~ Willow's Guardian ~
Giles hurried to the whistle's call in his kitchen. The water was ready for the tea. Giles reached up into his cupboard, past the cheap store-bought brands of tea, and back to the imported Indian brand. "The good stuff," as Joyce often called it.
Dark circles resumed their usual place around Giles' eyes, as he was awake into the early hours of the morning for the fifth night in a row. The Watcher pulled down two glasses, placed the bags in and began pouring the boiling water in.
"Um, would you care for some cream?" Giles asked.
"Thank you, yes, Rupert," the female voice came from the living room.
Giles added the small bit of milk, grabbed the sugar cubes, placed them all on the tray and carried it into the living room. He carefully placed the tray on the coffee table, avoiding the hundreds of books and files that had piled up over the last few days, and sat down on the floor across the table from his visitor.
"I apologize for the mess, and for my tardiness in picking you up at the train station," Giles said, handing the lady the tea. "It is so seldom that I have visitors. Well, visitors from abroad at any rate."
"It must get rather lonesome, the life of a Watcher," the lady replied.
"Well, it can," Giles answered. "But, one has a way of finding ways of keeping themselves busy—when not training, of course."
"Of course," the lady responded.
"So, I trust your flight in to LA was alright, Ms. Falding?" Giles asked.
"Victoria, please, Rupert," the lady responded. "We've known each other far too long to be so formal. And yes, it was a nice, albeit long, flight."
"I was very surprised to receive your call this morning," Giles said. "I—heard what happened in London. I figured you would be there for a while. At least, until your morning had passed."
Victoria brushed a stray hair back from her face and sipped some tea. "I have had…difficulty. But, I had to come. I had to get away, I guess, and this situation just gave me the opportunity to do so."
"So, ah, what…exactly brings you across the pond?" Giles asked, trying not to sound too rushing.
Victoria smiled. "You needn't walk on eggshells. I'm fine, Rupert. Here, look at these files," she said, pulling out yellow files from a briefcase.
Giles took the first folder and opened it up, looking at the sketches that lined the page, and reading the first paragraph. "Stephen Ashbury. Current Alias: Fang," Giles read. "Yes, I know of Fang. I believe Brimely specialized in information on him."
"It was something of a hobby," Victoria answered. "He was fascinated by someone who had been witness to so much history."
Giles continued skimming down the article, reading reports on the Vampire. "This is an interesting dossier, Victoria, still, it doesn't explain why you're coming here. If Fang were around this area, we would have found information on him."
Victoria took a deep breath. "Fang…was the vampire that killed Brimely, Rupert. He escaped from our custody six days ago. Our agents have searched heavily through the city, doing all possible to find him."
"Yes, I would imagine," Giles said, eyes never lifting from the dossier. "Killing an agent would be as bad as killing a policeman."
"Despite the efforts of some of the very best the Council has, we've not found him," Victoria continued. "We have reason to believe he is coming here."
"Well," Giles snorted. "That's just yippee. We certainly have enough problems of late, why not send a powerful Vampire into the mix. Why is it exactly you think he may be headed this way? And why did you come when you could have sent a wire? --Not that I don't mind having your company, mine you."
"I came because of my specialty," Victoria answered, standing up. She walked over to the window and looked up at the stars. "The last thing Fang said before he escaped was that the beast we were really looking for was coming to the Hellmouth."
"The beast?" Giles asked.
"Yes,' Victoria answered. "A creature we had just learned of had done serious damage to Ashbury. We think he may want to come after the creature for vengeance, though its only a theory."
"Um…what—what creature are we talking about?"
"Why, Ripper," Victoria smiled, turning to him. "Don't you know my specialty? An Angel."
"A—um, an Angel is headed to Sunnydale?" Giles asked nervously.
Victoria smiled broadly at his discomfort.
***
"So, you…you are okay?" Tara asked quietly. Her shy way kept her separated from the rest of the Scoobies when she first befriended Willow, but now, it was one of the qualities that made her closer to them.
"Got Dr. Joyce's clean bill 'o health," Xander responded, rubbing his head. "See, I couldn't possibly have been hurt, because I stopped that wall with my head."
"That's not funny," Anya interrupted. Her tone was sharp and she looked at Xander and Tara harshly. "If you get hurt who's going to take care of me?"
"Well, honestly, I, for one, would like to see Dr. Joyce's credentials," Willow interrupted. "I mean, she didn't give you an x-ray or anything."
"Nope," Xander smiled. "Got the next best thing, though. She kissed my boo-boo."
