A/N: OK, if you've seen my profile lately, you'd see why I haven't updated in a while. I had the chapter all written up and was about to upload when it got deleted! Dammit! Oh, and I was banned from uploading for a while cause I got into trouble over breaking uploading rules...I am REALLY sorry to everyone! Honest! I'll try to upload quicker to make up for it!

Disclaimer: Lives in the previous chapters!

Dedication: Lessee...all my wonderful reviewers, you guys are great for sticking by me. And my friend Rainbow Dreamer, who's just joined the site.

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"I know it may soung crazy, but it's true!"

Cecelia glared across the table at Gracia, eyes narrowed in dislike. Gracia sighed inwardly. This SO was not the time for Cecelia's hatred to get in the way of what was happening.

"Preposterous," the icy blonde Watcher snapped. "The Anointed One has been dead for years!"

"But it makes more sense than anything else!" Gracia blurted. From where she stood behind Cecelia, Keisha gave her an encouraging nod. "To distract me, they've done something to make people have accidents to distract me whilst they planned a Resurrection."

"Nonsense! A vampire must leave a skeleton to be resurrected, and it is known for sure that the Anointed One did not!"

"There must be some other way then!" Gracia half-pleaded hopelessly, sliding into a chair by the table, opposite the Watcher. "There's got to be a way..."

"I have spent long years training as a Watcher. I know much more than you, and this is a basic fact made clear to all Watchers-in-training shortly after their training begins! I suggest you concentrate and stop trusting these lies fed to you by that murderous vampire you call a brother..."

"That's enough!"

Gracia was surprised, but not unplesantly so, to find that Keisha had jumped into the argument before she could reply. Keisha stormed around next to where Gracia sat, glaring in fury at the Watcher.

"You just can't take it that Angel is a better person than you'll ever be!" she snapped. "You think you're so much better than him when you're not!"

Keisha slowly came back to earth when she realised that the eyes of both Slayer and Watcher were on her, the eyes of the former quite round with astonishment and the eyes of the latter slits of anger. She felt her insides shrivel when she realised Gracia may have picked up on some underlying message about how much she liked Angel, but it was Cecelia who next spoke.

"Surely you mean vampire." she hissed. "Because that's what he is- a brutal, souless, evil demon!"

"He has a soul!" Gracia yelled.

There was a deadly silence for a minute or so. 'Tense' was an understatement for the atmosphere. Gracia and Cecelia's eyes were locked in a silent battle, but eventually Cecelia looked away briefly, a strange expression on her face.

"Enough of this. There are more important things to discuss." There seemed to be a bitter battle being fought behind Ccelia's face, evident in her steely eyes, and the girls exchanged surprised glances at this. Cecelia eventually sighed silently and continued.

"Whilst your suspicions of a cult trying to ressurrect a long dead leader are stupid and ignorant, I have come across knowledge that there is indeed a vampire nest in the industrial area not far from here. The number of vampires does not exceed thirty, but given time and they will undoubtably multiply into a much more severe problem."

Gracia nodded gravely. "I'll go tonight." She was excited at the prospect of a proper fight at last- the vampires had been a bit thin on the ground lately.

"Leave here just before sunset and I believe you should be able to make it there just as they begin to awaken. Catching them disorientated means that you will stand a better chance in the fight. I'll give you instructions just before you leave to make sure that you don't forget them." Cecelia gave a slight, almost invisible nod to her Slayer. A sign of communication. Gracia managed a small, reluctant smile back.

Keisha spoke next. "You want me and Luke to come with you as back up? Sending you into battle with thirty vampires seems pretty dangerous."

Cecelia cut in. "No civilians will be involved in this battle! It's far too dangerous!"

Gracia looked up at her and the smile became genuine, although apologetic. "Thanks, Keish, but Cecelia has a point. I really don't want you or Luke to get hurt in such a big battle. Patrol is very different. I'll probably just take Angel as back up. Spike too if I can find him and he wants to come."

"No!" Cecelia barked. "The vampires are not coming. Do you really want two more opponents?" She sneered. "The other vampires may be quite interested to see them again."

Everyone present knew that it meant that Angel and Spike stood a good chance of death if involved.

"Fine." Gracia said with a sigh. "OK. No Angel or Spike. I promise."

Cecelia merely stared at her for a moment longer, then turned her metallic eyes to Keisha. "You, girl. Go to your classes." To Gracia she added, "You must begin to train for tonight." With that, she swept off towards her office to gather some equipment.

