A/N: Must do other work...must avoid computer...must...oh damn, well, here I am anyway, may as well write some flippin' fics! ;-D

Disclaimer:**Counts off on fingers**Gracia is mine, Keisha is mine, Luke is mine, Gracia's family are mine ('cept Angel), Cecelia is mine, various backing characters are mine. Think that's it...yeah. All else is Joss Whedon's, so take all his creation if you wanna.

Dedicated to:FanFreak and willow_ph. Hey FanFreak, sozz this took so long, work etc. is hell and prevents me from writing. Please don't kill me! And willow_ph, thank you for the web adress, I'll check it out.
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"Now class, take out your textbooks and turn to page 97..."

Gracia's brain tuned out on the teacher's droning voice as she wondered what the hell to do. She had no textbooks yet, and, what with settling in and staking vamps every night in between visiting the Bronze, getting her books hadn't been high on her list of priorities.

Keisha slid the Biology textbook, open at the correct page, across to the space between them. Gracia thanked her new friend with a smile that Keisha returned.

"As you can see from the chart," the man continued, prowling along the aisle between the desks, "Living organisms find fats vital for insulating the body, and also as a secondary energy store." He rounded on the two girls. "Miss Goldsmith, please tell the class what carbohydrates are used for in the body."

Keisha's gaze became downcast for a moment before glancing towards Luke, who was sitting at the desk just across from them. The teacher, eyes still fixed on the pupil, stepped sideways to block of eye contact between the twins. Cursing him mentally, she took a quick, almost hidden, look at the textbook. The teacher followed her eyes and surveyed the situation. Each pupil was supposed to have a textbook each for his class- it was one of his many demands, along with neat folders and perfect homework. And then here were two pupils and one textbook. The equation just didn't balance.

"Which of you two forgot the compulsory text book?" he thundered. The girls exchanged a look, then Gracia raised her hand slightly.

"Me, only it wasn't..."

The man cut her off. "This merits a detention. It is simply unacceptable behaviour that you should not bother..."

Gracia interrupted. "I just don't have a textbook yet. If I did, I'd bring it along."

The guy frowned. "Impudence and rudeness, your behaviour continues to decline! I should send you to the principal's office!"

Ignoring sniggers from the airhead patrol at the back of the room, Gracia kept calm, although all she wanted to do was to throw the man out of the window, or seriously maim him otherwise with her Slaying powers.

"I just didn't know where to get them," she said, straining to keep her eyes wide, pleading, and innocent. For a second, he simply glared at her.

"How long have you been here, Miss McCormack?"

Gracia calculated speedily in her head. "Two weeks."

"You should know better and be more organized. After this lesson, go straight to the library to pick up your books. At the beginning of the next lesson, you shall report straight to me to prove that you have put in some effort at last."

With that he walked towards the board, carrying on the lecture and forgetting that Keisha hadn't answered his question.

"Just ignore his insults," Keisha told Gracia as they left the class when the lesson ended.

"Sure," Luke continued sarcastically from behind them. "'Cause he's a really nice guy when you get to know him."

Keisha shot her twin a withering glance. "Nobody asked you, Luke. We've already told you talking is a bad thing for you."

"What, when it means I'm supposed to listen to you in return?"

Gracia laughed at their bickering. Although the pair of them argued more than frequently, anyone could see that they were best friends. And anyway, the constant fights were a source of great entertainment for her, much more fun than the rows she had with Brianna.

By now the trio had left the main body of the crowd behind, with just a few people going to retrieve books from the lockers that lined the corridor wall. Most of the students had gone outside, with the cheerleaders flocking to the toilets to replenish their make-up and the risky few chancing the cafeteria lunch food. The friends carried on, the twins still arguing and Gracia studying the doors. Suddenly she stopped, staring at one door that seemed to have a strange force around it. The twins stopped a short way off and looked back as their friend attempted to peer through the glass. They paced back to her.

"What's up, Gracia?" Luke questioned, also trying to look through the glass to see what had gained her attention. Gracia moved her hand onto the handle ready to twist it down and enter.

"You don't wanna go in there," Keisha blurted out. Gracia looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

A wry smirk twisted Keisha's lips. "That's the ghostie room. The Haunted Store closet. Everyone says there's some ghost or something in it, but it's all made up. Y'know, the typical 'things move theirselves and cold air' rites of passage. You'd think they'd guess that ghosts don't exist."

