Well here is the next chapter of Leaves of
Grass. Sorry for those who were waiting for the next chapter but a multitude of
things got in the way in the finishing of this chapter. Since my last posting I
have adopted another story from another author and will continue the
series for him since as well as co-authored a new story with another
author
All parts away for the progress of souls,
All religion, all solid things, arts, goverenments-all that was or is
apparent upon this globe, falls into niches and
corners before the procession of souls along the grand roads of
the universe.
W.W 1856
Xander wakes up in a dimly lit room. He knows he is lying down as he stares up at the rough ceiling. Looking down on himself he sees he is wearing the dark brown robes a monk would wear.
"Franciscan monks to be exact." A gentle voice to his right says.
Xander gets up looking around the room. A monk's quarters he thinks to himself. As soon as the thought came to him Xander thinks how in the world would he know what monk's quarters looked like?
"You wouldn't. But lucky for you I do." Xander turns to face the source of the voice. A man dressed like him with the brown robes. How did I get here? Xander thinks seeing that there are no doors or windows to the room.
"Now that question can be taken so many ways. How did you get here as in the planet? Well I would say you were born. Are you talking in a philosophical sense? Then I would ask you are any of us really here?"
Xander glares at the man in front of him. He is just as infuriating as Methos Xander thinks.
"I would say that Methos could be a bit more infuriating than me, but then again I hope he can. It would be terrible to know that I am as infuriating as Methos."
"Would you stop that!" Xander talks for the first time. Apparently he didn't need to talk but having a not so internal monologue was really starting to creep him out.
"The whole reading minds part? Or the talking all together." He closes his mouth and Xander can still hear his voice in his head. "Or if you prefer we can talk like this." His mouth remains closed.
"The mind reading part." Xander answers. "So I'll ask again. Where are we? What is this place exactly?"
"This is a mental construct that you created." The man says to him.
"How? I've never seen any of this before." Xander says curiously.
"Well you may have created it but when I arrived here there was nothing. Guessing that you wouldn't protest I filled in the blanks." Motioning to the room he says, "This is the result. Not much but quite homey if I remember correctly."
"You arrived here and you made all of this?" The man nods, "And who exactly are you?" Xander asks him
"I am Darius."
"Darius?" Xander asks. "Okay Darius why did you bring me here?"
"Don't you remember what I told you? This is your mind." Darius says to him.
"But you made it look like this." Xander says to him.
"Well I didn't want you waking up floating in the middle of nowhere." Darius answers.
"I guess that is a good thing at least." Xander says. "Well what do I now that I'm here?"
"What do you want to do?" Darius asks him.
"I want you to stop answering my questions with more questions for one thing." Xander pauses to see if his companion is going to say anything. "Second I would like to know why you are here if this is a construct of my mind."
"I am Darius." Darius says simply.
"We have established that but why are you here? I've never seen or met you before this…this…moment."
"But what you don't understand is that this moment doesn't exist."
"I don't understand. If this moment doesn't exist then why am I here?"
"Methos thought that I should meet you and so here I am. But don't worry about that now. When you wake up this place and this conversation will only exist in that place between sleep and consciousness, where dreams begin to fade away into nothingness." Darius says.
"So Methos told you, a guy who is able to change my mental construct, to meet me in this place that doesn't exist?"
"Yes." Darius says to Xander as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Why? What purpose could that possibly serve?" Xander's voice echoes in the construct.
Darius smiles a mysterious smile and says, "Methos has been sending me candidates for years. But I must say that you show the most potential out of all of them." Darius looks Xander up and down. "You could very well be the one."
"The one what? What am I a candidate for?" Xander asks confused by the cryptic answers he is receiving from the monk.
"Your destiny of course." The walls around them begin to shimmer as they start to fade and turn to black. Darius walks over to a large candle that he never realized was there. "Our time here grows short Xander. It was nice meeting you."
As the room fades closer and closer to darkness Xander says, "Will I see you again?"
"Perhaps, but not anytime soon." Darius' voice begins to fade as well. The only thing that remains is the steady glow of the candle, the rest is darkness.
"Why?" Xander yells into the darkness.
From the darkness a whisper reaches him and it tells him, "Because I'm already dead."
…
Xander's eyes open to the sight of a dimly lit room. He is lying in a bed and can sense someone near by. Methos' voice greets him. "Good you're finally awake."
Sitting up gingerly he sees that Adam had setup a chessboard at his bedside and is studying it intently. He turns to Xander and asks him, "How do you feel?"
"Like a truck hit me." It was the truth. He hadn't felt this much pain since he had woken up from his first death. Looking out of the window and realizing that it was dark outside he asks, "What time is it?"
"Close to midnight."
"Midnight!" Xander sits up quickly but groans as his body rebels at the sudden movement. "I should be out patrolling!"
"What you should be doing is sitting back and letting your body heal itself." Adam says turning back to the board. "Spinal and neck injuries are the ones that take the longest to heal."
"Spinal and neck? What are you talking about? The last thing that I remember sparring with you and then something happened and I blacked out."
"So you don't remember anything about the fight?" Adam asks him. Xander shakes his head no. "I thought as much. I broke you neck and severed you spinal cord in two places. You died instantly."
"I remember you telling me that you weren't going to hold back…"Xander says concentrating trying to coax the memory from his mind, "But every thing after that is just a blur. I…I think…no. That's all that's there. What happened?"
"I had tried to release some of your potential but it sort of backfired. Your body couldn't sustain the amount of power you were using and you drained yourself. Before I realized it I had killed you. It shouldn't have gotten that far. I'm sorry."
"Hey don't worry about it. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger right?" Xander chuckles. He realizes that the other members of their training party were missing. "Where are the women?"
"Since you were unconscious they went on patrol. Cassandra and I stayed back to watch you in case you woke up, ."
"How did Faith take my dying at your hands?" Xander asks. "She can be a bit over protective sometimes."
Adam chuckles and says, "She beat me to death after tackling me to the ground. If the head trauma didn't kill me it would have been the broken neck. You better hold onto that one Xander, otherwise I'd hate to see you have her as an enemy."
"I plan on doing just that." Xander says with a smile. Turning he says more seriously, "Adam?"
Looking from the board Adam answers, "Yes?"
"Have you ever loved a mortal? I mean right now you what you and Cassandra is great but…"
"What you have with Faith is limited?" Adam answers.
Xander nods his head. Adam tells him. "Love is an emotion that is not restricted by time or age. It is something that will come equally from a mortal or an immortal. The only difference is that the time you have with a mortal becomes all the more precious. I had loved a woman who was dying of cancer, rather than focusing on her death I made the most of our lives together."
"But how can I do that when she is a Slayer? I mean she was never expected to live past her twenty first birthday!"
"But unlike my situation you can do something about it, you can help her fight, you can help her with her destiny. I couldn't do anything other than watch the cancer ravage her body. You have the ability to make her live longer and if it's only for just a day cherish that one day that you have gained."
Seeing the logic behind the reasoning Xander nods his head and lies down and closes his eyes. "Xander?" Adam's voice calls him.
"Yeah?"
"You were talking in your sleep. Were you dreaming?"
Xander thinks back. There was something but he couldn't make any of it out. It was like he was chasing something just around the corner every time he had thought that he had caught up it turns around the next corner. "I think so. But I can't remember what it was about. Why?"
"Just wondering." Adam replies.
"What's with the chessboard?" Xander asks him.
"Just something that I've done in the past to pass the time. I setup the board against an opponent that isn't there and I play him. I'm black and he's white. Right now it's white's turn."
"Mind if I make his move for you?" Xander asks.
"Go right ahead." Adam says gesturing to the board.
"Knight takes bishop, mate in four." Xander says before falling back down onto the bed to sleep.
Adam moves the piece and contemplates his next move. Looking at the board and then Xander who is asleep on the bed Adam says, "Mate in four? Are you serious Darius? After all this time have we finally found what we've waited so long for?" Xander's breathing is even and steady. His peaceful and calm exterior belies the power that lies within him. It also belies his destiny, which if everything plays out the way it has been foreseen, will come to pass very soon.
…
Buffy and Faith have been patrolling for most of the night and had made a very good showing for it. Between the two of them they had taken out twelve vampires and neither of them had so much as a scratch to show for it. Buffy watched as Faith ruthlessly laid into the vampires that they came up against. She hadn't seen the other Slayer fight like this since the first time Faith had come into town.
Buffy is facing off with a vampire of her own and was able to quickly dust it before it became anymore of a threat. Hearing the sounds of a continuing fight her attention turns to Faith who is facing off with a vampire as well. Only the difference here was that Faith was only blocking, not taking any offensive at all. Buffy is about to help her when Faith looks over to her and nods her head no.
