Authors note: Hello, sorry for the delay but I've been a busy lass. Thanks again to everyone for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns everything.

Chapter 29

The first thing Wesley noticed when he regained consciousness, was that he was tied to a chair. The second thing he noticed was the smell and the lack of light. He couldn't work out where he was as his surroundings where cloaked in darkness, and the only smell that filled his nostrils was that of rotting meat. He could feel his stomach beginning to rebel, and fought down the urge to vomit. He tried not to breathe through his nose, in a feeble effort to avoid the smell, however as soon as he took a lungful of air through his mouth, he instantly lost the contents of his stomach, as the breath brought with it the taste of whatever was rotting in the room with him.

"Bugger." he groaned.

"Bugger indeed." A voice barked from beside him. Wesley would have leapt out of his seat in fright if he hadn't been tied to it, instead he settled for a girly scream which caused the person to laugh. "Sorry Wes didn't mean to scare you." the voice snickered. He saw a small flash of what must have been a lighter, before the room became bathed in the flickering light of a candle. He saw that Kennedy stood beside him, carefully avoiding the puddle of vomit in disgust. "Now that is gross."

"What do you want with me?" he asked, trying to sound brave.

"Well seeing as I'd already seen your apartment, I thought it was time you came to see mine." she said gesturing round the room. Wesley couldn't actually see much as the candle only provided enough light, to show a small area of the room where he was sitting, the rest was bathed in darkness. "It's a tad drab." he sniffed.

"My last guest didn't really approve either, so I had to teach her some manners. How is she by the way?" she asked curiously, the puzzlement on Wesley's face showed that he didn't know who she was taking about. "For a watcher you're pretty slow, I'm talking about the Garou." she sighed impatiently.

"She didn't look too good last time I saw her, I don't know if she's still alive." he replied. Kennedy looked at him questioningly, knowing that there was more to his story. "They kicked me out." he mumbled.

"I take it when you say they, you mean Buffy." She said.

"Yes."

"So what did you do to annoy the precious chosen one this time?" She asked curiously.

Wesley sighed. "I told Giles that it would be better for everyone, to let the Garou die than to cure it."

"Ooh ouch, that's harsh Wes." Kennedy said grinning at him. "So I guess now it looks like you've been left out in the cold. I mean I can't see Buffy and the super geeks coming to save you. I bet they hardly even notice your gone, and by the time they do it'll be too late." she said crouching down in front of him.

"If you are going to kill me then get it over with." he said, his voice wavering slightly as the fear began to show.

Kennedy shook her head, "Hell I'm not going to kill you Wesley, I want you to join us, be on the winning side. We can work together just like we used to." she could see that some of what she was saying seemed to be getting through. "So what do you say?" she asked eagerly.

Wesley stared at her intently and realised that she was serious, he was shocked that after everything that had happened, she still liked him.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

Kennedy looked down at her hands before looking back up at Wesley. "You're my watcher, you're the only family I had back then, I want you on my team Wes. I want it to be like the old days again."

"Well come back and work with me and the others, be on the side of good." he said, trying to reason with her.

Kennedy merely snorted and shook her head. "Just because I want to work with you again, doesn't mean that I want to work with them. Hell I'm having too much fun here to be going back to working with the super dull, super geeks. It's you I miss Wes, not them."

"Why should I come and work with you?" he asked.

"Well, it would mean that you would survive the apocalypse." she said. "and to be honest you've made sure that you aren't welcome around Buffy and the others. Let's face it Wesley, I'm the only person in this place that actually likes you and respects you, cause they sure as hell don't."

Wesley realised that everything she had said was true. "What are the terms?" he asked.

Kennedy smiled, "Tell us everything you know about Buffy's plans."

SUNNYDALE - HIGHWAY

Giles, Buffy, Faith and Cordelia where all piled into Giles' car while Oz, Xander and Willow followed behind them in Oz's van. They where all headed out to meet with Faith's clan, in order to discuss a plan of action for the upcoming battle.

