Chapter 41
Buffy and Angel were the last to enter Willy's Alibi Room. It was the local demon bar that the Buffy, Angel, Faith, and Spike always went to to pump info out of something. Buffy had first learned about it through Angel. The first time she had gone there, Angel had been with her. She'd been a little nervous because it was her third year of being the Slayer and she'd never been in a room this full of demons. Buffy could only imagine what the girls felt like.
"This is bar." Rona said.
"Best damn field trip I ever took." Kennedy said.
"Look, they're all.." Molly started.
Vi finished for her. "They're demons! It's a demon bar. It's like a gay bar only with demons."
One particularly large demon with fleshy tendrils hanging from its face called out and stood up. "Spike! Long time. Nice of you to bring snacks."
"Touch them and lose your privates." Spike growled. The demon backed off.
"I didn't like him." Vi said.
"Nice job of blending in, girls."
"We're a bunch of 15-year-olds in a demon bar. How much blending did you think we were gonna do?" Rona asked.
"Look, it's okay." Buffy said. "Usually you come to a place like this, you want to be seen. You want to scare someone or make contact."
"Or have a strong drink?" Molly asked.
"Not usually that."
"You don't drink?" Kennedy asked.
"Sure I do! I mean, no. That'd be wrong."
"Do they card?" Vi asked.
"Nope. Go ahead." Angel said with a smirk. "Down all the yak urine shots or pig's blood spritzers you like."
They backed away from the bar. "Gross."
"You got that right. Prices they charge, you could get human blood. Straight from the body." Spike said. The girls stared at him. "Vampire?"
"Look, if we come here, it's because we gotta wring information out of something large, scary, drunk.. And with a roomful of friends that don't care very much for the Slayer or Angel. Remember that. There's not a being in here that wouldn't gladly rip your throat out." Buffy said.
"Buffy?" Someone asked behind her. Buffy turned around to find Clem, her loose-skinned demon friend, standing behind her. She smiled and greeted him with a hug. "Girl, how you been?"
"Clem! You look great. So toned."
"Oh, my god. It is so good to see you. I saw this great show on the History Channel the other night that I knew you would love and then something went all flooey with my TiVo."
"You know what? Can I talk to you for a second over here?"
"Yeah."
Buffy and Angel walked with Clem a little ways and started talking to him in a whisper so the girls wouldn't see. When they turned back around, all three had a smile on their faces.
"Okay, everyone." Angel said. He looked at Clem. "These are the girls."
"Howdy. So you girls are going to deal with demons, huh? Just let me tell you this.." Clem leaned forward like he was going to whisper a secret to them and they all leaned toward him to hear it. Suddenly his entire face peeled back and a nest of snakelike tentacles shot out at the horrified teenagers.
"I could use a shot of that yak urine right about now." Vi said.
"No, we're leaving. There's one more spot we're taking you guys to." Angel said.
"A crypt!" Vi said. "You brought us to a crypt?"
Angel opened the door and they all walked in. "The vampire is an animal. Sometimes they run in packs. Sometimes alone. Who can tell us where we are?"
"It's a nest." Rona said.
"How can you tell?" Faith asked.
"Only a vamp could live like this." Kennedy said. "No offense Angel."
He nodded. "Some, yeah. I mean, as a group we're not known for our tasteful décor."
"But in all fairness to the race, this place is seriously lacking in style." Spike added.
"Thank you, Spike." Faith said.
"Merely saying."
"Angel and Spike have a point. Vampires can live anywhere, any way they want. Tastes, fashions, living conditions: they can vary. The animal inside? Always the same. No offense guys." They nodded.
"Where'd you live?" Molly asked Spike.
"What, you mean before? A crypt, actually, but nicer. A bit more.. I don't know if posh is the right word but it was more like.." Spike said.
"Comfy." Buffy said.
"Excuse me? When did you find it comfy? I thought he's with Faith." Kennedy said.
Buffy fidgeted nervously. Angel saved her. "Moving on. You want to stay alive? You have to spot and identify a nest on sight. Look around, all of you. Look for signs that just last night maybe a dozen, two dozen vampires were right where we're standing." The girls stood there. "Go ahead." Buffy said. The girls spread out and started checking the place out.
"Work, work, work.. And just when this little excursion was in danger of being interesting." Spike said to Buffy.
Faith glared at him. "You know something, Spike interesting is not a problem."
"Buffy? Angel? I think we found something." Rona said.
"It's a body." Molly added.
Angel walked over and examined the man lying facedown on the floor. "It's not a body. It's leftovers." The newly turned vampire turned over and glared up at them.
