The Jamaican girl had followed the vampire and his girlfriend until the two had separated. The petite blond had gone into a public building and the girl had hesitated to follow. She didn't want any witnesses when she made her move. So she decided to follow the vampire instead. He had proven easy to track. Luckily for that bartender, she had intervened before the demon could do him serious harm.
This town was small but still contained plenty of places for vampires to hide. How would she go about tracking down the girl? Maybe she was still at that building she'd gone into earlier. The black girl ran as quickly as she could through the streets. She was unfamiliar with this town but her trainer had instilled her with an excellent sense of direction and she easily found her way back to the building just in time to witness the blonde girl's departure. She smiled as she shadowed her from a distance.
Her target seemed unusually wary so she made sure to keep a good distance. She knew what powerful senses these creatures had; no sense alerting it to her presence before she was ready. She was baffled when she saw it enter a building instead of a crypt as she expected. But her trainer told her always to be prepared for the unexpected, especially when dealing with demons. Pausing for a brief moment to scan the perimeter, she cautiously entered the building.
Inside was another surprise. The place was neatly furnished without a speck of dust anywhere. This couple appeared to favor books, artwork and a small array of weapons. Not your typical monsters at all. Seeing a suitable piece of hardware, she smiled and soundlessly lifted her shiny prize off the wall.
She edged through the room, her senses reaching out for the blonde woman. There she was, sleeping on the bed. Strange—a few hours remained until sunrise. She would have expected the creature to be still on the prowl. Mentally, she shrugged off the puzzle. Maybe this one had learned to get in early. Steeling herself, she lunged towards the figure on the bed, bringing down her weapon.
Buffy heard the noise before she was fully awake. It was a stealthy step, all right, very much like Angel's careful tread. Wait, she wouldn't have heard Angel at all; throughout the decades, he had perfected the art of silent stalking. At this thought, her eyes snapped open even as she tumbled out of the way of the descending blade. The hatchet whistled down and embedded itself in the pillow where her head had been. Buffy quickly did a flip to avoid further blows. "You must be number two!"
Number two? Oh, she was referring to the man she'd killed who had attacked her previously. No doubt she thought to make her the second victim. The Jamaican's eyes narrowed and she hefted her weapon to swing at the blond again. Only this time the creature grabbed the bed curtain and dragged it over her head, effectively blinding her. The Jamaican girl managed to disentangle herself, all the while thanking her gods her trainer wasn't around to see her fumbling like this.
"Thanks for the wakeup, but I'll stick with my clock radio," the blond chirped and the black girl gritted her teeth. Did she think this was some sort of joke? Her boyfriend had taken this far more seriously. When she finally managed to bring the woman onto the floor, the blond grinned up at her. "Come on, don't make me do the chick fight thing."
Now that was just baffling. "Chick fight?"
"You know." The blond immediately demonstrated by digging her nails into her hand. The black girl grunted in pain and was unprepared when the blond grabbed her arm and rolled out of the way. After the yellow-haired girl flipped to her feet, she blocked a series of kicks and managed to rebound immediately from her attack.
She was a capable fighter, far more so than her vampire boyfriend. But the Jamaican wondered why she hadn't shifted into her true face. Where were the fangs and furrowed brow? "Who are you?" she demanded.
The blond stared at her. "Who am I? You attacked me! Who the hell are you?"
The black girl tilted her chin defiantly. "I am Kendra! De Vampire Slayer!"
Buffy looked at her in utter disbelief. "Okay, one more time. You're the who?!"
The other girl watched her carefully, waiting for a lapse in the blond's concentration. "I'm de Slayer." The creature didn't appear afraid of her, only disbelieving. Well, many vampires were ignorant of Slayers; perhaps it was to be expected. What she didn't expect was what the demon said next.
"Nice cover story. But here's a tip: you might wanna try it on someone who's not the real Slayer. I'm the damn Slayer!"
What kind of trick was this? Her Watcher Zabuto had told her vampires were wily. But this one was either very creative or merely insane. "Nonsense! Dere is but one and I am she."
Buffy shook her head. There was something really bizarre going on here. The other girl appeared absolutely certain of her ground. If she was a member of the Order, she was choosing a truly weird psyche-out. "Okay, a scenario. You back off, I'll back off, but you promise not to go all wiggy until we can go to my Watcher and figure this out."
Watcher? This creature knew about Watchers? But what was that word she used? "Wiggy?"
Didn't this girl speak English? Well, yeah, she spoke it all right but in a formal way that sounded a lot like Giles. [I am she? Yeah, sounds like what Giles would say.] "You know. No kick-o, no fight-o?"
Kendra thought this over for a moment and then relaxed her stance although she never relaxed her vigilance. If this creature wanted to lead her into a trap, she would be ready. But, if she really was a Slayer, then something was seriously out of balance. She was going to have to talk to Mr. Zabuto when she got the chance.
Giles was relieved to see Buffy alive and well, although she appeared no less tense than when he'd seen her last night. But he was stunned when she revealed the identity of the young woman with her. "And your Watcher is, i-is Sam Zabuto, you say?"
"Yes, sir." This Mr. Giles was human and seemed to be a Watcher. He was quiet, straightforward, mature and, judging by the number of books in different languages lying nearby, highly intelligent. Maybe he could clear up the mystery.
"And you are called…?" Giles probed.
"I am de Vampire Slayer."
Buffy interrupted impatiently. "We got that part, hon. He means your name."
"Oh. Dey call me Kendra. I have no last name, sir." She continued to address Mr. Giles without looking at the other girl. The silly blond appeared to be a complete fool by comparison to her Watcher. What was her name? Buffy? What kind of nonsensical name was that for a serious Slayer to sport?
Buffy appeared to be equally unimpressed with her name. "Can you say 'stuck in the 80s?' "
Willow came bouncing into the library. "Hey! Buffy, you're okay! We were so worried last night—"
Kendra sprang around Buffy and glared at the red-haired intruder. "Identity yourself!"
The harsh greeting stunned Willow as Buffy attempted to pull Kendra back from the startled redhead. "Back off, pink ranger! This is my friend."
"Friend?" Kendra looked from her to Willow. Slayers weren't supposed to have friends. This girl was even more disturbed than Kendra had originally supposed.
