A/N: New chapter, as promised! Again, thank you guys a million times for your lovely reviews :) We so enjoy hearing about your confusion, brain explosions, and other problems. Really, we do. Again, I can promise a Wednesday update for the next 2 (probably 3) weeks! We also have the last few chapters planned out, and, let me tell you, you will cry out all the liquid inside of you. Don't say I didn't warn you! ;)
Chapter 4: Touched by an A-ngel
The moon was high in the sky as Buffy and Spencer patrolled the streets. They'd taken a bit of a chance not doing any monitoring the night of the funeral, so they had to be extra careful tonight. They'd all heard the news the morning after; Kyle Greenwall was dead. Spencer and Buffy knew right away. It had to have been a vampire. Only such a creature would have been able to inflict the damage that Violet Harmon, the girl who had found the body, had described. So there was no leaving post tonight.
Buffy couldn't help but feel guilty. She had abandoned her job, even if it was in a moment of intense grief, and Kyle had paid for her carelessness. She didn't even have to ask to know that Spencer felt the same way, no matter what Giles and Toby said to them to try and cheer them up.
Breaking the awkward silence that had descended upon the two of them, Buffy said, "So… How's Toby?"
A generic question, but effective. Non-intrusive, but caring, all the same.
Spencer smiled, the way she always did when Toby was mentioned. "He's… Good," she responded, her grin spreading from ear to ear. "He's been a little more protective since they found Ali. He was worried enough about me killing things in the night, but add things killing me to the equation? As my mentor, half of his advice now is just to stay in the house as much as possible. I probably have a GPS chip in my brain I don't know about," she laughed. Buffy herself chuckled, trying not to think too much about what her friend had just said. Finding Ali hadn't been the start of their death sentence.
"And has anyone caught your eye?" Spencer asked with a conspiratorial smile that made Buffy slightly uncomfortable.
"Right," Buffy said. "Like I get to have a life. You're lucky; you got the cute Watcher. He came to you. I actually have to go out looking for these guys."
Spencer laughed. "Loosen up, Buff. You're turning into a cynical seventy year old."
Buffy smiled half-heartedly, knowing how uptight she was. But she was a slayer. She didn't get to enjoy the things everyone else did.
"Shut up, Spence," Buffy said, anyway, trying to joke. "You'll be just like me soon. Haven't been in the hunt long enough for you to get like me."
"I know, I know, I'm a young whippersnapper," Spencer said with a teasing smile. Buffy rolled her eyes.
The two then settled into silence once again, rounding a corner. Graveyard, dead ahead.
"My favorite part of the night," Buffy mumbled, evaluating the scene before her. She could see a group of four dark figures, and she knew that their intentions were not of the good kind. She turned to Spencer, who must've been running over the same things in her own mind.
"I take two, you take two?" Buffy asked.
"Sounds fair," Spencer agreed, both of them pulling out stakes as they began to walk to the group.
"My, my, my," Buffy said once they were in earshot of the group. Four male, vamped out heads turned in their direction. "Don't you know to stay out of graveyards at night? The ghosts might get you."
The one furthest right, and by far the biggest, smiled viciously, showing off his fangs for all to see. "Slayers."
"Ooh, you're good," Buffy said. "Tell me: what am I thinking right now?"
With one swift, fluid movement, Buffy brought her leg up and kicked the vampire who had spoken straight in the jaw.
"Too bad you didn't see that coming," Buffy said wryly as the vampire stumbled backwards. The three others rushed her in rage, but Spencer and Buffy were ready. Spencer grabbed the arm of one, twisting it behind him and driving her stake into his back. He dissolved into a pile of dust in an instant. Buffy sent a punch at one of the remaining vampires, Spencer taking the other as the biggest one regained his bearings. She then kicked the one she had punched, pushing him up against a gravemarker where she quickly dusted him. She cast a quick glance to Spencer who, despite not having killed the other vampire, was handling herself just fine. She turned her attention back to the biggest of the now half-gone group, who was glaring angrily at her.
