A.N Thank you one again to my oh so very wonderful and amazing Beta.

"Speech"

'Thought'

'Pack Mental Communication'

Chapter 25 – Assassins Creed

Spike's Warehouse – 7:00 pm, Monday

Spike sat next to Drusilla, one leg thrown over the chair's arm. Drusilla sat at the table, flipping Tarot cards. As she flipped the last one over, she gasped and turned to Spike. During one of her more lucid moments, she said, "Oh, Spikey, look! A key. The book needs a key."

Spike moved quickly to her side. "A key, luv?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, my precious," Drusilla replied, showing him the card with the image of a mausoleum on it.

"Is that where we'll find it, pet?" Spike asked, placing his arm on the back of her chair.

"Yessss," was Dru's dreamy response.

Grinning, Spike replied, "I'll send the boys, pronto!"

Drusilla looked up at him and asked, "Now will you dance?"

Still grinning, Spike took her hand. "Of course I will, ducks; we'll dance together. On the Slayer's grave!"

The platinum-haired British vampire picked up a now-giggling Drusilla in his arms and they danced around the room, both vampires feeling happier than they had since Prague.

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Restfield Cemetery, Sunnydale – 11:00 pm

Warren was alone in this cemetery, with Oz, Jonathan and Andrew having split up to cover the other cemeteries in this town. Well, he was the only werewolf present, anyway; Warren's paws thudded along with Xander running alongside him, testing out his mental walkie talkie.

'Can you still hear everyone, Xander?' Warren asked.

'Yeah, Oz just took out three vamps and Cordelia is moaning about demon blood messing up her clothes,' he silently chuckled.

'Right,' Warren replied. 'Not all that surprised, actually.'

'Hey, what's that?' Xander suddenly demanded, skidding to a halt.

'What's…' Warren began to say, before trailing off as a banging reached his ears.

The supernatural duo trailed the noise to a mausoleum. Using his enhanced hearing, Xander realized that whoever was in there, he didn't have a heartbeat. 'Dude, there's a vamp in there.'

'Doing what?' Warren responded.

'Digging, it sounds like,' Xander replied.

'Yeah, and I think he brought a friend,' Warren projected, smelling another soulless vampire nearby.

The vampire Warren spoke of appeared behind Xander, intending to attack – before an elbow jab to the face sent him flying away. Xander and Warren were then interrupted by the appearance of the vampire from within the mausoleum, whose name was Dalton.

'You get Indiana Jones, and I'll get Mr. Silent,' Xander said to his werewolf companion.

Xander turned and rushed after the first vampire. Warren turned to get the Dalton; only to find he had somehow disappeared. Running around the graveyard tracking his prey availed him nothing.

Xander quickly reappeared. 'I took the other vamp out, you good?'

"No, I lost him. He ducked into one of the sewers before I could grab him," Warren admitted guiltily, after phasing back to human form.

"There's a lot of places vamps can hit the sewers around here. Next time," Xander replied, nudging the werewolf's shoulder.

Warren looked downcast so he phased back into the wolf and they both did another run of the graveyard, with Warren dispelling his frustration by dusting a few more vampires.

"Giles needs to know about this; I'll go let him know," Xander said, after watching Warren take out a newbie fledgling.

Huffing and letting out a loud growl, the wolf looked at him and nodded. 'I'll give Oz the news,' Warren thought at his undead companion, and then the pair then parted company.

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Spike's Warehouse – 11:10 pm

Spike stood over Drusilla, who was resting in their bed. A ruffled and panicked Dalton rushed in, carrying what looked like the object Spike needed to restore his love to her full strength.

Placing the item on to a red velvet pillow gilded in yellow braiding, Dalton stepped back. Uncaring of his minion's fear permeating the room, Spike carefully unwrapped the item and sat on the bed, holding the pillow out to Dru. Laid within the cloth was a large gold cross, ornately decorated.

