Episode 10: The First Clue
Hunter woke with a start and jumped out of the chair that he had fallen asleep in nearly stepping on Vi's head. She shot up and grabbed his leg, sending him tumbling to the ground with a heavy thud. "What in the hell?" Hunter yelled, slapping her hands off his leg.
"Sorry," Vi said, the apology not reaching her voice. "But be careful. You could have stepped on me."
"Whatever?" Hunter mumbled.
He jumped back up and looked at the empty bed. It was smeared with blood and he could only figure the worst. But Dawn had said that she would be alright. The Witch was supposed to have healed her. Hunter almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a laugh coming from the doorway. He turned around and saw Fray, soaking wet and wrapped in a big bath towel, with a big smile plastered on her face. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Hunter shook his head. "You weren't here and I didn't expect you to get well that quickly. I thought you might have." he trailed off and Fray's expression lightened slightly.
"You can't get rid of me that easily," she said, a smile on her face.
Hunter nodded. Vi just smiled at her as she slid out of the door. "You need to bandage your wounds again," he said, sitting down on the end of the bed.
Fray took a few steps forward and moved out of the way of the door. "Then get out of my room so I can get dressed and I'll get Dawn to do it."
Fray was surprised to see Hunter blush slightly when he realized she was actually naked under that towel. He swallowed hard and looked back up at her. "Sorry about that," he said.
"How are you doing?" Fray asked, walking over to the closet and opening the door.
"I'm better now that I've gotten some sleep. After I get something to eat I'll be perfect."
Fray nodded. "Well, get out of here and when I'm dressed and bandaged I'll take you out for breakfast."
Hunter nodded and hurried out of the room. Fray just smiled as she shut the door behind him. A few seconds later she called for Dawn and she helped Fray bandage her arms and her shoulder. "I look like a mummy," Fray joked, looking at her arms and back.
"Hey, a few more minutes last night and you would have looked like a corpse."
Fray nodded and pulled on her shirt. "I'm taking Hunter out for breakfast so we'll have a chance to talk. Do you know of any good places around?"
"Try Sunny Side on Main Street. It's a nice place for a good price. They've got normal breakfast foods and stuff like that. Do you have any money?"
"Kennedy gave me a hundred bucks for general spending but I wouldn't let her buy my school stuff so I'll need to find a job pretty soon."
"Go check out the Bronze," Dawn suggested, helping Fray pull her other shoe out from under her bed. "I heard they're looking for someone to work there. You'd probably man the bar or something like that, but still. It might be a good place to start."
Fray nodded. "That's not a bad idea. As long as they don't remember that I was the reason that their club got trashed last night."
Dawn shook her head. "People around here forget things like that really easily. Don't worry about it."
Fray stood up and stretched her arms, grimacing as the wounds pulled in protest. She opened the door and walked out, Dawn following closely behind. Hunter was sitting in a nearby chair. Rona was up now and she was involved in a conversation with Alice and Vi. Hunter jumped up when Fray walked out. "Ready to go?" Fray asked.
Hunter shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded. Fray waved to Dawn and gave her a message to let Kennedy and Willow know where she had gone and that she'd be back later that evening. Hunter waited until they got on the street to start up another conversation. "So," he said. "How long have you been with them?"
"Just over a week I think," she said. "It seems like longer though because I've been kind of busy."
"What's been going on?" Hunter asked.
Fray took a deep breath and launched into the whole story. About the Slayer Killer and how she had been found. She told him about Set and the Moot and everything else. She told him about school and about her dreams and her training. She told him everything that she could remember, the words pouring from her like water. She told him more then she had told anyone and he listened quietly as they walked. Finally they reached the restaurant and they chose a small booth in the far corner of the room so they could talk quietly.
"So what's your story? Dawn told me all the details about you being a Shielder but what about the person you."
"Well," Hunter said. "I got the news that I was going to have to go after you about five days ago. They realized that you had lost your memory. I spent about twelve hours being briefed on my mission, your location, your situation, everything like that. Then I was given money and sent here. I notified a contact and he got me an apartment on the edge of town. I found out where you were and figured that if I couldn't get close to you through school then I could at least get close to Dawn or some of the others and then talk to you. I didn't know how much you knew so I couldn't just go up to you and say, 'Hey Fader, I'm your Shielder, let's go save the world.'"
