Author – Benaboo

Rating – This one is definitely NC-17

Warnings – violence, some gore, language, and explicit sex

Setting – This takes place at the beginning of January 2010, after the boys go to Wisconsin in Gypsy's, Tramps, and Thieves. Takes place during season 5 of Supernatural, 6 years after Buffy ended, and 5 after Angel ended.

Notes – Angel's POV is shortened due to the length of Giles and Dean's POV, and also as a lead in to that part of the story. The holidays are finally over and it seems I will have a bit more time this year to write for ya'll! I'm so excited about that! I'll be finishing up a few stories and adding new ones, as well as working on Hell Mouths and Whiskey as much as I can! So here's Chapter Eleven! Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

Giles POV

I felt like I was having a sodding aneurysm.

We hadn't accumulated many books on the First since we fought them the last time about 7 years prior. There just weren't that many we haven't already read through, and so far even Sam couldn't find anything we already knew.

Bloody hell.

We poured over every book we could find, Dawn pitching in between reading her assignment from school. A few hours later we were no better off and no one was back yet.

I wiped my glasses a lot.

Angel slammed a book shut, apparently just as frustrated as I was. "Have we looked through the Chronicles of Naiad yet?"

Sam sighed and pinched his nose. "Three times and counting, but if you think you can find something I didn't then be my guest." He pushed the book towards Angel.

Angel pushed it back. "No, I think three is enough for now, so I'll pass."

The younger Winchester boy, whom I'd grown quite fond of in the past few hours, shut a few more of the books and looked directly in the eye of the former vampire. "So much for my eyes being a fresh look. I only found bare mentions of it even existing and just one account of what it could do if left unchecked." Sam shuddered. "Jesus, I wonder if our realities really are that much different at the end of the day."

"Agreed. It's not always black and white, that's for sure. The grey areas can be a bitch." Angel looked at me, ashamed, and then just as quickly looked away. I knew what drove Angel's guilt towards me. Several years back his demon had taken control of his body again and killed Jenny Calendar, whom I had loved more than life itself. Even after it turned out she was descended from the gypsy clan that cursed Angel I couldn't stop loving her. Love is never less than complicated, and to this day I still cannot get her out of my mind. I've tried dating and going out, but deep down I knew she had been the one. My thoughts and feelings always came back to her. I miss her terribly, and I hope that she knew that, or even knows it now.

For the present, however, I pushed my thoughts away of Jenny and tried to focus on the task at hand. I might have felt that we had read everything we could possibly find on the First and then some, but our resources were dried up and I had no idea on how to proceed. It was times like this that I wished the council library was still around instead of blown to Hell by t he enemy. I knew for a fact there had been books in that library, referenced in my own collection, that were the only copies known left to exist. It would have come in handy at this point, and it pained my soul to know that all that knowledge was gone, never to be found again. I cursed Quentin Travers name more than once for not being prepared enough to keep the most important books off site in case something like that happened, even tried to lobby for it more than once but it fell on deaf ears. Serves their sodding asses right off the block for being blown up like that!

"Giles? You Okay?" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Sam, concern very obvious in the way he looked at me, the crinkles in his forehead defining his features.

I pulled off my glasses and began wiping as I responded. "I'm fine Sam. I'm just trying to figure out where we could go from here. Since our text resources seem to be getting us nowhere, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to get in touch with Althenea and try some magicks to locate possible leads."

Sam looked puzzled. "Althenea? Why does that name sound familiar?"

"She's the head of the coven. They helped Willow when she absorbed all that magic years ago, and they are tuned into the new potentials as they come into their slayer abilities." Angel nodded at me. "That seems like the best course of action, given our current situation. I assume you want to wait for Willow to get back before you do that though?"

He read my mind. "Yes. In the meantime I think I could use a break. I don't know about you lads but I'm quite feeling like my head is in a vice at the moment."

Before either of them could speak, Dawn piped up. She had been so quiet I had almost forgotten she was there. "Not yet for me Giles, I… I think I may have found something…"

The three of us turned to her, Sam leaning to look over her shoulder. "What did you find Dawn?" He asked, hope in his voice.

