DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer – it all belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox, etc. . .Neither do I own anything to do with Charmed, which belongs to Spelling Entertainment and Constance M. Burge. I think.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: OK, I am aware it's been over 2 weeks. . .but I am not lying when I say I have been swamped with work. Good news is, during the breaks in work I wrote fan fic; therefore I'm on track on my personal schedule.

I also just want to say (because I am a Brit) I just caught the episode of Angel 'You're Welcome' with Cordy awaking from her coma. I was completely overwhelmed with emotion by that episode, and completely devastated. I won't say anymore, for those of you in other countries who might not have seen it yet, but I'll just add that I have been in mourning by its events, and I hope some of you feel my pain. :'(

Anyway, moving on – that's what fan fic is for, getting through pain. . .here is Chapter 3.

Chapter 3 – A Clash of Two Demon-Fighting Worlds

The Halliwells had set their alarm clock early that morning in order to do something they thought they'd never do again.

Go to high school.

Their plan was to blend in as high school students – hopefully unnoticed – and see what they could find out about school life on the Hellmouth, and whether anyone was aware a giant snake would attack on their Graduation.

Before school, they had headed to a supplies store to give themselves the look of high school students – because all of them being in their twenties, they needed what they could get. Phoebe had already dealt with the hair – all three sisters wore pigtails – and outfits which had plenty of colour and cute animals. Piper and Prue had objected to this, saying no high school student would have worn this unless they'd wanted to be beaten to death by the other students, but Phoebe insisted they needed to look as young as possible for the plan to work.

They entered the store, little bell ringing, and a woman in her late twenties/early thirties gave them a big smile.

'Hello!' she spoke in the most patronising voice. 'You girls off to school?'

The three of them stood frozen on the spot, annoyed expressions on their faces.

'Look. . .' Piper said seriously. 'We need three school bags.'

'Oh!' The woman's voice grew more patronising. 'We have some lovely ones over here!' She stuck out her hands, walking over to some colourful bags that looked as if they were for kindergarten students. 'There's this one here with the little kittens. . .'

'Uh. . .' Phoebe hesitated. Piper muttered to Prue:

'It's the hair. It's so the hair.'

Prue shook her head. 'Nuh-uh, it's the clothes. They match.'

'Actually,' Phoebe went on. 'We were looking for something more. . .sophisticated. . .' she smiled nervously, fiddling with her hands.

'Oh!' the woman walked over to some darker, more mature-looking bags. 'You girls want to look cool in front of your friends!'

Prue sneered. 'Yeah, that's exactly it.'

Piper pushed pass the shop assistant, grabbing three of the bags randomly. 'These'll do.' She handed them to her, taking out her wallet and already removing money.

'Is there not anything else you want?' The woman sounded disappointed as she typed some digits in her cash register. 'Some colouring pencils? A pretty little set of erasers?'

Prue stuck her jaw out. 'We're really fine, thanks.'

The woman frowned, clearly upset by the negative tone. 'That'll be $35.97. . .'

Piper handed her two $20s, and waited for the change. The woman attempted to make more polite conversation.

'So what school are you girls going to?'

'Sunnydale High,' Phoebe said instantly. 'We. . .uh. . .love it there.'

'Really?' the woman shifted an eyebrow. 'It doesn't bother you about how many. . .strange deaths there are?'

Prue crossed her arms. 'What do you mean? What kind of deaths?'

The woman wriggled uncomfortably. 'Well. . .you know. . .you go there. . .they just scratch the surface in the newspaper articles, but. . .the occasional dead body here and there, like there was this one girl and guy found a few months ago – truly horrific – one ripped to death and one strangled, it. . .' she stopped. 'But you know all about it, I'm sure, you don't need to hear it from me. . .'

'Right. . .' Piper barely managed to nod, all of a sudden incredibly edgy. 'Do you live here? In Sunnydale?'

The woman shook her head, finally handing over the schoolbags with labels removed. 'No, I commute; I live a few miles away out of town. I couldn't handle living in this place, with all the things I read and hear. . .I just try to ignore it, it's not pleasant at all.'

The four stood frozen for a moment, sombre looks on their faces, but eventually they came out of the trance.

'So, we'll see you soon!' Phoebe said amiably. They scuttled out of the shop to the car, loading themselves into it. Piper spoke first.

'OK, so I think we can gather we're not dealing with the best environment. . .'

Phoebe scoffed. 'Yeah, that was pretty clear when we found out this was the Hellmouth.'

Prue shook her head. 'But it's different reading about it. . .and hearing it from someone who actually experiences each individual problem. I mean – we're talking demons every day, every night of every kind attracted to this energy. I'm surprised we've been here almost twelve hours and we haven't encountered anything yet.'

