Sometimes people thought that she was dumb just because she could not speak. Nope, she was nothing but dumb. She was as smart as a three year old could be. Sometimes even smarter.
The only person who really recognized this was Auntie Willow. She knew just how smart and gifted Annie was, and she would often argue with her Mom and Dad about where Annie should be placed in school or the ways Annie should be taught to communicate with others. In fact, Auntie Willow so cared about Annie that she had given her a little charm necklace, with something called a "rune" on it, and she wore it all the time underneath her clothes. Auntie Willow said it was enchanted and that it would bring her good luck and other stuff. She never let anyone else see it, and though she had given her brothers and Julie rune necklaces, they didn't *always* wear it like she did.
Since Annie could not speak and express her opinions, she liked to listen to the opinions of others. She was a very good listener, and sometimes Mom or Dad or Nicky or Julie or Josh would tell her things they'd never tell anyone else because she could never tell anyone. Woe to the them the day she learned sign language and learned to write. Sometimes her mind would wander while people talked to her, or talked around her. She learned to take everything in slowly and analyze it all, and so she knew a lot of things people usually missed because they were too busy flapping their mouth. The only thing about her muteness was that when she wanted something, she almost never got it because nobody understood what she was trying to communicate.
So as they walked down the halls, all entranced by Drusilla's spell, Annie's mind wandered. Sure, she was holding on to Elisabeth Sarah's hand and walking along without refusal, but that because when you were a shy and timid three year old that wasn't at all opinionated and self-righteous, or did not even know or care how to be like that, you usually just did want everyone else told you to do. But, while everyone else was just walking, Annie noted where they were walking.
There were no windows, Annie had noticed. Everywhere she had been there were windows. Windows were so you could escape from the house if need be, she had been told. Or something like that. There was no escaping from this house.
And they had been walking for quite a while. This was a big house. And there was no wallpaper anymore, the beige wallpaper with the little flowers that looked out of a story book. They had gone down stairs, not upstairs, and everything was turning gray and looking like a sidewalk, but a shiny, polished sidewalk with dirt on it. The floor did not have a rug.
Some more stairs. Her feet were tiny and she had to keep from tripping. Es helped her as much as she could, but there was not enough compassion squeezing in from the cover of Drusilla's spell. The stairs were short this time. Annie was almost certain there would be no more stairs and that there was a ground floor now. Yup, there were windows. Boy this place was old, it smelled old, it smelled funky like eggs that were old. Annie wondered if it was spring soon and if they were gonna clean like Mommy and Ms. Natalie did around then.
Wow, there were not only windows, but there were doors. And ooh, looky, a fireplace, and an old couch. And now they were going into a corridor...no! They were taking another flight of stairs and they were going down into a place that was dark but illuminated with a red glow in the far end. It reminded Annie of a dungeon and she was almost certain there was a dragon at the end and his fire was causing the red glow. She started crying, and Drusilla stopped the entourage.
Annie was wiping her nose with her free hand when Drusilla walked over to her. She bent at the knees and tilted her head sympathetically, her mouth forming a thin crescent and her wide black eyes looking like deep pools that Annie could get lost in. "Now what's the matter?" Drusilla asked, in her strange, childish voice.
Annie let out some more tears and then told her what was wrong. "I want to be with my Mommy and Daddy and I don't want to see the dragon. I want to go back to place with the windows, can I have some windows?"
Drusilla clucked her tongue. "Sunshine, Mommy doesn't care if you want to see her or not see the dragon. Daddy's given you all to me, and if you're good, we'll play games with cakes and tea and I'll let you hold Ms. Edith. Hmm?"
Annie sniffled and blinked her tears. Drusilla wiped them away with her long, bony fingers. "Now, now, no more tears or our appetites will be spoilt. Then everyone will be very sad." Annie nodded, and her sweaty hand slid out of Es'. "Chin up." Drusilla stood up and then picked her up in her arms. Annie did not like the way she held her at all. She wanted to be with her Mommy and did not believe a word she said. Her Daddy *cared*, but there was no way of telling Drusilla that. "And on we go."
Now Es was pretty bright and though she was not the oldest yet, since she'd be Nicky's age in a year, and she thought she was thinking seven already. This Drusilla, though, was something else. She knew deep down that she was a stranger and that it was bad to go with her, but for some reason she was following her and wanting to do everything that she said, and was kind of upset that Annie was being favored.
In front of her were the twins, who had that same jealous gleam in their eyes. Then there was Nicky. He was quivering, and she *knew* Nicky was trying to fight whatever was going on. He was a very brave kid, and Es thought that when she grew up and out of her all-boys-are-icky stage she might think he was kinda cute. Although now the thought disgusted her, she knew already that if they were in danger, Nicky'd get them out of it. Good thing to, if they were gonna see a dragon like the one Annie was crying about.
They were walking again, and Es suddenly wanted Annie's hand. She was getting frightened. It was cold down here and she could hear noises now, talking noises, and it was getting much darker. It was dusty and dirty and she could feel her allergies acting up. She scrunched up her nose and tried to hold back the impulse of sneezing by biting on her lip and pushing back her two upper front teeth with her two bottom front teeth. It worked, but her eyes welled up and she was afraid Drusilla would get angry at her if she started crying. So she put her head down and stared at her feet, not wanting to call attention to herself.
Julie looked at Josh and Josh looked at Julie. They were queasy, like they were going to be sick. Something strange was going on, but it hurt their eyes to look at each other too long. They turned their attention to Drusilla's back.
Drusilla always liked the little ones. They were so young and plump and their blood was always fresh and invigorating. Too bad that these little children would not be for her. Metaike had specifically told her they would be sacrificing the children to the one she called the Prince of Chaos. She had told all of them-her, Spike, Angelus-that if they fulfilled this prophecy, they could start time all over again so that the mortals would never gain control of the world, and the four of them would be bequeathed with the power over all of them, as they would be viewed as the Creators. Everybody was joyous, and everything would be joyous. They just needed the sacrifices...
Metaike had been very secretive on the sacrifices. She did not say why they were needed, just that they were needed. And although they were accessible in the year 2013, they needed to be brought into the past so that they could complete chaos. Ah, chaos! The word was music to her ears. Sweet music that would soon be played...
They had brought the mansion with them, the one she, Spike, and Angelus had used way back when they were going to destroy the world by means of Acathla. But that very night the Slayer had come to ruin their plans, and her Spikey had become as yellow-bellied as could be, teaming up with one who oozed with good intentions. But he had won her back, had become the old Spike just for her, and by the time Angelus came around again they were bound enough so that they could take another in, and everything was blood and peace.
The mansion was large. Right now they were in a basement, and what the simple child thought was a dragon was just the glow from the extra floor a few of their minions had carved out for them, for Metaike. It was dirt and earth and the small bathing pool had been set in and in there was the most delicious thing *ever*.
