Knights of the Intrepid

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

A/N: 1: this isn't about Buffy, or the Slayers, or canon, or Xander, or anything else like that. Re-read the first chapter, and you should be able to understand.

§◙§

The Land of the Rising Sun; Tokyo; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016:

Dawn Summers quivered in agony as she was heedlessly carried down a hall and into one of the quarters used to contain demons they needed to keep alive for questioning. She was still bleeding slightly from her wound, but, otherwise, she was healing well with the magic influencing her immune systems.

She cried out as she was dropped onto the hard mattress, and the Slayer that had dragged her there simply sneered at her.

"You'll get three meals a day and you already have a crapper," she said to the former Head Watcher, "You have everything you need."

"Why," Dawn started, "Why don't you just use one of those necklace things?"

"Because," the Slayer said, "We need you to sound human."

With that, she left Dawn alone with her pain.

§◙§

The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016:

"Here you go," Andrew tossed the ball to Jesse, who ran off into the park after it joyfully.

Andrew, though, wasn't so joyous. Recently, one of his best friends had been locked away for murder, and there was no sign of him ever being released. It was a bogus charge, really, but…

"Come on, boy," Jesse leapt up at him, and he did all he could to remain balanced, "Let's go back to my office. I'll give you some food then."

§◙§

As Andrew walked down the hall, he passed an open office. Glancing inside, he caught sight of Buffy and several other high profile Slayers sitting amongst a group of rough looking individuals. Thinking it was just another attempt to gain allies in the ever-occurring war, he continued along his way, only to stop as he caught a snippet of their conversation.

"…give you the bombs."

That made Andrew stop short. Everyone in the Council knew that Buffy had a damning opinion when it came to modern weaponry. If she had changed her mind, it would mean a great deal for the Council as a whole.

He stepped up to the wall and listened, willing Jesse to be silent.

"In exchange," a man picked up, "We want an alliance with the mages underneath your control. They help us whenever we want, however we want."

"Agreed," he heard Buffy say, "You will deliver them in three hours."

"Fine," the man said, "But, may I ask…why so many?"

"We're planning to take over the world," Buffy said, and he could hear the smile in her voice, "We're using coffeemakers."

"…OK," the man said, obviously bewildered by her statement, "Whatever. Three hours?"

"Three hours," Buffy agreed.

Andrew left quickly, completely flummoxed by what was happening. Buffy was ordering a ton of bombs and, in exchange, all the mages they had had to do whatever these people wanted whenever they wanted. He didn't like the sound of this.

§◙§

The United States; Boston, Massachusetts; Hallison's Thrift Store; September 29th, 2016:

Dana walked out of the changing room with an audible sigh. After making her way into the city, she had been picked up by a nice old lady who was heading to the court house to deal with a traffic violation. On the way, she'd dropped Dana off at the thrift store, where Dana planned on getting a new wardrobe. Thankfully, the lady had been senile so, she hadn't questioned Dana's appearance (dressed in a hospital gown with nothing on underneath) but, she knew that wouldn't last.

Now, dressed in a pair of faded jeans, a red shirt, and a black leather jacket, Dana was ready to head back out into the world and do what she had to. She paid for the wardrobe with money the lady had given her and left quickly, knowing that it was only a matter of time before her fellow Slayers caught up with her. She had to get to London immediately and stop what was planned, but, she only had the day to do so.

And when it happened, it would happen without anyone being able to do anything to stop it.

§◙§

The United States; Los Angeles, California; September 29th, 2016:

The Hyperion Hotel had seen many changes over the years. A large part of it had been destroyed about thirteen years ago, during a grand battle between Angel and his avengers and the armies of Wolfram and Hart. All of them, save one, had died.

That one, in honor of the comrades who had fallen that day, had done what the others had done before joining Wolfram and Hart. A detective organization, with a policy of 'evisceration' against Wolfram and Hart, was opened about a month later, and it was still going strong today, with plenty of new cases coming in every day. The staff was much different than the old one had been and, yet, in many ways, it wasn't.

The leader of the band of heroes was a woman who, by all standards, was either cold or warm, no in-between. When cold, she was like ice, with pale skin and blue hair, dressed in leathers that left little to the imagination. Her name was Illyria. Though she never would have expected it even a month after her return to the world, she had taken up the cause of the lesser beings, defending them as her friend Wesley, and his friends, had in the past. Learning from Wesley had given her a necessary foundation to begin in the world, and what she did not know, she learned quickly. After over a decade in the world, she found that…she loved it as it was.

The second member of their group was a young man named Connor. The Destroyer, the son of two vampires, was an overall brilliant man. He had a degree in psychology, astrophysics, demonology, and was working towards a degree in computer engineering. After helping his father defeat that man, Hamilton, he had hid with his family, knowing that their wrath might extend to him. However, they were much more focused on the AI team, so much that they completely ignored his family. Illyria had managed to rid herself of them by temporarily taking over as the keeper of the Deeper Well, effectively making her untouchable by them. After a year or so, the next keeper, an elderly knight from England, took over, and he was blessed with eternal youth, just like Drogyn. After her return, the Destroyer had sought her out, and the two had begun the agency.