"Allow me." Faith said.
Angel stepped away and Faith hauled the vamp to its feet, throwing it against the wall. The vampire stalked slowly toward her. Faith held her stake at the ready while Buffy and Angel continued to teach the girls.
"No one's safe. Not here. Not ever. See this guy?" Buffy said.
"But he was dead a minute ago." Kennedy said.
"That was a minute ago. Now?" Angel said as Faith decked the vamp. "He's the enemy."
The vampire charged Faith and tackled her to the ground. Buffy threw the vampire across the room and off of Faith. It instantly rolled back to its feet with a snarl.
"You can't think too much. Reacting is better. Could be the difference between staying alive.. And that other thing." Faith said as Buffy took over the fight.
Buffy brought her stake down for the killing blow but the vampire knocked it from her grasp. Ducking its follow-up punch, she engaged the vampire again, punching and kicking it with tremendous force. Kennedy moved to help her but Angel held her back. Buffy pounded the vampire to the floor and held it there by the leg while she delivered blows to its head.
"The question is never 'What do you think?' It's always 'What do you know?' You gotta know, because if you don't, if you make one mistake.." Buffy said. She delivered a punishing uppercut to the vampire's jaw and sent it flipping backward over a low cement bench. It got to its feet and came at her again.
"It takes just one vampire to kill you so you've got to know you can take him. Know your environment, know what's around you and know how to use it." Angel said. "In the hands of a warrior like me or a Slayer like Buffy and Faith, everything is a potential weapon.. If you know how to see it. When you're fighting, you have to know yourself: your brain, your body. Know how to stay calm, centered. Every move is important. Every blow has got to be part of your plan."
"Because if you make that one mistake, then it's over. You're not the Slayer.. You're not a potential.." Buffy said. She picked up her stake as the vampire charged her again. She blocked its blows with superhuman speed. ".You're dead. So what do you know?" She hurled the vampire backward across the room. "Right now, the only thing you know for sure? You got us." She dropped the stake, backed out of the crypt with Angel, Faith, and Spike, and slammed the door, locking the terrified potential Slayers inside with the vampire.
Just as they locked the doors, Xander and Connor ran up to them. "Mom, Dawn's gone."
"What?" Angel asked.
"She's a potential cause Willow did a spell and it her and made her glow like it was supposed to." Xander said.
"We went upstairs to see if she was going to be ok and she was gone." Connor said.
"Dawn's a potential?" Buffy asked.
"Go Dawn." Faith said.
"No! Not 'go Dawn.' She is not a potential. She-she can't be. She's my sister."
"Don't matter B. She's been chosen by some higher power."
"Well, I'm un-choosing her."
"We think she's at the school. Connor and I did a sweep of Sunnydale and heard noises there." Xander said.
"We'll go." Buffy said, motioning towards Angel and herself. "Spike and Faith stay here and make sure they're ok." They nodded and Buffy, Angel, Connor, and Xander left.
They burst into the High School and spread out. Xander found Dawn. "Buffy, Angel, up here!"
Angel and Buffy rounded the corner and followed him. They made it to the top just as the Bringers attacked followed by a vampire. Amanda used a pole deftly, striking one blow after another, knocking them off their feet and sending them tumbling directly into the path of Buffy and Angel. Buffy stabbed one Bringer to death with its own knife then tossed it to Angel. "Here!" Angel dispatched the second, then attacked another. At the top of the stairs, the vampire attacked Amanda. Much to her own surprise, she managed to hold her own, blocking the creature's blows with the pole. It threw a roundhouse blow at her head and she ducked, kicked the vampire against the wall, and slammed the pole into its chest. It instantly disappeared in a cloud of dust. Stunned, Amanda turned to Buffy just as she and Connor snapped the last Bringers' necks and dropped their lifeless bodies to the floor.
"Okay.. One minute I'm in Swing Choir and the next.. What the hell is going on?" Amanda asked, freaking out. "You tell me to come to you with problems. Turns out a vampire attacked me! Problem. So I go to your house, only when I get there, this orange cloud hits me. And I don't know if you're into the drugs but that's not my deal, all right? That cloud hit me and I got a little dizzy and discombobulated."
"It was Willow's spell. She's the potential Slayer." Dawn said.
Buffy and Angel stared at Amanda, realizing that it wasn't Dawn that was the potential. Buffy walked over to her sister and hugged her tightly. She was near tears. Being a Slayer is something that she would never want her sister to go through. Angel came up with Connor and they hugged Dawn too.
