A/N: For all of their future appearances, future Wesley and future Gunn will be referred to as Wes and Charles respectively (exceptions being whenever Fred speaks to Gunn as she always calls him Charles).
"You're right about one thing. You won't be leaving," Kendra threatens.
"I didn't come here to fight," Kate says.
"You might not have, but we can't simply allow you to take what you want," Xin Rong says.
"If you wish to claim our power, you must prove your worth and given how you're only human I doubt you will be able to," Kendra says.
"So be it," Kate replies.
She directs a kick at Xin Rong, but she catches Kate's foot and twists it, spinning Kate in the air and sending her crashing to the rough ground. Kate picks herself up and throws a punch at Nikki, but she dodges and hits Kate in the face knocking her into the path of Kendra's kick, which connects with part of her temple. Kate flies back and falls face first into the ground again; face getting partially scratched up from the impact.
She recovers, but Xin Rong leaps at Kate and kicks her in the mouth. Kate staggers and the back of her head hits the cave wall. She spits out some blood and casually wipes her mouth.
"Ok. So this might be harder than I thought." Kate charges forward, but Xin Rong grabs her by the neck.
Kate kicks her in the chest knocking Xin Rong back. Kate puts a hand up to her throbbing neck, takes two steps back, and then runs for another section of the cave.
"No being of flesh and blood can be allowed to leave," an ominous and invisible voice threatens.
"I understand. But she won't get far. Not without this." Xin Rong holds up Kate's amulet.
Angel Investigations
"Sooooo...does anyone know this woman?" Cordelia asks pointing at Jo.
"Nope," Angel replies.
"Never seen her before in my life," Wesley answers.
"Same here," Gunn says.
"Me neither," Doyle answers.
"Can't say that I have," Winifred says.
"Neither have I," Illyria responds.
"Unfortunately no," Fred replies.
"Ok Fred. Pay up," Cordelia says to Fred. Fred sighs and pulls out her wallet.
"What are you two doing?" Winifred asks.
"I bet Fred that if another person showed up out of nowhere, none of us would know who they were," Cordelia chuckles as she collects her money. Fred sticks her tongue out at her.
Buffy's House
"Concentrate Tara. We can do this," Willow encourages as they continue to try and access the energies of the Scythe, which sits between the two of them. Buffy, Lily, and Xander watch on at a distance as the lamps in the room start to flash on and off; doing so faster the longer the Wiccans keep up their spell.
"Can we focus team?" Wesley asks, directing their focus back to Jo. "Do you remember how you got here?" He asks her.
"Come on. Come on...damn it!" Tara curses as their powers give out and the light from the Scythe disappears.
"I...I-,"
"Is something wrong?" Wesley asks. Jo's eyes are locked on Angel. They wide in fright and she starts hyperventilating.
Angel looks confused. "What is it?"
"Stay away from me!" She screams and kicks Angel in the chest.
He flies backwards and almost crashes into the weapon cabinet. Doyle shifts into demon form and tries to restrain her, but she dodges and throws him halfway across the lobby. Winifred changes to Illyria and attacks, but Jo grabs both her wrists stopping the attack to both their surprise.
"What are you?" She asks.
"I-I don't know," Jo answers then throws Illyria across the floor.
She turns to face Cordelia and gasps. She starts shaking even worse at the sight of her. She moves away from Cordelia towards the front desk. She backs into it and sinks to the floor. Face in her hands.
Doyle stands back up and pulls out his cell phone. He quickly sends out a text message.
The First Slayer is here at Angel Investigations. You need to get here immediately.
Tara and Willow unclasp their hands and wipe their sweaty foreheads.
"What is it with this thing? Tapping into its power should be a cinch," Willow complains.
"If it was we wouldn't be sitting here partially drained of our own powers," Tara says.
"Whoever made this thing obviously didn't want people to tamper with it," Willow says.
"Are you sure you should keep going at it with that thing?" Xander asks. "We don't even know if it can hurt Lucifer."
"It's better than nothing though," Buffy says.
"Then lets get back to work," Willow says.
"Hold on. You guys have been working yourselves ragged with this thing," Xander points out. "I think you could use a break. Don't you, Buffy?"
"I guess. You guys feel like going to the Bronze?"
"I'm always up for that, but are you sure we shouldn't try again before we leave?" Willow asks.
