Harmony and Spike charged in unison at Faith. The Slayer overcame her shock, letting her training and instincts guide her reaction. She sidestepped Harmony's charge, grabbing the vampire by her shoulders and tossing her into Spike, piling them both on the ground. "Great ambush Spike," Faith gripped her stake as the two vampires began to recover from the fall. "I gotta admit, the little blonde bimbo there had me fooled."
"She's not important," Spike dusted off his jacket, not bothering to help Harmony to her feet. "Just some silly little thing I picked up, hoping she might do a better job than she did." He began methodically closing on the Slayer. "This is between you and me Slayer." The vampire cracked his knuckles. "It's been a long time since I've tasted a Slayer. I just hope you aren't too sour, what with the whole evil thing and all."
"Not gonna get the chance to find out," Faith flared, spinning her left fist around, striking Spike on the side of the face. Before Spike could react, she brought her other fist down on his forehead, causing his knees to buckle. Wasting no time, the Slayer kicked him in the face, sending the vampire flying backward. "Come on Spike, I expected better than this." The vampire recovered and was quickly back to his feet, slowly walking towards the Slayer. "Maybe your little girlfriend would like to take a shot," she pointed at Harmony who had just pulled herself up, high heels causing something of a hindrance in doing so.
"Leave the silly little girl out of this," Spike's comment infuriated Harmony. This wasn't how he was supposed to be acting. He was supposed to be worshipping her. "Like I said, she's not important; you don't even need to worry about her."
"I am so important!" Harmony scrambled from behind Spike. "I'm more important than you are," she scolded Spike with her finger.
"No you're not," Spike quickly tried to remind her of the plan, hoping she would realize this wasn't part of it. He then looked to Faith who was gazing at the two of them, watching their exchange with interest. "No she's not," Spike tried to convince Faith. Faith's eyes shot to Harmony.
"I am so more important that you!" Harmony said to Spike who shook his head in disappointment before she looked at Faith. "He wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me! I made him like this, I control him now!"
"Really?" Faith was now interested in what she had to say.
"Harmony shut up," Spike insisted, hoping to keep her from ruining everything by running her mouth.
"Listen Mister!" Harmony rapidly pointed a finger at him. "You wouldn't even have this new attitude if it wasn't for me so you better stop trying to act like you're the big evil because I'm the one with the evil scheme here!"
"Harmony, shut up." Spike's voice became more intense as his companion continued to reveal more information that the Slayer did not need to know.
"Don't even listen to him," Harmony pushed Spike aside, speaking only to Faith now. "I'm your real nemesis here Slayer," Faith raised an eyebrow, thinking that evil forces must be getting desperate if they sent this vampire to fight her. "I've got an evil plan and it's perfect! For once, my plan is perfect! That's right, perfect and you're not going to live through it Slayer."
"Harmony!" Spike threw a hand over her mouth, muffling her babbling. "Don't listen to her, she drank some bad blood right before we came looking for you, messing with the poor girl's head I'm afraid." Spike's attempt at subtly trying to write off Harmony's comments did not go unnoticed by Faith nor did it work for Harmony.
She pushed his hand away from her face and continued rambling. "He's lying, I am so the big bad! The only reason he's saying I'm not is because he wanted to distract –" It suddenly hit Harmony that she was revealing her own plan. "Oh yeah, right, Spike is the big bad guy," her voice was less than convincing. "I'm just your normal, everyday, run of the mill vampire with no diabolical plan for this town."
"Whatever," Faith shrugged. "If you two are done deciding who is the big bad and who is the henchman, can we get on with, I don't know, me staking the both of you maybe?"
"Don't be so confident Slayer," Spike grinned. By the sound of his voice and his very presence, it was clear he felt as though he had the situation completely under control. "Remember, you're not the first Slayer I've faced and you won't be the last either."
"Maybe you're the one who's over confident." Faith did not crack. "Because I've killed a lot of vampires Spike and you're no different than the rest of them. Sure, you might have tricked a lot of people into thinking that you were but regardless of where this new little change in you came from, it's the real you and I'm going to enjoy killing you."
