The Next Day, In The Afternoon.
The first day of school is always hardest on the teachers. Having to get introduced to over a hundred people who may or may not want to even be there, starting lessons while trying to knock off months of rust from the minds of the students. The situation is even harder when the teacher is new to the staff, much less new to the profession. Therefore, Rupert Giles was perfectly understanding when Wesley Wyndam-Pryce came storming into the library.
"This simply will not do!! Mr. Giles, pardon my asking, but how in the Bloody Hell do you manage day to day here!!" Giles began to ask what was wrong, but Wesley continued his tirade. "The students are incorrigible!! They don't pay attention in class, they're rude and they have no sense of decency!! Especially that Alexander Harris boy, whom you see fit to lead your little assault team every night! He sits around making jokes, neglecting his studies, and worse, he sees fit to call me Wesley in class! Wesley! As if we are equals, and not student and teacher! It completely shatters my authority over the other students! And that Osborne lad, what do you call him, Oz? He sleeps! He doesn't even bother to pretend like he's reading out of the textbook, he just leans back in his chair and sleeps!! Like he doesn't even need to pay attention in class!"
Giles removed his glasses, cleaning the lenses with a handkerchief, as was his custom when starting to get frustrated. He pinched the bridge of his nose before putting on his glasses again.
"Mr. Wyndham-Pryce, point of fact, Oz really doesn't need to pay attention in class. He's only short a few credits before graduating. He wouldn't even be here right now, if he had gone to all those summer classes with Willow." Willow. That girl showed so much potential. He had admired the way she had completed an entire year's worth of school during the summer, allowing her to actually graduate and move on to college. Giles attempted to convince her to go to Oxford to pursue her baccalaureate, maybe even to contact the Watchers' Council to further her education, but she refused, saying that her place was here. She had only finished high school early so that she could be more of a help to Giles. At UC Sunnydale, she could tailor her own schedule to better accommodate doing research for the Scooby Gang. She had also received special dispensation from the University's Computer Science Department to work at Sunnydale High as a TA in the high school's Computer Lab, since they had found a replacement for Jenny Calendar during the summer break. When Giles had asked her why she felt it so necessary to do these things, Willow had simply responded, "I gotta help Buffy. She needs me." To this, Giles had smiled. Even gone, Buffy brought out the best in her friends, even Xander, whom Giles did put in charge of patrolling. He still remembered everything from his Halloween experience as a soldier, the only good coming of that whole fiasco, well that and Willow coming out of her shell of insecurity and shyness. Both she and Xander had really blossomed over the summer. Willow had cut most of hair off, leaving it short, maybe an inch or two above her shoulders, and dyed it flame red, as opposed to the rather mousy brownish auburn it had been for the last two years. She had also completely thrown out her old wardrobe and began wearing clothing that matched her newfound sense of confidence. Truth be told, her wardrobe looked more like what Buffy would wear, short leather skirts, hip hugging pants, crop tops. Giles wasn't too pleased with these types of clothes when it came to Buffy, thinking she should have worn more functional clothing, but with Willow, he held his tongue. He was just too proud of the girl for coming into her own to say anything that sounded like a mother hen clucking at her chicks to stay in line. It would have been hypocritical of him, considering his own college experience. Now, Xander was another story of coming into oneself. During the summer, he had begun a training regimen not unlike Buffy's. He took every martial arts class he could find, learning the different styles with an almost superhuman alacrity. His years of skateboarding had actually been an asset. He understood the concepts of balance and timing, and was able to apply these to the martial arts. He also trained regularly with Giles, Wesley and Faith, learning to mix and match the different strikes, throws, blocks and parries and blending them all into a fighting style all his own. He had also lost a lot of the weight he had gained from years of laziness, trimming himself down into a lean, toned athletic physique with a strict physical fitness regimen that the American military would be proud of. He ran in excess of five miles per day, every day, and alternated upper and lower body weight training. It was almost obsessive, but Giles permitted him to continue after he had bested Faith in their first sparring match. Both he and Wesley agreed that Faith had an utter lack of discipline, and would hopefully benefit from Xander's example. As of yet, she hadn't shown any real signs of improvement, except that she now won more sparring matches than lost. But that was solely based off of her Slayer's strength and agility. Take those away from her, and Xander would wipe the floor with her, no question. This was also the reason that Xander was in charge of patrol, which Wesley only grudgingly agreed to. Faith's arrogance and overconfidence prevented her from effectively leading a team in battle. She was more suited to solo patrol, which Wesley insisted that she be allowed to do. Giles had agreed, if only to allow Xander, Willow, Oz, and Cordelia to have normal teenage lives at least a few nights a week. Even so, they still had cellular phones that they carried everywhere, no matter what, in case trouble was brewing, so that they could be contacted at a moment's notice and move out to take care of the situation. They were a crack team, researching, fighting, and preventing all sorts of trouble that had come to Sunnydale in the absence of Buffy. It did seem strange, though. More and more threats had moved into Sunnydale in the wake of the City Hall massacre all those weeks ago. It was as if a curtain was pulled back, and revealed Sunnydale to the demon underworld. There were more vampire sightings and attacks in the last three weeks than there had been in the last year. It was curious and troubling, since no one in the Scooby Gang could figure out the reason why. It simply defied explanation.
Giles was pulled from his thoughts by the library's doors opening and closing again. He noted Wesley was still griping about his first official day as a teacher, going on about Principal Snyder giving him a hard time, as he looked over his shoulder to see who had walked in. Coincidentally enough, it was Xander and Willow, joined by Oz and Cordelia, who really didn't seem to want to be there. Xander walked up to Giles, bumping Wesley, who exclaimed "Now see here!", and waved.
"Hey, G-man, any word on the who's and what's of our latest Vampire High class reunion?" He grinned, the humor and wiseass remarks the only vestige remaining of the old Alexander Harris. "'Cause if you don't, we all wanna take the night off. You know, first day of school and all that. We wanna go to the Bronze and blow off some much unneeded steam." He smiled and, reaching for Cordelia's hand, continued. "I mean, Cordy only just got back from Europe two days ago. I'd like to spend some time with her. And Oz, well, between gigs with Dingoes Ate My Baby and that runaround."
"Walkabout", Oz corrected.
"Sorry, walkabout, he's hardly been around either. Me and Willow, well you know what we've been up to. So you cool with it? I mean, Faith could always do a solo patrol."
"No, I don't think so", interrupted Wesley, "Faith did a solo patrol last night, so the rest of you could get some sleep before the first day of school, despite the fact it was going be hers as well. I forbid you to take advantage of her like that. If not for Faith, there would be no 'Scooby Gang' anymore. She's the slayer, the rest of you are just.distracters. Of no real use in the grand scheme of things."
Xander fired back. "Oh, really. This coming from the guy who pissed his pants the first time a vampire attacked him. Now, I ask you guys", looking back toward the other Scoobies, "what's more distracting, our kicking demon ass or his peeing on demons?"
"Not that anyone's asking me, but you're both quite distracting", murmured Giles, clearly getting fed up with the arguing. Xander and Wesley began to yell at each other when Faith walked into the library. She hair hung loosely around her face and shoulders. She wore too much makeup, as usual, and was sporting a black leather miniskirt that stopped just past her ass. She was also wearing an olive drab green tank top, tucked into the mini. She wore similarly colored socks bunched up over the tops of her Vietnam Era Jungle Boots. She had an unusually large backpack slung over her shoulder, which Giles surmised was where she kept her arsenal of weapons. Unlike Buffy, who would typically rely on her hand to hand skills and stakes, Faith had a predilection for weapons, particularly bladed weapons.
