DESTINIES Part 2: Shadows

by A.J. Mitchell

Disclaimer: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc.

Rating: R (violence)

Pairings: Buffy/Xander

Timeline: This story takes place after the end of Season 6.

Spoilers: Anything up to and including the end of Season 6.

Summary: Figures from the past come back to haunt the Scoobies as they rush to find out what happened to their missing friends. And what about those missing friends?

Author's Note(s): (1)This is the second part to "Destinies". Thoughts are shown in italics. (2)The gang still fought the First Evil in a fictional Season 7 and they managed to defeat it. (3)Don't bother trying to place any Jossverse timeline to Angel's gang, 'cause I didn't follow it. (4)There's not a whole lot of B/X in this part, some near the end though, but I needed to advance the plot. There will be more in the last part, promise.

Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this part to Lori, Brooke, Chorlton, Bill, Steely and Rob. Thanks for your feedback. Your encouragement made this possible. Sorry this took so long.

Feedback: Please feel free to send me any comments you have on this story. ajmitchell2003yahoo.ca

CHAPTER 5

Angel stared out the picture window in the Harris' living room. He was trying to let everything sink in; it was a lot to deal with. He and Spike and Wesley had arrived the previous night just before dawn. Faith had been up to greet them while the others slept. She led the vampires down to the basement so they could get at least a few hours of shut eye, while she tossed Wesley a pillow and a blanket and pointed him in the direction of the couch. By noon everyone was up and about and explanations were in order. Faith started by talking about the disappearance of Buffy, Xander and the others. When the rest of the house had woken up the previous day they were just gone. No sign of where they had gone, or that they had left of their own accord. As she had told Angel before, all of their clothes and belongings were still present and Xander's car was still sitting in the driveway. This led them to believe that the quartet had been abducted and after what Giles had told them the night before, it was natural to assume that the reason behind it had something to do with the baby. Here Dawn took over and told them about the prophecies that Giles had come bearing and what they meant. The translated versions were still in the house and Wesley looked them over as the conversation went on, but the original texts and the Codex were missing along with Giles' satchel. Another reason to suspect an abduction to do with the baby.

Angel turned back and looked around the room at the contingent that was left. Dawn sat in the armchair, just staring out into space, her eyes not really focused on anything in particular. Next to her Anya and Heather sat on the floor, both looking equally lost. Angel sighed to himself. It would have been bad enough if only Buffy had gone missing, or just Xander, or Willow, or Giles, but all four of them at once? It was disastrous. The rest were left without anyone to turn to; without a leader. Faith had tried to step up to the role and done an admirable job so far, but it was a position that she wasn't really suited for. She still had too many of her own inner-demons to deal with for her to be a good leader. Angel knew that he was a good leader, but that was of his own group in L.A. In that respect he was glad to have Spike and Wesley here with him, but he wasn't sure how to lead the others. For the longest time they had all looked to Buffy, or Giles and to a lesser extent Willow and Xander. They had been around the longest, they had been through it all and come out alive... in the end. Now with them gone and possibly in danger the group was beginning show cracks and if something didn't happen soon they would very likely fall apart. Not that they weren't strong people, each of them was in their own way, but they were strongest as a group and now there was nothing to hold that group together.

Angel continued to scan the room and his eyes settled on the newest inductee to the pseudo-Scooby gang. Dawn had put the call in to bring Amy over since their resident wicca was missing and she was more than glad to be able to help since she owed Willow a tremendous debt. When Amy saw what had happened to Willow after she had embraced the dark and powerful magicks, she has been quite literally scared straight. Once Willow had made her own recovery she reached out to Amy and helped her overcome her addiction and even started to train her in the ways of the good Earth magic. She wasn't as powerful as Willow, but she would be a definite asset in their current situation. Heather had called around and tried to get a lead on where Oz might be, but with less than encouraging results. In short, no one she had talked to knew where he was exactly, or how to get in touch with him. That meant one less person around to help out. For the time being their priority was keeping up patrols to keep the vampire population under control and trying to find their missing friends. Angel turned around to face them all. "Alright. For tonight Faith and I will do a quick patrol. We'll stick to the main cemeteries and we'll see if we can pick up any hint of where Buffy and the others might be." Faith rose from her seat and started to collect some weapons together. "Everyone else should stay here tonight," he paused. "Spike and Wesley have some sources that they're going to check, but they'll be back as soon as they're done." He looked around and nodded to the group. Faith was done getting ready and the other two were already stepping out the door. Angel quickly proceeded after them and Faith followed, but then she stopped in next to Dawn. She gave the younger girl's shoulder a squeeze, "We'll find them, D. Promise." Dawn smiled up at the Slayer and received one from her in return as she headed out into the night after the dark, brooding vampire.

Across town the re-built Sunnydale High School lay nestled in darkness. It was a more modern building than its predecessor had been and unfortunately somewhat less pleasing to the eye. Xander had been in charge of the crew that had erected the new structure. In fact he had overseen almost every aspect of its construction; including a portion of its design. Maybe it was nostalgia, or a need to commemorate the old school and what it had stood for (at least for him); either way the new Sunnydale High library looked exactly like the old one had. It was even built on the exact same spot it had been on before. The not-quite-as-musty-smelling room also sat in quiet darkness. Its peaceful tranquillity was broken only for a moment by the sound of shattering glass. Two figures climbed through the now open window at the rear of the library and made their way silently down through the stacks. As they emerged and trotted down the steps towards the circulation desk one of them spoke. "I would have rather just materialized inside, rather than taking the costly chance of breaking in. And the same goes for the magic shop and the clothing store." Ethan turned to face his new employer with a grin on his face.