Even better than baby's blood.
Now the littlest one, Annie, was holding on to her neck and her face was buried in Dru's shoulder. Annie's neck was pressed up to Dru's chin, and she could hear the pulsating rhythm that her tiny little heart made as it pumped blood. She wanted to grab the child and snap her neck as she took it in her mouth, sucking all the life of her in mere seconds. It took every fiber of her being not to do that. After all, she did not want to get her Angelus mad.
She did not want to upset the plan.
Ah, they had arrived to the door to the lowest level, and the light that seeped through the cracks was the brightest of dark red. She could hear the children whimper, and it thrilled her into ecstasy. "And now for the fun," she laughed, pushing open the door with one hand.
The room the minions had dug was about the size of a ballroom. There were a series of doors on the far left wall, doors that led to various dirt rooms, sewer tunnels, and dirt corridors that snaked around the town. Well, none of them were certain about the corridors, because they had snaked around the Future Sunnydale, which was drastically different from the Sunnydale they were in now. How times change for the worst-for the humans-and the better for the demon population of Sunnydale.
After the Party, as Dru and Spike liked to call it, or "The Burning Time," as Angelus liked to call it, Sunnydale had fallen rightfully into the hands of the demons. Every evil being came to that spot like moths to a light, and once and for all they were allowed to take freely of the power that was the Hellmouth. Unfortunately, the Hellmouth was completely sealed, and there was no way to open it back up again. Luckily, the exotic power still shot out from it, accessible to all.
For feeding, the demons and vampires and other dreadful things made their way to the surrounding towns and brought back food to share with others, and sometimes even human playthings. There became a sort of hierarchy among them, and Angelus, Dru, and Spike ranked highly in the system when they frequented Sunnydale. But the town had rapidly become dull to them, and they had sought out new towns and new blood, but always coming back for the power the Hellmouth offered, and being well received by the dark community.
But now they would be the highest, and it would be their Sunnydale all over the Earth, and chaos would reign along with them...
She laughed throatily and stepped into the room, the children following. The door slammed behind them, and the children jumped and Julie began to cry. Her spell was broken, but so be it. They were here already.
The place was absolutely silent. Drusilla walked lightly into the middle of the ballroom, twirling happily along with the child. She felt excitement and anticipation bubble up inside of her, and she could almost see it bubbling out of her mouth and eyes and pores. Annie just tightened her hold on Dru and shoved her neck closer, and she was unable to contain it anymore. She vamped out from the heartbeat against her neck, and while Annie was oblivious, the rest of the children saw. Josh and Julie began to cry and grabbed on to each other, Es hugged herself, and Nicky's eyes turned into large, ice-blue pools.
"Monster," he whispered, his voice full of awe and terror. Then her remembered Aunt Willow and Uncle Oz, when the children had found out they were werewolves by accident, and that they could shift-shape at free will, and contort their face into all sorts of things. Then they had explained that while they were "monster," they were *good* monsters. They had gone on to tell them that there were some bad monsters out there, and some looked like *this*. At *this*, Auntie Willow or Uncle Oz would half-morph their face into something terrible, with a ridge in the middle of their face and yellow eyes instead of the silver of a werewolf and, and two long fangs instead of a mouthful. It was horrible.
It was Drusilla.
Dru grinned and flashed her fangs. "That's right, little boy. Want to play?"
Nicky's eyes widened. Annie had lifted her head up to look at Drusilla, and she was still and frightened. Nicky wanted nothing more than to grab her out of her arms, but he knew he couldn't. Instead, he stood in front of Julie and Josh and Es, and shook and wanted to pee in his pants because he knew he was trapped, and that Annie was probably as good as dead by the way Dru was leering at him.
Metaike; her name sounded so soft, so innocent. Once, on a whim, she had passed for a young human child and gone by the name of Kaity. How sweet the parents were, how peaceful-even in their death when she had ripped out their hearts and laid them so properly in their bed, as though they were going to sleep. Those two kind people should have known better than to take a mysterious child home from the streets.
Her real form was less appealing. Due to a nasty encounter with one of the first Slayers an uncountable eons ago, Her face had been scarred to the point where it could barely be called a face, and it did not heal with age. Her beautiful face had been burned away to a charred black mask, skin twisted and dragged to place where it should have never been. Her eyes were barely visible, and her nose was but two holes in her face. Her mouth was a fleshy black scar that split open when she felt the need to talk. Her eyes were a horrible milky white and it looked like she could not see, although her sight was much better than a mortal and most of the Lesser Beings. She smelled permanently of smoke and in the short time she had been in this mansion, it now permeated her scent as though she had marked it. Perhaps she had; Lower Beings were extremely territorial and uncomfortable in any kind of surrounding unless they made it theirs.
The rest of her body was that of a nymph. Full, perky breasts, languid curves in all the right places, legs that seemed to go on forever. Unfortunately, since the body was such a contrast from the head, Metaike often hid her body with the long, Grecian robes she felt comfortable in. As she was doing now, as she lay on her side on the bed, glaring up at the almost-full moon.
"I shun you, Diana," Metaike growled, spitting out the word of a Higher Being as though it were a curse. "I shun you and your kith. But for I could walk under the sun, for I would rather be in the grace of Apollo than in yours."
Saying those words made her feel better, as they did every night. Metaike had a personal grudge against Diana, just like she did with all the Higher Beings, especially the Goddesses. She was once one of them, she was once High before she was cast into the Lower Regions because of her meddling with Time. It was not her place in the Higher Order, but she gone and learned how to control Time regardless of what Aradia, the Highest of All, had told her.
Well, now it was her job with the Lower Beings. *She* was a Lower Being, and for such a long time she could barely remember what it was like to be High. She wondered if she really had liked it better. Surely, if she had been High, she wouldn't have been offered this wonderful task.
If she had been High, she wouldn't have a need to take it.
"Cursing the Gods, my beautiful Metaike?"
At the sound of the voice behind her, Metaike smiled. She knew it looked grotesque on such a face, but she could not help it. "Angelus," she said without turning around, in a soft, breathless voice too beautiful for her face. "Has Drusilla arrived yet?"
"Why don't you ask Spike? He's her pet, after all. You know I'm yours and yours only. I only know when *you* come and go."
"Which is never," Metaike growled, looking back up at the moon. It seemed to smirk at her. "I'm confined here because I can't walk in Apollo's light and Diana scorns me as much as I do her." Bitterness never fades with age, it just grows stronger; Metaike could move mountains with her bitterness.
She felt a cold hand on her bare shoulder. It touched the tiny line where the carnage of her face ended and her silken skin began once more. It was like an eternal mask that she could never take off, a mask that went right into her skin. "Why do you feel the need to be outside or above when you can spend your nights with me?"