"A vague mention of the First Evil, concerning the sacrifice of the Twelve and the rebirth of the Thirteen."

"The Twelve and Thirteen what?" As sure as I lived and breathed, that Winchester boy really had that crinkle brow down pat.

"Humans I'm thinking, but I won't know for sure until I've checked into the few references listed in the foot notes." The younger Summers girl looked up at me, curiosity and excitement shining in her eyes. "I need the Black Chronicles, D'Karsl Glossary, and the Malleus Micelchum, or so it says."

Angel let out a low whistle. "Good luck on the Micelchum. That book hasn't been seen in thousands of years."

I sighed wistfully, knowing how right he was on the matter. "I apologize Dawn, but Angel is correct about that particular tome. We do, however, have copies of the other two, if you'd like us to start perusing them. Although I think we've been through them a million times already, unless the references are in demon code, which is quite possible."

She shook her head. "No, you can take a breather, just hand me the books and I'll check it out first, since I'm just sitting here doing homework, and I'm not tired of the research."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I am Giles." She smiled, and shut her school book, shoving it aside. "I could really use this opportunity to take a break from my reading assignment anyway. I want the first crack at it. Just warm me up a few slices of leftover pizza and pour me a glass of Coke, and I'll be good to go."

I am so very proud of Dawn, both of the woman she has grown up to be and the one I knew she would grow into. "I believe I can have that arranged. No matter what you find, I still believe it necessary to contact the coven when Willow gets back."

Dawn got a serious look on her face and gave a curt nod. "I agree on that. The way things are going this may not turn out to be anything at all, so it's good we have someone and something to fall back on."

Sam Winchester beamed, and it didn't take a bloody rocket scientist to realize how impressed he was with her. "It's a starting point and a back up plan. Also, you never know when something might fall into our laps or into our possession or that already is that's going to give us what we need to know or at least part of it."

Angel wasn't quite convinced, but he wasn't the type of man to give up so easily. "That could be the case. Those are some pretty heavy books; lots of detail. The Micelchum would be best though, since it's one of the rarer demonic "how to" tomes ever written."

Sam considered his words. "That makes sense, and coincides with what I'm thinking." He turned to me, a look of concentration on his face as though he were just figuring out a missing puzzle piece in his mind. "Giles, I'm thinking about that break in."

I was intrigued. "Nothing seems to be missing Sam. We really looked, several times even, to make sure."

"Yes, I know that, but either of the books Dawn mentioned kept safe in there?"

The realization of what he was saying finally struck me. "Oh dear lord." Before I could say or do anything more, Angel was up and out of his chair running to the office, while Sam continued speaking.

"It could be that one of those books will tell us more than the First would like us knowing, or at least give us a good idea what we need to know." He went silent before voicing his opinion. "I don't believe in coincidences, and Dawn finding this after the break in, along with the missing slayers and Dean and I coming through the portal is just too much of one for me not to be concerned."

"I must say I agree with you on that. It makes perfect sense the First would try and cut us off from any information we're privy to. They've certainly done so before."

Again with the patented Sam Winchester crinkle brow. "I'm almost afraid to ask, and probably better if I don't."

Dawn spoke up. "It's not something we generally speak about, but you should know given the circumstances, and since your dealing with the First alongside us." She looked at me while she filled him in. "The First blew up the Watcher's Council. They sent a harbinger on a suicide mission and a lot of people died, and nearly all of our written, video, and taped resources were lost."

"A classic strategic military move, basic and simple, but it gets the job done. It doesn't surprise me from what you've already told us about them."

"Quite." My eyebrow raised, my interest in the brothers lives growing immensely. "You boys must go through similar situations to think of such things in said military terms."

He smiled then. "Feeling me out a bit?"

Smart boy, this one. "My apologies. I did not mean to be rude and intrusive. It is just habitual curiosity mingled with a healthy dose of paranoia that cannot be helped on my part I suppose."

"I understand, and I'm not offended. Our father was a marine and he instilled us with military training, procedure, and battle tactics as we learned to hunt the supernatural creatures growing up."