"But where's the fun in that? And besides my lock-picking skills are a bit rusty and I felt the need to brush up on the basics." They had entered the upscale clothing store first, via a fire door that led in from the alley beside it. Ethan had insisted on changing his wardrobe before he consented to getting any work done. After choosing a pair of black slacks, leather wing-tips and a dark red silk shirt they were off to the magic shop for supplies. They went in through the front door this time at Ethan's insistence again. He got a perverse little thrill from stealing from Rupert Giles and from being able to walk right in through the front door to do it. Once all the necessary items were gathered they headed for the school. Now inside he began to draw the necessary symbols on the floor and set out candles as the First explained the spell It wanted him to perform. "By now I'm sure that you know that the Hellmouth is a centre of mystical convergence. What that means for our purposes is that mystical forces, in this case predominantly evil ones, are drawn to the Hellmouth." It paused to make sure Ethan was paying attention as he began mixing ingredients together. When Ethan nodded, It went on. "That explains why vampires, demons and the like flock to this town. Now these evil energies are quite strong, so much in fact that even after they are destroyed they leave behind a residual imprint. A shadow if you will, or a memory. These remnants are then trapped by the power of the Hellmouth and left floating in a kind of limbo, so to speak." The First stopped and turned to Ethan who was just finishing lighting the last of the candles which he had set out earlier at key points around the symbol on the floor. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand what you've said." replied Ethan as he stood up and walked back over to the counter. He picked up the bowl containing the various mixed ingredients and the spell book next to it, then turned and faced the First. "Now since I understand that, what does it have to do with this spell you want me to perform?" He paused and then added, "And why do you need me to do it? You have powers of your own, why not just do it yourself?"

"My powers are not sufficient to perform this spell and even at full strength I would be unable to. Besides the fact that I would then once again be incorporeal, this spell can only be performed by a sorcerer. In this instance a Chaos mage does nicely." It smiled at Ethan and motioned for him to take his place in the centre of the circle on the floor. "As for the spell itself, what it does is quite simple really. It gives life and form to those shadows that were left behind. In essence it brings the evil memories of the Hellmouth to life." With the explanations out of the way the First now motioned for Ethan to begin the spell.

Ethan stood in the middle of the circle drawn on the floor directly over the Hellmouth. He began to read aloud in Latin from the book that he held in his one hand. Using the other he set the bowl down in front of him on top of a large triangular symbol. His voice grew louder as he continued to read the passages from the book and the flames of the candles grew brighter and brighter around him. On he went like this until he reached the last word of the spell and shouted it out as he dropped a match into the bowl at his feet and he watched as the mixture sparked and burned leaving a thick, billowing smoke in its wake. Then Ethan read several things off of a piece of paper that the First had given him, as a way to direct the spell. When that was done he raised the bowl above his head and then hurled it to the floor where it smashed in a bright blaze of blinding light and smoke. Ethan coughed and stumbled out of the circle and he made his way over to the counter. He slumped against its surface as he tried to clear his eyes and his throat and he found that he was standing next to the First. He turned to when the First was looking and coughed again as the smoke started to settle. Once the haze settled only a handful of the candles were still lit casting shadows into the recesses of the room. Ethan had to blink just to make sure that he had cleared his eyes, because he could swear that he was seeing figures emerge from the shadows around the circle that marked the Hellmouth. The figures stepped forward until they stood in front of the remaining candles as if they were afraid to cross over them. But one look at their faces showed that there was no fear in this group; not from any of them.

In front of them now stood five people. Five memories from the Hellmouth of evil from the past, now reborn and made flesh. The First's army to use against the Slayer and her friends. Hyena-Xander crouched down and started sniffing the air, remembering the room and trying, in vain, to find the scent of his chosen mate. The werewolf next to him growled and scratched at the ground, snarling and ravenous. Finally the Oz-Wolf raised its head and howled. A young man stood off to the side, clad in a leather jacket and toying with a switchblade. Ethan recognized him immediately and smiled. "Ripper" Giles grinned back at him as he lit up a cigarette. Lastly two vampires stood before them. One a young redheaded girl clad in leather, the other a tall imposing figure clad all in black. "Bored now..." sighed Vampire Willow as she lazily looked about the room. The second one stepped over the candles and walked up to the First. He growled as his game face appeared and looked back and forth between the group behind him and the two men in front of him. At last he looked directly at the First. "Where's the Slayer?" The First smiled.

"All in good time, Angelus. All in good time." It turned to face the others as well, "For now, we must plan."

CHAPTER 6

It was quiet. Too quiet, thought Faith as she and Angel made their way through the last of Sunnydale's major cemeteries. They had been out for most of the night and had yet to run across even a single vampire and while on the surface it seemed like a good thing, Faith just couldn't shake the feeling that it was wrong and that something big was about to go down. The pair had barely said two words to each other since they left the house. They could both sense that the other was tense and worried. They were solitary figures, Angel and Faith, and they knew that they needed to deal with their feelings on their own. So they gave each other space and patrolled without saying a word. They neared the front gates of Restfield Cemetery and Faith grunted in frustration, making the first sound of the night. They had found nothing. No demons, no vampires and no sign of Buffy, or Willow, or Giles, or... "Xander?" Faith's head snapped up when she heard the vampire next to her call out Xander's name. She turned to see where he was looking and she saw him, standing under a tree about twenty feet away, his face mostly hidden by shadow, but it was definitely Xander. Faith could tell by the way he stood, leaning up against the tree. She ran towards him, questions forming just on the tip of her tongue, ready for the asking, when Angel stopped her with three words. "That's not Xander." The dark-haired Slayer whirled around to face her companion, the expression on her face incredulous.

"What do you mean? Of course it's Xander! I can see him with my own eyes!" Angel just stood still and slowly shook his head.

"I know that he looks like Xander, but something's... off about him. Something about the way he smells. He doesn't smell like Xander, not exactly." The earlier look on Faith's face was now replaced by one of subtle confusion.

"What does that mean?"

"Well for starters, he smells younger. And yes on the surface he smells like Xander, but there's something else too; something just underneath. Something that smells very primal and dangerous." Faith was taken aback to say the least. She wasn't sure just how Angel had come up with all that from the way he smelled, but she wasn't about to discount it either. She owed Angel too much to do that. Instead she pressed on.