"Because I don't deserve you," Metaike said truthfully, turning around. Her eyes looked down at the floor and she felt the smooth skin of Angelus' taut neck pass her wrinkled, charred skin. A shiver ran through her body. "I don't deserve you."
"Nonsense," Angelus. "You know I only obsess something worth obsessing." Metaike laughed. "It's the truth, Metaike, I swear."
"And I should believe you," Metaike said, looking up to meet Angelus' eyes. They were as cold as steel, and that sent another shiver down her spine. She both hated and enjoyed how he reduced her to nothing by just being his gorgeous self.
Angelus felt her lust and slowly took hold on her chin and tilted it up until their lips were bunch inches apart, and he could feel her hot breath against his mouth. Metaike closed her eyes and their lips met, but Angelus kept his eyes open, staring into her face. He resisted the urge to smile at the fact she gave herself to easily to him. He hungrily worked his tongue into her mouth, and Metaike met it and they began to wrestle.
They pulled away when Metaike needed to breath. She smiled as him, and Angelus tried to swallow the fact that she looked like one of his mortal nightmares come true. "I need to know if Drusilla is back."
"Then come into the hall." He pulled away from her and offered his hand. Metaike smiled shyly and slid her hand into his. Together they walked out into the ballroom-size main room, hopefully to see if Drusilla had come back with the children.
Sure enough, they were there. Metaike wanted to laugh because things were beginning to fall into place. She tightened her grip on Angelus' hand and stared at the terrified little children. The baby that Dru held in her arms was squirming and whining in a high-pitched noise that was quickly becoming annoying.
Slowly, the children noticed that someone knew had entered the room. They turned tear-streaked faces towards Metaike and she exactly what their reaction would be.
Or so she though she did. She was taken aback by the young girl's rude comment.
"What the heck happened to your face?" the little girl asked with disgust, for the moment forgetting that she was terrified.
Metaike felt her heartbeat rise as she grew angry at the child's careless words. She growled and lurched forward to rip the child's throat out, but she felt Angelus restrain her. She did not want to fight him. "Metaike, don't harm the sacrifices. You told us that yourself."
{That was before the little bitch picked on my face} Metaike said, thinking about the extremely sensitive topic. "You're correct," she said, growling through her perfect set of dazzling white teeth. "But I only said that so one of you wouldn't get carried around and kill them prematurely. Torturing is still very open to those who want to do it the children."
She heard one of them gasp-it was the taller girl with hair as long as Metaike's. "Scared, little girl?" Metaike asked, and the tall girl nodded and sobbed loudly. "You should be."
"Must we lock them up quickly," Drusilla asked, her voice hushed in respect for Metaike, "or can I play with them?" At the end of the sentence, her mouth curved into her twisted, insane smile. Metaike joined in.
"Certainly, Drusilla. Play with them all you want. And if you want, let Spike join in-if you can find him. He seems to be playing hide-and-seek among the tunnels today." She looked at Angelus and they both shared the same idea-going back to Metaike's bedroom. As they turned around, Metaike stopped and looked over her shoulder. "And harm the young one," she said, pointing at the young girl. "Julie. Preferably...her face."
She turned around, and she did not see Josh and Nicky crowd in front of Julie, who was tight-lipped but frightened. Drusilla looked down at them and grabbed Annie's both wrists and she began to pound on her neck. This was going to be fun.
He leaned against the curved dirt wall of a tunnel, letting his leather-covered shoulder dig into the soft earth. He brought the lighter up to the tip of his cigarette and watched the butt ignite and slowly glow a bright orange. He flicked the lighter off and shoved it into his jeans pocket. He then cupped a hand around the cigarette and then took a long drag, wishing that his lungs still had that old reflex to breath instead of him having to concentrate on it.
He was in the tunnels underneath the imitation second basement of the mansion. He felt safe down here, away from everything and anything that he was pretending to be. As he took another drag of the cigarette, he closed his eyes and savored the moment. After that smoke, he ran a hand over his white-blond hair and looked down the left of the tunnel, to where the entrance was.
He could sense no one coming for him, and the only other vampires were the lowlings that they'd found as soon as they had arrived and set up shop. There were also Angelus and Drusilla several feet above him, and he could feel the oldness of them seeping into his bones, although he knew he gave them the same feeling. Then there was Metaike, an odd hole. There was no feeling of evil from her, just a smothered tingling at the back of your mind that called for attention but never received it.
Spike gave a sharp laugh and then turned on his heel to face the right. They weren't bothered by his disappearance, since it was expected. He had only been with them for a month, and during the last two weeks he had been extremely reclusive. It was expected of him, and he had enough to time to do what he had to do.
He'd also better hurry up and get out of here while he had the chance. Drusilla had found the children; upstairs, ironically. Angelus was planning to send out ten more to the library to pick up the adults, since Drusilla had messed up her incantation over the blood and ridded and sent the previously dispatched set of vampires back to the future. They'd found the remains of the van at the end of the street, and Angelus had been so upset that he'd hit Dru. Spike was impassive, and Angelus had noted to this; for a moment there, Spike had worried that Angelus had been on to him. Luckily, Angelus had been too busy calling back the vampire that he had ordered to go and kidnap his past self.
Now Angelus was just basking in the fact that he had gotten the children, but Spike knew that it would not be much time to spare. The children were an important part of the ritual, but the adults had to come first. Tonight, Angelus planned to capture the most two most important players in the rite-Buffy and F-Buffy.
Spike looked at his liquid watch. He had enough time before Angelus would be done pleasing Dru, wooing Metaike, and having his fun torturing the children. Spike winced. He had to get news to the adults. He needed to tell Xander and Cordelia what was happening the children, although he would try as much as he could to keep Drusilla and Angelus off of them.
He ought to leave now. Spike bit down on the end of the cigarette between his lips, and moved it in a carefree up-and-down movement as he walked down the tunnel. He whistled softly, his voice echoing his head. {I'm going to give them a scare} Spike chuckled silently, smilingly. {Now, if the exit still is connected to the crack in the basement of Sunnydale High, I am going to be just fine...}
There were soft murmurs coming from the back of the stacks, and everyone that was not including in that private conversation were sitting at the table, studying their insignificant object of choice. Finally F-Willow stood up.
"I'm going to the girl's locker room?" she asked timidly, standing by F-Oz. Everyone turned their faces up to her. "I'm a little tired of looking like a Victoria's Secret Angel. I need shorts or pants. So I thought I'd don some gym clothes and get in the Razorback spirit." She spread out her hands. "Does anybody know where the gym is?"