Faith looked at Buffy who was currently holding her hand in a death grip. "You okay B?"

"Me, yeah. I'm fine. I'm great even, there's nothing wrong with me. I'm super." Buffy said nervously.

"You're super?" Faith asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yup that's me, super duper."

"It's okay to be nervous B. But you ain't got nothing to worry about." Faith said, leaning over to whisper in Buffy's ear. "If anything, people will be jealous." she said.

"Really." she asked. Looking into Faith's eyes, the lust was plain to see.

"Really." Faith replied, pulling Buffy into a passionate kiss which succeeded in easily banishing Buffy's nervousness about meeting the family.

Cordelia turned round from her seat in the front and looked at the pair of them. "Geez, would you two get a room, you're like a pair of rabbits." she commented. Buffy and Faith reluctantly pulled apart. Cordelia ignored the glares that where being sent her way and carried on speaking. "Anyway what I want to know is, are there are any good looking guys where we're heading."

Faith grinned devilishly at Cordelia. "Well -" she began, but whatever she was about to say was cut off by Buffy, who had covered Faith's mouth with her hand.

"Cordelia, encase you hadn't forgotten, your seeing Xander." Buffy said sternly glaring at Cordelia.

"Like I could forget that." she snorted. "It's just that Xander and I are just…………drifting apart. The sparks gone." she said simply.

"What! First Oz and Willow and now you and Xander!" Buffy said in shock.

"Must be something in the water." Faith commented, after she succeeded in removing Buffy's hand from her mouth.

"I mean high school romances aren't forever, it's a proven fact." Cordelia said matter of factly. Seeing the look of worry on Buffy's face, she rolled her eyes. "I don't mean you two, cause you guys are gonna be together for like ever. Or at least until your late twenties, I mean with the amount of near death experiences you two have had in the last month, I can't exactly see you with grey hair and cats." Cordelia frowned when the look of worry on Buffy's face increased.

"Cordelia you're not helping." Giles commented from the driver's seat.

"Geez I'm just trying to reassure them that they're relationship is solid." she huffed, glaring at Giles.

"Which I'm sure they thank you for." Giles replied.

"Yeah………….thanks." Faith said sarcastically, putting a reassuring arm round Buffy's shoulder.

Cordelia turned back round to look at Faith. "So Faith you never answered my question, are there any good looking guys in your clan."

"Hell -" she began but was cut off again by Buffy elbowing her in the ribs.

"Don't encourage her." Buffy muttered under her breath, Faith waited until Buffy turned to look out the window before nodding in Cordelia's direction.

Cordelia grinned "Thanks Faith." she said turning back round in her seat to face the front.

Faith winced as Buffy whacked her arm. "Damn B what was that for?" she whined.

"What did I tell you!" she said glaring at Faith, who was desperately trying to maintain an air of innocence.

Giles, who had been listening to the whole conversation in amusement, sighed. Praying that it wasn't much longer till they reached their destination.

MEANWHILE IN OZ'S VAN

"I wonder if there are any good looking girls where we're heading." Xander said, and instantly received a glare from Willow.

"Xander you're going out with Cordelia." Willow reminded him.

"I know Wills it's just, we're drifting apart, you know."

"Yeah I know." she said quietly sending a quick glance in Oz's direction. "Have you tried working things out?" she asked.

Xander sighed. "Yeah but, nothing changed. We've both decided that it's best if we stay friends rather than staying together and trying to be happy, cause then we'd end up hating each other."

Willow nodded in understanding, the same could be said for her and Oz. "So anyway whose this Tara person that Giles' mentioned?" Xander asked curiously, changing the subject.

"Oh she's a friend I met at the Bronze, she's a Wicca too and she's an empath." Willow gushed.

"An empath? What's that?"

"It's a person that can sense and feel other people's emotions." Willow explained. "But they can kinda turn it on and off you know."

