See Part 1 for Disclaimer and other details. Thanks again to all those who have reviewed! Keeps awriter motivated...

Part IV: When Bad Girls Go Good

Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. February, 1999

Xander was on a terminal within the computer lab, frowning. Up until last week, the young man had been busy; not only taking out Jack O'Toole and his zombie gang, but also trying to put to good use all the knowledge he had gleaned from the instincts and memories of Bourne, Delta and Cain.

Back in the late 1970's, of course, the intelligence business had been focused on human assets; computers had basically been in their infancy, even though the first PCs had already started to come out. But Harris knew that that was then, and this was now; and he was also smart enough to have realized how knowledge of the cyber-world could help him in his work.

So to kill two birds with one stone, he'd decided to ask Willow to help him; not only because of all the tricks she knew, but also to try to rebuild their friendship to some semblance of what it had been.

He started typing again. And not far away in the library, Giles and Faith were training with swords, both Slayers having gotten over their issues with the ex-Watcher in the three weeks since Buffy's birthday.

The English librarian had determined that Faith's training in this particular mode of combat was woefully inadequate, and so he and Xander had become determined to redress that as soon as possible. Thus, to that end, man and girl were currently hacking away at each other with their practice blades.

"No, no, Faith – you need to keep your guard up, and watch your feet! A sword fight is all about balance, and-and self-control. Now, let's try it again. Cut, block, slash, thrust, parry..." Giles admonished the Slayer.

Faith winced, as they prepared to go again. "I suck at this, don't I, G?"

"Hardly," Rupert said, as Faith executed the routine. Then when it was over, he added, "Against a relatively unskilled opponent, I'd say you would have no trouble taking them down. However, there are relatively few amateur swordsmen in this day and age, and any enemy using this sort of weapon is almost certain to be an expert with it. Thus, you need to practice as much as possible; not only with a sword, but all other bladed weapons as well. In fact, you should ask Buffy what it was like when she had to fight against Angelus this way last year..."

Faith noticed the almost-invisible twitch above the British guy's right eye when he mentioned the Acathla incident, and made a mental note to speak to Xander about it. ( Betcha he could tell me some stories... )

But at that moment, Cordelia Chase came in and spied both her and Giles. "Don't let me interrupt – no, wait, on second thought, forget that. Giles, I need a book!" she demanded.

The librarian stopped sparring with Faith and put the sword on the table, as he sighed and went over to the brunette. "What exactly did you need?"

"Psych class next week, that textbook on Freud and Jung?"

While Rupert went off to the shelves to see what he could find, Faith leered at Cordelia. "Heard that Scott Hope guy's been trying to spread rumors about you again. What is it about your ex's, I wonder?"

Cordelia just sent her an ice-cold stare as she waited for Giles to come back, not deigning to say anything. Suddenly though Faith decided to take action, and ignoring Cordy's protests dragged her off into the stacks.

"Come on, Queen C. Let's settle this, once and for all-"

"Is that a challenge to throw down? Oh yeah, like that's gonna be fun for me, what with your unfair Slayer advantage!" Cordy snapped.

Faith tried to keep a tight rein on her admittedly short temper. "You have been ridin' my ass for nearly three months, and I've had enough – okay? Thing is – I figured out why you've been doin' it too, a long time ago. So come on, Cordelia. I know what you wanna ask me, it's been burning a hole in your gut long enough. Hell, I even swear to tell ya the truth, the whole and nothing but! So ask away..."

Ms. Chase suddenly felt nervous, not having expected this. So Cordy just stammered out, "Okay, then. Are...are you now, or have you ever been, having sex with Xander?"

"No."

The single one-word reply shocked the cheerleader. "Wha...that's it? Just, no? Come on, you gotta give me more than that! You've been living with the big jerk for months – and not ONCE did anything happen?"

Faith blew out an exasperated breath of air, suddenly regretting her decision to be so confrontational about this. "All right, look. If I tell you what you wanna hear – it's gotta stay strictly between us, okay? X has been buggin' me to start trusting you guys more, so...for him, I'm willing to give it a shot..."

Cordelia stared her right in the eye. "I give you my word. Anything you tell me about Xander remains confidential."