"Yeah," nor did Spike falter, his voice remained cool as steel. "I've noticed you seem to get off on that sort of thing. Well this ought to feel real good then, getting rid of the vampire that has helped save your neck on more than one occasion." He took a step closer, looking down at the Slayer and seeing the hate in her eyes swell. "If you live, I bet you'll go home after you've done the deed. Be all hot, sweaty and bothered, laying there with your hand under the sheet." Faith hit him with a ferocious uppercut. It took Spike only a second to recover, laughing at her when he did so.
"Let's get this over with," Faith was now more than ready to end this game.
Spike continued laughing for another moment. Seeing Faith standing in an offensive stance, stake at the ready, he didn't risk closing to the distance he had before, opting instead to stay slightly out of her reach, next to Harmony. "Don't be so eager for the dance to end so soon Slayer."
As Faith prepared to bolt towards the vampires, Preston appeared in front of her, holding a cross an arm's length in front of him towards Spike and Harmony. This action earned him growls from both of the vampires. His hand was slightly unsteady but his determination did not falter. "Back foul things!" He commanded.
"Well look at this," Spike grinned and looked Preston over from head to toe, not seemingly impressed with what he saw. "Stupid, out of style suit, lousy accent and a deer in the headlights look, hot damn I think we have a new watcher on our hands here Harm!"
"You heard him," Faith walked to Preston's side and crossed her arms, a stake still ready in one hand. "Get the hell out of here."
"I didn't think you'd want it to end just yet, you might make a fun game yet Slayer," Spike too Harmony by the hand and walked off into the darkness, neither Faith nor Preston offering pursuit.
"You're going to let them escape?" Preston was surprised by Faith's actions. He knew Faith was capable of handling herself against superior numbers of vampires and wondered what was different about these two that caused Faith to spare them for the time.
"Don't worry; I think we'll see them again."
***
The advent of the global telecommunications system was quite possibly one of the greatest tools for law enforcement developed during the last century. Robert Bloodworth had access to police reports, warrant information and criminal records from across the globe on the screen in front of him, all by clicking a few buttons on the mouse and typing in his assigned password. He had spent the last hour searching for any sort of information available on Faith's new watcher and coming up with nothing. The council was apparently good and covering the tracks of its people.
The patrol office of the Sunnydale Police Department was relatively empty on this Friday morning. Of the sixteen desks, neatly arranged side by side in two rows, all outfitted with computers and other essentials, available, only two were occupied, one by Robert and one by another officer completing an offense report left over from the day before.
After completing a single patrol of his assigned area of the city early in the morning, Robert had wasted no time in coming to the office and logging onto the computer system. He had queried the name Preston Mathers, along with several variations of it, in the FBI and INTERPOL databases, coming up with no criminal or fugitive records that remotely matched the description of Faith's watcher.
Finally, he became frustrated, taking his hands off the keyboard and rolling his chair slightly away from the desk. Although he had little information about Preston to work with, he had thought there would be something out there on him. He began to wonder if he was looking for something wrong with Preston just to make himself feel better about the watcher's sudden arrival in Sunnydale and pushing him further away from Faith.
If that was the case, it didn't really bother him; he still wanted to find something regardless of his motivations. Robert loaded a program that allowed him to send a digital message to nearby law enforcement agencies. I typed out a simple request for them to check recent reports to see if they had dealt with anyone matching Preston's name or description. He knew it was a long shot but one he felt was justified as Preston would have had to pass through a larger city in California before coming to Sunnydale.
Once his message was sent, Robert logged off the computer and leaned back, propping his hands behind his head. After he had left Faith's yesterday, he had spent the better part of the day training at his apartment. Despite being nearly exhausted from the hours of rigorous workout he had subjected himself to, Robert was barely able to sleep that night, consumed by thoughts of Faith and eager to get to the bottom of the appearance of this new watcher.