"What's goin' here, Mr. G?" asked Faith. "Are Winston and Fearless Leader gonna have another catfight?" She sauntered the rest of the way in, giving Cordelia the evil eye. "What you doin' princess? Did somebody tell you that they had fashion magazines in the library? Well, they don't. Hope you're not too disappointed." Cordelia eyes went wide, shocked at the unwarranted verbal attack. Then her eyes narrowed, the Bitch coming forth.
"Hey, Super Skank, didn't they tell you? Girls who'll bend over for anything with a pulse don't have to come to school until next week. That's when the Free Clinic does immunizations. Wouldn't want you to come down with an STD. Or is that another STD? I can never remember. When was your last trip to the Free Clinic, Faith? Oh, yeah. Yesterday." Cordelia was positively beaming, in full Bitch mode.
"You bitch!" Faith tried to attack Cordelia, only to run smack into Xander, who held her back. Cordelia tried to jump forward and get a cheap shot, but Willow and Oz held her back.
"Now, now Faith. You know you can't go killing the help. What kind of example would you be setting for all the little slayers of America?" Xander released Faith, who stood in place, anger coming off of her in waves. "Cordy, sweety, why don't you go on home. I'll call you as soon as I get back home. Okay?"
"But the skeez started it!"
"I know, but you need to be the bigger person, okay?"
"Fine, but if she says one more thing, I'll."
"Do what? Throw a tantrum, like when Daddy wouldn't buy you that island you so needed, 'cause everyone else's Daddies are buying them islands?" Faith said in a mocking tone.
"Ooooooh! I hate you, you skanky tramp! I wish Buffy was still here! She'd so kick your ass!" At the mention of Buffy, Giles, Oz, Willow and Xander cast their eyes downward. Willow began to tear up. Cordelia looked around at the Scoobies, noting their expressions. "What, like you're not all thinking the same thing?! Gawd, people, let's get over the 'oh, poor us' bit. It's not like she died! She just got smart and ditched this town!"
"Good job, Your Highness. Got all the Scoobies mopin' in less than five minutes. Time to call up Guinness. They're gonna want this put in the record books. Fastest killing of morale by a dimwit. You so got a talent for it."
Willow stepped over to Faith somberly, wiping the just forming tears away. "Faith, you really should try to be nice to Cordelia. She's a part of the Scooby Gang, too."
Faith looked bashful. "I know, but it's so much fun to get her all riled up like that. Plus it pisses Xander off, which makes it double fun."
"Okay, that's it! Faith, you're on solo patrol tonight!" Xander exclaimed, completely irked by Faith's actions.
Wesley stepped up to Xander, removing his glasses and cleaning the lenses absentmindedly. Xander noted this, figuring that they probably taught glasses cleaning at Watcher School, or whatever they called it.
"Now, see here, young man. Faith is not your tool. She isn't a convenient thing to be used every time you and your chums get a notion of fun and decide to shirk your duties. Duties, I might add, you volunteered for."
"As if I care about anything you say, Junior. You ain't even a real Watcher, yet. And you're 25. So skip the 'young man' crap, like you're my Grandpa or something. And get out of my face before I break your teeth into so many shiny pieces of ivory." Xander's hand balled into fists. Wesley refused to back down. Obviously someone would have to defuse the situation. Normally this would have been Giles, but Faith beat him to the punch.
"Whoa, chill out, Xand-Man. No need to break teeth today. Relax. Count to ten, or whatever it is that hotheads like you do to relax. And Wesley? If they wanna party at the Bronze or whatever they got planned, let 'em. Means I ain't gotta deal with the crap for one more night. Trust me, you'll be doin' me a favor." She looked over at Willow and Oz. "I mean, no offense you two. You're cool. I like you guys. But if I gotta deal with Xander AND Cordelia after the first day of school? I mean, hey, there's a reason I dropped out in the first place." She knocked on her head. "Hollow. Full of rocks. At least that's what Mom always said. When she was sober, and alive." She looked down, as if noticing her boots for the first time.
Willow walked over to Faith's side, taking one of her hands into her own. "Faith, you're not dumb. Don't let anyone ever tell you that. Not a teacher, or Snyder, or even a Watcher wanna be." She glared at Wesley, knowing that he had probably said something similar during on Faith's training sessions, or possibly in class today. Willow knew that it was no coincidence that Faith had ended up in Wesley's AP English class. Faith wasn't ready for that level, having been out of school for the better part of two years. That she was even in 12th grade classes was largely thanks to Willow, who made Faith go to summer school with her to catch up on missing credits. That and Willow hacked into the school's computer network, an easy trick for her, and 'adjusted' Faith's academic standing. But Wesley was so paranoid about Faith having the level of freedom that Buffy had enjoyed. He thought that Faith would try to run away as well. Which was lame, considering that Faith totally enjoyed being a slayer. She had even said, after her first patrol with the Scoobies, that slaying made her hungry and horny. She had the food handy in that voluminous backpack of hers, but the horny issue was a whole other story. She tried to get Oz to leave with her. Despite his protestations, she proceeded to drag him away. Willow stopped her, got in her face and told her off. Willow told Faith that she didn't care if she wanted to be a big slut, but there was no way she was going to let Faith lay her hooks into Oz, slayer strength be damned. Faith was impressed, to say the least. She apologized to Oz and Willow, and since then, they had been pretty cool. They had even started hanging out, just the two of them, much to Xander's chagrin. He didn't like Willow spending so much time with Faith, saying she was a bad influence. Willow disagreed, saying that SHE was influencing Faith. It was Willow who had gotten Faith to keep going to summer school, even when Faith thought it was a waste of time to teach the unteachable. Willow sympathized with Faith, who had serious self esteem issues. An absentee father and an alcoholic, now dead mother didn't make for the best nurturing environment for Faith. So Willow had made it her personal mission to help Faith develop self-respect. It was hard, given Faith's want-take-have mentality, but Willow thought she was making progress.
"Faith, you are not stupid. You have a lot to offer. Okay, so the books, not your thing. But you're a born problem solver. I've seen you walk into a situation, analyze it, and take action. And it's not just the slayer stuff! You do it all the time. Like.like the math. You kick the math's ass! All the classes where you have to think intuitively, like that AP English class? You do so well, and you can grasp concepts! It's the busy work that gets you, 'cause you get so bored! Just like.her." Willow began to sob again, quietly. Faith stepped in closer to Willow and put her arms around her.
"Hey, its five by five. We're cool, Red. I'm gonna patrol tonight, solo, and you guys blow off some steam at the Bronze. Everybody down with that, or should I start cracking skulls?" Everyone nodded in agreement except Wesley.
"Not solo. I expressly forbid it. You are going to have backup tonight."
"I can do just fine all on my lonesome."
"Yes, you can. That's not the point. A Watcher's place is by his Slayer's side. Therefore, I shall go with you." As soon as Wesley said that, Xander began to snort and guffaw. "And what is so funny, Mr. Harris? A Watcher going on patrol? From what Mr. Giles has told me, he used to patrol with Ms. Summers quite often."
"Yeah, but that's Giles. He can kick ass. What are you gonna do? Throw a book at the bad guys?"
"I'll have you know, I've faced vampires before. When Faith and I were traveling together from Boston to here, we fought and killed several vampires. We cleared out two nests in St. Louis, and when we were staying in Washington, DC, we even vanquished a master by the name of Kakistos, though his associate, Mr..Trick, I believe his sobriquet was, got away."
