"You'd better not be here when I get back." Alex snapped at Wesley as Cole stared at his slayer.
Angelo and Isis, who had just dropped in to see how Cole was, stared in disbelief, as the door slammed in their faces.
"She'll be fine, cooling off is just what she needs." Isis followed Angelo through the opened door.
~~~~~~~~~~
"If I may be so bold as to ask, but do you know if she will challenge for the right to lead the Council, she is, after all, of age." Wesley asked.
"Yes, we discussed this before the accident." Cole hobbled over to the easy chair in the front room.
"I'm really unsure about her taking control of the Council so soon, its not that I don't think she could so it, I believe it would be too much, all at once for her."
"I see what you mean, we also cannot afford to lose another slayer."
"Some days I wonder, what would have been, if I had been chosen for Faith, and you were still here." Cole told his friend.
"Ah yes, I have often wonder that as well my friend."
"How is Faith?"
"On the road back, thanks to Angel."
"Wesley, I am beginning to question my ability to train her." Cole confessed.
"What? Because of the accident?"
"Yes."
"Perhaps, you need to change your technique."
~~~~~~~~~~
Alex didn't return until sunrise that next day. A somewhat calmer Alex asked Wesley to leave for LA.
"No."
"Your place is with Angel Investigations in LA."
"No my place is where I am needed and with Cole's condition...."
"Wesley, I'm begging you, please."
"No."
"Oh honestly!" She threw her hands in the air.
"Chill out." Cole hobbled into the conversation with a cane in the left hand. "Can you just stop arguing for five minutes, geez, you'd think the two of you were siblings."
The phone rang. "Gwen? Yeah she's here." Cole handed her the phone.
"What's....Yeah OK, ASAP." She hung up the phone. "Pack some clothes, we need to catch a train for London."
~~~~~~~~~~~
"I've called the others, they plan to meet us there. Any idea what this is about?" Isis looked concerned as they pulled in front of Elizabeth's and Gwen's shared home.
Bane, Marcus and Jonathan were waiting for them in front of the cousin's home.
Before anyone could get out of the car, they heard a small explosion from inside the house.
Elizabeth came through the glass pane to the right of front door.
Bane shot towards the door and scooped her up out of harms way.
"Gwen," cough, "she's still..."
"We'll get her out." Wesley told her as the black smoke filled the house and sounds of shattered glass were heard.
"Kitchen..." Elizabeth coughed again.
"No way we can get in there." Cole spoke up.
Alex began as she backed up towards the fire, turning quickly she vamped out and headed inside.
"BANE! Go after her!" Cole ordered.
~~~~~~~~
"Gwen!" Alex charged into the kitchen to find nothing but thick, black smoke. "Gwen."
Nothing, no noise, she wasn't here. Something cracked above her, looking up she saw something falling towards her.
She then felt herself get pulled backwards as the wood beam came crashing down inches from her.
~~~~~~~
"We found something in the archives, that you should see." Elizabeth wheezed, as she tried to get up.
"You're staying here. The doctors said you should rest." Cole told her.
"No, I have to show you...."
"No, tell us." Isis said, trying to ease her mind.
"Go into the archives," cough, "straight back to the dark left corner. The very last book case," cough, "on your left has the book Great Expectations. Pull it out, but don't stand on the black cross closest to the case."
"I want to go check it out." Alex said as she eyed her two Watchers.
"Then I'm coming as well." Cole announced, giving the all clear.
"No, you stay with Elizabeth, I'll go and keep an eye on her." Wesley's eagerness eased his friend's mind.
~~~~~~~~~
Marcus, Bane and Wesley joined Alex deep inside the archives below the castle.
"Its like one of those old movie vaults." remarked Bane. He was right, papers, videos, and most likely sound recordings of Council dealings.
They came to the end of the tunnels and came upon a listening room.
"Listen to this. Elizabeth." she read the note on the table and tossed Marcus the cassette.
Marcus plugged the cassette into the machine and hit the green play button.
"I was digging through the archives and came across various tapes concerning slayers. One tape tells about how they carefully turned Faith against everyone. Considering all the "You should be more like Buffy-isms, I'm surprised she didn't succeed in killing Buffy."
"I also saw the video of the New York incident. Everything they did to you, I am very pleased you beat them, considering they made you run the gauntlet in that condition.
I also have found the reason for the black outs, there is a chip in your spine that when Seth pushes the remote, causes the black outs. When you had that black out after killing Adern, it may have been painful, but the setting was on 3 of the 8 pain levels. I need Marcus to take a look at the x-rays, before I say anymore."
"The Council's reaction to your birth was one of discontent, as you already know, the leaders of the other Councils know of your existence..." The taped clicked off.
~~~~~~~~~
"The Council brainwashed Faith?" Alexandria was stunned. "But why try to kill her later?"
"She rebelled against them?" Wesley answered.
"Or her friendship with you." Bane pointed out.
"We had to cover our tracks." Seth's voice was heard in the room.