A sigh. "Okay, then...last month, on Buffy's birthday. We were at that boarding-house, ya know, and tag-teamed that bloodsucker together? Got me all worked up, and after we went home...I show up in his bedroom, wearing nothin' but my birthday suit..."

"So, what happened?" Cordelia asked, her heart sinking in horror.

"Well, he knew what I wanted, that was pretty obvious. But that night, the guy just throws a pillow at me and says not to embarrass my ass like that again!" Faith said, annoyed. "I swear, really pissed me right off!"

Cordelia didn't get it, even though she also felt very relieved. "What? Is he gay now?"

"Doubt it, from the way those copies of 'Maxim' keep showing up every month or so," the brunette Slayer responded with a sigh. "Much as I hate to admit it...he's just a friend, C. Crazy as, but I'd say he's also the first real male friend that I've ever had. And maybe..."

"Maybe what?" the other brunette asked.

"Maybe it's better that we didn't end up doin' the beast with two backs, ya know? I tend to attract losers, and if I'd slept with him...I dunno, I mighta lost all respect for the X-man, maybe. At least this way, I know I got someone to watch my back, until the end of the school year-"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cordelia demanded at once.

Faith suddenly looked like she had just sucked on a lemon. "Don't ask, okay? I shouldn't have let it slip. That's private stuff-"

"Cordelia? Where the devil are you?" Giles' voice was suddenly heard from the main area of the library.

The two girls headed back towards the middle-aged Englishman, and just as he handed her the book, a young, somewhat foppish-looking British male in a tailored suit entered the library. "Excuse me, is there a Mr. Giles present?"

"That's me. Who are you?" Giles responded.

"Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. I'm your replacement from London, old chap! And I'm here to kick bottom, I believe is the colonial idiom," Wes eagerly came forward and offered his hand.

Giles reluctantly shook it. Faith took one look at him and said, "New Watcher?"

"Well, yes-" Pryce started to say.

"Screw that! G, I'm gonna go run some laps," the dark-haired Slayer snorted in contempt before heading out of the library.

Wesley appeared a bit lost, as well as less enthusiastic. "I'm sorry, that was..."

"Faith, the Slayer. One of the two girls you're here to look after, assuming that you are who you say you are," Giles explained in annoyance.

Cordelia was far more impressed with the new arrival, though. "Check out Giles: The Next Generation! You know, I like a man with two last names. I'm Cordelia Chase," she offered her hand, and Wesley kissed it like a gentleman.

"It's an honor and a pleasure. And you teach psychology?" he asked, spying the book.

Cordelia smiled. "I take psychology."

"She's a student here," Giles said with a frown.

Wesley immediately dropped her hand, and scolded himself for hitting on a schoolgirl that way. He quickly turned to his compatriot to hide his embarrassment, "Er, I assume you'll be wanting to check my credentials with the Council, given what happened with Mrs. Post last year? Bad show, how you were all taken in that way," Wesley then said somewhat pompously.

"Of course." Giles took his papers, and went off to make a phone call – all but seething by now.

"You have the greatest voice. Have you ever thought about doing books on tape?" Cordelia started to flirt with the younger Briton.

But just at that moment, Xander burst into the library. "Giles, I gotta talk to you-"

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Wesley interrupted at once, worried about the security implications – now that he had established himself as being in charge.

Harris took one look at him, and collapsed to the floor – as one of the most intense memory flashbacks he had ever experienced hit him without warning.

( Paris is not Tam Quan, Delta. We work for different employers now. )

( In a few days I'll be back in Asia, following the franc, or the dollar, or the yen. We Medusans were always resourceful, weren't we? )

( Can you imagine? You. Delta! The man filled with contempt for so much, not the least of which was for most things American. )

( Philippe d'Anjou... )

Xander slowly came out of it, and as he opened his eyes, he saw the terrified features of Cordelia Chase staring down at him. "Are you okay? Are you all right?" his ex asked insistently, suddenly reminded of that night when Harris had pulled a gun on her. Even though the fears that he would accidentally shoot her had been greatly diminished, ever since last year; enough months had passed, and that was just the type of girl she was.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harris replied, as he shook off Cordelia's hands in annoyance and got up. "What happened?"

"I'm afraid you fainted," Wesley said with some concern, as he removed his spectacles. "Do you suffer from dizzy spells, young man?"