Fray smiled and nodded. "Good point."
Their conversation died as a waitress came over and took their order. "Can I borrow a pen?" Fray asked before the waitress left.
She smiled and pulled one out of her apron. "Thank you," Fray said.
She pulled a napkin towards her and used the pen to write some of the elaborate characters that she had shown to Kennedy during her training. "What's this?" she asked, pushing the napkin towards Hunter.
He took it and smiled. "Your native language actually. Faders aren't taught to speak until they're eight years old. Your trainers think that it's better if you learn to listen first. You communicate with these. They're characters that mean words and feelings. They can't be broken because they don't have a pattern and there are multiple characters to mean each word."
"That's different," Fray said, her brow furrowing. "I'm almost glad that I don't live there now. It sounds like I was treated more like a thing then a person."
Hunter smiled. "You were treated as more than a person because you were more important. I five million births there is only one Fader and our future is based on you. You patrol the past and keep it safe so no one from the future comes back and destroys it. Right now though, you are on a retrieval mission."
"For what?"
"I have no idea but I'm supposed to help you find out. We need to go on a field trip this afternoon. We can take my car but I'm supposed to take you to meet a guy named Angel in LA. He was a friend of the original Slayer's."
"Alright," Fray said. "But we'll have to go back to the apartment first and let Kennedy and Willow know that I might not be back until tomorrow."
Hunter nodded. "You're supposed to ask him something about the battle with The First; some kind of evil that destroyed Sunnydale last year. Apparently it's got something to do with that battle."
Fray nodded and took her elbows off the table as the waitress came back with their food. Fray thanked her and handed her the pen back. They spent the rest of the morning talking about their New Sunnydale experiences. "So how did you get into the Bronze opening last night?" Fray asked.
"A friend of mine is a bartender there. I think she's got a crush on me but she got me a ticket."
"Do you think you could talk to her about getting me a job? Just for the time being but I want to get enough money to pay Kennedy back for the loan."
"Not a problem," Hunter said, taking a drink of orange juice. "I can go talk to her when you go to tell the others about LA. It'll take about four hours to get there the way that I drive. You can meet me at my apartment at one this afternoon."
Fray nodded and checked her watch. They finished their meal and Fray paid for the breakfast. Hunter borrowed the waitress's pen again and wrote his address on a napkin. "It's pretty close to the edge of town but it should only be about thirty minutes from your place to there. You might want to pack a bag in case we have to stay the night. I have an address to meet this guy at."
"How do we get him to believe our story?"
"Apparently he's had a run in with a Fader before about a hundred years ago. We're supposed to give him this," Hunter said, pulling a ring out of his pocket. The gold band had a yin-yang made out of diamonds and emeralds on it. He pocketed it again. "He should remember it and then he should tell us what we want. If he doesn't then I have another lead to go on. This one's in Scotland though and I'd rather go to LA."
Fray nodded. "I can understand that. I'll see you back at your place later."
They parted in front of the restaurant and Fray jogged her way back home. When she got there Dawn and Kennedy were sitting on the sofa. The door to Willow's bedroom was open and Fray could see her still getting ready inside. Rona, Alice, and Vi were gone. Dawn smiled when she walked inside. "So, how did it go?"
"Great," Fray joked. "He even gave me his address and we're eloping this afternoon."
Dawn laughed but stopped when she saw that Fray was only half joking. "What is it?"
"We're supposed to go meet this guy in LA. It was one of the contacts that Hunter was given before he left. What does the name Angel mean to any of you?"
Willow stuck her head out of the bedroom and smiled. "You're joking right?" she asked.
Fray shook her head. "We're supposed to go and ask him about the battle with the First because apparently he's had a run in with a Fader before about a century ago."
Willow smiled slightly and pointed to the sofa. "Sit down, this might take a while."
Fray sat down next to Kennedy and Willow sat down across from them. It took a full half hour of Willow talking to tell Angel's whole story from Vampire to soul to Buffy to LA and then back to Sunnydale and then back to LA and all the details in between. Fray just smiled as Willow finished the story. "At least he'll know about the battle," Fray said.
