A/N Thanks for all the great reviews. To Mystiksnake, no the girl in boston isn't Faith but somebody else. You'll see why I put it like that later on in the series.
To Anthony1, I'm not sure if Angel is gonna come back or not. He might though.
And to eckles71, Marc DeHaan, djhardim, Drake the Archr, VladtheImpish, hattenjc, ender01161986, screaminheathen69, BAKAMAN, American Soldier, and Kuramalovergirl I'm glad you guys like the story.
Chapter 8
Teacher's Pet
A deep rumbling tore through the night sky, as heavy rain showered down from the heavens. The steady beats of the raindrops, as they landed on the ground, sounded like thousands of little drummers.
A dark figure let out a deep grunt of pain, as he slushed through the mud and held at his side breathing heavily. As the thunder rumbled and the lightning flashed, it was revealed to be a battered and bruised Xander who angrily looked over at his most hated enemy.
"Well, well, well the little hero thinks he can beat the big bad." Spike said with grin. "We'll just 'ave to see about that." he said as he vamped out and charged at him.
Waiting until he got close enough Xander kicked Spike, sending him tumbling to the mud. As he tried to kick Spike again, the crafty vampire caught his foot and pushed him back. Spike then overpowered Xander, pushing him to the ground and punching him repeatedly in the face.
Coming out of his daze Xander grabbed Spike's arm and kicked him away. Neither of them saw Selina, with a yellow raincoat on, watching them from behind a large trashcan. Xander went to punch Spike again, but this time, Spike grabbed his arm and twisted it around so that he could almost bite his neck.
Alarmed, Selina stood, knocking over the trash can she was hiding behind. Startled Spike, turned to see what happened. Xander seized the moment, and head-butted Spike, freeing himself from his grip. He then elbowed him, punched him, and finally knocked him down with a viscious kick. When he stood, Xander threw a stake he had ready, towards his heart. Seeing the projectile coming, Spike caught it between his palms only inches in front of his chest.
"The hero has some moves after all." Spike said impressed as he twirled the stake in his hands. "Too bad it wasn't enough." he said as he threw it past Xander's head. Turning, he was just in time to see the stake embed itself into Selina's throat. Instantly killing her, before she hit the ground. Looking back towards, Spike, he found that the vampire was gone, but his voice carried through the wind.
"I'm coming for you."
"Gahhh..." Xander yelled out, as he woke up from his nightmare and looked around the room he was in. Over twenty students, looked back at him and started laughing. But both Willow and Buffy looked over at him concerned.
"Mr. Wayne if my lecture on ants is boring you, perhaps you would like to teach this class." Dr. Gregory said as he glanced up at him.
"Sorry, sir." Xander said as he sat up straighter and gave the teacher his full attention. "It want happen again."
"See that it doesn't." Dr. Gregory said as he turned back to his presentation.
"Xander are you okay?" Willow asked as the class ended and they walked off into the hallway. Buffy walked up behind them, after she talked to the teacher. She found out that he was a kind old man, that really cared about his students and her future.
"I'm...I'm fine." he replied, still a little shakenly. "It was just another bad dream."
"Well do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really, it's...it's just something that I have to deal with."
"Oh, that reminds me, I tried to call you yesterday." Buffy interrupted. "You know to see if you would like to be my partner for our project in science class."
"Why me?" Xander asked as he looked back at her. "Willow is way smarter than I am."
"That's because Will's my project buddy." Jesse said as he turned the corner and slapped Xander lightly on the back. "I figure, if me and her team up I'm sure to get an A."
"Cool, it's..."
"One more thing." Buffy interrupted him again as they started walking towards the school cafeteria. "When I called your house, a little girl answered the phone. Who was she?"
"My little niece, Selina." Xander answered with a sad smile. He knew that it was just a dream but he had still failed her.
"No way. So does that mean that you have a brother or more importantly a sister?" Jesse asked.
'Not one that I want to mention.' Xander thought to himself. 'I hate my sister.' "I'll tell you guys about that later. Now come on let's go and get something to eat."
Dr. Gregory smiled to himself, as he watched Buffy leave his classroom. He loved getting the chance to challenge young minds and he knew that Buffy had a rare one. All she needed was someone to guide her and to bring out what he knew was in her. What he didn't know was that he would never get that chance.
While he concentrated on the ant slides, the closet door opened behind him and a large, green mantis claw wrapped around his neck. Startled, Dr. Gregory looked up behind him and screamed as he was ripped away from his chair. His glasses hit the floor and broke, and an instant later so did he.
Wayne Manor
The next day
morning
Selina's childish giggles filled Xander's ears as he opened the door to his house. With a smile on his face he walked into his living room and saw his father figure sitting on the floor, tickling Selina mercilessly.
"Alfred?" Xander asked surprised as he walked in the room.
"Who else would I be, Master Alexander?" Alfred asked as he stood to his feet and gave Xander a fatherly hug.
"What are you doing here?" Xander asked as he broke their embrace. "And is dad here?"
"I'm just here for a couple of days." Alfred informed him. "And no, Master Bruce isn't here."