"I'm sure the mysteries of the Scythe will reveal themselves in time," Xander comments.
"Ok she's been sitting there for three minutes. Is anyone going to talk to her?" Cordelia asks.
When no one moves, Cordelia takes a deep breathe and walks towards Jo.
"Don't be afraid, Jo. No one is here to hurt you. Quite the opposite. We want to help you." Jo looks back at Cordelia; eye color changed to a coal black.
"No one can help me," she whimpers. Gunn and Wesley grab Cordelia and pull her away from Jo. Jo clutches her head again and starts speaking in a different language.
"Do you know what's she's saying?" Cordelia asks Wesley as Jo repeats the exact same sentence. Wesley listens to Jo.
"Please. Please don't let them take me. They'll make me forget. I don't want to forget. Please don't let them take me," he translates.
"DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!" Jo shouts in a demonic sounding voice.
Gunn raises his crossbow, but Angel forcibly lowers it. Wesley, this time, walks over to Jo. He clears his throat and speaks to her in the same language she just spoke in.
"You who inhabit this body. Tell me. What is your name?"
Jo looks at Wesley and responds to him. When she finishes, he swallows thickly.
"What did she say?" Gunn asks.
"I have no speech. No name. I live in the action of death, the blood cry, the penetrating wound. I am destruction. Absolute...alone," he translates.
"Ok, all in favor of killing this schizo girl before she has a chance to kill us, say 'I'," Gunn says.
"Charles! Can't you see the girl is scared and confused!?" Winifred yells and steps in Gunn's path.
"Did anything that girl just said sound scared to you? Sounds more like a threat. A confused threat, but a threat nonetheless. I'd rather not wait for her to get her marbles straight and horrifically murder us," Gunn replies.
"What she said sort of reminds me of Buffy. Everything she touched did seem to get destroyed," Cordelia says earning her a stern look from Angel.
"What? She sent you to a Hell dimension, remember?"
"Quiet," Wesley calmly orders Cordelia and looks back at Jo.
"I need to know. Can you focus and tell us your name?"
"I am destruction...death...alone," she repeats and proceeds to repeat it again and again. Wesley sighs and stands up.
"We are definitely dealing with some sort of possession, but I'm unsure if the being is a malevolent entity or not. I have my theories based on what she has said, but I'd need some way of properly communicating with the spirit to confirm."
"What do you think she is?" Angel asks.
"The Slayer."
"She's a Slayer? But that's impossible unless something happened to Faith."
"No. She's not A Slayer. She's THE Slayer. The First. Known for her animal instincts and pure blood lust. At one time, to fight her was considered a fate worse than death. If The First Slayer truly is possessing this woman then...Angel?" He's disappeared.
"Over here," he calls out from the second floor. "Would rather not be close to the ancient Slayer."
"Why? You get along well enough with Slayers and this girl is a blonde too," Cordelia jokes.
"This isn't time for humor. Right now we must find a way to restore the balance between Jo and The First Slayer."
"Won't that cause The First to kill us all?" Cordelia asks.
"It does not matter which of them controls the body as long as someone controls the power. She could prove invaluable in helping us stop Lucifer."
"Kate owns an antique shop not far from here. She might possess something supernatural we can use," Angel suggests.
"Excellent start Angel. We shall leave at once."
"Wait a minute Wesley. What are we going to do about the cave Slayer here?" Cordelia asks.
"Take turns keeping watch of course. Decide who goes first as you wish. Draw straws, take a vote, flip a coin, whichever suits you best."
A while later
"Buffy?"
"Yes Xander?"
"This is happening right? I'm not having that freaky dream I did when The First Slayer tried to kill us?"
"Oh it's happening alright, Xander...stop looking," Buffy scolds.
"I'm sorry. I can't. Please make me stop. I feel dirty and I'm loving every second of it," Xander says.
He and Buffy are currently sitting at a table at the Bronze as Xander continues to stare at Tara and Willow dancing...with Lily in between them both.
"Is this a Slayer thing or something, Buff?" Xander asks.
"Excuse me?" Buffy responds.
"Well you and Faith seemed pretty close at times and-"
"Ok we need to go." Buffy grabs Xander by his shirt collar and drags him to the exit.
"I'm sorry Buffy. You know how my mind works," Xander apologizes once outside.
"Yeah. All too well and I'd rather not be reminded of it," Buffy says.
