Disclaimer: Disclaimer for all of the story can be found before the Prologue.
A/N: Since I had this chapter already written I decided to post it now. Unfortunately this is a one shot deal and the next chapter will take longer time to get up.
Many thanks to Infie, Maia and Merlin The Enchanter.
Please let me know what you think.
Buffy Summers was sitting on a small stone in the park, staring off into space. The afternoon sun was blazing and the light breeze did nothing to lower the temperature. Her best friend Willow was sitting not far away, closely watching her friend. They'd come to the park to talk, to try to figure out what to do during the summer and how to move on after Graduation.
The nature of the Hellmouth made sure that most people already had forgotten what happened at Graduation day, and those who hadn't would soon. The Sunnydale Times reported gangs on PCP and a gas-leak leading to the explosion of the school. What couldn't be forgotten though were the lives lost. Whether you believed it to be a gas leak or knew the truth, several people had died just a few days ago.
Willow sighed and moved slightly to remain in the shadow of the tree as the sun moved across the sky. Buffy had been in a state of almost shock the past days. She was happy that they had managed to destroy the Mayor. She was thrown for a loop though with the sudden inactivity when it came to slaying and she was worried about her friends.
Xander had declared his intentions to go on a road trip to discover America. While it was a relief to know he'd be away from the Hellmouth she also knew that he would without a doubt manage to get into trouble on his trip. And he wouldn't have any of the gang there to help him out when he was so far away.
And then there was Angel.
Or rather, there wasn't Angel. Angel had left. While she realized it probably was for the best she still felt empty inside. Why did her life have to be so complicated? It wasn't enough to be a vampire slayer. No, she had to fall in love with a vampire too. Looking back on it, she knew she should have been able to tell it would end in disaster, but she was young and hopelessly in love.
Willow no longer had Oz as an anchor in their messed up lives. He'd gone on a wolf-trip or something like that. It had to do with the wolf at least. She'd buried herself in books about witchcraft and spent countless hours on the Internet, searching for information or just trying to escape from reality for a while.
The summer was here with a lower vampire activity and never any major prophecies to prevent or take care of. She had no idea why the vampires seemed to move to other locations during the summer but she was thankful for the time off. At least she used to be. Now it felt like they needed something to happen, something that would pull what was left of the gang together again.
She sighed and moved down from the stone to sit with her back against it.
Willow heard her friend's sigh and her face took a questioning expression. Buffy was just about to answer when they were interrupted by a new voice.
"Hey tootsy," a voice said with a heavy New York accent.
"Whistler," Buffy acknowledged the demons presence. "What are you doing here?"
"Buff, tell me you didn't wish for something to happen," Willow pleaded, a slightly panicked expression on her face. She had a sinking feeling in her gut that she knew what the sigh had been about.
Buffy got a guilty look on her face as she realized what she'd done. Never, ever wish for something to happen on the Hellmouth.
"So what is it this time? Some slimey demon or another apocalypse?" Buffy asked with a slightly lighter tone. No matter what bad she'd brought fourth by jinxing them, at least something would happen.
"Have no clue sweetheart," Whistler said. "I just got the word myself. Gonna meet with some higher ups soon and get the low down."
Buffy frowned. "So what are you doing here then?"
Whistler shrugged. "Beats me."
"Whistler," Buffy said with a hint of warning in her tone. "I know you're supposed to be a good demon but you're still a *demon*." She pointed at him, "demon," and then at herself, "Slayer. You do the math," she finished with a glare.
"Y'know, you really need to chill a bit."
Buffy just looked pointedly at him.
Whistler sighed. "Fine. They wanted me to tell you to get the gang together for tonight. 9 p.m. at your place."
"Why?" Buffy demanded.
"Don't ask me, I'm just the messenger." He looked at his watch. "And I have a meeting to attend now. See ya."
Willow and Buffy looked at each other as Whistler disappeared behind some bushes. Buffy opened her mouth to say apologize or at least say something but Willow held up her hand to silence the Slayer.
"Don't," she started. "Whatever is happening it's big enough for *them* to send him here. We better find Xander and Giles."
Buffy sighed and nodded as she got up. "Right," she started. "Let's go find Xander first."
The two of them left the park walking...
...and ran right into Xander, literally.
"Oompfhh!" Xander groaned as he picked himself up from the ground. Buffy had only bounced back a step when they collided and looked at him with an amused expression.
"In a hurry, Xan?" She asked.
Xander pasted a goofy grin on his face and dusted of his shirt. "Hey Buff, Will," he greeted them. "I was just looking for my two favorite girls actually."
"Xander! We were just looking for you because we really, really need to talk to you and now we bumped into you here which is good because now we don't have to go looking for you." Willow drew a deep breath to continue babbling.
"Will, breathe," Buffy ordered. "You were looking for us?" She continued questioningly to Xander.
"Yeah, I was gonna ask you if you wanted to do something tonight before patrol? Maybe go to the movies or something?"
"Sorry Xan, we have to meet at my place tonight for something important."
"Oh," Xander's face fell a bit. "Should I come too?"
Willow got a puzzled expression on her face. "Of course you should. Why wouldn't we want you to?"
Xander shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I guess it has to do with the slayage and I thought you didn't want me to..." His eyes dropped to the ground.
"Oh Xan. It's not like that," Buffy said gently. "Besides, Whistler asked us to find you and bring you there so you'll have to come whether you want to or not," she finished with a smile.
"Whistler? What's going on now Buff?"
