Chapter Fourteen: Dreamtime

Kennedy walked through the cemetery. Molly was a few yards to her right, Elena a similar distance to the left. Another quiet night she thought. Ever since that night at the school nobody had seen any Bringers and very few demons and vampires. The quiet before the storm she thought. She could feel things building up. She didn't need slayer nightmares or mystic prophecies to tell her the bad guys were going to come out of hiding in a big way before too long.

Molly stopped and Kennedy immediately directed her attention that way. She hissed to Elena and went over to Molly. "What's up?" she whispered as she crouched beside the already crouching potential. Elena quickly came up behind them and turned to watch the rear.

"Listen," said Molly and the three of them held themselves motionless. From somewhere up ahead they could hear chanting.

Kennedy pulled out her cellphone and pressed the quick dial. On getting a reply she whispered a message and received an acknowledgement. As she put her phone away she heard Elena hiss a warning. She turned to see Elena fire a bolt into the chest of an advancing demon.

The demon wasn't slowed down and ploughed forward towards Elena who dived out of the way. With his attention on the potential the seven foot 300 pound demon wasn't ready for the attention of a slayer. Kennedy drove her right foot into the demon's head and followed up with a savage thrust with the knife in her hand.

The demon staggered back, black blood streaming from its chest but arms flailing. Kennedy was knocked aside but as she fell the demon was hit in the head by another bolt, this time from Molly. It fell like a stone and didn't move again.

The demon had not been the sort to roar or make much sound and the fight had been over too quickly to cause much disturbance. Kennedy and Elena got to their feet and looked around for any other attackers whilst Molly and then Elena reloaded.

Must have been a loner thought Kennedy. One of those demons that gets attracted to the Hellmouth. She signalled to her companions and they moved forward cautiously towards the chanting.

As they approached they could see a group of Bringers. Only six thought Kennedy. She signalled to Molly and Elena to get down and wait. There's help on the way and no innocents to rescue so we might as well wait she thought. Besides she had to keep in mind that potentials were not slayers and her main job was to protect them. Train them and give them experience but above all protect them and don't lead them into a fight that might get them killed.

After about ten minutes she heard a long whistle from ahead and to the right. As she replied with a whistle of her own she heard another come from the left. She got to her feet and walked forward. Crossbows ready Molly and Elena followed to her right and left.

The whistles had already spooked the Bringers who had all stood up and looked around. From the left Faith charged forward followed by Rona and Annabelle. From the right came Willow, Xander and Fred.

The Bringers had no chance. They all carried knives but that did them no good. Faith and Kennedy both took out a Bringer each and the potentials took down two more with their crossbows. Xander, as so often, proved himself fearless in a fight and managed to get the better of one of the Bringers.

The remaining Bringer tried to flee but Willow used her power to toss him into a nearby gravestone. Fred stood with a small axe and looked disappointed that she'd had no chance to use it.

The slayers checked the bodies afterwards. Neither Faith nor Kennedy had been gentle. They took the killing of potentials and watchers personally. Their opponents and the ones shot by the potentials were dead, as was the one dealt with by Willow. Xander's victim was merely unconscious however having been felled by a punch to the jaw.

"Bring him back to the house," suggested Willow. "Let's see if we can get anything out of him."

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They were all moved in. So many people, so little to move thought Buffy. It had only taken a couple of hours to move everybody into the new house, or Castle Buffy as Xander insisted on calling it.

Cordelia had had a fine time furnishing the new place from scratch over the past week. She had been in charge of the decor, Fred in charge of the defences and Willow in charge of the magic. Now Buffy felt a lot better. Whatever happened, at least they wouldn't be taken by surprise. Well apart from any surprises we might have tonight she thought.

Buffy went into the room where they were waiting. They were Willow, Tara, Xander, Giles, Cordelia and Faith. With the exception of Tara everybody had been in Sunnydale and involved in the events of four years before.

"Everything's set," Buffy explained. "Fred's got her stuff up and running so there shouldn't be any surprise attacks, Amy's going to look after the magic and Kennedy's in charge. We won't be disturbed so long as nothing mega goes down."

Tara took over to explain why everybody was there. She explained about her reading of Faith and why she felt that something odd had happened. Willow broke in to explain why they couldn't just leave things as they were.

"So you don't trust me," said Faith standing up, upset but trying not to let it show. "Guess I'd better leave if I'm a danger to you all."

"No," said Buffy taking hold of Faith's hand. "That might be just what the First wants. We don't think this is your fault. We just think the First or somebody is up to something."

Faith looked at Buffy and then sat down and Tara continued. "Willow and I've been thinking about this and what might be behind it."