"Uncle Alfred, why do you call uncle Alex, master?" Selina asked as she looked at the two curiously.
"I think it's time for you to get ready for school." Diana said as she picked Selina up, to avoid an ackward moment.
"Aww...mom." Selina whined. "You always make me miss the good stuff." she said as the two walked out of the room.
"She's a very charming little girl." Alfred said as he looked over at Xander. "So what, you're taking in strays now?"
"It's runs in the family." Xander replied with a shrug. "I'll tell you what's going on, on the way to school."
Sunnydale High
"Hey guys, I want you to meet somebody." Xander said happily as he approached Buffy and Willow, who were sitting at a table in the hallway. "This is a family friend of mine named Alfred. Alfred these are my friends Buffy and Willow." he properly introduced them.
"The both of you are more beautiful then, Alex mentioned." Alfred said as he kissed each girls hand in turn, like a proper gentlemen.
"So you think, I'm beautiful?" Buffy asked playfully, causing Xander to blush.
"Hey, you're british." Willow said, picking up his accent. "I wonder if you've ever met Giles?"
"Giles?" Alfred repeated with a frown. 'It can't be the same pillock.' he thought to himself.
"Hey, guys." Jesse said as he ran up to them out of breath. "Guess what I just heard in the office? No Dr. Gregory today. Ergo, those of us who blew off our science homework aren't as dumb as we look." (he was taking Dr. Gregory's class, a period before them.)
"What happened, is he sick?" Buffy asked concerned. He was the only teacher that she had, that believed in her.
"They didn't say anything about sick, something about missing." Jesse replied, scratching his head as if that act would help him to remember.
"He's missing?" Buffy asked fully concerned now. Whenever somebody turned up missing in Sunnydale, they would either never find their bodies or she would have to dust them.
"Well, let me think. Um, the cheerleaders were modeling their new short skirts, that kinda got... Yeah! Yeah, they said missing." he said hurriedly so they wouldn't think that he was a pervert.
Willow, Xander, and Buffy then exchanged a look.
"Is it a bad thing that he's not here?" Jesse asked confused. To him it was always a good thing when the teacher was absent. It meant that they would get a substitute.
"If something's wrong, yeah." Buffy said with a frown.
"He's one of the only teachers that doesn't think Buffy's a felon." Willow informed him.
"I'm sure you're all worrying for nothing." Alfred cut in. "He probably just took a day off."
"Yeah he's right." Jesse spoke up. "And who are you again?"
"Oh, sorry this is a family friend named... Wow." Xander said as he looked up and saw a breathtakingly beautiful brunette walking down the hall.
The group then looked up to see what was distracting him, and even Jesse and Alfred's mouth's dropped as they saw the woman. She then walked right up to Xander, who just stared at her.
"Could you help me?" the woman asked with a seductive flare.
"Uuuuuuhhhhhh... Yes." Xander replied with a squeak in his voice.
Willow and Buffy just gave each other amused looks.
"I'm looking for Science... 109."
"Oh! It's, um..." he stopped as he looked around himself, trying to remember the way. Not remembering he turned back to her and smiled. "I go there every day." he said causing the woman to chuckle and for him to look to the girls for help. "Oh, God, where is it?"
Willow and Buffy just shrug, just as Jesse took the woman by the arm.
"I...I can take you there." Jesse told her. "My names, Jesse by the way."
"It's nice to meet you Jesse, my name is Natalie." she said as she started to walk off. "It was a pleasure meeting you all." she said over her shoulder as the two turned down the hall.
"So much for the, Wayne charm." Alfred said as he put his hand on Xander's shoulder and smiled.
"Yeah, I go there every day." Buffy mimicked as they started to laugh.
"Laugh it up." Xander said with a pout. "And thanks for the help by the way."
"Ahh...stop being such a baby." Buffy told him with a smile. "Now come on let's check in with Giles."
As the four walked into the library, Alfred saw a man wearing tweed, putting away some books.
"Hey Giles." Buffy called out. And as the man turned around Alfred saw that it was his old enemy.
"Ripper." he muttered to himself as he ran up and punched Giles in the face. Before Buffy and the others could get to the two, Alfred was on top of Giles punching away at his fellow englishman's face.
"Alfred what the hell are you doing?" Xander asked as he pulled the older man away from Giles. He had never seen Alfred so angry, or for that matter knock somebody out.
"Giles are you okay?" Buffy asked as she helped him to his feet, while Willow retrieved his glasses and handed it to him.
"Bloody hell, why did you...Alfred?" Giles asked as he looked up.
Flashback
Birmingham, England
Many years before
A hospital room
"But, Father I don't want to become a butler." a young Alfred said as he held his father's hand and looked down upon him sadly. He had a terminally ill form of cancer and the doctor's feared that he wouldn't live for long. What was more heartbreaking was seeing how weak and tired his father looked. He had never looked like that before. He was always full of life.
"B...but you must, Alfred." his father begged weakly, as he coughed up blood. Spitting it out in his hankercheif, he continued. "It has been a...a Pennyworth family tradition as long as I can remember."
"But father..."