Gracia laughed as she released her grip on the handle and followed them further down the corridor. But even so, her mind was curious. Whether ghosts actually existed or not, there was an afterlife, so they probably were around.

I mean, I came back, didn't I? she thought.

A bit further on, the twins halted. Luke indicated the door.

"This is it," he told her. "Contact us if you come out alive."

"Aren't you coming in?" she questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Nah, books scare him too much." Keisha answered. "He's spent more than half his life on the psychiatrist's couch, and still it isn't sorted out."

Luke put on an expression of mock-despair. "I know, it's the bane of my life!"

The girls grinned as he pretended to break down into fits of helpless tears and Keisha shook her head.

"OK, comedian, time out." To Gracia, she said, "We'll meet you outside or in Maths, whatever time it takes. See ya!"

She steered her brother away down the corridor, leaving Gracia laughing in their wake. She managed, after some time, to compose herself enough, and walked into the library.

It was like stepping into another dimension as the door swung shut behind her. Her pace slowed unknowingly as she peered around the strangely quiet and seemingly empty room. Apart from a cluster of computers at the other end of the room, most of the place was filled almost to bursting with shelves full of unused books. Gracia crept along silently, running the fingers of her right hand over the surface of a table whilst the others clutched the strap of her bag.

She hated this. The silence was beginning to become horribly oppressive.

"Hello?" she called softly. "Anyone here?"

"Hello."

Gracia jumped at that English accented voice behind her and whirled around. A tall, thin woman had stepped out from behind some shelves. She was dressed smartly, and a sheet of icy blonde hair fell in slight waves to her shoulders. Her pale grey eyes studied her from behind squarish glasses attached to the silver chain around her neck. As she approached, Gracia thought that her pallid skin was almost as bloodless as a vampires, but smiled in a friendly way, trying to ignore the huge dusty tome in her arms as she approached with a slight frown.

"Hi. I was sent here for textbooks by my teacher. Can you help me please?"

The woman came right up to her and squinted slightly. "Are you new then?"

"Yes. Well sort of. You see-"

Gracia was cut off as the woman made her way to the desk by the near wall. Confused, she watched her set down the book and check something from another book on her desk. She glanced up briefly, an odd look in her eyes.

"Hello, Gracia McCormack."

Gracia was a mixture of confused and freaked out. How did she know her name? At her old school in Belfast, teachers were still struggling with remembering her name out of those of about 900 pupils even after five years. Attempting to calm herself, she replaced the smile on her face that had disappeared. It was probably nothing.

"Wow, people know my name," she joked weakly. The librarian moved towards her again, stopping in front of her, and took the glasses off. Her gaze was all the more scrutinizing like this, and Gracia didn't like it.

Nothing could have prepared her for the blonde's next words.

"So you are the Slayer."

Gracia gasped and stepped back suddenly, almost tripping over the table. "W-what?"

The librarian's expression became disdainful as she looked her up and down. "No need to act so shocked. I expect that you didn't consider it necessary to research your Slayer heritage, or you would have guessed that one of my colleagues or myself would be along soon to train you."

"What do you mean?" Gracia managed to answer eventually.

"You are the Slayer. I am your Watcher. I train you, prepare you for battle, and eventually send you off to it. Surely you should know all of this?"

Gracia distantly remembered someone-perhaps Angel-possibly mentioning something about a Council in conjunction with the Slayer.

"What's your name?"

"Cecelia Rees."

There was silence as Cecelia strode back to the desk and picked up the book. She held it in Gracia's direction, not even looking up. Gracia didn't know what she was supposed to do. The thick, dusty leather covers, the gilded letters spelling out the word 'VAMPYRES' and the yellowed pages showed that it obviously wasn't the Biology textbook she was searching for. Nervously, she tapped her fingernails against the desk. After about thirty seconds, Cecelia looked up.

"Well, take it then, girl," she snapped irritably. "I don't have all day."
Gracia moved forward and took the book in her arms, almost dropping it at the sudden weight. Cecelia didn't see as she had turned back to the papers on the desk. She sat down on a chair to sort them out, and eventually spoke to the Slayer hovering uncertainly by her desk.

"You are to come here immediately after lessons end for training. I want to see how streamlined you aren't. Then, when it gets dark, you shall go out to patrol and report to me tomorrow morning of how many you slew."

