Chapter 11
Everyone was circled around Giles. Cuddy smiled and asked, "So what do we need to do, Mr. Giles?"
The Englishman looked from the pretty woman to the young, blonde chap that was smelling her hair. "Please call me Rupert. No one else does."
When she laughed softly, Chase's head bounced up from behind her. "Stay back, old man."
Giles was taken aback. "Quite sorry. Didn't realize you treat a woman like your property."
Cuddy blushed. House snickered. Angel leaned over and whispered to Giles, "It's a love spell."
When Cuddy saw that he was looking at her accusingly, she said, "It was an accident. I never thought it would work…Or be Chase."
Wounded, Chase's bottom lip stuck out. "What? Would you rather be with someone like him?" Chase asked, waving his hand at Giles. "I've got an accent, too, and a better one."
Giles mumbled, "Bloody Australians. They never did figure out we left them on that big, dusty rock for a reason."
"Hell, what happened to good old pissing contests where men wrassled and measured their penises?" House asked, rolling his eyes. "Are you two seriously comparing accents?"
"What are you doing!" Cameron asked incredulously. "We need to get back to me."
"Well, look who gets cranky when her life's in danger," House said petulantly. She shot him a look.
"She's right, I'm afraid," Giles said. "The mystics have all been pointing to something very bad for the last several days."
"What can we do, Giles?" Angel asked. There was intensity in his voice and eyes. Giles knew that look. He saw it every time he had a mission. Every time Buffy had been in danger.
"The original prophecies have been stolen, but I have a book," Giles said. He pulled it from his leather bag.
Angel's eyes fixed on the book. "That's Wesley's."
Giles nodded. "He mailed it to me just before he died."
Faith's forehead wrinkled. "Why didn't he give it to Angel?" She was never close to Wesley. Hell, she had tortured him just for the fun of it once during her dark period. But she knew that Angel and Wes were very close. She didn't understand why he would do that.
Just as Giles was about to answer, Angel said quietly, "Because he thought we were all going to die." He was referring to the night that Wesley died two years ago. The night that they had taken on Wolfram and Hart and he and Spike were the only two to survive.
Giles was always straight with Angel. He knew that anyone 250 plus years would have seen it all anyway. "I suppose he did," Giles said. "He even told me to make sure and take care of Buffy. Guess he knew how she'd take it if you…" He let his words run off. Buffy and Angel's relationship was already complicated. There was no reason in bringing the fact up.
"Okay, this trip down Agonizing Lane is terribly boring. What's the fuss with this wittle book?" House said, watching his cane twirl in his fingers.
Giles took two long steps towards him. A bystander would assume them brothers. Both were tall with long, scruffy faces and messy hair. Their eyes were a similar shade of bright blue. And they both had that look of intelligence, rebellion, and romantic.
"This book is going to save your friend's live. It magically contains within it every prophecy, every poem, every word written in history. You silly, 'wittle' ponce," Giles said in a hiss. Giles wore tweed often and almost emanated NERD. But every once in a while, when provoked—usually more like when Buffy was provoked—Ripper emerged. Ripper—the side of him he had tried to forget most of his life. But he had been a dangerous young man in his day and that part of him would never completely disappear.
"You could have just said it was a magical book. Show off," House said, his nose wrinkled with snotty dignity.
Angel stepped in. "How long will it take for you to know something?" he asked Giles.
Giles readjusted his wire-rim glasses. "Possibly half an hour."
Angel nodded. "Okay." He looked at the group. "Keen, Faith, you stay here with Cameron. I'm going to take Wilson and Kate to find Foreman."
Faith stood up. "You don't want me with you?" He shook his head. "If Dru comes knocking, I want a Slayer by Cameron's side."
"You got it," Faith said. She had complete faith in Angel. He had saved her. And a part of her knew that he would always be saving her. Every day.
Angel looked over at Cuddy, Chase, and especially House. "Stay here and stay quiet."
"I'm coming with you."
Angel stopped and turned. He looked at Cameron hard. He was trying to save her. He didn't have time to deal with her. "It's safer for you here."