"No but's son." he replied as he squeezed Alfred's hand a little tighter. "I don't have long in this world son, but I can die happy knowing that you will carry on this tradition. P...please promise me."
"But..."
"Please...Alfred. Promise me."
"I promise." Alfred vowed as he lowered his head sadly.
"So what did your old man say?" Ripper Giles asked with a cigarrette bobbing out of his mouth, as Alfred walked out of his father's room. Even though Alfred was almost seven years older, he still wanted to join Giles' gang. 'Bloody stupid wanker.'
"He...he doesn't want me to leave the city." Alfred told him nervously. "He want's me to be a butler."
"A butler?" Ripper asked with raised eyebrows. "Did you hear that Ethan? His old man wants him to become a pancy ass butler?"
"I heard him mate." Ethan Rayne said as they both shared a hearty laugh.
"Listen, Al." Ripper said as he put an arm around Alfred's shoulder. "You have to stop letting people push you around. Take charge and be a man once in your life. Here." he said putting his cigarette in Alfred's hand. "I'll lead by example." he said as he stormed into Alfred's fathers room and closed the door.
After a few moments both Alfred and Ethan, heard Ripper's loud shouts coming from the other room. They were followed by some shouts from Alfred's father, that just abruptly stopped.
"Ethan, let's get out of here!" Ripper said nervously as he burst through the door with haunted eyes.
"But, I thought you were gonna give his father what for?" Ethan asked.
"Enough you ponce, let's go!" Giles roared. Retreiving his cig from Alfred, both he and Ethan left the hospital. Instantly figuring that something was wrong, Alfred walked into his father's room.
"Father?"
End Flashback
"When I walked into my father's room, I found him dead in his bed. All that shouting caused him to have a heart attack." Alfred finished telling the story, as he and the others sat around the library table.
"That's so sad." Willow said trying to keep from crying.
"Giles did you kill his father?" Buffy asked holding in tears of her own. She wasn't sure if she would ever trust Giles again. 'Especially if he's a murderer.'
"Of course not...I...I only argued with him and he passed out." Giles said as Jesse handed him a cold towel for his jaw. "I had no idea that the man was even that ill."
"Bloody liar." Alfred said as he was about to rise out of his seat, until Xander grabbed his shoulders. "I told Ethan to tell you that..."
"Ethan?" Giles asked. "That imbecile, he told me nothing of the sort."
Suddenly the school bell rang
"We have to get to class." Xander said as he stood to his feet. "Are you two gonna be okay alone?"
"Yes, Mas...Alex." Alfred said as he looked back at him. Xander made him swear not to call him master in front of his friends. "Me and Rupert just have some talking to do."
Later that day
Science class
Natalie was writing her name on the blackboard, just as Buffy, Willow and Xander walk into the room. Her foot hitting something as she entered, Buffy spotted Dr. Gregory's glasses on the floor and picked them up.
"What's wrong?" Willow asked as she noticed Buffy's far away look.
"Dr. Gregory dropped his glasses..." Buffy said coming out of her daze. "Why wouldn't he pick them up?" she said as she sat the glasses on the lab table and gave Natalie a glance as she
walked to her stool.
"My name is Natalie French, and I will be substituting for Dr. Gregory." the older woman said as she faced the class.
"Do you know when he's coming back?" Buffy asked, almost urgently.
"No, I don't, um,..." she stopped to check her roster. "Buffy. They just call and tell me where they want me."
"I'll tell you where I want you." one of the students muttered lowly.
"Excuse me, Blayne?" Natalie asked as she looked over at him.
"Uh, I was just wondering if you were gonna pick up where Dr. Gregory left off." Blayne said lamely.
"Yes." Natalie beamed. "His notes tell me you were right in the middle of insect life." she said picking up a mantis mounted in a clear plastic box. "The praying mantis is a fascinating creature. Forced to live alone. Who can tell me why? Buffy?" she asked as she put the mantis on her desk.
"Well, the words 'bug-ugly' kinda spring to mind." Buffy joked, causing some of the other students to snicker.
"There is nothing ugly about these unique creatures." Natalie said defensively. "The reason they live alone is because they're cannibals!"
"Eww!" Buffy said as she scrunched up her nose. The other students seemed to share her sentiment, with equal looks of disgust.
"Oh, well, it's hardly their fault!" the teacher continued. "It's the way nature designed them: noble, solitary and prolific. Over 1800 species worldwide, and in nearly all of them the female is larger and more aggressive than the male."
"Nothing wrong with an aggressive female." Blayne whispered to Buffy, with a wink.
Buffy just angled her head and gave him a look, as Natalie picked up her notebook and started to walk around the room.
"The California Mantis lays her eggs, and then finds a mate..." she stopped to look at Xander with a certain sparkle in her eye, that he just couldn't turn away from. Even Buffy noticed the look between the two, even though it only lasted a second. "...to fertilize them. Once he's played his part, she covers the eggs in a protective sack and attaches it to a leaf or twig out of danger. Now, if she's done her job correctly, in a few months she'll have several hundred offspring."