"We don't know!" Willow exclaimed. "He just want to meet us there and he was going to talk to someone and find out more and do you think it's another apocalypse or something? We just took care of the Mayor and we don't need another one right now." Willow's voice was almost pleading at the end.
"Whatever it is we'll kick its ass and beat it back to where it came from," Buffy said cheerfully. "Come on, we need to find Giles and let him know."
"Giles! Are you home?" Buffy called as they entered his apartment. It probably was a stupid question, considering the open door they had just walked through.
They walked into the living room at the same time as Giles came out from the kitchen.
"Hello Buffy," he started. "Willow, Xander," he finished. "What are you doing in here, if I may ask?"
"We needed to talk to you," Buffy stated.
"No, I meant, what are you doing *in* my apartment? As far as I know it's common custom to knock at the door before you enter."
"Oh," Buffy said surprised. "The door was open so we thought it would be easier to just come on in. Save you the walk to the door and all," she finished with a smile. "Y'know, you really should be more careful with locking the door."
"Yes, perhaps you are right." Giles sighed. "Very well, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Whistler came by when we were at the park," Buffy started and waved in Willow's direction to show who 'we' were. "He wanted us to meet him at home tonight. Said he'd to talk to some guys before that." Buffy shrugged.
"Oh," Giles said. "Did he give any clues as to what he wanted to talk to us about?"
"No, he just said we should get together at 9 pm at Buffy's house," Willow said.
"Very well," Giles started, taking of his glasses to polish them. "It shouldn't be something important I think. There are no major prophecies upcoming and the summer is generally quiet even here."
"If it wasn't something important they wouldn't have sent message boy here?" Xander questioned.
"You might be right, Xander," Giles sighed. "I guess we will all have to wait until tonight to find out. Does anyone want some tea while we wait?"
"Tea?" Xander said shocked. "It's like a million degrees outside. We need something cold and not something hot."
"It's still early, we could go down to the mall and get some Ice Cream," Willow suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," Buffy decided. "Meet us at home around 9 tonight Giles."
Giles sighed. "I will see you later then. Good bye."
"Bye G-man," Xander said over his shoulder as they walked out, and smiled as Giles scowled after him.
"Mom," Buffy said as she put her plate away after dinner. "Will, Xander and Giles are coming over tonight. There is something we need to talk about."
"Okay honey," Joyce said. "Is there something going on that I should know about?"
"I don't know mom," Buffy sighed. "Whistler came and saw me in the park today and he said he wanted us to meet up here and that he had to talk to us."
"Whistler?" Joyce asked.
"He's a balance demon, mom." Buffy gestured absently with her arms. "Sort of a messenger for The Powers That Be."
"Oh. I guess I'll have to prepare some tea for Rupert then." Joyce tried to sound like it was just an every-day event. Which it, considering the Hellmouth, surprisingly wasn't.
Buffy stepped up to her to give her a hug. "Don't worry mom. Giles says there's no creepy prophecies and no big bad scheduled for at least a few weeks."
The joke did a little to lighten up the mood as Joyce hugged her daughter back. "Good, just be careful whatever it is this time."
"Don't worry mom, we'll be all right."
The two transgenics paused for a second to take a closer look at their surroundings. The cemetery they were in was *huge*, by far the largest they'd ever seen. Graveyards had actually been rather sparse in their reality, at least in Seattle. Not many people had the money needed to bury their dead loved ones in a cemetery by a church. Most people found a secluded area in a forest, preferably some place that held a special memory for the family, and buried their relatives there. This was much different. There were actually several crypts and other small buildings of some sort scattered over the cemetery.
They both listened for any life signs and quickly picked up the sounds of traffic from one direction. Since they couldn't see the exit they started off in that direction, knowing that they at least would get out of the cemetery that way.
They walked for close to two minutes in silence before Alec broke the silence.
"I wonder how big this city really is. This cemetery looks really big."
Max let her gaze sweep over the endless rows of headstones and shook off the chill that crept up her spine. "Yeah, it's way big." She drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Something feels off with this place."
Alec nodded slightly. He'd been thinking the same thing. "Yeah, something doesn't feel right." He shrugged. "Not that I have lots of experience walking around in graveyards by night though."
"Neither have I," Max replied absently. "But still..." she trailed off.
They continued to walk in silence and it wasn't long before they could see the low fence that marked the border of the cemetery. The buildings outside the fence looked like a residential district with lots of one-family homes. They walked side by side toward the fence, carefully stepping around the graves.
"We should try to find a telephone booth or something like that," Max said. "There should be a map in the telephone directory."
"If they do things here like we did in our reality Max, which we don't know for sure," Alec said. "But I guess we better give it a try."
They reached the fence and were just about to clear it when they were interrupted by a voice coming from somewhere behind them.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
The two X5's turned around to face the speaker and were confronted with four persons, three guys and one brunette girl. They all had one thing in common though - a horrible fashion sense.
Max rolled her eyes. "Of all lame things to say..."
Alec looked closer at the group. There was something very off about them but he couldn't say exactly what it was. They looked a little pale and dressed like people did in some of the oldest movies he'd seen and not like in the ones from this time period. The guy in the middle took a step toward them and Alec put up his hands, palms turned against them.
"We don't want any trouble," he started. "And we really don't have time to deal with this," he sighed as two of the others also advanced.
"Oh, don't worry," the leader said. "You wont have to worry about being late anywhere."