"Yeah, Wesley went all Batman on that ass! He can hold his own in a fight, Xand-man, unlike Prada-Girl, unless screaming and running in circles counts as kicking ass, which it don't. But that's okay, I'm sure she has her uses after wards, right?" Faith winked at Cordelia, then, raising her arms in the air, began to gyrate her hips. "Oh, yeah, a whole lotta uses! I got goose bumps just thinkin' about it! Mmmmm!" Faith shivered slightly, as if in anticipation.
"Hey!" screamed Cordelia, in abject horror, "she's thinking about me, in a GAY way! Ewww! That's worse than the insults! I am so outta here! Xander, call me!" Cordelia bolted from the library, brushing past Joyce Summers as she entered. "Hi, Mrs. Summers, bye Mrs. Summers!"
"Hello, Cordelia. Uhm, goodbye, Cordelia. Odd girl. Hello, Xander, Willow, Daniel." Oz smiled slightly. Joyce was the only person besides his own mother who called him Daniel.
"Hey, Mrs. S.", he replied.
"Hi, Mrs. Summers!" Xander and Willow said at the same time.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Summers, I'm Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, and this is Faith Evers."
"'Sup. So, you're Buffy's mom, huh? Tough break, her cuttin' out on ya an' all that."
"Faith! That's quite enough! No need to attack the woman!"
"No, she doesn't mean any harm. If there's anything I understand these days, what with demons, Hellmouths and Vampires, it's what a girl means as opposed to what she says. It's nice to meet you, Faith. And you as well, Mr. Pryce. But I really came here to speak with Mr. Giles about Buffy."
"B-Buffy? Have you heard from her?" asked Willow.
"Yes, please Mrs. Summers, sit down and tell us", said Giles, pulling out a seat for Joyce.
"Thank you, Mr. Giles, and please, call me Joyce.."
"Y-yes, Joyce. Thank you. And please, Rupert."
"Alright, Rupert, Mr. Pryce, who I assume works with you as a.Watcher?"
"Yes, that's right, and Faith is his Slayer."
"Oh, so Faith.replaced that other girl, the one who.died?"
"Yes, that's right. One Slayer dies, another is chosen."
"I see. So, Buffy died? Is that how the other girl was chosen?"
"Yeah, but it was only for a moment. She drowned in a pool and I brought her back with CPR", interjected Xander, afraid of where this line of conversation was going.
"Oh. She never told me." Joyce looked down for a moment. She lifted her head again, wiping away tears that had just formed. "There's so much I don't know about my little girl. She didn't let me in, like she did the rest of you."
"It's not your fault, Joyce. Buffy was trying to protect you", said Giles sympathetically. "You shouldn't blame yourself."
"I don't, Rupert. I blame you. I blame your whole organization for everything that was so horrible for my daughter, that she couldn't tell me a word of it."
"I don't think that's quite fair, Mrs. Summers. Our work is a sacred duty which must be carried out in secret, lest the forces of evil."
"No, Wesley, she's completely right. It is all my fault, which is why I've dedicated myself to finding Buffy and bringing her home."
"That's why I'm here. My ex-husband, he has associates with a law firm down in LA, Wolfram and Hart, and he's been using their private investigators to track down Buffy. He thinks they have a lead, but I told him I would have you follow up on it."
"A lead? That's great!" exclaimed Willow, hardly containing her excitement at the possibility of Buffy coming home.
"O-Of course, Joyce, I'll get right on it. What's the lead?" Giles removed his glasses, went to clean the lenses, but decided against it as he pulled out a notebook instead.
"Well, an investigator spotted someone who fits Buffy's description entering a shelter last night with three men. They were only there for an hour, tops, before leaving again with a large group of street kids in rags. They took the kids to a mission on Ventura Boulevard before Buffy and one of the men left in a black car. The investigator thinks they knew they were being tailed, because the driver sped up and began to drive very erratically. He lost them soon after that, but he thinks they're staying somewhere uptown."
"Wait, Buffy's shacked up with some guy?! Did I hear that right?" Xander asked, an incredulous look on his face. "You don't think.Will, the spell worked, right? You brought Angel's soul back?"
Willow's face scrunched up. "Yeah, but why would they leave? I mean, okay, for a few days, maybe, to get.reacquainted?" She looked at the others, then continued. "But, for the whole summer? No. No way. Buffy wouldn't stay gone if everything was all hunky-dory. What does this guy look like?"
"The descriptions kinda vague, but he's not Angel. He's not as tall, and has a slender build, from what the investigator could see.oh and he had blonde hair!" Joyce rummaged through her purse, looking for the piece of scrap paper she wrote the information down on. "Here it is!" she said as she handed it to Giles, who stood as he read the descriptions.
"Hmm, yes, this fits Buffy to a tee, except the hair, but that's a simple cosmetic change. Everything else fits her. Now, this chap, 5'10", approximately 170 lbs., blonde hair.hmm, this is interesting, he wears a leather duster jacket. That should be easy enough to spot in a crowd. I mean, honestly, who wears leather dusters in the summertime?" He looked up from the notes at Xander and Willow, who blanched simultaneously. Oz merely lifted an eyebrow, which was expression of shock enough for Giles to be alarmed. "W-What is it?"
"Giles, a leather duster? Who do we know that wears a leather duster? AND disappeared the same time Buffy did? With blonde hair?!" Willow asked impatiently, not believing that Giles hadn't caught on with the rest of them.
"Willow, what in the bloody hell are you talking about? No one we know disappeared that day except Buffy and the.the Order of Aurelius Vampires."
"YES! Vampire! Bloody Hell! Go with it, G-Man! You're almost home!" exclaimed Xander, rolling his hands as if reeling Giles in. Giles began to put the clues together, constructing a mental picture. A light shown behind his eyes and he smiled with realization, then blanched himself, erupting into a spasm of coughs.
"Oh, dear lord, what has she gotten herself into? You don't think he's changed her?" Giles collapsed into his chair, shaking. Xander and Willow ran to his side. Joyce knelt by him, looking into his eyes.
"Rupert? What's wrong? Who is it? Do you know this person?"
"Y-Yes, unfortunately, I-I do. So do you, from what you told us of Buffy's last time home. From the evidence, we can only conclude that Buffy is in the company of Spike, AKA William the Bloody."
"She's with Spike? The man she brought to the house that night? He seemed pleasant enough." She looked at the expressions on everyone's faces. "That's not good, is it?"
"Mrs. Summers, Spike's an unrepentant killer! He's probably turned Buffy into a Vampire, or worse, made her his personal slave!! Giles, we have to go to LA NOW!!!"
"Y-Yes, Willow, you and Oz will come with me. We'll head straight for LA. With two vehicles, we can cover more ground. Xander, you will patrol with Faith and Wesley. Sorry to cancel your plans, but I think it prudent if we concentrate our efforts on business tonight. Understood?"
"Not a chance in Hell I'm staying here when Buffy needs our help. Besides, if she's a vamp now, I don't think any of you could do what needs to be done." Joyce inhaled sharply, understanding Xander's meaning.
"Xander! How can you say that right in front of Mrs. Summers! Mrs. Summers, I'm sure that Buffy's fine, in the 'I'm still breathing and have a pulse sense'. We'll bring her home, you two can have a good cry, then we'll have our good cry, which I'm seriously considering NOT inviting Xander to, and then you can ground her 'til she's thirty five!" Willow tried to smile happily, but all she could manage was a pathetic grimace.
"Just find my baby, and bring her home. That's all I want." Joyce pulled a handkerchief from her purse and dabbed at her eyes.