"Cool." Xander said.

"See that's what I thought but she didn't really see it that way. She's really nice though, she knows all about slayers and werewolves and things that go bump in the night, and she's really good with magic, she's going to teach me some knew spells and things." Willow said enthusiastically. Xander couldn't help but notice how Willow's face had lit up, she seemed happier than she had in weeks.

"You should introduce her to the gang Wills." Xander said. "maybe after the apocalypse though, if we're still here, not that we won't be but…….I should probably stop now."

Oz nodded "Quit while your ahead."

"I mean I want her to meet you guys but I don't want her to get hurt with the upcoming battle thingy. I mean she hardly knows us." Willow said.

"Have you told her about the battle?" Oz asked and Willow nodded in reply. "What did she say?"

"She said that if she could help in anyway she would." she replied.

"Well, if she wants to help us, it's her choice. And at the end of the day the more people on our side the better." Oz said.

"I suppose, but if anything happened to her I would feel responsible cause I'd introduced her to this way of life." Willow said thoughtfully. "I suppose that's how Buffy feels…………..about us."

"Yeah, but we choose to fight alongside the Buffster, where as she doesn't really have a choice. We could walk away from the big bad's if we wanted but we choose to stay cause Buffy's our friend." Xander said.

"So I suppose if Tara really wanted to help with the battle I couldn't stop her." Willow said, seeing what Xander was getting at.

"Nope." Xander said.

"Guys I think we're here." Oz said, interrupting the conversation.

Up ahead Giles's car had slowed to a stop, and everyone had began piling out of the car. Oz parked the van next to the car, and they got out to join the others.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Cordelia asked.

"Yup." Faith answered grinning. They all looked at her as if she was crazy. The only thing that could be seen for miles was desert, which was just lots and lots of sand and rocks, not a Garou in sight.

"Um Faith, either your people are microscopically small or your blind." Cordelia said gesturing wildly. "Cause there is nobody else here."

"That's where your wrong queen C." Faith said, limping away from the group she turned to face the desert. Raising her right hand she began chanting something under her breath.

The Scooby's watched as the air began to shimmer in front of them. Like a mirage, shapes and colours began to appear, until what looked like a large campsite was revealed to them.

"Wow." Xander said, pretty much summing up what everyone else was thinking. The camp consisted of hundreds of large tent like structures that where arranged so that they formed a large circle, which must have been at least ten tents deep. In the centre of the circle was a large hut that was raised on a platform.

Faith looked at them trying to gage their reaction. "So what do you think?" she asked nervously.

"It's amazing." Giles said. "How on Earth did you manage to hide all of this?" he asked in awe.

"Trade secret." Faith replied grinning. "Anybody else that passes by won't be able to see the camp, I just made it so that you guys could see, that way if any Daywalker's happen to pass by, we're safe." she explained. Buffy moved over to Faith's side, and Faith placed an arm around her shoulder. "If you want to follow me, we'll get this show on the road." Faith said, and began leading them into the camp.

OUTSKIRTS OF SUNNYDALE

Wesley rubbed his wrists where the rope had dug into them, and watched as Kennedy cut the last of the rope that bound his feet to the chair.

"I can't believe this, I was so sure that you where going to say no, but you surprised me Wes." Kennedy said, climbing to her feet, she offered him a hand to get up. "C'mon I think it's time we tell Olmeck what we know."

She grabbed his hand and led him up some stairs. It was a good thing that she was there to guide him as the candle light made sure that most of the room was bathed in darkness. He had asked her earlier why she didn't put any light's on, she had merely replied that ignorance was bliss. And judging by the smell in the room he believed that to be true, as he for one didn't want to see what horrors lay in the darkness with them.