"Xander, you-you were muttering something in French, and some Oriental language that I-I think was Mandarin, or some sort of derivative. I couldn't quite catch any of it, but I'm sure I heard you mention the word 'Medusa'-" Giles went on.

"Yes, I was unable to understand the dialect either. And does that term refer to the mythological creature with the head of a woman and the body of a snake?" Wesley asked curiously.

"No," Xander replied slowly, as he stared at the newcomer. "Who are you?"

"I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, of the Watchers Council," the man introduced himself again, correctly assuming that this was another of Mr. Giles's protégés. "Pleasure to meet you."

Inside Xander's brain, a number of thoughts made various connections. Even though the Englishman before him looked so wet behind the ears that he almost reminded the male teen of an infant – there was a definite potential there that Harris could see, something that reminded him of the canny Frenchman that had joined Medusa and survived the war – where so many others hadn't.

"Xander Harris, of Sunnydale High. And likewise," Xander said simply in reply to the greeting, struggling to banish the scraps of a time that did not exist. Then he said to Giles, "Rupert, I wanted to show you this..." The teenager shoved the piece of paper he had brought with him into the older man's hands.

"What am I looking at?" Giles squinted downwards.

"I did some investigating, and apparently the number of sewer access points in this town is incredibly high. They completely cover the tunnel system in place here; water, gas, electricity maintenance, and whatever else Sunnydale has. And I learned just how big all those tunnels are; the vamps can use the sewers as their own private roadway, almost. Very convenient for them, wouldn't you say?"

"Ah. That sounds interesting-" Wesley tried to assert what he thought were his natural leadership skills, but he didn't get very far.

"Hang on, what are you saying?" Cordelia asked Xander, somehow having gotten over her annoyance at how rude to her he'd just been.

"The tunnel/manhole system is very old, Cor, I looked it up. And it's almost as if...as if it was designed to be easily accessible and useable, for the fang faces."

"Oh, please! That's crazy, Xander, Sunnydale's a hundred years old in about three months. What, you're saying someone built it to be vampire-friendly?" the brunette girl said in exasperation.

"I dunno what I'm saying...yet. I've got a bit more digging to do." Xander glanced at his watch. "So, Wesley. Can I borrow your car for an hour or so, if you've got one? I'd ask Giles, but with his car it'd be faster to walk! I'll have it back by this afternoon, I swear..."

Giles looked annoyed. Cordelia frowned over why Harris hadn't asked her, even though she knew perfectly well why she shouldn't ever lend her car to him again, while Pryce just looked uncertain. "Well, I-I don't know..."

Xander shrugged. "Right, sorry, I mean – we just met, and all. Ah, you want to come with me? I want to talk some people, and it might do you good to get to know the players in town as soon as possible. If you're gonna be the new Watcher on campus and all."

Wesley stepped back, still not sure what to say. This certainly wasn't the way he'd planned to establish himself as the leader around here. "Actually, I thought I should catch up on Mr. Giles's diaries first – and I haven't even met Miss Summers yet-"

"Oh, there'll be plenty of time for that later. This might be more important." Harris clapped a hand on Wesley's shoulder, to his amazement and Cordelia's annoyance. "Think of it as your shot as establishing yourself in Sunnydale! To get the lay of the land and let the demons know that there's a new sheriff in town – so to speak..."

Soon enough Wesley was convinced, and as the two males left Cordelia noticed Giles hiding a smirk. "What?" she demanded.

"You've got to hand it to him; Xander knew exactly what buttons to push with that great ruddy pillock! And odds are that twerp's not going to come back here with his manhood intact..." the former Watcher headed towards his office, trying not to laugh.

Cordelia just left without a word, not thinking that it was funny at all. And a moment later Buffy came in, to report on last night's patrol.

But since Wesley wasn't there, Giles and his surrogate daughter didn't figure out until far too late that the vampires she and Faith had encountered the previous evening were El Eliminati, acolytes of the demon named Balthazar. And who were, in fact, looking for his amulet, which was buried within the Gleaves family crypt in one of Sunnydale's cemeteries, to restore their crippled leader to full strength.

And thus, those particular undead would have unrestricted access to it tonight...