Buffy couldn't understand why Kendra looked so baffled. Didn't they understand the concept of friends where she came from? "Yeah. Friend. As in person you hang with? Amigo?"
Kendra spoke to Mr. Giles again. Clearly she was going to get nowhere with this Buffy person. "She has friends? And you permit dis? But a Slayer must work in secret in order to maintain security."
Giles stammered in the face of the girl's clear disapproval. Now that he considered it, Buffy's manner of handling her sacred birthright did leave a bit to be desired. Nevertheless he felt the urge to defend her behavior and, by extension, his methods as her Watcher. "Of course, uh, but, um, with Buffy, however, i-it's, um, some flexibility is required."
Kendra didn't understand this at all. Didn't this Watcher have any control over his Slayer? "Why?"
Willow waved her hand to indicate she was still in the room. "Hi, guys. W-what's going on?"
Buffy collapsed into a seat. "Apparently there's been a really big mix-up. She thinks she's a Slayer."
Kendra spoke to the redhead this time. "I am de Slayer. My Watcher sent me here. Ask your Mr. Giles." Kendra was getting tired of the other Slayer's disbelieving, haughty demeanor. This Buffy appeared willful, stubborn and stupid. She had friends? What was her Watcher doing, encouraging her in this lapse of proper Slayer etiquette?
Willow's green eyes went wide as she looked at the Jamaican girl more closely. "Is that even possible? I mean, t-two Slayers at the same time?"
Giles was busily polishing his glasses as he squinted at the irritated Kendra. "Not to my knowledge. Um, t-the new Slayer is only called after the previous Slayer has died." He straightened as he finally understood. "Oh, good Lord! You were dead, Buffy."
"I was only gone for a minute! That doesn't count—does it?" Buffy looked at Giles uncertainly.
"Clearly, it doesn't matter how long you were gone. You were physically dead thus causing the activation of the next Slayer." He nodded towards Kendra.
This was more than Kendra could handle although she did her best to remain calm. Mr. Zabuto wouldn't have wanted her to fly off the handle as she did in her early days of training. She spoke slowly—again, however, not to Buffy. "She died?"
"Just a little," Buffy retorted heatedly.
"She drowned but she was revived. By another of her friends," he added meaningfully.
"So there really are two of them!" Willow squealed.
"It would seem so. This is completely unprecedented! I'm quite flummoxed." Giles resumed polishing his lenses again.
"What's the flum? It's a mistake; she isn't supposed to be here." Buffy turned to Kendra. "Look, no offense. I really don't mean this personally. But I'm not dead and, frankly, having you around creeps me out just a little bit."
Kendra was bored with Buffy's mood swings and rather outraged that the other girl thought she could dismiss her so easily. "I cannot just leave. I was sent here for a reason. Mr. Zabuto said dat dark forces were converging in Sunnydale. His sources report de Order of Taraka was headed dis way."
"Day late and a dollar short. We knew that already and we are so on it. So you can go now. Bye bye!" Buffy said brightly.
"No, Buffy. Kendra can be useful. We can always use another supernatural fighter on our side and Kendra would be more than up to the task if Sam Zabuto is her Watcher." Kendra nodded her head slightly in acceptance of the compliment to herself and her Watcher.
Buffy was offended. Her Watcher seemed to be siding with this girl. Did he forget that she was his Slayer? "Yeah? Well, if she's so great, why did she attack me?"
Kendra looked slightly embarrassed. "I tought ya were a vampire."
"Oh, a swing and a miss for the rookie." Buffy snorted and pointedly moved from Kendra to sit beside Willow.
The Jamaican girl tried to defend herself. "I had good reason to tink ya were. Did I not see ya kissin' a vampire?"
Willow was quick to spring to Buffy's defense. "Buffy would never do that!" Then she recalled the souled vampire. "Except that sometimes you do that. But only with Angel!" she added quickly.
The older woman who had quietly appeared with Xander in tow stared at her daughter's back. "What?!"
Buffy spun around to face an irate, drenched Joyce Summers.
Joyce tried to justify her actions as she drove towards Sunnydale as fast as the speed limit would allow. Buffy wasn't home. The phone at the library remained unanswered. She wondered if it was off the hook or whether Mr. Giles was ducking her calls. She just knew all was not well with her daughter and she was damned if she was going to remain sedately in Los Angeles while Buffy was in trouble.
She recalled the reputation of the blonde vampire she had decapitated and shuddered. She pressed her foot down a little harder on the accelerator.
When she got to her house, it appeared quiet enough. She turned the key in the lock and opened the door. "Hello? Buffy? Are you home?" There was no answer. But it was a school day. Maybe Buffy had come home and left again. [Without checking the messages? Without calling me back?] She heard voices coming from the basement and stepped towards the downstairs door.
She pulled and pounded at the door when it proved unyielding. "Hello? Who's down there?" She heard a muffled voice and frowned. That sounded like—Xander Harris? What was he doing in her basement? The next moment, footsteps came pounding up the stairs and she backed away as the door swung open.
Cordelia Chase threw herself at the woman, embracing her, with Xander at her back. "Oh, thank god! Somebody's here! I thought I was going to die with the King of the Losers!" She pulled back from the older woman and looked around wildly. "Is he gone?"
"Is who gone?" Then the mass of mealworms coating the ceiling descended on the two women and both of them let out piercing shrieks as they batted at the parasites trying to inch into their noses and mouths.
"Get into the front yard!" Xander shouted. Both women rushed out of the house and stood jumping around as he switched on the hose and sprayed them liberally with the gushing water.
Mrs. Summers looked at the pair and gasped for breath. The worms were wriggling away into the ground and evading all attempts by Cordelia Chase to stomp them to death. "Either of you two care to tell me what the hell those, those, things were?" she exclaimed as she pointed a shaking finger at the disappearing invertebrates.
"No time, Mrs. S. We've got to get to the library and tell Giles." He ran towards Cordelia's car and impatiently gestured for the two women to get inside.
Mrs. Summers remained unmoving. "Tell Giles what? We've got the whole drive ahead of us so I'd appreciate it if you told me what was going on."