Sucking in an unneeded breath, Spike looked at Drusilla. "Well, luv?"

The vampiress closed her eyes, held her hand above the cross and hummed. "It sings to me, Spike," Drusilla said, still humming a happy tune.

"When you're well again, poodle, we'll have your coronation down Main Street and blood will run like a river," the grinning Spike promised, putting the pillow on the bed and kissing his sire deeply.

"Uh, Spike? One of those werewolves, it almost caught me at the cemetery a few minutes ago. There was some guy with it as well, they nearly blew the whole thing," the still-shaken Dalton spoke up, prompting Spike to growl at the mood killer.

"You don't SAY?" he snapped at the translator. Shrinking back, Dalton cowered beneath the Master vampire, who looked ready to stake him in frustration.

"Spike, no," Drusilla said, causing Spike to stop and look at her. "It's not his fault, it is. Nasty dogs bark, and my Kitten smells awful."

Sighing, Spike gave Dalton a withering look. "The Order'll deal with the Slayer, but what to do about them dogs – and whoever's with 'em," he mused, as he sent Dalton scurrying from the room. "LUCIUS!" Spike then bellowed for his second in command.

When the vampire in question entered the room, Spike turned to him. "I want the boys watching them werewolves, and whoever's with 'em," he ordered.

Lucius nodded and sent for some minions, before he gave them Spike's latest order. A maliciously grinning Spike then said to no one in particular, "After all, sooner or later a mutt'll return to its master," he laughed evilly.

Lucius cleared his throat. "Errrm, boss, the people from the Order have arrived."

Roaring with laughter Spike cheerfully replied, "Well, isn't that just neat? Right then, tell 'em to go at it, find Betty and kill her!"

Drusilla giggled at her childe's laughter, as Spike motioned for Lucius to take the Du Lac Cross and store it somewhere safe.

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Sunnydale Library – 5:00 pm, Tuesday

Everyone was gathered at Slayer Central, waiting for Giles and Buffy to arrive. Xander and Oz were talking, as the Alpha's wolf pack mock-wrestled on the training mats.

"Shoulda tried to find out what the wannabe Indiana Jones was up to last night, at that mausoleum. Giles got all 'you made no effort to find out what was taken?' after I banged on his front door last night," Xander filled Oz in.

"Coulda been an over-reaction," Oz replied, watching his pack. Willow then appeared and snuggled into his side. Xander sniggered as he witnessed Mr. 'I Don't Usually Show Emotions' break into a wide grin.

"Sorry, pal, it's just the shock factor from actually seeing you smile," Xander said in response to Oz's raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I dunno. Guess I'm kinda balancing the old me with Jacob's memories, nowadays I show my emotions a bit more," Oz responded.

"I know the feeling," Xander replied, as he looked at Cordelia sitting at the nearby table and painting her nails. 'Boy, do I ever.'

The conversation ended when Giles entered through the double doors, but without Buffy. Oz whistled sharply, stopping the pack's wrestling. Nodding, Giles filled the group in on what he and Buffy had discovered.

"The vampires targeted a reliquary, a-a place used to store items of religious value. The one they broke into was for Joseph Du Lac, who belonged to a sect with formers ties to the Vatican."

"Oh, joy, a religious nut job," Cordelia said scathingly. She was still upset how everyone was kow-towing to Harmony, after all.

"Yes…well, he was excommunicated at the turn of the century, and sent to Sunnydale," Giles added.

"They must have really hated that guy," Xander quipped, trying to break the sudden tension within the room.

"Quite," Giles nodded with a brief smile. "The thing is, does everyone remember that book which was stolen a few weeks back?" Most of the group nodded, having heard the story from Willow. "Well, it was written by Du Lac, and was said to contain spells of unspeakable evil. However, it's written in an archaic Latin."

"Is that a good thing?" Warren asked.

"I guess. Unless someone can read it, right Giles?" Willow asked next.

