Chapter Sixteen – Rule Three

The group moved forward. Faith and Buffy had the lead while Olivia and Janie held back.

Olivia took time to study the three other people with her. Buffy and Faith seemed calm, relaxed and ready for battle. Even from behind she could see how they moved. Heads moving, scanning the area around them. Their bodies moved a grace she had never really seen before.

Janie by contrast was tense, like she was about to explode. She could see the Slayer taking over. She recalled her conversation with Buffy the day before. The Slayer needed to hunt, to fight.

Olivia could see the entrance to the alcove just ahead of Buffy and Faith. The two women shared a look. Buffy then motioned for Olivia and Janie to stop and wait. Olivia stopped and moved closer to wall. She could see Janie fidgeting. Buffy stared at the girl for a second and Olivia saw Janie visibly calm a little.

Buffy turned back to Faith who shot forward again. She took up position at the far side of the entrance. Buffy took the other side. Both women were carrying stakes.

Suddenly Olivia was knocked out her contemplations when three men came out of the entrance. They all looked young, not very well dressed, and dirty. The man in the middle looked surprised to see the four women.

"Slayers!" he shouted. Olivia took a step back when all three of the men's faces changed. Ridgelines appeared on their foreheads and then the fangs. "Kill them!"

The three charged forward at near blinding speeds. Buffy moved faster. The lead vampire disappeared into dust. Buffy spun around so fast Olivia could barely follow her movements. The second vampire slammed headfirst into the wall and lay there.

The third vampire decided to exercise the better part of valor and turned to run. Buffy flicked her wrist and the stake caught him square in the back. He too burst into dust. By that point the second vampire had recovered enough to get up. He let out a yell and charged Buffy. She easily sidestepped the charge and plowed a solid kick into his stomach. He went down again. Buffy leaned down grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him against the wall. She pulled out another stake and the last vampire turned to dust.

It all happened so fast Olivia barely registered it.

Faith had disappeared into the alcove.

"You didn't leave any for me," Janie pouted.

"Stay with Olivia," Buffy said. "You're here to learn. How many vamps are around that corner?"

"Some," Janie replied, the fidgeting had returned.

"Stay put," Buffy said, she seemed to glimpse at something behind them. Olivia turned but didn't see anything. "I'm going to back up Faith."

"But…"

"Stay," Buffy said and she spun around and disappeared though the entrance.

Olivia looked at the girl. "Janie."

"We should go after them," Janie said.

"Buffy said to stay," Olivia said. Her heart was pumping. Seeing real live, well undead, vampires was a shock.

"We can watch," Janie began to move towards the entrance. Olivia reluctantly followed. She wasn't certain how she could have stopped her even it she tried. 'Boxing up a tornado' was how Xander described trying to control a Slayer. She could hear the sound of fighting.

They reached the entrance in time to see Faith dust one of the last three vamps in the room.

The other one who had been fighting Faith tried to make break for the exit. Janie cut her off. Olivia saw the smile on the girls face. The vampire tried to get around her but Janie was too fast. She pulled out a stake. The vampire lashed out with her foot and caught Janie in the stomach.

Olivia looked past the two and saw Buffy and Faith fighting the last vampire in the room. He seemed to be holding his own against the two older Slayers. Olivia could tell there was something different about this vampire. The others looked dulled. Like they were fighting on nothing more than instinct. This vampire radiated intelligence. Faith had said one of the vampires was old.

There was a loud whooshing sound as Janie finally dusted the vampire she had been fighting.

"Only one left," Janie said.

"Janie I told you to stay put," Buffy glimpsed back at the two.

"I can take him," Janie charged forward. She cut between Buffy and Faith and attacked the vampire. He easily blocked her first blow and sent her flying into the back wall. She bounced back up and came back at him.

Olivia was about to move forward when Faith grabbed her arm. She hadn't even seen the woman approach her.

"Let B handle this," Faith ordered.

"Janie's going to get herself killed," Olivia was watching the fight. Janie was barely holding her own against the vampire.

"Not today," Faith said. "Today she's learning."

"Learning?" Olivia was outraged.

"It's the only way to reach some the girls," Faith said. "It took Buffy putting me in coma and Angel beating the crap out of me while I was on a suicidal high before I recognized how I was letting the Slayer control me. And then three years in prison to get control back."

"But..."

"Just watch."

Olivia watched the fight. Janie was good. But was she fighting on nothing more than instinct. Relying on her speed and strength. The vampire was just as strong and fast she was. And he was clearly more experienced.

"Janie step back," Buffy said.

"He's mine," the girl panted.

"Foolish child," the vampire taunted. "I've lived for 400 hundred years."

"I'm stronger than you," Janie replied.

"It's not enough to just be strong Janie," Buffy said. "Think about what he is. Think about what he'll do if he gets away."

Janie charged in again. The two moved too fast for Olivia to follow the action. She saw the vampire block one of Janie's kicks. Then he lashed out and knocked her to the ground. Before he could strike another blow Buffy slammed into him. He hit the wall and staggered back to his feet. He let out a roar and charged Buffy.

This time the fight went against him. Olivia could see Buffy was in a whole different league from Janie. She blocked blows with ease. The vampire staggered under her attack.

Janie rose to her feet. "He's mine!" she yelled and charged back into the fray. Buffy stepped back.

This time Janie did better. Her opponent had been weakened by Buffy's assault. The two seemed evenly matched. But the vampire was still the more skilled.

"Janie…" Buffy started to speak.

