Faith followed the Mayor, who followed Cassandra, down the descending darkened stairwell. A single torch that the vampire carried was the only thing that illuminated the shadowed corridors. The Slayer looked around, still getting over the fact that she had never known about these catacombs below the Mayor's office. She had no idea how far below the streets of Sunnydale they had traversed, but knew that it had to be far, as they had been descending for about 5 to 10 minutes. The stairwell ended, leveling off into an even flooring. Faith heard a squeaking sound, looked down and saw 10 rodents scurrying around her feet. A panicked intake of air invaded her lungs as she gripped the Mayor's arm.
"You okay?" Wilkins asked out of genuine concern.
"Rats." Faith grabbed his arm tighter. "I hate rats."
"They're more scared of you, then you are of them." He patted her hand in reassurance.
"If only they knew the truth." Faith looked up and tried to ignore the scurrying sounds as they ventured to their destination.
A pungent odor invaded her nostrils and Faith almost gagged on the stench of death that lingered in the air. The smell grew worse as they came closer to the single wooden door ahead of them. Even Wilkins was not immune to the odor as he pulled a hanky from his pocket and placed it over his own nose and mouth. He produced another and handed it to Faith who mimicked his motions.
Cassandra pushed the door open and a backlash of air rushed inward threatening to extinguish the flame of the torch. The darkness loomed for a moment before the light filled the room once more. Silently the vampire walked to 12 more torches that lined the walls. As each one was lit, the brightness became more dominant as the shadows crept to their respective corners.
Faith's eyes bulged as the girl turned away almost loosing her lunch. Scattered along the floor were the remains of hundreds of dead rats. They had been drained of blood and robbed of their flesh. Some had to have been decaying for more than a month or two. Faith averted her eyes from the carnage as she scanned the room they were in. In the far left corner was a large boulder. Aside from the rock, the room lay barren.
"Monolith." Cassandra called out, approaching the stone. There was a rumble as the rock began to breath in and out. Slowly, it began to twist and turn as it rose to it's feet to reveal the form of Monolith. His back was still facing them, and when he tuned around Faith took a step back. Bright yellow eyes illuminated a burning hatred that seemed to make the temperature in the room drop several degrees. Just as suddenly as the fury was in the eyes though, it dissipated once the giant saw Cassandra standing before him.
"My wife." He stated as he reached out gently touching her cheek with the backside of his left hand fingers.
"My husband." Cassandra held his hand with both of hers. Her hands seemed to be swallowed in his, but she did not notice as she tenderly kissed his fingers. Monolith then saw Faith and the fury returned to his eyes.
"A Slayer?" He rumbled. "I thought there was only one?"
"There are two now." Cassandra answered. "But she is on our side." The behemoth started to approach the girl when the Mayor stepped between them.
"She's on our side." He reiterated. Monolith stared at him intently, and then let out a sigh as his body seemed to loose a bit of it's mass. "How do you feel?" The Mayor studied the vampire closely.
"I feel..." Monolith paused and looked at one of his hands, flexing his fingers back and forth from clenched fist to open hand. "Whole."
"Good." There was a slight smile on Wilkins face. "You remember the assignment I gave you before?"
"Destroy the Slayer." Monolith shot a piercing glance at Faith who stepped behind the Mayor for protection.
"Monolith." There was a dreaded undertone in the Mayor's voice. "If I have to tell you once more that she's on our side..." He let the last word trail off.
"My apologies Richard." The beast bowed slightly.
"I have a new assignment for you Monolith." A broad smile formed on the Mayor's face.
"The alien." Monolith stated, as if he were reading Wilkins mind. Richard nodded, and the vampire's frame seemed to grow twice as large as a single word played in his mind and escaped his lips. "Revenge."
-
"The fifth book is at the museum?" Buffy asked as she twirled a stake in her hand. "Wow. They sure did repair the damage quick."
"You mean from the pipe bomb?" Superman asked.
"Pipe bomb?" Xander asked to make sure he heard right. Superman nodded and Xander turned to Giles with an amused look. "You notice how they get more creative with the reasons for things happening in this town every year?" Giles shrugged and nodded. Xander then turned back to Superman. "Who said it was a pipe bomb?"
"The head curator told a patron that that was what it was." Superman had a perplexed look. He knew this explanation was going to be an interesting one. "It wasn't a pipe bomb?"
"More like a gas bomb." Buffy snickered. Superman's face was a mask of confusion as he tried to understand what they were talking about.
"It was Flatulence Demon." Giles finally answered. As one, him, Buffy, Xander, and Angel looked to Wesley with a vile fixation. Even Willow and Oz gave an evil stare to the Watcher.
"Now see here." He tried to defend himself. "I had no idea striking a match would do that."
"For crying out loud." Xander exclaimed. "Hello! Flatulence should have been your first clue. You know how long it took to get rid of that smell?" As one everyone sniffed their clothing, as if they were trying to see if the odor was still there.
"You know," Superman raised his hands in mock surrender, while trying to suppress his laughter. "I don't want to know anymore." With that Buffy sprang from her chair and grabbed her coat.
"I'm going to the museum. Anyone coming?"
"I'm there." Xander jumped up, and joined her. He then turned to Willow who was standing by the cage that Oz now occupied. "Willow?"
She turned to Oz, and looked at him as if she didn't know what to do. She wanted to stay with him, be there for him, and comfort him in the morning when it was over. But Oz looked her in the eyes, and it was like he read her mind.
"Go." He said.
"Are you sure?" She asked once more.
"Yeah." He answered. "I'll be fine." She leaned forward and kissed him tenderly through an opening of the cage.