"You know, we should make some model egg sacks for the science fair." Natalie said as she made her way to the front of the class and put down her notebook. "Who would like to help me do that after school?" she asked as she scanned the room.
And as she planned all the boys in the room raised their hands.
"Good." Natalie said pleased, as she picked out who she wanted it to be.
Later that day
The Cafeteria
Jesse and Willow smiled at one of Xander's dumb jokes, just as Buffy went over to get some utensils. As she walked back towards her table, Cordelia came in through the exit and bumped into her.
"Excuse you!" Cordelia said rudely, as she walked behind the counter, showing a piece of paper to the cafeteria workers. "Medically prescribed lunch. My doctor ships it daily... I'll only be here as long as I can hold my breath."
With that said she opened the large cafeteria refrigerator and screamed when she saw a headless body, upside down inside of it. Buffy, Jesse, and Willow ran to see what was wrong, just as Cordelia backed away from the fridge.
"His head! His head! Oh, my God, where's his head!" Cordy yelled hysterically.
Buffy, Willow, Jesse, and Xander stared in disbelief. Jesse was close behind Buffy and had to look away when he saw the body. Even Willow looked a little squeamish. Buffy nearly cried as she read the name on the body's lab coat. It was "Dr. Gregory".
The Library
Giles poured Alfred a cup of tea and after pouring himself some, he sat down across from him at the library table.
"Sugar?" Giles asked as he held up a spoon.
"No thank you." Alfred said as he took a sip of tea.
"I...I wanted to say that I was sorry." Giles said lowly as he took a sip of tea to calm his nerves. "I honestly didn't know the condition of your father. Had I have known..."
"Had you have known, what?" Alfred interrupted. "You wouldn't have yelled at him?"
"Alfred I..."
"I understand, Ripper." Alfred interrupted his apology again. "My father was in poor health for quite some time. So instead of hanging around with you and the other rift-raft I should have been spending time with him. This was as much my fault as it was yours."
Suddenly the library doors swung open, with the force to knock them off their hinges, and Willow, Jesse, Xander, and Buffy barged in.
"Buffy, what on earth is the matter?" Giles asked as he saw that she had been crying.
"Trouble." was all Buffy managed to get out.
A few minutes of explaining later
"Here. Drink this." Giles said as he handed Buffy a glass of water.
"No, thank you." Buffy said as she idly took the glass and took a sip anyway.
"I've never seen..." Jesse started trying to get the image out of his head, as Giles looked over at him. "I mean, I've never seen anything like... That was new." he said shaken.
"Who would wanna hurt Dr. Gregory?" Willow asked as she took the glass of water from Buffy and took a sip.
"Uh, he didn't have any enemies on the staff that I'm aware of." Giles spoke up. "He was a civilized man. I liked him."
"So did I." Buffy said sadly.
"Well, we're gonna find out who did this." Willow said with ditermination as she looked up at Giles. "We'll find them and we'll stop them."
"Count on it." Buffy agreed.
"What do we know?" Giles asked.
"Oh, not a lot, um..." Buffy said as she sniffed and wiped a tear from her nose. "He
was killed here on campus. I'm guessing the last day we saw him."
"How do you work that out?" he asked.
"He didn't change his clothing."
As Jesse joined into the conversation, Alfred pulled Xander over to the side.
"I'm going back to your manor. Report back anything that we can use to start an investigation."
"Gotcha." Xander replied as he watched Alfred leave and turned back to Giles' conversation.
"I'm not certain he did." Giles continued with his lecture. "There was an incident two nights ago..." he stopped as he walked over to the counter, picked up a newspaper and returned with it. " ...uh, involving a homeless person in Weatherly Park. He was practically shredded, but, uh, nothing like Dr. Gregory."
"Fork Guy doesn't do heads?" Buffy asked as she looked at the paper.
"Not historically."
"And Dr. Gregory's blood wasn't drained."
"So there's something else out there? Besides Silverwareman?" Jesse asked. "Oh, this is fun, we're on Monster Island."
"We're on a Hellmouth. It's a center of mystical convergence. Guess it's the same thing." Buffy said as she sat on the edge of the library table.
"Well, unpleasant things do gravitate here, it's true, but, uh, we don't know there's anything besides this chap." Giles informed her. "He's still our likely suspect."
"Where was that guy killed?" Buffy asked thinking. "Weatherly Park?"
"Buffy." Giles said noticing a certain look in her eye. "I know you're upset, but, uh, this is no time to go hunting, not until we know more. Please promise me you won't do anything rash?"
"Cross my heart." Buffy lied. And for some reason Xander knew it and that's why he decided to stay close to her tonight. Not as himself, but as the Batman.
Batman clung to the shadows, as he silently followed Buffy. It still amazed him that she had supernatural powers and could track almost any kind of demon, but couldn't tell that an ordinary human was following her.
"I might as well go home." he heard Buffy mutter in frustration. As he was about to make sure she got home okay, he suddenly heard a rustling of trees. Turning, he was just able to avoid a lunge by a vampire with a fork for a hand.
"I guess you're the guy." Batman muttered to himself as the two squared off.