"Same here, Harris. You did not tell me that fighting bugmen and getting hosed down like a pig at a fair was going to be part of this gig. And I'm not getting the leather interior of my car all wet since Daddy just had it detailed!" Cordelia huffed as she stomped her foot.
"Then you're coming to school with us," Joyce said as she opened her car door.
The cheerleader waved her hands frantically all over her body. "No way! I'm not showing up at school looking like a drowned rat!"
"You were nearly eaten by bugs and you're worried about your rep as a whorishly dressed Barbie doll?" Xander asked snidely.
"What does that make you, Gay Ken? No, wait. Gay Ken had a fashion sense," Cordelia spat.
Mrs. Summers pressed down on the horn, startling the bickering pair. "All right, that's enough!" She directed a basilisk stare at the two of them. "I don't know what you two went through in my house but, if it was anything like what just happened, it must have been pretty horrifying. However, let me remind you that my daughter is still missing and most likely the one in real danger. Now, if either of you care enough to stop arguing like a pair of children, I'd like to get a move on. Xander, you're filling me in on the drive to the school." She opened the car door and waited for him to get inside.
Xander decided she was right and resolved to ignore the brunette cheerleader. God, he was glad Mrs. Summers had come back when she had. If he'd been left any longer with Cordelia, he would have strangled her. "Um, Mrs. Summers. I don't think I know enough of the backstory—"
"I'm thinking you know plenty, Alexander Harris," Joyce replied in a steely tone. "So I suggest you spill it before I decide to cross you off the list of my daughter's friends."
Xander gulped as he looked into that unyielding gaze. Now he knew where Buffy got her tough gal streak. "W-well, it's got something to do with this Order of Teriyaki…"
Xander had proven to be very forthcoming, the story spilling from him as they raced through the streets. In the end they had taken her car in an effort to spare Cordelia's leather ride. Mrs. Summers clenched her jaw. "So Mr. Giles lied to me."
"No, no! He didn't lie!"
"He told me Buffy was in the bathroom when I called," she said accusingly.
"Well, she could have been. She didn't say where she was going when she left us," Xander babbled in an effort to provide damage control.
She glared at him. "But that was last night! Didn't any of you think to call me?"
"Buffy d-didn't want to worry you, Mrs. Summers. She doesn't want you getting all wiggy every time she goes to fight evil," Xander concluded lamely.
"But I'm already 'wiggy' as you put it. I get that way every time she leaves the house at night. Keeping me ignorant isn't going to help, is it? I need to know these things if I'm going to help Buffy and myself." She looked beseechingly at Xander. "She's your friend. But Buffy's my daughter. Don't you see how important it is to me to know what's happening?"
Xander couldn't think of anything to say to that. Ignorance may have been bliss in other places. But on the Hellmouth it could get you killed. Maybe it was a good idea to keep Mrs. Summers in the loop. It just wasn't his place to tell if Buffy didn't want to.
And that was where things stood when Joyce walked in unnoticed in time to hear that her daughter's boyfriend was a vampire.
"What?!" She stared at Buffy taking no heed of the other occupants of the room for the moment. "You were kissing Angel? And Angel's a vampire?"
"Mom? When did you get back?" She saw the sodden condition of her mother's clothes. "And why are you wet?" Xander started and rushed to get towels from Giles's room.
"Mom?" Kendra stared at the woman in the light coat and then glanced at the library windows. It hadn't been raining but the woman looked as if she'd been in a shower.
Mrs. Summers advanced, her eyes never leaving her uneasy daughter. "You were supposed to be home last night and you weren't. I found Xander and Cordelia hiding in the basement instead."
"You guys were still there? I thought you went off to find Buffy earlier. What kept you so long?" Willow wondered what could have kept her best friend trapped so long with their mortal enemy.
"We got trapped by a reject from a Spiderman comic. Some guy made entirely out of bugs. Gah!" Xander twitched his shoulders in a deep shudder to indicate just how gruesome the whole incident had been.
"Bugs, did you say?" Giles murmured, moving instinctively towards his books.
"Mr. Giles, please," Joyce interrupted. She pointed at her daughter. "You lied to me, young lady."
Kendra was too confused by all the people coming in. This was why Slayers were supposed to remain a secret. They were not meant to lead such complicated lives. "Don' tell me. Yer mother knows yer a Slayer, too?"
For the first time since her arrival, Joyce focused on the stranger in their midst. "Buffy, who is this girl?" Joyce asked. "And how does she know about the slaying?"
Buffy waved in Kendra's direction. "Mom, meet Kendra. She's a vampire Slayer, too. Kendra, this is my mother."
"How do ya do, Mrs. Summers?" Kendra said formally.
Joyce replied automatically. "How do you…" Then she did a double take. "Wait a minute. She's a Slayer?" She looked at Giles accusingly. "What about that 'one girl in all the world' crap you were feeding me?"
Giles was defensive as he tried to explain. "Mrs. Summers, I'm as taken aback by this as you are. This has never happened in the history of the Watchers Council. We're still attempting to sort out the situation."
"How did yer mother learn yer a Slayer?" Kendra asked Buffy. "Why would ya willingly bring yer parent into this world of danger and darkness?"
"Well, it's kind of a funny story. We were attending Parent/Teacher night here at the school and Mrs. Summers killed a vampire named Spike…" Xander trailed off when he noticed several pained stares coming his way. "Okay, story for another day."
"Spike? Also known as William de Bloody? I read about him in my studies. He murdered two of our kind. And you killed him?" She raised her eyebrows as she scanned Mrs. Summers more closely.
"Trust me. I was just as surprised as you when I found out who he was. But about Angel—" Joyce continued.
Now Kendra was on surer ground. "Angel. You mean Angelus? I read about him, too. He's one of de Order of Aurelius and a particularly nasty demon. He makes William de Bloody look like a choir boy."
"That was Angelus. This is Angel. He has a soul and he's good now," Buffy corrected.
"A soul?" Kendra and Mrs. Summers chorused. "Is that why you were kissin' him?" Kendra asked.
"Kissing him. You see, this is the part of the conversation that's giving me trouble, Buffy. We're having a conversation about vampires that you're supposed to be killing and you're kissing one of them instead—and it's this Angel whom you told me you were absolutely NOT seeing." Joyce folded her arms and sat down on one of the library seats, oblivious to the squelching noises from her coat.
