A/N: This chapter was created at the behest of a fan who begged and begged. Goes to show ya, I'm easily bought. Praise me in review form and I'm far more likely to update. Praise in MSN or AOL form works just as well.

Disclaimer: The grand beginning of my story arcs. This takes place during the episode Phases, season 2 of Buffy. Well, there abouts at any rate. I've changed a few minor things which should be obvious as we go.

XXXXX

First days

"There."

"Why did you just turn on the tekcoder?"

"So I can use the footage later when you're not around and finish my training."

"Lift your wrist more, good, then shove. So, how's school?"

"It's okay, I guess. There's not much there that I don't already know, you know?"

"It's because you're a nerd."

"Derekthel!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"You don't sound sorry…"

"I am."

"Then stop laughing!"

"I can't! You should see the look on your face."

"…"

"What's wrong?"

"I… I joined the jelts."

"You what!"

"I'm old enough, and I'm already trained by one of the best."

"Does mom know about this?"

"…no…"

"I'm going to get Marakai to take you out then."

"Why?"

"You don't know how bad it is."

"It can't be that bad! You're always fine."

"You have no idea, little girl! If I can help it, you'll never have to wade through the blood of your friends, never have to kill your emotions so they don't make you weak when you're fighting, watching as your friends and lovers get cut open and they'd be fine if only you could get them back to the city but knowing you can't even try or thousands more will die the same way!"

"I'm… I didn't know."

"Just turn that thing off."

XXX

Mary looked despairingly at lump of plastic and metal that was once called a toaster. This technology was so primitive! It seemed to rely on controlled lightning of some sort. Either that, or a sophisticated set of magnets that cease to function when you hit them with a heavy stack of books, but if she had to guess, she'd figure it was controlled lightning. By the time people switched to magnets they had made books illegal.

"What's that, do you think?" Anna asked curiously.

Mary grimaced. Anna didn't seem to be anything but curious. "It's a trap designed to catch and kill tekcoders," she muttered flatly.

"Really?" Anna chirped. "Before they even had tekcoders? Amazing!"

Mary breathed in deeply and held it, counting to ten while Anna scribbled in her notebook. Surely she couldn't be that dense? One look at the earnest tongue slightly hanging out the corner of her mouth as she madly scratched notes in her book told Mary the answer. When the sound of the front door echoed into the room, Mary abandoned her work.

Walking into the main room, Mary saw something she'd never expected to see in her life. Angel and Spike were glaring at one another as though they wanted to kill each other. Derek had a bemused smile on his face as he slouched in the chair, so Mary dropped into the seat next to him and waited. It was Anna who asked the question, as always.

"What happened?"

"I found out what a back-stabbing wanker the poof is!" Spike exploded, gesticulating wildly.

Angel's eyes widened, a sign of intense emotion. "Me? What about you!"

Mary raised a questioning brow to Derek as the pair of ex-vampires argued loudly.

"Spike and I went out," he began to explain. "We went to a club - a place where they have music and a lot of other stuff," he answered Anna's question before she could form the words. "Spike saw a couple of demons, we killed them. Next thing I know, I'm sitting across from Buffy Summers, in between Willow and Xander."

"You met the most Holy Buffy Summers?" a sleepy Angie asked from the doorway. Derek shrugged with one shoulder and nodded. "Oh. My. Tel!" she screeched loudly, bouncing up and down excitedly. "What were they like?"

"Buffy was a little moody," he said bluntly. "Xander was cute though."

"You had your hand on her ass, Spike!" Angel's voice boomed.

"She's the one who put it there, you great bloody pillock!" Spike screamed back.

Angel's fist suddenly lashed out, catching Spike on the cheek. The smaller man fell back on his behind with a curse while Angel gasped and nursed his fist. Mary looked at Anna. She was writing furiously. She looked at Derek, who simply raised an eyebrow and grinned. She looked at Angie, whose face was a picture of horror.