"We will, Joyce. This I swear to you. Xander, since you insist on going and no doubt starting a confrontation, you'll ride with me. Willow, you of course will ride with Oz. Wesley, you and Faith patrol as planned. Be on guard, and stay cautious as we won't be able to assist you if you run into a spot of trouble. Understood?"
"Yeah, Mr. G., no heroics. Gotcha. Hey, I'm uh, gonna split for a bit. Meet ya back here about 7:30, 'kay, Wes?" Before Wesley even answered, Faith was out the door.
"Yes, well. Very good then. Mr. Giles, I can assume that you'll be leaving." Wesley sputtered to silence as the Scoobies and Joyce rushed past him, all intent on their goal of finding Buffy Summers. He looked around for a moment, then shrugged and left himself. Definitely a hard day, for a teacher.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That Night, Westfield Cemetery, Sunnydale
"Boring! Let's head to the Bronze! I'm sure there's a bloodsucker or two there to crack down on! I'm dyin' here!" Faith was pacing back and forth in front of a fresh grave that just didn't seem to be doing anything, rubbing a stake between her hands. Wesley, reading a book, was propped up against a nearby crypt. He peered over his glasses at the impatient slayer, clucking his tongue.
"Faith, this is vital work. Stopping newly risen vampires before they can harm others helps to keep order, plus it sends a message to the other vampires in the area." His eyes dropped down to the grave Faith was standing on, noticing some movement. He began to say something about it, but held his tongue. An unexpected attack was a good test for Faith.
"Yeah, feeding time at the Bronze, 'cause the Slayer's on grave watch. C'mon, man, there weren't even any good candidates in the obits. The vamps are on food runs, not recruiting drives. We need to hit the populated areas!" Faith threw the stake into the ground, stamped her foot down on it, driving it into the chest of a vampire who was just rising out of the grave. A lucky strike, though completely unintentional, it dusted. Faith stumbled and fell on her ass. Wesley looked at her over the brims of his glass.
"You were saying something about.", Wesley began, dropping off to let Faith fill in the blank on her own. His point was made.
"Okay, you got me. Grave watch important. No more bitching about it. Now can we go patrol the Bronze?"
"I suppose, but first, I want to go by the Crawford Street Mansion, where the Acathla statue is. I've never seen it. We'll only be a few minutes, and it's quite close to the Bronze." He started to walk in the direction of the mansion, but stopped a few feet later, noticing Faith wasn't following. "Faith, let's go. We're done here."
"I got you figured out. You're scared to go there alone 'cause of the whole Angel thing, right? Figure that there's probably still some goons hangin' around there, waitin' for the Return of the Bad. It's okay, admit it. I'll never tell."
"I'm not scared of going there alone, Faith, but you of all people should understand the concept of safety in numbers. As a Slayer, you fight alone so often, but here, with the Scoobies, you have a team to count on, to support you.to watch your back."
"Yeah, I know. Geez, man! Lighten up! I'm just funnin', that's all. No need to get your panties in a bunch. You wanna go, we'll go." Faith began to walk towards Crawford Street. Wesley had to jog to catch up to her. "Let's just do this fast. The Bronze has this flowering onion thing I've been dyin' to try!"
Crawford Street was once a neighborhood of affluence that fell on hard times during the Great Depression and never recovered. Consequently, there were few places that had been kept up, making it perfect for the homeless to squat and for vampires to nest. All except the mansion. It stayed deserted, out of some perverted respect for the Vampire Angelus. The only occupant was the statue of Acathla, trapped on this plane of existence for untold ages, wakened from its slumber only once, albeit briefly by Angelus. Wesley, having no knowledge of this occurrence, wanted to study an artifact such as this. It was an incredible find, from an archeologist's or a Watcher's point of view. As Wesley and Faith rounded the corner leading up to the mansion, they were alerted to someone else's interest in the statue, as several workers, obviously vampires, worked to remove Acathla from the mansion. They were being directed by two men, one of them a well dressed black man who appeared to be in his thirties, the other a large, white man with long, spiked black hair. The large one was unknown to them, but Faith instantly recognized the well dressed one.
"Trick! Goddamnit, that's Mr. Trick! And he's stealing Acapulco! We gotta stop him!" Faith went to leap into action, but Wesley pulled her back.
"Faith, I share your anger when it comes to Mr. Trick, but we don't have the resources to just attack them. They outnumber us four to one, at least. And we have no backup to call upon. The best we can do is recon and report to Mr. Giles our findings. We'll fight this fight another day."
"Screw that, I say slay!" With that, Faith leapt forward, drawing a stake in her left hand and a short sword with her right. Running at top speed, she was able to decapitate, stake and cripple five of the minions before anyone knew what was going on. The last minion, confused on what to do, actually tried to run, before Mr. Trick threw him back towards Faith, who staked him, immediately. "Hey, Trick Daddy, looks like good help's still hard to find, even on the Hellmouth." She settled into a comfortable fighting stance, waiting for Trick or his partner to make their move.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Thang herself! How you doing, Faith? Still killing for free? I told ya, I pay real well for hired muscle. Even more for muscle that looks like that! Damn, you are one hot woman!" He shifted to game face. "Of course, me and you can just handle this, old school like. Ya dig?"
"Yeah, I dig, but what about supermodel here? He gonna jump in once I start beatin' your ass?" She shifted positions to cover the larger vampire, who was looking at her with amusement.
"You're the Slayer that eliminated Kakistos? That's funny. You don't look like you could take a stiff breeze, let alone a master vampire. You're even more unassuming than Buffy!" The vampire strolled over to Faith, never taking his eyes off of her. It was almost as if he was flirting with her. He stopped just within arm's reach. "I'm Azrael, by the way. You'll do well to remember that name."
"Why's that?"
"It's the name of your killer."
"Why do I find that so hard to believe?"
"You're young and stupid. Normally, I'd call it a phase, but since you're going to die." Azrael stopped talking and snapped off a fierce right cross, catching Faith right in the face. Her head snapped back as she fell to the ground. All at once, Azrael was on top of her, straddling her waist, pinning her arms with one hand, and grabbing her face by the jaw with the other. He turned it from one side to the other, studying every contour. "You know what, I'm not gonna kill you yet, doll. You're pretty. I think I'll just make you a statement. Let Buffy know I'm back. You understand, right?" Faith spat in his face.
"Just do it, you son of a bitch!"
"Step away from her, spawn of Hell!" Wesley ran up to the altercation, cross in hand. At once, Trick leapt away, making a beeline for the black limousine parked in the driveway.
"Azrael, let's go! Acathla can wait! We got other problems to deal with!"
"But I'm not done with the doll! I was gonna make her all pretty for Buffy!"
"Money, we ain't got time to play with the white hats! Let's book!" Trick entered the limo, prompting the driver to start the car, it rolled toward the vampire and the Slayer, door open.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to take a raincheck. I'll be seeing you soon, doll. Do me a favor. Tell Buffy I'm back, and I'm going to erase her from the face of this planet for what she did to me! Bye now!" He leapt off of Faith, dashing for the limo, slamming the door behind him. The limo peeled out, burning rubber as it made its getaway. Wesley ran to Faith, helping her off the ground. She was unsteady on her feet, a split lip, but otherwise fine.
"Who was that freak! He was strong, and he never went into game face! And why's he all hard up for Buffy Summers?" asked Faith
"Well, he said his name was Azrael, but from his face, I was sure that.no, it couldn't be. They weren't sure, but they thought that the curse worked."
"You don't think.", responded Faith, eyes wide.
"Yes, I do", said Wesley, cleaning his glasses with shaking hands, "that.was Angelus."