The next day, Amanda joined the group of potentials. They were in the living room talking excitedly. Buffy, Angel, Connor, and Xander were getting ready to load up and head to LA. They wanted to have one last training session with the girls before they left though. Buffy and Angel stopped in front of Dawn.
"Hey, you ok?" Angel asked.
"Yeah. I was thinking of hitting the books, do some research on the First. It's in retreat mode right now but you're still going to need to know how to fight it. Maybe find something on the Beast while I'm at it." Dawn said.
"Great. Sounds good." Angel looked at the girls in the living room. "Hey, you guys. Want to head downstairs, get our newest arrival up to speed?"
The girls all stood and followed Angel and Buffy out. They walked downstairs and allowed everyone to get situated. Spike and Faith sat in a corner talking quietly. When the room was hushed, Buffy looked around. Connor sat next to Molly on the floor. He was smiling. If Buffy didn't know any better, she'd say he was smitten and so was Molly.
"Ok, here's the sitch guys." Buffy said. "Gunn called from LA. Things have gotten really bad up there in the past couple of days. Angel, Connor, Xander, and I are going back up there. Faith and Spike are going to take care of you while we're gone. If something should happen while we're up there, they'll be the first ones to know about it, so keep tabs with them."
"I don't think anything too serious is going to happen to us, but if it does Buffy and I want you to know that we are completely proud of you all." Angel said. "You've proven that you can make it. You learned the answer to being the best of the best."
"Friends. Teamwork. Without a team, without friends, you're just another Slayer waiting to be picked off. Without my friends, I wouldn't be standing here today. You've got friends here that know who you are and they know the risks. Stay close. Become a family because your family is your strength."
"It's your soul. It's what makes you a champion." Faith said, standing and walking up next to Buffy. "Take notes kiddos. Buffy here is the best there is. She won't stop trying and I'm living proof."
The room was silent for a long moment and then Kennedy got up and hugged Buffy. "We're going to miss you. Don't let anything happen in LA, ok?"
Buffy nodded. It was time for them to leave. Hugs and best wishes were given as the Slayer, Angel, Xander, and Connor loaded the van and left for Los Angeles. They didn't know that an old adversary was coming back to haunt them. Buffy didn't know that something awful was going to creep its way back into her happy life.
Buffy and Angel were the last to enter Willy's Alibi Room. It was the local demon bar that the Buffy, Angel, Faith, and Spike always went to to pump info out of something. Buffy had first learned about it through Angel. The first time she had gone there, Angel had been with her. She'd been a little nervous because it was her third year of being the Slayer and she'd never been in a room this full of demons. Buffy could only imagine what the girls felt like.
"This is bar." Rona said.
"Best damn field trip I ever took." Kennedy said.
"Look, they're all.." Molly started.
Vi finished for her. "They're demons! It's a demon bar. It's like a gay bar only with demons."
One particularly large demon with fleshy tendrils hanging from its face called out and stood up. "Spike! Long time. Nice of you to bring snacks."
"Touch them and lose your privates." Spike growled. The demon backed off.
"I didn't like him." Vi said.
"Nice job of blending in, girls."
"We're a bunch of 15-year-olds in a demon bar. How much blending did you think we were gonna do?" Rona asked.
"Look, it's okay." Buffy said. "Usually you come to a place like this, you want to be seen. You want to scare someone or make contact."
"Or have a strong drink?" Molly asked.
"Not usually that."
"You don't drink?" Kennedy asked.
"Sure I do! I mean, no. That'd be wrong."
"Do they card?" Vi asked.
"Nope. Go ahead." Angel said with a smirk. "Down all the yak urine shots or pig's blood spritzers you like."
They backed away from the bar. "Gross."
"You got that right. Prices they charge, you could get human blood. Straight from the body." Spike said. The girls stared at him. "Vampire?"
"Look, if we come here, it's because we gotta wring information out of something large, scary, drunk.. And with a roomful of friends that don't care very much for the Slayer or Angel. Remember that. There's not a being in here that wouldn't gladly rip your throat out." Buffy said.
"Buffy?" Someone asked behind her. Buffy turned around to find Clem, her loose-skinned demon friend, standing behind her. She smiled and greeted him with a hug. "Girl, how you been?"
"Clem! You look great. So toned."
"Oh, my god. It is so good to see you. I saw this great show on the History Channel the other night that I knew you would love and then something went all flooey with my TiVo."
"You know what? Can I talk to you for a second over here?"
"Yeah."
