Rescue

Episode 9

Buffy's House:

            Buffy awoke from a deep sleep. Her head hurt like crazy. She slowly sat up and glanced down at her arms. There were several small cuts and scrapes on her arms. Then she remembered her encounter with the Ubervamp and how it had beaten her with the locker door.

            She stood up and headed downstairs into chaos. There was shouting and screaming coming from everywhere in the house.

            "What is going on in here?" Buffy shouted.

            Willow came walking into the front hall.

            "Buffy, you're up!" Willow exclaimed.

            "What's going on?" she questioned the witch.

            "Well, we managed to get you and the potential back here. Giles showed up with six new girls and now we have twelve of them staying here. In other words, this place is like a living hell."

            "At least we have more troops," she said, "But now the chances of getting in the bathroom are even slimmer."

            Just then Giles passed through the front hall from the kitchen.

            "Willow, these girls are driving me absolutely…Buffy!" he exclaimed.

            Buffy and Willow turned towards Giles. Buffy embraced him in a big hug.

            "I'm glad to see that you are up and moving," he said.

            "You found all the potentials?" she questioned, ignoring his statement.

            "I found all the ones that were currently known of, but I'm sure there are others out there," he replied, "I mean you found two that were here in Sunnydale. I'm sure more will turn up over the weeks."

            "Oh goodie," she said, sarcastically.

            "Willow, what happened after it beat me with the locker door?" she asked.

            "Luckily for you, Xander text-messaged me and said you were in danger," she began, "I showed up and used a spell to chase the vampire away."

            "Is the Ubervamp dead?" she asked.

            "I highly doubt it," Willow replied.

            "Is the girl all right?" Buffy questioned.

            "Yes," Willow informed, "She is doing just fine."

            "Where are they all now?" she asked.

            "Just follow the screaming," Giles replied.

            Buffy turned and walked into the kitchen. Then she opened the basement door and headed down into the screaming mess. Xander, Jake, and Anya were down there trying to stop the fighting.

            As she walked down, Xander and the others turned their attention to her. The twelve girls continued fighting. She cleared her throat, but the girls continued fighting. She cleared it louder. That's when they all noticed her.

            "Listen up!" she exclaimed, "I am in charge here. You all must put an effort into this. Not just me. It seems that all I'm doing is babysitting you. I know that more than half of you are new and I haven't even met you but still. I will not sit around and baby-sit you all. You are all slayer candidates and have power inside of you to fight and you will use it."

            Everyone just stared at her in confusion. Her friends all seemed to agree with her. They knew that they were staying in a house with people containing incredible powers.

            "Giles!" Buffy called.

            Immediately, Giles appeared at the top of the basement stairs. He didn't seem like he had even been doing something.

            "Yes, Buffy?" he asked.

            "These girls need to learn that I am not here to protect them, to keep them alive," she told him, "I am here to protect the world. They need to start training."

            "But Buffy," he began, "The Turok Han is still loose."

            "Not for long," she said, "I will be back by morning."

            She turned and headed up the stairs, leaving all her friends. They all stared in disbelief that she would go out and get beat up by the ancient vampire again. But no one went after her.

Downtown Sunnydale:

            Buffy had no clue about how to get the Ubervamp to come after her. She had one idea though. She thought that it would probably be around the caves where it was the first time that she saw it. So she headed there.

            As she headed through the streets of downtown Sunnydale, the amount of people walking around began to increase. She thought about how none of them knew of the great dangers that would soon be on them. 

            She finally came to the woods. There was no sign of anyone around, so she silently snuck off the road. She pulled out her flashlight and began shining it along the ground, looking for the hole where she had fallen through weeks earlier. She continued walking along, not finding any trace of a hole.

            "Damn!" she muttered under her breath.

            She continued walking along through the dark woods. She began to get frustrated.

            "Buffy!" she heard someone call.

            She spun around in search of the person calling her name. It sounded feminine. She couldn't figure out who would be walking around in the woods besides her. It was probably a trap.

            "Buffy, where are you?" the girl called.

            Buffy in some bushes and waited for the girl to come walking by. A few moments later, a small figure came walking in front of the bushes that Buffy was hiding behind. Buffy realized who it was when she saw a brief glimpse of her face.

            "Kennedy?" Buffy questioned, standing up, "What the hell are you doing here?"

            "I followed you," she replied.

            "You can't just follow me out here into the woods!" Buffy scolded, "It's too dangerous, especially with the Ubervamp still on the loose! You could have been killed!"

            "Buffy, I'm fine!" Kennedy yelled back, "I just need to get out, away from the other girls."

            "Well, now that you're here, there's nothing I can really do," Buffy told her, "You might as well stay and help out. Just be careful!"

            "What are you doing out here?" Kennedy questioned.

            "I need to take out that Ubervamp," she replied, "And rescue Spike."

            "What makes you think that it's out here in the woods?" Kennedy asked.

            "This is where it was the first time that I fought it," Buffy replied, shining her flashlight around, looking for the hole.

            The two girls continued their search in complete silence. Just as the search was looking pretty hopeless, Kennedy screamed and then disappeared.

            "Kennedy!" Buffy shouted.

