Prologue
Buffy was out patrolling in the cemetery when she saw her. The girl delivered a hard kick to the side of the vampire's head which knocked it onto a nearby bench. The girl brought a stake out of her back pocket and pushed it through the vampire's heart. It exploded into dust and was gone. The girl pocketed her stake and turned to face Buffy. She was a pretty girl with dark hair and eyes. She wore hipster jeans and a short t-shirt that
exposed her pierced naval. Over the top she wore a short black leather
jacket, which Buffy thought looked a lot like her brown one. The girl walked towards Buffy and held out her hand for Buffy to shake. Buffy took
her hand and the girl cleared her throat. "You must be Buffy, I'm Siobhan." The girl said to Buffy in a flowing Irish
accent. She waited while Buffy started to speak. "Yeah I am Buffy." Buffy looked around before continuing, "And not to be
rude or anything but how do you know who I am?" "Well, this may come to a shock to you but it was my watcher who told me
about you." Siobhan explained. "You're a slayer.like me? But how, I thought one had to die before another
one was called up" By now Buffy was getting confused.
"Yeah but you did die remember, when you did it to save Dawn." "How do you know about Dawn?" Buffy asked Siobhan getting protective of her
little sister. "Well I had how you died explained to me when I was called up so I was told
about Dawn then." Siobhan smiled at Buffy. "You seem to know about me than I do. Do you mind if I get off, I need to speak to someone?" Buffy asked, then realizing that she shouldn't need to
ask.
"No you go ahead, I don't mind, bye"
Buffy turned and walked towards the Magic Box.
Chapter One
Giles was sat at the table in the door opened and Buffy walked in. "Hello, Buffy. What are you doing here so late?" Giles asked Buffy as he
stood up and removed his glasses to clean.
"Ok, I need to know why I didn't know there was another slayer, in the world, or more specifically town." Buffy said as she sat down on Giles's
empty chair. "There's another slayer? How do you know that?" Giles asked as he rubbed
his eyes.
"I met her, ran into her doing my job in the cemetery just now." Buffy
complained to Giles.
"Well Buffy if she's a slayer then technically it's her job too." Giles
said trying to calm Buffy. "Did I mention that she's Irish? She should be over there not over here,
I'm here to kill the nasties, and she isn't needed."
"Maybe she was sent here to do something."
"Yeah, whatever."
* * * * *
Spike was just leaving Willie's when he began to sense the slayer. "Slayer." Spike whispered under his breath. She stepped out of the shadows and Spike turned round to face her. Spike squinted to see Buffy's face and
then realized that it wasn't her. "Who the hell are you?" Spike said stepping towards the girl. She pulled out a stake and held it up. "Stop, no
closer. I don't want to have to use this on you." The girl said nodding towards her stake. "But that doesn't mean that I won't." She said, as she threw herself at Spike. The Vampire was too slow and he was knocked onto the floor by the mysterious girl's strong fist. Spike quickly recovered and he flipped up from the floor. He looked around for the girl but he couldn't
see her. She was human so he knew he had no chance of beating her in a
fight. He took his chance and began to run. The girl stuck her foot out
from behind a drinks crate and Spike hit his head on a wall. He dragged himself up into a sitting position and looked at the girl who had injured him. "Who are you?" Spike asked her as he put his hand behind his back to get some support to stand up straight. "I'm Siobhan and I'm here to kill
you." Siobhan said matter of factly. "Okay, but why do you want to kill
me?" Spike wanted to keep her talking whilst he got his strength back.
"Because you're an evil and disgusting Vampire and I'm supposed to kill your kind. It's what I do." The girl began to sound irritated. If I could just hit her once hard enough not to blind myself with pain and she goes down then maybe I could get away. Spike thought to himself. He decided to
take the chance. He quickly pulled back his fist and hit Siobhan. She stayed still for a second and Spike thought she was going to kill him and then she fell onto the floor. "Perfect." Spike said. Then the pain kicked in. It was like a thunder bolt right through him. He started to run whilst holding his head with his left hand. As he was running past dark alleys an
arm reached out and pulled him in. He stopped and thought Siobhan had
caught him. He looked up at his captor and saw it was Buffy. "Oh my God Spike, what happened to you?" Buffy asked as she helped Spike sit on the ground. "That other Slayer. She attacked me, going on about having to kill me because I'm a disgusting Vampire and it's her job. I hit her hard enough knock her down but then I got the pain going through my skull." Spike said, massaging his head. Buffy then turned her head hearing something. "Shh, I
think she's coming." Buffy got to her feet and walked to the end of the alley. She looked round the wall and saw Siobhan running in her direction, her head going from side to side looking for Spike. Just as Siobhan got to
her, Buffy stepped out and hit her full on in the face, just like Spike before her. "I wish people would stop doing that." Siobhan said from the floor. Buffy grabbed hold of the neck of Siobhan's jacket and pulled her up to face her. Buffy hit her again, not as hard this time. "Now, this is my
town and no-one, I mean no-one whether they are demon or human is just
gonna come here and start attacking my friends." Buffy said, and hit Siobhan again for good measure. "I didn't attack any of your friends. Just some nasty Vampire that hit me really hard and then ran off screaming in pain." Siobhan said to Buffy smugly. "No need to look so smug sister, he is my friend. He might be a Vampire but he has a chip in his head. He helps me and my friends fight the forces of darkness. Seen as he can't hit humans he
needs to get his thrills from hitting demons, so we help him get his thrill. Oh, that sounded really gross." Buffy hit Siobhan again and this time she fell onto the floor with the force of the punch. Buffy realized that Siobhan was out of it. "Spike, you can come out now, she's out cold." Buffy called. Spike came out cautiously. "You must have hit her really hard to have knocked her out like that." Spike said to Buffy. "Not hard, just
more than once." Buffy picked up Siobhan, "We'll have to take her to my place. When she comes round we'll try to find out what she's doing here.