"So if that's not Xander, not our Xander," she corrected herself, "than who is it?" Angel had no answer.

Further off a pair of figures lurked in the darkness. As they watched the exchange between Angel and Faith, one of them put his finger to his chin thoughtfully. So, thought the First, they're looking for the Champion. But why is his Slayer not with them... unless... they're searching for her as well. Which means neither one of them are here. Oh well, that just means I'll have to track them down and it just so happens that I have the perfect tool for the job. The First motioned to the figure next to It and they both set off towards the other pair, who were now approaching the unknown Xander cautiously. When Faith and Angel got within a couple of feet of him they stopped. They could see him more clearly now and there was no doubt that it was Xander, but he did look younger. "Heya, Deadboy!" he greeted as Angel looked him over very carefully. Xander grinned his usual lopsided grin at the scrutiny. "What? Tryin' to make sure I'm not all fangy like yourself?"

"Among other things." Angel muttered to himself. Xander laughed and Angel's eyes immediately darted upwards in surprise. Surprise that Xander had heard what he said and surprise at the sound of his laugh. It was high pitched and almost like a scream. Then he noticed that Xander was wearing all dark clothing and that as he had been talking, slowly but surely he had been inching his way towards them.

"So where's the Buffster, on this fine evening?" And with that, it all suddenly clicked together in Angel's mind and he took a step back, pulling Faith along with him. Xander followed them then paused to sniff the air. A strange look came over his face as he locked his eyes on Faith. "You're a strong one too, like Buffy." He paused as a hard glint came into his eyes. "But she's the only one fit to be my mate. I can smell too many others on you." Faith was taken aback for a moment, but she wasn't sure if it was because of how Xander was acting, or the fact that he just all but called her a slut. Then it struck her; he didn't know who she was. There was definitely something wrong. A moment later Angel confirmed that suspicion.

"This is wrong. It shouldn't be possible. How could something like this happen?" Faith turned to him the confusion clear on her face again, but Angel didn't notice, he just kept talking almost to himself. "During Buffy's first year in Sunnydale they went on a trip to the zoo. Xander got separated from her and Willow and when he came back there was something different about him. None of us could put our finger on what it was. Then we found out he had been possessed by a primal spirit. A hyena spirit. In the end they managed to get it out of him, but this Xander in front of us, is acting just like.. no he is Xander when he was possessed by the hyena." Faith looked warily at the animal who looked like her friend and she was about to take a step forward and demand some answers when Angel's next words caused her to stop. "And that means he's dangerous. Very dangerous."

"Not as dangerous as me." said a voice to Angel's right. As he turned to look at the speaker he was blindsided by a vicious right hook to the chin that sent him staggering to his knees. Faith whirled around to face the attacker and found herself staring at Angel. She only had a spit second to dodge the blow that was aimed at her while she realized that Angel was on the ground next to her struggling to get to his feet. She stepped back and tilted her head to the side avoiding the fist that came flying at her. Then acting on instinct she launched a punch of her own and caught her adversary by surprise allowing her to land a hit squarely on his nose causing him to stagger back clutching his hands to his face. Angel was back up again and standing ready in a fighting stance as his attacker shook off the blow and chuckled. "Whoo… ah, let me see, must be a Slayer. She sure packs quite a punch. But last time I checked you preferred blondes." Angel could feel his lips curling up into a sneer as he spoke.

"I should have known it was you. Just your style to hit a man when he's not looking, Angelus." Faith looked back and forth between the two figures in front of her as her brain swam in a haze. Both of them looked like Angel, but she knew that only one of them was. And Angel had called the other him Angelus, which was what he was called before he was cursed with his soul and... Faith put her hand to her head. That line of thinking was giving her a headache. "It must be a spell, Faith!" Angel shouted to her. That was all she needed to know. She was about to spring into action when she was jumped from behind and tackled to the ground. While she struggled with her assailant Angel and his alter-ego squared off and started circling each other.

"Y'know I've just been itchin' for this fight. Do you have any idea how incredibly borring it is being stuck inside you for a hundred years or so?"

"Yak, yak, yak," said Angel, "just hit me already." So he did. Blows were exchanged and dogged. Moves were anticipated and avoided. Like two halves of the same being Angel and Angelus were equally matched, neither of them gaining the upper hand. The only difference was – Angelus didn't mind fighting dirty. As they circled each other again Angelus removed a small glass vial from his pocket and carefully hid it in his closed fist. He waited for the right moment and then faked a punch to Angel's left side. When the vampire with a soul moved to block the attack his adversary opened his hand and threw the vial at his face. Angel barely got his other hand up in time to protect his eyes and it was a good job that he did, because as the glass shattered on contact he began to howl in pain. He jerked back his hand and held it to his body, trying to sooth the burning sensation that now engulfed his senses. Angelus took the opportunity of his opponent's disorientation and charged at him, but Angel saw him coming and drove him off with a hard kick to the midriff. With the precious little time he had gained Angel examined his hand. Smoke rose off it in curling tendrils as the smell of burnt flesh assaulted his nostrils. Holy water. The vial had been filled with holy water. Counting his blessings that it had not ended up in his eyes after all Angel readied himself for another attack.

Meanwhile Faith lay on the ground nearby struggling to get out from under Hyena-Xander who was perched atop her grinning maniacally. She fought against him and was surprised at how strong he was. Even though Buffy had told her the story of how Xander had almost taken her down when he was possessed Faith really hadn't put much credence to it, assuming that Buffy had been holding back so as not to hurt her friend. Now she saw that, in fact, it was a challenge to fight him off in this condition. Finally she had enough and decided to ignore the rules of fair play and decorum and in true Faith fashion she lashed out with her foot and kicked him square in the balls. Hard. The boy fell back with a strangled yelp and lay on the grass clutching himself and writhing in agony. Faith couldn't help but smirk a little as she got up. She looked around and saw the two vampires trading blows once again, but she could see that Angel was favouring one hand over the other and that was leaving openings for Angelus to get to him. As the hyena began to recover and try to get to his feet Faith took off towards the two combatants and launched herself at Angelus. They tumbled to the ground and rolled along until they hit a large monument and before he could right himself Faith shoved Angelus backwards into it striking his head and rendering him unable to get his bearings. Faith shot up and grabbed Angel by the hand pulling him along behind her. "C'mon, Deadboy, we gotta go. There's some seriously weird stuff going on around here and I want to know what's what before we try and tangle with any more of it." Reluctantly Angel nodded and broke into a run as the pair headed out of the cemetery towards the Harris house.