"I'll show you," F-Oz murmured, looking up. F-Willow grinned at him and they linked hands. "Can I dress you, too?" he whispered in her ear as they neared the swinging doors. F-Willow giggled and shrugged flirtatiously as they passed through and began their walk down the hallway.
"They're so...cute," F-Faith said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Blecch." She shivered like she was having a spasm, and then shrugged the feeling off. She leaned back in her chair and called into the back of the stacks: "Hey *peo*ple, what the hell are you doing back there?"
Then F-Xander appeared, his face ashen, juggling the cell phone from one hand to another. "We have a bit of a problem," he sighed, letting his eyes drop to the ground and then back up again.
"Another one?" Buffy asked, shaking her head. Everyone gave her a fleeting glance and then looked to F-Xander for an explanation.
He gave it to them. "We think that more people have come back."
The room was silent. "Who?" Giles finally asked, his voice coming so abrupt that he sounded like an owl.
From the shelves behind F-Xander, F-Buffy appeared. F-Xander gave her a look and for a moment, they didn't look like they'd attack and rip each other's throats out. "Our kids," F-Buffy whispered in a soft voice, and her face feel completely, making her look completely vulnerable. Jonah came up behind her and placed his arm around her shoulders comfortingly, and she subbed her hand along his stomach for comfort and leaned heavily against him. F-Cordelia materialized like a ghost, and then all stood there. F-Xander gave a little shrug.
"We're not completely certain," he said before anyone could rush in with questions. "It's just that no one can find them and well...there's not much a chance that they've all been kidnapped...at least my kids & Buffy's daughter. So...most likely they're-"
"-Running around lost and scared in a dangerous town who's nightlife will *suck* the life right out of them," F-Faith finished up grimly.
The parents gave her an incredulous look. F-Faith just shrugged. "Your world's all nice and clean, guys, but mine's based in reality. I'm just stating the facts."
"Kids?" Buffy asked, her voice reaching new heights. She turned to Giles, then to F-Buffy and Jonah, then back to Giles. "Daughter?
F-Buffy opened her mouth to confirm the fact, but Giles interrupted. "Ah, uh, it might be best if you did not reply to that question."
"Why not?" F-Buffy asked. She reached up a hand and lazily pushed her loose hair back over her shoulder. She cocked her head slightly and gave Giles her full attention, and he realized that while she used to practice these moves so as to be more of an actress than a Slayer, it all came naturally now.
"Um, ah, if you know too much about your future you're liable to change it."
"What the hell," F-Faith grumbled, "it's sucks anyway." F-Willow glared at her. "Hey, I don't do sugar-coating, okay? I live in this reality."
"Which may or may not really be ours," Oz put in, looking at F-Faith. She looked back at him, not understanding. "Well, Giles has explained that there are many dimensions besides this one...maybe you guys come from a parallel dimension that's only somewhat like ours. Maybe this isn't time-travelling but dimensions-crossing."
"He has a point," Buffy pointed out, nodding.
"Oh, that's a bunch of bull," F-Cordelia said with a breezy wave of her hand. They turned to look at her, surprised. "What?"
"How do you know that this is the correct dimension?" F-Xander asked, walking closer to his wife. F-Cordelia's eyes met with his and she turned her head up to look him in the face.
"Well, duh, we've been in alternate dimensions before."
"Uh," Xander said from the table. F-Cordelia turned to look at him. "Nooo."
"*Ugh*, dork's dork, it hasn't happened to you *yet*," she said, exasperated, with large and overemotional rolling of the eyes. "If you haven't noticed, we've lived more of your life then you have-being from that place called the future and all-and we know things that haven't happened yet."
"But know they know it's happened and you've violated what Rupert just told you," Jonah pointed out in a nice, easy manner.
"Okay, am I surrounded by morons?!" F-Cordelia said, beginning to get agitated. "Hel*lo*, we've got to get it straight so that they," she jerked her head over to the table," don't send us back to a dimension instead of forward in time. And when the hell did you get on a first-name basis with Giles?"
Jonah was going to retort in a nice enough way, but F-Xander, in a moment of kindness, shook his head furiously. He'd seen F-Cordy get into big fights and absolutely hated calming her down-so of course he was doing this for his good, but he was saving Jonah from having a face full of scratches cause by long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
"Wait, if you guys don't tell them about your kids then how are you going to find them?" Faith asked, looking at Giles. Giles wished that everyone would stop looking at him because the writer was beginning to feel awful by having to be so repetitious.
"Yeah, how?" F-Cordelia worried, and then she latched onto F-Xander much in the same manner as F-Buffy had to Jonah. "I mean, they're out there, just like Faith said-"
"Hey, don't listen to me, I didn't mean to cause anyone unease," F-Faith soothed. F-Xander looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "So it's hard to break old habits, okay?"
"How are we going to find them?" F-Buffy asked, her voice getting smaller. "If anything happened to Elisabeth Sarah...I'd kill myself."
"Take a number; there's a line," F-Xander told her, and F-Buffy gave him an incredulous look.
"Jesus Christ, you jerk! Something bad like this is happening and you're still putting me down?!"
Xander shrugged, completely unsympathetic. "Hey, I have a system, okay? One part of the brain panics, and the other part of the brain constantly insults you."
Buffy smirked and stepped back from Jonah, crossing her arms. "And the other 3/16 just lay there and die, huh, Xander?"
"No. That part imagines me doing cruel and awful things to you that often end with your death, preferably a long, painful, and bloody one."
The smirk was wiped off Buffy's face and replaced with a grimace. "Sweet."
"But Faith has a point," Cordelia tried again. "We have to find them-and don't *anyone* try to contradict me." She glared at F-Xander, but her face soften when she saw the slightly hurt look on his face. "Sorry, it's just that...they're so young, and...we need to find them no matter what."
"Hey, you know," F-Faith said, standing up and placing her palms on the table top, leaning down upon her arms. "I'm bored, I'm from the future, and I'm the Slayer." She quickly clipped "the" while staring directly at Buffy, making it perfectly clear that she was *the* Slayer; not just *a* Slayer. "I volunteer to look. Besides, if I can kick some vampire ass, it just might lift my, ah-"
"Dampened spirits," F-Xander mumbled half-heartedly, knowing that F-Faith has paused just for him. She gave him a warm smile, the kind reserved only for him and a certain other man, and then it disappeared in another nanoscond.
"I'll go now," she announced, without waiting for anyone to say she could. She tensed her muscles like F-Willow and F-Oz had shown her, and jumped up on the table. The momentum and the push of her legs sent her flying over the space between the table and the double doors, so that she landed right in front of them. Whipping her hair over her right shoulder, she turned around and waved goodbye with four of her fingers, a stake already in hand. Then, with a little grin at seeing the slightly miffed expression on Buffy's face, she sashayed her way out of the library.