She's kinda heavy, could you carry her? If she wakes up I'll hit her again." Spike nodded and took Siobhan in his arms. "We'll go down the back
streets and then no-one will see us walking round with an unconscious
girl." Buffy smiled at Spike and they headed off to Buffy's house.
Chapter Two
Xander stood outside the Magic Box waiting for Anya to come out and lock up. Giles had called her earlier and asked her if she would come and work the last two hours in the store. After all it had been her idea to keep the
store open until midnight. She appeared out of the door brandishing a large ring of keys. "I'll just get the car started while you lock up Fort Knox." Xander said to Anya. He walked to the car and looked down a nearby alley. He saw two figures coming towards him, one male, and one female. The
male was carrying a girl in his arms. Xander reached into the car and grabbed a stake, thinking he was about to be faced by death. The figures stepped into a strip of light and Xander saw that it was Buffy and Spike, and someone who looked to be unconscious. Anya walked over and joined him.
They both looked at Buffy and Spike expectantly. "Hey Xander, hey Anya, meet Siobhan." Buffy said gesturing towards the unconscious girl. "Spike, why are you carrying an unconscious girl in your arms? Did you kill her? Xander, gimme that stake!" Anya said, her amazing lack of tact coming right
through. "No, Anya. I didn't kill her. In fact, she tried to kill me." Spike told Anya. "Look let's just get her in your car and you can drive us to my place, we'll explain on the way there." Buffy said to Xander as she
took Siobhan from Spike and carried her to Xander's car. They all piled into Xander's small purple car and set off. When they got to Buffy's, they found Dawn, Willow and Tara sat on the doorstep. "Why are you guys just sat out here?" Buffy asked as she lifted Siobhan out of the car. "We forgot our keys. And you didn't leave a spare one anywhere." Dawn said as she stood
up. "Well I'm sorry I didn't leave a key anywhere for any old person.or demon to get into the house with and eat all our brains." Buffy snapped.
She was still a little testy after meeting Siobhan. She didn't know why she'd been so violent with her just because she tried to kill Spike. Why was Buffy always so protective of him? "Dawn, get the key out of my left pocket." Buffy said indicating her jacket pocket. Dawn came over and did as Buffy said. She looked down at Siobhan, "Buffy, why are you carrying some
unconscious girl in your arms? Aren't you supposed to leave the victims like, where you find them?" Dawn asked her as she began to walk back up to the house. "Dawn, she isn't a victim, she's another Slayer, she was called when I.died. She tried to kill Spike. I knocked her out." Buffy told her
younger sister. They all looked at her in disbelief; as if to say, Why didn't you just let her kill him? Well, all of them except Willow and Tara. "I didn't knock her out because she tried to kill him. I knocked her out because." Buffy couldn't think of a reason, other than her trying to kill
Spike. They all noticed her hesitation and looked at her expectantly, ".because I wanted to bring her here to find out why she's come to town and I knew that she wouldn't come willingly." Buffy said. Satisfied with her
answer, but not entirely convinced of it, they all went into the house.
Siobhan woke up to find herself tied to a chair in a house she'd never seen before. She tried to pull her arms free but realized whoever had tied her there must be a lot stronger than her. Her face hurt and she could vaguely remember meeting that other Slayer.Buffy before waking up here. She knocked me out! Siobhan thought to herself. She knocked me out and then she brought me here. Bitch! She tried in vain to get onto her feet whilst still tied to
the chair. She gave up when Buffy and that vampire, she called Spike, walked in. "So you've woken up then?" Buffy said as she came over and stood behind her chair. Siobhan tried to turn her neck to see the other woman but Buffy put her hands round her head and twisted it back round until she was facing forwards again. This bitch is evil. Siobhan thought. Buffy went and stood in front of Siobhan and a brown haired girl brought in a chair for Buffy to sit on. Siobhan figured that the girl must be Dawn. "So Siobhan, you are going to tell me and my friends exactly what you are doing in my town. Okay?" Buffy didn't give Siobhan much choice. "I'm here to help you. Something is coming. My watcher doesn't know what it is yet, but she said that your watcher might have some sort of idea." Siobhan said all this very fast. "Right, so you're here to help me in my fight against evil?" Buffy
asked Siobhan as she sat back on her chair. "It isn't just your fight against evil though is it Buffy? It's mine too. I'm a Slayer too, and I've
been sent here to help you." Siobhan pointed out. "NO. This isn't your fight too. How long were you THE Slayer, four months? Well I've been doing this job for five years, and I'm not gonna have some little Irish no - it - all come and tell me how to look after my town. Now you're A Slayer, not the only one. You are not needed here. I don't need your help. I have my
friends and Giles, so you might as well just hop on a plane and go back
home." Buffy shouted at Siobhan. Siobhan, who had been working all this time at freeing her arms and legs from the chair, pulled herself free and stood up to face Buffy. "This is all too familiar for you isn't it Buffy? First Kendra, then Faith and now me. You just can't handle having someone to help you can you? The only people you are willing to put in danger are
your friends. Why don't you stop being so selfish by putting those in danger and use someone who is stronger than them. Someone like me Buffy. I'm here to help you, I can help you, and I'm a slayer just like you. I'm stronger than your friends. You can't keep putting your friends and your sister's lives on the line like this, it isn't responsible. You're supposed
to be protecting them, not putting them in even more danger." With that Siobhan kicked away the chair she had been tied to and walked towards the door. She pulled out a small card from her pocket and put it on the table by the door. "This is my number and the hotel I'm staying in, if you feel you need me, that's how you can find me." Siobhan turned and slammed the door behind her. Buffy ran to the door to say something to Siobhan but when she opened it, Siobhan was gone. "Well that went well." Xander said to try and break the now high tension in the house. They all looked at him and he stood up, "Not funny, huh?" Xander quickly walked into the kitchen and Anya followed him. "You know, Buffy, Siobhan was right. She would be helpful. I know we come out with you at night, but you can't always protect us when it's like that. If you called her then you could patrol together and then maybe you could defeat this new 'big bad' together." Willow said quietly to
Buffy. "I know. She's right. I'm a terrible friend and sister, always putting you guys in danger, when I should be protecting you. I'm going to find her." Buffy grabbed her jacket, picked up the card that Siobhan had
left and walked off, in search of 'The Mandator Hotel'
Buffy walked through downtown Sunnydale looking for the address that
Siobhan had given her. She asked a number of people her own age if they knew when the hotel was and all of them shook their heads and apologized.