I was impressed. "I daresay that's quite useful. We try to do that with the slayers if we find them early enough in their childhood."

"Yeah, it comes in handy, although at the time I was just a kid and I hated him for it. Took me a long time to come to terms with what he put us through and why, and recently I see that he just wanted to give us the skills to survive what's really out there." His tone sobered. "Knowing what I do now it makes me feel guilty I ever thought badly about him, and how much I miss him."

My heart went out to the young man. "I'm so sorry Sam. I was in a similar place with m y own father at your age. It's not an easy place to be."

He sighed, moisture brimming in his eyes and making them shine in sorrow. "I'd give anything to be able to tell him that I understand and how much I love him."

Before either of us could say another word, Angel re-entered the room. "Well, they are both in there. If the First staged the break in, and I think they did, then it could very well be they were after them." He turned to Dawn. "If you want to look through them, you should do it in the office since it's still protected by magic. One of us should be in there with you just in case they happen to try again." He waited for Dawn to nod in agreement and then addressed myself and Sam. "I have another source I'd like to try aside from books and magicks. I really should go alone but with all that's going on I don't think any of us should be out by ourselves."

"Agreed. Why don't I stay with Dawn then and you take Sam? The extra muscle could come in handy."

Sam stood with Dawn and gave her a hug. "I'll see you when I get back."

She nodded vigorously. "Okay, just be safe."

As they were on the way out the door, Angel turned to add one last thing. "If I don't come back, tell Buffy I love her."

That was the least I could do. "I'll do that. Good luck." They headed out the door and I followed Dawn to the office to do some more research.

Dean POV

Xander, Spike, and I got to the bus station a little before sundown. It didn't take us long to set up surveillance, so I had plenty of time to arrange the crystals the way Willow had instructed me to. It was very simple to do and I was hoping if things went south her rose quartz would be effective in helping us get a leg up on the bad guys.

Xander stuck to the inside and surrounding bus station, Spike and I took turns patrolling the outside parameter in clockwise and counter clockwise circles around the station and the city blocks nearby. It's not like I was expecting the hooded sith lords to show up early, but it would be sad if we were to underestimate them, and I was itching for a fight. I needed to work off the anxiety and guilt I felt about letting Faith out of my sight. I knew in my head it wasn't exactly my fault for letting her go off on her own, but deep down I was blaming myself for not listening to my instincts that had told me there was something about her at the time when I was with her. I didn't listen to them, so I felt what I did despite my head irrationally telling me to. So I did my best to concentrate on other things.

Willow had given me her phone in case I wanted to text Buffy for an update, and I was tempted to do just that when I noticed Spike coming around the corner of the east side of the bus station. I honestly didn't know what to make of him, a vampire with a soul like Angel had been, but I remembered how Lenore struggled to be good, and I tried to relax a little. I knew from personal experience that sometimes not all supernatural creatures were monsters, even though it went against everything my father had ever taught me. It wasn't until I met Gordon Walker that I began to question the black and white, and that the shades of grey in between could be a serious bitch. So I did my best to view them in the grey at the very least, because I couldn't afford to lose my edge and let my guard down. Friends were a stretch, but Willow's suggestion of allies put me a bit more at ease with the notion.

As we approached one another, we hesitated, small chit chat and head nods so obvious in the immediate future of us just in passing one another, as if we were just regular strange guys passing on the street. But we weren't, and we both knew it, and there's no such thing as the perfect gentleman unless you're courting the ladies. As we passed within a foot of one another, he said "Dean," and we both gave one another a curt nod. "Spike." I replied, and I was content to go on my way, but he continued to talk, so I turned and listened to what he had to say.

"Really Dean, I much prefer William these days. I'm not so on about the old nick name, if ya know what I mean."

My eyebrow couldn't help but arch. "Really? Oh right, vampire with a soul. Not that many of you around these days are there, mate?" I pronounced 'mate' with a sarcastic finality that drove my point home.

I don't know how he did it, but the immortal Brit somehow managed to look amused and annoyed at me all at once. "Right. I'm a rare breed of vampire, endangered list and all that."

I shrugged. "Sure; I think they had a special on Animal Planet about that."