Willow just looked at her like she was crazy. "Just be careful," Willow cautioned. "He tends to get snippy when you bring Buffy into the story."
Fray nodded. "It's got nothing to do with her but she'll have to come up at some point. I mean, she did sort of save the world."
"With Spike," Dawn whispered.
Fray looked down at her hands and let out a deep breath. "We should be back tonight but if it takes too long we'll stop at a hotel and I'll call you all. At the latest we'll be back tomorrow."
"Be careful Fray," Kennedy cautioned. "You don't know what you'll find out."
Fray turned toward her, her green eyes severe. "You don't have to worry about me going over to the bad side no matter what I find out. I'll kill myself before I betray you. Any of you," Fray added, her eyes scanning over Dawn and Willow.
Dawn nodded. "I sent away to Giles a little while ago on any information about Faders. He should have gotten back to me by the time you get back so we can pool his information with whatever Angel gives you. Maybe that will get you even closer."
Fray thanked her before walking into her room to pack a bag. When she came back out Dawn and Kennedy were in the kitchen making lunch. Willow was still sitting down on the sofa. She looked tired even after a good night of sleep. Fray put down her bag and went to sit next to her. "Thank you for everything you did last night. I'm in your debt forever for that."
Willow smiled. "Don't worry about it," she said. "Just save the world."
Fray smiled. "That's it?" she joked. "Couldn't you just ask for a new CD or something like that?"
"What can I say? I'm a high maintenance friend."
Fray gave her a hug and picked up her bag. She yelled a goodbye to Dawn and Kennedy before she left and then walked out of the apartment.
It took her a little longer than she expected to get to Hunter's apartment since she got lost more than once. All the streets on the outside of town formed a spider web of a maze with dead ends and name changes ever block or two. It took her almost an hour to get there. It was noon when Fray knocked on his door. The apartment was at the top floor of a slightly shabby looking building. It must have been one of the government erected buildings that had been made to house construction workers and families while the rest of the city had been built. They had now been turned into apartments.
Hunter opened the door and Fray noticed that he was attempting to conceal a long knife behind his back. He put it down on a small table when he saw who it was. "You're early," he said, standing out of the way.
Fray walked inside. "It's not like I have a huge number of people to say goodbye to," she said, looking around.
The apartment was small but in good condition. There was a flat screen TV on one wall with a sofa across from it. One door went into a bedroom with a low double bed and a chest at the end. It was open now, an array of weapons spilling from it. There was also a kitchen with a small table in the middle and a bathroom next to the bedroom. Hunter shut the door as she walked inside and took her bag. He laid it on the sofa and smiled as he turned around. "It's not much," he said. "But it's good enough for a bachelor like me."
Fray nodded and smiled. "It's nice," she said finally.
"I talked to my friend at the Bronze and she said you could start on Monday. You'll work from six to ten during the week and from six to midnight on Friday and Saturday. You're off on Sunday. You'll get four fifty an hour and get to keep any tips you make."
"Thanks Hunter," Fray said. "I should be able to make back the money that Kennedy gave me pretty soon."
Hunter grabbed his bag out of his bedroom and handed Fray a long knife in a scabbard. "You'd better keep that at your waist. We don't know if we'll run into any of those masked guys on the way there."
Fray tucked it into her pants and then picked up her bag and followed him outside. Hunter locked up his apartment behind her and then walked her outside to the parking lot behind a cluster of apartments. His car was an old Ford Mustang. Probably six years old if not more, in bright red, but it looked good and Fray smiled when he sped out of the parking lot. The engine still had a lot of get up and go.
"So," Hunter said when they got out of New Sunnydale. "Tell me about your new friends."
Fray detected a hint of something in his voice but she couldn't place it. So she took her time and told him about Willow, Kennedy, Dawn, Xander, Wood and even Faith. Hunter smiled when she got to her description of Faith. "So you all are that close though. So you won't mind that I called her a psycho bitch when we first met?"
Fray smiled. "I don't mind, but she's alright when you get to know her."
Hunter chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind."
The rest of the trip was spent in comfortable silence. Fray looked out her window at the world passing by, a nervous knot in her stomach. She was coming closer to finding out where she was from and who she was. "Here we are," Hunter finally said. Fray followed his finger to a group of skyscrapers in the distance. "LA."