The First stepped out of the shadows and shook Its head disapprovingly as Its charges gathered themselves up off the ground to stand before It.

"You go after them," the First told Angelus, "get the others as well." It watched as the vampire backed away until he was swallowed by the night, then It turned to Its other companion. "Track the Slayer." Hyena-Xander lifted his head up and sniffed the air. After a moment he snapped his head back down and turned to the First as a feral grin spread across his face.

"This way." he said and started off across the cemetery.

The group sat around the kitchen listening as Wesley finished summing up his visit to the Magic Box. Spike had arrived back first, the gang finding out that he had gone to pump Willy the snitch for any information about their missing friends. But even after his best "persuasions" the little weasel still had nothing to say. Spike could tell that there was something that he wasn't telling, but not if it had to do with Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles' disappearance. Briefly they all wondered what could have spooked Willy enough to make him stay silent even to Spike. When Wesley came in Spike repeated his report and then sat down while Wes gave his own. He had gone to the Magic Box to try and find some books that might have anything helpful in them. Anya asked almost too politely how he had gotten inside without a key. So he sighed and told them that the door had been open when he had arrived. Someone had already broken in. The shelves had been ransacked and he was fairly certain that some ingredients were missing. "Also," he continued, "I checked the training room for any extra weapons that I could bring back and I found that the weapons chest had been cleaned out as well. I managed to bring back a few stakes and crosses and these." he finished as he set down a stack of books on the counter. "Hopefully they should be of some assistance." Each of the six of them picked up a book and started reading through them. Immediately Heather had to switch books with Wesley, because no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't read ancient Sumerian. They had just cracked the covers open when Angel and Faith came barreling in through the back door. Angel turned and locked it behind them while Faith leaned against the refrigerator trying to catch her breath. "We've got a problem." Angel stated simply.

"We already had a problem," Dawn pointed out. "So what's this one?" Angel quickly explained about the encounter he and Faith had in the cemetery and then turned to Wesley and Amy.

"So what kind of spell are we dealing with?"

"It must be a spell, right?" Faith asked hurriedly. Amy stared back at them with a puzzled expression on her face while Wesley started to pace the length of the kitchen, seemingly talking to himself; a habit he used to have when he was still a Watcher and only now exhibited when he was under extreme duress.

"I suppose it could have been a spell," he muttered. "Or some kind of resurrection ritual… No, no that wouldn't explain the appearance of the others while Angel, and presumably Xander, are still alive. So the rituals are out, but then what kind of magic could possibly cause… this to happen. Blast it all! We don't even know what it is that is happening!" As Wesley went on like that Faith kept glancing out the back window, watching for any sign of their would-be attackers. Following the brunette Slayer's lead Dawn and Anya moved to positions at the front of the house to keep an eye out. Wesley wracked his brain trying to come up with any explanation for their current situation. One thing was for sure: any spell that would call forth Angelus as a separate entity from Angel himself would require a vast amount of power. He stopped pacing. A vast amount of power... He suddenly recalled Dawn mentioning something Faith had asked before everyone went missing. "You said that the oldest demons and guys like that would know about B and X's kid?" Giles nodded and Faith's expression grew more worried. "So the First could have known about it and might have spread it around?" Before he could even complete the thought that had started in his head, Dawn called out from the dining room. "We've got company!" Everyone rushed to the front windows and peered out into the inky, black night. Five figures stood on the front lawn, illuminated by the soft glow of the porch lights. Behind them stood a group of vampires, all with their game faces on and some armed with bats and chains.

"It's alright," Anya said. "Before they... left, Willow and Giles cast protection spells around the whole house. There's no way they can get in." As if summoned two of the figures stepped forward.

"I wouldn't say that." Ethan Rayne said confidently as he rolled up his sleeves and started chanting.

"No, I wouldn't say that at all." Ripper grinned and cast a handful of dust into the air in front of him. It hung in the air for a moment and then exploded in a brilliant flash of light and a loud clash of thunder. The shields fell and the vampires advanced. The battle had begun.

CHAPTER 7

The sweltering sun finally started to set on the little motel and the flat, dry desert that surrounded it. The Starlight Motel was the only structure within miles of anything and anyone that happened upon it would wonder just what in the world was going through the owner's head when he chose to build it in such a remote and desolate part of Arizona. Those people might be amused to know that the very same thought was occurring to the owner himself as he tried in vain to crank up the old, battered air conditioner hanging out of his office window. His hand slipped for the umpteenth time and smashed into the window sash as the wrench he was turning clattered to the floor. Buck sighed in defeat and fell back into the creaky office chair behind the reception desk. Lumbar support my ass... he thought as he swiveled around to look out the front window. Across the parking lot sat the car of the only guests of the Starlight Motel. Buck supposed that he should go over and see how they fared the night. They seemed like a nice, normal family from what he could tell. They'd been staying about two weeks or so and that was odd. Usually people stayed one night, because they were passing though on their way somewhere else, but the four of them rolled in one evening just before dark and had been there since. Well not all the time. No the father and son got in the car every morning and drove down the road to the nearest town, presumably for work, and came back every evening. That left the daughter and the son's wife alone in the room all day. When the father had come to pay for the room he explained that his daughter-in-law was sick and that his daughter would be staying to look after her while he was away. Buck really didn't pay it much attention either way. They were good customers, quiet, kept to themselves. He only saw the father when he came to pay for another night and occasionally he saw the daughter when she came to ask for extra towels one day and ice another. Pretty little thing she was, such nice hair. What was her name again? Rose, that's it. And the father's name is Edward, right. Buck put his feet up on the desk and started to nod off when a loud crash and what could only be the sound of breaking glass startled him and he shot out of his seat. The sound had come from outside and Buck's first thought was that it might be burglars, or vandals, so he started towards the door. He paused at the closet and took out his shotgun, checked the chamber, and cautiously opened the door to the office. He peered out into the night and slowly made his way across the parking lot. He had barely made it halfway across when the door to room 12 banged open and Edward came out hauling two suitcases. As Buck watched the older man slung them both into the battered station wagon and then went back inside for another load. Buck lowered the gun and started forward again intent to see if there was any trouble when he was suddenly intercepted by a tall, broad-shouldered form. He blinked and then realized that it was Edward's son, Alex. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Well, not really no," the young man said. "It seems that my father and I surprised a burglar trying to come through our back window." At the mention of a burglar Buck clutched his gun a little tighter. "It's alright we scared him off, but there was some damage done; a couple of broken window panes." He took out his wallet and handed a wad of bills over to the motel owner. "This should cover the cost of the room for tonight as well as getting the window replaced." Buck nodded dumbly and took the money that was offered to him. The young man started to head back towards the car when Buck came to his senses.