AND THIS IS WHERE I ABANDONED THIS STORY TWO YEARS AGO. OK?
The only person who really recognized this was Auntie Willow. She knew just how smart and gifted Annie was, and she would often argue with her Mom and Dad about where Annie should be placed in school or the ways Annie should be taught to communicate with others. In fact, Auntie Willow so cared about Annie that she had given her a little charm necklace, with something called a "rune" on it, and she wore it all the time underneath her clothes. Auntie Willow said it was enchanted and that it would bring her good luck and other stuff. She never let anyone else see it, and though she had given her brothers and Julie rune necklaces, they didn't *always* wear it like she did.
Since Annie could not speak and express her opinions, she liked to listen to the opinions of others. She was a very good listener, and sometimes Mom or Dad or Nicky or Julie or Josh would tell her things they'd never tell anyone else because she could never tell anyone. Woe to the them the day she learned sign language and learned to write. Sometimes her mind would wander while people talked to her, or talked around her. She learned to take everything in slowly and analyze it all, and so she knew a lot of things people usually missed because they were too busy flapping their mouth. The only thing about her muteness was that when she wanted something, she almost never got it because nobody understood what she was trying to communicate.
So as they walked down the halls, all entranced by Drusilla's spell, Annie's mind wandered. Sure, she was holding on to Elisabeth Sarah's hand and walking along without refusal, but that because when you were a shy and timid three year old that wasn't at all opinionated and self-righteous, or did not even know or care how to be like that, you usually just did want everyone else told you to do. But, while everyone else was just walking, Annie noted where they were walking.
There were no windows, Annie had noticed. Everywhere she had been there were windows. Windows were so you could escape from the house if need be, she had been told. Or something like that. There was no escaping from this house.
And they had been walking for quite a while. This was a big house. And there was no wallpaper anymore, the beige wallpaper with the little flowers that looked out of a story book. They had gone down stairs, not upstairs, and everything was turning gray and looking like a sidewalk, but a shiny, polished sidewalk with dirt on it. The floor did not have a rug.
Some more stairs. Her feet were tiny and she had to keep from tripping. Es helped her as much as she could, but there was not enough compassion squeezing in from the cover of Drusilla's spell. The stairs were short this time. Annie was almost certain there would be no more stairs and that there was a ground floor now. Yup, there were windows. Boy this place was old, it smelled old, it smelled funky like eggs that were old. Annie wondered if it was spring soon and if they were gonna clean like Mommy and Ms. Natalie did around then.
Wow, there were not only windows, but there were doors. And ooh, looky, a fireplace, and an old couch. And now they were going into a corridor...no! They were taking another flight of stairs and they were going down into a place that was dark but illuminated with a red glow in the far end. It reminded Annie of a dungeon and she was almost certain there was a dragon at the end and his fire was causing the red glow. She started crying, and Drusilla stopped the entourage.
Annie was wiping her nose with her free hand when Drusilla walked over to her. She bent at the knees and tilted her head sympathetically, her mouth forming a thin crescent and her wide black eyes looking like deep pools that Annie could get lost in. "Now what's the matter?" Drusilla asked, in her strange, childish voice.
Annie let out some more tears and then told her what was wrong. "I want to be with my Mommy and Daddy and I don't want to see the dragon. I want to go back to place with the windows, can I have some windows?"
Drusilla clucked her tongue. "Sunshine, Mommy doesn't care if you want to see her or not see the dragon. Daddy's given you all to me, and if you're good, we'll play games with cakes and tea and I'll let you hold Ms. Edith. Hmm?"
Annie sniffled and blinked her tears. Drusilla wiped them away with her long, bony fingers. "Now, now, no more tears or our appetites will be spoilt. Then everyone will be very sad." Annie nodded, and her sweaty hand slid out of Es'. "Chin up." Drusilla stood up and then picked her up in her arms. Annie did not like the way she held her at all. She wanted to be with her Mommy and did not believe a word she said. Her Daddy *cared*, but there was no way of telling Drusilla that. "And on we go."
Now Es was pretty bright and though she was not the oldest yet, since she'd be Nicky's age in a year, and she thought she was thinking seven already. This Drusilla, though, was something else. She knew deep down that she was a stranger and that it was bad to go with her, but for some reason she was following her and wanting to do everything that she said, and was kind of upset that Annie was being favored.
In front of her were the twins, who had that same jealous gleam in their eyes. Then there was Nicky. He was quivering, and she *knew* Nicky was trying to fight whatever was going on. He was a very brave kid, and Es thought that when she grew up and out of her all-boys-are-icky stage she might think he was kinda cute. Although now the thought disgusted her, she knew already that if they were in danger, Nicky'd get them out of it. Good thing to, if they were gonna see a dragon like the one Annie was crying about.
They were walking again, and Es suddenly wanted Annie's hand. She was getting frightened. It was cold down here and she could hear noises now, talking noises, and it was getting much darker. It was dusty and dirty and she could feel her allergies acting up. She scrunched up her nose and tried to hold back the impulse of sneezing by biting on her lip and pushing back her two upper front teeth with her two bottom front teeth. It worked, but her eyes welled up and she was afraid Drusilla would get angry at her if she started crying. So she put her head down and stared at her feet, not wanting to call attention to herself.
Julie looked at Josh and Josh looked at Julie. They were queasy, like they were going to be sick. Something strange was going on, but it hurt their eyes to look at each other too long. They turned their attention to Drusilla's back.
Drusilla always liked the little ones. They were so young and plump and their blood was always fresh and invigorating. Too bad that these little children would not be for her. Metaike had specifically told her they would be sacrificing the children to the one she called the Prince of Chaos. She had told all of them-her, Spike, Angelus-that if they fulfilled this prophecy, they could start time all over again so that the mortals would never gain control of the world, and the four of them would be bequeathed with the power over all of them, as they would be viewed as the Creators. Everybody was joyous, and everything would be joyous. They just needed the sacrifices...
Metaike had been very secretive on the sacrifices. She did not say why they were needed, just that they were needed. And although they were accessible in the year 2013, they needed to be brought into the past so that they could complete chaos. Ah, chaos! The word was music to her ears. Sweet music that would soon be played...
They had brought the mansion with them, the one she, Spike, and Angelus had used way back when they were going to destroy the world by means of Acathla. But that very night the Slayer had come to ruin their plans, and her Spikey had become as yellow-bellied as could be, teaming up with one who oozed with good intentions. But he had won her back, had become the old Spike just for her, and by the time Angelus came around again they were bound enough so that they could take another in, and everything was blood and peace.
The mansion was large. Right now they were in a basement, and what the simple child thought was a dragon was just the glow from the extra floor a few of their minions had carved out for them, for Metaike. It was dirt and earth and the small bathing pool had been set in and in there was the most delicious thing *ever*.