"Look, asshole," Max snapped. "I've had a bad day already and I'm really not in the mood to beat your scrawny asses just to be left alone."
The leader, a slightly fat guy with dark hair, *growled* at them. "Get them," he ordered his friends.
Alec's eyes widened in surprise as the faces of the attackers *changed*. Their eyes turned yellow and their faces grew ridges and fangs. The four of them attacked with a growl and Alec slipped into a defensive stance.
"I'm gonna rip you apart, bloodbag," one of the guys shouted as he lounged for Max. The female of the group followed him, leaving Alec to deal with two guys.
Max rolled her eyes again. Some people were just too stupid to know when to leave it alone. She ducked under the first punch and countered with a punch of her own. She was careful not to use too much strength as she aimed for the guy's cheek. His head snapped back and he stumbled back a few steps, clearly dazed but not unconscious as he should have been. She stared astonished at him for a moment before the female attacker reached her and she had to dodge a clumsy haymaker. These guys had no idea of how to fight. She connected with a spin kick to the chest of the female and sent her flying back into a headstone. The stone cracked under the impact but the girl just bounced right back up again.
Max had been a little closer to the attackers and they had reached her first. Seeing how her punches didn't appear to have any affect on their attackers Alec decided not to hold back as much. When the first guy reached him he used his forearm to change the direction of the punch, tilting his head slightly to avoid getting hit. His right arm shot out faster than the human eye could follow and connected with a sickening crush to the guy's nose. He fell to the ground in a boneless heap and didn't move.
His companion saw what happened and instead of withdrawing he growled and attacked in rage. Alec sidestepped the attack and used his left leg to trip the guy. As the attacker fell he spun around with a spin kick and planted his right foot in the back of the guys head. The second guy joined his friend on the grass and lay motionless.
Alec had kept an eye on Max through the fight and as soon as she'd realized the attackers could take a little more beating than a normal human she'd stopped holding back as much. The guy was on the ground, clearly unconscious and Max was playing with the girl, letting her attack only to dodge the clumsy punches and throwing the girl to the ground.
"Come on," she taunted after sweeping out the legs under the girl. "Is that all you got?"
Alec chuckled. "And you're the one to talk about lame things to say."
Max trapped the girl's wrist in a wise-like grip and snapped it. She shoved the screaming girl back and spun around to plant a kick in her temple and knocked her out.
"Shut up!" she glared at Alec.
The two of them jumped easily over the fence and left the graveyard. They walked away on the street in the direction that looked like it would lead them toward the centre of the city.
"What the hell do you think those guys were?" Max asked. They had been way tougher than normal humans and their faces...
"No idea," Alec said. He didn't like not knowing what they were up against and at the moment he really had no idea at all. "What if there is something like Manticore here? They looked like they could have been an early X-series."
"Yeah, maybe," Max answered. "But how could they change their faces like that? They looked perfectly human when we first saw them."
Alec shrugged. "Maybe they're still figuring out some problems with the genetic make up. That would explain why they were so stupid and untrained."
Max nodded absently. "Those power-guys said there was no Manticore in this reality."
"Yeah," Alec agreed. "Manticore was created because of the familiars and if there are no familiars here there shouldn't be any Manticore either." They continued their walk in silence for a minute before Alec spoke again. "We should probably try to keep the whole deal with transgenics a secret for now. At least until we know what we're dealing with and if we can trust anyone here."
Max sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it you're probably right."
Alec's mouth twisted into a smirk and he had a perfect reply on his lips.
"You're *probably* right," Max said before he could respond. "And I don't expect it to happen again soon so just shut up."
Alec rolled his eyes. They reached the street corner and reached parts of the city that were occupied by more business like buildings. Suddenly it struck him that even though they'd seen a few cars there were hardly anyone moving on the streets. Maybe gangs like the one they met at the graveyard were common in this city? He spotted a phone booth half a block down, and on the other side of, the street and pointed it out for Max.
A minute later she had found the pages with the maps and ripped them out.
Alec sighed dramatically. "We haven't been here an hour yet and you're already stealing."
Max shot him a quick glare before she returned her attention to the maps. "There," she said after a few seconds and pointed out their destination for him on the map. "It doesn't look like it's that far away."
Alec looked at the map and memorized it quickly before handing it back. "Nah, should be easy to get there in time," he said. "Let's go."
Xander pulled up to Willow's house in his uncle's car and killed the engine. He looked around a little nervously to make sure no vampires were close by before he got out and headed for the door. He had stakes and crosses and holy water with him, of course. Going out at night without them was like leaving the door unlocked with a sign on the mailbox telling everyone about it. It was simply not done. Well, it was something you didn't do if you knew what was actually crawling around in this town after the sun went down.
He knocked on the door and had barely withdrawn his hand before Willow came rushing out and slammed it shut behind her.
"Come on Xander," she said breathlessly as she locked the door. "We're already late!"
"Will, there's lots of time left." Xander reassured the redhead.
Willow bounced down to the car and got in with a sighing Xander following behind.
"So what do you think this is all about?" Xander asked as he started the car and headed toward Buffy's house.
Willow frowned. "I don't know," she said. "But I don't think it's good. I mean, why would they send him here just to get us together so he could talk to us all before he even knew what he was going to tell us."
Xander shrugged, not too worried about the whole situation. They had dealt with bad things before and they would have to do it again. This was just another day, or when it came to this town and the Hellmouth, another night.
They pulled up in front of Buffy's house a few minutes before 9 pm and found Buffy waiting for them by the door.