To Be Continued.
The first day of school is always hardest on the teachers. Having to get introduced to over a hundred people who may or may not want to even be there, starting lessons while trying to knock off months of rust from the minds of the students. The situation is even harder when the teacher is new to the staff, much less new to the profession. Therefore, Rupert Giles was perfectly understanding when Wesley Wyndam-Pryce came storming into the library.
"This simply will not do!! Mr. Giles, pardon my asking, but how in the Bloody Hell do you manage day to day here!!" Giles began to ask what was wrong, but Wesley continued his tirade. "The students are incorrigible!! They don't pay attention in class, they're rude and they have no sense of decency!! Especially that Alexander Harris boy, whom you see fit to lead your little assault team every night! He sits around making jokes, neglecting his studies, and worse, he sees fit to call me Wesley in class! Wesley! As if we are equals, and not student and teacher! It completely shatters my authority over the other students! And that Osborne lad, what do you call him, Oz? He sleeps! He doesn't even bother to pretend like he's reading out of the textbook, he just leans back in his chair and sleeps!! Like he doesn't even need to pay attention in class!"
Giles removed his glasses, cleaning the lenses with a handkerchief, as was his custom when starting to get frustrated. He pinched the bridge of his nose before putting on his glasses again.
"Mr. Wyndham-Pryce, point of fact, Oz really doesn't need to pay attention in class. He's only short a few credits before graduating. He wouldn't even be here right now, if he had gone to all those summer classes with Willow." Willow. That girl showed so much potential. He had admired the way she had completed an entire year's worth of school during the summer, allowing her to actually graduate and move on to college. Giles attempted to convince her to go to Oxford to pursue her baccalaureate, maybe even to contact the Watchers' Council to further her education, but she refused, saying that her place was here. She had only finished high school early so that she could be more of a help to Giles. At UC Sunnydale, she could tailor her own schedule to better accommodate doing research for the Scooby Gang. She had also received special dispensation from the University's Computer Science Department to work at Sunnydale High as a TA in the high school's Computer Lab, since they had found a replacement for Jenny Calendar during the summer break. When Giles had asked her why she felt it so necessary to do these things, Willow had simply responded, "I gotta help Buffy. She needs me." To this, Giles had smiled. Even gone, Buffy brought out the best in her friends, even Xander, whom Giles did put in charge of patrolling. He still remembered everything from his Halloween experience as a soldier, the only good coming of that whole fiasco, well that and Willow coming out of her shell of insecurity and shyness. Both she and Xander had really blossomed over the summer. Willow had cut most of hair off, leaving it short, maybe an inch or two above her shoulders, and dyed it flame red, as opposed to the rather mousy brownish auburn it had been for the last two years. She had also completely thrown out her old wardrobe and began wearing clothing that matched her newfound sense of confidence. Truth be told, her wardrobe looked more like what Buffy would wear, short leather skirts, hip hugging pants, crop tops. Giles wasn't too pleased with these types of clothes when it came to Buffy, thinking she should have worn more functional clothing, but with Willow, he held his tongue. He was just too proud of the girl for coming into her own to say anything that sounded like a mother hen clucking at her chicks to stay in line. It would have been hypocritical of him, considering his own college experience. Now, Xander was another story of coming into oneself. During the summer, he had begun a training regimen not unlike Buffy's. He took every martial arts class he could find, learning the different styles with an almost superhuman alacrity. His years of skateboarding had actually been an asset. He understood the concepts of balance and timing, and was able to apply these to the martial arts. He also trained regularly with Giles, Wesley and Faith, learning to mix and match the different strikes, throws, blocks and parries and blending them all into a fighting style all his own. He had also lost a lot of the weight he had gained from years of laziness, trimming himself down into a lean, toned athletic physique with a strict physical fitness regimen that the American military would be proud of. He ran in excess of five miles per day, every day, and alternated upper and lower body weight training. It was almost obsessive, but Giles permitted him to continue after he had bested Faith in their first sparring match. Both he and Wesley agreed that Faith had an utter lack of discipline, and would hopefully benefit from Xander's example. As of yet, she hadn't shown any real signs of improvement, except that she now won more sparring matches than lost. But that was solely based off of her Slayer's strength and agility. Take those away from her, and Xander would wipe the floor with her, no question. This was also the reason that Xander was in charge of patrol, which Wesley only grudgingly agreed to. Faith's arrogance and overconfidence prevented her from effectively leading a team in battle. She was more suited to solo patrol, which Wesley insisted that she be allowed to do. Giles had agreed, if only to allow Xander, Willow, Oz, and Cordelia to have normal teenage lives at least a few nights a week. Even so, they still had cellular phones that they carried everywhere, no matter what, in case trouble was brewing, so that they could be contacted at a moment's notice and move out to take care of the situation. They were a crack team, researching, fighting, and preventing all sorts of trouble that had come to Sunnydale in the absence of Buffy. It did seem strange, though. More and more threats had moved into Sunnydale in the wake of the City Hall massacre all those weeks ago. It was as if a curtain was pulled back, and revealed Sunnydale to the demon underworld. There were more vampire sightings and attacks in the last three weeks than there had been in the last year. It was curious and troubling, since no one in the Scooby Gang could figure out the reason why. It simply defied explanation.
Giles was pulled from his thoughts by the library's doors opening and closing again. He noted Wesley was still griping about his first official day as a teacher, going on about Principal Snyder giving him a hard time, as he looked over his shoulder to see who had walked in. Coincidentally enough, it was Xander and Willow, joined by Oz and Cordelia, who really didn't seem to want to be there. Xander walked up to Giles, bumping Wesley, who exclaimed "Now see here!", and waved.
"Hey, G-man, any word on the who's and what's of our latest Vampire High class reunion?" He grinned, the humor and wiseass remarks the only vestige remaining of the old Alexander Harris. "'Cause if you don't, we all wanna take the night off. You know, first day of school and all that. We wanna go to the Bronze and blow off some much unneeded steam." He smiled and, reaching for Cordelia's hand, continued. "I mean, Cordy only just got back from Europe two days ago. I'd like to spend some time with her. And Oz, well, between gigs with Dingoes Ate My Baby and that runaround."
"Walkabout", Oz corrected.
"Sorry, walkabout, he's hardly been around either. Me and Willow, well you know what we've been up to. So you cool with it? I mean, Faith could always do a solo patrol."
"No, I don't think so", interrupted Wesley, "Faith did a solo patrol last night, so the rest of you could get some sleep before the first day of school, despite the fact it was going be hers as well. I forbid you to take advantage of her like that. If not for Faith, there would be no 'Scooby Gang' anymore. She's the slayer, the rest of you are just.distracters. Of no real use in the grand scheme of things."
Xander fired back. "Oh, really. This coming from the guy who pissed his pants the first time a vampire attacked him. Now, I ask you guys", looking back toward the other Scoobies, "what's more distracting, our kicking demon ass or his peeing on demons?"
"Not that anyone's asking me, but you're both quite distracting", murmured Giles, clearly getting fed up with the arguing. Xander and Wesley began to yell at each other when Faith walked into the library. She hair hung loosely around her face and shoulders. She wore too much makeup, as usual, and was sporting a black leather miniskirt that stopped just past her ass. She was also wearing an olive drab green tank top, tucked into the mini. She wore similarly colored socks bunched up over the tops of her Vietnam Era Jungle Boots. She had an unusually large backpack slung over her shoulder, which Giles surmised was where she kept her arsenal of weapons. Unlike Buffy, who would typically rely on her hand to hand skills and stakes, Faith had a predilection for weapons, particularly bladed weapons.