Even better than baby's blood.
Now the littlest one, Annie, was holding on to her neck and her face was buried in Dru's shoulder. Annie's neck was pressed up to Dru's chin, and she could hear the pulsating rhythm that her tiny little heart made as it pumped blood. She wanted to grab the child and snap her neck as she took it in her mouth, sucking all the life of her in mere seconds. It took every fiber of her being not to do that. After all, she did not want to get her Angelus mad.
She did not want to upset the plan.
Ah, they had arrived to the door to the lowest level, and the light that seeped through the cracks was the brightest of dark red. She could hear the children whimper, and it thrilled her into ecstasy. "And now for the fun," she laughed, pushing open the door with one hand.
The room the minions had dug was about the size of a ballroom. There were a series of doors on the far left wall, doors that led to various dirt rooms, sewer tunnels, and dirt corridors that snaked around the town. Well, none of them were certain about the corridors, because they had snaked around the Future Sunnydale, which was drastically different from the Sunnydale they were in now. How times change for the worst-for the humans-and the better for the demon population of Sunnydale.
After the Party, as Dru and Spike liked to call it, or "The Burning Time," as Angelus liked to call it, Sunnydale had fallen rightfully into the hands of the demons. Every evil being came to that spot like moths to a light, and once and for all they were allowed to take freely of the power that was the Hellmouth. Unfortunately, the Hellmouth was completely sealed, and there was no way to open it back up again. Luckily, the exotic power still shot out from it, accessible to all.
For feeding, the demons and vampires and other dreadful things made their way to the surrounding towns and brought back food to share with others, and sometimes even human playthings. There became a sort of hierarchy among them, and Angelus, Dru, and Spike ranked highly in the system when they frequented Sunnydale. But the town had rapidly become dull to them, and they had sought out new towns and new blood, but always coming back for the power the Hellmouth offered, and being well received by the dark community.
But now they would be the highest, and it would be their Sunnydale all over the Earth, and chaos would reign along with them...
She laughed throatily and stepped into the room, the children following. The door slammed behind them, and the children jumped and Julie began to cry. Her spell was broken, but so be it. They were here already.
The place was absolutely silent. Drusilla walked lightly into the middle of the ballroom, twirling happily along with the child. She felt excitement and anticipation bubble up inside of her, and she could almost see it bubbling out of her mouth and eyes and pores. Annie just tightened her hold on Dru and shoved her neck closer, and she was unable to contain it anymore. She vamped out from the heartbeat against her neck, and while Annie was oblivious, the rest of the children saw. Josh and Julie began to cry and grabbed on to each other, Es hugged herself, and Nicky's eyes turned into large, ice-blue pools.
"Monster," he whispered, his voice full of awe and terror. Then her remembered Aunt Willow and Uncle Oz, when the children had found out they were werewolves by accident, and that they could shift-shape at free will, and contort their face into all sorts of things. Then they had explained that while they were "monster," they were *good* monsters. They had gone on to tell them that there were some bad monsters out there, and some looked like *this*. At *this*, Auntie Willow or Uncle Oz would half-morph their face into something terrible, with a ridge in the middle of their face and yellow eyes instead of the silver of a werewolf and, and two long fangs instead of a mouthful. It was horrible.
It was Drusilla.
Dru grinned and flashed her fangs. "That's right, little boy. Want to play?"
Nicky's eyes widened. Annie had lifted her head up to look at Drusilla, and she was still and frightened. Nicky wanted nothing more than to grab her out of her arms, but he knew he couldn't. Instead, he stood in front of Julie and Josh and Es, and shook and wanted to pee in his pants because he knew he was trapped, and that Annie was probably as good as dead by the way Dru was leering at him.
Metaike; her name sounded so soft, so innocent. Once, on a whim, she had passed for a young human child and gone by the name of Kaity. How sweet the parents were, how peaceful-even in their death when she had ripped out their hearts and laid them so properly in their bed, as though they were going to sleep. Those two kind people should have known better than to take a mysterious child home from the streets.
Her real form was less appealing. Due to a nasty encounter with one of the first Slayers an uncountable eons ago, Her face had been scarred to the point where it could barely be called a face, and it did not heal with age. Her beautiful face had been burned away to a charred black mask, skin twisted and dragged to place where it should have never been. Her eyes were barely visible, and her nose was but two holes in her face. Her mouth was a fleshy black scar that split open when she felt the need to talk. Her eyes were a horrible milky white and it looked like she could not see, although her sight was much better than a mortal and most of the Lesser Beings. She smelled permanently of smoke and in the short time she had been in this mansion, it now permeated her scent as though she had marked it. Perhaps she had; Lower Beings were extremely territorial and uncomfortable in any kind of surrounding unless they made it theirs.
The rest of her body was that of a nymph. Full, perky breasts, languid curves in all the right places, legs that seemed to go on forever. Unfortunately, since the body was such a contrast from the head, Metaike often hid her body with the long, Grecian robes she felt comfortable in. As she was doing now, as she lay on her side on the bed, glaring up at the almost-full moon.
"I shun you, Diana," Metaike growled, spitting out the word of a Higher Being as though it were a curse. "I shun you and your kith. But for I could walk under the sun, for I would rather be in the grace of Apollo than in yours."
Saying those words made her feel better, as they did every night. Metaike had a personal grudge against Diana, just like she did with all the Higher Beings, especially the Goddesses. She was once one of them, she was once High before she was cast into the Lower Regions because of her meddling with Time. It was not her place in the Higher Order, but she gone and learned how to control Time regardless of what Aradia, the Highest of All, had told her.
Well, now it was her job with the Lower Beings. *She* was a Lower Being, and for such a long time she could barely remember what it was like to be High. She wondered if she really had liked it better. Surely, if she had been High, she wouldn't have been offered this wonderful task.
If she had been High, she wouldn't have a need to take it.
"Cursing the Gods, my beautiful Metaike?"
At the sound of the voice behind her, Metaike smiled. She knew it looked grotesque on such a face, but she could not help it. "Angelus," she said without turning around, in a soft, breathless voice too beautiful for her face. "Has Drusilla arrived yet?"
"Why don't you ask Spike? He's her pet, after all. You know I'm yours and yours only. I only know when *you* come and go."
"Which is never," Metaike growled, looking back up at the moon. It seemed to smirk at her. "I'm confined here because I can't walk in Apollo's light and Diana scorns me as much as I do her." Bitterness never fades with age, it just grows stronger; Metaike could move mountains with her bitterness.
She felt a cold hand on her bare shoulder. It touched the tiny line where the carnage of her face ended and her silken skin began once more. It was like an eternal mask that she could never take off, a mask that went right into her skin. "Why do you feel the need to be outside or above when you can spend your nights with me?"