"What are we doing out here? We can't leave without our friends," Xander says.
"I know, but you need a little time outside until you can get your hormones under control," Buffy says.
"I can sort of keep them under contr-shit," Xander curses. Buffy turns around and her mouth drops open.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Buffy complains at the sight of Drusilla.
"I have seen the light, but it does not burn," she says; walking around the area as if in some sort of trance.
"What are you talking about Drusilla?" Buffy asks; slowly going for a stake in her back pocket. Drusilla begins to laugh.
"I hope you aren't back again to ask for Spike to take you back because boy have things changed," Buffy says as she fully pulls out the stake.
Drusilla turns to Buffy at the mention of his name, but just smiles.
"They want you. They did it once," her face shifts to vampire form. "They'll do it again."
Buffy chucks her stake at Drusilla and she catches it almost absentmindedly. Buffy charges at Drusilla, but she spins out of the way and kicks Buffy in her back. Buffy stumbles and crashes into a dumpster.
Buffy turns around and throws a punch at Drusilla, which she stops.
"You shouldn't know, but you must. You're not her. Not fully and soon you won't be at all," Drusilla continues to ramble.
"Just for once, would you make since?" Buffy asks. She tries to break free, but Drusilla swings Buffy around and sends her into Xander.
"Bye," she says and starts to walk away.
"Buffy!" Lily calls out and she runs out The Bronze.
Drusilla delivers a kick behind her hitting Lily just below the throat and propelling her into Tara and Willow. Drusilla just holds the pose afterwards like a ballet dancer almost. As Buffy and Lily recover, Drusilla takes off for a nearby alley way; Slayers in pursuit.
Drusilla sprints at a fire escape and manages to leap up to its pulled up ladder. Lily uses her Slayer strength to propel her up to the ladder, but somehow misses it and crashes into the wall beside it.
"Lily!" Buffy runs over to her and helps her up.
The Slayers look up at the fire escape as Drusilla reaches the top of the building. She spares them one last look and then disappears from sight.
Giles' Home
"She just left?" Giles asks Buffy.
"She just said some cryptic crap, tossed us around, then ran," Buffy relays. "The strange thing is that it sounded like Drusilla was warning us."
"This is Drusilla we're talking about. She may be cuckoo for Coco Puffs, but one thing she'd never do is express concern for your well being," Xander points out.
"I know, but that's what it sounded like to me. Stranger still, however, was that when I tried to hit her, she stopped my punch like it was nothing."
"And when I tried to jump at the fire escape, I missed," Lily says.
"You think there is something wrong with your powers?" Giles asks.
"Maybe. A while back, I tried to test my accuracy and it was slightly off," Lily tells him.
"This isn't another one of those stupid Slayer tests is it?" Buffy asks.
"No, of course not," Giles quickly defends and begins pacing the room. "If there is anything wrong with your powers, the council can't have been involved."
"I wouldn't put it past them given what I did three years ago," Buffy says.
"The Council has done some rather extreme things for revenge, but tampering with your powers is not one of them; not permanently at least."
"If you want, Willow and I can take a look at your auras," Tara offers.
"You can do that?" Lily asks.
"There's little to nothing these wiccans can't do," Buffy compliments. Tara and Willow blush at Buffy's comment.
"Except find your friend," Willow sighs.
"Wherever Dean is, I'm sure he's fine. After all, we have angels looking over us," Buffy reminds them.
"So how does this aura thing work?" Lily asks.
"Just take a seat on the floor and-"
"Hold on," Giles cuts Willow off.
He walks over to his living room table and grabs an object off it.
"Just in case the spell goes wrong. This is expensive," he says placing it behind his kitchen counter.
Willow laughs as Buffy and Lily take a seat on the floor. Willow sits behind Buffy and Tara sits behind Lily. Willow and Tara then clasp hands with one another.
"What now?" Lily asks.
"Just relax and take Buffy's hands," Willow says. Lily shrugs her shoulders and shuts her eyes as does Buffy.
They clasp hands as a small aura starts to emit from them both. Giles takes a few steps away from the women when suddenly all the light drains out of the room causing him to fall over one of his chairs.
"I'm ok," he says though no one seems to be aware of his fall.
The light surrounding Giles, Lily, Tara, and Buffy continues to grow brighter and brighter making Giles and Xander shield their eyes.
