Chapter IV: A Deal of Fate

Saturday was a day of relaxing, for most at least. While the non-Potentials and non-trainers got to relax upstairs next to a fan, everyone who had something to do with the training of the Potentials and the Potentials themselves were downstairs, training in the damp, and quickly becoming hot, basement.

Xander and Dawn were sitting in the room playing a card game called 'President', or what Dawn's friends would rather call 'A-hole'. Dawn taught Xander all the game rules and how to play and was in the process of dealing an open-hand as their first game. Andrew, who was very bored being that he had nothing to do and all, sat on a chair and watched them play.

"Are jokers included?" Andrew asked conversationally.

"Yep," Dawn answered, paying more attention to the cards than to Andrew.

"Cool," Andrew murmured. He looked closer at the hand Dawn had lain down on the table, then looked at Xander's hand. "Wow, Dawn, you have quadruple eight's…and three triples."

"Well, that's what you get when you play with two people," Dawn told him. She sighed. "You know what your opponent has just by looking at your own cards. That's the downside of playing with two people, especially when you know that your opponent has all the power cards."

"Oh cool, I got all the power cards," Xander said happily. When Dawn glared at him, he said, "Sorry."

Dawn smiled. "No, it's not your fault," she said. "It's probably just beginners' luck. But if it happens again, I'll know you had something to do with it and then, I'll have to strangle you." She gave her best threatening Mafia-leader smile to which Xander laughed.

"So, who starts?" Xander asked.

"You do," Dawn told him, "because you have the three of clubs."

"But you have more threes than I do," Xander pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Dawn said. "Three of clubs starts the game. Go on, play it."

Xander laid his card in the middle of the table. "Now what?"

"Now, I answer it with a single higher than three," Dawn said. "Remember, you want to get rid of as many cards as you can." She laid down a four. Xander looked at his own cards and took out his next highest single: a ten. "That's good," Dawn said. She looked at her own cards and let out a sigh. "But I have no more singles and I'm not a risk-taker, so take it. You won that one."

"Really?" Xander asked, taking the three cards away. "Cool." He laid out triple fours to which Dawn happily answered with triple tens. Xander shook his head and Dawn swiped that trick away. She then laid down triple threes and grinned. Xander played his triple nines and she played her triple kings. She stuck her tongue out when he couldn't go.

"And now on to the doubles," Andrew commented as Dawn laid down double fives. Xander matched her with double sixes. She matched with double sevens; him with double two-eyed jacks; her with double queens; him with double aces; and she took a risk in putting down her double twos.

"Play a jack," Andrew whispered to Xander. Dawn gave him a death-glare as Xander complied and laid down an one-eyed jack, the third highest card power card. He looked up hopefully at Dawn to see if what he did was right and was rewarded with a pout from Dawn.

"Grrr," Dawn said as she swiped the cards away. He placed down double fives; her with double sixes; him with double sevens; her with double eight's (which split up her quadruple in the process); him with double queens; and her with double aces.

"Sorry Dawn, but…" Xander said as he put down his double twos, something she couldn't beat. Next he played his one-eyed jack, his two jokers, and the king of hearts, effectively winning the game and leaving Dawn with a double eight and single nine.

Dawn pouted. "Damn beginners' luck," she whined. But then she brightened. "But I get to match. Ohh, you are so going down, Xander!" she said happily.

Xander looked, confused, between Dawn and Andrew. "What? There's a match?"

Andrew thought for a moment, then asked, "Like if you have double fives and he plays double fives, you can match him?" Dawn nodded, grinning wickedly. "Oh, sweet!"

She looked at Xander. "Your deal…Mr. You're-So-Going-Down," she said.

"Can I play?" Andrew asked. He was met with no's. "Oh, come one! This way, we can play more fairly and won't be able to guess what each other has."

Dawn looked at Xander and Xander looked at Dawn. "Okay," they said in unison, and Xander began to deal for the three of them. But the door suddenly opened just as the phone rang.