Confused Buffy holds off her attack and watches as Faith suddenly grabs the vampire's jab with her left hand and with her right hand strikes the vampire's arm just above the elbow. A loud crack can be heard as the vampire's arm breaks at the joint and hangs loosely at his side. Faith's foot snaps out and hits the vampire just below his left kneecap and breaks his leg. The vampire screams out in pain as he falls to the side. Faith brings her foot up and down hard on the vampire's remaining foot breaking the arch.
Faith takes the vampire's remaining arm and stretches it out to its complete length. Still holding onto it wrist Faith puts her foot into the shoulder of the vampire and yanks hard. Another crack and crunch is heard as bone breaks and cartilage is torn. Faith then takes a stake out and stakes the vampire in the heart. The look on the vampire's face is one of thanks as he is put out of his misery.
"You ok Faith?" Buffy asks the other Slayer who is now resting up against a wall, her breathing a little labored after the fight.
"I'm five by five. I just have a little frustration to work off you know?"
"You want to talk about it?"
"Honestly? No. But I have a feeling that you're not going to let it go until I do." Faith says sighing.
"Well, what is it that has your more aggressive side roaming out and about unchecked?" Buffy asks. "And don't tell me it was what happened in the training room today. We both know that Xander is going to be okay and Adam had apologized before already. So what is it that is really bothering you?"
"I'll give you three guesses." Faith says sarcastically.
"Does it rhyme with Xander?" Buffy says.
Grinning Faith answers, "Got it in one." Faith switches to her best Scarlet O'Hara impression, "Now how did you figure out what was botherin' lil' ol' me?"
"I've been in the same boat. I remember when I reached a point in my relationship with Angel where I realized that he would outlive me. That I would grow old while he looked the way he did for the rest of my life." Buffy pauses a moment before continuing, "Then I realized it Angel would probably never get to see me live to be that old. I wasn't even supposed to live past my eighteenth birthday! So I figure that you have found Xander but there is a catch. He's immortal you're a Slayer. He'll live forever while you'll die. Stop me if I'm wrong here."
"Keep going, when you finish I'll tell you how close you are." Faith says.
"I think that sometime in the middle of the night when you should be sleeping you wake up and you think about him. You think about what you could possibly have and what the future will hold for you and then you close your eyes and the tears come. Tears for the things that you never could have and never will share. Just because of who you are and who he is."
"Jesus B. you're hitting the nail pretty close to the head you know?"
"I'm not finished yet. I'd also bet that you think of Xander and you worry. You worry for his safety regardless of his skills or training. You worry the person you are will have an effect on his life and effect that can be deadly. You worry that maybe once you won't be able to protect him, to shield him from the harm that we attract naturally. You worry that one day one mistake you make will cost him his life."
"Damn." Faith says as she slides down the wall until she is sitting with her back against it. She leans her head forward and then tilts her head back and lightly bangs the back of her head against the wall. "Damn, damn, damn!"
Buffy walks over to Faith and sits herself down next to her and waits for the other girl to begin talking. In the lights coming from the street lamps she can make out streaks of tears on the other girl's face. Faith chuckles and tilts her head to face the blond Slayer. "Out of all the people in the world we probably have the most fucked up lives."
"'How do you figure?" Buffy asks.
"We are able to get our lives to the point where we think nothing can go possibly go wrong. Then something happens that makes us realize how fragile the balance we've created really is."
"You mean Xander dying this afternoon?"
"Yeah. I mean I have a guy who can't die and said that he would never leave me. You know?" Faith leans her head against the wall again. "But he's part of this game where he has to fight people to the death."
"I thought that you knew all this already though." Buffy says trying to sooth her.
"I did. But I really didn't really think though that one day he would go up against someone better than him, someone that would kill him. I had accepted the fact that he is going to out live me. It actually made me happy that someone, far from now would be able to look back and say that Faith lived her life and that she lived it by her rules. You know? Someone like Xander who would remember the truth making sure that I didn't live on in some watcher diary as the wayward Slayer."
"But?"
"But I never even thought of the possibility that I might outlive him."
"So when Adam beat him today the whole 'there can be only one' thing really hit home?" Buffy asks.
"Yeah. I'm the Slayer right? I'm only supposed to live to see my twenty-first birthday right? Well that's just around the corner and I know the odds of me living past that date."
"But what about…"
Faith cuts her off. "But what about you B? I know you are not about to compare yourself to me. It didn't work before and it won't work now. We're not the same people B. You've had so many factors that I never had. Not that I'm bitter about it B. I was at one point but I got over it."
"That may be true Faith but if you get right down to it we have more in common than you think. We're both Slayers. Not many can say that. You're as close to a sister I can get."
"What about Red?" Faith asks. "You two are pretty close."
"Close, yes. I'd never hold a grudge against Willow. But she can't understand what it is to have the weight of the world thrown on your shoulders. She can try but it's never the same. You on the other hand know what it's like to be plucked out of your life and thrown into the fire."
"I guess you could say that." Faith says with a grin.
"I know I can say that. We're more alike than you think Faith. That's why I know you can make yourself a life with Xander. I made myself a life here with friends, family and a social life. I even tried out for the cheerleading team! I know you can make your life be what ever you want it to be."
"But how! I can't protect him from other immortals! I can't even feel them! How can we have a life together if I have to look over my shoulder every moment looking for the one immortal that might take his head! I just found him B! I don't want to loose him."
"Thinking like that you might as well have already lost him." Buffy says to her. "You're already giving up what you could have because of what you're afraid of what could happen."
"I'm not afraid of anything." Faith says with false bravado.
"Right and vampires don't exist."
"Don't start with me B." Faith says.
"Have you ever thought that maybe Xander doesn't need protection? That maybe what he needs is you to be there for him? If you haven't noticed Xander is able to take of himself now."
Sighing Faith answers, "I know but I'm a Slayer. You should know better than anybody that protective streak that comes with the territory."
Smiling Buffy says, "Tell me about it. For the longest time the second thing on my priority list to make sure that my friends survive to the next daybreak you know?"
"What happened to change your mind?"
"Xander's death. I couldn't save him and it killed me. I was supposed to make sure that they would all live you know? But Xander's death made me realize that all my friends do what they do by choice and that there is nothing I could possibly do to stop them from helping and there is nothing I could do to save them all. I should have learned that lesson with Kendra and I had another chance to learn that lesson with Mrs Calendar but it took Xander to make me realize the cold hard truth."
"So what do you do now?"
"I just sit back and enjoy the time we have together. What else can I do?"
"When did you become the big sister type?" Faith says wiping the last remnants of tears from her face.
Buffy smiles. "I dunno, I've always wished that I had a younger sister to share things with but I'm an only child so I never got to experience that."
"Well you'd make a damn good one B." Buffy smiles at that and pulls the other girl into a hug and they sit there for a moment. Pulling away Faith says, "Let's go B. I'm starved."
"Yeah sure and I guess it helps knowing that Xander should be awake by now huh?" Buffy says eliciting a blush from Faith.
"I told you B don't start with me."
…
Buffy and Faith arrive at Adam's house twenty minutes later. Seeing that the lights were on they walk right up to the door only to find Cassandra waiting for them with the door open.
"Xander is sleeping still but he woke up earlier and he's doing fine." She tells them once they are close enough. "I didn't want you guys to wake him by accident."
"You felt us approaching the house?" Buffy asks.
"Yes. I've already been able to attune myself to you Buffy. You're presence is much like Faith's." Cassandra says simply.
The trio walks to the kitchen and the two Slayers sit at the table. Cassandra goes to the kitchen to get some food for the two girls to eat. Returning to the table Cassandra places a plate with some finger foods onto the table. The two Slayers are able to pick out and eat what they want to eat.
Faith asks, "So how is Xander holding up?"
"He's fine, his body healed itself perfectly just a bit longer than we expected. He should be up and about by tomorrow."
"Good, that last murder is supposed to take place tomorrow night right?" Buffy says. "How are things going on the research front? Have Adam and Giles found anything else on the ritual?"
"Unfortunately no. Their research shows that the Awakening ritual can be performed at any time and the eyes and tongues aren't even mentioned in any of the texts."
"Then why go to all the trouble? Just to throw us off the trail? Seems a bit over kill don't you think?" Faith says.
"Exactly my point." Adam's voice draws their attention to the entrance to the kitchen. He can see Faith bristle slightly at the sound of his voice, "Faith I didn't mean to kill him. Our training got out of hand. But I want you to know that he is like a son to me and I wouldn't do anything to purposely hurt him."
