Warning: Rated T for now, but may change later to M for darker subject matter. There is some darker matter in this chapter, but not too much for M I don't think.

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel belong to their copyright holders, I own nothing.

Chapter 10: Just Wait

Hundreds of blank stares looked up at Buffy, confused, trying to collect all the information in their heads about what just happened. She just killed their leader. But…why? And what was going on with the bright light that seemingly went inside her? There were so many unanswered questions racing through the crowd.

Buffy saw their confused faces. "What are you idiots staring at me like that for?" Buffy questioned.

One particularly brave vampire by the simple name of John spoke. He was tall and thin, not really good looking. Just by the sight of him you could tell he was extremely loyal and would do nothing to disrespect his leader. And that leader, for the most part, had been Vamp Master. He'd been everyone's leader who was now just betrayed by the so-called Queen. Of course they'd be angry. But Buffy had it all planned out.

"Why'd you do that?" John asked.

Buffy smiled easily and paced for a few seconds, pretending to ponder. "He was weak," she finally concluded. "Not deserving of a horde of followers. If anyone is deserving, it's me. I've been killing vampires for years, hunting them, killing them, again and again. I know more about our kind then even most vampires would know." She peered down at the vampire John. "And if you say one more word you'll wish you'd never been unborn."

John was not frightened by what was most likely a meaningless threat. "But he was our leader. How could you kill your own sire?He had such high hopes and plans. We admire you, the first vampire Vampire Slayer, but not enough to want to follow you."

The moment he stopped talking was the moment Buffy moved. She jumped from the balcony-typed thing faster than even vampire eyes could see, using her vampire and Slayer quickness. She landed and caused a surprised stir around the room. John looked up and down, confused. Before he could even blink, Buffy used the stake she had used to kill Vamp Master and plunged it into John's chest.

No, she did not kill him, did not stab his heart. That would've been too kind. Instead she struck just below his heart, not causing enough pain to kill him, but causing enough pain for ripples of shock to run through his body. His mouth opened wide in a silent scream, his eyes crying out for help. Nobody dared walk towards them.

Buffy pushed the stake deeper into his chest and John let out a gasp. The stake was so close, so close to his un-beating heart he could feel it.

"You got anything else to say?" Buffy asked. John shook his head no.

As fast as she could, she ripped the stake out of his chest. He fell to the ground, grasping at his wound that would heal soon enough. She kicked him in the side, causing him to fall and lie on the ground.

"Get up," she ordered. He remained face down on the ground. "I said, get up!" Buffy reached down, grabbed his hair, and yanked him up until he was standing. She still held on to him. "Let him be an example to all of you," she shouted. "If you want to be defiant, go ahead. Just know it'll cost you." She threw him back to the ground. "Anyone else?" Buffy challenged.

As a sign of admiration and loss (and maybe even fear?) they began to bow down to her. Buffy began walking through the crowd, silently, her shoes echoing. She wanted to make sure everyone knew who was boss.

That was when the revelation finally occurred to her. She had a soul. And it'd done nothing but make her darker inside. But how did her soul even find her in the first place? It wasn't like that kind of thing just happened. There was only one explanation: Willow. Willow the witch was in England, the old-Buffy's loyal best friend trying to save the day. Well, Willow would pay for it. She would definitely, definitely pay.

There was a knock on Dawn's door. She didn't bother acknowledging it with a response. If the person was determined to talk to her, they'd come in anyway.

Just as she suspected, the door opened. Dawn was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling in the dark. The door opened, causing a flood of light to make its way into the room. The figure of Xander stepped in.

"Dawnie?" he called. "Are you awake?"

She didn't answer.

"Well, you should know. Willow did it, restored Buffy's soul. We're waiting for her to return."

This news caused Dawn to sit straight up and speak for the first time in what seemed like forever. "Really?"

When Xander said that yes, it was true, Buffy should be back to being Buffy, Dawn jumped out of bed and ran to Xander, leaping into a hug. And she started crying. Xander could feel the tears of joy on his neck. They remained this way for many minutes, absorbing all the happiness they could until Buffy was to return.

"So England, huh?" Giles asked Oz awkwardly. He, Oz, and Willow were all sitting on the couch in silence. Nobody knew what to say. It was quite odd for Oz to just show up and then come here, but Giles didn't mind too much. He was an old friend and Buffy would be happy to see him, maybe.

"Yep," Oz stated simply. Being here was very strange for him, also.

"You like it?"

Oz shrugged wordlessly as if to say: "it's okay."

More silence ensued. Willow hoped Buffy would get back soon so they wouldn't have to endure this awkwardness much longer. Willow wasn't even entirely sure anymore what possessed her to bring Oz back to Giles's. Maybe it was a mistake. Either way, he was already here, so it didn't matter, she wasn't going to ask him to leave.

Xander and Dawn came out of the hallway. There was a noticeable difference in Dawn. She had a slight smile on her face and she was standing up straighter than before.

"Hi," she spoke shyly as everyone else stared at her. She now noticed the addition of Oz and was about to ask what he was doing here when there was a slow knock on the door. Everyone jumped up, a bit on edge. Who else could it be?

"I-I'll get it," Giles offered. Everyone looked nervous. "Just relax. It'll all be okay."

Giles walked towards the front door, hands shaking and a few chills running down his spine. If this was Buffy… Gosh, what would he say? She would be back, presumably, and now Dawn was recovering, which meant soon his lie to Willow and Xander (and now Oz) would come out. He hadn't told them about his and Buffy's argument and about what'd been done. He'd have to come clean soon.