"I'm not seeing him. Not in the dating way because he and I can't date what with the whole undead issue. It's really complicated," Buffy ended feebly.
"I can imagine," Joyce replied grimly.
"But everything else I told you about him is true, Mom! He's good. He got his soul back and he helps me fight other vampires and demons! He's never hurt me and he killed Darla, that vampire who attacked you last year! Remember her?" Buffy realized she was grasping at straws but she thought that would prove to be a trump card at least.
"Darla? That friend of yours from school? She didn't attack me. I tripped and fell on a barbecue fork."
Buffy sighed. "No, Mom. That was when you were in your denial phase. Darla was a vampire. You let her into the house. She attacked you. Angel stopped her before she could drain you completely. Then Angel killed her to protect me. Got it?"
"Oh." Her brows wrinkled as she tried to recall the exact sequence of events that had led to her hospitalization last year. Now that she thought about it, she remembered they didn't have a barbecue fork. There was a dim recollection of a ridged face, yellow eyes leaping at her… Goodness, had that been Darla? And Angel had saved her as long ago as that. She refocused on her daughter's anxious face. "So Angel really is a good guy?"
"That he is. Except that we don't like him," Xander amended.
"Yeah. He got his soul back. It was a whole gypsy curse thing. T-that's what he says, anyway," Willow trailed off as Kendra directed an incredulous stare at her.
"I don't know about dis soul business," Kendra threw in. "But he certainly appeared to be a vicious monster when I…" She stopped and Buffy turned a white, angry face towards her.
"When you what?" She stood up and stalked towards the Jamaican. "What did you do to him?
"I…" Kendra was determined not to show fear in front of this skinny twig of a girl. But Buffy's expression reminded her of nature films showing lions advancing on helpless prey. This girl meant to hurt her and all over a cruel, inhuman monster.
"What did you do?!" Buffy yelled.
Kendra spoke quietly. She wasn't obligated to defend her actions to this girl. But if she wanted an explanation she wasn't going to back off from giving one. "I saw him attackin' a human, de owner of dis bar. I attacked him and we fought. I managed to lock him in a cage in dat bar. I didn't stake him because I wanted him to tell me where I could find you. He was still in one piece when I left him."
"Let's hope for your sake he still is," Buffy replied grimly. Without waiting for anybody else, she stalked towards the library doors and flung them open as she left. Kendra and Mrs. Summers looked at each other uncertainly before following her.
Xander shook his head and turned towards the bemused Watcher. "And while the ladies are out playing Deadboy rescue, what say we do a little research on bug monsters?"
Joyce Summers drove quickly through the streets as she followed Kendra's terse instructions. Buffy hadn't wanted to sit beside her mother but she could feel the tension radiating from the two girls in the backseat. Dodging the issue of Angel for the moment, she decided to draw out Kendra a little. "So…you're a Slayer," she ventured.
"Dat's right, ma'am. My Watcher is Mr. Sam Zabuto." Kendra stated this calmly as if Joyce should know the man in question.
"Well, have you been a Slayer long?" she continued.
"Most of me life. My parents gave me to my Watcher when I was very young."
"Your parents gave you up?" Joyce was shocked to hear this. "How could they do that? How could they just turn you over to a stranger?"
"Dey understood dat being a Slayer was more important. Dat's how seriously de calling is taken by my people. My modder and fadder gave me to my Watcher because dey believed dat dey were doing de right ting for me and for de world." She caught Joyce's pitying look. "Please, I don't feel sorry for meself. Why should you?"
Joyce couldn't believe the girl could be so detached about it. "I-I don't know. I…I guess it sounds very lonely. Don't you miss your parents?"
Kendra shrugged off the question. "I don't remember dem. I've seen pictures." She quickly added, "Friends, family, school, emotional attachments…I was taught by my Watcher dey were distractions, dat dey would make me lose focus when I'm fightin'."
Buffy spoke up for the first time. "No way! My emotions give me power. They're total assets!"
Kendra allowed herself a small look of disdain. "Like yer emotions for dis Angelus? De Watchers diaries I've read show him to be a complete monster and yer ignorin' de danger yer in to fly to his rescue."
"He's not like that now," Buffy asserted.
Kendra continued as if she hadn't spoken. "He was known as de Scourge of Europe. He was famous for murders of entire families, emotional and physical torturin' of his victims, stalkin' and drivin' dem insane, turnin' people and settin' dem on der loved ones…"
"He has a soul! He helps people now. Don't you get that?" Buffy shouted. She had seen her mother's face in the rearview mirror getting more and more horrified at what she was hearing. She had to provide damage control before Kendra poisoned her mother's mind against Angel completely.
Kendra flung her an incredulous look. "So what? He's still a vampire. Soul or no soul, we're sworn to destroy his kind not kiss dem."
"Buffy, I still can't believe you knew this Angel was a vampire—and you never told me," Joyce accused.
"Mom, you were still thrown from the newsflash that I was a Slayer. Telling you that one of the people fighting by my side was a vampire—how was I supposed to break that exactly? 'Hi, mom. I'm a Slayer. This is Xander, Willow, my Watcher Mr. Giles and Angel and oh, Angel just happens to be a vamp.' I really didn't see that conversation happening."
"But I told you to tell me everything. You've been lying to me for over two years and you promised you wouldn't do that any more," Joyce pointed out angrily.
"I know. And I didn't lie to you about Angel. I-I just…didn't tell you everything," Buffy mumbled.
Kendra tuned them out. This was a family dispute and her training told her it wasn't important. She saw the bar she'd been to last night. "We have arrived, Mrs. Summers. Dis is de place."
The light from the window hadn't reached Angel yet but it might as well have. The sunlight was weakening him and his body had already taken a pounding from that aggressive female who'd attacked him. Shouting hadn't brought any help and whom did he expect to be passing by a bar at this time of day anyway?
The cage door swung open but he was too enervated to take advantage of the sudden reprieve. "Hey, Angel, buddy. How ya doin'?" Willy called out cheerfully. "Hey, no hard feelings 'bout last night. In fact, no feelings at all. This is strictly business, you understand?"