"I know Adam. It just that it's hard to get the mental image of you snapping his neck or the way he looked after he hit the ground out of my head. I'm not holding any grudge against you."
"You're just a little uneasy around me, I understand." Adam says. Continuing on the previous line of reasoning Adam says, "Neither Giles, Cassandra or myself have been able to find any connection between the murders and the ritual other than the prophecy we found."
"We're running out of time here. Tomorrow night another girl is going to die if we don't stop whoever is doing this." Faith says.
"But we can't so anything if we don't know what we're up against. In order to stop what is going to happen we need a plan, to have a plan you need information. Information that we just don't have." Cassandra says.
"So what do we do? Patrol larger areas? We still can't cover the entire city even if we all patrol by ourselves." Buffy argues. "I don't want to have Riley or Xander for that fact to patrol by themselves." Faith nods her agreement.
"I understand what you are saying so I'll go out on patrol as well. I think that Giles and Cassandra along with Tara and Willow should be able to continue the research without me." Adam says.
"We could use the extra help but it still wont cover all the possibilities." Buffy adds.
"We can only hope to get lucky. Right now I'm all out of ideas for stopping this. If we don't find something soon we may have find ourselves facing a very powerful enemy." Adam says.
"Have you looked into the possibility that the two have nothing to do with each other at all?" Faith questions.
Adam looks at her and says, "I'm not sure that I understand your line of thinking."
"I mean we know that the Awakening is going to happen and you don't need any kind of sacrifice for the ritual to work right?"
"Correct."
Buffy catches onto Faith's train of thought, "So what if the parts and sacrifices are for something else? Something that would either strengthen the effects of the ritual or help it along faster?"
"I don't think any of had ever considered that. It would make sense, the Awakening ritual takes anywhere between four to eight hours depending how much power one is trying to siphon. I need to call Giles." Adam says and abruptly turns to leave the room.
Cassandra asks Faith, "How did you draw that conclusion?"
"I'm not sure. I guess you could call it a post-slayage insight." She answers. "But it still doesn't mean we'll be able to stop the murder from happening tomorrow. We don't' even know if we can find the guys responsible!"
"That plus all the added vampire activity the past few days I'll be surprised if we even get to finish our patrol rounds tomorrow." Buffy adds.
"So it's a choice between the greater of two evils." Cassandra says. "One the one hand stop the murders and let innocent people die. On the other stop the vampires and let another innocent die. Either way people will die. So what do we do?"
"We do both to the best of our abilities." Xander's voice draws their attention to the entryway. "We can't save everyone but we can try to save as many as we can."
Faith gets up from the table and rushes over to Xander. Buffy watches as the two share soft words. She smiles as she sees a look of concern and worry that she had never thought she would ever see on Faith's face. Xander's look of complete adoration for Faith does not go unnoticed as he brings his hand up to her face and caresses Faith's cheek with his thumb. A gesture of tenderness that she noticed he used often with Faith. She was happy for both of them. Faith had hidden pain and so did Xander but together it seems that they are able to cope.
Being the third wheel was something she did not plan on being tonight so Buffy stood up to leave. "I have class tomorrow so I'm going to head back to campus. I'll see you guys in the afternoon so we can plan our patrol routes okay?"
"Buffy why don't you stay here tonight?" Cassandra suggests. "It's already late and Faith can give you a ride to campus tomorrow."
"I don't want to impose." Buffy answers.
"Don't worry you can have one of the extra rooms." Cassandra answers.
"And you can use some of my clothes to sleep in tonight and to change into before you go to class." Faith puts in.
Buffy already tired from the night's work grudgingly accepts the offer. "I want to hit the showers first though before I go to bed."
"Yeah me too." Faith adds.
Xander stands there with a far off look on his face. Cassandra calls him but does not respond. She tries again louder this time but still no reaction. Fearing that he had fallen into another catatonic state Faith shakes Xander hoping to get some reaction out of him. She is gentle at first but quickly becomes more forceful when she sees Xander barely responding. She is about to slap him when she sees him grin widely.
"Xander! What just happened there?" Faith asks him.
"I'm sorry the mental image of both you and Buffy showering must have overloaded my senses." He says grinning. Buffy giggles at his remark as does Cassandra. Faith only rolls her eyes.
"If you ever do something like that again I will personally see to it that you get some sense knocked into you. And you two." She says to Cassandra and Buffy, "Don't encourage him."
"Sorry." Xander says still grinning. "I couldn't resist. Let's get you two into bed." Xander says to Faith and Buffy.
Faith looks at Xander curiously. "What about you are you going to bed?"
"I've been out of it for most of the day. I'm to wired to get back to sleep. I figure I'll help Adam and Giles do some research."
Curious Buffy asks, "Giles is coming here?"
"Yeah I heard Adam asking him to come over tonight to start a new line of research. Since I'm up I figured I'd help them out." Xander answers. He can feel Faith's hand squeeze his ever so slightly. Seeing the look of veiled worry on her face he squeezes back assuredly. "But I'll probably go to bed shortly after that. Researching with Giles usually put me to sleep before. Think of how it would be tonight! Two British research maniacs for the price of one!" Xander jokes.
Faith says, "Fine but don't stay up to late." For Xander the words translate directly to don't leave me for too long, I won't be able to sleep without you anyway.
"I won't I promise. We have a murderer, possibly two, to stop and a horde of evil vampires to stop from feeding off of the innocents of this fair town. I'll need my beauty sleep." Faith and Buffy both snort as they go up stairs to take showers in the bathrooms up stairs.
Once they are out of sight and earshot Cassandra asks. "Are you sure you are up to this? None of us expect you to do this."
"I have to Cassandra, it's who I am. I did it when I was a normal mortal and I'll do it for the rest of my life."
"Even if it'll kill you? Even if it means you'll be leaving behind Faith?"
"If it saves her life then especially then." He says walking to the den where Adam waits with his research.
…
Aaron sits in the corner of the Master's underground lair. Keith sits across from him doing exactly as he is. Preparing for tonight. He cleans the knives given to him by the Master.
"So tonight we bring the last one." Aaron says trying to pass the time.
"Yes. One of us will." Keith says confrontational.
"Keith the Master promised that we would be rewarded equally." The Master found Keith like himself. Three hundred years ago Aaron had died after a night of drinking. A group of men who he had insulted in his drunken stupor took it upon themselves to even the score after he had left the pub.
He had put up a good fight for a drunken fool. The first one received a right cross for his troubles. However the second and the third and the fourth one were able to tackle him to the ground. They held him down so the fifth one was able to walk up and pull out a dagger. With that dagger the man gutted him like a fish. The man, a noble, felt slighted by remarks that Aaron said to him in the pub so he did what any noble would do in his situation. He defended his pride and in doing so he gutted Aaron who was a low class nobody.
When he woke up he felt the Master. Looking up he saw his face and his outstretched hand. Aaron reached for that hand and sealed his fate. The Master told him of his plan and his destiny and offered him a part of the grand scheme. For the first time of his life Aaron had a purpose, meaning and direction in his life. The Master has given him everything that he has, all that he is and even a chance at revenge.
Aaron grins as he remembers the look on the nobleman's face as the very knife that gutted Aaron gutted him. A very poetic revenge indeed a revenge so sweet that it is one of his fondest memories. He remembers the day that he and the Master had found Keith. His body surrounded by stones and his body bloodied and bruised.
The Master explained to him that Keith would be a part of his family as was Aaron. Keith like Aaron would take the same responsibilities and would reap the same rewards as he. Together they would follow the Master to their destiny. A destiny now close at hand. He and Keith would finally get what they deserved for their years of servitude. They would finally rise to power as the Master had promised. All they had to do is bring him the last ingredients of his ritual.
…
Giles is pouring over his books and assembled notes. The new line of reasoning had forced him to completely rethink his line of research. They had spent days trying to find a correlation between the information that they found in the prophecy and the information they had found about the rituals mentioned in the prophecy. Yet every time they had come up empty handed. A promising avenue of research would always return the same information. Each possibility a dead-end.
Giles growls in frustration. All that wasted time! Now he needs to start over. A life hangs in the balance and he might not find what they need in time to save that life.
"You should really take it easy Giles." Giles looks up to see Xander holding a mug out to him.
"What is this?" Giles asks taking the cup.
"English breakfast. I thought you could use a pick me up and I figured that you wouldn't want any coffee." Xander explains to Giles.
"Thank you." Giles says as he gratefully sips the tea.
