"Bloody hell."
"Oh shit."
"This isn't good."
Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Xander looked at Spike, Nareia, and Angel in turn. "What? What isn't good, Angel?" Buffy asked.
"This," Angel passed the book that he had been reading over to the Slayer.
"'Onet, a chaos demon. Can sometimes affect other demons using unconscious thought.' Vampires, being one, I guess," Buffy looked up. "Hey, wait a minute! Does that make me a demon as well? 'Cos I don't want to be a demon."
"Buffy, you're the Slayer, you're different," Giles replied patiently.
"Ah, Slayer-stuff strikes again, huh? What have you found, Nareia?" Buffy asked.
"This demon has been around a while. And he bears a grudge. The last time he tried to get out of the Hellmouth, he got punished, badly," Nareia's brown eyes locked onto the Slayer. "By a Slayer with a bit of a mean streak. I think he may be out to get revenge."
"And to take over the world in the process," Spike added. "And what's more, he's got a bloody good chance of doing so. Not only is he an enraged chaos demon, he's one with a lot of knowledge in the cursing department."
Buffy looked puzzled. "The cursing department? So he swears at me, I'll just kick his ass."
"Umm, Buffy, I think he might mean of the nasty, magical, killing variety," Willow interjected.
"Oh, that's not good. Right, so what do we do?"
"Hide, give him what he wants?" Xander suggested quickly.
Giles looked at the teenager. "He wants Buffy and the world, do you want to give him that?"
"Maybe not," Xander looked around at the others. "Well, no-one else was coming up with any suggestions," he defended himself, somewhat half-heartedly.
"When is he likely to break out?" Buffy asked.
"Well, he's already influencing quite far afield, so he must be pretty close to breaking the seal. I would say in the next day or so," Angel answered.
Spike groaned, "Why do I always get myself into messes like these?"
Nareia grinned, "Perhaps it's living next to the Hellmouth that does it." Then her pale face went serious. "Buffy, he's not going to want to kill you. From what I understand, the other Slayer wasn't exactly Miss Goody-Two-Shoes, and he didn't appreciate what she did to him. He's looking for vengeance, and, with his knowledge of curses, I would bet that he would use one of them. We have to stop him before he gets out, and does some serious damage."
Angel nodded in agreement, "Once out, he'd be almost unstoppable."
"Well, on that cheerful note, I think it's time we went out on Patrol," Buffy jumped to her feet.
"Oh good, I was getting hungry," Spike commented, and smirked when he drew a glare from the blonde Slayer.
"Uh, Buffy, I can't go out on Patrol tonight, I promised Anya I would help her with some work," Xander apologised.
"Work, Xander? Since when do you do work?" Willow asked in undisguised suspicion.
"It's biology. I've always enjoyed biology," he answered with a smirk.
Giles smiled, "Yes, so did I, when I was your age." He returned the looks of the teenagers innocently, pointing out, "I was young once too, you know."
Buffy rolled her eyes, "Oh, please. Ok, go home to Anya, I'm sure we can manage without you. We'll go out in pairs. Spike and Nareia, check out the park, and Spike, if you kill anyone, I'll stake your bleach blond ass."
"I'll keep an eye on him, don't worry," Nareia grinned.
Buffy smiled back. She couldn't but help like the brunette vampire. "Angel, you and Willow check out around town. Giles and I are going to sweep the cemeteries." Buffy clapped her hands, "Come on, guys, let's move it."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Will you find your snack already?" Nareia hissed. "I can manage this long without food, why can't you?"
"Because I'm bigger and better than you, that's why, pet," Spike smirked back.
The two vampires strode down a dark alley, and finally Spike found what he had been looking for. After his feed, they left for the park. Nareia thought that she had enjoyed the sensations she felt when Spike had fed a little too much, and was beginning to think that being around Spike was doing her demon too much good.
"I wonder how everyone else is doing?" she mused.
"Probably a damn sight better than us, pet. We haven't found anything."