"It might just be a distraction," said Willow. "As Buffy says it might be nothing more than a way of making us suspicious of each other. But even if it is, it means that some magic has been performed."

"It might be that you've been set up as some sort of sleeper," said Tara to Faith. "Somebody might have done something to you and then hidden it. They might be waiting for the right time to trigger you to do something for them."

"If that's what's happened we think we'll be able to reverse it but we need to know what it is," continued Willow.

"So what do you propose to do?" asked Giles.

"We want to investigate what happened four years ago," said Willow. "That's why we've asked you all here. We know that Faith worked for Mayor Wilkins and we know he had people working for him who used pretty powerful magic from time to time. We think he may have left us another surprise."

"Like that body changing gizmo you mean?" asked Faith.

"Yes," said Willow. "It would be just like the mayor to do something else in case that little surprise didn't get the job done."

"It you're looking at what happened four years ago shouldn't Dawn be here then?" asked Cordelia.

Buffy explained the truth about Dawn and how she'd not really been there four years before. Nobody had thought to tell Cordelia before this. "And I thought I'd had a few weird experiences in LA," said Cordelia. "I should have known nothing in the world is as strange as good old Sunnydale."

"So what do we do?" asked Xander. "Do we stand up one by one and tell our version of what happened, sort of like AA - I'm Xander Harris and I repair broken windows."

"I'm Faith and I'm a killer," said Faith bluntly. "I really don't...

"No," said Tara, "not like that. We intend to use magic, not memory."

"You see the problem is we can't trust our memories," said Willow. "The spell that made Dawn changed everything. We might spend our time talking about things that never happened."

"And we need to know exactly what really happened," said Tara. "What we think happened with Faith and the mayor may be very different to what really happened."

"I wish none of it had happened," muttered Faith.

"We're going to put everybody to sleep," said Willow. "Once we've done the spell we'll all have the same dream showing us what really happened."

"When we start the spell I want everybody to relax," said Tara. "Lie back and close your eyes. When Willow and I have finished the spell you'll all go back four years."

"What if we don't want to go back four years?" said Faith.

"I'm sorry Faith, I know this will be painful but we've really got to do it," said Tara.

"We won't actually be going back four years in the sense we'll really be there," explained Willow. "We'll be watchers of the events that took place then."

"The events that really took place then," said Tara. "It won't be the same as you remember now."

"No Dawn," said Cordelia.

"Not just that," said Willow "We'll see some things that we didn't know about at the time, or that some of us didn't know about at the time. If the spell works properly it'll show us everything we need to know."

"This won't affect the spell that created Dawn, will it?" asked Buffy. "Because if there's any risk we're not doing it."

"Oh no, no," said Tara. "We're not changing anything, we can't. We're just looking, just finding out what actually happened."

"We'll probably want to change some things but we won't be able to," said Willow.

"Just like a movie," said Xander. "You might not like the story but you can't change it, it's already on the disc."

"So what happens if you find out nothing?" asked Faith. "If that happens I'd better leave."

"If that happens it means something has happened more recently," said Tara. "In that case we'll work our way forward towards the present day until we find out what it is."

"Before we start this we should think for a moment about how this might affect us," said Giles. "This might stir up some bad memories, even hatred all over again. We should all make a conscious decision to resist this. After it's all over everybody should try to take time to gather their thoughts, get control of their emotions."

A few minutes silence followed before Willow spoke again. "OK, everybody ready? Let's do it."

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"He'd dead," said Caridad entering the lounge. "Not surprising as we couldn't get him to eat or drink."

"Good riddance," said Rona. "The fewer Bringers the better. The way I see it it's them or us."

"Are you going to tell Buffy?" asked Annabelle.

"Later," said Kennedy. "No interruptions unless it's the end of the world."

Amy looked at her watch. "That'll give them at least another twenty minutes then," she said.

"What are they up to up there anyway?" asked Lakshmi the newly arrived potential. She had turned up at the Summers house from India two days before. Because of this the empty house had at least one occupant during the day and the night patrols regularly stopped by.

"Trying to find out what the First is up to," said Amy. "Don't worry if you hear strange noises or whatever. They're gonna be using magic."

The others nodded. Apart from Lakshmi they remembered Buffy's trip a few days before through the portal to the past to see the original watchers. They were getting used to magic being used. Unfortunately Buffy's trip had had no apparent benefit except to give her a vision of an army of uber-vampires waiting to attack, a vision that she had not shared with everybody for fear of discouraging the young potentials.

"So why aren't you up there with them?" asked Sophie. "I thought you were a witch as well."

"Somebody's got to keep an eye on all the little girls," said Amy teasingly.

