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Finding

Gunn was frantic with worry. He knew that El was emotional and angry, and well… woe betide any demon that came across her like that. But she had also been out of action for a while. Having just found her again and having been given a shot at forgiveness he wasn't about to let her go quite so easily.

He and Angel both paused in their running breathing heavily,

'Okay,' said Angel, 'You know El better than most. She's just found out that the only man she ever loved or trusted actually saved her life instead of betrayed her. Having blamed you for the last two years… what would she do?' Gunn didn't even have to pause,

'Find something to beat up.' Angel almost grinned as he realised the truth of that statement.

'Right, well that leaves us with most of Sunnydale.'

'Yeah but she'd have dispatched most vampires by now.'

'You think she's try to find the big guns?'

'You think she wouldn't??!'

'Fair point'

'So…?'

'Caleb'

'shit'

They both started running.

When Faith and Buffy came across Caleb's fortress they looked at each other. Both were thinking the same thing,

'Ya feel like a fight B?'

'D'you think we'd get out alive?'

'Well, we can always run away if we feel like it' Faith grinned. Buffy could tell she was really in the mood to kick some ass,

'Ok, lets go kill ourselves a priest.'

They had just clambered into the main area of the fortress when they heard Angel and Gunn's voices. They almost literally bumped into each other as the two men came hurtling round the corner at high speed.

'Buffy' Angel all but panted. 'You seen El?'

'No, why d'you think she could be here?'

'Yeah' said Gunn, 'She likes to fight' he said grimly. 'Let's split up and see if we can find her. Spike's still looking elsewhere so if this place turns nothing up we can try somewhere else okay?'

The four went off in different directions. It wasn't long before Buffy alerted the other three to the scene that she had come across. In Caleb's cave El was being beaten to a pulp. Buffy, enjoying her advantage of surprise took Caleb from the back and tried to divert his attention away from the exhausted and waning slayer. Unfortunately, Caleb wasn't entirely stupid and realised the plan. Swatting Buffy away as though she were a fly he smashed El's head into the wall. Consciousness evaded her as she slid to the floor, into the dark.

It wasn't long before Faith, Gunn and Angel came to join the fight. Buffy may have been at a slight disadvantage in the strength capacity but she felt her weaknesses weren't quite so obvious. She had noticed that every time she moved, even if she was in the defensive, Caleb would move between her and a rock. A rock with a strange, shiny axe stuck into it. Buffy decided that she wanted that axe and so with the new help she ran for it. Dragging it out of the stone she spun round enjoying the horror on the priest's face. Rounding on him she sliced the air,

'Let me guess?' she said playfully, 'this happens to be the only known weapon able to kill you?'

'Foolish girl,' the priest's southern twang echoed round the cave, 'I cannot be killed, I am blessed by the first…'

He was cut short… literally.

'Say your prayers,' murmured Buffy as she sliced the priest in half.

Turning her attention to the injured slayer she saw that she was hurt very badly and needed to get to some medical supplies.

'Just wondering,' she enquired of Gunn as he carefully picked El up in his arms, 'Does she have a tendency to just run off and put her life in danger without a second thought?'

'Oh yeah,' said Gunn looking fondly down at the girl, 'She's got a self-destructive streak that just won't be tamed – actually to be more accurate she's just got a destructive streak.' He chuckled slightly, trying to alleviate the fear in his soul as he looked at the dying slayer.

On the hurried journey home, Eleanor's eyes started to flutter, the cold air obviously bringing her round. She looked up to see Gunn concentrating on the road, on getting her home safely, glancing down he saw her looking up at him,

'Hey sleepy-head,' he said smilingly, reminding her of late morning wake ups.

'Hey' she replied quietly. Her expression was full of trust and love. Gunn kept on telling himself it was just because she was weak, was feeling vulnerable. He still couldn't forgive himself. He didn't believe that she would ever forgive him, little was he to know that she had forgiven him years ago

Eleanor only had a vague feeling of security and warmth for the rest of the journey back to Revello Drive. All she could hear were gasps and soothing voices as she felt herself being rapidly carried up the stairs and laid on a bed. Something was being pressed to her side and somehow she knew that she was going to be okay. She drifted off into a deep, secure sleep with the voice of the man she loved telling her she was going to be all right in her ear.

Waking up she glanced around her. Finding herself alone she attempted to sit up. Wincing in pain she brought her hand up to her side and realised that she had been bandaged up. Sitting up she felt a bit woozy. Her memory of the previous nights events was pretty shaky but she knew that she had been incredibly stupid and could have gotten everyone, including herself killed. She really should just go back to England. She sighed and grabbed a towel from the chair, heading for the shower. She thought that she heard a bit of a commotion downstairs but she decided to ignore it. She removed her bandages and stepped into the shower. The cool rush of water over her heard refreshed her and she began to feel more like herself. She still wasn't entirely sure if things between her and Gunn were sorted but at least she knew that he still loved her – that was something that she could cling to. At least he hadn't dismissed her as some hormonal bitch who just forgot about him, because she had never forgotten – not even for one second. She stepped out of the shower and, looking at her side in the mirror she marvelled again at the wonders of slayer healing. The faintest scar was still visible, but it hardly hurt anymore.