Gracia was dumbstruck at how this woman she hadn't known yet for five minutes suddenly ruled her life and everything she did. She gaped at her for a second before finding her voice.

"But I can't."

Cecelia glared up sternly over her glasses at Gracia. "What was that you told me?"

"I can't. I'm getting a lift from my mum home, I have mountains of homework, and then I'm going out with my friends."

As soon as she said it, she knew that she shouldn't have. Cecelia stood up to her full height, face shining with a kind of emotionless anger. It scared and startled the teenager and her first thought was to get out of there as fast as she could before the Watcher exploded.

But when Cecelia spoke, her voice was low and poisoned with deadly fury. "How dare you."

Gracia's instinct told her to snap back with, 'How dare I what?", but she didn't trust Cecelia's temper or want to test its limits too much. So she remained silent, making her eyes look confused.

"How dare you," Cecelia continued, "Put the fate of the world and people's lives at risk for prior arrangements! Safety of others must come first! And as for these...these friends of yours...few Slayers have ever had friends. It puts those people at risk, something a Slayer must prevent!"

"I'm...I'm sorry..."

"So you should be! I simply can't understand the sheer lack of concern you show. Tell me, what do you find most important? Homework or somebody escaping a possible vampire attack and living?"

"Well...obviously the person living."

"Exactly!" Cecelia's eyes narrowed to impossibly small slits of rage. "Which is why you shall be here at half past three exactly after your final class and not flouncing off home."

Gracia watched in disbelief as her Watcher sat down again, rearranged her glasses carefully, and carried on sorting the papers out. It was obvious that she considered the matter closed. Gracia shifted slightly from foot to foot, awaiting any possibly break in the tense silence, but, upon none arriving after a minute or so, she replied, "I'm very sorry."

With that, she turned and walked out of the room, squeezing the book amongst her folders in her bag. It was only when she stepped out of the room that she realised that nothing she had gone into to look for had been retrieved. But it would take a lot to make her return to the library at that moment, and so she headed for a quiet place where she could phone home to rearrange the schedule.

Because if she had to put up with that stuck-up Cecelia as her mentor, she may as well obey some of what she said. However, as the home phone rang, she wondered if she may be able to go to the Bronze anyway, just more alert for vampires.
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"Where is she?" Keisha snapped irritably, kicking her scuffed trainer against the table leg. Some nearby cheerleaders glared daggers at her as they passed, and she pulled a face at them.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Just think. Two weeks ago, I was saying that. Though my temper was-and always has been-a lot better than yours, Keish."
Keisha's bad temper caused her to turned her anger on her brother. "Shut it, Luke. You're not funny."

"Wasn't trying to be," he said, frowning at her. "What's up with you?"

"I'm sick of waiting, that's what. Gracia said she'd be here half an hour ago, and she still hasn't turned up. You'd think she'd tell us if she wasn't coming."

Luke shrugged. "Maybe she didn't know. Come of it, she only moved here weeks ago."

Keisha's eyes flicked angrily around the buzzing club. "Her friend Angel isn't even here. He might've known where she was."

Luke grinned. "And you might've wanted to see him for other reasons..."

Keisha's eyes flared, although her cheeks burned bright red. "Say that again, and I'll knock your teeth down your throat."

"And you might've..."

Keisha stood suddenly, almost tipping up the table. "I'm leaving. Don't bother coming."

"Why'd I want to?" Luke asked, but his sister stalked quickly away, barging people out of her way.

Outside, walking down the alleyway, the cool air of the dark night helped to cool Keisha's temper. She took a few deep breaths, calming herself. Honestly, Luke could be such an idiot at...well, all of the time actually. Why did he think she liked Angel in that way?

Keisha answered her own question, and she shook her head with a sigh. It was a bummer having a twin who thought he could read your emotions and thoughts like a book.

Keisha tucked her loose hair behind her ears and carried on, too consumed in her mind to her a very small sound behind her. Too preoccupied to feel a presence behind her. Too busy to know anything until she was grabbed roughly by her arms and slammed into a wall.
With a small cry she began to slide to the ground, but her shoulders were seized and she found herself yanked upright and head forced slightly sideways. She fearfully gazed up at the face of the burly male atacker who held her in such a tight death grip.