Now, all of that anticipation had worn off, replaced by a feeling of disappointment. Barring any information arising from the message he sent or from Dawn contacting the council, it seemed as though Preston was the genuine article. He needed to get out and do something, anything to get his mind back on his job.
On cue, Chief Morgan appeared in the door to the patrol office, a stack of paper's in his hand. "Robert," when the Chief entered, he ceased leaning back and acted as though he was gathering his things, preparing to head back out onto the road.
"How's it going boss?" Robert collected a new ticket book and several field report forms off the desk and placed them on his clipboard, stuffing it under his arm as he shook the Chief's hand.
"Can't complain I guess. Hey, you interested in picking up some overtime later today? We need to send a few people up to the football games and all of our shifts are overworked as it is so we're going to send off-duty people and pay the extra money."
That sounded precisely like what Robert needed. Get away from everything dealing with Faith and slaying, kick back and enjoy a football game while doing his job at the same time. "Yeah, I'll definitely do it."
"Great, game starts at seven thirty but I'd say be there an hour or so early. We want to make our presence there visible and you don't want to miss any of the pre-game."
"No doubt there boss," Robert and the Chief walked through the office, to the parking lot where both made for there respective vehicles. "So how is the team supposed to be this year?"
"Supposed to have a decent shot at going to state from what I hear."
"That's good news."
"Yeah and I hear the half-time show is supposed to be killer also," Chief Morgan had no idea the accuracy of that statement.
***
"Harmony what were you thinking?" Spike had spent most of their time in the crypt following last night's encounter with Faith scolding her for very nearly sending her own plan straight to the trashcan by trying to impress the Slayer with her self-proclaimed evil genius. "I mean, you weren't even supposed to be there. The whole point was for you to not be there!" She sat on the bed with her head lowered as Spike continued to dress her down. "That way, the Slayer spends her time looking for me but thanks to your little screw up, she could very well be on to your perfectly evil plan."
"I guess I really screwed up huh Spikey?" Harmony was soft and reserved, not able to stand up to Spike after the hours long lecture on the principals of scheming she had just received from him.
"Your damn right you screwed up!" Spike threw his arms in the air to emphasize his point. "Thanks to that big mouth of yours, the Slayer knows you're up to something and probably plans to do everything she can to stop you! Unless she bought my little last minute ploy better than I think she did or is just really pissed at me, you can bet she'll be staking for you before she turns her attention over to me."
"Then you just have to keep her from killing me until tonight." Harmony sprung off the bed, wrapping her arms around Spike's waste and trying to look into his eyes, only to have him look away. It wasn't like she hadn't seen him angry before but he wasn't supposed to be like this, he was supposed to be worshipping her. "Then I use my flashy thingy on the whole town at the football game and then everybody else takes care of the Slayer for me."
"And I'll keep her from killing you but you have to promise to do what I say," Spike got to the real purpose of this whole conversation. He knew he could keep Harmony safe from the Slayer; it was keeping her safe from herself that he thought he might have problems with.
"But you're supposed to be doing what I say!" Harmony insisted, reaching for the medallion hidden in her white leather jacket, prepared to give him another dose if he continued with his insubordinate behavior. "Don't make me zap you again!"
Spike sighed. "Harmony, you silly twit, do you really think I would even be coming up with a plan to help you if I wasn't being controlled by your flashy little brain jewel. Of course I'm doing what you say but you've got to admit, you're not the best when it comes to the practical strategizing."
"Hey, I came up with this evil plan buster!" Frustrated, she pounded a fist into his chest before slipping her arms back around him, his arms tightening around her in response. It felt good to be held by him again. She knew it wasn't really him but she didn't really care.
"Yes but you need my help. Without me the Slayer will stake you in an instant and then what happens to your evil plan?" Harmony didn't need him to give her the answer to that question. "So, listen to me and I'll make sure nothing happens that might mess up your big day."
"Our big day Spikey. Our big day."
***
"I knew it," that was the one thing nobody else in the Summers' living room wanted to here from Xander. "I tried to tell everybody, no not tried, I actually said it, more times than I can count but still, nobody believed me. I hate to say I told you so but when it comes to the subject of Spike being evil and nobody listening to me about how it would happen again someday, oh yeah, I told you so."