The four friends sat joking with each other at the reading table at the Magic Box, Giles' quaint little business at the far end of Sunnydale. They had been sitting for a little while, now, while Buffy and Giles talked in the back room.
"So, exactly is this little 'meeting' for, anyway?" Anya asked. "I mean, Xander and I could be at home, having hot sex right now."
"Buffy told us we needed to meet," Tara replied quietly, ignoring the previous remark. Xander sort of slumped down in his seat, trying to hide a little, as he often did when Anya blurted out something like that.
"Actually, it wasn't Buffy," Willow responded.
"It wasn't?" Xander asked. "Who, then?"
"Giles did. Said it was about 'Stinky Casper.'"
"Stinky Casper?" Buffy asked, walking in from behind.
"Well, it was either that or 'the invisible turd," Willow smiled. "I beat Xander in the coin toss, though."
"As amusing as your little names are, our enemy is more serious than we previously thought," Giles interrupted, walking with Ms. Falding in tow.
"Whoa," Xander let slip, then paid for with a punch to the arm from Anya.
"Everyone, this is Victoria Falding, Council Specialist in Heavenly Affairs," Giles said.
"That's a new one," Willow laughed. "Heavenly Affairs?"
"We deal with the more—light—issues of the other world," Victoria responded.
Willow smiled broadly. "If I ever go work for the Council, that's the branch I wanna work in."
"I don't know, Will, you might miss all the 'fun' we have around here," Xander joked.
"It rains a lot in England, too," Tara quietly added. "I don't like rain, really."
"If I may?" Victoria asked. The group quieted. "As far as your 'Stinky Casper, the flying turd' is concerned, I can't say I know much. However, Stinky is the least of your worries at the moment."
"She didn't even say his name right…I'm offended," Willow whispered to Xander.
"We believe a very powerful Vampire is headed towards Sunnydale, and could arrive at any time. We don't really know what it is he's looking for, of what he intends to do, but we do think, judging from findings in his lair in Windsor, that he may have an eye for the Slayer," Victoria continued.
"A Vampire?" Xander asked. "What's the big deal? Buffy dusts those things every night."
Victoria smiled slightly. "The big deal is that this Vampire has killed more Slayers than any other Vampire. He likes to keep their skulls for trophies."
"We'll be patrolling all together for the next few weeks," Buffy said. "If he figures out who my friends are, he may try to use you against me. It's just better if we all stick together."
"Unfortunately, and I'm sorry, Ms. Summers for not mentioning this to you earlier, but I wanted to tell all of you together: Ashbury, the Vampire, is not your biggest threat at present."
The five looked at each other, then to Giles. "It—uh, it seems that we have a bigger, more troublesome creature than Vampires," Giles said uncomfortably. "Even more troublesome than Demons, actually."
"We believe an Angel is headed this way," Victoria said solemnly. "He may already be here."
The five looked at each other again. Then, Xander busted out laughing. "What's the big deal? We could use the help!"
Anya put her hand on his arm. He looked at her eyes, and saw the fear that etched out.
"Um, well, Xander," Giles began, "It's not so black-and-white as Sunday school may have led you to believe."
"Wait, wait, wait…" Buffy said, putting her hands into the air. "There are…Angels?"
Victoria looked to Giles and back to Buffy. "What's the problem? You see Demons every day, yet you don't believe in Angels?"
"Well…no," Buffy responded. "I mean…I see Demons every day. It's pretty easy to believe in them. But Angels? If they exist, why don't I ever see them?"
Victoria let out a deep breath and sat down at the table. "Let me explain how it works. At least, let me explain it best we know: Every now and then, we'll receive reports from somewhere in the world of a man or woman who sprouted wings. Their strength is incredible and their speed cannot be explained. They are, in essence, the perfect fighters.'
'However, they aren't always fighting the right guys. More than that, even when they do fight demons, or go after creatures, they often leave a wake of destruction that can take years to clean up."
Giles sat down next to Victoria. "The reason the Council worries about these Angels is because they are very independent of the Council. They come, carry out a mission at all costs, then leave. Often they do more harm than good."
"So, why doesn't the Council find them and talk to them?" Willow asked.
"Well, we would if we could," Victoria responded. "In all of history, no one who worked for us has ever been able to talk to an Angel. We're not even sure if Angels can talk. At least, we weren't until Ashbury hinted that he talked to one."
"Only one question I have, then," Buffy started. "How do we find it, and once we find it, how do I stop it?"
"That's two questions, actually," Willow whispered to Xander.