He dragged the vampire out by his feet, grunting at his heavy weight. "Boy, I hope these guys are paying me enough for the trouble of totin' your carcass around. You ought to think about eatin' less. They've got lean pigs' blood nowadays, you know? For the vampire on a diet…"
Angel closed his eyes and ears against Willy's non-stop chatter and tried to rally his strength. But he hadn't fed last night and the sunlight had taken its toll. Willy dropped Angel into the sewer waters below the bar and frowned unhappily as he plopped down beside him. He was going to have to buy a new pair of sneakers. Then he looked up as two vampires appeared in the darkness.
"This him?" One of them grunted, peering at the vampire lying in the slimy water.
"Sure. That's Angel—us. Angelus, the Scourge of Europe. Just like I promised, all wrapped up in a bow," Willy jabbered.
"I wasn't talking to you, filth," the vampire replied. He gestured to the other vampire—by the pronounced ridges a much older bloodsucker. The other demon carefully looked Angel's features over and grinned.
"Yeah. That's the asshole who attacked us at the Sunset Club, the one who said he was part of the Master's line. This bastard took out most of my boys that night. I think we should just stake him right now."
The first vampire shoved him back roughly. "You want to go back and explain why we didn't bring Angelus? The boy says he wants to talk to him so we're bringing him." The second vamp grumbled but he knelt and lifted Angel by his shoulders.
Willy waved his hands. "Hey, hey, wait a minute! I believe there was some mention of a finder's fee? H-how's 'bout somethin' for the effort?"
The first vampire looked at him disdainfully and peeled off a few hundred-dollar bills, crumpling them and dropping them into the water. "Oops. Sorry about that."
Willy gritted his teeth and forced himself to smile. Typical vampires. Always throwing their weight around to prove they were big shots and not just transformed weak-kneed humans. He scooped up the floating paper, shaking the water droplets off the bills. Still, all this money would ease the pain of his wounded pride.
He climbed out of the sewers and lowered the trap door. Then he looked up to encounter the two Summers women. "Uh, what can I do for you people? We're closed for business. Come back in a few hours." He peered at Buffy. "Say, aren't you underage?"
Buffy's smile was as chilly as the space he just left. "Hello. We're looking for a certain vampire. Really tall, dark hair and eyes. Haven't seen him around, have you?"
"Vampires? Wh-what're you talkin' about? You got the DTs or somethin'?" Willy edged towards the trapdoor.
But Kendra's foot came down on it hard as she glared at him. "De lady just asked ya a question."
He hesitated, swinging his head back and forth between Buffy and Kendra. Buffy grabbed his head and whacked it into the counter. "Ow! Geez! What is it with you people and the skull-crushing?" he whined.
"You mean like what de vampire was givin' you when I attacked him?" Kendra queried.
"Attacked…? Oh, that was you? Hey, I left so fast I didn't see your face. Thanks for the save, by the way. OW!" He yelled again when Buffy smacked his head downwards once more.
"Angel was here. But he's not here now. Where is he?" Buffy asked.
"I'm not denyin' the big guy was here. But he took off! That's all I know, I swear!"
"Uh huh. Took off in broad daylight? Try pulling the other one," Buffy retorted.
Willy thought quickly. The two broads knew Angel had been here. There was no point in saying otherwise. But maybe he could mislead them a little. "He went through the sewers, naturally—through the trap door, as a matter of fact. But I don't know where he went after that."
"How'd he get out of de cage? He was securely locked in when I left him and he couldn't get out witout help." Kendra watched his face closely. This one reminded her of a weasel. He reeked of deceit. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to defend him last night.
Willy's grin was disarming and shifty in almost equal measure. "I came back in and he was still there. So I let him out."
"Ya let him out after he'd been pummeling ya? Yer a rotten liar. He's dirty, Buffy. I can smell it. Angelus was after information from dis one. He wouldn't simply take off unless he had it," Kendra insisted.
Joyce spoke up for the first time. "I'm inclined to agree." Reaching gingerly into Willy's pocket, she pulled out the wet, crumpled bills. "Quite a lot of money to have on hand when the bar's still closed, wouldn't you agree, Buffy?" She waved the money at her daughter and Buffy's eyes narrowed as she saw the pictures of Ben Franklin on each of them.
"Ooh. I think we're looking at a payoff," Buffy purred.
"That's right! I gave Angel the info he was lookin' for and he paid me. I was gonna do it anyway when Wonder Woman here jumped in."
"If you were going to take his money, why was he beating you up?" Joyce asked.
Seeing that Buffy had eased up on her grip, Willy lifted his head and flashed the older woman an ingratiating grin. "Well, that's just the way things work between us stoolies and the folks we deal with. Can't give the info up too quickly otherwise they think it's no good. So I pretend not to know nothin', Angel smacks me around a bit, then I cough up the goods and he gives me the dough. It's all part of the game, ladies."
"Okay. Here's my part of the game." Buffy grabbed his head and slammed it down on the counter again. "You tell us what you told Angel. Better yet, you take us to where he went."
"What for? What do I get out of it?" Willy blustered. These girls seemed human and he was willing to bet they weren't going to kill him. They could beat him up but that would take time and he was sure Angel didn't have it to spare.
"You get your money back," Joyce answered in dulcet tones, tucking the greenbacks into her coat.
"Now, hang on a minute! That money's mine! I got roughed up for it fair and square!" Willy protested.
Buffy ignored him as she yanked up the sewer door, his arm firmly grasped in her hand. She stopped when she saw that Kendra was headed towards the door. "Where are you going?"
"Ya wanted to know what had happened to de vampire. We found out. Now we should report back to yer Watcher."
"Wait! Angel could be in serious trouble. I thought you were here to help."
Kendra's eyebrows shot up. "Help a vampire? Not likely. He deserves to die."
"All right! What part of his being good did you miss? He's working on the side of the angels, no pun intended."
"He's a vampire!" Kendra insisted. "Good or no, his existence is not as important as human lives. Two of yer friends were nearly worm food because dis order of assassins is after ya and all ya can tink about is yer undead boyfriend." She stepped closer to Buffy, paying no attention to her curious mother or the suffering bartender. "Ya let yer emotions cloud yer judgment. No wonder ya died," she sniffed contemptuously.
"You WHAT?!" Joyce cried out in shock.