"Because I don't deserve you," Metaike said truthfully, turning around. Her eyes looked down at the floor and she felt the smooth skin of Angelus' taut neck pass her wrinkled, charred skin. A shiver ran through her body. "I don't deserve you."
"Nonsense," Angelus. "You know I only obsess something worth obsessing." Metaike laughed. "It's the truth, Metaike, I swear."
"And I should believe you," Metaike said, looking up to meet Angelus' eyes. They were as cold as steel, and that sent another shiver down her spine. She both hated and enjoyed how he reduced her to nothing by just being his gorgeous self.
Angelus felt her lust and slowly took hold on her chin and tilted it up until their lips were bunch inches apart, and he could feel her hot breath against his mouth. Metaike closed her eyes and their lips met, but Angelus kept his eyes open, staring into her face. He resisted the urge to smile at the fact she gave herself to easily to him. He hungrily worked his tongue into her mouth, and Metaike met it and they began to wrestle.
They pulled away when Metaike needed to breath. She smiled as him, and Angelus tried to swallow the fact that she looked like one of his mortal nightmares come true. "I need to know if Drusilla is back."
"Then come into the hall." He pulled away from her and offered his hand. Metaike smiled shyly and slid her hand into his. Together they walked out into the ballroom-size main room, hopefully to see if Drusilla had come back with the children.
Sure enough, they were there. Metaike wanted to laugh because things were beginning to fall into place. She tightened her grip on Angelus' hand and stared at the terrified little children. The baby that Dru held in her arms was squirming and whining in a high-pitched noise that was quickly becoming annoying.
Slowly, the children noticed that someone knew had entered the room. They turned tear-streaked faces towards Metaike and she exactly what their reaction would be.
Or so she though she did. She was taken aback by the young girl's rude comment.
"What the heck happened to your face?" the little girl asked with disgust, for the moment forgetting that she was terrified.
Metaike felt her heartbeat rise as she grew angry at the child's careless words. She growled and lurched forward to rip the child's throat out, but she felt Angelus restrain her. She did not want to fight him. "Metaike, don't harm the sacrifices. You told us that yourself."
{That was before the little bitch picked on my face} Metaike said, thinking about the extremely sensitive topic. "You're correct," she said, growling through her perfect set of dazzling white teeth. "But I only said that so one of you wouldn't get carried around and kill them prematurely. Torturing is still very open to those who want to do it the children."
She heard one of them gasp-it was the taller girl with hair as long as Metaike's. "Scared, little girl?" Metaike asked, and the tall girl nodded and sobbed loudly. "You should be."
"Must we lock them up quickly," Drusilla asked, her voice hushed in respect for Metaike, "or can I play with them?" At the end of the sentence, her mouth curved into her twisted, insane smile. Metaike joined in.
"Certainly, Drusilla. Play with them all you want. And if you want, let Spike join in-if you can find him. He seems to be playing hide-and-seek among the tunnels today." She looked at Angelus and they both shared the same idea-going back to Metaike's bedroom. As they turned around, Metaike stopped and looked over her shoulder. "And harm the young one," she said, pointing at the young girl. "Julie. Preferably...her face."
She turned around, and she did not see Josh and Nicky crowd in front of Julie, who was tight-lipped but frightened. Drusilla looked down at them and grabbed Annie's both wrists and she began to pound on her neck. This was going to be fun.
He leaned against the curved dirt wall of a tunnel, letting his leather-covered shoulder dig into the soft earth. He brought the lighter up to the tip of his cigarette and watched the butt ignite and slowly glow a bright orange. He flicked the lighter off and shoved it into his jeans pocket. He then cupped a hand around the cigarette and then took a long drag, wishing that his lungs still had that old reflex to breath instead of him having to concentrate on it.
He was in the tunnels underneath the imitation second basement of the mansion. He felt safe down here, away from everything and anything that he was pretending to be. As he took another drag of the cigarette, he closed his eyes and savored the moment. After that smoke, he ran a hand over his white-blond hair and looked down the left of the tunnel, to where the entrance was.
He could sense no one coming for him, and the only other vampires were the lowlings that they'd found as soon as they had arrived and set up shop. There were also Angelus and Drusilla several feet above him, and he could feel the oldness of them seeping into his bones, although he knew he gave them the same feeling. Then there was Metaike, an odd hole. There was no feeling of evil from her, just a smothered tingling at the back of your mind that called for attention but never received it.
Spike gave a sharp laugh and then turned on his heel to face the right. They weren't bothered by his disappearance, since it was expected. He had only been with them for a month, and during the last two weeks he had been extremely reclusive. It was expected of him, and he had enough to time to do what he had to do.
He'd also better hurry up and get out of here while he had the chance. Drusilla had found the children; upstairs, ironically. Angelus was planning to send out ten more to the library to pick up the adults, since Drusilla had messed up her incantation over the blood and ridded and sent the previously dispatched set of vampires back to the future. They'd found the remains of the van at the end of the street, and Angelus had been so upset that he'd hit Dru. Spike was impassive, and Angelus had noted to this; for a moment there, Spike had worried that Angelus had been on to him. Luckily, Angelus had been too busy calling back the vampire that he had ordered to go and kidnap his past self.
Now Angelus was just basking in the fact that he had gotten the children, but Spike knew that it would not be much time to spare. The children were an important part of the ritual, but the adults had to come first. Tonight, Angelus planned to capture the most two most important players in the rite-Buffy and F-Buffy.
Spike looked at his liquid watch. He had enough time before Angelus would be done pleasing Dru, wooing Metaike, and having his fun torturing the children. Spike winced. He had to get news to the adults. He needed to tell Xander and Cordelia what was happening the children, although he would try as much as he could to keep Drusilla and Angelus off of them.
He ought to leave now. Spike bit down on the end of the cigarette between his lips, and moved it in a carefree up-and-down movement as he walked down the tunnel. He whistled softly, his voice echoing his head. {I'm going to give them a scare} Spike chuckled silently, smilingly. {Now, if the exit still is connected to the crack in the basement of Sunnydale High, I am going to be just fine...}
There were soft murmurs coming from the back of the stacks, and everyone that was not including in that private conversation were sitting at the table, studying their insignificant object of choice. Finally F-Willow stood up.
"I'm going to the girl's locker room?" she asked timidly, standing by F-Oz. Everyone turned their faces up to her. "I'm a little tired of looking like a Victoria's Secret Angel. I need shorts or pants. So I thought I'd don some gym clothes and get in the Razorback spirit." She spread out her hands. "Does anybody know where the gym is?"
"I'll show you," F-Oz murmured, looking up. F-Willow grinned at him and they linked hands. "Can I dress you, too?" he whispered in her ear as they neared the swinging doors. F-Willow giggled and shrugged flirtatiously as they passed through and began their walk down the hallway.