"Do you need any help?" As the dark-haired man turned around to answer him, Buck could just make out Rose helping the other woman into the backseat of the car and Edward loading up the last of their belongings.

"No, we'll be fine, thanks." He stood there as the figured jogged back to the car and got in next to his wife. Then he watched as the car started up and pulled out onto the road and drove off into the darkness. A moment later Buck Tracy blinked, shook his head and wondered what he was doing standing out in the middle of the parking lot, at night, with his shotgun in one hand and a pile of money in the other. When no reason was forthcoming he just shrugged it off and went back to the office to try and fix the damned air conditioner.

At the same time that the old station wagon was pulling out of the parking lot of the Starlight Motel, in Sunnydale Faith was pacing back and forth through the house like a caged animal. It had been two weeks since the attack by the group that Spike had dubbed the Shadow Gang. Faith shuddered as she let the memories wash over her. Not only had Ethan and Ripper managed to find a way through the various barriers placed around the house, but they also found a way to allow vampires to cross the threshold and into the house uninvited. The pseudo-Scoobies rushed to arm themselves when it became apparent that their safeguards had failed. Faith could remember just laying her hands on an axe when the front door came crashing open. The vampires came pouring in followed by a strangely familiar werewolf. Faith spun around only to be knocked down by a burly vampire and his skinny friend. With a swift kick they were off her and she was getting to her feet already swinging the axe in a high arc. The big one let out a roar as the blade whistled by him cutting a large gash in his arm. Faith twirled the weapon around holding in both hands ready to use either end of it should the chance arise. As a trial run she had sharpened the end of the handle so that it could also be used as a stake and now it was time to put her idea to the test. The big vampire was enraged after being wounded and he charged right at her anger blazing in his yellow eyes. With one quick flick of the wrist Faith was holding the axe handle first, so she planted her feet and just let the vamp run into the stake and dust himself. Unfortunately his friend was not going to make the same mistake. He circled her menacingly, his arms up and ready to attack when the moment was right. Faith could hear the other vampires crashing through the house and the sounds of fighting punctuated by a frequent yell, or scream. She didn't have time to pussyfoot around with her own pointy-toothed playmate while the others needed her help. She stepped back and pretended to stumble, twisting around as she did so. The vampire, thinking he saw an opening, rushed at her only to come face to face with the blade of the axe as Faith planted her foot and spun around. His eyes went wide for only a fraction of a second before the razor sharp edge cut through bone and sinew separating his head from his body and leaving only a pile of dust in its wake. She was about to make a pithy parting remark when the sound of Dawn's scream pierced the air. Without a moment's hesitation the once rogue Slayer took off towards the dining room.

As Faith continued to tramp through the house, Heather sat alone up in Willow's room mindlessly flipping through a photo album; looking at the pictures it contained, but not really seeing them. On the page in front of her was a picture of her and Willow. It was a picture of them standing outside a restaurant after their first date. As she stared at Willow's smiling face she fought back the memories that threatened to break through. It had just all been so horrible. She knew about vampires and demons, she had seen them before and in fact she had even staked a vampire once while she was on her way home with Willow and Buffy one night. None of that could have prepared her for the assault on the house, or for her realizing her greatest fear. Trapped at the top of the stairs there was nothing she could do but watch as the horde of vampires made their way into the house. Heather scrambled into Buffy and Xander's bedroom and tore open drawers until she found a stake to defend herself with. She crept back to the landing and, seeing no vampires lying in wait, she started to ease her way down the stairs to try and offer some assistance to her friends. No. Her family. Ever since Willow had become a part of her life so had they all and she'd be damned if she wouldn't fight for them. A noise from the devastated front door caught her attention and she looked down in time to see two figures enter and she froze. The tall, dark-haired vampire turned and went towards the dining room while the shorter figure stopped at the foot of the stairs. She put her hand on the banister and gazed up at the woman who was crouched halfway down the steps. She raised a hand and brushed a lock of long red hair out of her eyes and smiled. Heather couldn't swallow the lump in her throat. She knew that it wasn't real. She knew that this wasn't her Willow, but an alternate version of her culled from a dimension where Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. Xander had told her the whole story one day over milk and Twinkies, but she never expected to find herself confronting the vampiric doppelganger. Vamp-Willow smiled up at her as her face contorted into its true demonic visage. "Hi Sweetie," she purred seductively; which caused Heather shrank back in fear and disgust. Then the vampire that wore her girlfriend's face started to climb the stairs towards her and at that point everything seemed to move in a painful slow motion sequence like a bad horror movie. Heather closed her eyes and shook herself as if to dislodge those memories from her mind. Her free hand wandered up and tentatively touched the two marks on the side of her neck. She winced, feeling that the area was still tender. If Wesley hadn't have come to find her when he did who knows how much worse it might have been. She began to shake as silent sobs racked her body and she wondered for the umpteenth time if Willow was okay.