The third member was also special, like Illyria and Connor. Groosalugg had left L.A. after confirming that Cordelia loved Angel, and had started traveling the world, learning everything he could of it. Eventually, he had returned to Pylea in an attempt to rekindle his relations with their people…only to be run out by a mob of angry demons, who hated being ruled over by the humans. After he heard of the disaster in LA, he had come and offered his services to Connor, who welcomed him in with opened arms. They had a well-oiled team after all these years, and they were somehow always one step ahead of Wolfram and Hart.

Along with the three veterans, there were two new members, only added to the roster over a year ago. One was a young man named Jerome, who was a child of one of the Lost Boys who had worked under Charles Gunn. Jerome had followed in the family tradition and taken to vampire hunting, and was the youngest member of their group at sixteen. The second member was a young lady named Deirdre. A Marine, Deirdre had first been introduced to the demon world after her brother had been killed in action by a vampire in the Orient. Deirdre had raised Hell up the chain of command, wanting to know what had happened to her brother. As a result, she had been introduced to the forces at work, primarily the forces underneath Colonel Finn who worked hard to control the demon threat as best as they could. Afterwards, she had been retired due to a neck injury that caused her to have to have it surgically repaired. She'd already lived in L.A., so, it was only a matter of time before she met the agents of Angel Investigations.

That morning, the AI team had been hard at work on destroying a large demon nest in the sewers. It had twenty-five in all and would have been a problem for the average hunter group but, average didn't apply to a group with an Old One, a half-demon, and the son of two vampires, with the aid of the last Lost Boy and a Marine backing them up.

"Clear," Deirdre yelled as she shot the last demon in the head.

"Good work, everyone," Connor said with a grin, "I didn't think it would be that easy."

"Says you," Jerome yelled as he extracted his broadsword from the carcass it was in, "You three with your powers and whatnot, making me look bad and all."

"What did you expect," Illyria said with a grin, a stark contrast against her abnormally pale face, "You think you mere mortals can compare with us?"

"You bet your leather bound ass I do," Jerome said, "I'll take you anywhere, anyplace, anytime."

"Let us not fight, friends," Groo said, flashing another dazzling smile as he did so, "We should celebrate."

"Caritas," Deirdre suggested.

"Caritas," Connor agreed.

§◙§

Caritas Karaoke Bar:

Connor sat back in his seat and enjoyed as Jerome rapped up on the stage. Jerome was actually a pretty good singer, but, he just didn't look right on the stage.

"Here you are," he looked up and smiled at the blue-haired man who was serving him his drink.

"Thanks, Oz," he said, taking his drink from the werewolf as he did so, "How's it going, Wolfie?"

"Delicately," the man answered, "Would you like your destiny read?"

"Ooh, Sondra's back," Sondra was an Anagogic demon, like Lorne, from Pylea. She had found Fred's formulas for portals and had entered the world several years ago, and she took the place Lorne had, though Oz was the overall owner of Caritas. She and Connor enjoyed a…relationship, of sorts. She had returned to Pylea for a brief visit with the family and he was eager to enjoy some alone time with the beautiful Pylean.

"Yes," Oz stated, "I see in your future hot monkey love."

"I hope that's not bullshit, Oz," Connor grinned.

At that moment, Sondra came in. She was dressed in a brown garment that her mother had made for her, and was making her way over to them.

"Hello, boys," Sondra greeted them with a smile.

"Sondra," Connor came to his feet and hugged her, choosing to not begin their meeting with a passionate kiss (like they usually would), for tonight, he had some news…or would, hopefully, by the end of the night, "How was your trip?"

"Oh, you know," Sondra said, "Mother says 'Hello,' Dad says 'Grr…Arg!' It's just like visiting a nest of vampires."

"Sit down," Connor invited her, "We were just having a celebration over destroying a demon nest."

"Really," Sondra asked, "You do that every week or so. Why celebrate this one?"

"Well, why not," he countered.

"…No reason not to," Sondra smiled.

"There's something I have to tell you," he said.

As he began, a new singer stood up on stage. She was different than any other singer, and, as soon as she started to sing, Sondra collapsed into her seat, gasping for breath.

"SONDRA," Connor shouted, "What's wrong?"

"SHHH," she ordered, and he shut up.

As the girl sang, Sondra listened and saw…and she did not like what she saw.

As soon as she ended, Sondra sat up fully and stared at her and her friends. She knew who they all were and what they had done…but, she had no idea what the Slayers had up their sleeves next.

"Sondra," Connor asked cautiously.

"…We need to get to their building," she stated, "There are people there who need saving."

"What," he asked, confused, "Who? What building?"

"Oz," she asked as the wolf came by, and she pointed to the table that housed those women, "Who are those girls?"

"Slayers," he said casually, "They have a complex along the docks."

"Can you show us," she asked.

"…Why," asked the wolf, suspicious of her motives.

"They've killed people," Sondra said, "And done worse to others."

"Sondra, I worked with three Slayers before," Oz defended them, "They wouldn't kill anyone if they didn't deserve it."

"Oz, she sang," Sondra stated, "I saw it in her past."

"What about her destiny," Connor asked.

"Something was…blocking it," she said, "Something doesn't want anyone to know what they're up to. Something powerful."

"…I'll show you tonight," Oz said, "Come by around eight."

"Why are they even here," Connor asked.

"An office party started here last night," Oz stated, "They showed up around ten and, well, a crowd built up. They haven't left all day."

With that, the wolf left, his thoughts all facing the past.