"Yes, um, that's correct, Willow," Giles replied, ignoring how Oz immediately kissed his imprint on the cheek, whispering in her ear how smart she was – and thus causing Willow to let out a little giggle.

"Giles, are you sure the book and the stolen item are connected?" Xander asked.

"It stands to reason, Xander. The item stolen was the Du Lac Cross, which can be used to understand the archaic text of the book, or-or to decipher its hidden meanings."

"Like a decoder ring?" Jonathan and Andrew asked in unison.

Xander and Warren grinned at the two geeks. Cordelia rolled her eyes at the two teens. For his part, Giles started polishing his glasses and replied, "Yes, basically."

For the first time since the meeting had begun, Oz spoke loud enough to be heard by the group. "I'm thinking surgical strike, once we track down the vamps' lair."

"Yes, well, um, Oz, there i-i-is some merit in what you say," Giles replied slowly. "However, we need more information before charging in blindly. What was in that stolen manuscript, what exactly Spike intends to do, that sort of thing."

"In other words, you wanna do the whole research thing. Fine, whatever. Where's Buffy, though? She shouldn't have a free pass just because she's the Slayer, ya know," Cordelia grunted, having wondered where the blonde was since the meeting had started.

"Preparing for tonight's patrol, I imagine," Giles replied, looking distracted. No doubt he was already wondering which books to grab and share amongst the group of teenagers for the research party.

'Buffy's planning to get together with Deadboy tonight, then,' Xander thought in distaste.

'I know. It grosses me out too,' Oz replied. He stared at Willow, who looked away; she didn't want to reveal how Buffy and Angel were going ice-skating tonight on their date.

As it had always been meant to be, things were about to get a whole lot worse as the gang began to research. Giles pulled Xander aside to apologize for his over reaction the night before.

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Sunnydale Ice Palace – 7:00 pm

Buffy skated as she waited for Angel at the ice rink, a place her boyfriend had told her about last night in her bedroom; which was closed on Tuesdays, and thus available for her private use.

Buffy was in a thoughtful mood, as she recalled the previous evening's conversation. There had been many subjects covered, including Xander and Cordelia – and what exactly was the situation there. Buffy wasn't certain, but she was pretty sure Angel was now afraid of Xander, after learning what he and Cordelia had become after Halloween.

Because let's face it; that guy could kill Angel now without breaking a sweat. So could Cordelia. Not that she thought they would actually harm her boyfriend, but Buffy had to admit that it was unnerving to be dependent on someone else's good will, especially when Angel knew that 'someone' didn't particularly like him.

Caught in her thought, Buffy spun into a move she had learned in her childhood. Out of practice, the Slayer stumbled and fell, sliding into the barriers surrounding the rink.

As Buffy got back on her feet, a pair of thick, trunk-like arms reached from behind the barrier. Her breath immediately cut off, one arm grasped around her throat while the other hauled her backwards. Nonetheless, this did not prevent the Slayer from fighting her way free. She flipped the man onto the ice, but Buffy was surprised when the one-eyed man moved his body so as not to end up flat on his back.

"Gee, if you wanted to join me on the rink, all you have to do is ask," Buffy quipped at the long-haired man, her Slayersense telling her the cyclopean guy was not quite human.

The quip did not seem to accomplish what it usually did, though. Without a sound, the man known as Octarus moved impossibly fast, smashing a fist towards her head. As she grabbed the arm and twisted, Buffy noticed a gold ring on one of the man's fingers.

Unlike her usual opponents, Octarus was seemingly oblivious to the pain of having a twisted arm. His other arm shot out; Buffy ducked and weaved as they made their way further onto the ice.

Hearing a male voice yell the target's name behind him, Octarus turned around; only to see the vampire with a soul heading straight towards him. Backhanding a surprised Buffy away across the ice, the assassin turned to take the latest threat down. Charging at Octarus, Angel (in full vamp mode) barreled into him with a tackle that would make an NFL linebacker proud.