Outside Willy's Bar, Sunnydale. A while later

As the car pulled over, Wesley got out and stared at the sign on the wall. "What is this place?"

"Demon bar. I figure the local snitch – his name's Willy – might be able to save me some time, for the right amount of cash. Oh – you brought your wallet, didn't you?"

"Er, yes..."

But after Wesley followed Xander into the establishment, he froze in horror. ( Good God, is that a Polgara demon...? And I'm sure I'm not mistaken, that's a M'Fashnik mercenary! What the devil is going on here? Why haven't the Slayers shut this place down? )

While Xander talked to Willy, the Watcher looked around in fear and consternation. Some of the vampires didn't like his stares and started making tracks in his direction – when Harris grabbed Pryce's arm, and quickly yanked him outside into the safety of the daylight.

"Mr. Harris – Xander – I, I must protest! That establishment is-"

"A necessary evil," Xander interrupted the tirade. "Because sometimes we need information fast. Like last week, we had the apocalypse scheduled when the Sisterhood of Jhe tried to open the Hellmouth? Willy helped provide what we needed to know, even though those demon babes almost killed the guy..."

As they headed to the car, Harris continued, "And think about it, Wes. Even if Buffy and Faith burned the place down, preferably with as many vamps and demons in it as possible, Willy or some other snitch would just set up shop somewhere else in town. It's like, why bother? And I'm sure you've heard that old saying, 'better the devil you know'..."

"A necessary evil," Wesley muttered. It was hard for him to accept, being a man whose experience with the demon world – so far – was limited to encountering two vampires under 'controlled' conditions.

"Yeah. Well, anyway, Willy was too afraid to open up with all those demons present – I could tell. So I say we swing by and talk to someone else, who might be able to give us some insight on the whole sewer setup thing," Xander said as they got into the vehicle.

"Who?"

Crawford Street, Sunnydale. Twenty minutes later

Again Wes and Xander got out of the car, after the automobile stopped in front of what looked to be an abandoned residence. "Your source lives here?" the Watcher asked with a frown, looking at the place.

"In a manner of speaking," Harris replied with quirked lips. "Look Wes, you're about to meet someone very important to Buffy, okay? So best behaviour and all that, since you're supposed to be her Watcher now."

They went in through the front door of the manor and Xander called out, "Angel, you home? You got visitors!"

"I say, this isn't terribly polite. Shouldn't we have knocked?" Pryce had to ask, feeling embarrassed.

"He might have been sleeping-"

And right on cue, the vampire with a soul came out of his bedroom, with a frown in his face. "Xander, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Yeah, but I'm between classes and I wanted to pay you a visit. What's your take on the sewer system around here?"

Ignoring Xander's companion for now, Angel shook his head. "What do you mean?"

"I've come up with a theory...that Sunnydale was built from scratch to have certain advantages. For its nonhuman citizens, that is. I mean, the sewers are almost like an underground highway for you guys, right? Just how easy is it to travel all around town down there, during the day?"

The vamp frowned. "Hmmm...now that you mention it? Very easy. Maybe a bit TOO easy...and some of those tunnels are very old, you may be right..." Then Angel straightened up. "So who's your friend?"

"Angel, this is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, the new Watcher for Buffy and Faith. Wesley, this is Angel, Buffy's beau."

Then Xander got an evil smirk on his face as Wes stepped forward to shake hands, "You might know him better as Angelus, the former Scourge of Europe."

The sudden look of complete terror and apprehension on the young Watcher's face had to be seen to be believed, as he stopped mid-stride. Angel just glanced in annoyance at the teenager, "Was that really necessary?"

Xander shrugged. "Better to just get it over with, I thought. Sink or swim..." He looked at his watch and said, "I gotta motor, or else I'll be late for class again. Look Wes, you and Angel talk, okay? Get to know each other. Deadboy can give you a lift back to the school when it's dark-"

"What? You're leaving me here? A-as well as taking my car?" Wes squeaked in fear, as he whirled around.

"You can relax, he can drive and I won't bite. Faith would instantly kill me if I did," Angel said dismissively. Then as soon as Xander left the vampire added, "Would you like a drink?"

"Uh, uh, yes," Wesley stammered, and then he tried to stand up for himself. "Er, Angelus-"

"It's Angel now," the vampire replied flatly, as he headed for the liquor cabinet.

