Title: CONSEQUENCES

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own them (regrettably so). Buffy and Angel belong to Joss Whedon, the WB, UPN, and Mutant Enemy etc. Rurouni Kenshin (RK as it's known among anime fans) belongs to Watsuki Nubuhiro, Sony pictures etc.

Rating: R (for now)

Spoilers: up till "Damage" in Angel. Also, Anya didn't die at the end of "Chosen" in Buffy.

CH#4: First Contact!

Sometimes you feel as if you're just wasting your time & shooting blanks…. in the dark. That was the feeling that Wesley was having. He couldn't believe Angel. For a 200+ Vamp who had seen it all & who was a master, Angel sure could act like a schoolboy. Wes wasn't sure exactly how Angel expected them to find these 'Hitokiris' that Cordelia had seen (or more accurately felt) in her vision. Cordelia…. thinking of her made Wes feel like he hadn't felt in a very long time: complete, safe, whole; in a word she was family. She was the sister he'd never had. She had always been the heart of the group. Having Cordelia back gave him hope. He couldn't believe that he'd forgotten her smile. Wesley loved her. Just not like he loved Fred.  Yes, Wesley was in Love with Fred. The way she moved, the way she rolled her eyes, that twinkle that always appeared in her eyes when she was solving some problem. She was so…

"Shit!"

If you were to ask Wes, what was the one word that he would never associate with Fred, it was the word that Gunn had just uttered. Clearing his mind, He looked at his partner, "what is it?" suddenly alert.

Gunn looked at him & grumbled, "Nothin' man…. It's just…. Angel's NUTS! How does he expect us to find some Killer who's… what was that word Cordy used? Oh yeah…. Shadow Assassin? I mean didn't Spike say that these guys were supposed to be invincible, untouchable & what not? What are they gonna wear some sign round their necks sayin' 'I'm a killer who brutally murders young slayers'?"

Wes looked at Gunn, "Well…. I believe he DIDN'T exactly say that. All Spike said was that these people were real pros. But I agree with you on Angel… He's NUTS!"


Gunn muttered something under his breath, which, to Wesley's ears, sounded suspiciously like some of those words you'd never use in a church. Fishing his little pocket diary out of the pocket of his long coat, he said, " I mean look at this. We've checked out 12 of these addresses so far & not one of them has any person living there. That means either of two things: one, the Watcher's council is a bunch of amateurs & two, the occupants are either all dead or gone out."

Wes smiled grimly, "oh believe me Gunn, the watcher's council are anything BUT amateur. I would go with your second guess. They're all dead. How many still to go?"


Gunn checked his diary, "8 more. Damn… I have to prepare for a case. Why couldn't Angel move HIS sorry ass or tell Spike to check these addresses?"

Wes looked at his friend, amused, "I believe that would be because he's the Boss. Besides have you forgotten what that idiot Andrew said to Angel? 'Buffy don't trust you now. None of us do' & if I know Angel he's probably brooded himself into the next century. The things that man would do for Ms. Summers …."

"Buffy? You mean the Slayer, right? Angel's still hung up on her? Oh man…. The guy needs to get laid. & I mean NOW." Gunn exclaimed, exasperated. "Wait… weren't he & Cordy…" not finishing the sentence he trailed off.

"Angel & Cordy?" Wes asked, amused " no Charles, he may have fooled himself for some months, greatly influenced by some people who shall remain nameless, but he never loved Cordy like that. If he had he would've done something instead of waiting for her to wake up. No Gunn, Angel has & will always, in my opinion, love Buffy Summers."

"What makes u so sure of that? I mean Angel got the best treatment he could for Cordy." Gunn argued.

"Because He didn't trade his life for hers. If it had been Buffy Summers, I'm quite positive he would've moved heaven & earth for her. My god, have u forgotten how he was after Buffy died?" Wes inquired.

Gunn would've liked to argue his point further but his reply was cut off by a shrill scream.

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Riana Gilchrist was & always had been, a deeply confident person. Even before she became a slayer, the people who knew her would've described her as quite, calculating but above all Confident. She was the type of girl who was every watcher's dream: hard working, alert, quite & above all a slayer with a personality, a spine. She was not a girl who was easily intimidated. Therefore, if anyone were to see her on this particular night, they would've hardly recognized her.