"No problem Giles." Xander says pulling up a book looking through it hoping to find something that would aid them in their search. Xander stops a moment and asks Giles. "Giles how can you do it?"
Confused Giles looks up from his book, "I beg your pardon?"
"Day in and day out, research while we go out and fight. I mean when I realized that I missed patrol last night and that Faith and Buffy were out there by themselves I was worried out of my mind. How do you cope?"
Giles takes off his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose. It is a motion Xander is very familiar with, he knows that Giles uses it as a stalling tactic as he gathers his thoughts before speaking.
"I won't lie to you and say that it's not difficult. Every time any of you went out to fight I thought that it was possibly the last time I would see any of you. Even when I went out with you I thought it could possibly be the last night we would see each other alive."
"So how did you cope?"
"I just keep telling myself that what we are doing is something that needs to be done. If we don't do this then horrible things will happen. But one of you was ever killed when trying to stop a demon or a monster I don't know how I would cope."
"What about me? How did you feel when I died?" Xander asks the librarian.
"I was happy." Seeing the hurt look on Xander's face Giles quickly explains. "I was happy that you died living your life. Not at the hands of some vampire but because of something that happens normally." Giles pauses a second to reconsider his words, "I'm not sure that came out the way I wanted it to. I mean I was saddened by your passing and…"
With a slight grin Xander says, "I think I got the gist of it Giles."
"It's just that I'm getting old and I don't think that I'll ever become a father and you kids are the closest things I will have to being a parent. Buffy and Willow are like my daughters and you were…are like a son to me. Even though I might not have said it Xander. I was proud of you then and I am proud of the man you've become."
"Thank you Giles." Xander says quietly. "You don't know how much that means to me coming from you."
"Well I felt that after you had died a lot had gone unsaid. The group as a whole opened up a lot more not wanting to waste another moment hiding things from each other. We realized that one of us could die at any moment and didn't want to have things left unsaid." Giles explains. "Because of that Buffy and Willow have grown much closer, almost like sisters."
"I could see that pretty easily." Xander says with a smile. "How about we get some more research out of the way?"
"That sounds like a good idea."
Giles and Xander sit together in companionable silence. The only sound that can be heard is the turning of the pages as they finish one passage after another. They continue on like that until Xander casually breaks the silence.
"So how are you and Joyce?"
Without looking up from his book Giles replies, "Well she does worry that I'm staying up too late researching and not getting enough sleep but I tell her if I don't do it no one else will…" Giles looks up and sees the grinning face of Xander. "Well that is…I'm sure that is what she would tell me if I was seeing her… ah that is…"
"Giles! You are dating Joyce Summers?" Xander says the grin never leaving his face. Giles had fallen for his trap and true to form the normally eloquent Englishman is now floundering around for his words. He would have continued on floundering but gratefully Xander stops him. "I just wanted to see if it was true or not Giles, calm down."
"Well, yes, but how did you find out?" Giles asks.
"I didn't, Faith told me." Xander says easily looking down at him book again. "I find it strange for a group that has opened up so much that you neglect to tell the girl who is like a daughter to you that you are dating her mother."
"Well you see our relationship is a complicated one." Giles begins.
"Aside from being both parental figures to Buffy?"
"Yes that and we had an interlude of sorts." Giles says uncomfortably.
"An interlude? I'm assuming your not talking about a classical music piece, correct?"
"If you remember the incident with the band candy?" Giles asks.
Xander remembers the time, "So when you were your younger alter ego you and Mrs. Summers?"
"I think you get the picture." Giles cuts him off.
"Well I do now and let me tell you I wish I didn't, it's a bit too…weird for me." Xander tells him.
"Think of how Buffy would take it."
"Right. Gotcha. No telling Buffy about the watcher-mother relationship."
"Thank you. Xander could you look through that book over there and see if you can find something about tonight or tomorrow night?" Giles asks pointing to a stack of books.
"Why? I thought we were trying to find more information on the rituals."
"Well all the information we have says that the ritual does not require the sacrifices. But we couldn't find a reason for the sacrifices themselves so they must be for something else right? So the only thing I could think of is the time frame."
"The time frame?"
"Yes I was able to find with Adam last night that the sacrifices allow for the Awakening ritual to be accelerated, or in other words the recipient is able to absorb more power over a shorter period time. So I was hoping that perhaps some event is going to occur that will give off enough energy for the Awakening to be worthwhile."
"But we still don't have anything that will help us find that last victim?"
"Unfortunately no. We only know what we've known for the last week, it's going to happen tonight."
"Damn. Anything else that could be helpful?"
"My research has been less than fruitful."
"I'll be here until the others get here in a couple of hours to patrol. Adam will be here in an hour or so. When he gets here we'll all continue to research as much as possible."
"Hopefully it'll be enough." Giles says.
…
Jonathan stands before his undead procession. Tonight he would take a more proactive part in occupying the warriors of the city. His contacts had been able to tell him early on that the Slayer and her boyfriend were two of the warriors he would be up against this night. Although the thought of fighting a Slayer was appealing, she was not the opponent he was looking forward to meeting. The seraph, as Jonathan had began referring to him as, was the opponent he hoped he would face tonight. Tonight was not so much about aiding the Master in his scheme, it was more for Jonathan to push himself to his own limits. As a vampire he had been relatively unchallenged to years. Very few could be considered his peers. At last he would finally be challenged by a true test of his true strength.
Looking out to the assembled vampires, fifty or so he estimates, he addresses them, "Tonight we will go out and do what we have all week. But tonight I too will dirty my hands with the blood of our victims." Pausing a moment before continuing. "Our quarries will all be in the same place at once before we attack. We are to contain them to this general area. I do not wish to loose anyone of you tonight. If you find yourself on the loosing end of a battle retreat and regroup, do not throw your lives away."
"You can kill and feed on all those you come across but do not let our prey get past you. If I find that any of you have let them through you will answer to me! The man who fights with a sword is for me only. If anyone of you find him, keep him occupied until I can reach your position. When I reach your position you will all leave him to me and me alone."
"Our prey waits for us in town inside a store called the Magic Shop. We will wait for them to leave the shop and then break into two groups. One will follow the first pair and the other will follow the others. Remember your team and remember your targets. Above all else remember the man wielding the sword is mine. Let's move out!"
The vampire procession growls their acceptance and begins to file out of the old building. The sun has set and the vampires can feel their demons cry out for blood. Tonight they would have it, but would be their victims or their own?
…
Giles, Adam and Xander have been researching for hours as Buffy, Riley, Faith, Tara, Willow and Cassandra enter the shop. Cassandra makes her way to Adam and quickly picks up a book from the stack next to him. She quietly asks him if he had gone through the book already. When he shakes his head no she opens it to it's first page and begins to read. Willow and Tara follow her lead.
Seeing that Cassandra and the two witches were there to take up his load of the research he gets up and stretches. He walks over to Faith and sees that she is dressed for patrol. "Did you bring my clothes?" He asks her.
Holding up an overnight bag she says with a smile, "Of course, wouldn't want to you to out their naked now would we? Although I wouldn't complain much about it but I think it'll be a bit cold out tonight."
"Wouldn't want me to catch cold now would you?" Xander says. It was a loaded question if he had ever heard one.
Faith not one to back down to any challenge responds by leaning close to him and whispering into his ear, "I can think of a few ways to keep you warm."
Xander turns a bright shade of red as al the mental pictures he could associate with Faith's words play in his mind. Despite all of his training and the confidence the confidence it brings he still ad trouble interacting with the females of the species, especially the incredibly beautiful, strong and confident Slayer branch. Why was it that all Slayers were incredibly beautiful he muses.
"What no witty response Xander?" Faith asks him.
"No, no witty response." He tells her. Mirroring the movement that Faith had done earlier he leans close to her ear and whispers, "But maybe if we can stop the whole end of the world thing I'll show you exactly what kind of response I have."
The wide-eyed response of surprise was exactly what he was looking for. Taking his clothes from he out stretched hands Xander walks to the back room to get ready for patrol. Faith watches is retreating frame shaking her head and chuckling. If anything Xander is an equal on the field of verbal sparing, she may have a few rounds in between but Xander would always try to get the last punch in.
Faith walks to the table to where Giles and Adam are sitting still going over books and passages. Cassandra who had entered with them was spreading out a scroll for Tara and Willow to examine it more closely. "Should you get ready for patrol Adam?" Faith asks him pointing in the direction Xander took to get changed and prepared.
"I am ready." Adam says.
