She stood in the middle of the small apartment and turned in several circles, taking in the three boxes and nothing else. This truly was a pathetic view of a person who was more than a thousand years old.

Anya huffed and crossed her arms over her chest; she may not be human, but living like one was really getting on her nerves...and it had only been a week since she began her new PTB task.

There was a knock on her door and she stepped across the room to open it to a young redhead. "Hi, I just thought I'd come by and see how you were doing in your new place," she spoke brightly, immediately sticking a potted plant in the Demoness' hands.

Apparently the girl had decided that, after what the two of them had gone through the previous week with Gnarl, they were now the best of friends. And for some reason, Anyanka had yet to correct the teenager.

Weird.

"Uh, thanks," she replied, walking over to the kitchen window and placing the plant on the otherwise empty sill.

When she turned back around Willow was standing in her own previous spot, a frown on her face. "That's not a lot of stuff, is it?"

Anya shrugged. "When you're a Demon, you don't really accumulate all that much. The fact that I can teleport leaves me without having to cart things around everywhere I go."

The redhead nodded. "I guess I can understand that. But you have some things," she said, pointing at the three boxes.

The Demoness sighed. "Most of it's not even mine. One of the boxes is stuff from my human life that my old boss saved, for some reason. The rest is hand-me-downs from Angel, Buffy and Giles." She shrugged as she finished speaking.

Willow's eyes suddenly turned intrigued. "Wow, what did you get from them?" She moved over to the boxes, paused and, when getting the okay nod from the Demoness, pulled open the flaps on the first one.

Anya stepped closer, also curious of what she'd find; she hadn't gotten around to looking inside of them just yet. "This one was from Angel's, with some stuff of Buffy's thrown in when he asked her to bring it to me."

From the top of the box Willow pulled out some pots, pans and plates from the Summers home, along with a pack of plastic forks and knives to get the other woman started. The redhead knew this was from Joyce's supply and she guessed that her blonde friend had informed her mother of the situation, leaving out the Demonic parts, of course.

Anya grabbed the stuff and put them on the kitchen counter, to be put away later. She sullenly reminded herself to thank the Slayer for it later, knowing that was the human custom these days. She returned to the middle of the room, more intrigued by what the Vampire would come up with than anyone else who had offered their charity to her.

Angel's part of the box certainly held more interest to both females than what little the Summers women had provided Anyanka. There were a few books she may be interested in reading, a table lamp, several candles, a box of matchsticks, a couple of coffee cups and three towels.

"That was nice of him," Willow said, staring at all of the items.

Anyanka once again shrugged. "I guess, though I'm surprised Buffy didn't add any clothing. I only have a few more outfits besides what I'm wearing."

The redhead turned around and squeezed the Demoness' shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll figure something out." She looked down at her own outfit before she could offer up her own closet. "I'll bring it up with Buffy next time I see her, promise."

"Cool," Anya replied, busy digging into the final box from the Watcher's place.

This one brought the new minion for the Powers the most useful artifacts of all; several books on magic that could be used by those with only a little power, some ingredients to get her started, a small radio, lore on Slayers and a few borrowed Watcher diaries for her new job. She was also surprised to find a gift certificate to a clothing store near her apartment building and...

"Whoa, hey, this is pretty cool," Willow said as she read the letter Giles had added in with the other things over Anya's shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess it is," she replied, her voice sounding off to the redhead.

Emotional.

According to the note from the Watcher, he had secured the woman a job with one of the local bookstores, going through inventory, to start with. Then, if her new boss liked what she did, she may move up to the counter and get some extra zeros on her paycheck.

She didn't know how to respond to such a nice offer; she wasn't exactly used to kindness.

Especially from Watchers.

Luckily for the Demoness, Willow sensed her mood and figured it wouldn't be something she'd want others to witness, so she quickly made up an excuse, patted Anya on the shoulder and let herself out.

The other woman never noticed she was gone.


As he got into his car and put the briefcase on the passenger seat, he had no idea that he was being watched. And if he would have known who was watching him? He may leave town with his tail between his legs immediately.

But Angel wasn't ready to let Robin Wood in on the truth, just yet.

He was learning far too much, stalking him as he was.