Having stepped into her clothes and generally made herself feel human and presentable, she wandered down the stairs. She was surprised to see the core members of the group were still up and in the kitchen discussing something. They were all drinking hot chocolate (or blood) and looking solemnly at the weapon lying on the main surface in the centre of the room. Eleanor recognised it from Caleb's cave. She had figured it was important with the whole 'sword in the stone' aspect of it all.

Clearing her throat she entered the room. They all looked up, surprised. Gunn rushed over to her side, supporting her,

'Ellie, you shouldn't be up, go and lie down. How are you feeling? Thank god you're awake, we were so worried.' Smiling slightly she pushed his arm away, to show her strength.

'I'm fine thanks Charlie,' the group looked at Gunn amused. He didn't notice it, well not much anyway. At least, he didn't blush.

'What's going on?' she asked, addressing the group. She wasn't quite ready to acknowledge that there was anything between her and Gunn again.

'We were just discussing the implications of this piece of weaponry. It would seem to be highly powerful and may well be a significant implement in the forthcoming battle.' Eleanor nodded, biting her lower lip slightly,

'Well I think you guys all deserve an apology. I was stupid and almost got all of you killed. However I did not ask any of you guys to come after me and I don't need a lecture cos I really couldn't handle it at this hour of the morning so if anyone wants to settle something with me then just say it fast and I can get out of your hair.' They all looked up at her in slight shock at this outburst. Faith grinned,

'She always this aggressive? Think she's my kinda girl' El looked a little shocked and upset at this idea but kept quiet,

'El,' Buffy cut in, 'Not going to lecture. Two words: stupid much. That's it. But I think you should tell us what happened okay?' El looked a little surprised for a second,

'Really? You're not gonna go all self righteous on me cos I messed up? Wow, Spike,' she said turning to the Vampire, 'You sure painted Blondie as a whole lot more annoyingly perfect that she actually is.' Earning herself a glare from the blonde Vampire El thought it best to advance onto a different topic of conversation,

'Right, yes… well. Okay, I was pissed off for reasons I won't go into,' she began, not looking at Gunn, 'And when I get pissed I feel up for a fight y'know?' she said directing her half question at the two slayers. They both nodded in agreement,

'Why is that?' continued Eleanor, enjoying stringing the story out, 'I mean – our destiny is to fight, so you'd think that we wouldn't do it if we had half the chance – y'know get a break or something.' She got no reply, just stares all round, 'You guys are no fun,' she whined. 'Okay, okay… fine. I came across the fortress thing and I kind of felt a power, a bad one, so I thought what the hell? I know you guys all think I'm out of practice but I never stopped slaying, I just stopped slaying for the council. So I went in and I still felt this weird sort of pull towards that underground cave. So I went down and saw this priest guy trying to pull that thing out of the stone. So anyway, I ask him what he's doing – he turns around and has all black eyes so I figure he's evil. Then he attacked me so I figured he was even more evil. Then he started beating me so I got really pissed and figured he was mega evil personified.' She paused for dramatic effect… she really loved having an audience, 'So anyway someway through the fight he threw me across the room, got out a dagger and stabbed me. It kinda went downhill from there for me. I vaguely remember seeing Buffy, thinking thank god and then my skull connecting with rock.'

'New girl uses big words,' was all that Xander had to say, 'must get on well with Giles.' Gunn shot him a look and he quieted himself.

'So Caleb couldn't get it out of the stone' asked Angel,

'Nope… I think that only Buffy could have. I mean – I think its hers. Just a feeling,' Angel shrugged, satisfied, Eleanor's 'feelings' usually turned out pretty accurate.

'Is that all?' asked Anya, 'A feeling? Couldn't you come up with something more concrete? Try harder,' she enthused, advising the younger girl in an extremely patronising voice, earning her a glare from the dark haired slayer,

'El,' butted in the eldest slayer, 'hold it.' It was a command, not a request and El quickly did as she was told, taking the scythe up from the table. Immediately she felt a huge power rush through her,

'Whoa' she exclaimed before dropping the scythe back onto the table,

'Yep, that's the reaction I had too,' said Faith, 'Kinda wiggy isn't it?'

'It's a slayer's weapon,' said Buffy, 'Giles held it and felt no power. It's meant for us.'

'No,' corrected El, 'It's meant for you. You are… were… the original slayer. What's a couple of death's to get in the way of your destiny? It's obviously meant for you.' 'Yes, yes it does make sense,' muttered Giles,

'Plus, Buffy's kind of our leader,' said Cordelia, 'And, that thing is sort of a leader-ish weapon isn't it?'

'It's true – Buffy probably has more skill, although its hard to tell between her and Faith,' Angel quickly added the last part of his sentence, not wanting to offend the rogue slayer.

'That reminds me,' said Buffy with a smile, she turned to El, 'We haven't seen you fight yet.,'

'What about Caleb?' asked Angel. Buffy smirked,

'No offense but she wasn't fighting Caleb… she was getting beaten to a pulp. But then he had trippy type strength. I'd like to know how she'd fare against someone her own size.'

'That a challenge?' El met Buffy's smile with one of her own,

'No no way,' said Gunn, 'She's still weak, she almost died!' Buffy snorted,

'So? I died twice and I'm still here!'

'Charlie, shut up. I feel fine. In fact, I feel like I could take anyone right now.'

'Anyone?'

'Yup,' her cocky smile was irritating Buffy… this was going to be fun.

TBC