"What's goin' here, Mr. G?" asked Faith. "Are Winston and Fearless Leader gonna have another catfight?" She sauntered the rest of the way in, giving Cordelia the evil eye. "What you doin' princess? Did somebody tell you that they had fashion magazines in the library? Well, they don't. Hope you're not too disappointed." Cordelia eyes went wide, shocked at the unwarranted verbal attack. Then her eyes narrowed, the Bitch coming forth.
"Hey, Super Skank, didn't they tell you? Girls who'll bend over for anything with a pulse don't have to come to school until next week. That's when the Free Clinic does immunizations. Wouldn't want you to come down with an STD. Or is that another STD? I can never remember. When was your last trip to the Free Clinic, Faith? Oh, yeah. Yesterday." Cordelia was positively beaming, in full Bitch mode.
"You bitch!" Faith tried to attack Cordelia, only to run smack into Xander, who held her back. Cordelia tried to jump forward and get a cheap shot, but Willow and Oz held her back.
"Now, now Faith. You know you can't go killing the help. What kind of example would you be setting for all the little slayers of America?" Xander released Faith, who stood in place, anger coming off of her in waves. "Cordy, sweety, why don't you go on home. I'll call you as soon as I get back home. Okay?"
"But the skeez started it!"
"I know, but you need to be the bigger person, okay?"
"Fine, but if she says one more thing, I'll."
"Do what? Throw a tantrum, like when Daddy wouldn't buy you that island you so needed, 'cause everyone else's Daddies are buying them islands?" Faith said in a mocking tone.
"Ooooooh! I hate you, you skanky tramp! I wish Buffy was still here! She'd so kick your ass!" At the mention of Buffy, Giles, Oz, Willow and Xander cast their eyes downward. Willow began to tear up. Cordelia looked around at the Scoobies, noting their expressions. "What, like you're not all thinking the same thing?! Gawd, people, let's get over the 'oh, poor us' bit. It's not like she died! She just got smart and ditched this town!"
"Good job, Your Highness. Got all the Scoobies mopin' in less than five minutes. Time to call up Guinness. They're gonna want this put in the record books. Fastest killing of morale by a dimwit. You so got a talent for it."
Willow stepped over to Faith somberly, wiping the just forming tears away. "Faith, you really should try to be nice to Cordelia. She's a part of the Scooby Gang, too."
Faith looked bashful. "I know, but it's so much fun to get her all riled up like that. Plus it pisses Xander off, which makes it double fun."
"Okay, that's it! Faith, you're on solo patrol tonight!" Xander exclaimed, completely irked by Faith's actions.
Wesley stepped up to Xander, removing his glasses and cleaning the lenses absentmindedly. Xander noted this, figuring that they probably taught glasses cleaning at Watcher School, or whatever they called it.
"Now, see here, young man. Faith is not your tool. She isn't a convenient thing to be used every time you and your chums get a notion of fun and decide to shirk your duties. Duties, I might add, you volunteered for."
"As if I care about anything you say, Junior. You ain't even a real Watcher, yet. And you're 25. So skip the 'young man' crap, like you're my Grandpa or something. And get out of my face before I break your teeth into so many shiny pieces of ivory." Xander's hand balled into fists. Wesley refused to back down. Obviously someone would have to defuse the situation. Normally this would have been Giles, but Faith beat him to the punch.
"Whoa, chill out, Xand-Man. No need to break teeth today. Relax. Count to ten, or whatever it is that hotheads like you do to relax. And Wesley? If they wanna party at the Bronze or whatever they got planned, let 'em. Means I ain't gotta deal with the crap for one more night. Trust me, you'll be doin' me a favor." She looked over at Willow and Oz. "I mean, no offense you two. You're cool. I like you guys. But if I gotta deal with Xander AND Cordelia after the first day of school? I mean, hey, there's a reason I dropped out in the first place." She knocked on her head. "Hollow. Full of rocks. At least that's what Mom always said. When she was sober, and alive." She looked down, as if noticing her boots for the first time.
Willow walked over to Faith's side, taking one of her hands into her own. "Faith, you're not dumb. Don't let anyone ever tell you that. Not a teacher, or Snyder, or even a Watcher wanna be." She glared at Wesley, knowing that he had probably said something similar during on Faith's training sessions, or possibly in class today. Willow knew that it was no coincidence that Faith had ended up in Wesley's AP English class. Faith wasn't ready for that level, having been out of school for the better part of two years. That she was even in 12th grade classes was largely thanks to Willow, who made Faith go to summer school with her to catch up on missing credits. That and Willow hacked into the school's computer network, an easy trick for her, and 'adjusted' Faith's academic standing. But Wesley was so paranoid about Faith having the level of freedom that Buffy had enjoyed. He thought that Faith would try to run away as well. Which was lame, considering that Faith totally enjoyed being a slayer. She had even said, after her first patrol with the Scoobies, that slaying made her hungry and horny. She had the food handy in that voluminous backpack of hers, but the horny issue was a whole other story. She tried to get Oz to leave with her. Despite his protestations, she proceeded to drag him away. Willow stopped her, got in her face and told her off. Willow told Faith that she didn't care if she wanted to be a big slut, but there was no way she was going to let Faith lay her hooks into Oz, slayer strength be damned. Faith was impressed, to say the least. She apologized to Oz and Willow, and since then, they had been pretty cool. They had even started hanging out, just the two of them, much to Xander's chagrin. He didn't like Willow spending so much time with Faith, saying she was a bad influence. Willow disagreed, saying that SHE was influencing Faith. It was Willow who had gotten Faith to keep going to summer school, even when Faith thought it was a waste of time to teach the unteachable. Willow sympathized with Faith, who had serious self esteem issues. An absentee father and an alcoholic, now dead mother didn't make for the best nurturing environment for Faith. So Willow had made it her personal mission to help Faith develop self-respect. It was hard, given Faith's want-take-have mentality, but Willow thought she was making progress.
"Faith, you are not stupid. You have a lot to offer. Okay, so the books, not your thing. But you're a born problem solver. I've seen you walk into a situation, analyze it, and take action. And it's not just the slayer stuff! You do it all the time. Like.like the math. You kick the math's ass! All the classes where you have to think intuitively, like that AP English class? You do so well, and you can grasp concepts! It's the busy work that gets you, 'cause you get so bored! Just like.her." Willow began to sob again, quietly. Faith stepped in closer to Willow and put her arms around her.
"Hey, its five by five. We're cool, Red. I'm gonna patrol tonight, solo, and you guys blow off some steam at the Bronze. Everybody down with that, or should I start cracking skulls?" Everyone nodded in agreement except Wesley.
"Not solo. I expressly forbid it. You are going to have backup tonight."
"I can do just fine all on my lonesome."
"Yes, you can. That's not the point. A Watcher's place is by his Slayer's side. Therefore, I shall go with you." As soon as Wesley said that, Xander began to snort and guffaw. "And what is so funny, Mr. Harris? A Watcher going on patrol? From what Mr. Giles has told me, he used to patrol with Ms. Summers quite often."
"Yeah, but that's Giles. He can kick ass. What are you gonna do? Throw a book at the bad guys?"
"I'll have you know, I've faced vampires before. When Faith and I were traveling together from Boston to here, we fought and killed several vampires. We cleared out two nests in St. Louis, and when we were staying in Washington, DC, we even vanquished a master by the name of Kakistos, though his associate, Mr..Trick, I believe his sobriquet was, got away."