"I love you." She said.
"I know." He answered. Their fingers were interlaced through the cage, and Willow held on as Oz entered the first stage of his transformation. He then let go as the metamorphosis took full effect.
Willow backed away slowly and felt a hollowness consume her. A hand touched her shoulder, and she was surprised to see that it was Angel. She had never really known what to make of him since his return from Hell. Granted he saved her life the one time when Faith's new watcher Gwendolyn Post had tried to destroy her with the Glove of Myhnegon, but she had never really known what to make of it all.
"Does it ever get easy?" She asked him. "Knowing you're so different?"
"Never." He stared at Oz who thrashed about in the cage. "You can only learn to live with it."
Buffy stood there staring at Angel standing next to Willow, a mixture of emotions flowing through her. It almost made her smile to see Angel walk up to Willow and comfort her the way he did, but then conflict loomed as she began to think of the way he comforted Faith, and then the charade they had to go through. Buffy gathered herself.
"Let's move." She said as she headed toward the doors.
"I'm with you too." Angel began to walk toward them.
"I'd prefer if you didn't." He was taken back by Buffy's statement, but then realized the reason why. "We can handle this on our own."
"Angel and I can stay behind to research some more on Monolith." Giles gave the vampire a look that told him not to argue.
"How exactly are you planning on getting the book?" Everyone turned to see Superman standing, arms interlaced.
"Simple." Buffy was all business. "We break in. We take the book. Easy money."
"Break in?" Superman asked to make sure he heard right.
"Kal-El can we speak for a moment in private." Giles interrupted. The two of them proceeded to walk into his office.
"Don't go anywhere." Superman told Buffy before he entered. As Giles followed him though, he gave Buffy the look that said for her to take off as soon as he closed the door.
"Let's go." Buffy said once the door was closed. She turned to Wesley. "You coming with us, or staying here?"
"I think my services will be best suited here."
Buffy nodded to him and as they turned to walk away she gave Angel one last glance as they left the Library.
"I know they left." Superman stood defiant, arms crossed standing in front of the door to the office. Giles was leaning against a bookshelf. "You know I can't let her break into that museum."
"Dammit Clark, now is not the time to be a boy scout!" His words were so thunderous that Superman jumped a little. Giles composed himself. "Look, I know that you have been through a lot lately, especially with your ordeal with Dominus. And I know that you want to do what is right."
Superman looked down at the floor and Giles noticed that his posture shrank several inches. Giles hated touching on such a raw nerve, but knew that that was the only way of getting to him.
"He twisted all my morals around Ripper." Superman looked up to his friend, and Giles saw a lesser man in the costume before him. He no longer looked like Kal-El, the last survivor of Krypton, he looked like Clark Kent, human being. "I tried to take over the world." The words had come out a whisper and neither of them spoke for several minutes before Giles finally broke the silence.
"I'm asking you to trust me on this Clark." He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Things are different here in Sunnydale, and on more than one occasion we are required to break the law. But most of all, I am asking you to trust Buffy too."
"I trust her, because I trust you." Giles looked up and saw Superman once more, standing defiant in front of him. "If this is how we need to get the book, then I'll back her up."
"Thank you." Giles put his glasses back on and the two of them walked out of the office. They had expected to see Angel upon walking out, but the vampire was no where to be seen. Wesley was looking through a book, while eating a Milky Way candybar.
"I thought you two had left." He broke away from the book upon seeing them come out of the office.
"Where's Angel?" Giles asked.
"I don't know." Wesley conceded. "I went to go get a candy bar from the vending machines in the hall. When I came back he was gone. I assumed he was with you two."
"We have to find him." Giles said to Superman, but he noticed that the Man of Steel had an intent look on his face.
Superman let his eyes focus as his vision penetrated the walls of the High School snaking their way though concrete, trees, and other buildings in the way. He began to turn as his gaze followed along the walls of the library. He had turned a little past 180 degrees when he stopped.
"Got him." A smile loomed on his face. "That sneaky little vampire. He's shadowing Buffy, Willow, and Xander."
"Good." Giles answered. "I knew he would. Buffy is going to need all the back up she can get. Whether she wants to admit it or not." He had just finished when Cordelia Chase came walking into the library.
"Hey guys." She greeted them, and then noticed Superman standing next to Giles. "Hey Kal." Superman nodded to her as she continued to look around the library. "Where's Buffy?"
"She has journeyed to the Museum with Willow and Xander." Wesley piped up. Giles gave an annoyed look knowing that he was just taking control to impress Cordelia.
"Well there are some major strange things going down." Cordelia sat her purse down on the table. "People are like disappearing everywhere. I'm thinking we got some major vampire action here." Superman turned and gave Giles a strange look.
"Monolith had followers when I dusted him the first time. What if they decided to recruit more men?"
"Oh dear." Giles ran to the rack and grabbed his coat. "You need to catch up to Buffy, let her know about this."
"You got it." With that, the Man of Steel took off so fast that a backlash of air whipped through the library.
"Um, someone wanna tell me what's going on here." Cordelia looked around in confusion. She grabbed her hair to keep it from blowing around.
"I'll fill you in on the way." Giles answered grabbing a piece of paper floating past him. He then turned to Wesley. "Can you stay here and keep an eye on Oz?" Wesley nodded, looked to the cage holding Oz then back down at the book he was reading.
"I told Buffy, and the others that I would stay behind to do some more research."
"I think I should stay here with Wesley." Cordelia exclaimed.
Giles gave a scowling look as he grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her out of the building.