"Hey," she said and moved away from the doorstep. "Giles is already here." She never asked them to come in, of course. It was just another thing you never did after sunset in Sunnydale.
"Giles, Willow and Xander are here!" she yelled into the house.
The Watcher came to the door to greet the new arrivals and quickly took charge. "We should assemble in the living room immediately," he said. "We need to discuss this and find out if we know anything about the situation at hand."
"Well, I don't," Xander said as he grabbed a donut from a bag he'd brought and threw himself down on the couch.
Giles shot him a look that clearly said that he didn't expect the boy to know anything. "Buffy, could you please tell me about your meeting with the demon Whistler."
Buffy sat down on an empty spot on the couch. "Sure Giles," she said. "Whistler came when we were in the park today. He was his usual self and said that he needed to meet us here tonight. I asked him what it was all about and he said he had no idea but he was going to talk to some 'higher ups' later today."
"I see," Giles said. He pulled off his glasses and absently started cleaning them. "He didn't let anything slip that would give us a hint what this is concerning?"
Buffy shook her head. "Nah, I don't think he knew what it's about."
"This is mostly disturbing. I do not like when things happen out of order," Giles sighed.
"We've handled the Mayor and the Master and everything else. How bad can this be?" Buffy asked.
"Y'know Buff, this really is the wrong place to say something like that," Xander said.
"I wish you would refrain from saying things like that, Buffy," Giles agreed. "After all, this is the Hellmouth."
The discussion was interrupted by someone knocking lightly on the door. Buffy jumped up from the couch and went to open the door. She frowned as she wondered who could possibly come by this late. She couldn't feel any vampires outside the door so she opened it, only to find a *very* nervous looking Whistler.
"Um... hi," the demon said.
"Whistler," Buffy started. "Since when do you knock?" She stepped aside to let the balance demon in.
"Maybe he's in for a raise and tries to score points with his bosses?" Xander quipped from the living room.
They entered the living room and Whistler stood still for a second, looking like if he was trying to decide whether to run away or sit down. Finally he took a seat and sighed deeply.
"Well, now that we are all here like you requested maybe you could inform us why you wanted this meeting to take place," Giles said.
"Umm... well..."
"Whistler," Buffy said in a threatening voice.
"We have a problem," the demon blurted out.
"Now that was unexpected. Couldn't have seen that one coming," Xander said.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Y'know, he's actually right. We figured that much out by ourselves. Maybe you could let us in on what the problem is?"
Willow had been sitting quietly since Whistler arrived and had been watching the demon very closely. She hadn't met him many times before but she had *never* seen him act like this. "This is bad, isn't it?" she said. "You wouldn't be acting like this if it wasn't."
Whistler sighed again. "You're right, Red. It could be really bad but we're not sure."
"Why don't you start at the beginning and tell us what the problem is," Giles suggested. He was more than a little nervous by now. Something that was considered bad by the Powers and made this balance demon very nervous couldn't be good. And none of his books mentioned anything about any upcoming apocalypses in the near future.
"Right," Whistler said. "Here is what we know, in a nutshell."
Everybody leaned forward a little as they prepared to be told what the latest apocalypse was about. Joyce, who had been sitting quietly through the meeting so far, was looking at the assembled teenagers and her daughter's Watcher. She wanted to be here to know what was going to happen, even though she never was involved directly in the slaying.
"Almost two thousand years ago someone working for The Powers screwed up pretty bad," Whistler started. "Some guy who should have died normally was turned into a vamp, and has been surviving and gathering followers since then. They're here in Sunnydale and we have no idea what they're up to."
"How could this guy be turned, just because someone screwed up?" Xander asked.
"We don't know," Whistler said, frustrated. "Someone used their powers to change the fate of this guy, and at the same time something happened to a vampire to make him do something else that he wasn't supposed to." He groaned loudly. "It's not even supposed to be possible to affect someone without a soul, no matter how you try."
"I assume this means that you can't persuade this vampire to commit suicide or something similar? Giles asked.
"Exactly," Whistler said. "This vampire shouldn't exist and because of that there isn't any prophecy that fits the current situation."
"Well, it doesn't sound too bad," Buffy said cheerfully. "What's twenty or thirty more vamps when the whole town is crawling with them?"
"Buffy, I don't think you see the danger we are facing here," Giles said. "This vampire is almost thirteen hundred years older than Kakhistos." He paused for a second to let the words sink in. "And remember that if it wasn't for Xander here you would have died by the hands of the other ancient vampire we've faced, the Master."
"Yeah, and that's another thing they're still pissed about up there," Whistler said. "You're not on their birthday-list you know," he told Xander.
"What was I supposed to do? Let her die?"
"Well, that's what was supposed to happen," Whistler said and got a hostile glare from everyone in the room. "I don't think they've ever had anyone who has interfered as much with the plan as you have," he grinned.
"What do you mean?" Willow asked.
"When the kid over there messed up the big plan the first time they put a watcher on him to make sure he didn't do it again. I don't think they ever have been forced to have one of the elders step in directly to make sure things played out as they should." He turned to Xander again. "Y'know you were so close to bringing her back to the good side that night. I'm really impressed actually. One of the elders had to use a great deal of his power to make her throw you out."
Xander's mouth opened and closed silently as he felt a blush spread over his face. Before he had the chance to say anything Whistler continued.
"But, you might get another chance, kid," he smirked. "Since this is really The Powers' fault from the beginning they're bringing in some reinforcements for you."
