being a vampire. Her name is Ruby, and we believe she was turned in 1946. That's the last time we found any trace of her during our research. We've been tracking her since the night she attacked us both in New York, right up until tonight when she attacked Buffy."

"I see. And why, might I ask, did this Ruby attack both of you? What reason does she have to come after you?"

"Think about it Giles, she's a vampire-Vampire Slayer. She is quite possibly the strongest thing alive." Angel pointed out. "What if she were to be persuaded by some evil mastermind somewhere to join forces and combine their power to strive for something they both want? And trust me when I say that is not good."

"I'm not stupid Angel, I do know what this means. But I also know that if she is a Slayer, then some part of her must still be good. It's like you having a soul, there is a good part of you inside, you just have to draw it to the surface and keep it there. Obviously, the vampire side of this woman is the dominant, or she has let it become her dominant persona..."

"Giles, that may be the case but she's a liability. Do we claim her as ours as a Slayer and try to help her, or do we treat her as if she were just a vampire and kill her?"

"It's a tough decision to make but we've got to work it out. We obviously can't just let her run about out there by herself. She's a dangerous creature and she could kill for whatever reasons she wanted."

"We've got to find her before she gets herself into too much trouble then." Spike stated. "It she's a danger, we've got to catch her."

"Agreed." Giles said. "But what exactly are we going to do about her? I mean, we're going to bring her in, I assume, alive?"

"If possible, yes." Angel replied.

"Well how are we going to do that?" Buffy asked. "You both saw how strong she is, and you know first-hand what she's like to fight against. How are we supposed to capture her?"

There was a short silence before Spike suggested, "Set up a trap."

"What kind of trap?" Angel queried.

"I don't know; I'm not a genius. I do know that she'll figure out where we are eventually... I mean, she's come all this way to England for a reason right? And my guess is it has something to do with us and Buffy. Why else would she come to us first and get our attention?" Spike paused to see if the others would understand what he was saying. "She wanted us to follow her. She wanted us to come to England and follow her, where she then attacked Buffy to bring us together."

"This bitch has a plan..." Angel concluded. "What on earth could she want with the three of us?" There was a pause.

"My guess is to wipe us out." Buffy answered Angel's question. "Look at us; we're the fighting elite of the supernatural world. Two vampires with souls and a Slayer; if she wipes us out then the leaders of what has been called "The Revolution" will be gone. All that will be left are the new Slayers, most of whom are relatively untrained and unskilled, particularly in battle. We are the ones responsible for training them, and if we're gone who's going to do it?"

"That's a good point Buffy, but Spike and Angel are not the ones here training the girls." Giles pointed out. "It's you and me and all of the others; Xander, Willow, Kennedy. Even Dawn. So Spike and Angel don't exactly fit into your assumption."

"But what about us being the "Big Three" or whatever? Without us, there'll be no strong leaders among the group to help the girls out if they need it. That's what I mean. Spike and Angel are there if they're needed, and I'm always here helping out. If this woman gets rid of the three of us then there's no one left; nobody to lead them."

"They have me as well Buffy, and the others."

"That's not what I mean Giles. They need a Champion to lead them. That's either me or one of them." She gestured to Spike and Angel who had made themselves comfortable. Spike was leaning against a wall and Angel sat on the arm of a chair.

"Well then we need to get to her before she gets to us, or at least be prepared for when she comes." Angel got to his feet. "She wouldn't risk coming to the Watcher's Council, so where else could she strike?"

A few moments of silence allowed for thought. "My house." Buffy quickly realised. "I bet you anything she will go to my house. She's probably waiting there now for me to unsuspectingly return home where she'll strike..."

"Uh Buffy, didn't you say Dawn was out patrolling for you tonight?" Giles asked.

"Yeah." Buffy replied, before working out what Giles was suggesting. "Oh God, you don't think she'd wait for Dawn do you?" An expression of shock mixed with concern crossed Buffy's face. "We've got to go there. We have to; I've got to make sure Dawn is all right."

"We'll go with you." Angel looked to Spike, who nodded. He had picked himself up from leaning against the wall and took a step towards Buffy, placing a reassuring hand on her arm.

"Don't worry about Dawn, Buffy. She'll be okay. We'll make sure of it." Buffy smiled, but felt uncertain.

"We'll call you later okay Giles?" Buffy said as a goodbye.

"All right. Go now and make sure Dawn got home safely. We'll sort this out later." Giles led them back out to the front door, unlatching it and pulling it open forcefully. He looked at Buffy as she left behind Spike and Angel. "Don't worry too much." He told her. "Just keep telling yourself she'll be fine."

'I won't believe it until I see it." She replied, forcing a weak smile of appreciation anyway. "See you later Giles. We've got to go..."

Giles watched them wander down the path to the main road through the Council grounds before closing the door and locking it. Just for his personal safety, he slid the second latch shut.

A/N: Hmm... Not many reviews for this... FanFiction seems to be getting less and less popular... Well, please review this anyway. Feedback and constructive criticism are always appreciated. But please, no flames.