Xander finished his speech, opening the room for a comment from Faith, Dawn, Kennedy or Preston, all of whom said nothing. Spike's sudden and unexpected return to the dark side came as a serious blow to all of them when Faith had told the story about what had happened. Although all she had actually said was, "Spike is evil again and tried to kill me," it was enough to get the point across to the rest of the group who had not been there.
"Xander," Dawn gave him a subtle hint that his comments were not appreciated and to be quiet. They didn't need arguments or people bragging about how they knew this would happen, right now they needed answers and a plan. "A little less negativity could go a long way."
"Just saying that, oh yeah, Giles and I told all of you."
"Nobody could have anticipated this radical change from Spike," Preston jumped in next. "Something must have set him down this path; it is difficult to believe that he would so willingly do what he tried to do having a soul."
"Excuse me," Xander interjected. "Did you just miss my speech?" Preston shot him a stern expression. Seeing the way the watcher regarded him and knowing he already wasn't thrilled about having her friends here, Faith pulled him slightly aside.
"Look, it's not helping," the Slayer whispered, not wanting her watcher to overhear the conversation. "So if you can't think of something helpful to do or just keep your mouth shut, you can leave at any time."
"Sorry Faith," he hadn't actually intended to be annoying. "Just have a lot of built up steam when it comes to the whole Spike issue. I'll keep my mouth shut though."
"Unless you have something relevant to add," Faith jokingly added.
"Just promise me one thing?" Faith didn't need Xander to tell her what it was.
"Don't worry hon; I'll stake him twice for you."
"Thank you," the two went back to their places with the group, seated on couches around the coffee table, Faith next to Preston and Xander between Dawn and Kennedy.
"Faith, is there anything else you remember about the encounter with Spike that could prove useful in helping to determine the cause of his behavior?" Preston skipped right back to the point of the meeting. He would have witnessed more the previous night had Spike not hit him from behind after Faith ran to 'rescue' the girl under attack by the vampire.
The Slayer shook her head in response to the question. "No, just that ditsy little blonde vampire that kept acting like she was in charge. Said she was my nemesis and that she had some evil plan. Reminded me of the kind of girls I hated in school."
Evidenced by the expressions on their faces, both Dawn and Xander realized what was happening at the same time. "Oh no," Dawn drew curious glances from Faith, Preston and Kennedy.
"What?" Kennedy was the first to ask.
"Please not Harmony, oh please don't let it be Harmony," Xander began almost rambling next. It wasn't that he was scared of his former high school classmate; he simply didn't want the annoyance of having her back in town which could possibly lead to having to listen to her talk.
"Yeah, that's what Spike called her," Faith recalled.
"Oh god no," Xander muttered.
"So what's the big deal?" Faith certainly didn't see it, nor did Preston or Kennedy. "We just find her and kill her. Stake through the heart, beheading, fire."
"All good plans," Xander interjected. "All of which will work just fine but you need to be careful, Harmony isn't your normal vampire."
"Real powerful?" Not that Faith doubted Xander's assessment, as he had encountered her before, but the Slayer didn't notice anything particularly menacing or powerful about Harmony when she had come up against her and Spike the night before.
"Try really, really, stupid," that explanation from Xander made more sense. "And that's not to be taken lightly. If she and Spike are back together, you can bet nothing good is going to come from whatever they're planning."
"But if it helps, Harmony's plans have a history of not working out quite like they're supposed to," Dawn had firsthand knowledge of that fact.
"Whatever their plan may be and regardless of why Spike has again switched sides," Preston took charge of the conversation. "We must make sure that their plan does not come to fruition. Faith, you and I will go tonight to Spike's crypt and attempt to catch him and Harmony off guard. If they are not there, we will engage in a coordinated hunt."
"Sure thing boss, just going to have to wait until later tonight, got some responsibilities from the other job to take care of tonight also," Faith's remarks caught Preston by surprise. Though he knew of her job as a school counselor, he wasn't aware of any duties related to it that extended past the school day.