Giles cleared his throat. "What exactly do you mean by 'reinforcements'?" he asked.
"Well, they're letting Faith back into the fight, on the side she wants to fight on and..." He didn't get any further, as Buffy practically exploded.
"What!?! You're letting that psycho murderer out again?" she yelled.
Willow was the only one to notice how Xander's eyes darkened at Buffy's words, but she soon had other things on her mind.
"Buffy, would you please sit and calm down again," Giles said.
"Y'know Slayer," Whistler started. "From what I got from the higher ups they were forced to let her go to the dark side because of you. You were supposed to be dead, and having two Slayers disrupted the balance between good and evil. Some of the ones in charge wanted to let you go, but in the end I think they played rock-paper-scissors about the whole thing. The ones who wanted you to go bad, lost two to one in a best of three game."
Buffy's eyes widened in shock and she slumped down on the couch again, no longer able to speak as she tried to comprehend what the balance demon just said.
Xander just stared at the demon in shock. It was his fault that Faith had gone bad. Had been forced to go bad, he corrected himself. If he hadn't saved Buffy from the Master it would never have happened. He closed his eyes and buried his head in his hands. Even if he'd known that and known everything else, could he have let Buffy die just to stop it from happening? He knew the answer to that question even before the question itself had fully formed in his head. There was no way he could have let someone die just on the off chance that he would be happy.
Giles and Joyce shared a look, both clearly relieved that it hadn't been Buffy who had been chosen, and at the same time clearly disturbed by the whole thing. The thought that The Powers could play with their lives this easily was not a comforting one.
Willow, who had hated the dark haired Slayer with a passion, felt a lump in her throat and the tears pushing to be let out. To imagine that someone could be forced against their will to do the things Faith had done was horrific.
The Scoobies stared absently out into the room as they tried to digest what Whistler said.
"As I was trying to say before, they're bringing in some additional help too. They never told me about them, only that they would be here by 9.30 or around then, tonight."
Giles blinked a few times as he tried to compose himself. "Excuse me, what did you just say?"
Whistler sighed. "They're bringing in some more help," he repeated.
"I see," Giles said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If they are returning Faith, are they also bringing back Kendra? Or are they calling yet another Slayer?" he then asked.
"Nah, they can't bring back the dead, it's against all the rules and laws," Whistler explained. "And they can't call another Slayer either. They can't change the fates of the souls in this reality, no matter how much they want to."
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand," Giles said. "If The Powers can't call another champion to aid us, how then are they going to help?"
Whistler shrugged. "No idea, they didn't tell me everything." His lips curved into a grin. "But I bet it'll be a blast finding out."
The Slayerettes sat quietly, trying to absorb everything the demon had told them. Giles was just going to ask another question about the 'help' when someone knocked on the door.
"That's my cue to leave," Whistler said. "You have fun, kiddies." With that he disappeared into the kitchen.
"Wait a minute," Xander said and jumped up to follow him, only to return a few seconds later to announce that the balance demon was gone.
Buffy got up to answer the knock on the door. The others turned to face the door as well, curious to find out who it would be.
Max and Alec moved quickly along the mostly empty streets. They could see people walking here and there but not as many as one would have expected. The city they had found themselves in was like something out of a movie - nice houses, well maintained gardens, and all the cars they saw looked almost new. For people who had grown up in post pulse America it was almost surreal. The Powers had told them this reality was roughly twenty two years younger than theirs and the apocalyptic event that took place in 2009 hadn't happened. Alec found himself wondering if something of that magnitude would happen in this reality too in about ten years, or if things were completely different here. And if it would happen, could they stop it if they were still around by then?
Max grabbed hold of Alec's shoulder and pointed at a figure that was hurrying along the street, constantly checking around himself nervously. The few people they'd seen had acted the same. Whether they were moving in groups or alone, everyone seemed to be scared, or at least not comfortable about being outside. It wasn't like in Seattle where the police and the hover-drones kept an eye on everything to give people a false sense of security. In truth, the sector police had been the ones you really had to look out for while avoiding getting on their wrong side. That meant paying the bribes and the blackmail money in time and not complaining too much about it.
This was very different though. The few police cars they'd seen had been driving around like they were in a hurry to be somewhere else. They hadn't stopped to check out some of the more suspicious looking people and didn't seem to care that everyone looked scared shitless.
Something was way off with this town.
They turned another street corner and found themselves on Revello Drive. Finding your way through a city was easy when you could memorize a map in the blink of an eye, and the tracking and orientation exercises they'd been put through in Manticore were done in the forests without any street signs to tell where you were.
"So," Max started. "I guess we're here."
They were standing in front of a nice one-family house like most of the others in the neighborhood. The garden was well cared for and the lawn was neatly trimmed. It looked like most of the houses they'd passed on their way here, and it still left them with a feeling of astonishment. Everything they were used to told them that something like this couldn't exist in the USA.
Alec had been on numerous missions in Europe and Australia and had seen countries and cities untouched by the breakdown USA had suffered. Subconsciously he knew they were in Sunnydale, California, but he felt himself looking for German or French street signs and notes. He shook his head to clear the irrelevant thoughts and gestured for Max to continue up to the door.
"Ladies first."
Max flashed him a smile and together they walked up to the door and knocked hesitantly.
They both heard footsteps on the other side of the door and picked up the sound of one person's breathing and heartbeat just before the door opened.
"Can I help you with something?" A short, blonde girl asked.