Hunter woke with a start and jumped out of the chair that he had fallen asleep in nearly stepping on Vi's head. She shot up and grabbed his leg, sending him tumbling to the ground with a heavy thud. "What in the hell?" Hunter yelled, slapping her hands off his leg.
"Sorry," Vi said, the apology not reaching her voice. "But be careful. You could have stepped on me."
"Whatever?" Hunter mumbled.
He jumped back up and looked at the empty bed. It was smeared with blood and he could only figure the worst. But Dawn had said that she would be alright. The Witch was supposed to have healed her. Hunter almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a laugh coming from the doorway. He turned around and saw Fray, soaking wet and wrapped in a big bath towel, with a big smile plastered on her face. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Hunter shook his head. "You weren't here and I didn't expect you to get well that quickly. I thought you might have." he trailed off and Fray's expression lightened slightly.
"You can't get rid of me that easily," she said, a smile on her face.
Hunter nodded. Vi just smiled at her as she slid out of the door. "You need to bandage your wounds again," he said, sitting down on the end of the bed.
Fray took a few steps forward and moved out of the way of the door. "Then get out of my room so I can get dressed and I'll get Dawn to do it."
Fray was surprised to see Hunter blush slightly when he realized she was actually naked under that towel. He swallowed hard and looked back up at her. "Sorry about that," he said.
"How are you doing?" Fray asked, walking over to the closet and opening the door.
"I'm better now that I've gotten some sleep. After I get something to eat I'll be perfect."
Fray nodded. "Well, get out of here and when I'm dressed and bandaged I'll take you out for breakfast."
Hunter nodded and hurried out of the room. Fray just smiled as she shut the door behind him. A few seconds later she called for Dawn and she helped Fray bandage her arms and her shoulder. "I look like a mummy," Fray joked, looking at her arms and back.
"Hey, a few more minutes last night and you would have looked like a corpse."
Fray nodded and pulled on her shirt. "I'm taking Hunter out for breakfast so we'll have a chance to talk. Do you know of any good places around?"
"Try Sunny Side on Main Street. It's a nice place for a good price. They've got normal breakfast foods and stuff like that. Do you have any money?"
"Kennedy gave me a hundred bucks for general spending but I wouldn't let her buy my school stuff so I'll need to find a job pretty soon."
"Go check out the Bronze," Dawn suggested, helping Fray pull her other shoe out from under her bed. "I heard they're looking for someone to work there. You'd probably man the bar or something like that, but still. It might be a good place to start."
Fray nodded. "That's not a bad idea. As long as they don't remember that I was the reason that their club got trashed last night."
Dawn shook her head. "People around here forget things like that really easily. Don't worry about it."
Fray stood up and stretched her arms, grimacing as the wounds pulled in protest. She opened the door and walked out, Dawn following closely behind. Hunter was sitting in a nearby chair. Rona was up now and she was involved in a conversation with Alice and Vi. Hunter jumped up when Fray walked out. "Ready to go?" Fray asked.
Hunter shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded. Fray waved to Dawn and gave her a message to let Kennedy and Willow know where she had gone and that she'd be back later that evening. Hunter waited until they got on the street to start up another conversation. "So," he said. "How long have you been with them?"
"Just over a week I think," she said. "It seems like longer though because I've been kind of busy."
"What's been going on?" Hunter asked.
Fray took a deep breath and launched into the whole story. About the Slayer Killer and how she had been found. She told him about Set and the Moot and everything else. She told him about school and about her dreams and her training. She told him everything that she could remember, the words pouring from her like water. She told him more then she had told anyone and he listened quietly as they walked. Finally they reached the restaurant and they chose a small booth in the far corner of the room so they could talk quietly.
"So what's your story? Dawn told me all the details about you being a Shielder but what about the person you."
"Well," Hunter said. "I got the news that I was going to have to go after you about five days ago. They realized that you had lost your memory. I spent about twelve hours being briefed on my mission, your location, your situation, everything like that. Then I was given money and sent here. I notified a contact and he got me an apartment on the edge of town. I found out where you were and figured that if I couldn't get close to you through school then I could at least get close to Dawn or some of the others and then talk to you. I didn't know how much you knew so I couldn't just go up to you and say, 'Hey Fader, I'm your Shielder, let's go save the world.'"