Kendra blinked at her startled tone and Buffy cringed. Her grip loosened almost enough for Willy to wriggle free. But when he tried to escape, Buffy tightened her hold. "Look, you ladies obviously have a lot you need to talk about. Why don't you come back later…" Without looking at him, Buffy slammed him into the counter and he gritted his teeth against the pain. "Or you can just duke it out over my unconscious body."
"Mom, I was going to tell you…"
"When, Buffy? When were you going to tell me? You died? When was this?" Joyce demanded.
"Mom, can we please not go into this now?" Buffy pleaded. "I know there are some things we need to discuss—lots of things. But Angel's in danger and now is not the time for a mother-daughter chat. Please. I promise I'll tell you everything you need to know. But right now, my—Angel is in trouble."
She looked at Kendra who had retreated to lean pointedly against the front door. "I'm going after him. With or without you." She pulled Willy with her and saw her mother pausing indecisively. "Mom, you should go with Kendra. I can't worry about you and handling the slippery eel here."
Joyce rubbed her forehead again as she tried to sort out all the information coming her way. "Buffy, I-I think she's right."
"What?" How could her mother say that after everything she'd told her? "Mom, Angel's—"
"—In trouble. I get that. I also got from the conversation with this young lady in the car that he's also one of the most vicious creatures ever to walk the face of the earth. That he's ruthless, pitiless…"
"Before he got his soul," Buffy stressed.
"And does this soul mean he's no longer a vampire?" She noted her daughter's unhappy silence. "He still is and, if so, then I have to agree with Kendra. He's not as important as your friends. He's expendable, Buffy."
"No, Mom! Please, you can't say that…and I don't have time to debate this." She glanced fearfully at the light streaming through the windows. She didn't know where Angel was but she was betting wherever he'd gone couldn't have been good for his health. She didn't trust this Willy guy one bit and every precious second they wasted was certain to mean trouble for her Angel.
Kendra watched the two of them indecisively. Every instinct was screaming at her to ignore this Angelus's plight and run to her Watcher. But her Watcher wasn't here. Mr. Giles was the resident Watcher and he seemed to trust Buffy's methods. Impulsively, she stepped forward and drew out a sharpened piece of wood from her back pocket. "Buffy, here. Take dis. Dis is my lucky stake. I call him Mr. Pointy."
Buffy's eyebrows flew up as she struggled to choke back laughter. "You have a lucky stake? And you named him Mr. Pointy?"
Kendra frowned and drew the object back. "If ya don't want it…"
"No, that's okay. I'll take it. And…thanks." She wrestled the protesting bartender into the sewer as her mother watched anxiously from above.
Kendra opened the bar door, her posture once more brisk and businesslike. "Mrs. Summers, ya should come wit me. Yer daughter shouldn't have to worry about ya and dat bartender. Let's get back to Mr. Giles and report to him."
Joyce wavered. Part of her wanted to accompany her daughter. But she recalled what had happened the last time she had tackled with vampires. The weapon had jammed and the near-brush with death had frightened her badly. Her courage wasn't what it had been and she hadn't thought to take a weapon with her when she left the library; she'd been too intent on talking to her daughter. Now Buffy was evidently determined to help this Angel no matter what she had to say about it. She sighed and turned back to Kendra. "I don't suppose you know how to drive."
"No. I'm underage."
"Swell. Then I'm driving back to Mr. Giles and you should go after Buffy."
"But de Order…"
"—Is still after Buffy. So she's going to need backup whether she finds this Angel or not. I'll alert Giles and the others. But Buffy really needs your help." Her gaze softened as she pled with this strange girl.
But Kendra shook her head. "Dat's not de way I do tings, Mrs. Summers. Ya must drive me back. I'll report to Mr. Giles and den I can return here wit weapons."
"We'll return here with weapons," Joyce corrected. "If there's one thing I've learned from watching my daughter, it's that she works better with her friends around her." Joyce opened the door and glanced worriedly at the trap door where Buffy had disappeared. She only hoped that whatever her daughter was headed into, she could handle it until the cavalry arrived.
Willy was busily chatting with Buffy. "You know, you and your girlfriend back there are real cute together. And your mom's not so bad either. Nice ti—" Buffy's stare was icy and he amended what he was going to say. "What I mean is, she looks great for her age and I can see where you get your good looks from. I know a guy who does photographs. Strictly classy. Artistic studies, you know? If you're interested in nude photos, I can see to it that he gets you good work. A pretty broad like you—"
"—Gets tired very quickly of being called pretty broad," Buffy responded. She shoved Willy so that he fell into the sewer water and then dragged him up, ignoring his spluttering protests.
He shook the water out of his eyes and tried not to swallow the dirty liquid as it dripped down his face. "Hey, what'd you do that for? I was just paying you a compliment!"
"Yeah, using every misogynist cliché in the book. Did you get stuck in the fifties or did you not get the memo that women don't like being treated like sex objects—especially girls who are strong enough to break your arm with one hand?" Buffy replied sweetly.
"Well, excuse me for saying you've got a nice body," he huffed. "Guess nowadays a guy's got to be a bloodsucker in order to charm the ladies, huh?" His voice got insinuating and he smirked as Buffy's face turned stormy.
"Speaking of bloodsuckers, you better hope Angel's in good condition when I find him. 'Cause if he's not, I'm gonna pound your head so hard into your bar counter, it'll become part of the furniture." She flung him into a wall of the sewer for emphasis. Willy yelped and staggered upright as Buffy continued to prod him along.
The Anointed One stared in curiosity at the bound vampire before him. He'd heard the Master talk about Angelus. His voice had been alternately scornful and admiring. Apparently, Angelus had defied him and snatched Darla away right in front of him—something no other vampire in his right mind would have dared to do. The Master had hated him for that. But the boy had detected grudging admiration for him, too.
And the stories he had told of Angelus's exploits! Even trapped underground as he had been, news had trickled down to the Master about Angelus's wilder feats of bloodshed. This creature had been called the Scourge of Europe and led a terrible existence, one truly worthy of a Master vampire. With a vampire of his reputation on his side, no minion would dare to defy him. The Anointed One also thought he could learn a lot from this particular vampire…starting with why he had helped the Slayer.