Faith looks at him curiously. He is wearing clothes that he wears to the office. A tailored suit and the with the familiar duster hanging lopsidedly of the back of the chair. She looks over to Riley wearing what he calls his work clothes. Dark turtleneck sweater and dark pants, not unlike what she had brought for Xander, the telltale black straps across his back told her of a little extra fire power that Riley brought with him to help even out the fact that his ribs were still sore.
Buffy, like herself, was dressed in a way that wouldn't be constricting to their movements. Buffy had a pair of pants on, though very flattering to her figure Faith was able to see things that no other person would have picked up. The pants are made of a material that is able to stretch. They were also re-hemmed in such a way that would allow for greater ease of movement especially for kicking. Faith was able to pick these nuances easily, her old watcher had taught her how to sew and Faith had altered a few things in her wardrobe in order to make a life a slaying easier.
"Adam, I think that when Armani designed that suit he didn't have patrol in mind." Faith points out.
"I'm sure he didn't." Adam says absently looking at the book in front of him.
Giles looks up and sees Faith's point. "Adam I think that Faith does have a point. You might want to wear clothes that are more…suited to fighting."
Sighing Adam stands up and loosens his tie and takes it off. Placing it on the table he unbuttons his jacket and takes it off as well. They are surprised to see that like Riley Adam has a harness holding four daggers close to his body. From his belt hangs another sheath that holds another knife. Unbuttoning the sleeves and rolling them up they see that he is wearing wrist guards as well. Looking at both Giles and Faith he shows them that now without the tie and jacket he is wearing a dark shirt, dark pants and is indeed ready to fight.
"Never mind." Faith says quickly.
"Uh, yes. Quite." Giles adds.
"Thank you." Adam answers going back to his research.
Xander returns and he too is now ready for patrol. Buffy and Riley move over to the Xander and Faith who are now standing by the table where the older members of the group were researching.
"So what's the plan?" Buffy asks.
"Other than try and save the world?" Faith says jokingly
"Well that's the easy part. We all know that we need to save the world, it's figuring out how to do that is the hard part." Riley throws in.
"Exactly. How are the ribs?" Xander asks him.
"A little sore but I'll get by." He answers.
"Here are your patrol routes." Adam says handing them a map. "Buffy and Riley you are going to take the east side here by the campus." He points to the map. "Faith and Xander you both will take the north side of town where much of the town's night activity takes place."
"What about the south and west sides?" Riley asks quickly falling back onto his military training.
"I'll handle the west side and stick mostly to the parks in the area. There are too many warehouses on the south side of town, not many targets for them to find. Between the three groups we should be able to cover all the bases." Adam tells them.
"When do we go?" Xander asks.
"You four should head out right now. I'm going to stay here just a little while longer to finish the translation that I started. I'll be done in about ten minutes."
The four young warriors nod and begin to file out of the shop. They exchange a few words before breaking out in two separate directions. Unbeknownst to them they were being watched. In the shadows several figures look on as the group of four changes to two groups of two. One of the dark figures points in the direction of Buffy and Riley. Several of them nod and move through the alleys and shadows to cut off the pair, the rest of them move off in the opposite direction to head off Xander and Faith. Tonight would prove to be a difficult night for these mortals.
Jonathan is about to follow the group chasing after the seraph but when the door opens to reveal a third person. He is dressed in all dark clothing. His stance belies what Jonathan can recognize as a predator. This new man walks off in a third direction. Something about the man piques Jonathan's interest and instead of stalking his intended prey he follows this unknown man.
…
"Riley don't look back or to your right." Buffy says quietly as they continue on their patrol route.
"Why?"
"I can feel that we're being followed. Two behind us and on to your right."
"Are you sure?" Riley asks quietly
"Of those three yes. They're the only ones in my range. If there are any others they I can't feel them."
Riley quickly scans the area. "We shouldn't engage them here. We need to get to an open area."
"By then we might be up against more of them though."
"Better more of them in an open area instead of a closed one where we could get trapped."
Buffy agrees with them with him as they continue to walk. She throws a quick glance upwards and sees shadows jumping from building to building. Looking over to Riley she can see him fingering and unhook the latches on his shoulder harness. The motion is almost a casual one allowing easy access to the weapons they hold. She absently pricks her finger across the point of the stake inside of her jacket pocket. If it was a fight they wanted a fight they were going to get.
…
Across town from them Xander and Faith are having a similar conversation.
"There are a whole hell of a lot of them." Faith tells Xander quietly.
"What do you think we should do about it? We can't stop. We're supposed find and stop the next murder."
"I know, but this could turn really ugly."
"So we'll deal with it the same way we did back at the club."
"Uh Xander?"
"What?"
"You do remember that you died that night right?"
"I did? It must have slipped my mind." Xander jokes.
"Seriously Xander, I don't want you dying on me tonight okay? I don't know if I could handle fighting these things without you."
"Don't worry, I promise I won't die tonight."
"That's a relief."
Faith can feel them intruding on the edges of her senses. They are surrounding them. At least five of them at the most twelve if they decided to attack them at once they would have their hands full to say the least. She hoped to God that none of them carried guns like the last time. She didn't want to see herself or Xander get shot tonight.
…
Jonathan continues to follow the man as he strolls down the street keeping an eye out for something. Jonathan chuckles to himself thinking that the man is looking for one of the Master's minions Aaron or Keith. Those two were strong but quite possibly the most incompetent followers he had ever seen. The Master had plans for them but he didn't know what and he could tell that those two didn't know either.
He had come out this night planning to confront the young man he had 'killed' at the dance club. However something about this man made him change those plans. The man was a walking contradiction. His appearance said one thing while his actions and mannerisms tell a different story. He doesn't look dangerous but all of his accumulated knowledge and instinct screamed at him otherwise. In Jonathan's experience puzzles such as these always proved to always be lucrative sources of information. So it was from the shadows that Jonathan follows the walking puzzle.
…
Giles picks up another small book and begins to read. Cassandra is going through her own large tome still trying to find something useful. Anything at all, something is here waiting form them to find it. But he didn't know the first place to look. He can hear the front door bell ring as someone enters the shop. Cursing himself for not locking the door behind Adam as he left the shop he gets up to dismiss the person who had entered.
"I'm sorry but we're closed…" Giles says walking from behind some of the stacks.
"Sorry Rupert but I had to come by after what you told me what was happening." Joyce Summers says, her voice startling Giles.
"Joyce! Why?" Quickly running to the door and looks out to make sure that nothing had followed her. Locking the door he turns back to Joyce and says, "Joyce you know it is dangerous to be out and about at night."
"I know but I wanted to get here before Buffy left. What you told me last night made me worry about her and I had to come here." She says her voice full of worry.
Giles removes his glasses and pulls out a small cloth to clean them. Replacing the glasses on his nose he says, "I'm sorry Joyce but they left about thirty minutes ago."
"Is it true though? If they can't stop the murder tonight the world could possibly end tomorrow?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Will they be okay?"
"I can't tell you for sure but we can only hope."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asks him.
Giles stands there for a second staring at her. "Joyce I don't think that you really want to get involved with this."
"You don't think I…Rupert I can take my daughter keeping me in the dark all these years but I will not let you stop me from helping her now. You of all people should know that!" Joyce yells at him.
"Let her help with the research." A voice calls from behind the stacks. Cassandra walks out holding another book in her hand. "There is nothing more tenacious than a female protecting her young Giles. Let her help protect the young woman you both call daughter."
"Thank you." Joyce says to the woman handing her the book. "My name is Joyce, as I can see you already know that I'm Buffy's mother."
Smiling Cassandra introduces herself. "I'm Cassandra. Has Giles told you everything?" Joyce nods. "Then I would be what you would consider Xander's mother."
"Nice to meet you." Joyce says. Turning to Giles she asks, "So what do I do first?"
Seeing that he is out numbered Giles tells her, "Go through that book and look for any references about the Hellmouth or tomorrow's date."
"And if I don't' find anything?" Joyce asks him.
"Then you pick up another book and go through that one." Cassandra answers. Nodding all three of them walk back to the table and resume their research Joyce isn't surprised when she sees Willow and Tara already at the table. Hopefully between the five of them they would find something soon.
…
Everywhere they tried to go they found themselves blocked. Kill the first vampires and move to a different position and find themselves facing a new group of vampires. If they wounded some of them their brethren would pick them up and pull them out of the fight and replace them. They were being contained. If they tried to push past a certain point they would be forced to fall back and regroup. They were being toyed with. Buffy hated being toyed with.