"And this is a bad thing, how?" Nareia glared at the blond vampire beside her.
"Oh, come on, love. Don't tell me your demon is that inhibited that you doesn't like the idea of a little carnage?" Spike grinned. He knew how his feeding affected her.
Nareia shot an evil glance Spike's way. "But not as much as this demon intends to wreak."
Spike grunted in acknowledgement, and the two vampires continued their Patrol in silence.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"This is bad, isn't it, Angel? I mean, worse than when you were Angelus returned bad?" Willow whispered.
Angel turned his dark gaze to the redhead beside him. "Yeah. Although we did have the same agenda. I obsessed about the Slayer, and then wanted to take over the world. Fortunately for you, he doesn't know about Buffy's friends, so we might be better off," Angel replied softly.
"If we catch him soon enough," Willow added.
"Yeah, if."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Giles, something's up. The only vamps I've seen all night are Angel, Spike, and Nareia. Something is definitely not right," Buffy said anxiously, clutching at a stake.
"Yes, you may be right. I think we should keep looking. I believe the time might be closer than Angel thought," Giles replied.
"Now there's a comforting thought," Buffy muttered.
The Watcher and his Slayer cautiously walked into a dark church. "Why can't these places have lights?" Buffy protested.
"Buffy!" Giles hissed. "Shut up!"
"Sorry, just trying to make light-hearted conversation."
"Now is not the time nor the place."
Buffy frowned and walked over to a church pew. A strange green glow was coming from it. "What's this?" She reached out her hand to pick up the scroll-like object that was emanating the light.
Giles turned round. "Buffy, no, don't touch it, it could be dangerous!" He rushed to the blonde's side, and grabbed her arm, just as her hand wrapped around it.
There was a flash of green lightning, and both fell down with a thud, unconscious, Buffy's hand still clutching the cylinder.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What the bloody hell was that?" Nareia and Spike asked in unison, as a lightning bolt came out of nowhere.
"Well, whatever it was, it wasn't natural. And in Sunnyhell, that isn't good," Spike added. "Come on, let's go." He grabbed Nareia's arm, and they ran back towards Giles's apartment.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Willow jumped, and grabbed Angel's arm. "What was that?"
Angel
put his arm around Willow comfortingly, but was looking up at the night sky
worriedly. "It was lightning."
"I know that! Why, though? The sky is clear," Willow pointed out.
"I know. We should go back to Giles'. We can't have been the only ones to have seen that," Angel said, and he and the redhead headed back to the Watcher's home.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Spike and Nareia charged into the apartment. There was no one there. "They'd better get here soon," Nareia said. "I have a bloody awful feeling about that lightning."
"Like it was caused by the demon breaking loose," Angel said from the doorway.
"Something like that," the female vampire agreed.
"Where's the Slayer?" Spike asked.
"She's not back yet? She should be the first back, what with having Giles on Patrol with her," Willow looked worried.
Spike shook his head. "Naw, she's probably gone to see if she could kill the thing herself. She always had an inflated opinion of herself."
"I hope she hasn't. She's no match for him unprepared," Angel was uneasy. It showed in that he had ignored Spike's jibe about Buffy.
"Well, maybe we should just wait awhile before getting worried?" Nareia suggested. "Come on, Spike, let's make some tea, I'm sure Giles will have some around here." Nareia got up, and dragged the blond vampire up with her.
Spike growled good-naturedly, and followed her into Giles' kitchen.
"The British and their tea," Willow rolled her eyes in mock despair.
Angel smiled faintly at her, and sat down beside her at the table. "Let's see if we can find out anything more about Onet."
Spike and Nareia returned shortly, to discover that Buffy and Giles had returned, looking very pale, and none too happy. Angel was stood up in front of the table, and in front of a very confused Willow. At first, Nareia and Spike were confused also, but then they took a closer look at Angel, and understood, and felt afraid, even though they were century old vampires.