He told one of the minions to remove the gag and the vampire spat, trying to remove the taste of cloth from his tongue. "I know you. The Master used to speak about you. You're Angelus," the boy intoned in his subterranean voice.
Angel peered up at the child. He had realized from listening to the creatures that had carried him here that these vampires knew nothing of his souled status. Perhaps it would be to his advantage to keep it that way. He rolled to his knees and smirked in the boy's direction. "That's right. Where is old Ratface, anyway? Didn't I hear tell he was trapped underground?"
"That's old news, asswipe," another vampire growled at him. "He was dusted last year by the Slayer."
"Oh, yeah. Thought I remembered hearing that rumor—vaguely." Angel shrugged as if the news had been of no particular interest.
"The Master said you had feelings for the Slayer. You're helping her," the Anointed One accused.
Angel lifted an eyebrow. "Helping her? I'm amusing myself with her, boy. Didn't the Master teach you anything about me? I like to play with my food." He grinned and let his brow ridges show.
The Anointed One wasn't so easily convinced. "Is that why you killed Darla last year?" The other vampires murmured at this intelligence. There, let him explain away that.
Angel shrugged again. He would have preferred having this conversation on his feet. Down here on his knees he was at a distinct psychological disadvantage. But he couldn't stand just yet. He was still wobbly and it wouldn't do to let this lot see his weakness. He rocked back on his heels as if he were perfectly at ease and not surrounded in the midst of an enemy camp.
"Darla and I had run our course. Hey, it was a great 150 years. Then it was over. But the bitch just wouldn't take no for an answer. She pushed me too far…so I had to stake her."
"Nobody stakes their Sire, Anointed One! Nobody! It's—you don't do that sort of thing!" This came from an outraged Dalton.
"I don't see why not," the kid replied. "Darla was weak for doting on Angelus. She was no better than that vampire with the bad hair and his idiotic girlfriend. But Angelus obviously isn't such a fool. The Master got over her death and Angelus has moved on. I say, good for him." He grinned at Angel and the demon the floor smirked in response.
The other vampires cried out, shocked at his ignorance. Dalton tried to explain what was so reprehensible about what Angelus had done. "We don't kill our Sires, sir. Our loyalties to each other may waver. But fidelities to our Sires are absolute. Angelus should not have killed Darla. What he did was tantamount to a crime in the vampire community." Voices were raised that gave assent to his words.
The Anointed One waved his hand sharply and the murmurs were cut off as if a door had slammed on a crowded room. "Obviously the Master didn't think so. Otherwise he would have had Angelus hunted down and slaughtered. Some criminal, huh? The Master let Angelus live. I say we bring him back into the fold and let him educate us."
"You sure that's wise, boss?" The vampire that'd paid Willy for him stepped forward. "He killed most of your minions in that raid on that pitiful human club. And Angelus ain't known for playing well with others. He never led or participated in a vampire clan. It was just him and that pack he ran with."
"I killed those minions because I wanted the Slayer for myself. Didn't want anybody else horning in on my meat. Besides, they were a bunch of losers. The Slayer and her friends took out most of them. I ask you—what kind of minions get taken down by humans?" Angel sneered. "As for my old gang, they're all gone, aren't they? I wouldn't say no to running with a new crowd." He looked around the cavernous space and made a face at the dreariness of it. "And I'm betting you could use some pointers. How to arrange better living quarters, for one thing."
The Anointed One shifted on his throne. It gave him much needed height but it was hard on the butt after awhile. "You can do this?"
"Unlike some of you, I've actually been in the world. I've got connections." That wasn't strictly true; Angel had shunned human beings for most of his souled existence. But this lot didn't know that. "So how about untying me and letting me up? This floor has seen better days and it's not doing a hell of a lot for my pants."
The boy signaled Dalton to untie Angel and the bespectacled vampire moved grudgingly to free him. Angel did his best to remain nonchalant. But there was a weird tingling at the base of his spine and it was getting stronger by the minute. If it was who he thought it was, he was going to need his hands free…
Willy came sauntering into the space, Buffy trailing behind him. "Hey, guys! I'm bettin' you never thought you'd see me again so soon. Lookit what I brought you!"
Buffy halted as she realized she was facing a roomful of vampires. She had felt a tingling in her gut, the special one that told her whenever Angel was near. She hadn't expected that he would be in such a large company. Kendra was right. First you call in. Then you go running after the enemy. Too bad she might not get a chance to learn from her mistake. Two burly vamps caught her by the arms and dragged her forward.
The little boy on the throne, the one she remembered from last year, stared at her from unnaturally yellowed eyes. "You," he hissed softly.
"That's right, sweetie. Hasn't your mother warned you about hanging out in a bad neighborhood like this?" she chided mockingly. "You should be home in bed, little boy."
The boy growled. No human referred to him as a boy any more. Certainly no slip of a girl was going to get away with it. "Why is she here?" he snapped to Willy.
"I heard you had a bounty on her head. Now I don't know what the Order of Taraka is askin' for her but they're professionals so I'm guessin' it's pretty steep. Ole Willy here will let you have her for half the price." He grinned at them only to cringe away as some of the vampires edged closer to him.
"Well, now that we have her, why should we pay you?" the Anointed One asked. "We can just take her and kill you both."
"Hold on! You're kinda new at this, kid, so let me fill you in on a few things. I'm the local eyes and ears in this town. I hear things and I give info to guys like you all the time. You need me—to keep you abreast of all that's going on out there. After all, it's hard to get good telephone reception in a joint like this." Willy licked his lips nervously and flinched as one of the vampires mimed biting at his jugular.
Angel stood up and sauntered over to Willy as casually as he could. "He's right. Willy here may be slime. But he's useful slime."
"But he turned you over to us—for money," the Anointed observed.
Angel shrugged, dropping his arm heavily across Willy's shoulders. "Like I said, he's slime. He was just looking to turn a quick buck. And I can't be too pissed at him, seeing as it led to my meeting you guys. Now as for the Slayer…" His face shifted and yellow eyes gleamed forth. "She's mine."
"How about letting me get a taste?" another vampire purred. This one was a slinky female with brunette hair hanging over her shoulders and a tongue stud. She let it flick out and click against her fangs as she winked at Angel.