"I don't think it will be hard to find, once it gets here," Giles said. "We just follow the path of destruction."
"And, you don't stop it," Victoria added. "I know how powerful you are, even for a Slayer. But, an Angel is a tank, compared to a Demon. Nothing can stop it that we know of."
"At least, nothing in this realm of the universe," Added Giles.
"So, we just sit back and let it take us out?" Anya asked.
"No," Victoria answered. "We find it, find out what its mission is, then we help it and get out of its way, trying to stop the damage. Maybe, if we can open dialogue, we can stop them in the future, too."
"Maybe it's here to stop Glory, huh?" Willow asked. "That would make life a lot easier."
"Angels are rarely sent to take out Gods," Victoria answered. "Besides, if that was the mission, it wouldn't have come down to Earth in London, but here."
"Well," started Xander, clapping his hands together, "Between Gods, Demons, Vampires and now Angels, I'm just so happy how the neighborhood is turning out. "Maybe we can all move to Wisconsin?"
"Maybe Stinky Casper can come with us?" Willow asked.
***
"Damn it, Harm, would ya just knock out all that racket? I'll take ya back in, stop slamming the door!" Spike yelled through the tomb, as he walked to the door. When he was about three steps from the door, it suddenly blew open from a forceful blow.
A dark, curly-haired man walked through the door and into the room, turned to Spike and smiled widely.
"Whoever the hell you are, you just busted my door, you maggot," Spike said angrily. "That was a good door, too."
"William, I'm surprised at you. You don' even remember your old friends?" the man asked.
Spike took a step closer and squinted at the new face. "Nope, sorry, never seen ya in my life."
"Maybe I can refresh your memory, mate," the man replied. "Vienna, 1984? You and Dru were playing football with some guy's head, and Dru kicked it too hard, sending it flying into a fourth story building?"
Spike looked for a moment and thought back. "Aw, yeah—Ashbury? You ripped the head off the next bloke that walked by offered to play goal! How ya doin, you ol' wet ninny?"
"Eh, not so well," Fang replied. "Takin' some heat, gotta find a place to crash for a few days, y'know?"
"Well, I would be happy to let you stay here, but you busted my bloody door," Spike said, looking serious for a moment. Then a chuckle came out. "But, hell, who needs a door anyway? You want a pint?"
"Sure, you mind if my girl joins us?" Ashbury asked.
"No probs, who's your woman these days?" Spike asked.
"Voight, of course!" Ashbury laughed.
"Voight? Oh, man, she's gotta be at least 530 years old, now. I though' you'd trade in fer a newer model by now."
"Well, what can I say, mate? Her experience makes her dynamite in bed!"
Spike laughed as he pulled out the sacks of blood from storage and started warming them up. "So, what brought you to Sunnydale, anyway, Ashbury."
"Let's just say that I want to get my hands on an old treasure of mine," Ashbury explained. "You see this?" he asked, holding up a small copper key, hanging from a gold chain.
Spike squinted. "Yeah, looks like a key."
"That's exactly what it is," Ashbury laughed. "This little key, though, unlocks the greatest treasure in the world."
"Britney Spear's bra?" Spike asked.
"Hah! That's rich!" Ashbury laughed again. "Nope. This little pup's called the 'heaven's key.'"
"Heaven's Key? Think I heard something 'bout that sometime ago," Spike responded, bringing the warm blood to his guest. "Makes Vamps damn near invincible."
"That's right," Ashbury laughed. "Gonna make history with it, too. Gonna take out an Angel, tonight. Thought I'd add a Slayer to my collection, too."
"Yeah—uh—that's real nice, mate," Spike said slowly, staring at the key. At that moment, a very scantily clad woman walked in the door, and wrapped her arms around Ashbury. She leaned up and kissed him.
"My invincible warrior," Voight whispered, licking Ashbury's ear.
"Very nice indeed," Spike repeated.
(Writer's note: I realized the above section was somewhat sexist and demeaning towards women. I just want to say that I'm sorry if anyone was insulted or anything, and I do not support anything that Spike or Fang said, they just sort of act that way. Just keep in mind, Spike and Fang are bad, bad people. You shouldn't listen to what they say, 'cause they're bad. Bad Spike. Bad Fang.
Okaythankyou.)
***
Silence.
All as completely silent. No breeze moved through the leaves, no cars could be heard. Nothing. Buffy kneeled by the tree, her hand resting on the bark. She listened intently, trying to hear anything. Her senses were better tuned than any other human, but, there was nothing about to be heard.