"Yeah, Wesley went all Batman on that ass! He can hold his own in a fight, Xand-man, unlike Prada-Girl, unless screaming and running in circles counts as kicking ass, which it don't. But that's okay, I'm sure she has her uses after wards, right?" Faith winked at Cordelia, then, raising her arms in the air, began to gyrate her hips. "Oh, yeah, a whole lotta uses! I got goose bumps just thinkin' about it! Mmmmm!" Faith shivered slightly, as if in anticipation.
"Hey!" screamed Cordelia, in abject horror, "she's thinking about me, in a GAY way! Ewww! That's worse than the insults! I am so outta here! Xander, call me!" Cordelia bolted from the library, brushing past Joyce Summers as she entered. "Hi, Mrs. Summers, bye Mrs. Summers!"
"Hello, Cordelia. Uhm, goodbye, Cordelia. Odd girl. Hello, Xander, Willow, Daniel." Oz smiled slightly. Joyce was the only person besides his own mother who called him Daniel.
"Hey, Mrs. S.", he replied.
"Hi, Mrs. Summers!" Xander and Willow said at the same time.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Summers, I'm Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, and this is Faith Evers."
"'Sup. So, you're Buffy's mom, huh? Tough break, her cuttin' out on ya an' all that."
"Faith! That's quite enough! No need to attack the woman!"
"No, she doesn't mean any harm. If there's anything I understand these days, what with demons, Hellmouths and Vampires, it's what a girl means as opposed to what she says. It's nice to meet you, Faith. And you as well, Mr. Pryce. But I really came here to speak with Mr. Giles about Buffy."
"B-Buffy? Have you heard from her?" asked Willow.
"Yes, please Mrs. Summers, sit down and tell us", said Giles, pulling out a seat for Joyce.
"Thank you, Mr. Giles, and please, call me Joyce.."
"Y-yes, Joyce. Thank you. And please, Rupert."
"Alright, Rupert, Mr. Pryce, who I assume works with you as a.Watcher?"
"Yes, that's right, and Faith is his Slayer."
"Oh, so Faith.replaced that other girl, the one who.died?"
"Yes, that's right. One Slayer dies, another is chosen."
"I see. So, Buffy died? Is that how the other girl was chosen?"
"Yeah, but it was only for a moment. She drowned in a pool and I brought her back with CPR", interjected Xander, afraid of where this line of conversation was going.
"Oh. She never told me." Joyce looked down for a moment. She lifted her head again, wiping away tears that had just formed. "There's so much I don't know about my little girl. She didn't let me in, like she did the rest of you."
"It's not your fault, Joyce. Buffy was trying to protect you", said Giles sympathetically. "You shouldn't blame yourself."
"I don't, Rupert. I blame you. I blame your whole organization for everything that was so horrible for my daughter, that she couldn't tell me a word of it."
"I don't think that's quite fair, Mrs. Summers. Our work is a sacred duty which must be carried out in secret, lest the forces of evil."
"No, Wesley, she's completely right. It is all my fault, which is why I've dedicated myself to finding Buffy and bringing her home."
"That's why I'm here. My ex-husband, he has associates with a law firm down in LA, Wolfram and Hart, and he's been using their private investigators to track down Buffy. He thinks they have a lead, but I told him I would have you follow up on it."
"A lead? That's great!" exclaimed Willow, hardly containing her excitement at the possibility of Buffy coming home.
"O-Of course, Joyce, I'll get right on it. What's the lead?" Giles removed his glasses, went to clean the lenses, but decided against it as he pulled out a notebook instead.
"Well, an investigator spotted someone who fits Buffy's description entering a shelter last night with three men. They were only there for an hour, tops, before leaving again with a large group of street kids in rags. They took the kids to a mission on Ventura Boulevard before Buffy and one of the men left in a black car. The investigator thinks they knew they were being tailed, because the driver sped up and began to drive very erratically. He lost them soon after that, but he thinks they're staying somewhere uptown."
"Wait, Buffy's shacked up with some guy?! Did I hear that right?" Xander asked, an incredulous look on his face. "You don't think.Will, the spell worked, right? You brought Angel's soul back?"
Willow's face scrunched up. "Yeah, but why would they leave? I mean, okay, for a few days, maybe, to get.reacquainted?" She looked at the others, then continued. "But, for the whole summer? No. No way. Buffy wouldn't stay gone if everything was all hunky-dory. What does this guy look like?"
"The descriptions kinda vague, but he's not Angel. He's not as tall, and has a slender build, from what the investigator could see.oh and he had blonde hair!" Joyce rummaged through her purse, looking for the piece of scrap paper she wrote the information down on. "Here it is!" she said as she handed it to Giles, who stood as he read the descriptions.
"Hmm, yes, this fits Buffy to a tee, except the hair, but that's a simple cosmetic change. Everything else fits her. Now, this chap, 5'10", approximately 170 lbs., blonde hair.hmm, this is interesting, he wears a leather duster jacket. That should be easy enough to spot in a crowd. I mean, honestly, who wears leather dusters in the summertime?" He looked up from the notes at Xander and Willow, who blanched simultaneously. Oz merely lifted an eyebrow, which was expression of shock enough for Giles to be alarmed. "W-What is it?"
"Giles, a leather duster? Who do we know that wears a leather duster? AND disappeared the same time Buffy did? With blonde hair?!" Willow asked impatiently, not believing that Giles hadn't caught on with the rest of them.
"Willow, what in the bloody hell are you talking about? No one we know disappeared that day except Buffy and the.the Order of Aurelius Vampires."
"YES! Vampire! Bloody Hell! Go with it, G-Man! You're almost home!" exclaimed Xander, rolling his hands as if reeling Giles in. Giles began to put the clues together, constructing a mental picture. A light shown behind his eyes and he smiled with realization, then blanched himself, erupting into a spasm of coughs.
"Oh, dear lord, what has she gotten herself into? You don't think he's changed her?" Giles collapsed into his chair, shaking. Xander and Willow ran to his side. Joyce knelt by him, looking into his eyes.
"Rupert? What's wrong? Who is it? Do you know this person?"
"Y-Yes, unfortunately, I-I do. So do you, from what you told us of Buffy's last time home. From the evidence, we can only conclude that Buffy is in the company of Spike, AKA William the Bloody."
"She's with Spike? The man she brought to the house that night? He seemed pleasant enough." She looked at the expressions on everyone's faces. "That's not good, is it?"
"Mrs. Summers, Spike's an unrepentant killer! He's probably turned Buffy into a Vampire, or worse, made her his personal slave!! Giles, we have to go to LA NOW!!!"
"Y-Yes, Willow, you and Oz will come with me. We'll head straight for LA. With two vehicles, we can cover more ground. Xander, you will patrol with Faith and Wesley. Sorry to cancel your plans, but I think it prudent if we concentrate our efforts on business tonight. Understood?"
"Not a chance in Hell I'm staying here when Buffy needs our help. Besides, if she's a vamp now, I don't think any of you could do what needs to be done." Joyce inhaled sharply, understanding Xander's meaning.
"Xander! How can you say that right in front of Mrs. Summers! Mrs. Summers, I'm sure that Buffy's fine, in the 'I'm still breathing and have a pulse sense'. We'll bring her home, you two can have a good cry, then we'll have our good cry, which I'm seriously considering NOT inviting Xander to, and then you can ground her 'til she's thirty five!" Willow tried to smile happily, but all she could manage was a pathetic grimace.
"Just find my baby, and bring her home. That's all I want." Joyce pulled a handkerchief from her purse and dabbed at her eyes.