She looked like she was a few years younger than them, and Alec found himself checking her out immediately. She needed to gain a few pounds and she was obviously not a natural blonde. Other than that she wasn't too bad. Nothing compared to Max, of course, but who was? He flashed her a smile and nodded politely.
"Yeah, at least I hope so," he said. "We were told to be here at 2130 today to meet some people."
Max shot a glare at him for slipping up. Way to give away a military background the first you talk.
Buffy opened the door to find a young man and a woman standing on the other side. They were dressed in camouflage pants and black tops with heavy boots to round it off. They both looked to be a few years older than herself and the first thought that came to her mind was how perfect they looked. Both of them looked like they could have been pulled straight out of a fashion magazine. The guy was a total hottie, and if she wasn't mistaking herself he was checking her out! Her Slayer sense wasn't giving off any bad vibes about them, in fact she wasn't picking up anything at all from them, not even the faint, friendly feeling that told her someone was human. Still, no bad vibes probably meant they were friendly.
"Can I help you with something?" she asked, still a little on her guard as she decided it was better to play it safe.
"Yeah, at least I hope so," the guy answered with a much too pleasant voice. "We were told to be here at 2130 today to meet some people."
2130? The only people who talked like that were the ones in all the action movies Xander always liked to watch. Combine that with the clothes and she had military people for sure. Buffy's eyes narrowed as she eyed them suspiciously. "Who told you that and why?" she asked.
The girl sighed. "Now that's the 64-thousand dollar question," she said. "They said they were The Powers something," she gestured absently with her arms at the word 'something'.
"The Powers That Be, Max," the guy said with a grin. "You really need to pay attention sometimes."
The brunette smacked the guy on the shoulder. "Shut up, Alec!"
Buffy felt herself relax slightly, at the same time her hopes sank. If The Powers sent them they probably were cool, but it was so obvious that these two were into each other that she better forget everything about the guy right away. "Alec and Max huh?" she asked.
Alec nodded. "Yeah. And you are?"
"I'm Buffy."
Max stifled a laugh. Who the hell named someone Buffy? This reality was just way too weird.
"Nice to meet you, Buffy," Alec said, offering his hand for her to shake, so she did. "Do you mind if we come in?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. "Something with this town seems off and I'd like to get some additional intel if we're supposed to stay here."
Max glared at him for a second before she shrugged and decided their cover was pretty much blown anyway. It wasn't like the clothes didn't give them away immediately.
Buffy nodded and stepped aside to let them in. They were both dressed like soldiers and the guy definitely talked like one, but she'd *never* imagined any actual soldiers to look like this. They could have been taken directly from the recruitment posters, she thought. 'Join the army and meet new exciting and beautiful people.' She rolled her eyes, why did she let her thoughts drift like this now?
Max and Alec entered the house and took off their boots. They had no idea how The Powers had known which clothes they would prefer to wear if they were supposed to fight but the boots had been a nice surprise at least. They were specially made for the individual soldier by Manticore contractors and fit far better than any normal boot. The steel reinforced tips were perfect if you needed to kick something or someone with a great deal of power.
They followed Buffy into the living room and were met by a small group of people who were all eying them curiously.
The room was completely silent for over a minute before the awkwardness became too much for Alec.
"Hi," he said cheerfully. "I'm Alec, and this is Max."
"You two didn't happen to escape from one of Cordy's fashion magazines huh?" Xander quipped. He could totally see that happen in Sunnydale. And the girl sure was qualified, he thought as he let his eyes wander.
The two newcomers gave him an odd look but obviously decided to ignore what he said.
Giles snapped out of whatever haze he'd been in and stood up, offering his hand to Alec.
"I am Rupert Giles," he introduced himself. "And this is Joyce, Xander and Willow. I believe you have already met Buffy," he gestured at the others as he introduced them by name.
Ok, he's a brit for sure, Max thought as she said her hellos to the people in the room. Xander and Willow were both a few years younger, probably about Buffy's age. Joyce was definitely Buffy's mother and Giles was... She frowned. That was something they'd have to find out.
Everyone in the room was eying them carefully as if they were trying to figure out if they were friends or foes. It was a natural response, she knew. She'd always done the same when she was introduced to new people back in Seattle.
Giles decided to take control of the discussion and cleared his throat. "Now that we have all been introduced properly maybe our you would be so kind as to explain who you are and why you are here?"
"Now that's a long story," Alec smirked and took a step back, leaning casually against the wall. Almost any observer would have taken him for completely relaxed and comfortable. Max knew he was ready to act in the blink of an eye and had no doubt he would do so if he felt threatened. Unknown to both the transgenics, both Giles and Buffy also picked up on that little fact.
Giles glanced briefly in Buffy's direction and caught the small shake of her head. No, they weren't any sorts of demons and she got no bad vibes from her Slayer sense.
Max and Alec, off course, both noticed the interplay between the two. What it summed up to was a very vary group of people who had no idea of whom to trust.
Joyce quickly picked up on the tense situation and did her best to diffuse it. "Does anyone want something to drink?" she asked. "Tea, coffee, or soda?"
The tension in the room lessened and she drew a deep, thankful breath. The last thing she needed was her living room trashed.
"Coffee would be great thanks," Alec said and Max nodded her approval.
"Buffy, why don't you be a dear and go fetch some sodas for Xander and Willow while I prepare some tea and coffee," Joyce said as she disappeared into the kitchen.
Buffy left to get the sodas, with a last glance in the direction of the two transgenics.