Buffy and Angel walked with Clem a little ways and started talking to him in a whisper so the girls wouldn't see. When they turned back around, all three had a smile on their faces.
"Okay, everyone." Angel said. He looked at Clem. "These are the girls."
"Howdy. So you girls are going to deal with demons, huh? Just let me tell you this.." Clem leaned forward like he was going to whisper a secret to them and they all leaned toward him to hear it. Suddenly his entire face peeled back and a nest of snakelike tentacles shot out at the horrified teenagers.
"I could use a shot of that yak urine right about now." Vi said.
"No, we're leaving. There's one more spot we're taking you guys to." Angel said.
"A crypt!" Vi said. "You brought us to a crypt?"
Angel opened the door and they all walked in. "The vampire is an animal. Sometimes they run in packs. Sometimes alone. Who can tell us where we are?"
"It's a nest." Rona said.
"How can you tell?" Faith asked.
"Only a vamp could live like this." Kennedy said. "No offense Angel."
He nodded. "Some, yeah. I mean, as a group we're not known for our tasteful décor."
"But in all fairness to the race, this place is seriously lacking in style." Spike added.
"Thank you, Spike." Faith said.
"Merely saying."
"Angel and Spike have a point. Vampires can live anywhere, any way they want. Tastes, fashions, living conditions: they can vary. The animal inside? Always the same. No offense guys." They nodded.
"Where'd you live?" Molly asked Spike.
"What, you mean before? A crypt, actually, but nicer. A bit more.. I don't know if posh is the right word but it was more like.." Spike said.
"Comfy." Buffy said.
"Excuse me? When did you find it comfy? I thought he's with Faith." Kennedy said.
Buffy fidgeted nervously. Angel saved her. "Moving on. You want to stay alive? You have to spot and identify a nest on sight. Look around, all of you. Look for signs that just last night maybe a dozen, two dozen vampires were right where we're standing." The girls stood there. "Go ahead." Buffy said. The girls spread out and started checking the place out.
"Work, work, work.. And just when this little excursion was in danger of being interesting." Spike said to Buffy.
Faith glared at him. "You know something, Spike interesting is not a problem."
"Buffy? Angel? I think we found something." Rona said.
"It's a body." Molly added.
Angel walked over and examined the man lying facedown on the floor. "It's not a body. It's leftovers." The newly turned vampire turned over and glared up at them.
"Allow me." Faith said.
Angel stepped away and Faith hauled the vamp to its feet, throwing it against the wall. The vampire stalked slowly toward her. Faith held her stake at the ready while Buffy and Angel continued to teach the girls.
"No one's safe. Not here. Not ever. See this guy?" Buffy said.
"But he was dead a minute ago." Kennedy said.
"That was a minute ago. Now?" Angel said as Faith decked the vamp. "He's the enemy."
The vampire charged Faith and tackled her to the ground. Buffy threw the vampire across the room and off of Faith. It instantly rolled back to its feet with a snarl.
"You can't think too much. Reacting is better. Could be the difference between staying alive.. And that other thing." Faith said as Buffy took over the fight.
Buffy brought her stake down for the killing blow but the vampire knocked it from her grasp. Ducking its follow-up punch, she engaged the vampire again, punching and kicking it with tremendous force. Kennedy moved to help her but Angel held her back. Buffy pounded the vampire to the floor and held it there by the leg while she delivered blows to its head.
"The question is never 'What do you think?' It's always 'What do you know?' You gotta know, because if you don't, if you make one mistake.." Buffy said. She delivered a punishing uppercut to the vampire's jaw and sent it flipping backward over a low cement bench. It got to its feet and came at her again.
"It takes just one vampire to kill you so you've got to know you can take him. Know your environment, know what's around you and know how to use it." Angel said. "In the hands of a warrior like me or a Slayer like Buffy and Faith, everything is a potential weapon.. If you know how to see it. When you're fighting, you have to know yourself: your brain, your body. Know how to stay calm, centered. Every move is important. Every blow has got to be part of your plan."
"Because if you make that one mistake, then it's over. You're not the Slayer.. You're not a potential.." Buffy said. She picked up her stake as the vampire charged her again. She blocked its blows with superhuman speed. ".You're dead. So what do you know?" She hurled the vampire backward across the room. "Right now, the only thing you know for sure? You got us." She dropped the stake, backed out of the crypt with Angel, Faith, and Spike, and slammed the door, locking the terrified potential Slayers inside with the vampire.
Just as they locked the doors, Xander and Connor ran up to them. "Mom, Dawn's gone."
"What?" Angel asked.