Once again he had found the surprising reality that was his soul not complaining, especially since what he was doing may very well save the life (and soul) of his Grandchilde. Considering that, with enough work and therapy, Spike would be a Champion in his own rights, it made protecting him, even from humans, more than the right thing to do.

It wasn't like the brooding Vampire was planning on killing Wood.

Angel hadn't brought it up with anyone, knowing that Giles wouldn't immediately recognize the name without some nudging, and that Spike had steered clear of the high school ever since his stay in the basement. There simply was no reason to ruffle any feathers until there was a reason to.

That didn't mean that the Vampire wouldn't watch the Slayer's son closely, especially after the conversation he had overheard the previous week. Without that, he may have just assumed that Wood had no idea about the location where he had been transferred.

But, with everything obviously happening in the Hellmouth right now, he couldn't afford to take any chances.

Hence the stalking.

At least he knew that Spike would be proud of him if he knew it was no longer the sixteen-year-old Slayer he was following around everywhere.

That had to count for something, right?


She was putting away the books in the office when Lydia stepped inside, lightly knocking on the open door to announce her arrival. Rather than let herself be distracted by the new presence, she simply nodded to show she'd heard her entrance and continued to put away everything from her earlier tutoring session.

Lydia sensed when she was done and waited to speak until then. "I received quite the interesting phone call today." She said, in a soothing tone.

It frankly frightened Star. "Oh," she replied, still with her back turned. "Who was it?"

"An old school mate of mine, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. He left the academy before we could graduate, but we've kept in touch every now and then since." Lydia finally stepped fully into the room and watched as Star turned around to face her.

"So he's not a Watcher?" The girl asked, taking a seat on the only chair while she watched the older woman lean against the desk.

"Not technically, though he has the training and is more qualified than most of the Watchers I graduated with. Anyway, that's not the interesting part."

Star snorted and rolled her eyes. "I would think not."

Lydia shook her head. "What have I said about this attitude, Starlene?"

She sat up at the sound of her full first name, frowning. "Fine, just stop with the name-calling, 'kay?"

The Watcher smirked. "Good, now, where was I? Ah, yes, the phone call. I've got some...not so good news, I'm afraid."

This piqued the girl's attention. "What does that mean?" Bad news had never been fun for the young teen.

From her mother's drug overdose to her legal guardian's fatal car crash, Star Porcher really despised bad news. And that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to her life.

Lydia pushed off the desk and came to stand in front of her young charge. "Wesley is traveling across the States right now, collecting Potentials to bring to the Hellmouth in Cleveland. According to his sources, something is happening there, something that may very well mean the future of all Potentials in the world."

Star remembered her teachings since she began living with the older Watcher. "Is someone trying to destroy the Slayer line?" They had discussed once that it was only a matter of when, not if.

The woman slowly nodded her head. "It would appear that way, I'm sorry to say. Now, while this power seems to be stemming from Cleveland, it would be safest for all of you girls to collect around the current Slayer. She will keep you safe."

"What about that other Slayer you told me about?"

"Yes, I asked the same thing. Wesley has already spoken with Mr. Zabuto and he is sending Kendra as soon as possible. For all we know, there will already be two Slayers in town when you and the others arrive."

Star's brows furrowed and she slowly rose from her seat. "But, am I gonna wait for this Wesley guy to show up? I mean, Cleveland's, like, right next to New York. It wouldn't take me more than a few hours to get there."

Lydia smiled at her charge and reached out to squeeze her shoulder. "Yes, while that is true, there is something else to be considered. First off, the active Watcher for the eldest Slayer still doesn't know we're coming, so he would need to be informed and prepared. Then there's the fact that there is a very sound high school that would, no doubt, accept you, given time to go over the application I'll be sending their way."

She frowned at the thought, having been tutored for almost three years now, but didn't bring it up. "And?" She said instead, sensing that her guardian had one more thing to mention.

"And, we'll need to pack up, give notice to the super, your various tutors, and I would need to make a phone call to the Council to let them know of our relocation." Lydia was the one frowning now.

"Wait, why does that make you look like that?" She asked, pointing one finger at the Watcher's mask of discomfort.

Lydia reached up to rub her forehead. "Because of a dilemma. I can't tell the Council why we are suddenly moving, but I have to give them a reason."