"They're so...cute," F-Faith said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Blecch." She shivered like she was having a spasm, and then shrugged the feeling off. She leaned back in her chair and called into the back of the stacks: "Hey *peo*ple, what the hell are you doing back there?"
Then F-Xander appeared, his face ashen, juggling the cell phone from one hand to another. "We have a bit of a problem," he sighed, letting his eyes drop to the ground and then back up again.
"Another one?" Buffy asked, shaking her head. Everyone gave her a fleeting glance and then looked to F-Xander for an explanation.
He gave it to them. "We think that more people have come back."
The room was silent. "Who?" Giles finally asked, his voice coming so abrupt that he sounded like an owl.
From the shelves behind F-Xander, F-Buffy appeared. F-Xander gave her a look and for a moment, they didn't look like they'd attack and rip each other's throats out. "Our kids," F-Buffy whispered in a soft voice, and her face feel completely, making her look completely vulnerable. Jonah came up behind her and placed his arm around her shoulders comfortingly, and she subbed her hand along his stomach for comfort and leaned heavily against him. F-Cordelia materialized like a ghost, and then all stood there. F-Xander gave a little shrug.
"We're not completely certain," he said before anyone could rush in with questions. "It's just that no one can find them and well...there's not much a chance that they've all been kidnapped...at least my kids & Buffy's daughter. So...most likely they're-"
"-Running around lost and scared in a dangerous town who's nightlife will *suck* the life right out of them," F-Faith finished up grimly.
The parents gave her an incredulous look. F-Faith just shrugged. "Your world's all nice and clean, guys, but mine's based in reality. I'm just stating the facts."
"Kids?" Buffy asked, her voice reaching new heights. She turned to Giles, then to F-Buffy and Jonah, then back to Giles. "Daughter?
F-Buffy opened her mouth to confirm the fact, but Giles interrupted. "Ah, uh, it might be best if you did not reply to that question."
"Why not?" F-Buffy asked. She reached up a hand and lazily pushed her loose hair back over her shoulder. She cocked her head slightly and gave Giles her full attention, and he realized that while she used to practice these moves so as to be more of an actress than a Slayer, it all came naturally now.
"Um, ah, if you know too much about your future you're liable to change it."
"What the hell," F-Faith grumbled, "it's sucks anyway." F-Willow glared at her. "Hey, I don't do sugar-coating, okay? I live in this reality."
"Which may or may not really be ours," Oz put in, looking at F-Faith. She looked back at him, not understanding. "Well, Giles has explained that there are many dimensions besides this one...maybe you guys come from a parallel dimension that's only somewhat like ours. Maybe this isn't time-travelling but dimensions-crossing."
"He has a point," Buffy pointed out, nodding.
"Oh, that's a bunch of bull," F-Cordelia said with a breezy wave of her hand. They turned to look at her, surprised. "What?"
"How do you know that this is the correct dimension?" F-Xander asked, walking closer to his wife. F-Cordelia's eyes met with his and she turned her head up to look him in the face.
"Well, duh, we've been in alternate dimensions before."
"Uh," Xander said from the table. F-Cordelia turned to look at him. "Nooo."
"*Ugh*, dork's dork, it hasn't happened to you *yet*," she said, exasperated, with large and overemotional rolling of the eyes. "If you haven't noticed, we've lived more of your life then you have-being from that place called the future and all-and we know things that haven't happened yet."
"But know they know it's happened and you've violated what Rupert just told you," Jonah pointed out in a nice, easy manner.
"Okay, am I surrounded by morons?!" F-Cordelia said, beginning to get agitated. "Hel*lo*, we've got to get it straight so that they," she jerked her head over to the table," don't send us back to a dimension instead of forward in time. And when the hell did you get on a first-name basis with Giles?"
Jonah was going to retort in a nice enough way, but F-Xander, in a moment of kindness, shook his head furiously. He'd seen F-Cordy get into big fights and absolutely hated calming her down-so of course he was doing this for his good, but he was saving Jonah from having a face full of scratches cause by long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
"Wait, if you guys don't tell them about your kids then how are you going to find them?" Faith asked, looking at Giles. Giles wished that everyone would stop looking at him because the writer was beginning to feel awful by having to be so repetitious.
"Yeah, how?" F-Cordelia worried, and then she latched onto F-Xander much in the same manner as F-Buffy had to Jonah. "I mean, they're out there, just like Faith said-"
"Hey, don't listen to me, I didn't mean to cause anyone unease," F-Faith soothed. F-Xander looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "So it's hard to break old habits, okay?"
"How are we going to find them?" F-Buffy asked, her voice getting smaller. "If anything happened to Elisabeth Sarah...I'd kill myself."
"Take a number; there's a line," F-Xander told her, and F-Buffy gave him an incredulous look.
"Jesus Christ, you jerk! Something bad like this is happening and you're still putting me down?!"
Xander shrugged, completely unsympathetic. "Hey, I have a system, okay? One part of the brain panics, and the other part of the brain constantly insults you."
Buffy smirked and stepped back from Jonah, crossing her arms. "And the other 3/16 just lay there and die, huh, Xander?"
"No. That part imagines me doing cruel and awful things to you that often end with your death, preferably a long, painful, and bloody one."
The smirk was wiped off Buffy's face and replaced with a grimace. "Sweet."
"But Faith has a point," Cordelia tried again. "We have to find them-and don't *anyone* try to contradict me." She glared at F-Xander, but her face soften when she saw the slightly hurt look on his face. "Sorry, it's just that...they're so young, and...we need to find them no matter what."
"Hey, you know," F-Faith said, standing up and placing her palms on the table top, leaning down upon her arms. "I'm bored, I'm from the future, and I'm the Slayer." She quickly clipped "the" while staring directly at Buffy, making it perfectly clear that she was *the* Slayer; not just *a* Slayer. "I volunteer to look. Besides, if I can kick some vampire ass, it just might lift my, ah-"
"Dampened spirits," F-Xander mumbled half-heartedly, knowing that F-Faith has paused just for him. She gave him a warm smile, the kind reserved only for him and a certain other man, and then it disappeared in another nanoscond.
"I'll go now," she announced, without waiting for anyone to say she could. She tensed her muscles like F-Willow and F-Oz had shown her, and jumped up on the table. The momentum and the push of her legs sent her flying over the space between the table and the double doors, so that she landed right in front of them. Whipping her hair over her right shoulder, she turned around and waved goodbye with four of her fingers, a stake already in hand. Then, with a little grin at seeing the slightly miffed expression on Buffy's face, she sashayed her way out of the library.
AND THIS IS WHERE I ABANDONED THIS STORY TWO YEARS AGO. OK?