"You're the one Spike was talking about," he said. Buffy didn't bother to ask who Spike was; some other vampire with the same agenda.
"I'm afraid you'll have to tell Spike I won't be able to make it to the tea party," Buffy said with a fake frown. "Darn."
The vampire charged angrily at her, baring his fangs menacingly as if that would scare her. She was a slayer, thank you. He'd have to do more than that.
She blocked the punch he sent her way easily and kicked him once again. He was ready for it this time, though, and it didn't seem to phase him. She tried to stake him, but he grabbed her wrist and threw her to the ground. She rolled backwards and got back to her feet, punching him swiftly in the jaw. He kicked his leg up and hit her stake right out of her fist, sending it flying. Great. She'd just have to improvise now.
Spencer was still fighting the other vampire, but it looked like she'd get the kill soon and could come to Buffy's assistance. Hopefully.
In the meantime, Buffy played defense, blocking blows and rarely sneaking in any of her own. This couldn't have been the only time this vampire had faced a slayer, Buffy could tell. He was too prepared.
Buffy tried to kick him once more, but he caught her leg and twisted, sending her flying and landing on her front, knocking the wind out of her. She winced in pain. Oh yeah. He definitely knew what he was doing.
She rolled to her back as quick as she could, but he had already descended upon her, straddling her waist.
"Won't Spike be happy," he said. "No need to worry about the infamous Buffy."
Buffy turned away from him to see her stake in the grass not too far away. Getting it without him ripping her arm off was the tricky part. She'd have get creative.
She was seconds away from throwing the first punch when the weight was taken from her waist. She looked to her side where someone had tackled the vampire that had been on top of her seconds ago. Her eyes widened in shock when she realized that it wasn't Spencer who had come to her rescue.
With a stake of this person's own, the vampire was dusted in seconds. A man in his twenties sat on the ground, staring at the dusty remains of the vampire.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" Buffy asked, rushing to the man's aid. He simply nodded.
"Not my first kill," was all he said. She looked at him in confusion.
"Buffy! Are you okay, Buffy?" Spencer was calling from behind her. She turned her attention to the brunette female rushing to her.
"I'm fine, Spence," she assured her friend. Spencer sighed in relief. Buffy turned back to the man.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"A friend."
"Have you gotten anything from -A since the funeral?" Hanna asked the group as they finished dinner in the Marin kitchen.
"I've gotten something, but it's something I can't share," Spencer admitted, feeling guilty, then better when she found that others had the same experience.
"Wait," Aria cut in, "turn that up," she ordered, pointing at the small TV on the desk that constantly was on the news.
"Again, the rumors are unconfirmed, but there is strong evidence that President Fitzgerald Grant either has had or is having an affair on First Lady Melly Grant with Olivia Pope," the news lady reported, the White House visible behind her.
"Oh my gosh," Fred said, watching intently, seemingly disappointed when the woman's face was suddenly a commercial.
"President Grant is cheating? Now there's something that'll take people's minds off of everything that's been happening," Emily said.
"Maybe," Spencer corrected, always one to think through the problem to the end. "It's happened before… Clinton, J.F.K…. It's big for a while, then it dies down. The White House press comes up with some brilliant cover story and everyone goes back to complaining about the president's foreign policy," she sighed. "It's enough for now, though."
Before anyone else could add to the conversation, all the phones in the room went off.
You can condemn the President's behavior all you want, but will you still want to when you find out that one of your own has done the same? -A
"What does this mean?" Willow asked, a terrified look on her face.
"It means that I may have had a lapse in judgement," Aria whispered.
"May have?" Spencer questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Okay, I slipped," the hazel-eyed girl confessed.
"Who?" Hanna asked, a sly smirk crossing her face.
"No, start from the beginning," Buffy demanded.