            She used the flashlight to scan for the hole. She bent down and peered inside. It was completely dark. She shone the flashlight down and saw Kennedy lying on her back, on the ground. She saw something move quickly in the shadows down below.

            Suddenly, the Ubervamp loomed into view. It walked up to Kennedy's unconscious body and growled loudly. It didn't even notice Buffy. Buffy didn't hesitate at all. She jumped down into the hole and landed on the vampire's shoulders. It growled in anger.

            It reached up and grabbed her by the neck and tossed her across the cave. Instead of continuing its attack on Kennedy, it hurried after Buffy. Buffy stood up and back flipped away from it. She then gave it a roundhouse kick, causing it to stumble backwards.

            "Getting weak," Buffy said silently.

            The Ubervamp swung its massive arm at her, but she dove out of the way. Its fist shattered some rocks and sent pieces flying all over. Buffy rolled out of the way of the rocks and stood up. She gave it a jump kick, causing it to fall into the wall of the cave.

            Kennedy sat up and rubbed her back. It hurt like hell. She glanced around, realizing that she could see nothing. She peered up and noticed a hole at the top of the cave. The moon was brightly shining in. She then heard loud noises all around her and began to panic.

            Buffy kept the upper hand against the ancient vampire. Her punches and kicks were finally effective against the vampire. The vampire swung at her again. This time instead of rolling out of the way, she ducked and pulled out a stake. She stood up and shoved the stake into the vampire's eye. It howled in pain and anger and began blindly swinging at Buffy. She back flipped out of the way and ended up behind the vampire.

            Kennedy slowly stood up; glancing around to see what was making the loud noises. She heard the loud growls of pain and anger. They frightened her. She had a feeling she would be facing whatever it was, all alone.

            Buffy came up from behind the vampire and grabbed on either side of its head. She gripped tightly and twisted the head in a sharp jolt. There was a loud crack that echoed throughout the cavern. The vampire fell to the ground and then exploded into dust. Buffy had done it. She had beaten the vampire that had been threatening her and the others for weeks. She breathed a sigh of relief and caught her breath.

            That's when she remembered Kennedy. She turned around and headed towards the moonlit area of the cave. There stood Kennedy, her breaths were shallow and quick. Her breathing slowed as she saw Buffy.

            "What happened?" Kennedy asked in a quiet voice.

            "It's dead," Buffy replied.

            "You killed it!" Kennedy exclaimed, still in a quiet voice.

            "Come on," Buffy said, "We have something to get before we leave."

An Underground Cavern:

            Spike hung from the wall of the cave. He was in a lot of pain, but at least the First had stopped the harsh beatings. It had gone away and hadn't returned in a while. Spike was breathing loudly and was barely conscious. There were cuts and bruises all over his body.

            He had given up hope on Buffy coming to rescue him a long time ago. He knew that she didn't care for him; that she could care less if he lived or died. He peered out of his swollen eyes, into the dimly torch-lit cavern.

            He got a glance of a shadow coming into the room, but paid no attention to it. He knew that the First was back to torture him.

            "Spike?" he heard a voice.

            He opened his eyes and returned his glance to the entrance of the room. There were two girls coming towards him. One looked older and had blond hair. The other was younger and had brunette hair. The blond girl pulled out a knife.

            "You've taken to using a bloody weapon," Spike said in a whisper, "Given up with that bloody vampire?"

            Neither girl replied. The blonde girl came right up to him and cut the rope holding his left arm on the wall. His hand fell onto her shoulder.

            "Buffy?" he questioned.

            Buffy quickly cut the rope holding up his other arm and caught him as he fell. She helped him to his feet and then pulled his arm over her shoulder, letting him lean on her. Kennedy let Spike rest on her and the three walked out of the cave together.

Buffy's House:

            Xander awoke a little worried at what this day would bring. Buffy had gone off the night before, saying she would be back by morning. Shortly afterwards, Kennedy snuck out and still hadn't returned.

            He stood up and walked into the noisy kitchen, bustling with S-I-Ts. Anya and Willow stood in the far corner, looking concerned.

            "No Buffy?" he asked.

            Both nodded their heads no. That's when he began to get even more nervous. Both she and Kennedy could have been killed. Kennedy was the strongest and best of the potentials. If they lost her, they'd be weaker. If Buffy had been killed, they were without a friend and leader.

            Just then, the back door burst open. A duffel bag was tossed in. Kennedy walked in and smiled.

            "Good morning," she said.

            "Are you all right?" Willow questioned.

            "Yes, I'm fine," Kennedy replied and walked over to the counter and poured herself a bowl of cereal, "Although I am starving."

            A few moments later, Buffy and someone covered in blanket came walking in the door. The person was apparently injured and was leaning against Buffy. She closed the door behind her and walked the person over to a chair. Buffy pulled the blanket off the person and they all gasped.

            Spike sat there, bruised and beaten. He looked so weak. He was without a shirt and his chest was covered in cuts and he was bloody. Giles and Jake walked into the room. They were amazed.

            "It's dead," Buffy said, tossing the blanket down the basement stairs, "You all should be safe for now.

            She turned and headed upstairs. She was exhausted from her earlier fight and just wanted to sleep. She had accomplished what she had been trying to accomplish for weeks now. Finally she could rest, knowing that the potentials would be safe for now.