Fred rushed into the room. "Kennedy, we've got a problem," she said. "There are police cars outside, four of them. Looks like they intend coming in. I bet it's that Kate looking for Faith."

"That's Gwen's friend isn't it?" asked Kennedy.

Fred nodded. "But she won't be back with her patrol for a while," she said. Gwen had taken out Dawn, Vi and Chao-An on patrol and probably wouldn't be back for several hours.

"Should we call her," asked Molly picking up a cellphone.

Kennedy shook her head. "Probably wouldn't make any difference," she said.

At that moment the doorbell rang.

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Buffy, Willow, Faith, Tara, Giles, Cordelia and Xander were now asleep. They were dreaming, all dreaming the same dream:

The place was City Hall and a police officer was escorting the vampire Mr Trick into the mayor's office. After entering, the officer pushed Trick into the centre of the room.

Mayor Wilkins looked up, smiled and offered his hand in greeting. "Hello! Nice to meet you," he said.

"Yeah, hi, it's a pleasure," replied Trick ignoring the mayor's hand. "Where am I?"

The mayor withdrew his hand. "In my office. I'm Richard Wilkins, I'm the Mayor of Sunnydale," he said. "And you're Mr Trick. Please sit down." The mayor then walked around to the other side of his desk and Trick also took a seat.

"That's an exciting suit," said the mayor.

"Well, clothes make the man," replied Trick.

"Well, as I understand it, you're not a man...exactly," said the mayor. Tricked nodded. "Mr Trick, I've been the mayor for quite some time. I like things to run smoothly. This is a very important year for me."

"Election year," said Trick.

"Something like that," replied the mayor.

"If this is the part where you tell me that I don't fit in here in your quiet little neighbourhood, you can just skip it," said Trick. " 'cause, see, that all got old long before I became a vampire. Do you know what I'm saying?"

"Do you have children?" asked the mayor. Trick just smiled. "Children are the heart of a community. They need to be looked after, controlled. The more rebellious element needs to be dealt with. The children are our future. We need them. I need them."

"If this rebellious element means who I think it does, then that problem may be taken care of this very night," said Trick.

The dream continued on to the great interest of those sharing in it. Nobody had thought they would get an insight into what the mayor had been doing but it was as Willow and Tara had said they were learning things they didn't know at the time. However nobody had yet heard anything that changed their perception of the events that had taken place. That was to change however somewhat later in the conversation:

"Like I said Mr Trick," said the mayor, "your Slayer Fest, great initiative but I hope for your sake that it doesn't work."

"Run that by me one more time?" asked a puzzled Trick.

"Killing a slayer," said the mayor shaking his head. "That means opening up a whole new can of worms. Not that there's much call for worm canning these days...Anyway the trouble with killing a slayer is there's always another one. I had a slayer killed once, took a lot of doing but I managed to get it done. Trouble was the new slayer was ten times worse than the one before. I had to skip town. I lost years because of that mistake."

"You do know you've got two slayers now," asked Trick.

"Yes, another example of how things can go wrong," said the mayor. "The Master, big powerful vampire. Sets out to kill the slayer and before you know it there are two slayers. What next, four slayers?"

"I suppose you've got a better idea," said Trick.

"You know Mr Trick you really should have listened to your mother," said the mayor. "Didn't she ever tell you the recipe for trouble: Two women in the same kitchen. What we need to do is help that along a little."

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Kate stood in the middle of the lounge waiting for her officers to come back from the various parts of the building they were searching. She knew she was doing the right thing but she was half hoping that they wouldn't find anything, wouldn't find Faith.

It wasn't that she didn't think Faith should be taken in. She had no sympathy for somebody who committed crimes like that. But she knew that if Faith was found there would be trouble. She could end up having to take on or even arrest all of the women in this house. Faith herself was bad news. If any of these girls, or all of these girls were anything like her that would mean big trouble.

"So why are all these girls here anyway," asked Kate. "You running some sort of finishing school?"

Kennedy smiled but said nothing. "Yeah, some sort of school," said Fred but she didn't say any more. "I'd better get back to, to..."

"That fancy security system you've got back there," said Kate. "What are you guarding, who are you guarding?"

"As I recall that's a search warrant, not an arrest warrant," said Kennedy. "We don't see why we should have a herd of police trashing our place and we're certainly not answering any questions." Fred left the room.

Two policemen entered the room. "That's everything," said the tall slim African-American. "Not upstairs, not in the attic, not on the roof."

"OK, we'd better go," said Kate and the policemen left the room. As she started to follow them she turned back and looked around the room at Kennedy and the potentials. "If anybody's hiding Faith, or helping her in any way they'll be arrested. If anybody's got anything to say, call me, Kate Lockley, at the police station. I guarantee you'll be protected."