"Um, yes, yes, so Xander said," the Council representative hated the fact that he couldn't quite get himself under control. "Uh..."

"Irish whiskey?" Angel called out, as he got two glasses.

"That will be fine," Wesley replied, finally getting a grip. "So. You and Miss Summers...?"

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. Not long after sunset

Giles and the rest of the Scooby gang were all present, apart from Wesley, Angel and Buffy. And they were listening avidly, as Xander explained his findings.

"Thing is, something kept bugging me," Harris said to the group. "Like there was something simple that I was missing."

"Like what?" Daniel 'Oz' Osborne asked, in his trademark monosyllable way.

"Well, you know what town planning committees are like; left to their own devices, there's no way the present sewer system in place today would have ever evolved on its own. So there had to be some sort of...guiding influence."

"Meaning?" Cordelia asked this time.

"Someone or something arranging for events to happen in a certain way, behind the scenes. So, basically – I decided to go back to the beginning to try to find it. History books, local legends, that sort of thing..." Xander then pulled out a black and white picture of a man in an old-fashioned suit from the previous century, with long sideburns. "I found this. Meet Mayor Richard Wilkins I, circa 1898."

"Mind if I ask where this is goin'?" Faith looked confused.

"Yeah, just bear with me..." Harris then produced another photograph; one that was obviously taken in the 1950's from the style of clothing. "His so-called son, Mayor Richard Wilkins II; this was shot during 1956..."

Then he produced a final photograph, this one in colour, of the Mayor standing with a group of Cub Scouts. "Mayor Richard Wilkins III. This photo was taken just last year. And all three of them, you'll notice, are dead ringers for one another...?"

"So there's a big family resemblance, so what?" Willow asked.

Giles was quicker on the uptake than the others, though. "No...Xander, what you're proposing if I've understood you correctly, is that this 'guiding influence' that you referred to earlier is actually the Mayor of this town. Who is in fact the same man who helped build Sunnydale 100 years ago?"

"But that's impossible! Isn't it?" Ms. Chase demanded with a frown on her classically beautiful features.

"Not in this town. And, it would explain an awful lot," Xander said grimly. "Like why all the cops around here don't really do their jobs. And for those of you who were born on the Hellmouth, think about it...when was the last time we had a new mayor around here? I mean, when exactly DID Wilkins III take office? When Richard II 'retired'? And when exactly was that?"

The teenagers, apart from Faith, looked at each other in consternation. "How come none of this has ever occurred to any of us before?" Willow wanted to know.

"Could be any number of reasons, Will. Magic, bureaucracy, us being too busy trying to deal with whatever end-of-the-world crisis was happening at the time to notice otherwise...still, as far as I'm concerned, though, that doesn't really matter. What DOES matter is that Richard Wilkins is someone we really need to further investigate-"

At that point Angel and Wesley walked into the library as the doors swung open, and to the great surprise of everyone else present – the two appeared to be in the middle of some sort of intense argument...

"Wesley, you're wrong. I'm telling you, that's the not the way it happened!" Angel was looking annoyed.

"But the Watcher diaries are very clear on that point! The Master was in France during 1760, and he killed the Slayer of that time-" the Englishman insisted.

"Look, I don't know WHO wrote that garbage way back when, but I'm telling you for the last time – the Master spent 1760 in the sewers of London, in England! I know – because I was there, I saw him and I spoke to him! Darla introduced me to the guy, and he kicked my ass at our very first meeting – so it's not exactly something I'm ever likely to forget!"

"Excuse me? Hello?" Willow interrupted. "Uh, who are you?" she asked Wesley in confusion.

But the new guy didn't have the chance to reply, as Buffy tore into the library right then. "GILES! We have a situation-" Then she spied Wes and also asked, "Who are you?"

"New Watcher," Faith said sardonically, summarizing it as quickly as possible.

Buffy ignored that. "I was just at Willy's. He said the whole town's buzzing about some demon named Balthazar, that he's gonna start raising some heck now that he's got some amulet doohickey back!"

Wesley was confused. "Balthazar? But he was killed 100 years ago-"

Ms. Summers snapped impatiently, "Well, tell that to all the people he's supposedly gonna kill now if we don't stop him!"