"Okay…" Aria trailed off, sucking in a breath. "Emmett and I had a fight about a week ago now, nothing earth-shattering, but enough that I walked out and may have gotten a little tipsy."
"This is perfect!" Hanna laughed.
"Han, shut up," Emily whispered, elbowing the giggling blonde in the ribs.
"Anyway, I ended up hooking up with… With Jason."
"Jason? Okay, you can't tell me to shut up anymore. You cheated on Emmett with Ali's brother?!"
"So what happened?" Spencer interjected, trying to keep Hanna's humor to a minimum.
"I don't know… I woke up the next morning and ran."
"Does Emmett know?" Willow asked.
"I still have to tell him…"
"Aria!" Emily chastised.
"Well it's not something that you can discuss over dinner and a movie! After what happened with Simone, Bay was hurting for a long time. And I don't know if he's going to forgive me because I made the same mistake, or be even angrier. I'm not ready to take that risk yet."
"Well if you tell him in ten years when you guys have kids and a mortgage, he certainly won't be any happier that you waited," Spencer said sympathetically.
"Well, gee, I didn't think of that! Of course I'll tell him soon! It's just how… And where… And when."
"How about tonight? Just rip off the bandage and get it over with," Hanna said, having found an interest in helping her friend.
"Look, I'm not sure," Aria sighed. "I'll keep you guys posted."
"Calm down, pet."
Spike held Drusilla close as she whimpered and muttered hysterically to herself.
"No, no, this can't be. This isn't right."
"What is it?"
"Someone's trying to ruin all our lovely laid plans."
"The slayers?"
"No." Drusilla shook her head emphatically for emphasis. "No, this was someone different. Someone...darker."
"And they've come to help the slayers?"
Drusilla whimpered once more and nodded, rocking back and forth in Spike's arms.
"Brilliant," Spike sighed. "Bloody brilliant."
"I don't understand, Spike," Drusilla whined. "Why would he do this? Why would he do this?"
"Why would who do what, luv?"
"I can feel his presence. He's here...I can feel it. I can feel the sin."
"Dru, what are you talking about?"
"Angelus…he's here, Spike. I can feel it."
"Do you have somewhere to be?" Caleb asked, frustration evident in his voice. He and Hanna were supposed to make dinner together, but her head had been on another planet all night.
"Huh?" The blonde girl asked, glancing up from her phone for the first time in the last ten minutes.
"I asked if you had somewhere else you needed to be."
"Why would you think that?"
"Because you've been somewhere else this entire night!"
"What are you talking about? I'm sitting right here!" Hanna exclaimed, her volume rising.
"No, Hanna, you couldn't be further away right now!" Caleb yelled, getting up from his chair and heading for the door.
"Caleb, you can't just walk out right now!" Hanna shrieked.
"Not only can I, I am!" He retorted, throwing his backpack over his shoulder.
"Why?"
"Because you've been acting different ever since Alison's funeral. At first, I thought it was just because you finally had closure, or something like that. But it's not. So what is this?"
"What is what?"
"There's something you aren't telling me, Hanna!" He shouted. "You flinch every time
your phone rings. You look through the peephole before opening the door, you leave the room to take calls-"
"Caleb, I am telling you everything! Nothing is wrong, okay?"
"No, it's not okay!"
"Well, I'm not keeping anything from you," Hanna stated simply, shrugging and crossing her arms.
"Yes you are, Han! I thought we agreed no secrets!"
"Caleb, I just can't tell you right now!"
"So you are keeping something from me?"
"No, I'm not! I'm just not telling you!"
"Yes, Hanna, because there's such a big difference! Look, call me when you figure this out. Until then, I'm done." And with that, Caleb was gone, the door slamming behind him.
Zoe Harmon faced her twin sister's closed bedroom door with trepidation. She knew she should go talk to the other girl, but God only knows what her reaction would be. Violet had never been the most predictable. Sighing, and knowing she was probably making a big mistake, she knocked.