He opened the door slowly, warily, although he wasn't sure why. It wasn't like Buffy could come inside anyway, since they'd done the little ritual to keep her out until invited in again.

It was Buffy standing outside the door. She looked up at Giles. Her eyes were sad, watery with tears. Her hair was disheveled, in all different direction, like she'd either ran her hands through it many times or gotten into a fight. Plus it was oddly short and a different color, but Giles figured it wasn't something he needed to worry about right now.

"Giles I'm so sorry," she whispered. She tried to step forward but couldn't come inside.

"It's alright," Giles said, thinking hard. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "It's bad, Giles, so bad. What I did to you…and Dawn… And I'm so hungry, Giles, so hungry it hurts." She grasped at her stomach.

Giles could tell she was definitely sorry. Her soul was back and everything would be okay. She needed to come in. "Buffy, come in. Everyone's here."

Buffy stepped in slowly, looking around the apartment as if with new eyes. Giles brought her over to where Willow, Xander, Oz, and Dawn were. Willow was instantly on her feet and hugging Buffy. Buffy hugged back, tears starting to fall down her face.

Xander was next. Then Dawn approached her slowly, but eventually gave in and hugged Buffy harder than she'd ever been hugged before. She and Oz said hi a little awkwardly, unsure of what to say after all those years of not seeing each other.

"How are you feeling?" Willow asked Buffy, stepping in front of her.

"Willow, thank you. You put my soul back. I-I owe my life to you."

"Oh, it was nothing," Willow waved it off. "It's just good to have you back."

"Yeah. It's good to be back. I can't believe this happened. God, we wouldn't be here had Giles not let Fred die."

"What?" Xander asked. Everyone suddenly looked up at Giles. He swallowed hard, so hard it hurt, and his heart was pounding harder and harder and harder in his chest.

"Fred's dead?" Willow questioned.

"No, it's not like that," Giles tried to recover. And he saw Buffy flash him a look. A look that was not Buffy. "It's not her!" he shouted in realization. "Back away! She doesn't have a soul."

"Giles, what are you talking about?" Buffy played innocent. "I do have a soul. Willow put it in me."

"Giles, what's going on?" Willow wondered.

"It's true," Dawn spoke up. "Fred's dead." She hadn't known who was dead before, but if Buffy said it was Fred, then Fred was dead.

"I should go," Buffy continued. "Giles doesn't want me here. I'm a vampire, a monster, just like Angel and Spike. I'm surprised he isn't disgusted with you, Willow and Oz, monsters the both of you. And who could forget Dawn the Key?"

"Buffy, what are you talking about?" Willow cried.

Suddenly Giles stepped forward, whipping a cross out of his pocket and bringing it closer to Buffy. She backed up instantly. If it collided with her skin, she'd burn.

"Leave," Giles ordered. "You're still not Buffy."

Suddenly Buffy laughed. And then faster than the eye could see she ran to Giles and knocked him down and then took Xander in her hold. He let out a cry in shock. She switched to her game face. She could hear his blood running through his system so deliciously, waiting for her.

Before she could attack, Willow muttered a few words, sending Buffy flying backwards and hitting the wall with a loud bang. Xander ran over to them. Dawn began screaming again, just as she had last time. There were even tears running down her face. This made Buffy laugh again.

She was too fast for Willow to have time to use her magic to stop her. She jumped on Willow, tackling her to the ground and punching her hard enough to either kill her or knock her out.

Oz was the fastest to react. He grabbed the fallen cross and ran towards Buffy, placing it up against her skin, causing the imminent appearance of smoke and a burning sensation. Buffy yelped and jumped back. Oz knelt by Willow who was luckily starting to regain consciousness.

Dawn stopped screaming.

"Look what you did," Buffy shouted at all of them. She was still with her vampire face, attempting to frighten them. "You added a soul. And guess what it did? Made me so much better. You all did this to me. And you don't realize that I could kill you all. If you really think you could take me, come on; hit me with your best shot. You're just lucky. I let you live, for now. But not forever. Just wait. Just wait, just wait, just wait. Just know that this is Giles's fault. What, you didn't know about Fred? You didn't know about the argument? Well, it looks like you guys have a lot to discuss. Oh," she giggled, "you might want to check down the hall."

Buffy started walking away, knowing she'd achieved what she wanted. Her plan never was to kill anybody (not yet); her plan was to tear them apart, their little gang. This new development with Giles would surely cause much needed drama. Her soul would cause new developments to. They had to decide what to do with her. Some would want to kill; some would still want to save. That would for sure pull them apart. Plus the little gift for them she'd left in the hall.

She ran out of the apartment and then out of the building, getting away as fast as she could.

Xander followed slowly behind and peered into the part of the hall that wasn't visible from the apartment door. He gasped. There was a dead body lying there with minimal blood because Buffy had drunken it all. And even worse, he recognized the body, everyone would. A Slayer, one of the old Potentials named Shannon who'd come to England as well. There was no doubt she was drained and dead.

Xander walked back inside, closing the door and locking it. He looked at everyone in the living room. They were not good. Oz was still by Willow, helping her sit up. She had tears running down her face. Giles was looking around, appearing devastated. Dawn was standing completely still, completely dazed.

"Shannon's dead," he uttered the words, but no one seemed to hear him.

They were a mess. And things were about to get so much worse.