"By orders of the Master, you will die." the forked vampire said as he tried to pounce on Batman.
'God, can't these creeps come up with something more original?' Batman asked himself as he jumped backward.
He then slammed his straight arm into the vamps gut, then again into his back. The vamp swung again, but Batman dodged him, backhand punched him in the face, did a roundhouse kick to his jaw and backhand punched him in the face again. The vamp desperately took another swing at him, but he evaded it and he front kicked him. With a growl of frustration he lunged at the caped crusader again, only for him to grab his arm and flip him over onto his back.
"You said the Master is after me?" Batman asked as he loomed over the fallen vampire. "Why?"
"I want tell you anything." it replied as it did a fancy spinning move to get back to his feet and sprint away.
"Wrong choice." Batman said with a sigh, as he reached into his utility belt. As the vamp tried to climb over a chain linked fence, a batarang stabbed him through the back and he crumbled into dust. 'I'll just have to find out the hard way.'
With his job done for the night, Batman turned on his heel and melted into the darkness. If he had of stayed a second longer, he would have seen a beautiful brunette watching him.
"Interesting." Natalie French said to herself.
Science Class
The next day
"Keep your eyes straight ahead on your own test." Natalie said as she walked down the aisle and came up behind Xander. Making sure everyone was doing their pop quiz, she whispered into his ear.
"I think you meant 'pollination' for number fourteen." she said as she put her hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you here after school."
"Oh, great, a pop quiz." Buffy said as she looked through the door window. She couldn't believe that she was late again.
Natalie suddenly straightened up and Buffy witnessed as she turned her head around 180 degrees. Her eyes went wide with amazement and she quickly ran away from the window.
The Library
"No, I'm not saying she craned her neck." Buffy was saying to Willow as they walked into the room. "We are talking full-on Exorcist twist."
"Ouch."
"Which reminds me, where's Jesse? I haven't seen him since he was supposed to be helping Miss French last night."
"I'll call his mom." Willow said as she walked towards Giles office. "Oh hi, Alfred." she said noticing him coming out of the stacks with a book in his hands.
"Good, morning my dear."
"Any luck?" Buffy asked Giles as Alfred sat down in front of the PC to begin his own research.
"No, not yet."
"Try looking under things that can turn their heads all the way around." Buffy said to Alfred as she came up behind him and looked over his shoulder.
"Nothing human can do that." Giles commented.
"No, nothing human." Buffy said thinking. "But there are some insects that can. Whatever she is, I'm gonna be ready for her."
'A Preying Mantis can do that.' Alfred thought to himself. "I must return to the manor and check on a few things." Alfred said as he stood to his feet. "I'll check in shortly." he said before quickly leaving the room.
"I just called Jesse's mom." Willow said as she emerged out of Giles' office. "She said he never came home last night."
The science classroom.
"Hi." Xander said to Miss French as he walked into her room.
"Oh, Hi." she replied as she put down a container she was about to open. "I was just grabbing a snack. Can I fix you something?"
"No thanks, I never... eat when I'm making egg sacks." he joked as he saw the model, she was working on. "Wow, if this were real the bugs would be..."
"...as big as you." she finished for him.
"Yeah! So! Where do we start?"
"Oh, Xander! I've done something really stupid." she said as she stood to her feet. I hope you can forgive me."
"Oh, forgiveness is my middle name." he assured her. "Well, actually it's LaVelle, and I'd appreciate it if you guard that secret with your life." he said as they both chuckled.
"I have a teacher's conference in half an hour, and I left the paint and papier-mâché at home. I don't suppose you'd like to come to my place tonight to work on it there?"
"Come to, uh... your place?" he asked as he swallowed hard.
"7:30? Here's my address." she said as she wrote it down and handed it to him. "I'll see you tonight?"
"Yeah!" Xander replied in a high squeaky voice, as he walked out of the room.
Smiling in satisfaction and still starving Natalie opened the container and it was full of
crickets. She dumped them onto the buttered bread, folded the slice in half and took a loud crunchy bite.
Natalie's House
Later that night
Natalie poured two martinis and smiled to herself at her dazzling dress that showed lots of cleavage. Suddenly the doorbell rang and lowering her top a bit more, she walked over and opened it.
"Hi!" she said as she saw Xander. "Come on in."
'My God.' Xander thought to himself as he stared at her cleavage and walked in. 'Those things are as big as mountains.'
"Should I change?" she asked noticing his stare as she closed the door. "Is, is this too..."
"No, no, it's, the most beautiful chest... dress I've ever seen."
With a smile she went back into the living room, while Xander followed.
"Thank you. That's sweet. Martini?" she asked as she offered him one. "Oh, I'm sorry, would you like something else?" she said knowing that he would take it anyway to impress her. And as she thought Xander quickly accepted the drink.
"My dad let's me drink these all the time." Xander lied.
"I just need to relax a little, I'm kinda nervous around you." she said with a laugh, as she sat down. "You're probably cool as a cucumber!"
"I like cucumbers. Like in that Greek salad thing with the yogurt. Do you like Greek food? I'm exempting Schwarma, of course, I mean, what's that all about? It's a big meat hive."