Buffy then realized she would have to ask a wider range of people. She
walked down to the docks to find Louise, a homeless woman who Angel had introduced her to. She found Louise sat on an old shipping crate. "Louise,
hi." The woman looked at her with a blank expression. "It's Buffy. Angel's." Buffy thought, ".Angel's friend." Louise remembered her then, she reached out her hand and Buffy took it and helped her to her feet. "Hi, do you know where the Mandator Hotel is?" Louise laughed, "Dear, I thought you were here about something a little more demonic than that." Louise looked
around to make sure no-one had heard her. "Why would you think that? Actually, I think I know why you'd think that." Buffy laughed nervously. Then it came to her. There was no 'Big Bad' so what had Willow been talking
about at the house? Why was Siobhan here? Why had Louise automatically
assumed she was here about something demonic? Siobhan had said that something was coming. "Okay Louise, I know that there is an impending 'Big Bad' coming but I don't know what. You have any idea?" Louise perked up a
little more then. "I don't know, but I could find out. Be here the same time tomorrow and I'll tell you what I've found out." Buffy smiled, reached into her pocket and gave Louise the notes she had with her. "I can bring you some food and more money tomorrow." Buffy turned on her heel and left. "Main Street, downtown. Right next to the new donut store." Louise called
after her referring to the hotel Buffy had come about.
Buffy turned the corner onto Main Street and saw the ugly looking building that was the Mandator Hotel. Buffy crossed the street and went through the double glass doors. Buffy walked over to the reception desk. "Hi, could I see Siobhan um. I don't actually know her last name. She's about my height, has dark hair, wearing a black leather jacket." The guy at the reception desk looked at her blankly. "Look if you could lend me your phone I could call her cell and she could come down to see me." Buffy reasoned with the guy, who looked no older than herself. He put the phone up on the desk and passed Buffy the receiver. Buffy dialed the number on the card and waited
for an answer. When Siobhan answered Buffy explained why she was there. Siobhan agreed to go and stay with Buffy instead of the hotel. When they ended the phone-call Siobhan rang down to reception to tell the guy to send Buffy up. Buffy got the lift up to the second floor and went to room 237.
She knocked on the door and Siobhan opened it and invited her in. "I'm
sorry for the whole 'beating the crap out of you' thing." Buffy told Siobhan. "It doesn't matter. I did try to kill one of your friends, even if he is a vampire and it does seem kind of weird, a Slayer teaming up with a vamp." Siobhan explained as she packed up her things. "You obviously never heard about Angel, huh?" Siobhan spun round. "The vampire with a soul? You know him?" She looked intrigued. "I dated him. And for a while he didn't have a soul." Buffy told her. "What, you mean you.you know?" By now Siobhan looked even more intrigued. "Yeah I did, but it ended ages ago. We see each
other sometimes. He sometimes comes here and I sometimes go to LA. Our relationship is nothing more than professional now. Come on we need to go." Buffy grabbed Siobhan's bag and walked out the door to find a vamp waiting for them. "Siobhan, stake!" Buffy called to her. Almost instantly Siobhan had shoved the stake in Buffy's hand and she had dusted the vamp. Siobhan
locked the door and they both headed towards the lift.
Chapter 3
Dawn paced around the living room, much to Anya's annoyance. "Dawn do you have to do that?" Anya said as she stood up. "Sorry, I'm just worried about
Buffy. Who knows what that Siobhan chick will be willing to do?" Dawn
explained to the gang, all sat before her, except for Buffy and Giles. "Dawnie, don't worry. I'm sure Buffy will be fine. She can handle herself, and I don't think that Siobhan would do anything to try and hurt her. She
wants to work with Buffy too much." Tara comforted Dawn. "Maybe they're
just talking right now, you know? Getting to know each other a little before they decide to team up and work together on the new 'big bad' that's apparently coming." Tara continued. Dawn nodded and went into the kitchen. Willow followed her and put her hand on Dawn's shoulder. "Hey Dawn. So how was school today?" Willow asked Dawn as she sat down at the breakfast bar. "Willow. You don't need to change the subject now. Tara was right, Buffy's probably on her way back here now with Siobhan." Then the same thing hit Dawn that had hit Buffy. "Willow, what is the 'big bad'?" Dawn stood up. "I don't know. Why would I know?" Willow tried to look confused. "Well, before
when Siobhan had just left you said that Buffy might need her help to defeat the 'big bad' and none of us had talked about anything big or bad coming here any time soon." Dawn was beginning to get very suspicious by now. "Yeah Will, what were you talking about?" Willow spun round to find
Buffy and Siobhan stood behind her. "Well, I was just repeating what
Siobhan had said before she left." Buffy smiled, "Will, you're the best
witch I know, but totally the worst liar I have in all my life. I know you're not telling us something." Willow sighed. "I was hoping it wasn't
going to come to this. Hoping what Riley told me would never happen." Buffy's mouth dropped. "Whoa, whoa. Rewind a little there soldier. Riley
told ever met you something was gonna happen? What, did he call you or something?" Buffy folded her arms. "Yes, he called me a few days after he left and told me that this year something was going to come. He didn't know what but he just said that he didn't envy you having to fight it." Willow finished. "Buffy, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's just that Riley said not to tell you unless it happened. I know I should have told as soon as he called me." Willow stepped towards Buffy. "No, Will. You were right not to tell me. At the time he called you, we were too busy trying to fight Glory to worry about what was gonna happen this year." Siobhan stepped forward, "Buffy, you do have a watcher don't you? It's just I think we should go see him and talk about this. See if he knows anything." Buffy shook her head,
"No, I'll call him, get him to come over here."