"Screw this," Mary said into the now silent room. "I'm going to bed."

As she stomped up the stairs, she heard an inarticulate cry of rage and the sounds of a scuffle. She shook her head. This was too much to deal with right now.

XXX

Derek walked at the back of the odd procession. Angie skipped out in front, her virulently purple pants clashing horribly with her neon pink shirt and the fluorescent yellow rain jacket. Angie seemed to believe that, since colour was a common factor in this time's fashion, she would be the height of fashion by wearing the brightest coloured clothes she could find. Derek wasn't quite sure this was how it worked. From Spike's snickers, he was actually pretty sure it was the opposite.

Of course, Spike was the one who insisted on wearing four layers of mostly black clothing, including a heavy leather jacket, in the sweltering Californian heat. He looked distinctly annoyed, but that could have been Angel's presence.

Angel wore dark colours as well, but his clothes were of a finer weave than Spike's. If he had to guess, he'd suspect them of trying to outdo one another. Using a critical eye, Derek had to concede that both men looked very good. Spike's look was hard and immediate, a lot like his personality, and it would certainly draw the eye. Angel's look, on the other hand, was more understated, as though each piece of the outfit was specially picked to emphasise the tall man.

Derek had decided to play conservatively. He'd always thought he'd looked pretty good in uniform, so he wore clothes of comforting grey, beige and black. He'd considered the green shirt hanging in the closet, but that could be social death. Both ex-vampires had mentioned how cut-throat high schools in general were, and considering this one was on a Hellmouth Derek decided safe, neutral colours were better.

Anna had put on a pair of jeans and a sunny top - she seemed to favour the colours blue and yellow - and Derek thought she looked pretty good. He did suspect she'd look better if she didn't insist on the painfully orange pair of shoes. Of course, she had to wear those shoes because they matched her pencil. Anna was far too complex a person to consider switching pencils.

Mary had worn all black - combat boots to shirt - and would have cut an imposing figure if she had been wearing her usual expression. Of course, since neither Angel nor Spike trusted the other at the high school, Mary had been left to find her job on her own and Derek suspected that she'd be incredibly pissed off by the time she was finished being petrified.

The school loomed into view and Derek decided that Angel and Spike had spent long enough glaring at one another.

"Guys, we're here," he said, a shade louder than necessary.

"I'll walk Anna and Derek in," Angel said quickly. "Spike, you take Angie."

Spike's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I don't think so, mate. She's your 'sister'," he grated.

"I don't trust you to go in the high school," Angel shot back.

"Oh, and I'm supposed to trust you? You actually have seduced girls their age before!"

"One time!"

"More like five!"

"You know as well as I do that it wasn't my fault after the first time, so don't try and lay it on me. And it's not like you're blameless! Remember Carlotta, Spike?"

"Hey, guys," Derek interjected, stepping between the two men who had somehow ended up nose to nose. "I'm sure Anna and I will be able to find where we need to go on our own."

Angel and Spike stared at one another scathingly. Their thought processes were almost visible; so long as he's not going…

"Fine," they both snapped, and headed off in opposite directions leaving a very confused Angie behind.

XXX

Xander quietly approached Larry in the locker room. He just knew Larry was the werewolf that was killing people in town, and this was the best place to confront him about it, get him to seek help.

"Harris," Larry said, starting in surprise when he noticed the other boy. "Sheesh. Next time wear a bell."

"Why so jumpy, Larry?"

Larry sneered. "Geeks make me nervous."

Xander decided to give him the chance to confess. After all, he was a nice guy. "Is that really it or is there something you're hiding?"

"I could hide my fist in your face," Larry threatened, angrily waving a fist in the smaller boy's face.

"I know your secret, big guy," Xander said calmly. "I know what you've been doing at night."

A worried expression crossed the Jock's face. "You know, Harris, that nosey little nose of yours is going to get you into trouble someday... Like today."

Xander took a step back, hands in the air. "Hurting me isn't gonna make this go away. People are still gonna find out."