"We will, Joyce. This I swear to you. Xander, since you insist on going and no doubt starting a confrontation, you'll ride with me. Willow, you of course will ride with Oz. Wesley, you and Faith patrol as planned. Be on guard, and stay cautious as we won't be able to assist you if you run into a spot of trouble. Understood?"
"Yeah, Mr. G., no heroics. Gotcha. Hey, I'm uh, gonna split for a bit. Meet ya back here about 7:30, 'kay, Wes?" Before Wesley even answered, Faith was out the door.
"Yes, well. Very good then. Mr. Giles, I can assume that you'll be leaving." Wesley sputtered to silence as the Scoobies and Joyce rushed past him, all intent on their goal of finding Buffy Summers. He looked around for a moment, then shrugged and left himself. Definitely a hard day, for a teacher.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That Night, Westfield Cemetery, Sunnydale
"Boring! Let's head to the Bronze! I'm sure there's a bloodsucker or two there to crack down on! I'm dyin' here!" Faith was pacing back and forth in front of a fresh grave that just didn't seem to be doing anything, rubbing a stake between her hands. Wesley, reading a book, was propped up against a nearby crypt. He peered over his glasses at the impatient slayer, clucking his tongue.
"Faith, this is vital work. Stopping newly risen vampires before they can harm others helps to keep order, plus it sends a message to the other vampires in the area." His eyes dropped down to the grave Faith was standing on, noticing some movement. He began to say something about it, but held his tongue. An unexpected attack was a good test for Faith.
"Yeah, feeding time at the Bronze, 'cause the Slayer's on grave watch. C'mon, man, there weren't even any good candidates in the obits. The vamps are on food runs, not recruiting drives. We need to hit the populated areas!" Faith threw the stake into the ground, stamped her foot down on it, driving it into the chest of a vampire who was just rising out of the grave. A lucky strike, though completely unintentional, it dusted. Faith stumbled and fell on her ass. Wesley looked at her over the brims of his glass.
"You were saying something about.", Wesley began, dropping off to let Faith fill in the blank on her own. His point was made.
"Okay, you got me. Grave watch important. No more bitching about it. Now can we go patrol the Bronze?"
"I suppose, but first, I want to go by the Crawford Street Mansion, where the Acathla statue is. I've never seen it. We'll only be a few minutes, and it's quite close to the Bronze." He started to walk in the direction of the mansion, but stopped a few feet later, noticing Faith wasn't following. "Faith, let's go. We're done here."
"I got you figured out. You're scared to go there alone 'cause of the whole Angel thing, right? Figure that there's probably still some goons hangin' around there, waitin' for the Return of the Bad. It's okay, admit it. I'll never tell."
"I'm not scared of going there alone, Faith, but you of all people should understand the concept of safety in numbers. As a Slayer, you fight alone so often, but here, with the Scoobies, you have a team to count on, to support you.to watch your back."
"Yeah, I know. Geez, man! Lighten up! I'm just funnin', that's all. No need to get your panties in a bunch. You wanna go, we'll go." Faith began to walk towards Crawford Street. Wesley had to jog to catch up to her. "Let's just do this fast. The Bronze has this flowering onion thing I've been dyin' to try!"
Crawford Street was once a neighborhood of affluence that fell on hard times during the Great Depression and never recovered. Consequently, there were few places that had been kept up, making it perfect for the homeless to squat and for vampires to nest. All except the mansion. It stayed deserted, out of some perverted respect for the Vampire Angelus. The only occupant was the statue of Acathla, trapped on this plane of existence for untold ages, wakened from its slumber only once, albeit briefly by Angelus. Wesley, having no knowledge of this occurrence, wanted to study an artifact such as this. It was an incredible find, from an archeologist's or a Watcher's point of view. As Wesley and Faith rounded the corner leading up to the mansion, they were alerted to someone else's interest in the statue, as several workers, obviously vampires, worked to remove Acathla from the mansion. They were being directed by two men, one of them a well dressed black man who appeared to be in his thirties, the other a large, white man with long, spiked black hair. The large one was unknown to them, but Faith instantly recognized the well dressed one.
"Trick! Goddamnit, that's Mr. Trick! And he's stealing Acapulco! We gotta stop him!" Faith went to leap into action, but Wesley pulled her back.
"Faith, I share your anger when it comes to Mr. Trick, but we don't have the resources to just attack them. They outnumber us four to one, at least. And we have no backup to call upon. The best we can do is recon and report to Mr. Giles our findings. We'll fight this fight another day."
"Screw that, I say slay!" With that, Faith leapt forward, drawing a stake in her left hand and a short sword with her right. Running at top speed, she was able to decapitate, stake and cripple five of the minions before anyone knew what was going on. The last minion, confused on what to do, actually tried to run, before Mr. Trick threw him back towards Faith, who staked him, immediately. "Hey, Trick Daddy, looks like good help's still hard to find, even on the Hellmouth." She settled into a comfortable fighting stance, waiting for Trick or his partner to make their move.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Thang herself! How you doing, Faith? Still killing for free? I told ya, I pay real well for hired muscle. Even more for muscle that looks like that! Damn, you are one hot woman!" He shifted to game face. "Of course, me and you can just handle this, old school like. Ya dig?"
"Yeah, I dig, but what about supermodel here? He gonna jump in once I start beatin' your ass?" She shifted positions to cover the larger vampire, who was looking at her with amusement.
"You're the Slayer that eliminated Kakistos? That's funny. You don't look like you could take a stiff breeze, let alone a master vampire. You're even more unassuming than Buffy!" The vampire strolled over to Faith, never taking his eyes off of her. It was almost as if he was flirting with her. He stopped just within arm's reach. "I'm Azrael, by the way. You'll do well to remember that name."
"Why's that?"
"It's the name of your killer."
"Why do I find that so hard to believe?"
"You're young and stupid. Normally, I'd call it a phase, but since you're going to die." Azrael stopped talking and snapped off a fierce right cross, catching Faith right in the face. Her head snapped back as she fell to the ground. All at once, Azrael was on top of her, straddling her waist, pinning her arms with one hand, and grabbing her face by the jaw with the other. He turned it from one side to the other, studying every contour. "You know what, I'm not gonna kill you yet, doll. You're pretty. I think I'll just make you a statement. Let Buffy know I'm back. You understand, right?" Faith spat in his face.
"Just do it, you son of a bitch!"
"Step away from her, spawn of Hell!" Wesley ran up to the altercation, cross in hand. At once, Trick leapt away, making a beeline for the black limousine parked in the driveway.
"Azrael, let's go! Acathla can wait! We got other problems to deal with!"
"But I'm not done with the doll! I was gonna make her all pretty for Buffy!"
"Money, we ain't got time to play with the white hats! Let's book!" Trick entered the limo, prompting the driver to start the car, it rolled toward the vampire and the Slayer, door open.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to take a raincheck. I'll be seeing you soon, doll. Do me a favor. Tell Buffy I'm back, and I'm going to erase her from the face of this planet for what she did to me! Bye now!" He leapt off of Faith, dashing for the limo, slamming the door behind him. The limo peeled out, burning rubber as it made its getaway. Wesley ran to Faith, helping her off the ground. She was unsteady on her feet, a split lip, but otherwise fine.
"Who was that freak! He was strong, and he never went into game face! And why's he all hard up for Buffy Summers?" asked Faith
"Well, he said his name was Azrael, but from his face, I was sure that.no, it couldn't be. They weren't sure, but they thought that the curse worked."
"You don't think.", responded Faith, eyes wide.
"Yes, I do", said Wesley, cleaning his glasses with shaking hands, "that.was Angelus."
To Be Continued.