Octarus dug his heels in, though, throwing Angel back; who landed on his back. Landing on top of Angel, the assassin threw a punch, wounding the vampire above his eye. Angel head-butted Octarus in reply, pushing him backwards.

Landing with a grunt, the assassin quickly got back to his feet; but he was forced once again to the ground by a rage-filled Angel. Someone who, having just seen the ring on Octarus's finger, had renewed his efforts to take out the attacker.

"Buffy, RUN!" Angel yelled, seeing the Slayer having returned to the scene of battle. Naturally, though, she did no such thing.

Thinking quickly, Buffy unfastened one of her skates and then the other. Angel gritted his teeth as Octarus bucked like a stallion, fighting to get the vampire off his back.

The Slayer quickly bought her skate blade down on the assassin's throat, jumping back as blood gushed in a torrent from the inflicted wound. As the light left Octarus's eyes Angel stood up, blood dripping from his own head wound.

Plucking the ring off the dead man's hand, Angel paled further than a vampire could when he saw the ring marking the attacker as a member of The Order of Taraka. Angel had known true fear as a human in the 1700s; as a vampire, however, few things could scare the creature once known as Angelus, the Scourge of Europe.

The Order of Taraka was one of those 'few things'.

"Buffy, we need to get you out of here," Angel said urgently, looking around as the shadows might contain more assassins.

"You're hurt," Buffy gasped, running her fingers along his demonic ridges, not noticing how urgent he sounded.

"Don't. I don't want to see me like this," Angel replied, trying to ignore the thoughts of bloodlust and sexual desire whenever she touched him like that.

Bringing her hand to his cheek, Buffy turned her boyfriend's head back to face her and said, "I don't care. In fact, I never even noticed."

From the shadows, a pair of eyes watched as they tenderly kissed. The hidden figure was disgusted at she saw a human and a vampire in such an intimate embrace, not to mention astounded at how someone could love such a murderous creature.

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Sunnydale High – 8:00 am, Wednesday

All conversation immediately ended when Buffy entered through the double doors, followed by a solemn-looking Giles. Oz whistled sharply, once again stopping the pack's wrestling on the training mats. Xander and Oz shared a look upon seeing Giles enter the library.

'Wonder what's wrong with G-Man?' Xander thought.

'Dunno, but I think we're gonna find out,' Oz replied through the mental link.

"Giles, you okay?" Cordelia asked gently.

"Uh, give me a moment, Miss Chase," Giles replied, placing something in his hand under the magnifying glass.

The Watcher suddenly stilled, and all the pack (along with Cordelia and Xander) could smell fear coming from the Watcher in waves.

Inhaling and exhaling to calm himself, Giles stood and looked at the dumbstruck teens. Buffy for her part just sat quietly, not knowing what was wrong with her Watcher – although past experience told her that Giles's reaction was not good. Pushing all thoughts of that horrifying experience at the hands of the Master away, she focused once again on Giles. Unknowingly, Xander was thinking along the same line as the Slayer.

Because Giles' reaction and body language reminded Harris of something he would much rather forget. 'Oz, I've only seen him like this once before,' Xander thought to the Alpha werewolf.

'When?' came the response.

'The Master,' Xander replied shakily.

Oz knew what that meant, due to the stories he had heard from Xander and Cordelia. Willow stood and sat next Buffy, giving her moral support. Cordelia joined Xander, squeezing his arm in support. "Giles?" she said.

"Yes, um, well. Buffy, errr, informed me of an attack on her person last night," the Watcher said, removing his glasses and cleaning them.

"The guy who attacked was hardcore, people, and not quite human. He was powerful, I mean even Angel was power-freaked," Buffy said to the group.

'Ouch. Anything scaring Deadboy can't be good,' Xander thought, getting more worried by the minute and from the glances Oz was giving Willow, he wasn't the only one.