It was hideously unhuman.

Keisha screamed shrilly.

(A/N:Cliffhanger! Oh, alright then...)
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As Gracia crept silently in the general direction of the nightclub through the empty streets, she was listening to the very quiet footsteps behind her. It made her smile to think that the person behind her was oblivious of her attention, which they had gained since they began following her streets back.

Nearer the Bronze, she whirled around, grinning, to face Angel. He gave her a small smile.

"How long did that take you, Gracey?" he teased playfully.

She raised an eyebrow, having never heard him that tone since...well, since he was Liam. "Oh, not long really. About thirty seconds, then I thought I'd let you reckon you had me tricked. And no jokes about my concentration slacking, I've had enough of people dissing me today."

Angel's smile faded. "Why? What happened?"

Gracia pulled a disgusted face. "I met my Watcher, and let's just say she's not the nicest of people."

Angel was about to question this cause of his sister's unhappiness when a high-pitched scream tore through the area. Gracia gasped and began to run in the direction of it.

Angel followed. "What is it?" he asked.

Gracia's reply was one word long. "Keisha!"
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Keisha whimpered in pure fright as the guy began to lower his needle-like teeth to her neck. She tried to breath, tried to call for help, but it all stuck in her throat. Why didn't anyone come? Heck, she'd even be glad to see Bridget or Luke right now, as long as they got this stranger away.

"Get away from her!"

The man let go of Keisha and she sank weakly to the floor, shaking in mixed terror and relief. She gulped and stared blurrily at the two people standing there, her rescuers. It was Gracia and Angel.

The man snarled, "Make me."

Gracia shrugged in unconcern. "OK then."

He charged at her with a roar, but at the last minute she ducked out of the way. He turned blindly to see her pacing backwards, dark eyes fixed dangerously upon him untilshe was against the opposite wall to which Keisha huddled against. He ran at her again, head down. Keisha shrieked as it looked as though Gracia would end up with a lot of pain in her stomach from the head butt.

Just before he struck, she vaulted over his back, giving him a shove to add to the pain of his head striking the wall. Dazed, he staggered back, clutching his head. This made it all the easier for her to flip him to the ground and pin him there.

"Gracey!"

Gracia glanced briefly up to catch the stake Angel threw for her. She placed it over the vampire's heart as his vision began to unblur. He saw the Slayer, dark hair spilling out of its plait. He saw the petite girl he'd attacked cowering by the wall, eyes wide and riveted. He saw Angelus approaching, Angelus the Scourge of Europe, Angelus the Traitor.

"Betrayer," he hissed. "A lot of us want you in particular dead."

Gracia couldn't stand this. She put all of her weight behind the stake and plunged it into his chest. The vampire had time to let pain flicker over his hideous face before he became a pile of ashes.

She let the stake drop, got up, and ran over to Keisha.

"Are you OK?"
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As he sat listening to the band, Luke suddenly got a terrible feeling. Some sense told him Keisha was in trouble. How he got that feeling, he didn't know, but it was the same one he always had whenever he thought she might come to any harm. It was a bit like the Sixth Sense that twins in movies mostly share.

Why couldn't I have been an only child? he pleaded.

But all the same, he rose and left quickly, fear and apprehension building up as he walked quickly, wondering where his twin was. Then suddenly he heard a raised voice ringing out.

"Gracey!"

It was that of Gracia's friend Angel, the one Luke had teased Keisha about. Now it looked as though both girls may be in trouble. Luke broke into a run, desperately hoping that he was following the direction of the voice.

He turned around a corner and skidded to a sudden halt. His twin had her head in her hand as she leaned shaking against the wall, Gracia was hugging her in a comforting way, and Angel was crouched beside them. Not far off, a large pile of what looked like grey ash was heaped with a sharply pointed wooden stick next to it.

Angel and Gracia looked up and Keisha peered eventually through her fingers at him. He stood there for a second, staring in confusion. There were so many things he wanted, needed, to ask, but they all couldn't fight their way out.

Eventually, he managed to say hoarsely, "What the hell is happening?"
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See, I eventually do get my fics updated. It takes time. Depends when I get work and how much I receive. And on top of that, I'm restricted on the Internet, so I can usually update about once a week if I have nothing else to do.

Anyways, I really like reviews (hint hint). A cookie (::) to all those who obey my wishes!