Now it was Star's turn to frown, hers a mask of confusion. "Why can't you tell them?"

"Because Wesley didn't simply drop out of the academy, he was thrown out for behavior unbecoming of a future Watcher. Ridiculous really, but his father is on the board of Elders and they have the final say. Even now, years later, they still flinch at the mention of his name. If I tell them that he was the one to tell me to relocate, they'll...well, they won't be very happy, I suppose is the nicest way to put it."

The girl's eyes widened. "Wow, so he's like...a Watcher rebel. Cool. Anyway, can't you just say that you heard it through some of your contacts or something?"

Lydia shook her head. "Active Watchers are the ones with contacts. Those like me, with Potential charges, are only meant to oversee your training and studying, in case you are Chosen next. No, I'll simply have to put off telling them. There are so many Potentials in the world, they may never notice that we're not where we're supposed to be."

Star grinned and clapped her hands on her Watcher's shoulders. "Chelsea, you dirty girl, I didn't know ya had it in ya!" She crowed as she left the room.

Lydia shook her head, a small smile on her face. "Silly girl," she whispered, before following right behind her.

They had some preparations to get started on.


"Okay, now just hold it there for a moment. Stay calm and remember your breathing."

Willow sat in the middle of the library table, legs crossed and one hand resting in her lap, while the other one was lifted in the air, trying to hold on to a very tiny ball of silvery light.

It was her third spell of the week...not counting the unintentional one that had almost gotten her killed.

"You-you're sweating, Willow, that's not good. That's not calm," her teacher said, worry in her voice as she came closer.

"No, just let me try on my own." And with amazing finesse the redhead soon stopped the perspiration and got her breathing in order.

Jenny nodded, keeping silent so as not to disturb the teen when she was finally get a hang on it. She'd stepped away, as quietly as possible, when the office door opened and the Watcher came out of his hibernation.

"How is she doing?" He asked, once more looking at the younger woman with grateful eyes.

He'd been more than a little relieved when the Coven had informed him that a practiced Witch already lived in the area. Though Jennifer Calendar had been raised a gypsy, which was slightly different magic, it would be more than enough to get the redhead started until the Devon Coven had a spare to send their way.

"She's got really good grasp of things; I don't have to show her the spells more than once or twice before she gets it. Though I think part of that is her determination not to mess it up." She smiled at the Watcher.

He removed his glasses as he leaned against the counter. "Yes, well, I understand that she very much wants to be useful to Buffy, in, uh, in her cause. This will certainly go a long way towards that."

Jenny shook her head softly. "We just have to make sure that's not the only reason why she's doing this. If it's more about herself and her need to be counted...it could go very wrong somewhere down the road."

Giles thought of his own past experience with magic and quickly agreed with her. "You're quite right, of course. Perhaps I can set aside some time each week, to speak with her?"

She stared at him. "You mean counsel her? An American teenage girl?" She smiled ironically at him.

"Yes, well, I suppose you have a point. What did you have in mind, then?"

Jenny shrugged. "I think all of the kids could use some therapy, with the kind of lives they lead. I have a friend in town, not exactly a therapist, but I still think she'd be good for them."

Giles nodded. "Why don't you talk it over with her and I'll bring it up with Buffy. I'll leave it to her to talk with Xander and Willow about it."

With new plans made, it was just in time for the redhead to come out of her trance as the ball of light slowly receded until it was gone. Jenny approached the girl, leaving the Watcher free to take the summons he was just now getting.

"Angel, what brings you to the library tonight?" He asked as he walked over to the swinging doors at the entrance.

The Vampire looked uncomfortable, but pushed through those emotions quickly. "I'm here to let you know that Spike would like to talk to you. As soon as possible, he said."

"Is he still not ready to come out yet?" Giles asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He's been out a few times to one of the Demon bars in town, once with me and about two times alone. I think it's the Hellmouth under the library that has him hesitant to come here," he replied, fidgeting with his hands.

"I suppose that's more than understandable, given the circumstances. Why don't you wait while I get my coat and we'll take my car back to your flat?"

Angel hid his distaste for the Citroën very well and simply nodded in reply.

All he had to do now was spent the car ride wondering whether or not he should bring up the subject of Wood, now that the three men would be together in the same space.