Rupert Giles was just sitting down with a cup of proper English tea when the phone rang. "I never get a moment of peace in this town." Giles sighed as he stood up and walked over to his phone. "Hello?" Giles answered the phone in the least agitated voice he could muster. "Oh, hello Buffy. What's
wrong, you're calling late?" As Buffy explained, Giles remembered her
storming out of the Magic Box earlier saying something about another
slayer. "So, what you're saying is, you want me to come over there with books about prophecies and we can find out what your new friend is talking
about? I'll set off now, but I'll have to stop off at the shop first."
Giles told Buffy and she said that she'd meet him there in ten minutes.
Giles picked up all of his books about prophecies that the council had laden him with. Now he knew why they'd given him all of these books when he was last in England. Quentin Travers always had an ulterior motive. Giles should have known that Travers wouldn't give him all of these books because 'they were taking up too much space' like he'd said they were. He picked up the keys to his car and opened the door. He hurried to the car and put the books in the back seat. Giles started the car and made his way to the Magic
Box.
When Giles pulled up outside the store Buffy was sat on the doorstep waiting for him. Buffy's idea of ten minutes was her waiting for you for ten minutes and then complaining because you weren't there on time. Giles figured that he had to say something before Buffy got a chance to inform
him of how late he was. "So, Buffy what's this about you having another slayer holed up at your house?" Giles asked her as he let them both into the store. He disabled the alarm and switched on the lights. There was a
crash in the training room and both Buffy and Giles jumped. "Giles, get something heavy. It sounds like you have visitors." Buffy crept silently towards the training room door, followed closely by Giles, now armed with a large antique axe. Buffy put her ear up against the door in an attempt to
hear what was in there. She stood back and kicked the door open. In the middle of the training room stood Riley and three other Initiative members. "Buffy, what are you doing here?" Riley asked Buffy. "Ah, I think that's my line. What are you doing here?" Buffy retorted. "We're here to help with
the whole 'big bad' thing that's coming." Riley informed Buffy as he stepped towards her, "You look good, Buffy" Buffy took a step back from her ex love when he said that. "Yeah, well better than any other corpse looks." Buffy didn't know if Riley had heard about her dying but she thought the
not- so- subtle remark would just let him know. As if reading her mind, Riley replied, "Yeah, I'm sorry about your whole death thing. I only found out a few months ago that you'd been brought back." Buffy looked away, "But you found out a long time ago about this new 'big bad' and didn't have the decency to tell me about it. Instead you told my best friend. I thought I
was worth more than that." Buffy turned and began to leave the training room when she felt Riley's hand on her shoulder. She found herself rooted to the spot, as she was being held there by some invisible force known only
as Riley's hand. "Buffy, it was so soon after I'd left that I found out about the prophecy that I didn't think that I could hear your voice without wanting to come back here." Riley explained to Buffy, still stood behind her. Buffy turned to look at him. Riley opened his arms and Buffy stepped
into them. The two ex lovers pulled apart. "Thank you." Buffy said to
Riley. "What for?" he asked her. "You've just given me what I've needed since you left. It's closure. There's always been this part of me wondering what things would have been like if you didn't leave. Now that feeling I
had inside. It's gone." Buffy explained to Riley. "Come on, get your
commando buddies, we can go to my place and talk about the 'big bad'"
Willow and Tara sat in the kitchen listening to Dawn quiz Siobhan about her motives. "Dawn, I'm just here to help Buffy stop the 'Big Bad' which might
just turn into an apocalypse. I have no motives. I'm not here to kill anyone. Well, unless they're a demon or something else nasty. I would like
it if we could at least get along, I might be here for a while." Dawn smiled, "Okay, I'll be nice. Just remember if you hurt my sister I'll.hit you really hard with a big spade." Dawn really meant to sound threatening but figured that was difficult given she was trying to intimidate a Slayer.
It would be like trying to scare Buffy by shaking a nail-file at her.
Speaking of Buffy, Dawn then heard Giles's car pulling up outside 1630 Revello Drive. Dawn got up off her stool by the breakfast bar and ran to the door to meet her sister. Willow knew how much Dawn loved her sister and if anything were to happen to Buffy again Dawn would. Willow really didn't
know what Dawn would do. The youngest Summers acted tough and hey, sometimes she was but the truth of it was, Buffy was her world and if her
world was taken away from her again Willow believed that Dawn would probably go crazy. Willow heard the door slam and she shot a confused look
at Tara. Her girlfriend just shrugged. Willow got up to see what the slamming was about and Tara and Siobhan followed. Willow just saw the back of Dawn disappearing up the stairs. Voices could be heard outside the door and Spike, Xander and Anya were gathering around to see what was going on. The door opened and there stood Buffy, Giles and Riley. Riley? What was he doing here? Then from behind Riley appeared three more Initiative members. This was weird. What was Riley doing back? More importantly, what was Buffy doing bringing him back here after everything they'd gone through? Xander was the first to speak to Riley, "Hey there army fella. You and your pals
gonna come in or just stand on the front step while we defeat the big uglies." Anya shot Xander a withering glare, "Not all demons are ugly you know. Some are quite beautiful. Everyone just assumes that because they've
seen a few nasty looking demons all of them are like that. Well I just don't think it's fair. When I was a demon I was considered a beauty queen."
After that Anya turned on her heel and marched into the kitchen. "Well after that little outburst, I think you all should come in." Xander said.
Then one by one they all entered the Summers residence.