Fray smiled and nodded. "Good point."
Their conversation died as a waitress came over and took their order. "Can I borrow a pen?" Fray asked before the waitress left.
She smiled and pulled one out of her apron. "Thank you," Fray said.
She pulled a napkin towards her and used the pen to write some of the elaborate characters that she had shown to Kennedy during her training. "What's this?" she asked, pushing the napkin towards Hunter.
He took it and smiled. "Your native language actually. Faders aren't taught to speak until they're eight years old. Your trainers think that it's better if you learn to listen first. You communicate with these. They're characters that mean words and feelings. They can't be broken because they don't have a pattern and there are multiple characters to mean each word."
"That's different," Fray said, her brow furrowing. "I'm almost glad that I don't live there now. It sounds like I was treated more like a thing then a person."
Hunter smiled. "You were treated as more than a person because you were more important. I five million births there is only one Fader and our future is based on you. You patrol the past and keep it safe so no one from the future comes back and destroys it. Right now though, you are on a retrieval mission."
"For what?"
"I have no idea but I'm supposed to help you find out. We need to go on a field trip this afternoon. We can take my car but I'm supposed to take you to meet a guy named Angel in LA. He was a friend of the original Slayer's."
"Alright," Fray said. "But we'll have to go back to the apartment first and let Kennedy and Willow know that I might not be back until tomorrow."
Hunter nodded. "You're supposed to ask him something about the battle with The First; some kind of evil that destroyed Sunnydale last year. Apparently it's got something to do with that battle."
Fray nodded and took her elbows off the table as the waitress came back with their food. Fray thanked her and handed her the pen back. They spent the rest of the morning talking about their New Sunnydale experiences. "So how did you get into the Bronze opening last night?" Fray asked.
"A friend of mine is a bartender there. I think she's got a crush on me but she got me a ticket."
"Do you think you could talk to her about getting me a job? Just for the time being but I want to get enough money to pay Kennedy back for the loan."
"Not a problem," Hunter said, taking a drink of orange juice. "I can go talk to her when you go to tell the others about LA. It'll take about four hours to get there the way that I drive. You can meet me at my apartment at one this afternoon."
Fray nodded and checked her watch. They finished their meal and Fray paid for the breakfast. Hunter borrowed the waitress's pen again and wrote his address on a napkin. "It's pretty close to the edge of town but it should only be about thirty minutes from your place to there. You might want to pack a bag in case we have to stay the night. I have an address to meet this guy at."
"How do we get him to believe our story?"
"Apparently he's had a run in with a Fader before about a hundred years ago. We're supposed to give him this," Hunter said, pulling a ring out of his pocket. The gold band had a yin-yang made out of diamonds and emeralds on it. He pocketed it again. "He should remember it and then he should tell us what we want. If he doesn't then I have another lead to go on. This one's in Scotland though and I'd rather go to LA."
Fray nodded. "I can understand that. I'll see you back at your place later."
They parted in front of the restaurant and Fray jogged her way back home. When she got there Dawn and Kennedy were sitting on the sofa. The door to Willow's bedroom was open and Fray could see her still getting ready inside. Rona, Alice, and Vi were gone. Dawn smiled when she walked inside. "So, how did it go?"
"Great," Fray joked. "He even gave me his address and we're eloping this afternoon."
Dawn laughed but stopped when she saw that Fray was only half joking. "What is it?"
"We're supposed to go meet this guy in LA. It was one of the contacts that Hunter was given before he left. What does the name Angel mean to any of you?"
Willow stuck her head out of the bedroom and smiled. "You're joking right?" she asked.
Fray shook her head. "We're supposed to go and ask him about the battle with the First because apparently he's had a run in with a Fader before about a century ago."
Willow smiled slightly and pointed to the sofa. "Sit down, this might take a while."
Fray sat down next to Kennedy and Willow sat down across from them. It took a full half hour of Willow talking to tell Angel's whole story from Vampire to soul to Buffy to LA and then back to Sunnydale and then back to LA and all the details in between. Fray just smiled as Willow finished the story. "At least he'll know about the battle," Fray said.