Riley was holding up pretty well considering his condition. His ribs were not an issue every time they engaged any of the groups of vampires but she could tell he was feeling some pain still. He still favored his side but while fighting the adrenaline rush allowed him to push past the pain helped him hold his own.
Despite all that Buffy still worried for him. "You okay?" She asks.
"Yeah." He answers his mouth a determined line. "I'll be fine." He tells her. Looking around seeing that they were passing a particular building for the fourth time he says, "We're going around in circles. We can't even get past Peltason."
"I know." Buffy growls in frustration. As they begin to move again she can feel more vampires approach their position. "Damn! More of them are on our the way!"
"Shit." Riley says pulling out and stake and his combat knife preparing for the next of what seems an endless night of battles. "I'm ready."
"So am I." Buffy tells him as seven more vampires walk into view from the shadows around them.
Standing back to back Riley says, "This night just keeps getting better and better."
…
Faith can hear the sound of Xander's sword cutting through the air and undoubtedly vampires as well. This was their sixth fight that night. Her clothes were covered with the dust remains of vampires. She had killed more vampires tonight than she could care to remember and they just kept coming.
Dusting her adversary she is able to look over to Xander to see how he was doing. Xander's face is a mask of cold determination. The entire night she didn't see Xander utilize the powers she had witnessed the afternoon before. If what Adam had told them that he couldn't consciously call upon the powers as of yet. What they had seen was an unconscious manifestation of what Xander had hidden beneath. With or without the power he was still more than match for the vampires they fought tonight. The last vampire from the attacking group finds that out very quickly as a four-foot piece of steel severs it head. Exploding to dust before Xander can finish his follow through the area becomes deafeningly quiet once more and only sound that they can hear is that of their heavy breathing.
Xander is the first to break the silence. "They just keep coming don't they?"
"Like rats from a sewer." She says with a smile. "How you holding up?"
"I've seen better days." He says truthfully.
"You and me both cowboy, you and me both." She says walking over to him. Taking his face into her hands she studies the cut above his eye as it closes with a few sparks. Wiping the blood away she kisses the spot where the wound was and says, "There all better."
Smiling at her Xander says, "Thanks, I needed that."
"We're not making any head way are we?" She asks him.
Shaking his head he says to her, "No. They've been keeping us contained to a two mile span. We haven't been able to get past them. Every time we try to push forward more of them come."
"I hope Buffy and Riley are having more luck than we are." She says mostly to herself.
"I don't think they are." He says. Surprised she looks at him questionably, "They're following an attack plan, keeping us busy. When was the last time you saw vampires attack with this kind of coordination?"
Faith couldn't think of a single moment. He was right. But now that they knew this how would it help them? "So what do we do now?"
"I don't know. At this rate we can only hope that Adam is having more luck than we are."
"What makes you think he's not being attacked like we are?"
"This is his first time on patrol. My bet is that they only planned on two groups, not three. If that is the case Adam is the only one who has a chance of stopping the murder."
"By himself? You know that he can't stop them if there is more than one of them."
"I know."
"Then that would mean…"
"The end of the world will come tomorrow night." Even as he says those words Faith can feel more vampires approaching their position. Low growling and movement draw their attention. More vampires step forward. Faith raises her stake to a ready position just as Xander raises his sword. The steps to her right catches her attention in time for her to avoid being blind-sided by the vampire attempting to rush her from the shadows. It was then the vampires attack.
Blocking the first punches and staking one vampire quickly she hopes that Xander is right and that Adam is having more luck than they are.
…
"Are you going to follow me all night or are you going to o come out and introduce yourself?" Adam calls out.
"Very perceptive, I thought you hadn't noticed me." Jonathan says stepping from the shadows and into the light of a nearby street lamp.
"I've known that you've been following me ever since I left the store. I was hoping that you were the person I was looking for and that by following me you wouldn't be out and about killing innocent young girls. But unfortunately I find that you are the person I'm looking for after all."
"Sorry to disappoint you. Let me introduce myself, I am Jonathan." The master vampire is surprised as he sees recognition on the face of the man before him.
"Ah the master vampire? Can I safely say that the increase of recent activity can be attributed to you?"
"Yes, you could say that." Jonathan says as he reveals his true face. "But I don't even know who you are."
Pulling out his Ivanhoe the man says to him, "I am Methos."
The sword surprises Jonathan, his instincts were right after all. "Now this gets more and more interesting. I was hoping to face off with a certain sword wielding individual but you are not the one I had envisioned."
"Well you wanted to fight the pup but instead you found the alpha male. I can assure you that I will be much better sport than he would have been."
"We'll see about that Methos." Jonathan says reaching for something in the shadows for something Methos could not see. Jonathan unsheathes his scimitar and brings it to bear on Methos. "I can tell you that I will be much better sport than my minions would have been."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Methos says with a smile.
The two circle each other waiting for the other to move. Taking in their stance, their amount of tension in the other's muscles. The movement of each other's eyes. For Jonathan he sees a seasoned warrior, a man not afraid to kill. What surprises him most is the complete and total lack of feeling or emotion in the man's eyes. Any being would show at least one feeling. Fear, anger, apprehension but this, Methos, had nothing. His eyes were devoid of any emotion.
Jonathan grins, it had been so long since someone had challenged his mettle. Methos grins back and says to him, "I hope you don't think this will be easy."
"Oh, quite the contrary, I hope this will be as hard as I hope it will be." Jonathan strikes first and furiously as the scimitar cuts through the air with a flash.
Methos brings his Ivanhoe to block just as quickly, "I hope I don't disappoint you." He says slowly forcing the blades down and to the right.
Jonathan disengages his blade and decides that witty comments were only going to distract him from the task at hand. He tries again to attack with a series of thrusts with a slice to the head. All of which were blocked easily and then parried with a quick thrust to the stomach. Darting backward Jonathan is only barely able to dodge the incoming thrust.
"What no witty comment?" Methos says with a grin. "Surely you're not afraid of me?"
With a growl Jonathan attacks Methos again this time with more force than before. Methos brings his blade up again to meet his own blocking them easily. It was then Methos started his own offensive. The change is direction and momentum was so quick that Jonathan barely had the time to keep up with it. Methos' sword came at him with a speed and vengeance that would have sent a lesser demon scurrying away with fear. Jonathan, to his credit, is able to stand his ground as the blade came at him with speed and accuracy he never thought possible.
Strike after strike came at him, Jonathan looks at Methos and his stance hoping to find an opportunity that he could capitalize on. He continues to block until the opportunity he is looking for presents itself, not wasting any time Jonathan goes on the offensive and attack's Methos' side. As soon as the attack begins he is almost thrown back by the counter attack. Not willing to give up his advantage Jonathan continues to lay into the slightly off balance opponent hoping that Methos would trip or make another mistake that he could capitalize on. Jonathan was about to smile in triumph but instead he screams out in pain as his shoulder feels as if it is burning from the inside.
Pulling out a dagger that Jonathan didn't notice was there before Methos smiles at him and says, "Holy dagger." He points at the smoking wound slowly beginning to heal itself. "That must itch like crazy."
Jonathan growls at the last comment. He realizes that he can't fight him until his should heals so he decides to even the score. Reaching to the holster strapped to his back he pulls out his gun. He brings it to bear on Methos and pulls the trigger. The hammer clicks into place and the gunpowder ignites sending the projectile at Methos. The chamber housing slides back as the shell is ejected from it and replaced by another. It slides back again and again as two more shell casings are thrown away from the gun.
Methos stumbles back as the first bullet hits him in the chest. The second and third bullets push him up against a nearby wall. Bending forward but not releasing his grip on his sword Methos leans forward in pain.
"Desert Eagle .45" Jonathan says with a smirk walking up to Methos. Three shots had put down the other one at mid-range. Three shots at close range should have torn Methos apart it seems that Methos was a lot stronger than he seems. "Now you tell me if those three slugs in your body itch like hell."
Jonathan is about to shoot Methos in the head when he feels something hit is gun hand. Looking up and seeing Methos standing tall and upright with an evil grin on his face Jonathan brings his arm up into view. Instead of a hand the sight of a bloody stump greets him. Looking down at his feet he sees his hand still clutching the gun about to depress the trigger.
Looking closely at Methos again he sees the three charred holes on his shirt but he realizes that there is no blood. Seeing that he is confused Methos decides to enlighten him, "Kevlar." He says to him with a smirk. "To be fair I'll only use one hand." Methos puts the sword into his left hand matching Jonathan's stance.
Growling at him Jonathan backs away. Methos says to him, "Tell me why is it that your kind likes to growl?"
Finding his voice for the first time since the fight started Jonathan answers, "Call it instinct."