'Oh God, just let me be quiet and play it cool.' he thought to himself.
They laughed, him nervously, her playfully. Xander then gulped some of the martini.
"Hhhhhhho! Hello!" he said as the alcohol hit.
"Cheers!" Natalie said as she clinked their glasses. 'It want be long now.' "Can I ask you a personal question?" she asked as she put her glass down and got a little closer to Xander. "Have you ever been with a woman before?"
"You mean, like, in, uh, the same room?" he asked feeling a little woozy.
"You know what I mean."
"Oh, that, uh... Well, let me think. Um..." he stopped as she ran her fingers through his hair and around his ear. "Yeah, I'm a Wayne so there was, uh... several. I mean, and, uh, quite a few times... And then there was, uh... Oh, she was incredibly... No. Uh-uh."
"I know. I can tell." Natalie said as she kissed him on the cheek.
"You can?" Xander asked.
"Oh, I like it. You might say, I... need it."
"Oh! Well, needs should, uh, y'know... Needs should definitely be met, as long as it doesn't require ointments the next day, or..." he stopped talking as he heard muffled yelling from somewhere in the house. "Do you hear..."
"No..." she said quickly.
"Sounds like someone crying..." he said straining to hear. 'Something strange is going on here.'
"I don't hear anything." she said as she took his hand. "Your hands are so hot!" she said noticing that the drink was beginning to affect him, because he started to lean back heavier on the couch.
"Wow! So that's a martini, huh?"
"Mm-hmm." she said simply as she took the glass away from him.
"Do you hear..."
"Would you like to touch me with those hands?" she interrupted.
"Your hands are sss... really... serrated." he said as her hands started to morph. "Oh, wow, that martini, I... I really think I have to..." and that was the last thing he was able to say as he fell to the floor unconscious. Morphing all the way she started to drag him away by his feet.
Wayne Manor
"Got it. Coroner's report, complete with... ewww ...color pictures." Diana said as she typed into her computer.
"As you can see there are teeth marks." Alfred said as he pointed at the picture. "Which match perfectly with the one insect that nips off its prey's head."
"Okay, I-I don't like this." Diana said as she looked back at him.
"It's the way they feed, head first. It's also the way they mate. The female bites off the male's head while they're..."
"Wait didn't you say that Xander was going to her house?"
"Bloody hell." Alfred said angrily. "I completely forgot to tell that boy, to stir clear of her."
"We shouldn't have to worry about him, to much do we?" Diana asked. "It says here that the She-Mantis demons only want to mate with virgins. And from what I know about Xander, he can't be a virgin, right?" she said as they shared a look.
"I'm going to check his coat for her address." Alfred said as he started to walk out of the room. "Record a tape of a bat shrieking and if I find her address use the voice analyzer to disguise your voice and call Rupert."
Natalie's basement.
Xander finally woke up from the drug Natalie slipped into his drink, backed up in his cage and was surprised to see Jesse when he reached the far corner.
"Jesse?"
"Oh, God! Oh, God!" Jesse said terrified as he curled up into a ball.
"Are you all right?"
"Oh, God!" Jesse said letting out a breathe. "You gotta get me outta here! You gotta!
She, she, she gets you, and, uh..."
"What?"
" ...she, she..."
"What does she do?"
"Oh, God! Oh, oh, no!"
"Jesse!" Xander yelled out. "What does she do?" he asked again.
"She, she... she, she takes you outta the cage, and she ties you up, and, and... she... she starts movin', and throbbin', and these eggs come shootin' out of her! And then..."
"What?"
"And then..." Jesse let out a little whimper.
"Then what?" Xander asked fearfully.
"She mates with you!" Jesse finished his sentence. He knew first hand what went on, because he saw what happened to Blayne, when he had arrived.
"Sheeee..."
"That's not the worst part!" Jesse interrupted.
"That's not?"
"You seen her teeth?" Jesse asked. "Right while she's, you know, right in the middle of... I saw her do it! I don't wanna die like that!"
"Jesse! Jesse! Chill! It's okay. It's gonna be okay. We'll get outta this." Xander said trying to calm down his friend.
"You gotta plan?" Jesse asked hopefully. "What is it?"
"Just, uh, let me perfect it!"
"Oh, God... Oh, God... Oh, God..." Jesse said as he lost that hope and started to rock back and forth.
"Hello." Willow said into Giles' ringing phone. "What...who are you? No she isn't here she's... but okay, I'll tell Giles." she said as she hung up the phone.
"Who was that?" Giles asked as he appeared out of the stacks, with a book. Willow had found an address for Miss French andGiles had sentBuffy there to destroy her.
"I don't know, but whoever it was said that we were heading in the wrong direction."
"What?" Giles asked as he put down his book.
"They gave me the real address for Miss French, she's a She-Mantis, we should record some bat-sonar, and that it has Xander."
"Who has Xander?" Buffy asked as she walked into the room.
