A/N : Hopefully I have re-written 'Whats My Line?' well enough so that you guys don't get bored reading this. There will be some twists and turns that you might not be expecting.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 16 - I'll Take My Chance

"The Order of Taraka?" Giles echoed the words Buffy had just said to him as he left her standing just beyond the doorway of his apartment and hurried to his books, "And Angel was absolutely certain of this?" the Watcher checked.

"Pretty certain" Buffy nodded as she stepped further into the room, "He said he thought he knew who would've called them out to deal with me too..." she said quietly, "Giles, do you really think it could be William? I mean, Spike" she amended off the look he gave her.

"Buffy, I know how Spike presented himself to you" Giles sighed, removing his glasses and polishing them on a handkerchief, "but you must remember it was all an act. He is a vicious killer, a vampire who has taken on and defeated two Slayers in the past" he reminded her, "Given this information, is it really so shocking to think he has sent the Order after you?"

"I know it shouldn't be a surprise" Buffy shook her head, looking down at her hands in her lap, "but Giles, think about it" she implored him, "If he's so great at killing Slayers, why call out these Taraka guys? Why not just kill me when he had the chance?" she asked, not getting it at all, "He was alone with me Giles, I trusted him, there were so many times he could just... but he never did" she ended more quietly than she began, knowing that she didn't only mean that he might've killed her. That night when he'd come into her bedroom, the night he'd confessed who he really was, Buffy knew that if he'd tried she would've let him go further with her than she'd ever gone with anyone before. She'd have shared her bed with him, given her body over to him, despite the fact she knew it would be wrong, even if he were the human that he'd pretended to be. It didn't change the fact she would've let it happen, William must've known that too, and yet he'd not taken advantage, he'd confessed instead, and begged her to understand.

"Buffy, my dear" her Watcher sighed as he sat down beside her and took her hand in his, "I understand that he's hurt you, and that you wish he were different, the man he presented himself as when you met him, but I'm afraid he can never be" Giles reminded her, "Spike is a vampire, he is evil, and his agenda is the same as any other demons, to do evil and to kill those people that stand in the way of their progress"

"People like the Slayer?" she said, knowing it was true.

Giles just nodded his head as he picked up a book and turned a couple of pages.

"So, what do we do about the Taraka guys?" Buffy checked, taking a deep breath and trying to clear her head of all the confused thoughts about William/Spike and the mixed up feelings she was still having for him.

"Unfortunately there is little we can do at the moment" Giles shook his head, "They are dedicated to their task Buffy. If they've been called upon to destroy you then they will keep coming and coming, until... well, until their job is done" he said awkwardly, hating that he had to be the one to tell the Slayer her life could be over all too easily.

"But I can fight these things?" she checked, "I mean, I got one already"

"Perhaps" Giles agreed, "but it may be advisable for you to lay low for a while, stay away from the more obvious places where the demons might look for you"

"Then I can't go home" Buffy realised, "And staying around you or the gang would just put them in danger"

"Perhaps Angel knows of a place you could go?" Giles suggested, "He would have various locations I'm sure that he might use when he is in danger" her Watcher mused, "I imagine a demon that fights against his own kind might often find himself in similar situations"

"I could really use a little time away from Angel right now" Buffy muttered, recalling what had happened in the graveyard, "But I guess now is not the time to let personal stuff get in the way" she said more loudly as she stood up, and prepared to leave. No matter what happened she could still trust Angel to be there for her, no matter what.

"I said check again!" Spike roared, slamming Dalton's head into the table with a thump, "You screw this up, pip-squeak, and you have no idea how much you'll regret it!" he said angrily as he let the other vampire go and stalked around the table.

"I-It's quite definite" he said definitely as he straightened his glasses and read the text again, "From the blood of the sire she was risen, from the blood of the sire, she shall rise again" he recited the part of the incantation that was so important, "That's the key to the cure" he said, voice shaking as he hoped Spike accepted what he was saying as the truth and didn't pound on him anymore.

"Blood of the sire" the bleached blond smirked, in what Dalton hoped was a happy way, "Always knew old Peaches had to have a purpose for still bein' around" he said more-or-less to himself as he strode through to the back of the warehouse in the little room that was his and Drusilla's own bedroom.