His annoyed amusement grew. "I can see why Red likes you so much. I think I like you too, despite your bloody smart ass mouth."

I shrugged again. "I don't seem to be the only one here that fits the description of a smart ass."

He kept on smiling. "Yeah, you're definitely in good company mate."

I was about to say something that might jeopardize relations between myself and the Buffy gang, but Xander walked up at that moment, and since I trusted and liked the man, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Sam would be so proud.

"What's up Xander? You should get back to the station, just in case something goes down."

He nodded. "I know, but before I do, Willow did that voice in the head thing with me." He turned to me with a sorrowful expression. "No signs of a struggle where you last saw Faith, but they found an empty hypodermic with remnants of what they believe to be made of the same solution used to strip a slayer's powers."

Before I could ask what he meant Spike damn near exploded with anger. "You mean the Council's behind this? That can't be possible! All those dummy wankers were blown to Hell when the First came after us in Sunnydale! We've remade the Council, and…" he stopped talking then, which I normally would have been grateful for, but the look of worry he was sharing with Xander kept me from saying anything but one word.

"What?" I asked.

Spike shook his head. "No, no, I don't even want to think that's a possibility."

Xander sighed. "I know but it needs to be considered. I have to go, so fill Dean in before he feels even more clueless alright?" He walked back to the station, leaving me with more questions than I had previously, and Spike on the verge of blowing a gasket.

When he calmed down enough, he lit a cigarette and took a few puffs. I asked what was going on. "Can you fill in the blanks for me blood sucker? Because right now I feel like I'm in the middle of a Tarantino flick and the gaps in the story are making absolutely no sense to me."

He took a few more drags before throwing the smoke to the ground and lighting another while he spoke. "What he's saying mate, is that we may have a sodding spy in our bloody mist!"

I was still confused but at least it was a start. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He exhaled and looked at me with an intensity that made me know just how dangerous a thing he could be, and had been; not that I could make the distinction between the two, or would want to. "The old Watcher's Council was a nasty piece of work. It was started by a trio of African elders back in years B.C. who basically involved poor, helpless girls with the powers of a demon to fight back at the forces of evil."

"The origin of the vampire slayer in this reality; I remembered that from Buffy and Willow's conversation with us yesterday morning. That doesn't explain why you and Xander are tripping out."

Spike let out an exasperated breath. "I'm getting to that bright boy. From the time the Council began, they imposed upon the Slayer's life. They kidnapped potential slayers as babies if they couldn't convince the parents to give them up, you name it, whatever it took. In some cases they would murder entire families or do any number of immoral shit to get their hands on the next possible Slayer."

I punched my right fist into my left hand. "Douche bags!"

Spike lit up a smoke and exhaled. "Yeah, and that's just the tip of the iceberg; we're still discovering the bloody mess of secret crap they had their hands in."

I may not trust the Billy Idol wannabe but I could see where he was going with this. "So they used this drug that Xander found in the needle so the Slayer couldn't fight back, and then they can do whatever they want with a lot less resistance?"

He blew out smoke again. "You're right on the button mate. The best example of how they put it to use was the Cruciamentum."

I didn't quite understand what he said. "Crucial mental what?" I was a little bewildered.

Cruciamentum." This time when he said it he pronounced each syllable slowly and deliberately, as if he were talking to a dumb child. What an Asshole. "The old Watcher's Council created it as a test that stripped the Slayer's powers so she would have to endure an incredibly hard fight on her 18th birthday. They viewed it as a rite of passage that the Slayer lived long enough to make it that far, but it was bloody barbaric, cruel, and a lot of the times the Slayer would die because she didn't have her powers."

An uncomfortable knot formed in my stomach, not wanting to know the answer to my next question, but needing to. "Did Buffy and Faith have to go through this test?"

"Faith dodged it, since the Council was trying to kill her at the time and she was on the run, but they had plans to. Buffy went through it though." His eyes conveyed what he didn't say.

"It was bad for her…" was all I could manage.

He tossed his smoke on the ground. "The monster they released on her took her mom."

My heart dropped. "They didn't hurt her, did they?"