In the kitchen Anya sat on a chair and watched a dot of light as it moved ever so slowly across the wall. Her arm was in a sling, her shoulder dislocated from a hit she took while crashing into the dining room table. Despite that and other injuries that they all received during the fight, they had managed to win the day. Most of the vampire thugs had been dusted and once their numbers began to dwindle the Shadow Gang decided to retreat and regroup for another day. Anya smiled to herself as she remembered their most personal victory when Faith put out one of Angelus' eyes with a broken broom handle. Still, even after they all left the Scoobies sat up with stakes and crosses until sunrise finally came. The last two weeks had been a blur of activity around the Harris household. Broken windows were discarded and then boarded up, broken furniture was either hauled out to be thrown away, or whittled down to make more stakes, but most daunting of all was fortifying the gaping hole that was the front door and re-hanging the back one. The door from the backyard to the kitchen was still intact, but it had been knocked off its hinges by an over-zealous vampire and so it had to be put back. None of them had any idea how to accomplish that particular task, but with the aid of some carpentry books that were in the house they managed to do a makeshift job. Halfway through the task Anya had heard Dawn mutter "I wish Xander was here," and she couldn't have agreed more. It hadn't been easy watching Buffy take her place at Xander's side, much less her place in his heart. But time had passed and she was not the vengeance demon she used to be. And right when I was just getting around to being happy for them she thought bitterly, they had to go and get kidnapped. That's just like Xander! The spot of sun moved another quarter of an inch down the wall and she sighed. She hoped that they were alright and took comfort in the fact that wherever they were at least they were together.

Amy sat nervously in the dining room. Through the kitchen door she could see Anya sitting at the counter seemingly staring into space and across the front hall Faith would appear every so often as she completed yet another round of the living room. The young witch forced herself to look back down at the books in front of her. It was almost time and she had to be prepared. Re-casting protection spells was one thing, it wasn't that difficult. Dawn had remembered what books Willow and Giles had used so it was a very simple matter for Amy and Wesley to find the right spells and cast them again. The more challenging part came next as they combed volume after volume to find spells to augment the ones already in place. It had taken the better part of a week, but they had finally done it and the house was once again secure from vampires, demons and the like. There were even a few surprises thrown in for Ripper and Ethan if they decided to try and bring down the shields again. With the spells in place and the house itself reinforced it was time for the obligatory meeting. They all sat down around the dining room table and turned to Angel and Faith, who in turn turned to Wesley. The three of them had been conferring off and on, comparing notes and such, and it had been Wesley who formulated the theory. He believed that Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles had not in fact been kidnapped, but had left of their own accord. Based on how the First's army (because there could be no question now that it was the First that was orchestrating these events) had acted during their attack, it could be presumed that they weren't sent to find Buffy and her unborn child, but rather to keep the rest of them busy. Also the weapons that were missing from the Magic Box couldn't have been taken from the same person who stole the books and supplies because they were hidden in the back, not easily found. Therefore it must have been their four friends who took them, arming themselves before they left. But why leave at all? It was painfully obvious. To protect the rest of them. If any number of unknown forces were out to kill Buffy and her child then the safest thing to do would be to remove that temptation from Sunnydale. Amy sighed and rubbed her eyes. Now that they were reasonably sure that their friends were safe it was time to find them. Amy looked up as the others entered the room. They all took up positions around the table, except for Wesley, who sat directly across from her. Spread out on the tabletop was a map of the United States and some other less common objects. Wesley lit the candles as Amy prepared the ingredients in the ceramic bowl from Willow's supplies. When they were ready they began the spell. A reverent silence fell over the room and not a sound was heard except for the hushed voices of Amy and Wesley as they recited the words from the ancient texts in front of them. Finally Amy lit a leaf and dropped it into the bowl where it landed with a flash and a puff of smoke. They all stared at it expectantly and as the smoke cleared they could see a small orb of white light no larger than a pea floating above the bowl. Amy spoke the last phrase followed by their directions and the orb flew through the air and hovered over the map. As it looked like it was about to land on a specific place it suddenly began to grow dimmer and dimmer until it winked out and was gone. The others gaped in disbelief. "What the hell went wrong?" Faith asked.

"Nothing went wrong." Amy replied. "Willow cast a counter-spell. She's shrouded them from being tracked magically."

"There's nothing we can do now." Angel said as his eyes swept over the group. "They're on their own." An air of despair hung over the room as one by one each person went off to think about what that meant for their friends and for themselves. And each one held inside the hope that they were safe and together.

At a warehouse by the docks passersby could hear the sound of glass being broken and furniture being overturned. They just chalked it up to some drunk having a bad day and went along their way. Inside Angelus roared as he threw a chair though an office window. He felt the touch of a hand on his arm and he spun around his one yellow eye flashing in the darkness. Vamp-Willow stood at his side shaking her head. "That won't do you any good. It'll just make you tired and cranky." The master vampire growled at her and then reluctantly stomped off to the pile of crates where the others were gathered. Ethan sat hunched over one of the stolen books from the Magic Box trying to read by the dim light cast by the 40 watt bulb overhead. Ripper was leaning up against the wall with a smouldering cigarette dangling between his lips as he snapped his lighter open and closed each time sparking a small orange flame before the lip snapped down again and put it out. The werewolf just sat on the floor peering up at the others from time to time and snarling. "Well that went well!" Angelus stormed. "Does anyone have any ideas about what to do next?" He was seething with rage and all he wanted to do was go back and rip all those little do-gooders limb from limb. But he knew that wasn't what the First wanted and he was shrewd enough to know that he had to play along with what It wanted for now.

"Actually," said Ethan, "I think I may have the perfect plan."

"Do tell, mate." encouraged Ripper.