"Uh Miss French. Whomever was speaking to Willow on the phone called her a She-Mantis. This type of creature, the Kleptes-Virgo, or, or virgin-thief, appears in, in many cultures. The Greek sirens, the Celtic sea maidens, who, who tore the living flesh from the bones of, um..."
"Giles, while we're young!" Buffy cut in.
"Uh, well, basically the, uh, the She-Mantis assumes the form of a beautiful woman and then lures innocent virgins back to her nest."
"But why would she want, Xander?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, you're right." Buffy said thinking. "That would mean that he's still a ..."
"But all those girls he's been with..."
"He's never had sex with them." Buffy said, for some reason a little relieved.
"That's very fascinating." Giles said with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh right, I have to do the whole super hero thing." Buffy said as she got the address from Willow, went to the weapons cabinet, and then took off into a run.
"I'll be there shortly with the tape." Giles called after her. "And please Buffy be careful and don't do anything rash." then he thought about his own words as he looked at Willow. "I had better finish that tape quickly." he said aloud as he moved over to his desk.
"Damn, they said Buffy wasn't there." Diana said to Alfred as he walked up behind her.
"I fear if we don't get to him in time, that he'll perish." Alfred said as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Get dressed."
"What?" she asked giving him a look.
"Wear something all black and grab one of Master Alex's leather long coats." Alfred told her.
"But..."
"Please, if we don't get to him in time, he's done for." Alfred said as he gave her a sad look. "Don't worry, I'll watch over Selina. Now go!"
After running upstairs to get something and hitting two notes on the grand piano in the living room, Diana went into the Batcave and quickly got dressed. As she emerged five minutes later from the secret room, she quickly ran into the main room of the Batcave and back to Alfred.
"How do I look?" she asked as she turned around. She was wearing a skin tight form fitting all black catsuit(from her time as a prostitute), black dock martin boots, Xander's leather long coat that was a just the right size, the utility belt from the Batman costume that was too big but sat on an angle on her hip, and a black almost Zorro type of mask from a halloween costume from Selina.
"Splendid, now here's the tape." Alfred said as he handed it to her. "I assume you know how to drive the Tumbler so just take it and please be careful."
With that she jumped into the Tumbler, made the jump from the cave entrance, that was hidden behind a waterfall, and sped off into the night.
"And bring Alex home safe." he muttered to himself as he sat down in his chair heavily.
Natalie's basement
"Don't do anything to make her mad." Jesse warned Xander, as his friend pulled a bar off of his cage.
"Hey, alright, now I can get outta my cage." Jesse said brightly, until he saw where it led. "Into yours. What'd you do that for?"
"A weapon." Xander said as he spun the bar around as if it were a ninja bo.
"I think you're gonna need it." Jesse said with a gulp as he saw Natalie beast coming.
Following his line of vision Xander saw a giant Preying Mantis walking down the stairs. With wide eyes he dropped the bar he was holding and took a step back.
"Oh, God." Jesse said as he went through the hole into Xander's cage. "Uh, he did that, he broke the cage, take him, not me, take him."
'So much for friendship and nobility.' Xander thought to himself. "What's she doing?" he said as she started to look back and forth between them.
"I think it's eeny, meeny, miney..."
"Moe?" Xander finished for him as she opened the door to the cage. With a heavy sigh Xander crawled out on his butt, bar in hand.
"I'm comin', I'm comin'." he said and with a lightning quick move he swung the bar and hit Natalie as he got up. Staggering back from the attack, he was just about to hit her again, when she raised her claw, caught the bar, and used it to hit Xander hard over the head. The force of the blow sent him into a world of darkness.
Before Natalie could reach down and a pick him up, Buffy suddenly smashed through the basement window and slid in, pulling her bag as she did so.
"Let him go!" Buffy yelled as she ran down the stairs and sat the bag down, pulled two cans of insect spray from the bag and sprayed Natalie in the face. Seeing that the insecticide was hurting her, Buffy dropped the can's and raised up her machete, only for Natalie to knock it away with a taloned hand.
Knocking Buffy to the ground, Natalie stood over her about to deliver a final blow, until out of nowhere the basement door exploded off of it's hinges. As the dust started to settle, both Natalie and Buffy looked up only to see a woman wearing a mask and dressed all in black, stepping through the entrance.
"Mind if I join the party?" the lady asked as she looked around the room and saw Xander's crumbled body. "Xander." she muttered to herself as she ran down the stairs.
Using the masked woman's appearance as a distraction, Buffy turned her attention back on Natalie and did a flip to get back to her feet. Natalie tried to cut Buffy's legs off, but she jumped over her claw, just as Jesse came up next to her with a can of bug spray and sprayed it into Natalie's face. Buffy pushed him away from danger, and Natalie took the opportunity to knock her down. Buffy raised herself onto her hands and one leg, and with the other did two crouching side kicks to Natalie's legs to keep her at bay.
"Xander, are you okay?" Diana asked as she finally made it over to him and put his head in her lap.
"Di...Diana?" Xander asked as he opened his eyes and looked at her. "What are you...what's going on?"
"Alfred sent me." she informed him as he sat up. "He said he wanted me to make sure that you were safe."