"Welcome Alex, its a shame you won't be able to see me before you depart."
That said protective steel dropped in front of the walls covering the machines and tapes. One wall opened to their right, to reveal a very scared Gwen up to her neck in water.
"Gwen!" Bane took one look at her, grabbed one of the chairs and flung it towards the glass shattering it. Gwen and the water came spilling out.
The water began to fill the tunnels faster then they could run.
When they reached the staircase, Bane couldn't open the door. "It's stuck."
"Alex....." Bane pointed to a very white, barely standing slayer. "Alex!" She slipped on the cobblestone and fell backwards. Wesley and Gwen pulled her from the water.
Marcus examined her as her eyes began to glow an amber color, before rolling into the back of her head. "Alex, can you hear me?" He pushed open her eyelids as she vamped out.
"Let me go." Aricia told them.
"Aricia? Are you all right?" Gwen asked.
"I've been better...." Aricia was stopped in mid sentence with pain flooding through her body.
~~~~~~~~~
"Elizabeth?" Henry called into the room at the hospital.
"Excuse me, who are you?" a nurse asked.
"Daddy!" Elizabeth blushed when she called to him. "Did you get the disc?"
"Are you alright?" Henry hugged his daughter. "What happened?"
"They set the house ablaze." Isis said quietly.
"Where's Gwen and the others?" Skylen and the other fathers filed into the hospital room.
"What? They tried to burn you?" Cole's father was stunned.
"They went after some tapes in the archives." Isis told them.
"You allowed them go back?" Henry seemed to scold her.
"We need to got after them, they told me I could leave in an hour."
~~~~~~~~
"They set the fire." Gwen's voice began shake. "I tried to stop them, but they gagged me."
"You're fine now." Wesley assured her.
"Somethin' has to be on top of the door." Bane banged his shoulder against the door again.
"Bane, stop or you'll hurt yourself." Marcus stated as he looked at the water rising up to his waist.
"Anyone know a spell to stop rising water?" Alex asked rubbing the back of her neck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There." Elizabeth almost ran into the large statue sitting on the door.
"We have to move it before we can open the door."
The fathers used all their strength and pushed the bronze like lion statue off the tile.
The tile opened to reveal the water four inches from the top.
"Dear goddess." Isis stared at the rising water, when a hand came through the water.
Daniel and Dominic grabbed the hand and pulled. Bane came through the water gasping for air. Next came Gwen, Alex, Wesley and finally Marcus.
"We need to clean you up." Skylen took one look at the blood dripping from Alex's nose.
~~~~~~~~~~
Angelo and Isis, who had just dropped in to see how Cole was, stared in disbelief, as the door slammed in their faces.
"She'll be fine, cooling off is just what she needs." Isis followed Angelo through the opened door.
~~~~~~~~~~
"If I may be so bold as to ask, but do you know if she will challenge for the right to lead the Council, she is, after all, of age." Wesley asked.
"Yes, we discussed this before the accident." Cole hobbled over to the easy chair in the front room.
"I'm really unsure about her taking control of the Council so soon, its not that I don't think she could so it, I believe it would be too much, all at once for her."
"I see what you mean, we also cannot afford to lose another slayer."
"Some days I wonder, what would have been, if I had been chosen for Faith, and you were still here." Cole told his friend.
"Ah yes, I have often wonder that as well my friend."
"How is Faith?"
"On the road back, thanks to Angel."
"Wesley, I am beginning to question my ability to train her." Cole confessed.
"What? Because of the accident?"
"Yes."
"Perhaps, you need to change your technique."
~~~~~~~~~~
Alex didn't return until sunrise that next day. A somewhat calmer Alex asked Wesley to leave for LA.
"No."
"Your place is with Angel Investigations in LA."
"No my place is where I am needed and with Cole's condition...."
"Wesley, I'm begging you, please."
"No."
"Oh honestly!" She threw her hands in the air.
"Chill out." Cole hobbled into the conversation with a cane in the left hand. "Can you just stop arguing for five minutes, geez, you'd think the two of you were siblings."
The phone rang. "Gwen? Yeah she's here." Cole handed her the phone.
"What's....Yeah OK, ASAP." She hung up the phone. "Pack some clothes, we need to catch a train for London."
~~~~~~~~~~~
"I've called the others, they plan to meet us there. Any idea what this is about?" Isis looked concerned as they pulled in front of Elizabeth's and Gwen's shared home.
Bane, Marcus and Jonathan were waiting for them in front of the cousin's home.
Before anyone could get out of the car, they heard a small explosion from inside the house.
Elizabeth came through the glass pane to the right of front door.
Bane shot towards the door and scooped her up out of harms way.
"Gwen," cough, "she's still..."
"We'll get her out." Wesley told her as the black smoke filled the house and sounds of shattered glass were heard.
"Kitchen..." Elizabeth coughed again.
"No way we can get in there." Cole spoke up.
Alex began as she backed up towards the fire, turning quickly she vamped out and headed inside.