Keisha sighed. "She's probably right, you know. Even if Luke is covering up for us to the teachers, he'll wanna know what's up." She pulled her bag over from across the table and smiled at her friend. "We'll drop by later if possible, just before you leave. To wish you luck, not that you'll need it."

Gracia suddenly stood up as Keisha crossed by her, grabbing her wrist lightly. Keisha looked around, eyebrows raised in silent question, and Gracia leaned forward after making sure the Watcher was still in the office.

"Keisha, can you...just make sure Angel knows where I am, OK? Incase." Her voice was low, her eyes pleading.

Keisha nodded. "Of course. I'll make sure we're here when Angel drops by. See you later."

Gracia nodded her thanks and watched the petite girl leave. Then she turned to see Cecelia re-enter, none the wiser to the conversation and carrying black foam pads for a target practice exercise. Her face held the old familiar expression of scorn.

"No let's see how bad your fighting skills have become." she sneered. Gracia sighed inwardly again.

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Angel was sitting on the couch of his silent basement apartment, occupying the daylight hours with his favourite pastime- brooding.

But this time, not about Gracia. Of course he worried for her, but with her supernatural skills, he knew she could hold her own in a fight. No, this time it was Keisha on his mind.

Unfortunately, with the discovery of an immanent resurrection, he hadn't had the chance to ask further about any of her dreams. What worried him most was that she'd kept it all to herself. She hadn't told anyone: not Luke, not Gracia, not Cecelia.

Not him.

She had seemed to not want to bother anyone; like she considered everyone else's problems to be so much more important than hers. If only she knew that that wasn't how it was. That her problems were much more important than she realised.

Maybe Willow and Tara could help, with all their knowledge. Despite the fact that he didn't have much information and that he didn't want to burden them with even more research, he found himselfpicking up his phone and dialling their number.

The phone rang once, twice, thrice. Then there was a click and Willow's voice came onto the line.

"Hi, Willow here. Sorry, but Tara and I are out at the moment, so if you leave your name, numb-"

Angel put the phone down.

There was only one other option- to get to the school as soon as possible to talk to her.

Only a couple of hours to go...

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Gracia had been so impatient to leave for the fight that she had almost cheered when Cecelia gave her directions and sent her off. She had briefly encountered the twins on her way out of the school as they went to their post of awaiting Angel, and was wished good luck by both. Now, barely twenty minutes later, she crept noiselesssly through the industrial block.

The factories stood in regimental rows with large spaces in between to allow trading lorries through. The old brick buildings in this area had all been abandoned for possibly five years or older, although their structures dated much further back. Each door was heavily padlocked, danger signs were hung randomly by the council, and some of the grimy windows were boarded up.

All of Gracia's Slayer senses stood alert as she wandered from one alley to the next. She now realised that Cecelia's directions hadn't been that clear at all- she only knew that she was in the vaguely correct area. Every muscle in her body was tensed, ready to spring as she cast her gaze around. Then, as she reached about halfway up this particular alleyway, she paused and stared.

The factory on her left- the one she stood a little closer to- was particularly rundown, with most of the windows blocked somehow and even a sort of wide balcony high up leading from what must have been a second storey door. It also had a door just ahead of her, set at the end of a shadowy porch, and from what she could see, it was very old and the paint was flaking off. But one thing was certain.

There was no lock on the door.

With a frown of caution, Gracia began to prowl silently towards the entrance, right hand pulling the long stake out of her jacket where it resided next to a phial of holy water in an inside pocket. She was hovering near the porch, just about to step in, listening hard...

CRASH!!!

Gracia whipped around suddenly, stake raised. The noise had definitely come from a set of overflowing trash cans opposite the door. She took a wary pace forward, then another, and another, and another...

It was only then that the figure stepped stealthily from the shadows and swung the long iron bar down through the air in a deadly arc.

The bar collided with the preoccupied Slayer's skull with a faint, dull clang. Gracia's eyes widened very slightly from the natural shock of the sudden impact, then her body crumpled to the ground. Her stake rolled from her loosened grip and away from her body. The iron bar was tossed aside in such a way that there was as little noise made as possible.

As the last glimmers of daylight just began to fade on the horizon, the tall creature dragged the slender girl into the dark of the factory.

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Ooh, cliffhanger! Sorry guys!

And again, sorry about not updating sooner. Buffy Fan- thanks for ur very nice review. I'm flattered that u think this is one of the best written Buffy fics uve read. Oh, and yes, I always did intend to add Spike in. Come on, he's one of the (if not the) best Buffy characters! I'm a very big fan.

So, now uve read, please review and next chapter up soon!