Looking back they saw Buffy kick the giant She-mantis again. And seeing the machete on the floor she jumped over and grabbed it.
"Almost forgot." Diana said as she reached into her duster pocket and pulled out a tape recorder. Standing to her feet, she played the tape and a horrible whining sound filled the air. The sounds of bat sonar severely hurt and disoriented Natalie, causing her to shriek and flail her claws around.
"Bat sonar." Buffy said as twirled the machete in her hand. "Makes your whole nervous system go to Hell. You can go there with it." with that said she started to slash at Natalie fiercely and repeatedly with the machete, hacking her to pieces. As she finished, she dropped the machette slightly winded from the fight.
"It looks like my job is done for tonight." Diana said as she walked up next to Buffy and stared down at the dismembered insect body.
"Wait, who are you?" Buffy asked as she grabbed the masked woman's arm. 'I'm so getting tired of masked freaks getting in my business.' she thought to herself.
"The names...Batwoman." Diana said as she knee'd Buffy in the stomach and threw a gas bomb, from her utility belt, to the floor.
As Buffy looked up through the haze of smoke, she saw Batwoman running up the stairs, with her duster billowing dramatically behind her. As she was about to persue her, Xander grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Just let her be, Buffy." Xander said with a cough from all the gas. "Let's just go home."
Wayne Manor
Later that night
"I'm sorry again for what I said back in that basement." Jesse apologized. "I was just so scared and I didn't want her doing anything to me."
"It's cool man." Xander said as the two shook hands. "Now you better get home, I bet your mom is worried sick about you."
"I'll drive you there." Alfred spoke up with luggage in his hands as he and Diana appeared from the other room. "Just wait for me in the jag." he said as he tossed Jesse the car keys. With a squeal of happiness, Jesse ran for the door. "And don't touch anything!" Alfred yelled after him.
"You're leaving already?" Xander asked, sadly.
"Yes my boy." Alfred said as he put his hands on Xander's shoulders. "Your father seems to get in alot of trouble when I'm not around."
"I just called Giles and told him what was going on." Buffy said as she walked into the room and saw Diana. "Hey don't I know you?"
"Um...I'm Xander's personnal assistant, Diana." Diana said as she held her hand out for Buffy to shake.
"So the little girl I spoke to earlier was your daughter?" Buffy asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. For some reason she didn't like Diana. She couldn't figure out if it was because she knew her from somewhere before or that she was totally hot and living with Xander. 'Wait where did that thought come from?' Buffy asked herself.
"Yes, that's Selina my eight year old."
"Hey, maybe she and my sister can be friends." Buffy said coming out of suspicious mode. "We just moved here recently and the only person she's met is a girl called Janice."
"Miss Summers." Alfred said before Diana could answer. "It's getting rather late and it would be an honor for me to escort you home."
"Oh man it's almost mid-night my mom's gonna kill me." Buffy said as she ran to the door. "I'll see you later Xander...Diana."
"That reminds me." Alfred said as he saw Buffy run outside. "Master Bruce told me to tell you, to be expecting your punishment by the end of the year."
"Punishment?" Xander asked with raised eyebrows. "Punishment for what?"
"For almost getting him exposed as the Batman." Alfred told him as he walked to the door.
"Wait at least give me a hint, about what my punishment is gonna be." Xander said. He had thought that his father had forgiven him for that.
"Let's just say, be expecting some company." Alfred said with a smile. "Goodbye, Master Alexander." he said as he walked out of the door.
"Like today couldn't get any worse." Xander said as he sat down on his living room couch. Now he had to worry about getting a punishment from his father.
"Hey at least you're still alive." Diana replied as she sat down next to him.
"Thanks to you." Xander said with his patented lopsided grin. "You looked great by the way. Any chance Batwoman will reprise her role as my sidekick?"
"Oh... no. I'm not putting that outfit on again. I'll leave the crime fighting to you." she informed him. "Wait, what do you mean sidekick?" she asked as she hit him across the head with a pillow as he chuckled.
"I am worried about one thing though." Xander said getting serious for a moment. "Why is the Master after me?"
The Master's Cave
Sametime
"It would have been nice to have recieved some help from my ally." The Master said as he sat down heavily on his throne like chair. That last assassin that he had sent against Batman, was one of the best. But even he failed.
"Actually I've been thinking of a way to get rid of the Bat and the Slayer." the Mayor said as he took a plastic baggy, with a bloody playing card in it, out of his pocket. "I've contacted a few friends of mine and we're gonna have a little benefit party in LA. This man will be our guest of honor." he said as he handed the baggy over to the Master.
The Master could only smile, as he flipped the playing card over only to find it to be a bloody Joker card.
A/N I originally planned for Alfred to have a daughter and for Giles to have killed her somehow in the flashback instead of Alfred's father. Also the Joker will be in the next chapter.
And to anybody that was wondering, I'm thinking about doing a sequel to my story The End of the Knight. I hate doing sequels but I got a lot of emails and reviews saying that they hated the ending. Like I said I'm still thinking about making a new story, or at least an alternate ending.
TBC...
Please Review...