Buffy slowly edged forward along the path, keeping an eye out for any movement, any sound at all. Suddenly, from the distance, she heard movement. The Slayer held still for a few moments, tracking the movement of whatever was moving.
Buffy edged forward, slowly a few steps. Then she darted forward, dodging trees, and leaping over gravestones. She moved down a pathway and back into the trees. Moving as silently as one can at a full spring, the Slayer shot in, grabbed her prey by the coat, and slammed him against a tree, stake raised.
"Ow, hey! Don't!" the vampire yelled, raising his hands, then lowering them when he realized it was Buffy. "Oh, it's you. Y'know, you really ought to stop following me around."
"Spike, don't move," Buffy said.
"What?" Spike asked. "What, you don' want me to leave ya?"
Suddenly, the tree next to Spike splintered, wood firing in all directions, and the bulk of the tree crashing down into the forest.
Spike, wide-eyed, turned to the Slayer. "Buffy, run!" he yelled, sounding somewhat awkward as the words came out.
"Shut up, Spike!" Buffy yelled, readying herself.
"Maybe you should listen to old William, here," a female voice came rang out. A vamped-out woman walked cat-like around a tree, swinging a whip around in her hand.
"Seriously, Buffy, you don't know what you up against!" Spike yelled. He twisted his head around awkward after he said it, feeling like he wasn't conveying enough emotion.
"Oh, I know exactly what I'm up against," Buffy smiled. "Where's your pimp, catgirl?"
"Well, well, you are a surprising one, Slayer," Ashbury's voice came from the woods. He stepped out into the moonlight and smiled at her. "However, it seems we have you outnumbered three to one. I don't think you can handle these odds."
"Three to one?" Buffy asked, looking at Spike.
"Hey, now, don' look at me! I had no choice in this matter. You don' say 'no' to
Fang, it just isn' done."
"Oh, shut up!" Buffy yelled. "Besides, who said I was alone?"
Suddenly, the sky lit up, nearly as bright as day, and the two Vamps not wearing the key crouched in pain from the light.
Buffy darted over the fallen tree and threw two heavy punches into Voight's face, knocking her back. The Slayer slipped out a stake and reached back, readying it to slam down into the vampire's chest. However, Fang was right behind her, and grabbed her arm.
"Now!" she yelled. The sound of the pluck of crossbow strings shot out. The arrows shot straight through the vampire, lodging in his chest. Both arrows went right through his heart, but Fang still stood strong.
Fang let out a laugh. He grabbed the Slayer's wrist and yanked her into the air. Swinging her around, he launched her into a tree, her body slamming hard against the wood, and knocking her unconscious.
With a loud scream Xander charged out from the woods and chopped at the Vampire with an axe. The blade was aimed well, and when it hit the Vampire's neck, it did nothing. The force of the hit whiplashed back into Xander's hands, causing him to scream and drop the axe.
"Foolish mortal!" Fang yelled. He swung his fist into Xander's stomach, and then hit him in the face, knocking him yards back.
"Xander!" Willow yelled as she ran out of the woods. She pulled out another little bag and threw it at the vampire. The bag hit and fire spread up his body. However, the vampire just laughed.
"This is the great Slayer and her comrades?" Fang yelled out. "Please! I've had little girls hit me harder than you maggots."
Spike stumbled over to Buffy, and tried with what little strength he had, to pull her out of the way. He looked up and sniffed the air, suddenly. It smelled good, actually. "Do you smell that, Xander?" Spike whispered to the still-conscious-but-in-a-lot-of-pain boy.
Xander raised his head a little, and cringed his face. "The invisible turd?"
"Voight, take care of our little friend, here," Fang said, pointing to Willow.
Willow reached down into her bag, looking for more powders, but had a difficult time grabbing hold of any. The Vampire smiled, pulled her whip up and brought it down across Willow's hand, causing her to drop the bag. "Now, now, can't have de wittle witch doing no more bad spelly-wellies."
"Oh gosh, creeped out time," Willow gasped. She turned and ran around the trees as quick as she could, and barely avoided another shot from the whip.
Anya ran out from the trees, and put her hands down on Xander. "Oh, Xander, oh, oh, oh, oh! Are you okay? Are any of your man parts hurt?"
Xander looked up at his beautiful girlfriend. "Do you smell that?"
Anya sniffed a short breath. "Ew. What is it?"
Suddenly, the grass in the path split apart, shooting dirt, rocks and grass away as something rocketed past the Scoobies, straight for Fang. Fang never knew what hit him. With a powerful blow, Stinky Casper brought his invisible fist into the vampire's jaw, knocking him through three trees.