Willow just looked at her like she was crazy. "Just be careful," Willow cautioned. "He tends to get snippy when you bring Buffy into the story."
Fray nodded. "It's got nothing to do with her but she'll have to come up at some point. I mean, she did sort of save the world."
"With Spike," Dawn whispered.
Fray looked down at her hands and let out a deep breath. "We should be back tonight but if it takes too long we'll stop at a hotel and I'll call you all. At the latest we'll be back tomorrow."
"Be careful Fray," Kennedy cautioned. "You don't know what you'll find out."
Fray turned toward her, her green eyes severe. "You don't have to worry about me going over to the bad side no matter what I find out. I'll kill myself before I betray you. Any of you," Fray added, her eyes scanning over Dawn and Willow.
Dawn nodded. "I sent away to Giles a little while ago on any information about Faders. He should have gotten back to me by the time you get back so we can pool his information with whatever Angel gives you. Maybe that will get you even closer."
Fray thanked her before walking into her room to pack a bag. When she came back out Dawn and Kennedy were in the kitchen making lunch. Willow was still sitting down on the sofa. She looked tired even after a good night of sleep. Fray put down her bag and went to sit next to her. "Thank you for everything you did last night. I'm in your debt forever for that."
Willow smiled. "Don't worry about it," she said. "Just save the world."
Fray smiled. "That's it?" she joked. "Couldn't you just ask for a new CD or something like that?"
"What can I say? I'm a high maintenance friend."
Fray gave her a hug and picked up her bag. She yelled a goodbye to Dawn and Kennedy before she left and then walked out of the apartment.
It took her a little longer than she expected to get to Hunter's apartment since she got lost more than once. All the streets on the outside of town formed a spider web of a maze with dead ends and name changes ever block or two. It took her almost an hour to get there. It was noon when Fray knocked on his door. The apartment was at the top floor of a slightly shabby looking building. It must have been one of the government erected buildings that had been made to house construction workers and families while the rest of the city had been built. They had now been turned into apartments.
Hunter opened the door and Fray noticed that he was attempting to conceal a long knife behind his back. He put it down on a small table when he saw who it was. "You're early," he said, standing out of the way.
Fray walked inside. "It's not like I have a huge number of people to say goodbye to," she said, looking around.
The apartment was small but in good condition. There was a flat screen TV on one wall with a sofa across from it. One door went into a bedroom with a low double bed and a chest at the end. It was open now, an array of weapons spilling from it. There was also a kitchen with a small table in the middle and a bathroom next to the bedroom. Hunter shut the door as she walked inside and took her bag. He laid it on the sofa and smiled as he turned around. "It's not much," he said. "But it's good enough for a bachelor like me."
Fray nodded and smiled. "It's nice," she said finally.
"I talked to my friend at the Bronze and she said you could start on Monday. You'll work from six to ten during the week and from six to midnight on Friday and Saturday. You're off on Sunday. You'll get four fifty an hour and get to keep any tips you make."
"Thanks Hunter," Fray said. "I should be able to make back the money that Kennedy gave me pretty soon."
Hunter grabbed his bag out of his bedroom and handed Fray a long knife in a scabbard. "You'd better keep that at your waist. We don't know if we'll run into any of those masked guys on the way there."
Fray tucked it into her pants and then picked up her bag and followed him outside. Hunter locked up his apartment behind her and then walked her outside to the parking lot behind a cluster of apartments. His car was an old Ford Mustang. Probably six years old if not more, in bright red, but it looked good and Fray smiled when he sped out of the parking lot. The engine still had a lot of get up and go.
"So," Hunter said when they got out of New Sunnydale. "Tell me about your new friends."
Fray detected a hint of something in his voice but she couldn't place it. So she took her time and told him about Willow, Kennedy, Dawn, Xander, Wood and even Faith. Hunter smiled when she got to her description of Faith. "So you all are that close though. So you won't mind that I called her a psycho bitch when we first met?"
Fray smiled. "I don't mind, but she's alright when you get to know her."
Hunter chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind."
The rest of the trip was spent in comfortable silence. Fray looked out her window at the world passing by, a nervous knot in her stomach. She was coming closer to finding out where she was from and who she was. "Here we are," Hunter finally said. Fray followed his finger to a group of skyscrapers in the distance. "LA."