Buffy was out patrolling in the cemetery when she saw her. The girl delivered a hard kick to the side of the vampire's head which knocked it onto a nearby bench. The girl brought a stake out of her back pocket and pushed it through the vampire's heart. It exploded into dust and was gone. The girl pocketed her stake and turned to face Buffy. She was a pretty girl with dark hair and eyes. She wore hipster jeans and a short t-shirt that
exposed her pierced naval. Over the top she wore a short black leather
jacket, which Buffy thought looked a lot like her brown one. The girl walked towards Buffy and held out her hand for Buffy to shake. Buffy took
her hand and the girl cleared her throat. "You must be Buffy, I'm Siobhan." The girl said to Buffy in a flowing Irish
accent. She waited while Buffy started to speak. "Yeah I am Buffy." Buffy looked around before continuing, "And not to be
rude or anything but how do you know who I am?" "Well, this may come to a shock to you but it was my watcher who told me
about you." Siobhan explained. "You're a slayer.like me? But how, I thought one had to die before another
one was called up" By now Buffy was getting confused.
"Yeah but you did die remember, when you did it to save Dawn." "How do you know about Dawn?" Buffy asked Siobhan getting protective of her
little sister. "Well I had how you died explained to me when I was called up so I was told
about Dawn then." Siobhan smiled at Buffy. "You seem to know about me than I do. Do you mind if I get off, I need to speak to someone?" Buffy asked, then realizing that she shouldn't need to
ask.
"No you go ahead, I don't mind, bye"
Buffy turned and walked towards the Magic Box.
Chapter One
Giles was sat at the table in the door opened and Buffy walked in. "Hello, Buffy. What are you doing here so late?" Giles asked Buffy as he
stood up and removed his glasses to clean.
"Ok, I need to know why I didn't know there was another slayer, in the world, or more specifically town." Buffy said as she sat down on Giles's
empty chair. "There's another slayer? How do you know that?" Giles asked as he rubbed
his eyes.
"I met her, ran into her doing my job in the cemetery just now." Buffy
complained to Giles.
"Well Buffy if she's a slayer then technically it's her job too." Giles
said trying to calm Buffy. "Did I mention that she's Irish? She should be over there not over here,
I'm here to kill the nasties, and she isn't needed."
"Maybe she was sent here to do something."
"Yeah, whatever."
* * * * *
Spike was just leaving Willie's when he began to sense the slayer. "Slayer." Spike whispered under his breath. She stepped out of the shadows and Spike turned round to face her. Spike squinted to see Buffy's face and
then realized that it wasn't her. "Who the hell are you?" Spike said stepping towards the girl. She pulled out a stake and held it up. "Stop, no
closer. I don't want to have to use this on you." The girl said nodding towards her stake. "But that doesn't mean that I won't." She said, as she threw herself at Spike. The Vampire was too slow and he was knocked onto the floor by the mysterious girl's strong fist. Spike quickly recovered and he flipped up from the floor. He looked around for the girl but he couldn't
see her. She was human so he knew he had no chance of beating her in a
fight. He took his chance and began to run. The girl stuck her foot out
from behind a drinks crate and Spike hit his head on a wall. He dragged himself up into a sitting position and looked at the girl who had injured him. "Who are you?" Spike asked her as he put his hand behind his back to get some support to stand up straight. "I'm Siobhan and I'm here to kill
you." Siobhan said matter of factly. "Okay, but why do you want to kill
me?" Spike wanted to keep her talking whilst he got his strength back.
"Because you're an evil and disgusting Vampire and I'm supposed to kill your kind. It's what I do." The girl began to sound irritated. If I could just hit her once hard enough not to blind myself with pain and she goes down then maybe I could get away. Spike thought to himself. He decided to
take the chance. He quickly pulled back his fist and hit Siobhan. She stayed still for a second and Spike thought she was going to kill him and then she fell onto the floor. "Perfect." Spike said. Then the pain kicked in. It was like a thunder bolt right through him. He started to run whilst holding his head with his left hand. As he was running past dark alleys an
arm reached out and pulled him in. He stopped and thought Siobhan had
caught him. He looked up at his captor and saw it was Buffy. "Oh my God Spike, what happened to you?" Buffy asked as she helped Spike sit on the ground. "That other Slayer. She attacked me, going on about having to kill me because I'm a disgusting Vampire and it's her job. I hit her hard enough knock her down but then I got the pain going through my skull." Spike said, massaging his head. Buffy then turned her head hearing something. "Shh, I
think she's coming." Buffy got to her feet and walked to the end of the alley. She looked round the wall and saw Siobhan running in her direction, her head going from side to side looking for Spike. Just as Siobhan got to
her, Buffy stepped out and hit her full on in the face, just like Spike before her. "I wish people would stop doing that." Siobhan said from the floor. Buffy grabbed hold of the neck of Siobhan's jacket and pulled her up to face her. Buffy hit her again, not as hard this time. "Now, this is my
town and no-one, I mean no-one whether they are demon or human is just
gonna come here and start attacking my friends." Buffy said, and hit Siobhan again for good measure. "I didn't attack any of your friends. Just some nasty Vampire that hit me really hard and then ran off screaming in pain." Siobhan said to Buffy smugly. "No need to look so smug sister, he is my friend. He might be a Vampire but he has a chip in his head. He helps me and my friends fight the forces of darkness. Seen as he can't hit humans he
needs to get his thrills from hitting demons, so we help him get his thrill. Oh, that sounded really gross." Buffy hit Siobhan again and this time she fell onto the floor with the force of the punch. Buffy realized that Siobhan was out of it. "Spike, you can come out now, she's out cold." Buffy called. Spike came out cautiously. "You must have hit her really hard to have knocked her out like that." Spike said to Buffy. "Not hard, just
more than once." Buffy picked up Siobhan, "We'll have to take her to my place. When she comes round we'll try to find out what she's doing here.