Piper laughed darkly. 'Must be a good day.'

Prue sat back in her seat. 'But still. . .how can this place even have any kind of population without some kind of defence?'

Phoebe curled her lips. 'There must be a fighting force. Let's hope we find them, and hope they know what's coming.'

Piper fired up the car and headed in the general direction of Sunnydale High, unsure of what to expect.

**********

Faith rolled over as the sunlight hit her eyelids, causing her to wake. She had fallen asleep curled up in her duvet, doubts crawling through her head, and now she welcomed the morning, stretching her arms out widely and yawning.

Just as she was about to get up, she glanced up and saw a figure holding a tray, beaming at her with fresh white teeth.

'Good morning sunshine!' Mayor Wilkins grinned at her. 'I thought I'd bring you breakfast in bed.' He sat down by her, putting the tray on her lap as she blinked awake.

'Man, boss. . .' she smiled herself, seeing the mountain of food in front of her. 'What's this for?'

He cocked his head. 'Well, you've got a long day ahead of you – especially tonight. . .and breakfast is the most important meal of the day!'

Faith had already tucked in, but stopped halfway through chewing. 'What's happening tonight?'

'Faith, please!' He took the napkin he had provided and wiped gently at her mouth. 'Don't talk with your mouth full! It's so primitive!' She swallowed, looking away apologetically as he went on.

'Tonight, you and I are heading to the airport to fetch a special box for my Ascension. I don't think it should be too hard – a simple exchange really – but if there are any problems. . .I'm sure you will know how to deal with them. . .?' The statement had ended up as more of a question.

Faith paused for a moment, feeling her stomach lurch. Finally, she revealed a little smile, nodding.

'Yeah, of course boss.'

Mayor Wilkins placed his hand on her head, stroking her hair. 'You should smile more often Faith. Makes your features even more beautiful.'

She blushed as he released his grip and walked towards the door. 'I'm sorry I have to leave you Faith – busy day. But I'll pick you up at 18:30.' He exited, shutting the door tightly behind him.

Faith looked down at her breakfast and instantly felt nauseous. She put it aside, walking over to the window.

She just hoped that if they did run into any problems, they wouldn't involve Buffy.

**********

Piper pulled up at Sunnydale High, finding a space and parking the car into it.

'Alright,' Prue put one hand on each sister's shoulder. 'We clear on what we're doing?'

They nodded, and stepped out of the car, slamming the doors behind them, bags slung over their backs. They'd stuffed them with clothes and cosmetics to make them look full – except Prue, who was in charge of the Book of Shadows.

They walked up the promenade, taking in the atmosphere of the school and the students. Their hair and outfits were immediately noticed, and some people started pointing and laughing (Harmony and her gang being the main culprits).

Piper became aware of them, whispering to her sisters: 'I guess they're the popular crowd.'

They walked through the double doors, trying to make a minimal entrance and sticking closely together. It was completely normal – handfuls of students going about everyday life as if they didn't really live on the Hellmouth.

'What do we do now?' queried Phoebe.

'Uh. . .eavesdrop?' Piper suggested.

They unsuccessfully tried to blend in, being observed by every other student there.

'So much for the hair and the outfits helping,' Prue voiced.

Just then, a guy approached them – he was quite broad and wore a chequered shirt.

'Hey. . .are you three, uh. . .new or something? Wait, it's almost the end of the year. . .how dumb of me. . .are you foreign exchanges?'

The three sisters traded glances, opening and closing their mouths. Phoebe eventually replied:

'No, we've been here three years. Haven't you noticed us?' She tried to put on an offended tone.

'Oh.' He shrugged apologetically. 'Sorry. I guess you don't notice this stuff with so many students disappearing and new ones replacing them. I'm Larry,' he outstretched his hand. Phoebe took it politely.

'I'm Phoebe. These are my sisters – Prue and Piper.' They feebly waved.

'So what class do you guys have now?' Larry asked.

What happened next was inevitable to happen at some point, as all three gave a different answer:

Phoebe: 'French.' Piper: 'Home Ec.' Prue: 'History.'

'Uh. . .' Prue quickly thought up and excuse. 'We're all in different classes. I think they did it to. . .y'know, give us our independence away from each other. . .'

Larry surprisingly seemed to buy this. Obviously, he had heard a lot of excuses in his life. 'OK, well, I'll see you around.' He began walking away, but before he got the opportunity to, his path was blocked by a short creepy-looking man.

'Principal Snyder!' he said, almost shocked by how suddenly he had appeared.

'Why aren't you in class yet?' Snyder said suspiciously, eying the student over.

