I guess this is the part where I include the disclaimers (I'm really big on disclaimers). Mutant Enemy Television, Inc. owns Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My use is in no way meant to challenge any established copyrights. This piece is not intended for any profit on the part of the writer, nor is it meant to detract from the commercial viability of the aforementioned, or any other, copyright. Any similarity to any events or persons (either real or fictional) is unintended.

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Author's Note: This is one of my older stories that I went back to, edited, and re-posted in chapters to make it more reader-friendly. (Fanfiction.net was only starting to introduce the Chaptering feature on the site while this was being written, and as I am resistant to change, that feature was not incorporated into this story until now.) I think the entire fic is better off now than it was before - dialogue is improved, characters have more depth, and it's overall easier to read.

Author's Second Note: To make it easier to understand the chronology of this piece... the action in this story takes place after the close of Season 4 and the beginning of Season 5.

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This fanfic presentation of Buffy is intended for our adult and teen readers, and is not suitable for our younger readers.

Comes the Inquisitor

by

Nevermore

I - Prying Eyes

"I don't exactly think this is what Buffy had in mind when she told us to hold down the fort," Willow said for the umpteenth time. Xander had given up trying to persuade his lifelong friend an hour earlier that patrolling was a good idea.

"You're gonna let them know we're around," he said instead, referring to any demons that might be in the graveyard. He hoped that strategy would at least keep Willow quiet; he knew she wouldn't be happy until they went home.

"You guys have done this before, right?" Tara asked, following Willow's lead in repetition. With Tara, Xander could at least be patient. Although she'd been around the group for quite awhile, she hadn't taken part in many of their late-night excursions.

"Trust us," Xander assured Tara once more. "Buffy's not the only one around here to partake in a little slayage."

"Okay," Tara replied sheepishly. She knew she was probably being annoying, but she'd never been out at night actually looking for vampires and other assorted demons. She had grown up feeling that much of the occult had a basis in fact, but it wasn't until she met Willow that she found out for sure just how much was frighteningly real. It was rational enough for Buffy to go out hunting the minions of darkness, but she had little idea why she, Willow, and Xander were actively hunting demons. She was only a witch, and not a very strong a one at that. Buffy and Riley had gone away only for a week, just a short camping trip in the mountains. Tara couldn't imagine how things could possibly get out of control before the Slayer returned.

"Wait a second, I think I heard something," Xander whispered, gesturing off toward his left. The three would-be hunters moved off in that direction and were immediately faced with a hand reaching out of the dirt of a fresh grave. "Yep, methinks we've seen this before."

"We have?" Tara whimpered.

"Just stay close," Willow said reassuringly, moving a step nearer her lover. "You'll be fine."

Within moments a vampire had extricated itself from the earth. No sooner had it arisen than it was tackled by Xander, who missed with his initial strike with his stake. The vampire snarled as it attempted to sink its fangs into Xander's throat, but by that point Willow had already begun an incantation and Tara had overcome her initial surprise enough to join her.

A moment later a bright flash erupted within the vampire's eyes. The demon shrieked in fear, thinking that it had somehow been exposed to sunlight. Xander used the creature's momentary shock well, sitting up and straddling the demon as he drove the stake into its heart, sending it back into the Abyss in an eruption of dust and ash.

"That wasn't such a chore, now was it?" he asked confidently, noticing that while Willow smiled, Tara simply continued to stare at the ground where the vampire had been destroyed.

"You'll get used to it," Willow said encouragingly as she turned to her girlfriend. "You did really well."

"You sure?" Tara asked, still uncertain that her performance had been adequate. "I was sorta surprised at first. It took me a little while to get going."

"You were great," Willow said, giving Tara a reassuring hug.

The three friends were so proud of their successful hunt that none of them noticed a slender form hidden in the shadows of a nearby tree. It seemed neither to move to conceal itself better, nor to move more into the open.

An old, thin pair of eyes followed Xander, Tara, and Willow as they walked away from the graveyard. None of them is the Slayer, he thought, not needing more than a fraction of a second to come to that conclusion. Only the man fought the vampire, and men could not be Slayers. Those two women have power, though. He licked his lips with anticipation at getting to see the two women again. Up close and personal. Despite his age, his heart began to beat furiously with anticipation as he already began to form plans for his next move.

To be continued..................................