"The pixies are crying in my head" she told him as he came through the door. She was sitting up in bed, her hands held to her head a she frowned, "One is done, all gone away" she said sadly, looking down at the Tarot style cards on the bedclothes and reaching a hand to turn one over.

"Tell your bloody pixies to cheer themselves up, luv" Spike told his sire as he sat down in the bed beside her and put a hand to her face, turning her head so she looked at him, "Dalton finally cracked the code, pet, we found the key to your cure"

"Make princess strong again?" she said like a hopeful child, "Strong enough to feed, and dance, and play" she added with a suggestive look that wasn't lost on her childe.

"Strong enough to rule this town, my sweet" Spike told her with a smile.

Dru smiled back at first but soon was frowning again as she turned away and looked at her cards once again.

"No good until the fairy-girl is good and gone" she said, eyes flashing gold, "The first of three, he is passing under our feet" she told Spike who had the strangest mixture of feelings inside him as he took in that statement. It seemed the first bounty hunter to take on the Slayer had lost, meaning she lived on still. He was angry to think his plan was failing and yet there was a voice in his head, or possibly his heart, that was joyful at knowing Buffy was not dead. Despite his better judgement a part of him still cared for the silly bint who would tame him. For making him fall in love with her, Spike hated Buffy Summers.

"Not to worry, luv" he told Drusilla, taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles tenderly, "Plenty of time left for Little Miss Slay-All to get what's coming to her"

Buffy felt a little weird when she first arrived at Angel's apartment. He wasn't there but the door was unlocked and so she let herself inside, sure he wouldn't mind too much, but forever mindful that he might. After all, she hadn't exactly been too friendly in her reaction when he kissed her in the graveyard last night, making it very clear they could never be as close as he wanted them to be. Now, twenty-four hours on she was sneaking into his apartment, seeking sanctuary.

Tiredness overcame her as Buffy sat down in the comfy chair, waiting for the vampire with the soul to return home. She just closed her eyes for a minute, never intended to fall asleep but it was in fact several hours later when she got a rude awakening. Her eyes opened to the sight of a young woman leaning over her, a threatening look on her face and a wooden implement in her hand.

"What the hell...?" Buffy gasped as she expertly flipped out of the char, kicking the other girl away from her.

The fight that ensued was nasty and violent, but very little in the way of damage was done to either party. They seemed equally matched in strength and skill, which baffled both of them. Buffy was confused by the apparent human with enhanced strength, and whilst she assumed the girl to be one of the Order of Taraka, come to kill her on Spike and Drusilla's behalf, she wondered how she could look as she did and still possess the power and skills of a warrior demon of some type.

"You cannot win, vampire!" the girl/demon warrior person cried as they landed in battle stance opposite each other once again. She was just as confused as Buffy was it seemed if she thought the Slayer was in fact a vampire!

"Vampire?" Buffy frowned, "Who the hell said I was a vampire? And why are we fighting if you think that?"

"I was chosen to kill all the vampires" the girl informed her, in an accent not unlike Caribbean and yet not quite that either, "I am Kendra, the Vampire Slayer"

"It's extraordinary" Giles exclaimed for the twentieth time in as many minutes, or so it seemed to Buffy as he paced the school library, going back and forth past Kendra who seemed completely unphased. After her confession of being the Slayer Buffy's confusion had only worsened. There couldn't be two Slayers, it was impossible, and after a few minutes of yelling about it, it seemed neither girl could say how or why it had occurred that there were in fact two of them, claiming to be the Chosen One.

The only possible way to work this out seemed to be to go ask Giles, but as yet he'd come up with no explanation and Buffy was getting more and more frustrated. Okay so she didn't love being the Slayer all the time but she was damned if some weird foreign kid was going to swoop in and steal her gig without asking!