"BANE! Go after her!" Cole ordered.
~~~~~~~~
"Gwen!" Alex charged into the kitchen to find nothing but thick, black smoke. "Gwen."
Nothing, no noise, she wasn't here. Something cracked above her, looking up she saw something falling towards her.
She then felt herself get pulled backwards as the wood beam came crashing down inches from her.
~~~~~~~
"We found something in the archives, that you should see." Elizabeth wheezed, as she tried to get up.
"You're staying here. The doctors said you should rest." Cole told her.
"No, I have to show you...."
"No, tell us." Isis said, trying to ease her mind.
"Go into the archives," cough, "straight back to the dark left corner. The very last book case," cough, "on your left has the book Great Expectations. Pull it out, but don't stand on the black cross closest to the case."
"I want to go check it out." Alex said as she eyed her two Watchers.
"Then I'm coming as well." Cole announced, giving the all clear.
"No, you stay with Elizabeth, I'll go and keep an eye on her." Wesley's eagerness eased his friend's mind.
~~~~~~~~~
Marcus, Bane and Wesley joined Alex deep inside the archives below the castle.
"Its like one of those old movie vaults." remarked Bane. He was right, papers, videos, and most likely sound recordings of Council dealings.
They came to the end of the tunnels and came upon a listening room.
"Listen to this. Elizabeth." she read the note on the table and tossed Marcus the cassette.
Marcus plugged the cassette into the machine and hit the green play button.
"I was digging through the archives and came across various tapes concerning slayers. One tape tells about how they carefully turned Faith against everyone. Considering all the "You should be more like Buffy-isms, I'm surprised she didn't succeed in killing Buffy."
"I also saw the video of the New York incident. Everything they did to you, I am very pleased you beat them, considering they made you run the gauntlet in that condition.
I also have found the reason for the black outs, there is a chip in your spine that when Seth pushes the remote, causes the black outs. When you had that black out after killing Adern, it may have been painful, but the setting was on 3 of the 8 pain levels. I need Marcus to take a look at the x-rays, before I say anymore."
"The Council's reaction to your birth was one of discontent, as you already know, the leaders of the other Councils know of your existence..." The taped clicked off.
~~~~~~~~~
"The Council brainwashed Faith?" Alexandria was stunned. "But why try to kill her later?"
"She rebelled against them?" Wesley answered.
"Or her friendship with you." Bane pointed out.
"We had to cover our tracks." Seth's voice was heard in the room.
"Welcome Alex, its a shame you won't be able to see me before you depart."
That said protective steel dropped in front of the walls covering the machines and tapes. One wall opened to their right, to reveal a very scared Gwen up to her neck in water.
"Gwen!" Bane took one look at her, grabbed one of the chairs and flung it towards the glass shattering it. Gwen and the water came spilling out.
The water began to fill the tunnels faster then they could run.
When they reached the staircase, Bane couldn't open the door. "It's stuck."
"Alex....." Bane pointed to a very white, barely standing slayer. "Alex!" She slipped on the cobblestone and fell backwards. Wesley and Gwen pulled her from the water.
Marcus examined her as her eyes began to glow an amber color, before rolling into the back of her head. "Alex, can you hear me?" He pushed open her eyelids as she vamped out.
"Let me go." Aricia told them.
"Aricia? Are you all right?" Gwen asked.
"I've been better...." Aricia was stopped in mid sentence with pain flooding through her body.
~~~~~~~~~
"Elizabeth?" Henry called into the room at the hospital.
"Excuse me, who are you?" a nurse asked.
"Daddy!" Elizabeth blushed when she called to him. "Did you get the disc?"
"Are you alright?" Henry hugged his daughter. "What happened?"
"They set the house ablaze." Isis said quietly.
"Where's Gwen and the others?" Skylen and the other fathers filed into the hospital room.
"What? They tried to burn you?" Cole's father was stunned.
"They went after some tapes in the archives." Isis told them.
"You allowed them go back?" Henry seemed to scold her.
"We need to got after them, they told me I could leave in an hour."
~~~~~~~~
"They set the fire." Gwen's voice began shake. "I tried to stop them, but they gagged me."
"You're fine now." Wesley assured her.
"Somethin' has to be on top of the door." Bane banged his shoulder against the door again.
"Bane, stop or you'll hurt yourself." Marcus stated as he looked at the water rising up to his waist.
"Anyone know a spell to stop rising water?" Alex asked rubbing the back of her neck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There." Elizabeth almost ran into the large statue sitting on the door.
"We have to move it before we can open the door."
The fathers used all their strength and pushed the bronze like lion statue off the tile.
The tile opened to reveal the water four inches from the top.
"Dear goddess." Isis stared at the rising water, when a hand came through the water.
Daniel and Dominic grabbed the hand and pulled. Bane came through the water gasping for air. Next came Gwen, Alex, Wesley and finally Marcus.
"We need to clean you up." Skylen took one look at the blood dripping from Alex's nose.
~~~~~~~~~~