It was certainly something to consider.


She rooted through her purse, looking for the wallet she knew she put in there, before leaving the apartment she shared with her Watcher.

Where was it?

Star was standing outside the corner market in her home of Brooklyn waiting for Chelsea to finish with the last of the grocery shopping. The girl had been hoping to make a quick stop by the shop a few doors down before they were done for the night, but that wasn't happening if she had no cash on hand.

"Dammit," she whispered, sighing and zipping her purse back up.

There was a sudden shuffling sound in the near distance and she turned to investigate. It seemed to be coming from the alley behind the grocery store and was growing louder.

No, she realized, not louder; closer.

As three years of training came to the forefront of her mind, she let her purse drop to the ground and pulled a stake and a knife out of her jacket pockets. She wasn't sure which to hope for: that Chelsea came out before a fight started or that she stayed inside and remained safe.

Considering that it was the Watcher that had trained her, it may be better to pray for the former, but her protective instinct really wanted to go for the latter.

There was no more time left to consider it as three Bringers bled from the shadows and came at her, all at once. She sucked in a deep breath and dropped into a fighting stance, cursing her status as a Potential, instead of a fully-fledged Slayer.

Unlike the movies, where attackers fell back and waited for their brethren to take a turn, they all jumped her at the exact same time, and from three different sides.

Fuck.

Hands clutching the stake and knife, body trying desperately to avoid the three curved daggers, sweat dripping down into her eyes, arms tiring, knees shaking, pavement scratching at her skin, on and on it went as she took blow after blow and felt the wicked blade slice into her dark skin.

"Star!" The voice cried out in the distance as spots appeared before her eyes and the blackness took her over.

The last thing she heard before she was gone was the scream of her guardian.


The two men stepped into the basement apartment where the partly bleached Vampire sat waiting for them, a glass of whiskey in his hand and two empty ones by the bottle on the table.

"That serious?" Giles said when he saw the liquor.

Spike simply shrugged his shoulders and used his foot to push a chair back, welcoming the Watcher to the seat across from him. After passing through the kitchen to warm up some blood, Angel took the crate again, this time beside his Grandchilde.

"Angel said you wished to speak with me?" Giles got started after pouring himself a drink.

Spike nodded. "Yeah, it's about my...future, guess you can call it. What's next and all that rot," he sighed, running a hand through his curls.

Angel decided to take pity on him and spoke up. "Spike wants to help out. Make up for his past and everything. You being the Watcher for the Slayer, he figured it was a good place to start, see if you needed him for anything. And to let you know that he's here if something ever goes down where you could use him."

Giles leaned back in his seat as he mulled this over. It certainly wasn't something he should just straight out turn down, not if he wanted his charge to someday be the oldest Slayer in history. There really was only one thing stopping him from simply accepting, right here and now.

And it was something that Spike had no problem picking up on. "I'm fully aware that I'll have to earn the trust of you and the Slayer, mate. All I'm asking for is that you use me as muscle until that moment comes. I'm going insane being stuck here all the bloody time and, like Peaches said, I want to get out there and start the whole bleedin...redemption thing," he said, barely keeping from rolling his eyes at his own words.

The Watcher almost laughed at the look in Spike's eye. "I have a feeling the trust won't take long to build, but you're right, in order to do so you'll have to actually spend time around myself and Buffy. I tell you what, why don't I see about acquiring both you and Angel a cellular phone, that way you can both be reached if you're needed?"

Both Vampires nodded but Angel was the one who spoke next. "That sounds like a plan. In the meantime, I can bring Spike with me on patrol and we can take the opposite side of where Buffy goes. More turf to protect."

"That would certainly be appreciated," Giles replied, not mentioning how much better he felt, knowing that Angel wouldn't be...stalking his charge.

The awkwardness didn't last long, and soon the inner Watcher inside of Giles bubbled to the surface as he asked Spike question after question. It was a testament to the Vampire's mental strength that he didn't mind answering them.

Of course it didn't hurt that he kind of liked the Watcher.


"So she survived?" Willow asked, eyes wide and locked on the Slayer.

Buffy nodded as she sipped her drink. "Yeah, she's the first one, at least as far as the dreams I've been having lately."