'Classes start in fifteen minutes, sir. I'm just getting my books.'

Snyder raised an eyebrow. 'Alright. You can go.' Larry rushed off in the opposite direction, as the Principal caught sight of his next prey, who were trying to sneak away but didn't quite manage in time.

'You three!' They spun around simultaneously.

'Yes, sir?' Piper said respectfully.

Snyder furrowed his brow. 'I don't recall seeing you here before.'

'We blend in well,' Phoebe told him, almost mocking.

Snyder encircled them, investigating with his eyes. 'How long have you been here?'

'Three years,' Prue echoed Phoebe's reply to Larry.

'Are you good students?' he drawled. There was a beat of hesitation, before:

'I'm sorry Principal Snyder,' Phoebe avoided his question, remembering the name Larry had used. 'We're late for class.'

Before he could object, they rushed down the corridor and entered the nearest room.

The library. Empty.

'Aaah!' Phoebe let out a frustrated noise. 'What an annoying little man!'

'Remind me to do a warlock test on him before we leave,' Prue said. 'I swear – firstly, no one can pop up like that and be human, and secondly. . .'

'Guys!' Piper's voice was nervous and shaky. 'Hate to interrupt the bitching about the scary little potential-warlock man, but we are still informationless, and we have no concrete plan. Not to mention, no one is falling for the idea that we're high school students.'

'We just have to go on every clue we can find,' Prue encouraged. 'Hope that we get lucky.'

Muttering was heard outside the library door.

'Quick! Hide!' Phoebe grabbed her sisters' arms as they ran up the steps to a bookcase, hiding away from the strangers.

A girl with blonde hair entered with a middle-aged man, and they were followed by a slightly nerdy-looking red-haired girl, a boy with spiky ginger hair, another boy wearing a ridiculously bright shirt, and lastly a girl wearing what was like the most modern thing in girls' magazines. It seemed unusual she would hang around with this crowd in the first place.

'OK, so Angel and I got that they're fetching it tonight and Faith's in charge. The Mayor also mentioned some little demonic things in the box that he needed to digest, which I wasn't too clear on, but you did say there was demonic energy, right?'

All three sisters shot each other glances at hearing any variation on the word "demon". It appeared someone was aware of the Hellmouth goings on.

The middle-aged man nodded, exposing a British accent when he spoke. 'Yes, yes, we're almost certain. Cordelia and I managed to get that from the research.'

The fashionable girl scoffed. 'Yeah, and that's all we got in hours of it. Which reminds me – I need a note from you about why I couldn't finish my history paper.'

Giles smirked. 'Of course Cordelia.' The group had reached the table in the centre of the library and all took a seat. 'Oz, Xander, what did you find out?'

'It's coming from South America,' Xander filled in. 'Tonight, just like Buffy said, and it'll be at the airport. That's all we got.'

Finally, he turned to the red-haired girl, who come to think of it, was wearing similar clothes to the Halliwells. 'Willow, anything with the magick black market?'

The Charmed sisters did the same thing they'd done before hearing the word "demon".

'I tried,' she shrugged hopelessly. 'Just a bunch of dead ends. This is super-secret Giles, the Mayor's doing a good job covering up his tracks.'

Giles nodded to himself. 'Alright. We know when and where, how and why. . .it's just a question of what we can do about it.'

'Well, I'm no genius,' Buffy piped up. 'But my guess is – get the box before the Mayor, destroy it, and stop him ascending on Graduation.'

Phoebe gasped, finally understanding this was what her premonition had seen.

However, her reaction didn't go down well as one of the guys, Oz, replied:

'What was that?'

Prue grabbed her head, not believing her sister could be that careless.

'I dunno. . .' Willow said peering through the bookcases. 'It came from over there. . .'

The group stood up, cautiously approaching the three hiding sisters.

Phoebe mouthed: 'Piper, do something!'

Piper acted on instinct, spinning around and sticking her hands out onto the group. She turned back to face Prue and Phoebe.

The sisters let out a deep breath.

'Smart, Phoebe,' Prue scolded. 'Real smart, gasping like that when we're meant to be hiding and are clearly getting good information.'

To their great shock however, a voice erupted from the group that were meant to be frozen.

'Oh my God. . .' the voice sounded stunned.

The Halliwells' eyes widened as they emerged from their hiding spot. To their horror, one of the people hadn't frozen. The red-haired girl twisted her head around, viewing the three disbelievingly.

'What are you?' she cried out. 'What did you do?!'

The sisters were speechless, not knowing what to reply to a girl whose power they weren't even aware of.

**********

A/N: Coming up. . .the confrontation scene, hatching a plan, and Wesley comes into the picture. . .I promise, I will update quicker than this chapter.