"First of all," Alec started. "Could someone tell us what day, date and year it is?"
Xander's eyes widened in surprise and Giles gave them a suspicious look before he answered. "It's the 10th of June in the year 1999."
Max gave him a warm smile. "Thanks, at least I don't have to wonder about that anymore."
Buffy and Joyce returned with the desired drinks and silence once again claimed the room. After a few, uncomfortable moments Max cleared her throat and decided to get this bitch going.
"Right," she started. "I guess we better start at the beginning."
"Yes, I suppose that would be the best," Giles said.
"Alec and I are from Seattle," Max started the story of their life. "Last night we were out with our friends at the local club when I got a call from a friend who wanted to meet with us. We went over to his place and found some people waiting for us." She closed her eyes and fought to stay calm, the knowledge of the fate their friends had was a heavy burden.
Alec took over as he quickly picked up on Max's discomfort. "The ones who were waiting for us were some people we'd been fighting for the past year. They are a part of an ancient cult of loonies determined to take over the world and they had been getting closer and closer to their goal."
"Excuse me," Giles interrupted. "What information can you give us about the cult and how do we stop them?"
"Sounds familiar."
Giles glared at Xander, willing him to be quiet.
Alec let out something like a cross between a chuckle and a sigh. "You can't stop them," he told the watcher. "When they killed Max they destroyed the last chance we had to do that."
Buffy's eyes widened in shock before they focused on Max and narrowed to slits. "If they killed you how can you be alive?" she demanded. "What kind of demon are you?"
Max levelly met her stare. "I have no idea what you're going on about *demons*, but I'm not one."
"But but but," Willow spluttered, "how can you be here if you died and if you're not a demon? And you're not a vamp because you could come in without being invited and Buffy would have sensed you."
"Whoa, slow down," Alec said, holding up his hands. "I was shot and killed and I can only assume the same thing happened to Max," he glanced questioningly in her direction and she nodded. "When we..." he paused for a second, searching for the right words. "When we 'woke up' we were in a castle or something, which promptly transformed into a courtroom."
Giles started to say something, but Alec gestured for him to hold off on the questions.
"We met with those seven really weird guys," Max took over. "At least I think they were guys," she said with a shrug and a thoughtful expression on her face. "Some of them weren't easy to tell."
"They said they were The Powers That Be," Alec continued. "They explained a lot of things for us and asked if we wanted to continue to fight 'evil'," he made big air-quotes at the last word.
"So here we are," Max finished with a twisted smile. "Just can't stay out of trouble."
Giles sat in silence for a moment as he tried to absorb their story. His eyes narrowed slightly as he couldn't get certain things to fit in. "I thought The Powers couldn't bring people back from the dead and send them back to fight?" he said.
Max and Alec shared a glance and without communicating with words decided that it was best to tell them right away.
"I don't know about that," Alec started. "But when Max died our reality had served its purpose and was lost forever. And since they seemed to think you had some problems here..." he trailed off.
Four pairs of wide-open eyes stared at them in astonishment. The two transgenics shifted uncomfortably.
"You're from another reality," Xander asked.
"Yeah," Alec shrugged. "And since our reality was created before yours I guess you can say we're from the future too," he added with a grin.
"That's sooo cool!" Willow exclaimed as she pulled herself together. "You have to tell us everything. Did you have thinking computers and flying cars and spaceships and all that cool stuff from science fiction movies?"
"Wills, slow down," Xander said. "I don't think they're fluent in Willow-babble and it's a little hard to follow you when you get excited," he smiled at his old friend.
The two X5's faces closed up as they thought of their own reality and time. "No," Alec said silently. "It wasn't like in the movies." No, not at all like the movies.
Joyce quickly picked up on the darkened mood and decided that a change of subject would be a good idea. "If you... umm... died," she said with an embarrassed expression, "last night you must be hungry now. Do you want something to eat?"
Giles had, despite all his knowledge and experience, been the one to take the longest to recover from the shock the 'alternate reality' news caused. He blinked a few times to clear his eyes and stood up. "I think we could all use some refreshments now," he said. "A few sandwiches would be fabulous and I could really use a drink."
Buffy chuckled as she watched her watcher trying to compose himself. She then turned to Max and asked, "so are you a Slayer too? I mean, I don't get any vibes from you but I guess that could be 'cause of the whole reality thing."
Max gave her a blank look. "What's a Slayer?"
Giles cleared his throat and opened his mouth to answer.
Buffy leaned forward and whispered loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "He loves this part."
Her Watcher gave her an annoyed look. "One girl in every generation is blessed with the speed and strength to fight vampires and other demons. She is the Vampire Slayer, the Chosen One."
Max and Alec looked at each other before simultaneously turning to the Englishman. "Vampires?" they both chorused.
"Yes," the Watcher calmly responded. "And demons."
"So you're fighting vampires and demons?" Max asked. "That's what this is all about?"
"Like in Dracula and Blade?" Alec asked.
"Nah," Xander broke in. "Real life vamps aren't as smart as the ones in the movies," he grinned.
Marcus stepped out onto the veranda at the rear of the house and took in the sights of the night. Nocturnal insects were buzzing around and he spotted a cat chasing a mouse at the other side of the garden. The house was old but still in very good shape. He'd bought it himself almost seventy years earlier when he'd first learned about the location of the Hellmouth. It was situated on the outskirts of Sunnydale and almost as far from the actual Hellmouth you could come and still be within the city limits. It didn't bother him though. The slightly lower influence the Hellmouth had in this part of the town meant there were less fledglings and other trash disturbing the peace.