"Instinct? Then tell me this vampire what does your instinct tell you now?" Methos says taking a step towards him.
"That I should run away and save my own life."
"And your pride?"
"That I should stay here and face my fate and fight you until I die, like a master." Jonathan says to him hoping that he can buy himself enough time to have his body heal at least partially.
"I know that all of this isn't your doing, so tell me. What, or should I say, who is behind it?"
"I don't know his name, I only know him as the Master." Jonathan says, his should almost healed. He just needed to stall him for a few minutes longer.
"The Master? That doesn't tell me much. Where is his base of operations?"
"Why don't you go and fuck yourself!" Jonathan screams at him as he lunges at him with his sword. A Methos side steps the blade and brings his own blade onto the weakest part of his opponent's sword; where the blade and hilt meet. As the Ivanhoe connects with the scimitar Jonathan watches in fear as the blade falls from it's handle and clatters to the ground. Now holding nothing but the hilt, the vampire over stretched and off balance falls to the ground unceremoniously after a quick kick to his side.
"Now you are going to answer all my questions demon." Methos says to him a low voice. Seeing that Jonathan is grinning once more Methos says, "Don't you understand that you are beaten?"
"I know that, but apparently you don't understand something."
"What would that be?"
"It's already one o'clock." Jonathan says. He revels in his only victory of the night.
Methos looks down to his watch and curses, he was right. Looking up he sees that the Vampire had run away. Cursing again Methos takes off in the direction of the Magic Shop hoping that the others were able to succeed where he had failed.
Jonathan allows himself a small smile. He had one small victory tonight, it was a small one and it had cost him hand but it was a victory nonetheless. Looking at the stump that was now his arm he begins to think that perhaps now was the best time to cut his losses.
…
The Master sits at his altar eagerly awaiting the return of his two minions. If the vampire had done his job they should both be returning soon. He could not see the sky but he looked up anyway gazing as if he could see the stars and the planets above. They were so close to position. If all goes well he will be able to finish what he had started all those centuries before in that coastal city by the bay. Nearly two thousand years ago had passed since he had tried to realize his destiny. It cost him his student and his life when he realized that he had mistranslated the scrolls he had found. He could still remember the searing pain as the ash burned his skin as he jumped into the bay and how he was literally boiled to death as the heat turned the bay into a huge pot, killing all those above and below the surface.
It was a lesson hard learned, one that he had to live with in patience for almost two thousand years. Now he was close once again to his dream, to his destiny. In the background he listened to the sounds of Rachmoninov's prelude number two. The sound of the piano, forceful and beautiful at the same time, much like the power he would gaze into tomorrow night. As the piece becomes more and more forceful and chaotic he smiles in anticipation of the chaos that he would release. The piece mirrors his excitement and emotion perfectly.
As the piece reaches its climax he hears the approaching footsteps of Keith and Aaron. As the last few chords of the piece die away the Master asks them. "I trust all went well?"
They both hold up their containers. "Good! Tomorrow you both will share the power that is coming to me. Together we shall be the most powerful beings on the planet!"
Keith and Aaron both smile as they place their containers on the altar. Finally they would receive their payment for centuries of loyalty. Finally the Master's plan will be achieved.
…
Inside the Magic shop Joyce Summers was starting on her fourth book. The group assembled hadn't found anything helpful
That is until Joyce opened up her book. Almost halfway through her book she fell upon a page that had a picture of the Earth along with the planets and stars in the sky. Below the pictures there were a series of dates. Thousands of years apart from each other but something caught her eye. In the middle of the list there was one date that stands out from the rest. The date written on the page is tomorrow's date.
"Ruppert, I think I found something.!" She says excitedly.
Looking up from their places at the table the other four move to see what Joyce had found.
"My word." Giles says quickly scanning the pages. "My word." He repeats as he finishes.
"Well what did she find?" Willow asks him.
Wondering also the importance of the passage Joyce asks, "Yes Ruppert, just what did I find?"
"You just may have found the break we were looking for Joyce." Quickly rereading the pages he looks at the date prior to tomorrow's date. Looking at Cassandra he asks her, "What happened August twenty-third seventy-nine AD?"
"What?"
"What happened on that day?"
"I don't know I can't just recall days that far in the past!"
"What are you getting at Ruppert?" Joyce asks in confusion.
"Just tell me what happened that summer!"
"Ah…seventy-nine. I…I can't remember." Cassandra tell him.
Moving over to one of the stacks Giles pulls out an almanac. "August twenty-third, August twenty-third," He says flipping through the book. "Here!" Scanning the page he frowns. "That can't be right, nothing happened that day."
"What were you expecting?"
"A catastrophe of some sort. Something horrible."
Taking the book from him Willow looks at the page. Turning to the next page she finds what he could not. "Uh Giles?"
"Yes?" Giles asks her.
"Is this catastrophic enough for you?" She says handing him the book.
Reading the date out loud he says, "August twenty-fourth?"
"Read the passage in the middle." Willow instructs him.
"Eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroys and buries the city of Pompeii." Giles looks at the sentence again and says, "My word." Dropping the almanac on the table he picks up the book that had pointed them in the right direction. He reads it more carefully, taking a pad of paper and a pencil laying on the desk he jots down the information he needs.
Standing up he goes into the back room leaving the four women behind confused. Giles returns to the front of the shop with a pair of binoculars in hand. Walking to the front door of the shop he pauses and looks back and says, "Joyce in the drawer underneath the cash register is a map of Sunnydale. Get it out for me."
Joyce nods and walks behind the counter. Through the glass of the door they can see Giles look up at the sky and bring the binoculars to his face. Cassandra looks at him with curious eyes. In the city is not the best place to stargaze. The lights always interfere out shinning the dimmer stars in the sky. Giles turns back and returns to the pad of paper he left on the table.
Looking over his shoulder Cassandra sees the watcher writing down what she can only call mathematical equations. She is startled when Giles looks over his shoulder and says to Joyce, "Joyce did you find that map?"
Walking over to him she says, "Yes, here it is." Giles unfolds the map and goes back to the back room and returns with a compass and a box of pushpins. He quickly pushes the pins into the map pinning it to the table.
Looking at his calculations one more time he puts looks at the compass and measures out an unspecified distance. Handing the pad to Willow he asks, "Do these numbers look correct?"
Willow nods and answers, "Yes."
Pushing the sharp spike into the map he draws out a circle. Replacing the compass with a red pushpin in the center of the circle he looks at his work.
"Giles, what exactly did we find?" Cassandra asks him her patience running thin.
Looking up he tells her, "We found the area where the end of the world will begin." Pointing to the red circle drawn on the map.
…
Adam is running towards the Magic Shop when he sees Xander and Faith ahead of him. He runs up to them Xander feeling the quickening of his mentor first turns around. "Adam?"
"Did you two stop it?"
"What?"
"The murder did you stop it?"
Faith answers, "No. We ran up against some heavy resistance."
"Shit!" Adam spits out. "Come on!" He says as he takes off running. Faith and Xander take off after him trying to keep up.
Almost at the front of the Magic Shop Adam sees Riley and Buffy walking from the opposite direction. Running to them he asks, "Did you stop the murder?"
"No we were knee deep in vampires and then suddenly nothing." Riley tells him.
"Yeah for the first hour all we did was fight vampires and then nothing. What's happening" Buffy asks him.
"I couldn't stop it either." Xander and Faith were had just arrived behind him in time to hear his comment.
"What does that mean?" Faith asks. "Does it mean we failed?"
"No." Adam says grimly. Opening the door to the shop he walks in with the assembled group of young warriors. "It just means we have to stop whatever it is trying to end the world tomorrow night."
"But we don't even know where all this is going to take place!" Buffy exclaims. "Finding the site where the ritual is going to take place is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack."
"More like finding a needle in a stack of needles that look exactly like it." Adam says to them.
At that point Giles clears his throat drawing the attention of those assembled by the door. Looking up they see Cassandra, Giles, Willow, Tara and Mrs. Summers.
"Mom!" Buffy exclaims. "Giles! Why is she here!"
"You can ask me why I'm here Buffy, you don't have to ask Ruppert." She says to her daughter with a hint of annoyance.
"Fine, what are you doing here Mom?" Buffy asks.
"Helping you."
"I can't have you helping us Mom, it's too dangerous and…"
"How dare you tell me what I can or cannot do to help protect my own daughter!" Joyce Summers says. To the younger members of the group they all can see now where Buffy's look of resolve and fierce determination come from.
"Giles! Tell her that it's too dangerous!"