Riana had decided that she would patrol Avarice, the warehouse area, that night. It was around 9:30 in the night & she had already had a good enough hunt. She'd dusted 2 vamps & killed a particularly nasty looking demon with a long snout. She was thinking of calling it a night when she felt someone following her. She pretended as if she'd felt nothing & tried to bring the guy out into the open. After sometime she felt that she'd lost the guy tailing her. She turned into an alley & was halfway through to the other side when….

"Slayer! I have come to deliver Heaven's Justice. Proceed to Heaven!" It was a scrawny looking boy, not more than 18; he was dressed entirely in black & looked part of the night. He was wielding a katana & was staring at Riana coldly. At first, Riana thought that he was another vamp with a taste for drama.

"What is this? I mean… you vamps are the most dramatically challenged creatures in the world. What was that supposed to do? Scare me?" She turned to face him & took a fighting stance.

The boy smirked coldly & attacked. Despite being a slayer, Riana was caught off guard with his speed & the viciousness of the attack. She barely avoided the slash aimed at her left shoulder. The boy leaped into the air & while coming down, aimed a stab at her head. Riana dodged the attack & then landed a lethal kick to the head of her opponent. The boy flew backwards but gathered himself quickly & leapt in the air. What surprised Riana was that when he leapt, his feet weren't even touching the ground. The boy flew over her head, did a somersault & then quickly slashed at her back. Riana felt as if something colder than ice & hotter than fire had just touched her skin. She couldn't hold back the scream that erupted from her throat.

The boy's eyes glinted coldly as he again rushed her. Riana dodged his attack & stepping in, landed a solid punch to his chest. The boy staggered backwards but gathered himself & stood up. Riana looked at him warily. She knew that the punch would have floored most vampires yet the boy was still standing. She was also aware of her blood, dripping on the ground. She took out the dagger that she usually kept for demons & took stance. The boy gathered himself in a stance & then charged her with astonishing speed. This time though, Riana was ready & she jumped in the air & landed a kick to the forehead of the boy. The boy grunted in pain & landed on his back. Riana, sensing her chance, moved in for the finish when he suddenly catapulted of the ground & stabbed his katana in her right shoulder. The scream that erupted from Riana's throat was full of agony as he twisted his sword in her shoulder & then kicked her under the jaw causing Riana to fly back & hit the side of a dumpster with a bang. This caused the sword to be ripped out from her shoulder, damaging it further.

Just as the boy was about to finish her off, he sensed something & turning suddenly, blocked the arrow headed towards his neck with the flat of his blade. Wes took aim again & fired another arrow with his old crossbow. The boy dodged the projectile with ease & rushed Wes. Meanwhile Gunn moved past him & got in between the girl & the boy. The boy halted in mid attack & took note of the situation. Wes & Gunn eyed the guy wearily.

"A single white boy hitting a poor defenseless girl. What's the world coming to these days?" Gunn said.

The boy snarled & attacked Gunn. He let lose a series of wild attacks at Gunn. Gunn barely evaded them with his Axe. Wesley, sensing that Gunn wouldn't be able to hold the attacker back, shot another arrow at him. Evading the arrow, the boy leapt into the air & landed on the railing of the fire escape above. He then leapt towards Riana & attacked her with a downward slash. Riana, who had by this time regained consciousness, dove out of the way.

The boy would've attacked her but Wesley sensing the desperation of the situation, decided to bring out the heavy artillery, in this case, his gun. He shot four bullets at the boy in quick succession. The boy avoided the first one, deflected the next two by using the flats of his blades but got the fourth in his thigh.


He staggered a little bit and snarled, and then heedless of his injury leapt into the air, above Wes' head, & towards the mouth of the alley. It was clear that he had altered his priorities for the time being. As he was nearing the end of the alley, two police cars pulled into the alley & four policemen got out of the cars. Gunn couldn't believe his eyes as the boy cut 'em up like vegetable. He then looked at Gunn, Wes and Riana & said, " You're doing the wrong thing. You can't stop me. We WILL restore the balance!"

He then leaped over the top of the building & was gone before the final words had even reached their ears.

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