Worlds Apart - Chapter 20

Nearly a day had passed since Tommy landed in the hospital. Adam and Rocky kept Kim company, they even tried to urge her to leave and get some fresh air, but she refused, wanting to stay by Tommy's side. Buffy arrived a bit later, bringing no news on Tommy's attacker. He himself had stirred for a moment or too, but quickly descended back into unconsciousness.

"Any word on Jason?" Kim asked.

"Only that Los Angeles has descended into constant darkness, and there's some big bad they have to deal with." Buffy replied.

"I'm sure he's fine, Kim," Adam reassured her. "Jason's one of our best."

"So was Tommy, and look where that got him," she said dejectedly.

"Did he get into a fight with hairdresser?" Another voice interrupted. They all looked up to see Kat and Tanya arrive. Of course, Tanya was the one with the joke.

"He seriously had long hair?" Buffy asked.

"Better than ours," Kat replied.

"Jealous," Buffy said with a small grin tugging at her lips. "Buffy Summers." She said extending her hand.

"Katherine Hillard, this is Tanya Sloan," she pointed to her friend. They all shook hands, and then hugged Adam and Rocky. Kat's eyes then met Kim's, and Kim stood slowly to greet them.

"It's good to see you Kat. Tanya." They both hugged her, and Kat's was surprisingly long.

"Tommy told us you've been through hell, Kim," Kat said. "I'm sorry we couldn't be here to help sooner."

"It's ok," Kim replied, emotionless as she then sat back down.

"How long has he been out?" Tanya asked.

"24 hours," Buffy replied. "We're still working on what did this to him. Whatever it was, I don't think it was a bringer or a vampire... do you guys know what I mean?"

"Tommy's e-mail out to us gave us a little bit of background," Tanya replied. "I'm sure we'll pick up what we need as we go."

"Like we always have," Kat added. Her gaze fell once more on her pink predecessor, who clearly felt it as she looked away. Kat was going to mention something, but Giles came bounding in.

"His name is Caleb," He shared, trying to catch his breath.

"How do you know that?" Buffy asked.

"Well, where do I start?" Giles asked himself. "He's a defrocked preacher who has been behind the murder of at least two young women, wanted by the police."

"So?" Buffy asked quizzically.

"So, we caught a priest on surveillance at the Watcher's Council," Giles replied. "Right before the bombing."

"He killed them," Kim said, realizing the gravity of what was going on.

"Recent intel suggests that he is now here in Sunnydale," Giles replied. "I had Kennedy, Violet, and Molly do some research even before Tommy landed in the hospital."

"So how do we stop the psycho preacher?" Adam asked in the corner of the room.

"Well, um..." Giles stopped, realizing he didn't recognize four of the people in the room.

"Giles, this is Adam, Rocky, Kat, and Tanya," Buffy rattled off. "They are here to help."

"Look, I hate to tell you this, but just like I told him," Giles pointed over towards Tommy. "You won't be able to help much with this fight. Caleb, like the Turok-han, by all accounts is going to be a bear even for Buffy. Maybe you can fight run of the mill vampires and bringers, but it would not be wise for any of you to go up against him. Even if you attack together."

"Look, we didn't come all this way just to be wallflowers," Rocky softly countered.

"Are all of you former rangers this bloody stubborn?" Giles asked, exasperated by their unwillingness to reason. "The best of you is in a damn hospital bed, and he's lucky to be alive!" Giles, unable to contain his emotion, decided to stop himself and left promptly, leaving Buffy, Kim, and the rest of the former rangers in the hospital room.

It was silent for a while before Buffy tried to help lighten the mood a bit. The former zeo team started sharing stories from the old days, filling Buffy and Kim on some of the memories. Kim was shocked, and somewhat saddened, to realize there was so much that she had missed out on. While Tommy was always part of the original team, and she had served with Rocky and Adam for a while, it was clear that these five had really clicked together while fighting the machine empire.

She found herself withdrawing into her own thoughts, as she had been so used to during this intense season. There were so many things for her to think about, that as she went deep into her thoughts she didn't even notice that Buffy had left, leaving her as the lone outsider. It was then she got a shock.