"Alright," Larry muttered desperately. "What do you want? Hush money? Is that what you're after?"

Xander shook his head sadly. Some people had trouble with the whole compassion bit. "I don't want anything! I just wanna help!"

"What, you think you have a cure?" the bigger boy asked bitterly.

"No, it's just…" Xander thought back to the time he was possessed by a hyena. "I know what you're going through because I've been there. That's why I know you should talk about it."

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say. I mean, you're nobody. I've got a reputation here."

Xander made an honest appeal. "Larry, please." He watched the Jock's stubborn expression waver. "Before someone else gets hurt."

Larry slumped. :Look, if this gets out, it's over for me. I mean, forget about playing football. They'll run me outta this town. I mean, come on!" He gestured to himself. "How are people going to look at me after they find out I'm gay? Oh, wow. I said it. And it felt... okay. I'm gay. I am gay," Larry repeated in a whisper.

"I heard you the first time," Xander breathed faintly.

"I can't believe it. It was almost easy. I never felt I could tell anyone. And then you, you of all people, you bring it outta me," Larry enthused, smiling warmly at Xander who felt panic encroaching on all sides.

"It probably would have slipped out even if I wasn't here," he muttered weakly.

"No, no, because knowing you went through the same thing, made it easier for me to admit it."

Slowly, the wheels turned. The penny dropped. A sinking feeling began in hi stomach. "The same thing…"

"It's ironic. I mean, all those times I beat the crap out of you, it musta been because I recognized something in you that I didn't want to believe about myself," Larry said strongly, his revelation obviously liberating him.

"Larry, no, I am not-" Xander said frantically, waving his hands back and forth.

"Of course, of course not," Larry said patronisingly. "Don't worry. I wouldn't do that to you. Your secret's safe with me."

As the Jock left the locker room, Xander felt a lot like he was hyperventilating. This… nothing good could possibly come of this.

XXX

Depressingly Primitive Recording of Past Events as They Probably Occurred
Annalisa Mevirium Telomire
Entry II-a

Dear reader,

The extent to which one must write to accurately record anything in this time is painfully large, so I will do a lot of summarising. I am well aware that my accuracy is greatly diminished by this, but I have finite time and resources.

Firstly, I shall recount the events of last night. Our fantastic yet poofish leader Angel seemed greatly maligned by the dashing yet obnoxious Spike. It seems that, in the process of establishing the current situation, both men have managed to offend the other to the point where they resorted to fisticuffs. Angel suffered bruising to the shins and Spike had a lot of damaged skin around his ribs which was all, he assured me later, the result of fighting seven demons bare-handed to save three young girls.

The following day brought us to Sunnydale High School. Much of the day passed in a flurry of information I have recorded elsewhere (The Ramblings of the Supposed Teacher, volumes 1-3) and it allowed me to see the Most Holy Buffy Summers, albeit from a great distance. Derek introduced me to a rather handsome individual who seemed to be the Great Xander. Derek assured me later that he was not usually that pale nor that uninteresting.

After school was finished, Derek and I spent an informative hour with the Revered Willow and her boyfriend Oz, Xander (who was still very much uninteresting) and Cordelia the Seer (who does not, in fact, seem to be a seer of any kind nor even the good and generous person of legend which serves to warn, gentle reader, one cannot always believe what one reads).

More shall be revealed later, as I currently feel the need to make use of the faculties. As nice as it is, I feel impelled to advise against drinking a gallon of chocolate milk one half hour before retiring for the evening.

Farewell, gentle reader, until I return.

XXXXX

A/N: Well, it's been a long time and I've finally updated this story. You'll have to bear with me, but I get carried away by an idea and it sticks and I can't think of much else. Getting this chapter out was a work of willpower. Still, I'm getting some time off in the nearish future and I'll use some of that to write. Next on my agenda, another Progeny chapter. Still, I'd like to see you REVIEW.