Xander chimed in from his seat next to the redhead. "You told Giles about this, right?"

"Of course. As soon as we knew that Willow was okay, I went back to the library with him and filled him in. Besides, I needed him to try and answer some stuff from the dream."

"You mean that guy who saved her? You wanna find out who it is, don't you?" Willow spoke, adjusting herself in the seat.

The Slayer nodded again, with more fervor this time. "Definitely. I mean, if we've got any allies against whatever it is that's coming, I'd want to know who so I can get them here or something. He looked tough, like he could handle himself in a fight. I can never have too many of that."

The teens agreed with their friend as the conversation slowly drifted off to nothing. Xander went off to the dance floor and the redhead to the bar for more sodas.

In a city as big as Cleveland, there were lots of places for young adults to hang out when night fell. In the course of a week, the trio of evil fighters often ended up at three different ones; tonight, it was Shays, a trendy club owned by a twenty-something hotel heiress.

Under her breath, Buffy hummed along with the music as she waited for her friends to return. She used the time wisely, thinking of everything that had happened in the past few weeks since school started back up again.

There were several things plaguing her waking mind these days, from her sorta-relationship with Angel that had appeared to have stalled for the moment, the introduction of a new souled Vampire, the dreams that haunted her sleeping hours, and the threat building that she was beginning to doubt she would be able to handle.

She didn't even know what it was yet, and already it was screwing with her head.

That didn't bode well.

She decided to take them point by point, which left her to begin with the boyfriend issue. Buffy had gotten the impression that Angel wanted to talk to her in the past week, but there had been so much going on - with Willow, her dreams, school and the slaying - that there hadn't been a good moment just yet.

A part of her was also procrastinating out of fear of what he had to say. Whether it was that he wanted to break up or that he wanted to move their relationship further forward, she really couldn't say which one she feared the most.

It made her head spin, so she moved on.

Spike. The handsome Vampire with a soul.

She frowned. No, not handsome. Where the hell did that come from? Just...Vampire, okay? No handsome. Silly Buffy.

The bleached blond was a conundrum that she was kind of intrigued to unravel, if she were being honest. He was so completely different from Angel, and she hadn't even spent more than half an hour, combined, around him since finding him in the basement of her high school.

From the emotions that shone from his blue eyes to the way he couldn't seem to sit still, she found him to be as different from Angel as night and day. And to be quite frank with herself...she couldn't wait to see how he fought.

Which brought her to her dreams and the newest threat, two things she had a feeling were more connected than any of them realized at the moment. From the terrifying monsters that took the lives of innocent young girls, to ghosts haunting the hallways, blaming her for not saving them.

She couldn't see the connection but something told her it was there, just waiting to be discovered.

Giles had gotten a certain look in his eye the last time they had discussed this, and Buffy wondered if he had some theories he wasn't sharing with her. Which she didn't blame him for, except that the last time he had kept something to himself to protect her, it had been the prophecy detailing her death.

And that hadn't exactly turned out well for his corner now, had it?

She reached up a hand to rub her forehead, where a sudden headache was slowly building.

A headache that was about to get a lot worse.

"Ah, Slayer, there you are," Anyanka said as she reached the table, just seconds shy of Willow and Xander both returning to their seats.

Buffy's brows furrowed. "What's going on?"

Willow listened intently to the Demoness that she probably knew better than her two friends while Xander looked suspiciously at the dangerous creature he definitely didn't trust very much just yet.

"I was checking up with some old buddies in town and I overheard something I thought you should know about," she said, not elaborating any further than that.

Buffy waited...and waited. "Well, are you gonna tell me what it was?" She leaned forward and raised her brows, ignoring the banging of her headache.

"Oh, sure, sorry. Some Demons were talking about how there were humans on their turf. Something about a bunch of guys wanting to sacrifice some woman to get...I don't know, power, or money, or whatever it is you humans lust after," she replied, rolling her eyes at her own words.

The Slayer came barreling to the surface, practically leaving the girl whimpering in the back of their combined mind. "What exactly did you hear and do we have anything to go on?" She said, slamming a flat hand down into the tabletop.

The teenagers were so intent on the words the Demoness spoke that none of them heard the usually cocky brunette cheerleader ask if anyone had seen her friend...