"Joyce? No, Buffy and Giles saved the day, which resulted in him getting fired from the Council for a couple of years." For a vampire he suddenly looked distressed. "Joyce passed away a couple years later. She had an aneurysm resulting from a brain tumor."

I felt saddened all of a sudden. "I'm sorry to hear that. I know it's hard to lose a parent. What about her father?"

"He ran off with his secretary to Europe less than 6 months before Joyce died. Buffy tried to get in touch with him but he hasn't made any effort to return the favor, the bloody wanker."

"If I was a normal person I'd be shocked, but the hunting life has me sort of desensitized to anything of the like. To hear that Buffy's family fell apart of non supernatural meddling leaves me flabbergasted. It's not what I'm used to hearing and I feel bad for the poor girl."

Spike nodded. "She still believes she was to blame being called as the Slayer, all the stuff she had to do to kill demons, which was seemingly delinquent behavior to her parents at the time. It got her into a lot of trouble and she felt it responsible for their split."

I looked at him with my direct, no bullshit stare. "They didn't know, never found out what she sacrificed to keep them and the entire world safe?"

"Her father never did, but Joyce knew. Actually, I was there when she found out."

My curiosity was piqued and I was about to keep asking questions when we heard a noise coming from the bus terminal, sounding like a battle, knives being drawn. Xander was in there and possibly Rachel too.

"Dammit!" I yelled, running after the vampire in front of me and hoping we wouldn't be too late.

Angel POV

I really like Sam Winchester.

I've been human for a few years now but I could still tell a kindred, tortured soul when I saw one; and Sam had the tortured, wannabe redeemed soul written all over his face. He was trying to make up for something he did, or for what he thought he'd done. I really couldn't tell which it was, but he looked and acted like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

So between that and his hunting expertise I felt I was in good hands, that I had someone who knew the score to watch my back. My contact wasn't exactly known for giving out information freely. I'd take Willy the Snitch over this guy we were about to see any day. Being a regular guy was in question when it came to Darren though. Rumor was he had Seraph demon on his mother's side, passed down for generations, which is scary since Seraph's get more powerful from their maternal bloodline rather than paternal, especially in mixed human marriages. Darren knew things, and it was probably how he amassed all his wealth on the stock market over the years. The authorities had been looking into family for a long time, but they couldn't prove anything. They never would. Demons don't all just hang out in sewers and dark alleys. Sometimes they lived right down your street, or even next door, or, you know, even next door to Bill Gates.

I had Sam park the '67 Impala, which was just a sweet car I wanted to cry, a good 6 blocks away, so hopefully Darren wouldn't see us coming, but with his particular mind powers it was probably a useless precaution. Still, there was always a chance that doing so would come in handy. Besides, Dean would kill us if anything were to happen to her, and it would be justifiable homicide.

We walked down the street toward Darren's, the night air crispy, chilly as Kansas gets in the beginning of January. "I should fill you in on this guy we're going to talk to."

"What? He's not just a half demon with mind tricks and money?"

I had to smile. "Yeah, I guessed you'd catch on that there's the same tried and true to him in the normal sense."

Sam laughed. "Normal for us anyway, if that word can even be defined."

"I wonder what a normal family would think."

"Probably scream, run the other way, and make excuses and rationalizations for what they've seen and or heard for the rest of their lives?"

"Most likely."

We walked a couple of blocks in companionable silence, both of us seemingly comfortable knowing we had each other's backs. It was nice to know that I could trust Sam to get the job done if it came to that.

"Here it is." I said, as Darren's huge, grandiose mansion came into view.

Sam let loose a low whistle. "Impressive."

"It is until you know how he acquired it."

Sam smacked his forehead. "By demon or human standards? You know what? Forget I asked…" he tried to duck out of it carefully.

"By both actually." I answered him anyway.

He let out a huge sigh. "I really didn't need to know that. Shall we get this over with?"

"Yeah." I hesitated for a second. "You've got the package?"

He patted the left side of his jacket softly. "Yeah, I got it."

"Then let's go." We walked up the sidewalk to the call box at the black iron gates and pressed the button.