"I don't need any help," Janie shot back. She took a blow that knocked her back to the center of the room.

"Why are you letting him do this to her?" Olivia demanded.

"She's a Slayer and it's the only way some of the girls learn," Faith said. "Look at her."

Olivia looked at the Janie. Her whole body was tense. She was about to charge back into the fight. Olivia could see the Slayer controlling her.

"She can't stop herself," Olivia observed.

"Not yet," Faith acknowledged. "And she doesn't realize it."

The vampire was standing with his back to the wall, like a cornered animal. And cornered animals are the most dangerous.

"Janie," Buffy said softly. "I want you to step back now. Let me and Faith deal with this."

"No," Janie said. "I can do this."

"No you can't," Buffy said.

"Let her come Slayer," the vampire said. "When I feast on her blood I will be strong enough to take even you."

"Not likely," Buffy replied.

"You were foolish to come with so few," the vampire answered back. Buffy just smiled at him.

He charged at Janie. She stood her ground and let him come. He again knocked her to the ground and again Buffy knocked him back before he had a chance to strike another blow.

"I said I don't need help!" Janie shouted getting to her feet. "I can take him alone."

"No you can't," Buffy replied. "You're fighting on instinct alone with just the Slayer. The Slayer's not enough against a vampire like this."

"I'm strong," Janie began moving back towards the vampire.

In the back of her mind heard Buffy's voice from the drive. Sometimes strength wasn't always enough. She flashed to Buffy training the girls the day she arrived.

"Janie," Olivia said. "You need to control it. Don't let the Slayer control you."

"I'm the Slayer," the girl answered. "The Slayer fights alone."

Olivia saw the vampire begin to rise off the ground again.

"You're not alone Janie," Olivia said. "And the Slayer's just a part of you. And I very much doubt it's the most important part."

The vampire moved forward slowly. Buffy watched it carefully. But Olivia kept her attention focused on Janie. The girl looked confused, like she was trying to sort through a complicated problem.

"She's right Janie," Faith said. "You're not alone. Rule three."

Janie nodded.

The vampire charged. This time she stepped aside and let Buffy move in first. As the vampire staggered back from Buffy's attack Janie spun in and attacked from his blind side. He managed to block her, but just barely. Buffy's wrist flicked and Olivia saw a stake fly out. Janie plucked it out of the air without looking. She plunged it into the vampire's heart and he burst into dust.

Janie collapsed to her knees and looked up at Buffy. "I could feel you. I knew where you were. How you would attack, where he would be vulnerable. Why didn't I feel you before? Why didn't I feel Faith?"

"The Slayer wasn't letting you," Buffy answered. "The Slayer was a lone hunter. But we're not. Rule three."

"Always know where your sisters are," Olivia spun when she heard the voices behind her. Three other women had entered the room. She recognized Mags and was certain she had seen the other two around the campus. She glimpsed at Faith.

Faith shrugged. "What? You thought we'd go vampire hunting without backup. We're crazy detective. Not stupid. At least not that stupid."

"This was a test?" Olivia was outraged.

"In a manner of speaking," Faith said. "Janie needed to see that the Slayer wasn't enough. We knew some vamps got away last night. So we trailed them. We had Mags' team shadowing us the whole time. We paused back there to give them time to block off the other end of the corridor. Come on. Let B and others take care of Janie," Faith led Olivia out of the alcove and back into the utility tunnel.

"That girl couldn't control herself," Olivia said. "And you let her come out here."

"Better here than sneaking out alone," Faith said. "That's what she was starting to do in New York. She tried to do it here a couple of times."

"Turning her into a Slayer made her lose control?" Olivia asked.

"In a way," Faith answered. "It's different for all of us. Janie was pretty bad. If we hadn't done something she would have kept trying to go out alone. Eventually she would have bumped into a vamp or demon like the one back there without any backup and gotten herself killed."

"But she doesn't have to be like this," Olivia shot back.

"There isn't a choice detective," Faith said. "Once a Slayer, always a Slayer. We all just have to learn to live with it. Side benefit is getting to be a really hot chic with superpowers."

"That's not true is it?" Olivia asked.

"What?"

"That's the big secret," Olivia said. "I figured it out. Dawn said it was coming back to the Slayer that hurt Buffy. She found a way out didn't she? She found a way not to be the Slayer. You have a way to change these girls back."

Olivia watched as Faith's expression changed to one of near shock. "Man did you guess that wrong," Faith shook her head. "I guess I could see where you might think that," she looked Olivia straight in the eye. "There's never been a retired Slayer detective. Never. There's only one way out of the gig for all us. What happened to B. You wouldn't wish that on anybody. I dreamed it once. What I dreamed was a pale shadow of what happened to her. I came within an inch of beating the crap out the X-man and Red after I woke up."

"What the hell happened?"

"B's story to tell," Faith said. "If she tells you, the world won't look quite the same afterwards. It hasn't for me."

"Why didn't you go after Xander and Willow?"

"B stopped me," Faith answered. "There's a service elevator up to street level just around the next corner. One of the Watchers will drive you back to campus. Don't bother asking he doesn't know the story. We've got to take care of Janie."

A/N – Sorry for the lengthy delay in updating this story. This chapter just didn't want to come together. A bunch of false starts and at least six re-writes later and in all honesty I'm still not entirely comfortable with the flow. But the rest of the story is sitting in the back of my head demanding to be written so I'm just going to plow past this point so I can move on.

Hopefully the next chapters will flow more easily.