TITLE: THE TRIP

TITLE: THE PRIZE 2

AUTHOR: STEPHEN HOWE

E-MAIL: sh01@bigpond.com.au

FEEDBACK: Sure.

DISTRIBUTION: Ask and ye shall receive!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Joss! He created everything! Rated R for violence and adult themes. Set in season 6.B/X pairing. Giles is Buffy's watcher who now works for the Council once more. Anya gave her life to save Buffy in the fight against Glory. Dawn is still here and Willow is with Tara. SUMMER'S RESIDENCE. Giles sits down and opens one of his books of demonology. " Now I have found a mention of Klamath Falls in Henderson's book of American Folk lore. It appears there was once a tribe of Native American Indians that believed their Shaman could cure all ills by simply taking them onto himself and passing it on to a beast of the woods. Now all this comes from surviving tribes from around the area as the Shamash peoples, as they were known, vanished shortly after white settlers came into the area." Willow snorts. " So we did it to another race of helpless human beings." Giles looks at her." Hardly helpless I would have thought." He reads a part of the legend. " And when the tribe was threatened a dark one was called forth to vanquish their enemies." Buffy looks non-plussed at him. "And the $64,000.00 question is? If they were so tough how come Xander thinks their being held as slaves and why did the book say these Shamrock people became extinct?" " Yes that is the question I would like to have answered as well." Giles asks." That is if it isn't just some excuse for Xander to get Buffy to finish his trip with him." THE TOWN OF TENTON NEAR KLAMATH FALLS Giles pulls up in his BMW and Buffy wakes up from her 'nap'. " Are we here all ready?" She looks at the sky and sees the sun beginning to set. " Well we can let Spike out of the trunk soon." A muffled. " 'Bout bloody time too you wankers!" Emanates from said trunk followed by a thump and a curse. " Next time rent a damn Caddy Will Ya! At least it would have more room than this Euro POS!" Buffy steps out and stretches then Willow and Giles get out." Jeez I've seen bigger towns on the Universal back lot tour!" Willow exclaims. " And this is where Xander said this Shamash tribe was being held?" Giles looks up one way and then the other. " I would have thought he would have at least been here to greet us?" The town's people walked around them as if they didn't exist and when Giles asked where the nearest hotel was you'd have thought he tried to attack the man. Buffy shakes her head. " Welcome to small town USA the un friendliest place on earth." The sun finished setting and Spike pounded on the trunk door. " Okay people I know that great yellow ball of death you people refer to as the sun has gone so how ABOUT LETTING ME OUT OF THIS FREAKING TIN OVEN ON WHEELS!" Giles pops the trunk and Spike jumps out and shrugs into his duster. " So where is the little wanker then?" Buffy grabs him by the shirtfront and begins to crush his voice box. " Now we did you a favor getting you out of Sunnydale before that undead lynch mob dusted your ass. You were brought along as back up so back up and shut the ... Hell up!" " All right sweet cheeks no need for violence! So is he hiding or what?" Giles points to the hotel Xander told him about. " I'll go over and book us in while you three mingle and find out what you can." Giles is on his way to the hotel when he sees a museum of local interests." Mmm Must check that out when I'm done." He nods to the proprietor as he passes and notices a large bruise on his face. When he arrives at the hotel a large man that winced every time he twisted his body greets him. " Hi can I help you?" Giles nods and tells him." I'd like two rooms with two beds in each please." " Yes sir I can let you have the corner rooms over looking Main Street." He turns and gets the keys then turns the check in book towards Giles. " Now if you could just sign in." Giles picks up the pen and sees Xander's name on the previous days sheet. " I was just wondering if Mr. Harris was in his room?" The clerk looks scared. " Uh... Harris you say?" He looks around the room as two men glance over at him." No sir I don't recollect any Mr. Harris staying here." He turns the book around then replaces the keys. " Come to think of it I believe we're totally booked out tonight sir... Ahh.. A convention's in town you know how rowdy they get." " But you had all ready given me the keys!" Giles is ready to demand to see his supervisor when one of the men stands up and leans against the desk." This man causing you any trouble Mr. Johnson?" The clerk backs off, his eyes widening. " No sir Sheriff. It was just a misunderstanding about room availability." Giles is about to complain when the Sheriff rests his hand on his gun and shakes his head. " Best you hop in that fancy car and move along to the next town Mister." Giles narrows his eyes in anger then leaves. As he does he sees the sheriff rip the previous days sheet from the book and throw it in the bin. Giles makes his way back to the car but pauses to have a look in the museum." Hello! Anyone here?" He enters and makes his way to the exhibition of local folklore. He's reading about the local Indian tribes when he sees an old safe with its door blasted open in the corner. As he gets closer he over hears the curator tell some one. " Yes Frank I know I said it would be safe here but it wasn't okay! So freaking sue me!" there is a space where the man must have been listening to the guy on the other end then he blows up. " Listen you horses ass I told you the guy knew more than he let on! But oh no you had to get trigger-happy didn't ya! And now we'll never know what he did with the stone will we!" Giles backs into something and a vase smashes to the ground as he leaves. He races over to the car in a blind panic and gets in just as the others arrive. Buffy notices he's as white as a ghost as she gets in. " Giles you look like immigration just yanked your green card what happened?" He yells at the others. " Get in where going to get some petrol then drive like mad to the next town!" He starts the car as Spike just manages to close the door and he races off to the garage. He jumps out of the car and the service attendant walks up to fill it up." Ahh fill it up please." Buffy is shaking her head muttering about crazy Englishmen when she sees a flash of red from under a tarp. She gets out and makes her way to the shed and is followed by Spike. Buffy looks around and tells him. " Jeez my spider sense is going into overdrive here!" Spike replies. " Yeah something just doesn't feel right." He stops and sniffs the air. " Blood.. Fresh blood! No more than a day old and lots of it." They both sneak into the shed and she lifts up the tarp and Spike whistles." Wow! This looks out of place here. What is it?" Buffy slumps against the wall. " It's a 2001 Dodge Viper in my favorite color and the tags should read BX4EVR." Spike draws the tarp even further back to reveal the number plates then he vamps out. " The tags are right and I found that blood." She looks over to Spike and sees three small holes in the windshield and the driver's side seat soaked in blood. Spike leans in and swipes up some blood with a finger and sucks on it. " AB- Is that..." He sees Buffy nod and Spike growls fleeing the scene. END OF PART 2