"Protected?" said Rona. "You mean you can fight the demons and the vampires?"

"And the First?" said Molly.

"I don't think so," said Colleen.

"The First?" asked Kate.

Kennedy stood up and looked around the potentials. "We have nothing more to say," she said.

"Well, if you change your mind, any of you, you know how to find me," said Kate leaving the room. Kennedy saw her to the front door and shut it behind her. She turned as she heard Amy come down the stairs behind her. "No trouble?" she asked.

"A simple concealment spell," said Amy. "All they saw was a wall. They can't go into a room if they don't know it's there.

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The dreamers had moved on. They were once again dreaming of events in the mayor's office but now they saw Trick come into the office as a trusted employee, not as a captive.

"You're sure?" asked the mayor.

"Oh yeah, Rupert Giles," said Trick. "No doubt at all he's the watcher. It's all here." Trick put a folder of papers in front of the mayor.

The mayor picked up the papers and glanced through them. "So what now," asked Trick. "You want me to kill him? Should be easy enough, no super powers to worry about."

"Now there you go again, kill, kill, kill," said the mayor. "You ever wonder why vampires have so much trouble with the slayers? It's because they only ever think of the kill and the slayers are much better at that. No, subtlety is what we need. Tell me Mr Trick what would happen if you killed the watcher?"

"One less watcher," said Trick.

"Who would be replaced by another in a few days," said the mayor. "We'd be no better off and we'd have two very cranky slayers on our hands. No, there's a better way, a much better way."

"Kidnap, torture?" suggested Trick, "It's all good with me."

The mayor ignored Tricks comments and pulled out his wallet. He took a card from inside and gave it to Trick. "Get her," he said. "She owes me a favour. Oh and don't upset her, not unless you like croaking and eating flies."

The dream continued sometime later with the mayor, once again in his office, talking to an elderly woman dressed all in black. Her face was hard to see because of the veil that she was wearing. The mayor and the witch were seated across the desk from each other with Trick standing behind the woman.

"Thank you for coming my dear," said the mayor. "I think you'll enjoy this. It should be quite easy for someone of your talents."

"Who do you want killed?" asked the witch.

"Well, you're not going to like this," said the mayor smiling, "it's...nobody. But don't worry, I'm sure we'll find a reason to use those particular talents before long. No what I want you to do is cast a spell on this man. His name's Rupert Giles." The mayor put a photograph of Giles on the desk in front of the table. "Here's what you need to know about him." The mayor put a folder of papers on the desk beside the photograph.

"What sort of spell?" asked the witch.

"Oh, nothing too difficult," said the mayor. "I just want him to forget about this young lady." The mayor placed a photograph of Faith next to the photograph of Giles. "Her name's Faith. You'll find more details in the folder."

"You don't need me for something that simple," said the witch.

"You're right," said the mayor, "I don't. I don't want a simple forget spell. I want it to be 'out of sight, out of mind'. I'm happy for Mr Giles to remember the young lady when he meets her or when other people mention her, I just don't want him to think about her when she's not around."

The witch agreed to the mayor's strange requirements but pointed out that such a spell would have to be renewed from time to time. The mayor wasn't concerned about renewal however. "Hopefully the damage will be done by then," he said.

"You'll need this," said Trick who produced a shoe box full of items formerly belonging to Giles and handed it to the witch.

After showing the witch out of the office Trick turned back to the mayor.

"The damage?" asked Trick. "I don't think I'm seeing the whole picture but I get that you're trying to mess things up between the new slayer and the watcher."

"Oh more than that. I'm looking to mess things up between the two slayers," said the mayor.

"I don't know if you came from a large family Mr Trick," continued the mayor, "but I did. What do you think happens when one child is the favourite, gets all she wants, gets included in everything that goes on, has money to spend and so on? But at the same time the other gets forgotten about, feels left out, is left out, has to scrape by with no support and so on. With a bit of luck and a following wind we'll soon have the two slayers at each other's throats. They'll be more concerned with each other than in causing me any trouble."

Everybody sharing the dream was stunned by this revelation. Buffy had always known that to some extent she was Giles's favourite but was astonished to see how the mayor had been able to use this to manipulate them all without their knowledge.

Faith, for the first time in this reprise began to feel a little bit better. She remembered all about being left out and unwanted, about the meetings she hadn't been invited to and had never been able to reconcile this treatment from Giles with her other image of him as a good and caring watcher. Now things were starting to make sense.

Giles himself was shaken to the core. So many of his assumptions and beliefs about himself and his performance as a watcher had been placed in question by what had just been said.