He'd known from the beginning that sooner or later the Slayer would be sent to the Hellmouth. It was just too dangerous to leave it unprotected. When he'd first moved here and bought the house he'd been ecstatic. Soon all the planning and the long wait would be over and he would finally have another Slayer. The feeling of euphoria the upcoming ritual and the Hellmouth gave him had quickly faded when he found out who was running the town. Mayor Wilkins had most of the underground working for him and kept a tight lock on everything. It wasn't hard to understand why so few had learned about the Hellmouth when the ones who ran the town did their best to keep it a secret. Combine that with the natural influence of the Hellmouth and no human would notice anything wrong.
Unfortunately, this also meant that he would have to postpone his plans. For one thing, the Mayor was powerful, and facing off against him would be risky. Aside from that the Slayer wasn't present and would probably not be for some time to come. He'd left the town after only a few weeks with a feeling of loss, but had kept a close eye on everything that was going on.
Now the Mayor was gone for good and there was a nice added bonus too. There wasn't just one, but *two* Slayers at the Hellmouth. And one of them was in a coma at the Sunnydale Hospital. His plans had originally only involved one Slayer. Having two of them present was even better. The second Slayer would be easy to collect at the hospital and taking the other one out would only be moderately difficult with the proper planning.
And after two thousand years, how to create plans was something he knew.
"Vampires," Alec exhaled. "Man, this reality is just too weird."
"You mean you don't have any vamps in your reality?" Buffy asked. The two transgenics shook their heads.
"I see," Giles said. "I was wondering why The Powers didn't send us another Slayer. It would seem to be the natural response."
"Oh-kay," Max said slowly. "So how do you fight a vampire and how do you find and recognize them?"
Giles started to clean his glasses as he prepared to give his speech about vampires. "Vampires are demons inhabiting a human host," he started. "A vampire is created by draining the blood from a human being and then feeding the dying person vampire blood. Vampires are soulless and most of them take pleasure in inflicting pain and terror. They need blood to survive and most commonly get this by feeding from and killing humans." He paused for a second as the two newcomers winced at the mental image that description produced. "Vampires are inhumanly strong and fast and heal wounds at a much quicker pace than any human, except the Slayer."
"Sunlight, beheadings and a stake to the heart kill them. Holy water and holy symbols hurt them," Buffy said, bored with the longwinded speech.
Giles gave her an irritated look but didn't say anything.
"So," Alec said slowly. "A vampire is a demon living in a dead human?"
"Yeah, their hearts don't beat and they don't need to breathe, so you can't strangle them," Xander said. "Which is lucky for Deadboy," he added under his breath. The comment wasn't loud enough to be heard by anyone but Willow. Well, it wouldn't have been if three of the others in the room hadn't had exceptional hearing.
Buffy glared at the boy and the two transgenics raised their eyebrows.
Suddenly something clicked in Alec's mind and his head snapped around to look at Max. "I *knew* there was something wrong with those guys at the cemetery," he said. "I mean, except for the whole yellow eyes and ugly ridges deal. They didn't have a heartbeat."
Max eyes widened in realization. "Oh," she said. "At least that means they weren't..." she trailed off, leaving the last part of the sentence unspoken. Alec knew what she was going to say anyway and nodded. At least they weren't transgenics, which was a relief to know.
"Wait, do you mean you met some vampires before you got here?" Buffy asked.
Alec nodded. "Yeah, we got jumped by three guys and a girl when we left the cemetery where The Powers dropped us off. I knew something was off with them but I had no idea what."
"What happened?" Willow asked wide-eyed. If they were jumped by four vamps and got away something must have happened.
Max shrugged. "Knocked 'em out and left 'em there."
Giles looked at the two transgenics, baffled. "You knocked four vampires unconscious?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, it was no big," Max said, not understanding what the big deal was. Sure, vampires could take a little more beating than a human and it probably hurt if they managed to hit you, but they were stupid and had no idea how to fight. And compared to Familiars and other transgenics they were so far down the scale they barely registered as worthy opponents. At least not the ones they fought in the cemetery, she mentally added. They might have stumbled on some really stupid ones.
"How did you do that?" Xander asked with a little awe. The only ones he'd seen knock out vampires before were Buffy and Faith, or another vampire like Angel.
"We have some experience with fighting," Alec said.
The young brunette had lain motionless in her bed for several weeks; her only company the machines that monitored her body's vital functions. The doctors had no hope she'd ever wake up and after the first few weeks the care for her had became entirely routine. The nurses checked in at set times and made sure everything was looking good before leaving to perform their other duties. So when the monotone sounds of the heartbeat suddenly changed to a quicker pace and the girl began to stir in her bed, no one was there to notice.
Faith's mouth opened slightly and a soft whimper escaped her lips. Her head began to shift slightly from side to side as if she was shaking her head in her sleep. Tears began to leak out from under her closed eyelids and roll down her pale cheeks.
"No... Please no."
A nurse passed by the door and glanced quickly at the bed only to see the comatose girl shift in her bed. She quickly called for a doctor and they raced into the room.
The girl's whimpers got louder and louder as they checked her vitals and she started trashing in her bed.
The nurse tried to hold her down while the doctor finished his quick check and was totally unprepared when she was suddenly flung through the room and landed in a heap at the door.
"NOOO!!!" Faith woke up with a cry of anguish and slumped down on the bed as unconsciousness claimed her again.