"Beautiful?"

She was sobered instantly, her head snapping quickly over towards Tommy's bed to see his eyes open, though certainly heavy. "Tommy?"

"You know, Tommy hasn't changed a bit," Rocky chimed in. "Four of his closest friends show up, and all he cares about is Kimberly." Tommy looked around to see his friends, and his small grin turned into a wide smile.

"You got our e-mail!" Tommy shouted.

"Yeah, just in time to see that our fearless leader got his butt handed to him," Tanya snarkily quipped. "We'll make sure we're there for you next time."

"Or at least we can be there to watch it happen," Rocky joked.

"Thanks," Tommy's tone dripped with sarcasm. While Tommy's mood seemed good, Kim was deeply concerned as she was now kneeling by his bedside.

"This isn't a joke, Tommy," she whispered.

"Kimberly..."

"You could have died..." her voice trailed off, tears forming in her eyes. "All because I dragged you into this mess. This is all..."

"Kim, don't you dare blame yourself," Tommy replied, taking her hand into his. "I chose this fight. I chose to get myself involved. And they," Tommy pointing to the rest of the former rangers. "They are here because they chose to be here."

"Besides Kim, you're one of us," Kim was surprised that it was Kat who was speaking to her. "Once a ranger, always a ranger. We fight for each other. We are choosing to be here because we are here to fight alongside you."

*Sunnydale Graveyard*

Buffy had received a text from Giles that Spike had gone out patroling, which prompted her to leave the hospital when she did. She was worried that he might be rusty, not to mention still weak from what the First had done to him while he was in captivity. When she arrived, however, she was shocked to see Faith fighting Spike. She rushed over, and hit her hard to knock her off Spike. Spike got up, licking his wounds a bit as he stood up.

"Faith, didn't realize you were in town," Buffy said. "When did they let you out of jail?" Sarcasm dripped from her voice.

"Didn't let me, I broke out," She replied. "You do realize that that's Spike right? I was trying to help."

"Ahh yes... trying to save the town from good ol' Spike," he quipped.

"He has a soul now," Buffy defended.

"Then why was he attacking that woman over..." She was interrupted by a female vampire coming from behind, putting her in a chokehold.

"Because I'm evil sweetie," She cackled. Faith, however, stepped hard on her attacker's toe, elbowed her in her abdomen, and then spun out of the hold.

"Stake?" Faith asked. Buffy tossed one to her, and then thrust it into the heart of the vampire. "So... when did you get a soul?"

"When did you become good?" Buffy countered. Faith grinned a smirked.

"When Angel..." Faith started, but noticed Buffy flinched, recalling the difficult interaction between the three of them years earlier. "He took a chance on me, to care for me and get me help."

"So a few years of jail time, now you busted out and you're all reformed," Buffy replied.

"Busted out to save Angel," Faith shared.

"What happened?" Buffy asked, concern evident in her voice. Spike scowled slightly but not enough for either of the slayers to notice.

"He reverted to Angelus."

"I need to go and warn Willow and the others..." Buffy started to turn, but Faith stopped her.

"They're fine, they caught up with me. After they finished whatever they were sent to do, they met up with me. Jason and Blade helped me to capture him, Willow helped Fred to get Angel's soul back, and now we're back here, five by five."

"Oh."

"Look, I know we don't exactly see eye-to-eye, B. Our trust level isn't exactly all too high. But Willow said you could use my help. Something about the First Evil trying to end the slayer line, and the world along with it?" Buffy sighed, but gave a slight smile.

"If you want to join our merry band of misfits, you're more than welcome too," Buffy confessed.

"Good... because I'm ready to get some payback," Faith replied.

"Payback?" Spike asked.

"Somebody paid off one of the inmates to kill me. They used the same type of blade that the... what did Jason say they were... bringers? Yeah, same type of blade that they use."

"How would they have paid her off?" Spike wondered aloud. "They can't talk."

"No, but I bet there's a preacher who did."

To be continued...

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- Googz333