"Tara?" Tara opens her eyes and sees herself looking at Willow in an entirely new location.
"How did we end up in a cave?" Willow asks.
"I don't know. I could guess this is a physical representation of Buffy and Lily's aura...maybe," Tara guesses.
"That could give us some answers," Willow says pointing to a distant light.
They take each other's hand and proceed toward the light. Taking note of the disturbing amount of blood splattered across the cave walls. This makes the two of them move closer together.
They enter the section of the cave where the light is located and stare in awe or perhaps fear at what they see.
"What is that?" Tara asks.
"I-I have no idea," Willow says. Floating before them is a giant red sphere...well sort of. Bits and pieces of it are broken off and floating around the cavern.
"Well, I have a guess at least," but before Willow can say it, Kate flies into the section of the cave and crashes beside them.
"Are you ok?" Tara asks as she and Willow kneel beside her.
"Had to fight them. Couldn't win. Had to run, but it wasn't long before they caught up with me. They did every time," she breathes out.
"Oh my God," they gasp at Kate's face, which has two black eyes, a broken nose, and has blood running down from her forehead. Kate's clothes are torn up as well and her legs also appear bloody.
"Step away from the intruder...intruders," Kendra commands as she, Nikki, and Xin Rong enter the section of the cave.
"Kendra? You're alive again?" Willow asks.
"Step away from the intruder and leave this place, incorporeal beings," three ominous voices demand.
"Who's there? Sh-show yourselves," Willow says trying to sound intimidating. Her trembling order is answered by the Shadow Men appearing to them.
"You do not belong here," they say at the same time. "Leave now, but leave the corporeal being with us."
"That's not going to happen," Tara says. She and Willow step closer together to shield Kate.
"So be it," one of the Shadow Men says. Willow raises her hand and fires a burst of spell energy from it. One of the men waves his hand and the energy vanishes.
"This complicates things," Willow says then grasps Tara's hand.
They fire a bigger burst of energy that blasts back the Shadow Men and the Slayers. Xin Rong is the first to recover. She dodges the wiccans' next blast and kicks Tara in the right side of her jaw. She grabs Willow's palm causing her next spell to miss and kicks her in the stomach. She flies over Kate's body and lands a few feet away from her.
Xin Rong pulls Kate up by her jacket and then holds her amulet up to her face.
"Revertere unde venistis!" She shouts and then a portal appears behind Kate.
Xin Rong places the amulet in Kate's hand and hurls Kate inside the portal. The portal vanishes and Xin Rong is hit by another spell from Willow blasting her back towards the Shadow Men.
"This has gone on far enough," one of them says. Willow tries to run to Tara, but the Shadow Men telekinetically pin both women against separate sides of the cave. One of the Shadow Men faces Xin Rong.
"You let the corporeal woman escape!"
"N-no! I didn't," she stammers. "I used her necklace to send her to another place. Some place where she'll be dead before she can tell anybody about this place."
"You could've finished her off," one of them points out.
"I just didn't have it in me in the end," Xin Rong confesses.
"Why don't you leave her alone!?" Willow shouts at him. The Shadow Men angrily stare at Willow.
"Retro unde orta es!" They shout and the cave fills with light.
Tara and Willow open their eyes and find themselves quite safe in Giles' house.
"We're finished," they say to Buffy and Lily.
"What did you see?" Lily says letting go of Buffy's hands.
"First off, Kendra was there," Willow answers. "And so were two other Slayers. I guess they were Slayers at least," Willow says.
"Kendra? That's impossib-oh what am I saying. Anything's possible in our world," Buffy sighs.
"She was a spirit. So were the two women with her. But there were more there that we couldn't see, but feel," Tara says. "I could feel them. Every last soul."
"Sounds like a Slayer graveyard," Lily says.
"There were also these three Shaman looking people that forced us out of the area," Willow says.
"The Shadow Men? What reason would they have to be there?" A surprised Giles asks.
"They're guarding something. We tried to save the life of a woman the Slayers were pounding on before a Chinese Slayer said something roughly translating to 'back where you came from' and threw her into a portal. She then lied to the Shadow Men about where she sent the woman."
"What were they guarding?" Giles asks.
"It was this large glowing sphere," Tara explains.
"It was less of a sphere really. It was breaking apart; some parts just vanishing into nothing," Willow explains. "I think it was a representation of your powers. I think they're fading from existence."