"I'm safer with you," she said, echoing what she had told Wilson earlier that night. But she felt more honest when she said it now. "If Foreman wants me dead, I want to know the hell why."
"Look, this will be a lot easier if you stay here with Faith." If he could have breathed, he would have sighed.
Her stubborn chin hitched up as her green eyes burned into his. "Easier for who?"
Angel pointed to her and said, "Okay, but if you die, it's not my fault."
"If I die, I'm not going to take the time to lecture you about it," she said as she walked up beside him.
"Cameron not lecturing?" House said. "Now that's a first. World really must be ending."
……………………………………
Angel, Cameron, Wilson, and Kate had all been gone for about fifteen minutes. Giles had his nose in the book, his glasses sliding down his nose.
Keen leaned over next to him. "I just wanted to tell you," he said quietly, "that you have no idea how cool it is to meet you."
Giles looked up at him and smiled. "I can't imagine why, but thank you."
Keen shook his head. "You're a rock star, man. A legend. You've saved the world more times than Merlin has been reported to."
"Can you hump his leg after he finds what we're looking for?" Faith asked. She liked working with Keen but she didn't like distractions. She had allowed herself to get distracted once. It was the reason she had went to prison.
"Ah, I found something!" Giles lifted his glasses to stare at the book again as if to make sure he had read the passage correctly.
"What is it?" House asked.
"Oh dear," Giles whispered, reading the words carefully.
Faith sat down on the back of the couch. "Giles, did I ever tell you how much I hate it when you do that?"
……………………………………
"So what are we expecting to find here?" Kate asked, checking her gun. "What's Foreman like?"
"He's not above stealing obviously," Cameron said. "He stole my medical article a couple years back, too."
Wilson looked down at her. "For some reason, I'm thinking that this is probably different."
"This is mostly a recon mission, people," Angel said. "We need to know how many enemies we have here."
Wilson knocked on Foreman's door. "I guess we'll find out where Foreman falls into those categories soon enough."
Angel started to say, "Now remember not to be too forceful because we want him to invite me in—"
Just then Foreman answered the door with a smile. "Hi, what are you all doing here?"
Cameron's eyes flashed. She could feel angry heat burning her skin. "Why the hell do you want me dead?"
Without blinking he said, "Your forceful personality comes to mind."
Wilson stepped in. "We know you stole the prophecies from my hotel room. We just want to know why."
"Okay," he said, his hands in his pockets. He was still wearing his pants and white shirt and tie from work that day. He glanced Angel up and down. "You're a vampire, right?"
Angel smelled him. He wasn't demon. Foreman was human. "How do you know that?" he asked in almost a growl.
Foreman's eyebrow shot up. "Have you looked at your hair and outfit in the last few decades? Like anyone with a pulse would wear that."
"Are you going to let us in?" Angel didn't take his eyes off of him, but he knew that he was going to ask Faith about his hair as soon as he got back.
Foreman didn't hesitate. "Yes."
As they all sat down in Foreman's apartment, Angel asked, "What's your angle?"
"If you're asking if I'm evil, you can sleep a little easier in that coffin of yours." Foreman picked up the coffee mug he had been drinking from before they had arrived and took a drink.
"I don't sleep in a coffin," Angel whined. He looked over at Kate. "What is it with people and that damn Dracula crap? Only that pretty boy is ridiculous enough to do that."
Cameron needed him to go on. "If you're not evil, then what are you doing?"
Foreman looked at her with frustration. "I found out you were in danger. I had also heard that Wilson had the only prophecies that can help you."
"So why would you take them?" Wilson asked, his eyes squinted.
"Did you honestly think they were safe with you?" Foreman set down his mug. "I heard someone was about to steal them, so I got there first." He took the folder from the mantle and handed it to Wilson. "Here, you can have them."
"So how do you know about all this stuff?" Cameron's head was spinning.
Foreman scoffed. "Gang bangers aren't the only thing to be scared of on the street. You learn pretty fast that there's something a hell of a lot worse. I learned enough to protect myself and I have a mystical friend that lets me know when something's about to happen. That's how I knew that Wilson had the prophecies."
"They're all here," Wilson said, flipping through the pages.
"Of course they are," Foreman replied. "I'm not trying to kill Cameron."