"Giles, can you stop with the extraordinary riff already and tell this girl to go home!" she urged her Watcher, "There can't be two Slayers, and we know I'm the Slayer, so clearly she's not"

"I am the Vampire Slayer" Kendra insisted with a defiant look, "And I shall be the Vampire Slayer until I die, at which time another will be called to take me place"

"Oh good Lord" Giles suddenly gasped, "Of course, called when the former dies" he muttered to himself, before looking to the blonde, "Buffy, you did die, and in doing so I believe you caused Kendra here to be called as the next Slayer"

"You died?" the second Slayer raised an eyebrow at the other who looked sheepish.

"I was only gone for a minute" she said awkwardly as Willow, who had so far been sitting silently, eyes flitting between the Slayers as if she were at a tennis match, finally found her tongue.

"But Buffy, this is so cool" she enthused, "Now you have somebody to help with the Slayage, a partner for the fightage and all, and with all the craziness going on with the bounty hunter guys, it has to be a good thing, right?" she said hopefully.

"I guess" Buffy shrugged, "but there's still something I wanna know" she said, suddenly frowning at Kendra as she got out of her seat, "How come you thought I was a vampire before?"

"It seemed like a natural conclusion" she shrugged, "Did I not see you kissing a vampire?" she checked as Giles frowned.

"Buffy would not kiss a vampire!" Willow exploded, rushing to her friends defence and physically to her side, "Oh, except when she does that, cos of William, I mean, Spike" she said awkwardly.

"It wasn't him, Will" Buffy said, feeling equally as awkward, "It was Angel" she admitted, "but I so didn't kiss him, he kissed me, and if Little Miss SpyGirl here had kept watching a little longer she would've seen me push Angel away"

"I do not care about this" Kendra waved it away with her hand, "I am here for a purpose. My Watcher, Mr Zabuto, told me a dark power was rising in Sunnydale"

"Which one?" Buffy asked, "Cos it's kind of a take-your-pick sitch right now" she said with a sigh as she sat down on a chair with a thump.

"Indeed, Kendra" Giles went on to explain, "There are many dark forces at work in Sunnydale at the moment, and your help would be much appreciated in dealing with them..." he would have gone on further were it not for the crashing sound of two people tumbling into the library through the main doors, taking everyone's attention away from the previous conversion.

"Xander, Cordelia, what happened?" Willow gasped as they came further into the room, both out of breath and Cordy dripping water all over the place for some reason.

"What happened?" she complained loudly, "Oh I'll tell you what happened! Miss Slayer 1998 and her stupid house happened!"

"My house?" Buffy frowned as she got up and came over to her friends, "What were you doing at my house?"

"We were driving by, totally innocently, going from one place to another place with no funny business in between at all in any way..." Xander started rambling until a swift punch in the arm from Cordelia brought him back on topic, "So we went by your house and there's this guy ringing the bell. He didn't seem to be taking the hint that no-one was home so we got out of the car and went over to tell him just that"

"'Cept this man was not a man" Cordy cut in, "He was a great big bug-pile man!" she exclaimed, "All these wriggly little... argh!" she screamed as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and another maggot type creature flew out onto the table in front of her. She was up out of her seat and running for the doors, screaming something about a shower, before anyone could ask any further questions.

"Our survey says another Taraka attack" Buffy sighed, "I'm sorry I got you guys mixed up in this" she apologised to Xander who shrugged it off as no big.

"And who's this charming addition to the party?" he asked glancing at Kendra who shifted awkwardly.

"Kind of a long story" the blonde admitted, "Short version - she's a Slayer"

"A Slayer? As in Vampire Slayer?" Xander checked.

"You know of another kind of Slayer?" Willow checked with an amused smile, though she got no reply.

"Er, Buffy" Giles said suddenly, "You say Angel was not at his apartment when you got there last night, and had not returned when you left this morning?" he checked, "That's very strange, don't you think?"

"I guess" Buffy frowned, "I was kind of too preoccupied with Pink Ranger here to think about it, but..."

"Angel" Kendra echoed, "This is the vampire you were kissing?"

"You're back to kissing Angel again!" Xander gasped, at which Buffy rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm not kissing Angel" she assured him, "He kinda kissed me is all, but we already had this conversation" she said as she looked at Kendra, "Why the re-run?"

The second Slayer shrugged her shoulders, unconcerned as she answered;

"He is dead"

To Be Continued...