"She's a potential cause Willow did a spell and it her and made her glow like it was supposed to." Xander said.
"We went upstairs to see if she was going to be ok and she was gone." Connor said.
"Dawn's a potential?" Buffy asked.
"Go Dawn." Faith said.
"No! Not 'go Dawn.' She is not a potential. She-she can't be. She's my sister."
"Don't matter B. She's been chosen by some higher power."
"Well, I'm un-choosing her."
"We think she's at the school. Connor and I did a sweep of Sunnydale and heard noises there." Xander said.
"We'll go." Buffy said, motioning towards Angel and herself. "Spike and Faith stay here and make sure they're ok." They nodded and Buffy, Angel, Connor, and Xander left.
They burst into the High School and spread out. Xander found Dawn. "Buffy, Angel, up here!"
Angel and Buffy rounded the corner and followed him. They made it to the top just as the Bringers attacked followed by a vampire. Amanda used a pole deftly, striking one blow after another, knocking them off their feet and sending them tumbling directly into the path of Buffy and Angel. Buffy stabbed one Bringer to death with its own knife then tossed it to Angel. "Here!" Angel dispatched the second, then attacked another. At the top of the stairs, the vampire attacked Amanda. Much to her own surprise, she managed to hold her own, blocking the creature's blows with the pole. It threw a roundhouse blow at her head and she ducked, kicked the vampire against the wall, and slammed the pole into its chest. It instantly disappeared in a cloud of dust. Stunned, Amanda turned to Buffy just as she and Connor snapped the last Bringers' necks and dropped their lifeless bodies to the floor.
"Okay.. One minute I'm in Swing Choir and the next.. What the hell is going on?" Amanda asked, freaking out. "You tell me to come to you with problems. Turns out a vampire attacked me! Problem. So I go to your house, only when I get there, this orange cloud hits me. And I don't know if you're into the drugs but that's not my deal, all right? That cloud hit me and I got a little dizzy and discombobulated."
"It was Willow's spell. She's the potential Slayer." Dawn said.
Buffy and Angel stared at Amanda, realizing that it wasn't Dawn that was the potential. Buffy walked over to her sister and hugged her tightly. She was near tears. Being a Slayer is something that she would never want her sister to go through. Angel came up with Connor and they hugged Dawn too.
The next day, Amanda joined the group of potentials. They were in the living room talking excitedly. Buffy, Angel, Connor, and Xander were getting ready to load up and head to LA. They wanted to have one last training session with the girls before they left though. Buffy and Angel stopped in front of Dawn.
"Hey, you ok?" Angel asked.
"Yeah. I was thinking of hitting the books, do some research on the First. It's in retreat mode right now but you're still going to need to know how to fight it. Maybe find something on the Beast while I'm at it." Dawn said.
"Great. Sounds good." Angel looked at the girls in the living room. "Hey, you guys. Want to head downstairs, get our newest arrival up to speed?"
The girls all stood and followed Angel and Buffy out. They walked downstairs and allowed everyone to get situated. Spike and Faith sat in a corner talking quietly. When the room was hushed, Buffy looked around. Connor sat next to Molly on the floor. He was smiling. If Buffy didn't know any better, she'd say he was smitten and so was Molly.
"Ok, here's the sitch guys." Buffy said. "Gunn called from LA. Things have gotten really bad up there in the past couple of days. Angel, Connor, Xander, and I are going back up there. Faith and Spike are going to take care of you while we're gone. If something should happen while we're up there, they'll be the first ones to know about it, so keep tabs with them."
"I don't think anything too serious is going to happen to us, but if it does Buffy and I want you to know that we are completely proud of you all." Angel said. "You've proven that you can make it. You learned the answer to being the best of the best."
"Friends. Teamwork. Without a team, without friends, you're just another Slayer waiting to be picked off. Without my friends, I wouldn't be standing here today. You've got friends here that know who you are and they know the risks. Stay close. Become a family because your family is your strength."
"It's your soul. It's what makes you a champion." Faith said, standing and walking up next to Buffy. "Take notes kiddos. Buffy here is the best there is. She won't stop trying and I'm living proof."
The room was silent for a long moment and then Kennedy got up and hugged Buffy. "We're going to miss you. Don't let anything happen in LA, ok?"
Buffy nodded. It was time for them to leave. Hugs and best wishes were given as the Slayer, Angel, Xander, and Connor loaded the van and left for Los Angeles. They didn't know that an old adversary was coming back to haunt them. Buffy didn't know that something awful was going to creep its way back into her happy life.