She's kinda heavy, could you carry her? If she wakes up I'll hit her again." Spike nodded and took Siobhan in his arms. "We'll go down the back
streets and then no-one will see us walking round with an unconscious
girl." Buffy smiled at Spike and they headed off to Buffy's house.
Chapter Two
Xander stood outside the Magic Box waiting for Anya to come out and lock up. Giles had called her earlier and asked her if she would come and work the last two hours in the store. After all it had been her idea to keep the
store open until midnight. She appeared out of the door brandishing a large ring of keys. "I'll just get the car started while you lock up Fort Knox." Xander said to Anya. He walked to the car and looked down a nearby alley. He saw two figures coming towards him, one male, and one female. The
male was carrying a girl in his arms. Xander reached into the car and grabbed a stake, thinking he was about to be faced by death. The figures stepped into a strip of light and Xander saw that it was Buffy and Spike, and someone who looked to be unconscious. Anya walked over and joined him.
They both looked at Buffy and Spike expectantly. "Hey Xander, hey Anya, meet Siobhan." Buffy said gesturing towards the unconscious girl. "Spike, why are you carrying an unconscious girl in your arms? Did you kill her? Xander, gimme that stake!" Anya said, her amazing lack of tact coming right
through. "No, Anya. I didn't kill her. In fact, she tried to kill me." Spike told Anya. "Look let's just get her in your car and you can drive us to my place, we'll explain on the way there." Buffy said to Xander as she
took Siobhan from Spike and carried her to Xander's car. They all piled into Xander's small purple car and set off. When they got to Buffy's, they found Dawn, Willow and Tara sat on the doorstep. "Why are you guys just sat out here?" Buffy asked as she lifted Siobhan out of the car. "We forgot our keys. And you didn't leave a spare one anywhere." Dawn said as she stood
up. "Well I'm sorry I didn't leave a key anywhere for any old person.or demon to get into the house with and eat all our brains." Buffy snapped.
She was still a little testy after meeting Siobhan. She didn't know why she'd been so violent with her just because she tried to kill Spike. Why was Buffy always so protective of him? "Dawn, get the key out of my left pocket." Buffy said indicating her jacket pocket. Dawn came over and did as Buffy said. She looked down at Siobhan, "Buffy, why are you carrying some
unconscious girl in your arms? Aren't you supposed to leave the victims like, where you find them?" Dawn asked her as she began to walk back up to the house. "Dawn, she isn't a victim, she's another Slayer, she was called when I.died. She tried to kill Spike. I knocked her out." Buffy told her
younger sister. They all looked at her in disbelief; as if to say, Why didn't you just let her kill him? Well, all of them except Willow and Tara. "I didn't knock her out because she tried to kill him. I knocked her out because." Buffy couldn't think of a reason, other than her trying to kill
Spike. They all noticed her hesitation and looked at her expectantly, ".because I wanted to bring her here to find out why she's come to town and I knew that she wouldn't come willingly." Buffy said. Satisfied with her
answer, but not entirely convinced of it, they all went into the house.
Siobhan woke up to find herself tied to a chair in a house she'd never seen before. She tried to pull her arms free but realized whoever had tied her there must be a lot stronger than her. Her face hurt and she could vaguely remember meeting that other Slayer.Buffy before waking up here. She knocked me out! Siobhan thought to herself. She knocked me out and then she brought me here. Bitch! She tried in vain to get onto her feet whilst still tied to
the chair. She gave up when Buffy and that vampire, she called Spike, walked in. "So you've woken up then?" Buffy said as she came over and stood behind her chair. Siobhan tried to turn her neck to see the other woman but Buffy put her hands round her head and twisted it back round until she was facing forwards again. This bitch is evil. Siobhan thought. Buffy went and stood in front of Siobhan and a brown haired girl brought in a chair for Buffy to sit on. Siobhan figured that the girl must be Dawn. "So Siobhan, you are going to tell me and my friends exactly what you are doing in my town. Okay?" Buffy didn't give Siobhan much choice. "I'm here to help you. Something is coming. My watcher doesn't know what it is yet, but she said that your watcher might have some sort of idea." Siobhan said all this very fast. "Right, so you're here to help me in my fight against evil?" Buffy
asked Siobhan as she sat back on her chair. "It isn't just your fight against evil though is it Buffy? It's mine too. I'm a Slayer too, and I've
been sent here to help you." Siobhan pointed out. "NO. This isn't your fight too. How long were you THE Slayer, four months? Well I've been doing this job for five years, and I'm not gonna have some little Irish no - it - all come and tell me how to look after my town. Now you're A Slayer, not the only one. You are not needed here. I don't need your help. I have my
friends and Giles, so you might as well just hop on a plane and go back
home." Buffy shouted at Siobhan. Siobhan, who had been working all this time at freeing her arms and legs from the chair, pulled herself free and stood up to face Buffy. "This is all too familiar for you isn't it Buffy? First Kendra, then Faith and now me. You just can't handle having someone to help you can you? The only people you are willing to put in danger are
your friends. Why don't you stop being so selfish by putting those in danger and use someone who is stronger than them. Someone like me Buffy. I'm here to help you, I can help you, and I'm a slayer just like you. I'm stronger than your friends. You can't keep putting your friends and your sister's lives on the line like this, it isn't responsible. You're supposed
to be protecting them, not putting them in even more danger." With that Siobhan kicked away the chair she had been tied to and walked towards the door. She pulled out a small card from her pocket and put it on the table by the door. "This is my number and the hotel I'm staying in, if you feel you need me, that's how you can find me." Siobhan turned and slammed the door behind her. Buffy ran to the door to say something to Siobhan but when she opened it, Siobhan was gone. "Well that went well." Xander said to try and break the now high tension in the house. They all looked at him and he stood up, "Not funny, huh?" Xander quickly walked into the kitchen and Anya followed him. "You know, Buffy, Siobhan was right. She would be helpful. I know we come out with you at night, but you can't always protect us when it's like that. If you called her then you could patrol together and then maybe you could defeat this new 'big bad' together." Willow said quietly to
Buffy. "I know. She's right. I'm a terrible friend and sister, always putting you guys in danger, when I should be protecting you. I'm going to find her." Buffy grabbed her jacket, picked up the card that Siobhan had
left and walked off, in search of 'The Mandator Hotel'
Buffy walked through downtown Sunnydale looking for the address that
Siobhan had given her. She asked a number of people her own age if they knew when the hotel was and all of them shook their heads and apologized.