The sheer force created from the speed at which Stinky Casper moved flung Xander, Anya, Spike, and Buffy off the path and into the trees.
Fang jumped back out into the path. "What the hell wassat!?"
Stinky Casper shot at the Vampire again, this time ripping trees apart with the force of his attack. The Vampire tried to dodge the attack, but was too slow. The attacker hit him with solid blows several times, followed by a series of kicks.
"What the hell is that?!" Spike yelled, trying to be heard over the battle.
Xander, being held up by Anya looked around a tree. "It's the invisible turd! It's kicking the crap outta Ashbury!"
Xander, holding on to the tree to keep from being blown back, and holding onto Anya, suddenly became aware that someone was walking up the path very slowly. He turned and looked over his shoulder as a man wearing a brown leather jacket walked step by step towards the battle.
"Run!" Xander yelled. "Get away while you can!"
The man ignored his pleas and walked right past him. He stopped, suddenly by Buffy and Spike and looked at them, but said nothing. He turned his attention back to Ashbury and Stinky Casper, drawing a hidden sword, and holding it out in front of him.
With a movement that defied sight, the man suddenly shot forward, ripping more of the path apart as he advanced. The blast of wind kicked up from the attack knocked Xander and Anya down and rolled them away a few feet.
The man shot in, and slammed into the thin air. No one could see if he hit anything, but a second later, the trees thirty feet away snapped and fell with great force.
Fang charged out of the woods and threw his fist at the man. "You, you bastard!" he screamed. His fist landed square on the man's jaw, but it only caused him to flinch. "I'm gonna kill you, you Angel!" he screamed, letting another fist fly.
The Angel's eyes lit up when he saw the key, dangling from Fang's chest. He caught the incoming fist and reached for the key, to snap it off, but was suddenly hit by an unseen force, and knocked through the next several sets of trees.
"They keep this up, there won't be a bloody forest left!" Spike yelled, trying to cover up the Slayer."
The Angel stood up, dusted himself off and stepped forward, sword raised. "Enough, Adonis. Show yourself and fight as an Angel should."
In the middle of the path, a blue figure formed out of thin air. Its naked body was heavily deformed, and wings shot out from its back. The wings were covered with black feathers that seemed to fall off with any movement.
"Adonis," the Angel continued. "I can't let you have that key."
"Christopher," Adonis smiled. "What was unfairly taken will be returned. You don't understand. You didn't even exist."
"I don't care. The key is to be destroyed. I won't stop until it is."
Adonis smiled. Both locked eyes, then charged at each other, the ground ripping in the wake of their movements. When they met, the ground all around them, as well as the closest trees blew away from the force of the blow. Both threw powerful punches at each other, and Christopher tried to use his sword, but it wasn't much help.
Adonis brought his legs around, trying to swipe Christopher's, but the Angel was too fast. He caught Adonis's leg and whipped him around, sending him through a boulder.
Christopher smiled, and began walking towards the downed enemy, but something caught his attention: A girl was screaming out for help.
"Buffy! Xander, please help!" Willow cried out. Voight had her wrapped up with the whip, and was pulling at her arms, trying to rip them off.
"Willow?" the Angel whispered to himself.
Suddenly, his eyes flashed bright blue, and his wings shot out of his leather jacket, as he let out a scream that thundered through the valleys. The Angel shot across the path, grabbed the Vampire and slammed her into the tree.
The Vampire shrieked in pain. "It burns! His touch burns!" She screamed.
The Angel put his hand on her head and yanked it off, turning her instantly into dust.
Xander and Anya limped out onto the path as the Angel leaned down to Willow, pulling her out of the whip. She had blood stains on her shirt, she was scratched up, and she was out cold, but she would be fine.
Spike and a punch-drunk Buffy staggered out, looking carefully at their savior.
Christopher looked over his shoulder for Fang or Adonis, but they had bolted. He turned his attention back to the girl before him. "Willow?" he asked again, looking up to the surrounding fighters. The group looked at him strangely. His voice was so odd. Almost as if a chime sounded when he talked.
"What is that awful smell?" Spike asked.
Xander sniffed the air. "Smells like…cookies, I think."
"Flowers. Definitely flowers," Anya said. "Smells good, at least."
The Angel looked to Buffy. "This is Willow Rosenberg, right?"
"Yeah," Buffy said, surprised. "Do you know her?"
"Of course," the Angel responded. "I was her Guardian Angel for a while."
***