"NO!" Giles yells. "If it wasn't for you mother's help we might not have found what we did tonight."
"What?" Buffy looks at her mother who now had a smug look on her face.
Adam cuts in, "Look you can have your family dispute later!" Turning to Giles Adam says, "We didn't stop the murder but we can still stop the person performing the ritual. What did you find?"
Motioning for them to follow they walk to the table where they left the four researching previously. On it is a map with a circle drawn on it. Giles points at the circle and tells them, "We just made the stack smaller."
"What is this?" Adam asks him.
"Joyce found a passage in this book about planetary movements and their effects on the metaphysical." He says handing the book to Adam.
"So what's the deal?" Xander asks.
"On this page in particular it states how certain planetary formations can effect the Hellmouth. Or in particular the position of the Hellmouth." He points a line out to Adam, "Here it says the distance the Hellmouth moves is directly related to the position of Neptune to this star cluster." He points at the picture. "I've calculated the distance to be exactly four miles off center of it's current position." Pointing at the red pushpin Giles says. "This, is where the Hellmouth is located. The location of the old high school, and this is the area of a four-mile radius. Somewhere on this circle is where the Hellmouth is going to be tomorrow."
"When do the formations come into the right alignment?" Faith asks him looking from the book on the table to the map.
"Sun down." Giles tells them.
"That's over twenty-five miles to cover!" Adam says. "We need to narrow down our search."
"Well we know that we need to stop whoever it is doing all this from taking power from the Hellmouth."
"I found out that the person who is doing this calls himself the Master." Adam adds seeing the curious looks he says, "I'll explain later."
"Well what do we know?" Riley asks
"He plans on opening the Hellmouth." Adam says.
"Well what does it take to open the Hellmouth?" Joyce asks curiously.
They all look to Giles who ponders the question. "A spell of some sort usually." Giles says out loud.
"What does the spell have to do?" Cassandra asks.
"Usually it has to do with releasing a huge amount of power. Remember when the Master sent Luke out to collect energy for him?" Willow says recounting the first night they all fought together.
"Yes, the Harvest." Giles says. "The Master was going to use all that power to open the Hellmouth and release himself from his prison."
"And the last time this happened Mt. Vesuvius erupted." Tara adds.
Adam looks at her intently. "Mt. Vesuvius? Are you sure?"
Giles answers, "Yes the date listed for the last time the planets were in this formation is the day right before the volcano erupted." Giles explains. "We assumed that it was a side effect of a failed attempt to open the Hellmouth." Picking up the pad of paper that had his equations he shows the group. "I did the math and found that the last time the formation had occurred the Hellmouth was pulled directly underneath the volcano."
"How do you know that the attempt failed?" Riley asks the Watcher.
"Obviously because the world wasn't sucked into Hell." Giles says. "Something went wrong. According to all the information we found. In order to open the Hellmouth you have to be in the center of it."
Giles can see Adam throw Cassandra glance. "Would you like to share what is on your mind?" Giles asks sharply. He had not gotten a lot of sleep lately and tonight's stress was not helping any.
Cassandra is the one who answers his question. "It is somewhat of a myth among immortals that the eruption of Vesuvius was caused by an Immortal battle."
"A quickening?" Xander says. "How old was the Immortal that lost his head? That had to be one hell of a quickening to have caused a volcano to blow it's top."
"The battle was rumored to have taken place inside one of Pompeii's temples." Adam says simply.
There is only one thing Xander could say to that statement. "Oh."
Buffy hears Xander's comment and asks, "For all of us non-Immortal people here could you explain what exactly encompasses 'Oh?"
"The temple is holy ground. We are absolutely not allowed to fight on holy ground. It is a cardinal sin of immortality." Xander explains.
"So according to our own folklore the eruption of Vesuvius has a direct correlation to the breaking of one of the rules we have been taught never to break." Cassandra explains.
"For over five thousand years it is one of the few things I have always followed." Adam says adding to the seriousness of Cassandra's explanation.
"Could that be a possible connection?" Tara asks? "I mean it's only myth and legend right?"
"Well yes." Adam answers.
"Maybe it was the botched ritual that had cased the volcano to erupt not the immoral fight on holy ground." Tara reasons.
"That would narrow down our search considerably." Giles says, "But we shouldn't ignore any other location that could possibly house the ritual."
"I agree." Adam says.
"I thought as much as have looked to see if there was anything that could possibly be the location for the ritual. Surprisingly enough though most of them are churches." Giles explains.
Looking down at the map Buffy points at one location and says, "You can cross this one off of the list."
"Why do you say that?"
"It was the old church that Spike used to heal Drucilla. After it collapsed it was one of the buildings that was burned down in the fire two summers ago."
"Fine that leaves us with nine sites to visit tomorrow." Adam says after counting up the sites on the list and marking each one with a pushpin. "One for each of us to visit."
"So tomorrow night we either stop the ritual or we all die?" Tara asks her hand finding Willows.
"Unfortunately yes." Giles answers.
"There is nothing more we can do tonight. I suggest that we all go home…"Adam's voice trails off not willing to finish the sentence. They all understood. If there was something you needed to do, or needed to get out of the way do it tonight because tomorrow you might not have the chance.
Willow nods and tells them. "I'll take this one, I have a gap between classes so I should have the time to get there and then back without any problems."
Tara points out the site that she'd take "I'll have this one. I just have work tomorrow but I think that I can get my boss to let me have the day off." She says looking at Xander.
"That won't be a problem." He says to her.
Willow and Tara get ready to leave the shop together. Willow stops by Buffy and tells her, "I'm not going to be at the dorm tonight Buff. I'm going over to Tara's we want to spend tonight together. So if you want to use the room you can go ahead…"
"Thanks Wills."
"I'll take this one." Adam points out.
"I'll check this one out." Buffy points to another.
"I don't have any discussions tomorrow so I can take this one here." Riley tells them.
Cassandra points to a site. "I have a errand close by I can stop by to take a look at the place."
Buffy is about to leave when she realizes that her mother is going to be alone tonight. "Mom I'm going to stay with Riley tonight is that okay with you?"
Buffy's eyes widen in shock as her mother's arm wraps itself around Giles' waist. "I'll be fine Buffy, I understand. Don't worry I won't be alone tonight."
Giles seeing the look of surprise on her face tells her. "If we survive past tomorrow we promise to explain it to you. But until then just be happy for us knowing that we're not going to be alone tonight."
Buffy, although curious of their pairing, nods her head in acceptance. Seeing that her mother is okay she moves to leave the store. Before leaving she turns back and faces her mother giving her a wink. Her mother returns the wink and Buffy and Riley leave the store together.
"Joyce and I will visit this one. It is close to her studio and I'll make sure that she is okay." Giles says pointing to the marked spot.
"And we're going to see the last two." Faith says. Xander is about to say something about splitting up and saving time when she cuts him off, "If that is the last day we will ever be able to spend together I'm sure as hell not letting you out of my sight."
"Fine." Xander says.
The last three couples leave the store and out front Joyce says the only thing that can come to mind. "Good night."
The assembled group thinks over the words nodding their heads. This was possibly that last night could possibly call 'good.' If they couldn't stop the ritual come sundown tomorrow then it would mean tonight is truly the last night for the world. With those thoughts in mind the world's only chance at survival went their separate ways to spend the rest of the night with the ones that they loved the most.
…
The sounds of beating orchestral music can be heard as Wagner fills the underground lair of the Master. Tomorrow night would mark the turning point in his life where he transcends his existence as an Immortal and would become a God. He laughs to himself as he prepares his sanctuary for the ritual. His time is close at hand. The end of the world is a small price to pay for Godhood, then again once he became a God he could create the world in such a way to suit himself! This thought strikes an odd chord in his mind and makes him laugh out loud. His laughter soon overcomes the music being played in the room. As his laughter grows in strength it encompasses everything until nothing else can be heard.
As a God no one could stop him. As a God none could oppose him, and as a God he would rule all. The world would be for him and for his enjoyment only and nothing could stop him. Nothing.
…
There you go the latest chapter of Leaves of Grass. The story will be comming to and end soon and I am currently putting together the plot for the next story in the series and was thinking of including a Dawn subplot however my knowledge of the character is very limited and I was wondering if any of my audience would be willing to send me some information on her and the characters ongoing subplot in the show. Also I look forward to your reviews and emails, they play an important part in my writing and help me know what exactly my audience expects. Also for those who have ever attended or visited a UC campus you will know that every one has a street named Peltason. Again thanks for sitting through and reading the latest chapter and I hope it was worth the wait!