Angel gave her a bored look. "I don't share my meals." A stake was whipped from under his coat and the female was dusted before she could move. That was Buffy's cue. She kicked in the knee one vamp holding her. He grunted in pain and loosened his hold. Getting one hand free, she pulled out Mr. Pointy and staked both of the vampires restraining her with one flowing move. Grabbing Angel by the hand, she took off at a dead run.
Angel tried to keep up but it was soon evident he was having trouble. "Buffy," he ground out. "Tell me your friends are waiting around a corner with crossbows."
"Um, not this time, Angel. It's just little ole me. They couldn't all leave at once. It's a school day…and Career Week. If we all disappeared at once—well, it'd kinda queer things for the others and we're already on Principal Snyder's hit list."
Angel rolled his eyes in exasperation. That was his Buffy—impetuous but not always too bright. She pushed him up the ladder while keeping a sharp eye out for the pursuing vampires. "Do they at least know where we are?"
"Well, Kendra knows. And my mom. They drove back to get reinforcements." At least that was Buffy's silent hope. Kendra may have simply decided to make a report and then refuse to come. Why should she? To the other Slayer, Angel was just another vampire. She didn't consider him worth saving.
"Kendra?" Angel replied.
"Um, the girl who beat you up. Turns out she's a Slayer, too."
Angel paused in ascending the ladder and stared down at her in bafflement. "Another Slayer? How'd that happen?"
"I know, I know. This week has just been full of surprises," Buffy sighed. Just then a minion grabbed her by her ankle. She kicked back with her free leg, catching him in the face, but the action caused her to lose her hold and fall on top of the furious vamp.
He grabbed her and wrenched her arms back hard. She struggled but the leverage didn't give her any leeway to move. "Ooh. Lucky me. I get to have a taste of Slayer."
Angel dropped back down, his game face flashing. "Like I told that girl back there, I don't like to share."
The vampire backed up, tightening his hold on Buffy. "Too bad. You come any closer, I'm ripping her throat out."
"You do and you're gonna wind up in tiny pieces all over the floor. I wasn't called the Scourge of Europe because of my taste in women." Angel was bluffing. He still wasn't up to full strength but he was hoping the other vampire wouldn't know that.
Indeed the bloodsucker hesitated, the menace in Angel's tone sufficiently convincing enough to give him pause. Then there was a solid "thunk!" and an arrow magically sprouted from his forehead. The vampire howled in pain and released Buffy.
The two fighters looked up to see Kendra and Giles poised on the ladder above. She had another crossbow looped around her neck that she tossed to Angel. "Catch!" Then the other vampires caught up to them.
Mrs. Summers, Cordelia, Xander and Willow hovered uncertainly above the trap door. Well, the others were hovering. Cordelia was mentally slapping herself in the head. Why was she even involved with these jerks again? She'd stormed into the library to demand answers from Buffy's little team of Slayer-wannabes only to see them getting geared up with weapons.
She'd wanted to back out right then and there but Harris had told her that buggy creep had been looking for the Slayer and thought Cordelia was it since she'd been in Buffy's house. If he came after her again, she'd be all alone with no Slayer around to help her. That had been enough to convince her to accompany them although she had complained loudly all the way about having to be seen with the Loser Brigade.
Now she was having second thoughts…and several others following that. She scowled when Willow spoke up. "D-do you think we should go and help them?" Willow asked, clutching her stake in a shaking grip.
Cordelia certainly didn't see the need to traipse down into a dirty sewer. "Why? They've got two Slayers, a souled vampire and the Watcher Supremo. I say we stay up here—"
"—And get eaten by bugs," Xander added. Cordelia's head shot up. Standing behind them in the bar was the awful presence of Norman Pfister. Cordelia screeched and Xander shoved her behind him. "Didn't Kendra say there was a cage around here?" he asked Mrs. Summers.
That's right; Joyce remembered seeing it earlier. "This way!" she yelled and ran with the others towards the metal cage.
"What good will this do?" Willow asked. "It's not solid. He'll start…" Her voice faltered as she saw Norman Pfister follow them. Before her shocked eyes, the man dissolved into a mass of worms that began crawling towards their enclosed space.
"That's where this comes in," Xander explained as he held up the tub of super glue he'd taken the precaution of buying on their trip to the bar. He motioned the females back and poured the glue all along the floor. As Norman's assorted parts slithered through the open links of the metal cage, they became trapped in the substance and wriggled vainly to escape.
"Okay, now!" Xander yelled and all four surged forward, stomping on the struggling annelids. In moments, all that remained of the former Taraka assassin were various squashed wormy parts.
Cordelia staggered back and looked at her shoes in horror. "Oh, god. These are my new Manolo Blahniks. Do you have any idea how much these things cost?!?"
The other three stared at her in stupefaction. So stunned were they by her crassness, they failed to notice the other member of the Order sneak past them and disappear down the trap door.
Giles had had the foresight to bring swords. But getting them down the ladder proved problematic. He couldn't risk throwing them down and getting them taken up by some of their attackers. So he struggled to hold them while descending the rungs.
Angel and Kendra quickly abandoned the bows. They were useless in close quarters anyway. Besides, Angel didn't want to risk hitting Buffy. His Slayer was a whirlwind as she tore through the vampires. She would have dearly loved to be ripping Willy to pieces for his betrayal. But he was human; these creatures would have to take his place as the targets for her pissedoffness.
They were doing a good job of destroying all the demons when the policewoman from the law enforcement booth in the Career Week fair joined the fray. Buffy was momentarily confused at seeing her until she saw the knives flipping forth from her wrists. When the woman charged her, she clucked her tongue in annoyance. The Order of Tiramisu had police officers on the payroll? That was just dandy. So much for her job prospects. She ducked several close swipes from the knives and decked the woman with a solid blow to the jaw.
Dalton listened fearfully to the sounds of battle coming from the outlying tunnels. He had never been much of a brawler and thankfully the Anointed One didn't expect it of him. When the diminutive vampire (his height far less intimidating than that of most other minions) suggested nervously that they should flee, the boy gave in. He had the feeling he was going to need more minions after this fight was finished.
As he and Dalton fled down other tunnels, the noises from the fray fading in the distance, he grumbled to himself on yet another defeat at the hands of that stupid Slayer. "I really hate that girl."
TBC