AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Special thanks to everyone who's kept up with the story thus far…I know I haven't been updating recently, but school as been hectic -- you know how that goes. This story may be going on hiatus for a while. Definitely not permanent, but I recommend not waiting around for it to be updated soon…it will probably be updated with more suggestions I get, because your suggestions make the story work :) Thanks to all those reviewers; And a special thanks to Imzadi, who's been there from the start. Hope you enjoy the new chapter !

Traitors and Thieves
0 Dead; Day 2, Early Morning

Xander heard Giles' voice closer up the path. He looked behind him to make sure the detective, Kate -- who he barely met and seemed eager to trust -- was still following.

"I hear Giles' up the path," Xander said. "Unless it's someone else's voice."

"I think I hear a female," Kate answered, pushing a branch aside. "Seems familiar, too."

Both continued walking until they ran into Giles, or at least who they had been expecting to be Giles.

Shifting his pack, Xander thanked his lucky stars and walked into the clearing, where Giles and a few others stood.

"Here you are," Xander started. "Catching up with you're old book bud -- "

He looked up and stopped walking or talking. "Uh, hello."

Xander knew only four in the group, which even he was surprised to realize. Kate followed him close behind and also took a look at the new comers.

"Cordelia," she said with a flatness in her voice. "Never expected to see you here."

"Trust me when I say the same for all of you," Cordy said, eyes narrowing at Kate.

Oz spoke up to stop the tension. "I take it you two know each other."

"Obviously," Cordy answered. "I hope there's no one else in this twisted universe that I don't know about!"

"So I take it you're not happy to see us," Xander concluded, a little hurt. "Or me."

"Down with the insults, children," Faith said, boredom filling her tone. "We've gotta find everyone and round them together."

"You're right," Giles said, cleaning his glasses. "Maybe, with intelligence, bravery, and fighting skills, we can form a group and attempt to get off the island."

The group started walking again, with everyone at a safe distance from anyone else they didn't know.

"Looks like it's going to be a long day," Gunn spoke.

Xander groaned in a reply.

Angel had watched Angelus and Darla carefully, barely sleeping at all the previous night. He knew he could take out Darla easily, but would Angelus stop him? Angel knew he couldn't take on both of the vampires even with the sword he acquired as a weapon in his pack -- thankfully convenient, if he might add.

Now, Darla was perched on top of a sitting stone with Angelus no where around. He weighed out his options quickly, either killing Darla or finding Angelus, and decided in an instant.

He walked up to her while she stared into the distance of the woods. "Where's Angelus, Darla?"

"How should I know," she murmured. "Probably off to find that little blonde friend of yours."

Angel gripped the sword handle a little tighter. Darla noticed and raised an eyebrow.

"You're not actually going to participate, are you?"

With a swift swing, Angel brought the sword across Darla's neck without a moment's hesitation. He turned his back to her dead form of dust with eyes narrowed, focusing on protecting his friends -- especially Buffy -- and destroying Angelus.

"I don't know how many times I have to kill you," he said to no one in particular as he grabbed his pack. "But you just keep coming back."

Fred could barely sleep. Even with Lorne by her side, she was afraid of what could happen to all of them. She hoped that this, everything, was just a dream. Sighing, she realized the sad part was she couldn't give way to the simple ignorance of dreams, believing that everything will be alright in a moment's notice.

Looking over to the other female in her group, who called herself Tara, Fred felt a slight kinship with her. She trusted her to an extent, more than she would trust any stranger, and before both Tara and Lorne fell asleep they all talked about how they got to the mysterious game.

"I came with Lorne," Fred had told Tara, who looked at her with wide eyes. "We had all agreed to go to this stupid Battle Royale thing--"

"I think deceiving is the better name for it, hon," Lorne said cynically. He fiddled with his pack, trying to get it open. "If only Angel had set us straight instead of joining in."

Tara blinked. "Wait. Angel?"

Fred looked at Tara excitedly. "Yeah! You wouldn't happen to know him, would you?"

"O-only if you wouldn't happen to know Willow."

"I know Willow!"

"And Buffy?"

Lorne smiled. "We all know Buffy."

Tara nodded. "Oh!"

"We've just never met her," Fred added with a giggle.

"Oh," Tara responded, somewhat confused. "I don't get it. I-I don't get many things about people if I can't read them. Or their auras. This place drains my focus on people--"

Lorne looked at Tara, somewhat surprised. He stopped messing with his pack and settled it on the ground. "Did you just mention reading people?"

Tara looked slightly embarrassed. "Um. I-I-I can read p-people according to their energies, and w-what I feel from them."

"Don't worry, Tara," Fred said, smiling. She was happy that they were all reaching common grounds and were finally able to trust each other--somewhat. "Lorne can read people, too."

"Oh, wow," Tara murmured.

"Only instead of seeing energies, I hear them," Lorne explained. He gestured to Tara with his head. "Let's see if it works. Usually, I can hear what people have been through, through their singing."

Tara looked surprised. "That's amazing. I've h-heard of people having keen ears in dealing with energies, but it's more common for sight."

"Just like music, I guess," Fred piped.

Lorne had tried to read Tara as she sang -- reluctantly -- but there was no success. The three of them had agreed to get a good night's rest and wait until morning to figure out the current situation before making any drastic moves. They intelligently agreed that if they could round up everyone from both the Angel and Buffy sides (not to mention who else was in the game, which was a completely different story), everyone would have a better chance of living and getting out of the messed up world.

As Lorne and Tara had peacefully fallen asleep, Fred couldn't bring herself to it. She stayed up, waiting for something. Anticipating anything that might reveal itself from out of the trees at night. Thankfully, nothing did. She was more than tempted to take the green packs of Lorne and Tara's and make a run for it -- the urge was so huge she couldn't stand it, most likely from the early years of trying to survive before Angel, Gunn, Wes, and Lorne had saved her. As she grabbed her knees and waited for Lorne and Tara to wake, she wondered if the others were safe.

"Red! Red, wake up!"

Willow groaned in her sleep. A pair of hands forcefully but gently shook her shoulders, trying to wake her up from her deep sleep on the forest ground. She opened her eyes to both a bright sun and bright hair -- Spike's to be exact.

She stumbled up, slightly groggy and half awake. "What is it, Spike?"

"Looks like Anya got the best of us," he said, motioning to where she had 'pretended' to fall asleep before stealing off.

Willow rubbed her eyes, gradually remembering what was happening. She looked around her, Harmony and Wesley still sleeping. Inwardly groaning, she looked to Spike. "Why would she do that?"

Spike grunted. "Obviously there's a player in this fucked up system."

Willow ignored the urge to smile. "She can't do much."

"True, but it's not about what you can or can't do physically," he answered, looking into the distance. "It's what you can make people think, and then do."

"Why does that sound so familiar?"

"I got it from my best buddy, Angelus," he answered with mock sarcasm. "C'mon, we've got to get everyone up and ready. I figure Buffy and the librarian will probably know what to do."

Willow blinked and asked, "how are we going to find them in a forest like this?"