"Well we've seen that attacking them all head on is not the brightest idea even when we have numbers on our side, which I'm sorry to say we won't have any more. The local vampire population has decided to lay low for a while until all this blows over it seems. So I propose that we instead go after them one by one. Now that will take some patience and a little planning, but this is what I have in mind." Ethan smiled at their rapt attention and then outlined his plan.

CHAPTER 8

Just across the Arizona border into New Mexico two figures stood outside a now abandoned gas station, seemingly trying to get their bearings. The First turned back towards the small building for a moment, taking in the broken glass in the window and the smears of blood that ran across the open door. The attendant hadn't been helpful in the least when It had questioned him. No he hadn't seen a pregnant woman stop for gas in the last day, or two. No, no one had stopped that had a pregnant woman in the car with them. So, when it became apparent that the young man was going to be no use to It, the First had let his companion take over. Hyena-Xander had torn the poor boy to shreds before finally making a meal out of him, and my, but hadn't he screamed. Now here they stood, no better off than they had been an hour before. They had been tracking the Slayer for three weeks and not once had they come close to catching her, or her Champion; who was presumably with her. Along the way the First had left word with various demon clans and groups of roving vampires that if the Slayer was brought to him, alive, there would be a handsome reward. But again no word, no lead, not even the tiniest inkling of where they were. The First sighed. It seemed that It would have to continue using the only method available. It turned to the Hyena and was pleased when he lowered his head and grinned. "That way." he said, pointing off down the road. The First nodded and they set off once again, but this time the ancient evil was filled with the sense that they were closing in. One day soon they would catch them. And then. . .

The front door crashed open unceremoniously as Spike came barreling into the house. The group couldn't help but notice his bloodied face and torn shirt as he all but collapsed onto the couch. Dawn was immediately at his side. "What happened?" She glanced back towards the door and saw no one else had followed him in. "Where's Faith?" But Spike had fallen into unconsciousness and was unable to answer. Immediately Angel began to organize a search party. Anya tried to argue that Faith was a Slayer and that she was probably fine. "And Spike is a vampire," Dawn retorted. "And look at what happened to him."

"To be fair, we don't know what happened to Spike, so we should refrain from making any assumptions about what may, or may not have happened to Faith." interjected Wesley, trying to be the voice of reason even though he was just as worried as Dawn and Angel.

"That may be the case," said Angel, "but with a group of psychotic murderers running around out there I vote that we don't take anything for granted and that we don't take any chances." As he looked around him at the people gathered in the living room he saw that they understood that he was right. "Let's go then."

Faith groaned as she sat up and blinked trying to clear her mind. Her head was throbbing and darkness still swam in front of her eyes. The last thing she remembered was going out on patrol with Spike. They had just finished the rounds at Fairfield Cemetery when they were attacked. It seemed to come out of nowhere and then enemies were all around them all at once. She had managed to stake a half dozen vampires when she was hit from behind and that was all that she could remember. She must have been knocked unconscious, but what about Spike. She shook her head and tried to stand up, but quickly sat back down as a wave of nausea swept over her. She looked around and saw that she was in a medium-sized room with nothing in it, but a table and chair. There were no windows and only one door that seemed to be re-enforced steel. For the moment it looked like escape was out of the question. At least Faith was sure of who it was that had attacked them and so she was also sure of who it was that was holding her. A smile crept across her face in the darkness. That meant that it was only a matter of time before she was free again.

Spike woke with a start, sitting bolt upright on the couch, his eyes searching around frantically. Dawn was sitting beside him and put her hand on his arm which seemed to calm him. "Nibblet?" he croaked out.

"Spike's awake!" Dawn called out causing Heather and Anya to rush into the room. "Angel, Wesley and Amy went out to look for Faith." she told the injured vampire. "What happened?" With a great deal of effort Spike related his story to them. How he and Faith had been patrolling and how they had been ambushed.

"It was Angelus and his bunch. I saw that Ethan git there for sure, but mostly it was just a bunch of vampires. They knocked out the Slayer and took off with her. I tried to follow them, but that damn sorcerer threw a couple of fireballs at me and by the time I put myself out they were gone. I barely made it back here." His words were greeted with an ominous silence that filled the room, until finally a look of worry passed over Anya's features and she spoke.

"Why would they take Faith, but not you too?"

"This is why." came Angel's voice from the door as a wadded up ball of denim was thrown onto the coffee table. Dawn smoothed out the cloth and saw that it was Faith's jacket. There were bloodstains on it and a piece of paper was tucked into the breast pocket. She went to pull it out, but Angel spoke again. "There's no need, I'll tell you what it says. It's a time and place for a meeting. They want us to come and negotiate for Faith's return." he paused. "And they want us to come unarmed."

"So it's a trap." Spike surmised.

"Of course it is," said Wesley, "but, unfortunately we have no choice. If we want to find Faith we'll have to go."

"Alright then. We go."

The sun rose steadily and coloured the Texan sky by varying degrees of yellow, orange and red. The motel room door swung open and Alex Harrison walked out clutching a suitcase under each arm as he carefully made his way towards the station wagon parked at the curb. He hated these early morning exits; moving on without enough sleep, without much more than a rough idea of the direction they needed to head in. He felt very much like a thief in the night… or dawn as the case may be. He loaded the bags into the open trunk and turned back in time to watch Anne waddle out to the door. He took a moment and watched his wife. Pregnancy had changed her physically, mentally and emotionally, but no matter what she was still the woman he loved. He loved the way her belly showed when she wore tank tops to bed at night and he loved the way she sent him out at three in the morning because she was craving strawberries and cake frosting. Rose came up from behind her and edged her way through the door, with her own bags in hand. She quickly stowed her luggage away and then went back to help Anne to the car. Edward stuck his head out from the front seat and called for them to hurry up. Alex smiled and was about to shut the rear hatch when his attention was drawn by the sound of a large crash and a woman's scream. Suddenly the door of the next room over flew off its hinges and a large, hulking mass stood crouching in the doorway. It stepped out into the dawning sunlight and straightened up to its full, massive height of eight feet. Its skin was thick and scaly, coloured a sickly pale yellow with darker black markings on its arms and legs. From behind it emerged a similar looking beast with slightly different colouring and behind that several smaller, green creatures with long arms and deadly claws