Buffy then realized she would have to ask a wider range of people. She
walked down to the docks to find Louise, a homeless woman who Angel had introduced her to. She found Louise sat on an old shipping crate. "Louise,
hi." The woman looked at her with a blank expression. "It's Buffy. Angel's." Buffy thought, ".Angel's friend." Louise remembered her then, she reached out her hand and Buffy took it and helped her to her feet. "Hi, do you know where the Mandator Hotel is?" Louise laughed, "Dear, I thought you were here about something a little more demonic than that." Louise looked
around to make sure no-one had heard her. "Why would you think that? Actually, I think I know why you'd think that." Buffy laughed nervously. Then it came to her. There was no 'Big Bad' so what had Willow been talking
about at the house? Why was Siobhan here? Why had Louise automatically
assumed she was here about something demonic? Siobhan had said that something was coming. "Okay Louise, I know that there is an impending 'Big Bad' coming but I don't know what. You have any idea?" Louise perked up a
little more then. "I don't know, but I could find out. Be here the same time tomorrow and I'll tell you what I've found out." Buffy smiled, reached into her pocket and gave Louise the notes she had with her. "I can bring you some food and more money tomorrow." Buffy turned on her heel and left. "Main Street, downtown. Right next to the new donut store." Louise called
after her referring to the hotel Buffy had come about.
Buffy turned the corner onto Main Street and saw the ugly looking building that was the Mandator Hotel. Buffy crossed the street and went through the double glass doors. Buffy walked over to the reception desk. "Hi, could I see Siobhan um. I don't actually know her last name. She's about my height, has dark hair, wearing a black leather jacket." The guy at the reception desk looked at her blankly. "Look if you could lend me your phone I could call her cell and she could come down to see me." Buffy reasoned with the guy, who looked no older than herself. He put the phone up on the desk and passed Buffy the receiver. Buffy dialed the number on the card and waited
for an answer. When Siobhan answered Buffy explained why she was there. Siobhan agreed to go and stay with Buffy instead of the hotel. When they ended the phone-call Siobhan rang down to reception to tell the guy to send Buffy up. Buffy got the lift up to the second floor and went to room 237.
She knocked on the door and Siobhan opened it and invited her in. "I'm
sorry for the whole 'beating the crap out of you' thing." Buffy told Siobhan. "It doesn't matter. I did try to kill one of your friends, even if he is a vampire and it does seem kind of weird, a Slayer teaming up with a vamp." Siobhan explained as she packed up her things. "You obviously never heard about Angel, huh?" Siobhan spun round. "The vampire with a soul? You know him?" She looked intrigued. "I dated him. And for a while he didn't have a soul." Buffy told her. "What, you mean you.you know?" By now Siobhan looked even more intrigued. "Yeah I did, but it ended ages ago. We see each
other sometimes. He sometimes comes here and I sometimes go to LA. Our relationship is nothing more than professional now. Come on we need to go." Buffy grabbed Siobhan's bag and walked out the door to find a vamp waiting for them. "Siobhan, stake!" Buffy called to her. Almost instantly Siobhan had shoved the stake in Buffy's hand and she had dusted the vamp. Siobhan
locked the door and they both headed towards the lift.
Chapter 3
Dawn paced around the living room, much to Anya's annoyance. "Dawn do you have to do that?" Anya said as she stood up. "Sorry, I'm just worried about
Buffy. Who knows what that Siobhan chick will be willing to do?" Dawn
explained to the gang, all sat before her, except for Buffy and Giles. "Dawnie, don't worry. I'm sure Buffy will be fine. She can handle herself, and I don't think that Siobhan would do anything to try and hurt her. She
wants to work with Buffy too much." Tara comforted Dawn. "Maybe they're
just talking right now, you know? Getting to know each other a little before they decide to team up and work together on the new 'big bad' that's apparently coming." Tara continued. Dawn nodded and went into the kitchen. Willow followed her and put her hand on Dawn's shoulder. "Hey Dawn. So how was school today?" Willow asked Dawn as she sat down at the breakfast bar. "Willow. You don't need to change the subject now. Tara was right, Buffy's probably on her way back here now with Siobhan." Then the same thing hit Dawn that had hit Buffy. "Willow, what is the 'big bad'?" Dawn stood up. "I don't know. Why would I know?" Willow tried to look confused. "Well, before
when Siobhan had just left you said that Buffy might need her help to defeat the 'big bad' and none of us had talked about anything big or bad coming here any time soon." Dawn was beginning to get very suspicious by now. "Yeah Will, what were you talking about?" Willow spun round to find
Buffy and Siobhan stood behind her. "Well, I was just repeating what
Siobhan had said before she left." Buffy smiled, "Will, you're the best
witch I know, but totally the worst liar I have in all my life. I know you're not telling us something." Willow sighed. "I was hoping it wasn't
going to come to this. Hoping what Riley told me would never happen." Buffy's mouth dropped. "Whoa, whoa. Rewind a little there soldier. Riley
told ever met you something was gonna happen? What, did he call you or something?" Buffy folded her arms. "Yes, he called me a few days after he left and told me that this year something was going to come. He didn't know what but he just said that he didn't envy you having to fight it." Willow finished. "Buffy, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's just that Riley said not to tell you unless it happened. I know I should have told as soon as he called me." Willow stepped towards Buffy. "No, Will. You were right not to tell me. At the time he called you, we were too busy trying to fight Glory to worry about what was gonna happen this year." Siobhan stepped forward, "Buffy, you do have a watcher don't you? It's just I think we should go see him and talk about this. See if he knows anything." Buffy shook her head,
"No, I'll call him, get him to come over here."