***

Willow quickly closed the door, yelled, "I'll get it!" before running into the kitchen to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Willow?" a female voice that Willow recognised immediately said.

"Althenea, hi!" Willow exclaimed happily as she went to the refrigerator for a water bottle. "What's up?"

"It turns out you have another Potential coming your way," Althenea began. "The Seers think she might have already arrived."

Willow perked up, wondering if this Potential was Mira. She noticed out of the corner of her eye Dawn, Xander, and Andrew coming into the kitchen as she asked, "Do they know what this Potential looks like?"

"Unfortunately not," Althenea answered. "All they know is that she's coming in from Canada." The line suddenly became very static-y. "And that - could be in to-wn. Will-ow?"

"Yeah?" Willow answered, but knew Althenea would only partially hear her.

"F-nd her - soon," Althenea said before the line was completely cut off. Willow frowned as she hung up the phone.

"Something wrong, Willow?" Xander asked, concerned.

"There's another Potential, and she might be in town," Willow said. "Plus, I get the feeling that the First intercepted out phone conversation."

"You mean it's listening to your phone conversations with the coven?" Dawn asked. "When we get news about a Potential, it gets the news too?"

Willow nodded sadly. "It could be," she said. "Which means we need to find this Potential before the First does. She's going to be in trouble."

***

When Mira got back to her motel room, she decided to sleep the day and find the Slayer in the evening. Locking her door and putting the desk in front of it, she lay on the loveseat and covered herself with a blanket, quickly falling asleep.

*

"Mommy!" There was that cry again. Mira found herself once again in the dream she had at the library. The little girl was clinging to her dead mother's arm while the vampire, in human form, watched on. Suddenly, the vampire looked up and saw Mira standing there. It seemed like he was the only one who could see her.

He grinned wickedly when Mira took a frightened step back. "Well, didn't expect a Potential all the way back here. Aren't you girls supposed to be going to the Hellmouth for protection?"

"I am at the Hellmouth," Mira answered. "This is just a dream."

"No, it's not a dream," the vampire said mysteriously, circling Mira. "This is my reality, the little girl's reality. Her mother just died because of something I did, and the little girl will be lost and helpless." He wandered over to the little girl and knelt beside her. "Isn't that right, Clara?" In response, she looked at him with frightened eyes.

"You know her name," Mira stated.

"Of course I do," the vampire sneered. "This girl is certainly popular in the Underworld." He looked at the young mother. "And she didn't even know the girl's power. She didn't even know what she was carrying."

"Why is this girl popular in the Underworld?" Mira asked, kneeling down next to him and the child. "Tell me," she said impatiently when he didn't answer. He merely looked at her, his face a mask. "What is so special about this poor child that you had to kill her mother?"

The vampire smirked and brought his face close to Mira's, so close she could smell a hint of cinnamon and the soap Irish Springs. "No, I didn't kill her mother," he whispered in Mira's ear, his breath tickling her skin.

She shivered as he breathed on her ear once more before drawing away to look at the child who was watching them anxiously. The vampire brushed a strand of the child's hair aside gently, as if touching her harder would break her fragile mould. The child flinched but didn't move away.

"Such a young sweet thing," the vampire said to Mira. "So innocent, so full of life." He picked up the child and growled at the vampire standing behind him, before walking away. Mira looked up to see the yellow eyes of another vampire staring at her. But she looked past him at the sign behind him. It read 'Fleury Park'. She was shocked.

Then, the mother's eyes opened.

*

Mira gasped and sat up quickly, gasping, "Fleury Park! Why the hell was a special girl's mother murdered in a park across from the building I happened to live in? Well, back home at least."

She checked the time and the light coming in through the window. It was still daylight, but it was getting pretty close to sundown. After straightening her shirt, she put on her jean jacket and grabbed her purse.

Before she found the Slayer, she had to know what the Underworld knew about the child, Clara, and the vampire that talked to her. She had to find out what the hand she had been dealt meant.