"What sort of responsibilities?"
"Since Robin's out of town, I volunteered to go to the football game, keep an eye on things." Seeing the expression on the watcher's face, Faith felt that a quick save was in order. "But don't worry; I'll be on the watch for vampires the entire time."
"I seriously doubt any self-respecting vampire would waste their time with a high school football game," scoffed Preston.
"Which means you might stand a decent chance at running into Harmony," Xander got the last word.
***
"PD – 1144," Robert leaned on the chain link fence that surrounded the football field and separated it from the dirt walkway and bleachers that completed the modest high school stadium. As he was not officially on duty, he was surprised to hear the police department dispatch attempting to contact him on his handheld radio.
"1144," he answered into his lapel microphone, keeping his eyes focused on the field. The sun was just beginning to set and the large stadium lights were now illuminating the field where the game between Sunnydale High and a Los Angeles high school was now underway with the hometown Razorbacks taking a second quarter fourteen to zero lead.
"Sir, we have a message for you at the office from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office," the female communications officer reported, sparking Robert's interest as well as hopes that there may be something to his suspicions about Preston. "Response to a query you sent this morning."
He had already begun walking to his car when he pressed the microphone button to send his next reply. "PD, could you forward that message to my vehicle computer, I'll be there momentarily."
"10 – 4, sir." When he reached his patrol car, the message from a Los Angeles County detective was waiting on his computer screen. As he read through the rather lengthy message, Robert froze. He had thought there was more to Preston than met the eye but he could never have guessed at what he saw on the screen in front of him.
Elsewhere in the stadium, Preston pulled Faith aside, allowing Xander, Dawn and Kennedy to walk far enough ahead of them so that the two could talk privately. Opting to roam the stadium rather than sit in the stands, none of them seemed particularly focused on searching for demonic activities, choosing instead to enjoy the game and the rare times they had to enjoy each other as friends.
"I thought we agreed that civilians would not be participating in your patrol duties," as Faith had said she would keep her eyes open for vampires this evening, Preston did not approve of the presence of her friends with her.
"Weren't you the one who said no self-respecting vampire would waste their time with a high school football game?" Faith capitalized on the opportunity to use his own words against him. "And technically, I'm not on patrol so my friends aren't, participating in my patrol duties," she did her best at imitating Preston's English accent on her last few words.
"That is nothing but semantics Faith and you know it," Preston suddenly became harsh, not taking Faith's light-hearted comments as anything but mocking his authority.
"Hey boss, chill," Faith hadn't mean to offend him. "I'm sorry that I don't want to just totally write my friends out of my life." She realized that for one of the first times, she hadn't even thought of them as Buffy's friends but as hers.
"You don't need them Faith," that wasn't what she had expected to hear. "Throughout the course of history, the chosen one has always fought alone, most often with a watcher as her guide. You should be no different. I am all you need Faith."
"Whatever," Faith shrugged, not wanting to get into that line of discussion with him at the moment. She glanced at the scoreboard, seeing three minutes left before half-time, became eager to catch up with the gang and started walking ahead of Preston.
"You can't just keep walking away every time something comes at that you don't want to discuss Faith," Preston scrambled to catch up to the Slayer. He grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to stop. The Slayer slowly turned around, facing him with a look on her face that virtually commanded him to release her. "If you keep them in your life Faith, they will be nothing but a liability to you, the same as they were to Buffy." Now the Slayer knew something wasn't right. Giles had often maintained that Buffy's friends were among the reason she stayed alive as long as she did, even Faith knew that.
"Maybe you're right," but she decided to play along with the game to see how much more she could find out.
"Do as I say Faith, and we can win this war against evil, together." Faith continued to listen.
Dawn, Kennedy and Xander were now a good ways ahead of Faith and Preston, nearing the part of the dirt walkway that circled the end zone where the Razorbacks had the ball on the goal line. "Who feels like a soda?" Xander gestured to the nearby concession stand.