No answer.
"Vi?" she asked hesitantly. She heard a slight shifting from inside the room, so at least she knew Violet hadn't climbed out of the window, hopped on a bus, and caught the next trip to Anywhere-But-Here. Because, honestly, it wouldn't have been that surprising.
Using a little more force this time, she knocked on the door again. "Violet? Violet, open the door. I know you're in there."
More amounts of shuffling was audible, and then the door opened a crack. Violet peered out at her sister.
"What?" she asked.
"You gonna hide in there all day long?" Zoe asked, raising an eyebrow. Violet scowled.
"I'm not hiding," she said bitterly, opening the door wider. "There. Come on in. Not hiding."
Zoe rolled her eyes and entered the room. Without hesitation, she planted herself on the bed. Violet came and sat next to her.
"Now, what do you want?" Violet asked, not making eye contact with her sister. Zoe turned to face the other girl anyway.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Zoe's voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, as if she spoke too loud, her sister would fly off the handle immediately. Which was, theoretically, entirely possible. Even so, Violet flinched.
"Want to talk about what?" Violet asked. Zoe gave her a look. Until she realized that Violet was still not looking at her. She sighed.
"Vi, you can't just shut everyone out on this," Zoe said gently. "You need to open up to us."
"Easy for you to say," Violet said bitingly.
"Violet-" Zoe began, but Violet cut her off.
"You weren't there," she said, turning to look at Zoe for the first time. "You didn't see what I saw."
"What did you see, Vi?" Zoe asked, her eyebrows knitting together in concern.
"Enough," Violet said quietly. Zoe took on a look of confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Violet sighed.
"I saw it. I swear to God, those bite marks were there."
"In his neck." Zoe had heard the story when Violet had gotten home, even though that's not the version anyone else in Rosewood would get. Robbery gone wrong would be the story they would receive. Violet nodded.
"They were there...I swear it."
"Vi...the cops said-"
"I know what the cops said!"
Zoe's eyes widened and she recoiled, taken aback by the sudden outburst. Violet slouched, her fierceness from a second ago gone.
"Sorry," Violet said. "But I know what I saw. And it's not the first time something like this would've happened in this town. The abundance of deaths is ridiculous."
"What you're saying is...is nuts, though, Violet," Zoe protested.
"That's what they said, too. But I know what I saw."
Willow was alone at the Bronze. She was supposed to have been accompanied by Buffy, but the blonde had bailed last minute. So it was just her. She didn't mind. Someone had to cheer on Aria's band.
Undoubtedly, the band was a bit of a new development. Aria had just recently been offered a spot in the well-known local band, Dingoes Ate My Baby, through Emmett, the Dingoes' drummer, after one of the members had died under-what else?-mysterious circumstances. Aria had snatched the spot immediately because, let's face it, this band was the only one worth listening to in Rosewood, probably because it had actual talent.
And, so it was, that Willow was alone at the Bronze.
Until Queen C herself walked up.
"Hi, Cordelia," Willow said, trying to remain amiable, even though she realized that
most likely it would do her no good.
"Hey, Rosenberg," Cordelia said.
"Do you need something?"
Cordelia sighed, looking as if she was about to do the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life. "All right, just remember, Willow:the only reason I'm doing this is because I have to. Got it?"
Willow was confused, but she nodded anyway. There was no use arguing with Cordelia; you wouldn't win.
"I'm failing trig."
Willow was taken aback by the bluntness of it. Not that she was surprised, but she hadn't expected Cordelia to be so forthcoming about it.
"Okay…?" Willow left the question open for elaboration.
Cordelia huffed in indignation. "My dad's insisting I get a tutor, because if I don't pass finals and get some help over the summer, he's not going to let me do all of these things that are none of your business, but I have to do!"
Willow's stomach plummeted. She knew where Cordelia was going with this.
