Chapter 2: A Rogue's Gallery

Back inside, everyone gathered in the living room to get an idea of what they were working with. Giles had taken all of his books with him, but they had still managed to find several volumes from Tara's and The Magic Box that might be of help to them. They even found a couple in the library of Sunnydale High that were left over from their days there.

Xander looked over the pile of books on the coffee table. He hated to think it, but he couldn't see how this was going to help. "Research mode, then?"

"I guess," Buffy replied as she examined her knuckles one more time before she bandaged them over, "Guys, how was vamp activity tonight?"

"They were all over the place as soon as that last ray of sunlight left," Cordelia explained, "By the hundreds."

"Yeah," Anya added, "But, what, with the big, nasty demons chasing us, they stayed clear for the most part. Plus, they were busy feeding on all the stragglers that didn't make it home in time. When will people learn?"

"Random? Or were they send?" Spike asked.

"Hard to tell," Oz said, "They were definitely top of the food chain at the moment. Until, well, a couple of minutes ago."

Buffy rubbed at her temple. She couldn't get a grasp of anything that was going on. It was really aggravating her. Every time something seemed to fit into place, it simply didn't. What were they trying to do? And what had happened in the first place?

"Um, a little help here," Xander said loudly, waving a hand in the air for attention. "We got the books, and that's good. But, what are we looking for?"

"I want to know what happened to my sister?" Buffy answered sourly, and Xander stared down at his feet. The room went awkwardly silent.

"Buffy," Xander said, pleading, "We need something to work with here."

"I think we can use some coffee," Tara offered to the room, not liking the direction the conversation was heading in.

"Great idea," Anya chimed in, nodding approvingly at Tara, "And some snacks. I'll help."

"See if there's any Wheatabits," Spike called after them.

"I want to help," Xander continued, frustration building in his voice, "I've been feeling pretty useless the last couple of days. What can I do? I just want to help."

"You can start by shutting up," Spike mumbled under his breath, "Your getting on my nerves."

Buffy's foot came out and hit Spike solidly on the shin. He ignored it.

"What did you just say?" Xander answered, his frustration covered over with an edge.

"Xander," Oz said, placing his hand on Xander's shoulder, "Not for nothing, but your not helping. Getting all worked up isn't going to get us anywhere."

Xander offered Oz a defeated look, then grabbed a book off the pile and cracked it open.

Anya and Tara returned, each carrying a tray of food and drinks, and sat back down. Everyone occupied themselves with a book, staring blankly at the pages. No one spoke. It had been like this for two days now. When it came down to it, everyone wanted to avoid the subject as much as possible.

Willow glanced over at Buffy. She was slumped into her corner of the couch, her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed. The sound of pages flipping was the only noise in the room. Willow scanned everyone's faces, one person at a time. She thought that if someone didn't do something, they would just sit here as they were slowly picked off. She swallowed hard and cleared her throat.

"Hey," she said quietly, and everyone looked up at her expectantly. She paused for a moment, searching for the right words, "Um, I know no one is too keen on what's going on, but I think Xander's right. We've got nothing. We don't even know what we're looking for."

She grabbed a legal pad and a pen off the coffee table and place them on her lap.

"What I think we need to do," Willow continued, looking around the room hopefully, "As much as I know no one wants to, is make a list of every fact we got so far. Maybe somewhere in there we can find a clue as to what's the cause of this. Or at least why it's happening."

Spike shifted in his seat. No one was going to come out and say it. He watched as everyone shifted their eyes away from each other. Willow sat, with pen in hand, looking from one person to the next, her hands shaking nervously. Spike felt anger welling up inside of him. They were just going to sit there and do nothing, he thought. He jumped out of his seat and walked to the center of the room.

"Dawn is gone," he said loudly, annunciating each word clearly, "Giles is gone. And if you keep sitting here like a flock of stupid gits waiting for an answer to fall in your lap, they're going to kill us all."

"Bugger this, I'll be outside," he added, then stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

"Well, okay," Willow offered meekly. She tried writing it down, but her hands were shaking so badly she couldn't make out what she wrote. She ripped the page out and tried again. She missed her usual neat, slanted script, but it was legible and she left it at that. She concentrated on her breathing, which seemed to be suddenly necessary.

"What else do we know?" she said, determined.

There was another awkward pause in the room. Willow stayed poised with her pen on the paper.

"They're not just gone," Xander said, taking in a deep breath and pushing the words out by force, "They've- they've gone bad. Right?"

"Yeah, good," Willow said, jotting it down on her pad. She gave Xander a nod, as if to say thank you for coming on board. Xander understood, and returned the nod in kind.

"Angel's dead," Buffy said, the last word barely making it out. She didn't move, just sat there with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Yeah, and it looked like they were gunning for him from the start," Oz added quietly, "There may be something to that."

"I'm going to take a quick look around the block," Buffy said, standing up and walking over to her duffle bag. She pulled out a short sword. "Make sure there's nothing lurking around the house."

"Take Spike with you," Xander said helpfully, "And be careful."

"I will."

"I'll go with you too," Cordelia added. Everyone's head turned to her.

"Huh?" Buffy asked.

"I'm no good for the research thing, and I need some air."

"Alright," Buffy said, handing Cordelia an oversized cross and a stake, "Just stay sharp."

Willow watched as they left, still feeling unsettled about how Buffy was coping with the situation. She tried to pull everyone back to the same page.

"Come on guys," she said, trying to sound confident, but falling somewhat short, "Think. What else do we know?"

Everyone looked at each other. They really didn't know anything else.

"Well she's got to be commanding some kind of power, right?" Tara offered shyly, "She's got all the vamps in Sunnydale under her wing. Plus, there's that Kaylos guy too."

"Yeah, but he's working for Dawn," Xander said, "So he's just a pawn, not the one behind all this."

"He is integral, though," Oz added, "He's third man on the totem pole, right below Giles."

"So we don't think she under the sway of someone else?" Anya asked.

"We can't be sure," Willow said thoughtfully, "Plus, if it's not someone, it could be something. Did anyone notice either of them wearing something unusual?"

They all slowly shook their heads in resignation.

"We've got nothing," Xander said, slamming his hand down on the arm of his chair in frustration, "They're keeping a low profile so we don't figure out what they're up to. They know too much about how we operate. They're beating us to the punch every time. What-"

Xander stopped short as a sound came from the porch. They turned their heads to the front door. There were no footsteps, just the sound of something rolling along the landing, then a light thud at the door.
Then there was an explosion, and the front of house went up in cloud of smoke and cinders.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading my story. Feedback is appreciated. Hope to have another chapter up soon.