The team swung into gear like a well-oiled machine, heading for the weapons stash. And Faith remarked with deep anticipation, "Good thing I got in all that sword practice lately..."

Pryce, the outsider, upon spying all the activity suddenly demanded, "Now hang on a moment, everyone just STOP! We need a plan, and as the leader here, I think-"

Giles just said roughly, "Shut it and grab a weapon, you sanctimonious young twit! We're about to head into a war zone!"

Wesley looked hesitant for a moment, and then noticed Xander looking at him. The male Scooby went up to the guy and said, "You any good with a gun?"

The Watcher replied with a bit too much pride, "Best shot in my class, at the Watchers academy!"

Xander gave him his spare pistol, as well as a stake. "Consider this your own little baptism of fire, Watcher man. Now stick close to me, and shoot and stake anything with yellow eyes and a bumpy forehead apart from Angel. Okay?"

Wesley simply nodded, as he followed the gang out to the parking lot and the various vehicles present there – which would take them to the address Buffy had on where Balthazar supposedly was hiding.

Balthazar's warehouse, Sunnydale. A little while after midnight

The evil demon in question lay dying in a pool of water after being electrocuted, and the savage battle with El Eliminati was over. Luckily, there had been no fatalities on the side of the good guys, and only a few injuries sustained by them. Still, some of the wounded needed to be taken care of immediately at the hospital.

"You...you, the Slayers," Balthazar wheezed out. "You think you've won, by killing me. But when he rises...you'll wish I'd killed you, and all your friends..."

Buffy and Faith stared at each other, as did Wesley and Angel. Willow was in Oz's arms, and Giles was caring for Cordelia...

Then Balthazar died, surrounded by the dust that had once been his vampire minions.

Off to the side by himself, Xander just stared at the demon's corpse, feeling a very great sense of worry and trepidation...

City Hall, Sunnydale. The next night

In Mayor Wilkins' office, over 100 years of planning and sacrifice was about to enter the home stretch for its upcoming reward.

Wilkins was kneeling within an inverted pentagram, with his hands out to his sides. Five candles were burning, positioned at each point of the inscribed pattern, as the time for the Dedication approached.

At the perfect moment the demon worshipper recited a spell in Latin, "Potestatem matris nostrae, in tenebris invoco. Maledictum filium tuum abomni periculo custodias nunc et in saecula!" (Our mother of darkness, I summon thee. Curse now your dangerous accursed son and protect him into the new age!)

The building began to shake even though Richard remained perfectly still, his eyes closed, and he just moved along with the quake. Both witnesses and members of Wilkins' inner circle – the Deputy Mayor Allan Finch, and the vampire Mr. Trick – looked around nervously, as did the last Eliminatus who hadn't been at the warehouse the previous night; a prisoner of war, locked up in a cage.

When it was over, the Mayor opened his eyes and stood up. "It's done," he said, referring to the ritual supposed to make him invulnerable to harm.

Trick had to ask. "Did it work?"

Wilkins looked pretty happy for someone who had sold his soul long ago. "Let's find out. Open the cage."

Finch gasped, "Are you sure, sir?"

"Ye- oh, one moment!" Wilkins slid a sword along the ground to the bloodsucker. "Now, go ahead."

Shrugging, Trick opened the door. Instantly the uniformed vampire rushed out, heading straight for the Mayor. He raised his sword high and brought it down hard on his target's head, slicing it in two.

Amazingly though, the two halves of Wilkins' cranium simply just pulled towards one another, and sealed themselves back together seamlessly without any blood splattered anywhere. The enemy vamp couldn't believe what he was seeing, as Richard became whole and hale once more...

Mr. Trick then stepped forward and just casually staked the vampire soldier in the back, now that he had served his purpose.

"Well! This officially commences the Hundred Days. Nothing can harm me until the Ascension," Richard said, as he smiled widely and laughed, and literally ticked off 'Become Invincible' on his to-do list. "Gosh, I'm feeling chipper! Who's for a root beer?"

Wilkins led the way out of the office as Trick smiled and quickly followed him. Allan looked worried though as he brought up the rear, and he was inwardly cursing the fact that he hadn't been able to find the Slayers before now – in order to have prevented this from ever happening...

To Be Continued In Part 5