"Why would our powers be fading?" Lily asks, trying not to panic. Giles looks in Willow's direction.
"No. It just can't be because we resurrected Buffy," Willow tries to disuade.
"Willow. I told you before that a Slayer's power is not meant to be given back or shared," Giles says.
"Explain there being two Slayers now?" Willow asks. "Nothing happened when Kendra and Faith were summoned while Buffy was alive."
"Sure nothing happened at first, but you forget that Buffy's been revived twice," Giles says.
"So have I," Lilly sighs.
"We need to be sure if this is tied to our resurrections. We have to go to Faith," Buffy says.
"Are you serious?" Xander asks.
"This isn't up for debate, Xander. We need to leave now and find out if her powers are flipping out too."
"Wait. Why do I have to go?" Xander asks.
"You usually jump at the chance for the Scoobies to assemble, Xander," Willow says.
"Yeah, but given how Faith creeps me out ever since that night, I'd rather stay clear from her," he says.
"We're waisting time. Let's go," Buffy says, standing up. "Are you coming?" She asks Giles.
"No. I'll stay here and see if I can't find anything about this in my books."
"Alright. We'll be back as soon as possible." Buffy and her friends leave the premises.
Giles takes an exasperated sigh and waits a few moments. He looks out the window and does not see Buffy or the others. He walks over to his phone and begins to dial a number when the phone starts to ring.
"Hello."
"Hello Rupert."
"...Wesley?"
"Yes, I know it's been a while since we've been face to face, Rupert, but I have a question for you...now bare with me for a moment. I know it's a particularly sore subject for you," Wes says.
"What is it?" Giles asks.
"It's about Ms. Calendar...Giles?...Rupert are you there?" Wes asks as Giles sets the phone aside. He takes off his glasses and runs a hand down his face. He takes a few more seconds to collect himself and picks the phone back up.
"Yes I'm still here Wesley," Giles replies; fighting hard to keep his voice from breaking.
"I have been investigating some sort of glitch in the Slayer line. I'm not sure what it means yet, but some of the knowledge I've found points to Ms. Calendar. Again I know this is a hard subject for you, but did you ever receive anything that had been in her possession in the aftermath of her death?"
"...N-no. No Wesley. I've received nothing of the sort."
"Understood. I'll let you know if I find anything else. In the meantime I suggest you look into what might be happening to the Slayer line as well."
"I will Wesley. Thank you for informing me. Good bye." Giles hangs up.
He waits a few more moments then dials another number. As he waits for whomever he called to pick up he walks over to his weapons chest and opens it up.
"You've reached the number of Ellen Harvelle. You know what to do at the beep," Ellen's voicemail answers.
"Ellen, it's Rupert. Something that I can't explain over voicemail may be happening soon. I need you to call me back as soon as possible," he says and hangs up. He looks over his weapon chest and selects a sword from it.
Los Angeles-a short amount of time later
For probably the first time in a while, the streets of Los Angeles aren't booming with hundreds of cars driving by every second. Just a small amount and that's a good thing as several flashes of light appear in the street causing some of the cars to swerve.
A portal appears out of nowhere and the Impala drives out of it; the portal itself sealing immediately before any cars can accidentally pass through it. Dean maneuvers the Impala through a string of oncoming cars, swerves the Impala into the nearest parking lot and brings the Impala to a complete stop almost hitting another parked car.
"And he stuck it!" Dean exclaims. Sam glares at him as does Bobby. "Sorry. Thanks for getting us here Kate."
"It was...my pleasure," she dizzily pants; light fading from her amulet and her arm in a make shift sling along with some of her smaller wounds patched up.
"Don't worry. We're taking you to a hospital right now," Dean promises. Screeching tires suddenly break the night and a bunch of black vans speed into the area and surround the Impala. Enough men to fill a small army exit the vehicles and all aim their machine guns at the Impala.
"Step out of the vehicle now," one of the men orders.
"Stay here," Sam says to Bobby and Kate. He and Dean exit the Impala with their hands up. Another man and a woman step out of a van and approach the two brothers.
"Sam and Dean Winchester," Gavin acknowledges. "Welcome to Los Angeles." He snaps his fingers and one of his men knocks them out cold.
"Hope you enjoy your stay," Lilah says.
To Be Continued...