"And so I need you to…" Cordelia took a deep breath to regain her composure, looking as if she might die on the spot. "Tutor me."
Willow was pretty sure Cordelia dry heaved a little bit after saying that. And as for Willow...well, Willow was suddenly very uncomfortable.
"Um...isn't there anybody else you could get? I'm sure you could find somebody…" Willow trailed off, frantically searching for a way out. She didn't know if she could handle that much Cordelia.
"Willow, you're just about the smartest person in this school," Cordelia said exasperatedly. "And being Hanna's friend, I don't think it's fair to leave another one of Hanna's friends out in the cold."
Willow winced. Why did Hanna become so popular? This sort of guilt trip was entirely uncalled for. And there was no doubt Hanna would want her to help Cordelia out because, despite all of whom Cordelia was, Hanna still believed she wasn't that bad. Everyone else had...other things to say, but that was beside the point.
Sighing, Willow gave in. "Fine, Cordelia."
"Good," Cordelia said with a very business like smile. Then, in an instant, it was gone, replaced with a vicious glare. "And if you tell anyone about this, I promise, I will kill what little social life you have left."
And the business like smile was back, and then Cordelia was gone, leaving Willow with a very uneasy feeling. It only intensified when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.
Tutoring Cordelia, huh? Does that count as fraternizing with the enemy? I wonder what Fred would say. -A
Oh, yes, Willow was really feeling uneasy now.
"So how are you?" Toby asked.
"What do you mean? I'm fine," Spencer smiled, snuggling closer to her boyfriend for warmth.
"I mean, you guys took on four vampires last night. Not only that, but you just attended your best friend's funeral. You can't just use your Hastings genetics to bounce back from something like that."
"Maybe I can," the brunette smirked, her mocha eyes gleaming.
"Spencer…"
"Toby…"
"I'm serious."
"Me too! Yes, it sucks. But we all assumed Ali was dead, anyway. Had we not accepted that a long time ago, I would be much more emotional. But the girls and I all grieved when we realized the most likely option." Noticing her boyfriend's disbelieving look, Spencer groaned, turning to face him fully. "Toby, I told you, I'm fine!"
"What about the slaying?"
"Slaying is just… Part of it now," she sighed.
"Part of what?" Toby questioned.
"Everything." Seeing Spencer's saddened expression, the blue-eyed boy made an attempt to cheer her up.
"Well, if I may say so myself, your Watcher is pretty great," he smiled.
"Oh, really?" Spencer smirked, her voice's distinct rasp making an appearance. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, for one, I hear he is very good looking. And two, he kicks ass at Scrabble," Toby grinned, knowing that she would never get over his Scrabble triumph.
"Okay, that was one time!" Spencer laughed, smacking him playfully on the arm.
"One times five?" Toby asked, mischief evident in his eyes.
"Shut up!"
"Oh, but I can't. I'm not done listing off everything I've heard about your Watcher."
"I'm pretty sure you are," Spencer giggled, standing up from her comfortable position on the couch.
"Fine, I can be done listing of the many wonderful attributes of your Watcher, but you have to come back. That's just the rule."
"Tobes, you know I want to. But it's getting dark."
"Do you have to?" Toby pouted, making his way over to his girlfriend and hugging her as closely as possible.
"You know more than anyone that I have to," Spencer sighed, holding him tighter, wanting nothing more than just to stay in his arms all night.
"Well be safe," he said sternly, kissing her affectionately on the head.
"Actually, I was thinking about changing things up. Maybe wear a target, or a sign, or jump in front of cars for fun."
"Don't joke," Toby breathed, pushing a stray piece of hair behind Spencer's ear, causing her to blush. "You know that every time you leave I can't breathe until you come back."
"I know," she murmured, once again pulling him into a loving embrace before looking him in the eye. "Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be back before you know it."