Immediately Alex sprang into action, reaching into the nearest bag and pulling out a large, double bladed axe. Edward exited the car to come to his son's aid, bringing with him a gleaming broadsword. Rose did her best to keep her wits about her as she every so slowly inched her way along the wall towards the car, making sure to keep Anne between herself and the wall. As if sensing her intent the demons turned their attention towards the motel room. Alex saw this and took off at a run to head them off. One of the larger creatures started to make its way towards the two women along with most of its small, green friends, while the largest one stood its ground, ready to meet the young man head-on. The beast didn't move a muscle even as Alex raised his axe and swung it in a high arc that whistled as it cut the air. The blade cleanly severed the demon's head from its shoulders and as Alex stood panting the body dropped to the ground with a thud. The creature had just stood there and let him kill it… it was strange. Then he realized, it had been a diversion! He whirled around quickly just in time to see his father and sister trying to fight off the other demons and keep Anne safe at the same time. With a scream of rage he charged towards them effectively dispatching anything that got in his way. As he reached his family one of the demons fell back dead, scorched from head to toe. Alex jumped into the fray and the sounds of metal tearing into flesh filled the peaceful morning air. No one came to look outside. No one peered out to investigate. Sunnydale, it seemed, didn't have a monopoly on only acknowledging the things you want to believe. In only a few minutes that seemed like hours all the monsters were either dead, or dying, but adrenaline was still running high. Edward reached over and put his hand on his son's shoulder in an attempt to calm him, but Alex spun around and raised the weapon in anticipation of another attack. Edward had only a second to act and even though it was a high risk there was only one thing he could do. He raised his sword to defend against a blow, should it come and then he looked the other man in the eye and yelled out sternly. "Xander!"

The young man froze and slowly realization stole its way across his face. He dropped the axe and fell to his knees; his eyes wide, staring at nothing. Then he shot up as if he had touched a live wire. He ran to the young, brown-haired woman who was now sitting slumped against the wall. He knelt beside her and peered at her with such concern in his eyes.

"Buffy, are you alright?" he asked and in that instance all the masks were shattered and the facades were dropped like cheap theatre costumes. Xander Harris knelt next to his wife and tried to soothe her as he discreetly checked her for injuries. Rupert Giles stood next to them, sword still in hand, keeping watch for any other uninvited guests. Willow Rosenberg quickly threw the rest of the luggage in the car and hurried back to her two best friends. "Are you alright?" Xander repeated. Buffy looked up at him and managed a wane smile.

"I'm fine, honey."

"And the baby-?"

"We're both fine." she reassured him as she reached up and stroked his cheek.

"God, we can't keep doing this." he choked out with a bitter laugh.

They had been on the run for five weeks. They left the night after they had their secret meeting. They had discussed this exactly and the decision had been made that the four of them would leave and keep on the move in order to keep their friends and loved-ones safe from anything that would want to harm Xander, Buffy, or their baby. They took nothing with them and made their way across town to the Magic Box where Giles had some provisions hidden away for just such an emergency. After the incident with Glory he had decided that they might need to leave town again and stay off anyone's radar, so he'd made preparations. In a hidden safe in the back room were untraceable credit cards in false names as well as a significant amount of cash. Also the ownership and keys to a car, also untraceable waited for them. Lastly, and perhaps the most impressive of all, there were packages that contained a new identity for each one of the Scoobies. Giles had made sure to make changes to them as events in real life transpired. He had changed Buffy and Xander's identities after they got married, changing Buffy from being his daughter to his daughter-in-law, etc. With those supplies taken care of Xander went to the rented storage space to get the car while the others packed up as much personal property as they could find at the store, lastly raiding the weapons chest for obvious reasons. By the time Xander returned they were ready to go and they hit the road just as morning was stealing its way over Sunnydale. At first they had no real idea where they were going, but made their way steadily East as they went.

The going had been uncharacteristically easy for the first two weeks, or so. Giles, ever the pessimist, figured that something was bound to happen, while Xander attributed their lack of anything "ooky" to the fact that as far as anyone knew they were just a group of normal people. That night he had been proven wrong when they were attacked by a small nest of vampires. They were able to deal with them, but not before one of them caused enough noise to draw unwanted attention. They packed up quickly and managed to get by with a story about confronting a burglar before they were once again on their way. It had been like that ever since. There was nowhere they could stay for very long before they were found again, whether it was vampires, demons, or even one time a human who had been offered a substantial sum of money. It was thanks to him though that they found out exactly what was going on. He described the man who had paid him to take them out and they knew at once that their earlier assumption had been correct. It was the First who was after them and that It was using any means at Its disposal. Giles was unsure of how the First had managed to survive their final encounter, but then the how didn't really matter to them at that point. So they kept on the run, always heading Eastward for no reason that any of them knew. Or so they thought. Just that very morning as they were readying to leave Giles told them that he had contacts in New Orleans who could give them a safe place to stay until Buffy had the baby. Needless to say the other three were overjoyed by this. Then the demons had come, just as they were almost gone.

"They're getting closer." Giles observed as he and Willow watched the young couple.

"Yeah, they are. It's a good thing we're almost there. I'm not sure how much of this they can take." The older man nodded solemnly then approached his young charges and gently laid his hand on Xander's shoulder. When he looked up Giles spoke softly.

"We have to go." Xander nodded and turned back to Buffy. She nodded too, then took the hand offered to her and struggled to her feet. The walk back to the car seemed to take ages for the Slayer. She was getting more tired by the day and her body ached all over. It was nothing to worry about of course, just the toll of pregnancy combined with having to run for her life and the life of her child. She sighed as she got into the backseat of the car next to Willow. Xander scanned the area once more and then got in beside Giles in the front. As the sun cleared the horizon the station wagon pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road; heading ever onwards towards destiny, whatever it was going to be.

To Be Concluded...