"Diet," Dawn spoke up. As Xander began to walk off, Dawn gave Kennedy a slight nudge in his direction. "Take her with you; let her explore the full range of American football junk food possibilities." Xander good-humoredly offered his arm to the young woman who took it and followed him to the quickly filling line in front of the red and yellow wooden building.
She watched her friends disappear into the crowd before Dawn leaned against the fence and watched as an extra point kick sailed through the uprights, the ball landing only a few feet in front of her. The young woman smiled. This night was the first time in a long while she had been able to just have fun, spending time with Faith and her friends. It was also the first time since she had left that she wasn't actively missing Buffy.
"You get in touch with Giles?" Dawn quickly turned her head to see Robert leaning against the fence to her right. His comment and the look in his eyes brought back the concern she had been preoccupied with for most of the day but had recently managed to put out of her mind. Before she could answer, the loud buzzer that marked half-time in the game sounded. The teams ran off the field, met by applause as the announcer read the half-time score, the Razorbacks holding a commanding twenty-one to nothing lead.
"No," Dawn turned away from the field and looked entirely towards Robert. "Some problem with the phone lines, I couldn't get through. My cell-phone was the same way." From the way he looked, Dawn already knew the answer to her next question. "Did you find out anything?"
"Yeah and –" Hearing an all too familiar voice boom across the stadium's speaker system, caused Robert to stop talking and both him and Dawn to look at the press box.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Spike's voice, though slightly distorted by the less than high-quality speaker gear, was very recognizable to all who knew him. "We are sorry to announce a slight delay in your marching band entertainment for the evening but would like you all to direct your attention to the middle of the field where this young woman," Harmony was now nervously strolling out onto the field, across the fifty yard line. "Has got a real treat for you," Spike's final comment was preceded by a chuckle from the vampire.
"We've got to find Faith," Dawn broke into a run in the direction of where she had last seen Faith and Preston with Robert quickly following her. It did not take them long to find her as the Slayer was already heading towards the field where Harmony had turned to face the crowd.
"If you would all please look right at the center of this thing," Harmony held the medallion up, being met by various disrespectful and rude comments from the crowd, until the blue crystal flashed at which point everyone in the bleachers could not keep their eyes off the trinket.
"What's the plan?" Robert asked when he and Dawn met up with the Slayer near a gate that led onto the field. All he knew was what Dawn had quickly filled him in on, that Harmony was a vampire, Spike had turned evil and was in cahoots with her. They were soon joined by Kennedy, Xander and Preston who converged from different directions. None of them had been looking directly at the medallion when Harmony used it to get the attention of the rest of the crowd.
Faith began handing out orders. "Robert and I will take Harmony," she shot Preston a glare, indicating to him that she didn't want to hear any arguments. "The rest of you get up to the press box, try to hit Spike with this," she produced a tranquilizer pistol from under her jacket and handed it to Kennedy. The gang broke up, Robert and Faith casually strolling onto the field while the rest ascended the stairs towards the press box.
The presence of Faith and Robert on the field did not go unnoticed by Harmony. "Oh good, I'm so glad you're here to witness my ultimate plan and it's going to make killing you so much easier!"
"Take your best shot," Faith challenged.
"Oh not me," Harmony shuddered at that idea. "Them," she pointed to the crowd Harmony held the medallion high and Robert realized what it was and where he had seen something like it before. "I want you to kill the Slayer," as Harmony spoke, Robert threw one hand over his eyes and another one over Faith's.
The crystal flashed but the crowd did not move. Harmony looked at them, then at Faith, who stood still, staring at her and then at the medallion. "Faith!" Harmony spoke to the crowd, trying to prompt a murderous response from them.
"What's going on?" Faith whispered to Robert.
"None of them know you," that wasn't much of an explanation.
"Her!" Harmony finally pointed to Faith. The crowd, in one fluid motion, stood up from their seats, moving towards Faith and Robert, collecting whatever they could theoretically use as a weapon, chanting, "Kill her," as they approached.
"Not good," was all Robert could offer.
"Nope," Faith agreed.