Rupert Giles was just sitting down with a cup of proper English tea when the phone rang. "I never get a moment of peace in this town." Giles sighed as he stood up and walked over to his phone. "Hello?" Giles answered the phone in the least agitated voice he could muster. "Oh, hello Buffy. What's
wrong, you're calling late?" As Buffy explained, Giles remembered her
storming out of the Magic Box earlier saying something about another
slayer. "So, what you're saying is, you want me to come over there with books about prophecies and we can find out what your new friend is talking
about? I'll set off now, but I'll have to stop off at the shop first."
Giles told Buffy and she said that she'd meet him there in ten minutes.
Giles picked up all of his books about prophecies that the council had laden him with. Now he knew why they'd given him all of these books when he was last in England. Quentin Travers always had an ulterior motive. Giles should have known that Travers wouldn't give him all of these books because 'they were taking up too much space' like he'd said they were. He picked up the keys to his car and opened the door. He hurried to the car and put the books in the back seat. Giles started the car and made his way to the Magic
Box.
When Giles pulled up outside the store Buffy was sat on the doorstep waiting for him. Buffy's idea of ten minutes was her waiting for you for ten minutes and then complaining because you weren't there on time. Giles figured that he had to say something before Buffy got a chance to inform
him of how late he was. "So, Buffy what's this about you having another slayer holed up at your house?" Giles asked her as he let them both into the store. He disabled the alarm and switched on the lights. There was a
crash in the training room and both Buffy and Giles jumped. "Giles, get something heavy. It sounds like you have visitors." Buffy crept silently towards the training room door, followed closely by Giles, now armed with a large antique axe. Buffy put her ear up against the door in an attempt to
hear what was in there. She stood back and kicked the door open. In the middle of the training room stood Riley and three other Initiative members. "Buffy, what are you doing here?" Riley asked Buffy. "Ah, I think that's my line. What are you doing here?" Buffy retorted. "We're here to help with
the whole 'big bad' thing that's coming." Riley informed Buffy as he stepped towards her, "You look good, Buffy" Buffy took a step back from her ex love when he said that. "Yeah, well better than any other corpse looks." Buffy didn't know if Riley had heard about her dying but she thought the
not- so- subtle remark would just let him know. As if reading her mind, Riley replied, "Yeah, I'm sorry about your whole death thing. I only found out a few months ago that you'd been brought back." Buffy looked away, "But you found out a long time ago about this new 'big bad' and didn't have the decency to tell me about it. Instead you told my best friend. I thought I
was worth more than that." Buffy turned and began to leave the training room when she felt Riley's hand on her shoulder. She found herself rooted to the spot, as she was being held there by some invisible force known only
as Riley's hand. "Buffy, it was so soon after I'd left that I found out about the prophecy that I didn't think that I could hear your voice without wanting to come back here." Riley explained to Buffy, still stood behind her. Buffy turned to look at him. Riley opened his arms and Buffy stepped
into them. The two ex lovers pulled apart. "Thank you." Buffy said to
Riley. "What for?" he asked her. "You've just given me what I've needed since you left. It's closure. There's always been this part of me wondering what things would have been like if you didn't leave. Now that feeling I
had inside. It's gone." Buffy explained to Riley. "Come on, get your
commando buddies, we can go to my place and talk about the 'big bad'"
Willow and Tara sat in the kitchen listening to Dawn quiz Siobhan about her motives. "Dawn, I'm just here to help Buffy stop the 'Big Bad' which might
just turn into an apocalypse. I have no motives. I'm not here to kill anyone. Well, unless they're a demon or something else nasty. I would like
it if we could at least get along, I might be here for a while." Dawn smiled, "Okay, I'll be nice. Just remember if you hurt my sister I'll.hit you really hard with a big spade." Dawn really meant to sound threatening but figured that was difficult given she was trying to intimidate a Slayer.
It would be like trying to scare Buffy by shaking a nail-file at her.
Speaking of Buffy, Dawn then heard Giles's car pulling up outside 1630 Revello Drive. Dawn got up off her stool by the breakfast bar and ran to the door to meet her sister. Willow knew how much Dawn loved her sister and if anything were to happen to Buffy again Dawn would. Willow really didn't
know what Dawn would do. The youngest Summers acted tough and hey, sometimes she was but the truth of it was, Buffy was her world and if her
world was taken away from her again Willow believed that Dawn would probably go crazy. Willow heard the door slam and she shot a confused look
at Tara. Her girlfriend just shrugged. Willow got up to see what the slamming was about and Tara and Siobhan followed. Willow just saw the back of Dawn disappearing up the stairs. Voices could be heard outside the door and Spike, Xander and Anya were gathering around to see what was going on. The door opened and there stood Buffy, Giles and Riley. Riley? What was he doing here? Then from behind Riley appeared three more Initiative members. This was weird. What was Riley doing back? More importantly, what was Buffy doing bringing him back here after everything they'd gone through? Xander was the first to speak to Riley, "Hey there army fella. You and your pals
gonna come in or just stand on the front step while we defeat the big uglies." Anya shot Xander a withering glare, "Not all demons are ugly you know. Some are quite beautiful. Everyone just assumes that because they've
seen a few nasty looking demons all of them are like that. Well I just don't think it's fair. When I was a demon I was considered a beauty queen."
After that Anya turned on her heel and marched into the kitchen. "Well after that little outburst, I think you all should come in." Xander said.
Then one by one they all entered the Summers residence.