Angel heard honesty in his voice. "You better not be lying."
"I'm not," Foreman said in his indignant, proud fashion.
"Then you're coming with us," Angel said.
………………………………………
Giles was pacing as Angel and the group came in. Angel saw the worry in his face. "What did you find out, Giles?"
Giles took out his handkerchief and wiped his glasses. "I know no one ever likes when I start from the beginning with the history and everything, but it's important."
"What is it?" Angel sat down on House's piano bench, his hands hanging between his knees.
"When humans began walking the earth, there was no balance between good and evil," Giles said.
"Right, there were too many demons. Humans were getting decimated," Wilson added.
"You really did your research," Angel said.
"He's always been an overachiever. That's why I hired him," Cuddy said, her lips curling as she glanced at Wilson.
"Are you trying to make me jealous?" Chase asked petulantly. He was playing with the bottom hem of her shirt.
Giles blinked at the rather odd group of doctors and continued. "So tribe leaders created The Slayer. The one girl in all the world to fight the forces of darkness."
Faith raised her hand in a wave. "Look to me for an example."
"How did they create the Slayer?" House asked. He always liked history. And this certainly wasn't in the books.
Faith tilted her head. "A magic spell, a girl, add a cup of demon and mix well until fluffy."
Cameron's jaw dropped. "Are you saying that you have demon in you?"
She looked at her with a cocky smile. She never played well with the other girls. "Just enough to get the job done."
Kate shook her head. She was used to a rowdy room of cops, but these people had the attention spans of Colin Farrell at a club during Ladies' Night. "What does all of this have to do with Cameron?"
"Yes, well," Giles said, swallowing. "With the creation of the Slayer, a balance was established. Both demon and human could coexist."
"And the balance has shifted," Angel said quietly. It wasn't a question. He understood now.
"Exactly," Giles answered excitedly.
"When did the balance shift? I still feel pretty balanced," House said. "Of course, maybe that's because I have a cane to keep me standing."
Giles stared at him. "Three years ago, Buffy was fighting the First Evil. The only way to hurt it was to disturb the balance."
Faith had been there and could finish the story. "So Buffy's witch friend Willow cast a spell—making any potential girl a Slayer."
Cuddy shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. What do you mean by 'potential'?"
Giles said, "When the tribal leaders created the first Slayer, they had made the spell as such that when that girl died, another would become infused with the power of the Slayer. It usually happens when they are fifteen or sixteen."
"Oh, my," Cuddy said in a whisper. She couldn't imagine any child that young having to have that kind of responsibility.
"Only one girl becomes the Chosen One, but there is an entire pool worldwide that can be chosen from," Giles said. He was so anxious that he was almost out of breath.
"But that spell that Buffy had cast made all girls from that group a Slayer. Now there is an army of Slayers. Most of them are in Europe with Buffy." Faith was glad to be away from them. She didn't want the responsibility of caring for them. She couldn't do it.
"I still don't understand what that has to do with me," Cameron said.
Giles looked straight at her. "All of these girls can now kill demons. The balance has shifted."
"And now they're trying to shift the balance back?" Kate asked.
"How?" Cuddy asked.
Giles said, "There is a ceremony during the full moon. A priestess—which is apparently Drusilla—will call forth the dark magics. She will turn Cameron into a vampire and then the darkness—even darker than that of a vampire—will overcome her."
"And what does that mean?" Cameron asked. She had never been so frightened by a conversation in her life.
"It means that you will be the anti-Slayer. You will be a vampire weapon to wipe out all Slayers and forces of goodness."
House's forehead wrinkled. "But you said that Slayers are usually teens. Why would anyone want Cameron? She's almost thirty."
"Gee, thanks," Cameron said. "Stop helping."
"For once, he's actually got a good point," Angel said. "But it's different because Slayers are human girls. They are obviously stronger at that age. But if Cameron is turned into a vamp, she'll be strong and beautiful forever."
Cameron glanced up at Angel. Beautiful?
House glanced at him, too. Being a vampire meant eternal youth. As he popped his tenth Vicodin in his mouth that day, he realized that it also meant eternal painlessness.
TBC