"I love you," he whispered, his eyes memorizing every detail of the beautiful girl before him. It was hard enough to say goodbye to a loved one without knowing that it could very well be the last time you saw them. It would be hard to say goodbye to Spencer if she was going on an airplane, or a sketchy jungle adventure. But, here he was, sending her to protect thousands of people from the things that go bump in the night.
"I love you more," Spencer smiled, kissing him softly. "Don't cause any trouble while I'm gone." And, suddenly, Toby was once again alone, just him and the never-ending movie reel of the various ways Spencer could die playing in his head until she returned to him, where she belonged.
Daniel "Oz" Osbourne was used to the long nights of performing at the Bronze. They never really got less tedious, though. The screaming and loudness was cool, at first, but then you'd get past the part where it was partially for you and then it was just, well, screaming and loudness.
Not that he didn't enjoy the performing; he did. Well, except when the band was moving towards this new sound where...they suck. Then it wasn't always so great. But usually it was pretty cool. It's just...loud. The constant nearness to the speakers generally didn't help.
It was halfway through one of their loudest songs when Oz remembered he should probably look out into the audience once in a while. Considering that he had not, he took a quick glance out. His gaze was met by a cute redhead sitting by herself at a table. She looked to be one of the few who was actually paying attention to and even enjoying the music.
She was met soon enough by another female, a tall, tan brunette whom Oz was pretty sure was his bandmate, Devon's current girlfriend. Whatever the two were talking about seemed to be upsetting the redhead, even though she was trying not to show it. It was actually giving Oz some genuine feelings, like concern.
The bassist, Allen Francis Doyle, mostly known as just Doyle, had maneuvered his way over to Oz almost without Oz noticing. Almost.
"What're you staring at so enamoured?" Doyle asked, his Irish accent shining through, and somehow Oz was able to hear him.
"Who's that girl?" Oz asked, nodding to where the redhead sat, still talking to the brunette. The more he looked at her, the more he was certain he had seen her, probably around school.
"Her?" Doyle asked. "That's Cordelia. Cordelia Chase. Y'know, Devon's new knock-out girlfriend?"
"Not her," Oz said. "The other one."
"Little Red? Beats me."
Oz nodded, still observing the redhead long after Cordelia had left the table.
Buffy felt bad for leaving Willow hanging at the Bronze. They had it all figured out; Spencer would take her patrol, and then Buffy herself would have to take Spencer's patrol sometime to make up for it. And then this guy shows up.
Buffy still didn't even know his name, or who he really was. But she'd never seen anyone fight like that. Well, anyone aside from herself and Spencer. He was good. Almost Slayer good.
And so naturally when he'd left a creepy note asking to meet (still not sure how he knew where she lived) on her porch, her first instinct was to agree.
Yes, she was quite aware of how stupid that sounds. But she could take care of herself if need be, and this guy...didn't seem evil. She wasn't sure what he seemed, but evil was not it.
And so she stood exactly where he had asked to meet, waiting for him.
Just when she was sure he was going to be a no-show (and she was going to feel even worse for bailing on Willow), he emerged suddenly from a shadow, managing to startle her, which was a pretty impressive feat.
"You came," he said, a slight smile on his lips.
"I did," Buffy agreed. "What do you want?"
"Straight to the point," he observed.
"It's my style," Buffy said. "You wanted me here for a reason, what is it?"
He seemed to observe her for a minute, then said, "You remember Spike?"
Buffy eyebrows came together in confusion. "Spike? The guy that vampire was talking about?"
"That's the one."
"What about him?"
"You don't want to underestimate him. Take it from me; I know. You haven't seen him yet, so out of sight, out of mind, but he will be coming. And you and the other slayer better be prepared."
Buffy digested that. "Oh yeah? And how do I know I can trust you?"
"You wouldn't have come here if you didn't." He started to walk off, leaving Buffy still severely confused.
"Wait!" she called after him. "Who are you?"
He paused for a second then said, "They call me Angel."