"Who was he?" Xander asked, taking in both Giles' and Buffy's expressions.

Swallowing hard, the Watcher spoke in a subdued voice whilst holding up the ring. "An assassin. The Order of the Taraka – only their members wear this particular ring."

"Which means what?" Willow asked.

"Xander, Cordelia, would it be possible for Buffy and her mother to stay at your home for a while?" Rupert asked both vampires.

"What?" Buffy demanded.

'What do you think, Cordy?' Xander asked her.

'Well, as much as we don't get along, I don't want Buffy dead or anything,' Cordelia replied with a mental sigh. 'Okay, whatever.'

"Giles, my mom's away in LA till Thursday. And I'll be fine, I DON'T need babysitting!" Buffy said, annoyed.

"Buffy, I need you to listen to me. These assassins, they're coming for you. They will not stop, either; they'll keep coming, one after the other, again and again – until you are dead," Giles warned her harshly.

"What's their MO?" Xander asked, fingering the medallion around his neck.

"Every assassin for the Order works alone, each in their own way. Some are human and, a-a-as Buffy discovered last night, some are not. You can't know who they are, until they strike," Giles replied.

'Extra patrols,' Xander and Oz thought at the same time.

"Well, there's gotta be something we can do, right?" Willow asked desperately.

"Willow, Buffy can slay as many of the Order's killers as you like; it, it won't make any difference," Giles replied. "Unlike vampires, these assassins have, have no earthly desires but to collect their bounty from a successful kill. The only way to-to stop them, is to get the contract rescinded. And not even the Council can arrange that..."

Buffy quickly broke under the strain of having her life under threat from a source of danger she could do nothing about. Standing, she bolted from the room. Xander stood to follow but Giles shook his head.

"Buffy just took off? I've never seen her like that," Willow said, looking shocked.

The school day quickly passed, with the Scooby Gang making sure there was at least one person with Buffy at all times. Oddly, no one seemed too interested in Career Week anymore, the threat of the Order having cast a pall over the festivities. Once the bell had rung indicating school was over for the day, Buffy bolted again, disappearing from view.

Walking together, Cordelia and Xander went to 1630 Revello Drive to see if the Slayer was home. Xander tried the doors and windows to see if they were open but with no success. He then looked up to see Cordy tapping her foot on the floor.

"Move over, Geekboy," she commanded him imperiously, the true Cordelia Chase shining through her Rosalie Cullen face.

Moving to one side, Xander watched as Cordelia put pressure on the front door; just enough to pop open the door's lock. As they entered the front of the house, they suddenly smelt something. Realizing the musty, earthy odor was coming from the front door, Cordelia stepped forward while Xander ducked into the lounge room.

"Hi there Miss, I'm from Blush Beautiful Skin Care and Cosmetics," the salesman said, holding what looked to Cordelia's practiced eye was a suitcase full of beauty products. "My name is Norman Pfister, may I interest you in some free samples?"

'Urgh, this guy reeks! Bleurgh,' Cordelia thought in distaste, even though she made sure not to let any sign of it show on her face.

'Yeah, I know; just get him in here, Cordy, he's clearly not human.'

Putting on her best fake smile Cordelia fully opened the door and welcomed the man in, while making idle chatter about her complexion and asking what he thought should be used. Once the door was firmly closed, she turned to Norman and demanded, "Okay, what's the deal? You can't be a real salesman, or you would have known the difference between summer and winter lipstick!"

The man simply smiled until Xander appeared behind him, shoving him up against the wall. "What ARE you?" demanded the furious vampire, inhaling deeply. "You're obviously not human!"

The man's smile faded as Norman dropped the suitcase. What happened next, though, surprised both Cordelia and Xander...

A/N: DUN-DUN-DUN. Cliffhanger. I know you hate me for doing a cliffy again, but I just can't help myself! More soon, I promise.