A.N. So sorry this one keeps taking forever to get a chapter out. Other fics have been grabbing my attention including another Liz/Spike, so in a way I've been getting my Spike fix and ignored this one. I've been a Bad Dez. So without further ado here is the next chapter.

Chapter 18

April 30, 2000

Fred moved Liz around behind the lobby desk, pulled out the first aid kit, and began to clean her cousin's wound. At her hiss Fred winced, "Sorry. It's looks pretty deep."

"Great. How come Potentials don't get all those nifty healing abilities or handy fighting skills? Don't—whoever made Potentials possible want them to stick around long enough to maybe be called?" Liz grumbled.

"You're probably going to need stitches." She reluctantly told her.

"Excuse me?" Irrational fear spiked through her. "Stitches…that means a needle. You know Fred it'll be fine, really. May have a scar but nothing I can't live with."

"This is classic, you're afraid of a little itty bitty needle?" Kennedy mocked. "Toughen up."

Instead of retaliating Liz rose an annoyed eyebrow and turned back to Fred. "Can't we put a bandage over it or wrap it in something and call it a day?" Everyone was entitled to one irrational fear, needles were hers. It didn't bother her if she saw someone getting a shot or blood drawn but when the sharp, metallic, sliver of death was looming near her un-poked skin it made a normally even keel teenager go off the handle.

"Well, we could. But than it raises the risk of getting an infection of some kind. Which then could cause these erupting puss mountains to show up on your arm. Eventually the infection would spread to the rest of your arm and if you didn't want it to go through the rest of your body eating away at other parts of you we'd have to amputate the arm at the shoulder." Fred rambled on.

"I could live with that." Liz told her. She's not saying it wouldn't be hard making it work with only one arm but she could do it. And amputation wasn't a for sure thing—

"Come on Liz, you can hold Wesley's hand and he could talk to you making you forget all about that—thing." Cordelia didn't even want to say the word needle if Liz was freaking out over the thought of it.

Wesley nodded his approval of the idea and took the spot next to Liz, "Alright. Let's get this over with. When I look back on this I want it to be a blip on the radar screen of pain." She backed down and allowed Fred to lead her a chair where she began to get to work on fixing her arm.

However instead of Wesley talking to her Giles was the one that began to distract her. "Ms. Parker—"

"Just Liz alright. No Miss, Ms, or Mrs. just Liz." Might as well get that straight right from the get go. "Second, don't be asking about what you saw come out of me. I'm not going to tell you, it's none of your business, and the major reason for that is that you don't know me so you get nada from me."

"Now see here—" He wouldn't tolerate that kind of attitude being thrown at him.

"No I won't. From what I've seen you and every single one of your group are less than trustworthy. You kick out Buffy who's been there every step of the way saving your pathetic asses, not only that you're supposed to be her Watcher, what kind of Watcher worth his salt goes against his Slayer?" Liz shot back at him. The needle sliding in and out of her injured arm fell into the background, she was getting angry and that seemed to lessen the pain.

The guy named with shaggy brown hair and eye-patch stepped up coming to the Watchers defense. "Who are you to judge us, you haven't been in Sunnydale for seven years. For that matter neither has Buffy she's skipped town not once but twice."

"Wow. Twice? In seven years? Wow, that is unbelievable. How dare she." She sarcastically snorted. "Well I know that one was this time, I'm sure the other time was when she sent her soulmate to hell." She displayed the knowledge she had on Buffy's life—all from what she and Angel told her.

"She left us unprotected for three months while she went God knows where." He fought with her.

"From what I heard she would have left you that summer anyway. Hadn't she gone to LA to spend her previous summer vacation with her father? What made you assume that she wouldn't do it that year?" She pointed out. "If she went to stay with her father that summer you'd all be in the same boat—only difference is that you'd know where she was."

Not having a comeback Xander tried a different tactic. "And what gives you the right to judge us or defend Buffy?"

"The fact that you're here bothering us gives me plenty of right."

Kennedy couldn't sit back and let Xander get all the licks in. "Bet you're only saying this so you can continue to be Buffy's best friend. That'd be the only reason someone sticks up for her. She was getting us killed."

Angelus growled but Buffy held him back. Didn't seem like Liz needed any help in saying her piece. "Jesus not you again. Can't you sit and be silent for five minutes?" She smirked at Angelus's chuckle. "And no, Buffy isn't my best friend, I like her and she's a friend but my best one—nope. My best friends consist of two people and as much as I like Buffy she's not one of them."

Kennedy shrugged not caring about her statement. "Buffy was still getting us killed. She led us into a trap which cost Xander his eye and Potentials their lives."

"How is Buffy being led into a trap her fault?" Fred spoke up from dressing the stitched wound. "It's a statistical probability that at some point she'd be led into a trap. If she had been the only one to go in and gotten killed would you blame her then? And this is a battle unfortunately people, doesn't matter whom, are going to be killed. It's kind of stupid to think some people won't be."

"Well said Fred." Wesley praised enjoying the blush creeping up on her face.

Gunn tired of all the bickering back and forth said to the group. "Why don't you all tell us why you're here, than you can leave and we can get back to our lives." He saw Liz's quick glance toward him, on the subject of Liz he was at war with himself. One side of him missed her terribly but the other side was glad he wasn't dating her anymore.

Being friends with a vampire was one thing, working for a vampire was one thing, but dating one would be out of the question for him. Unfortunately that meant aliens too. Aliens, demons, vampires, and freaks of nature—all things he could be friends with or work for but not date, never date.

Giles took his glasses off and cleaned them, a habit he had gotten into years before so he wouldn't be able to see what was happening around him. Many a times it was because he didn't want to see one of his charges making out with someone. He could live without those visual images. Finally he slipped them back in front of his eyes.

"Earlier today I ran across a prophecy." A common occurrence in his line of work. "And the basic fundamental fact of it is that the only person who can defeat the First is the one that guards the Scythe. Apparently Caleb had the Scythe but now it's gone, we don't know who has anymore."

"So basically you need me to find it?" Buffy questioned.

"Yes, precisely. Unfortunately we only have a location—LA, but Willow's locator spell told us nothing else."

Buffy nodded, now for the real kicker. This little piece of information was likely to send some of the group into a tizzy. "Well your search is over. See I know where the Scythe is."

"Wonderful, where is it?" Giles could hardly believe it was that easy.

"With me. I'm the guardian you're looking for Giles. What do you know—I was right. Should have listened to me when I said that there was something at the vineyard. Don't you feel stupid?"

TBC

Coming Up:

Chapter 19: Past Part: Will Buffy go back to Sunnydale to help the others or leave them out to dry. And when Liz needs a babysitter who does Buffy suggest?

Chapter 20: Present/Future Part: What will the others do about Dru? Is she there to torment them? Will Liz be able to fight another vampire, one that's much stronger than her father?

Tune in next time—same vamp time—same vamp channel.