When they entered the hallway at the top of the stairs, it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the light that was now assaulting them. When they finally adjusted he could see that there where several daywalker's lounging around the room, he still found it unnerving that these vampires could go into sunlight. He cautiously followed Kennedy past the vampires, who where gazing at him with hungry eyes, and walked up another flight of stairs, into a small passageway with a lone room at the end. As they neared the room he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Every nerve in his body was screaming at him to run from whatever was in there, a feeling of dread and foreboding washed over him the closer he got to the room and his legs felt like lead. If it hadn't been for Kennedy's insistent pulling of his hand he was sure that he would have ran in the opposite direction. His heart was pounding so hard he thought he was going to faint, he'd never been so scared in his life, he could sense that the person in that room was evil, he'd never been so scared in his like. He felt like a small child being forced to meet the monster that lived in his closet. "C'mon Wes, there's nothing to worry about." Kennedy said, dragging him impatiently into the room. He had no sooner stepped over the threshold, before he came face to face with Olmeck.

The thing that stood in front of him looked like a man, except for the ghostly, almost transparent appearance of his skin and his black soulless eyes.

"Welcome Watcher." Olmeck said, baring his sharp teeth, in what looked more like a grimace than a smile.

"H-hello." Wesley stuttered causing Olmeck to laugh.

"The slayer seems to hold you in high esteem and wants you to join us." Olmeck said as he walked closer to Wesley, who looked as if he would pass out any minute. "I am not as easily convinced, give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you now?" he asked.

"B-because I know what the slayer is planning." Wesley said.

GAROU CAMPSITE

Faith led the Scooby's through the campsite, earning them some curious looks from the Garou's they passed on the way. Buffy could hear them all talking excitedly as they passed but she couldn't make out what they where saying as it was in Garouvian. As they passed, a few people came up to Faith and hugged her. Buffy noticed that one of the Garou, a small blonde girl, hugged Faith a little too enthusiastically and when the girl kissed Faith on the cheek, Buffy felt jealousy course through her.

Faith, seeing the look on her girlfriends face, quickly pried the girl off of her and walked back over to Buffy's side. Buffy automatically wrapped a possessive arm round Faith's waist and tried not to look too smug when the other girl glared at her. Faith held up both there hands to the girl, showing her their soul bands and said something in Garouvian that Buffy couldn't make out. But whatever it was, the other girl wasn't too happy about it and she stormed off through the small crowd that had gathered.

"Who was that?" Buffy asked, trying unsuccessfully to hide the jealousy in her voice.

"That was Marita, she's my ex, she seems to think we're still meant to be together." Faith sighed..

"What did you say to her." Buffy asked.

"I told her I'm taken." Faith grinned at Buffy.

"As long as she knows that your mine." Buffy said possessively.

"Don't worry about that chick, she ain't got nothing on you B." Faith whispered in Buffy's ear.

"Hey Faith!" they looked up and saw Drake calling to them from the door of the hut. "Quit stalling and get your ass in here." he said laughing.

Faith rolled her eyes and led the small group up the stairs of the hut. When they reached the top Drake grabbed Faith and brought her into a hug, before holding her at arms length and studying her. "Good to see your looking better this morning." he said.

"Yup, soon I'll be back to normal and ready to kick your ass." she teased.

"Hell that would be a first." he said, before turning to the rest of the small group. "Buffy, Giles good to see you again." he greeted. "Faith aren't you gonna introduce me to the rest of your friends?"

"Drake this is Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Oz." she said gesturing to them group. "And guys this is Drake, my brother."

"Hey." they all replied.

"Well now that we've got the formalities out of the way I guess it's time to get down to business." Drake said, and began leading them into the hut.

"You never told me he was your brother." Buffy whispered.

"It kinda skipped my mind." Faith answered. "Sorry, I mean things have been kinda hectic lately."

"It's okay, as long as you aren't hiding any thing else from me." Buffy said.

Faith smiled. "No chance of that B."

When they entered the hut they where surprised to see that it was a lot larger inside than they had imagined. Sitting in the far corner at a large oak table where four greying men, who where wearing long fur coats. Faith and Drake, bowed respectively at the older men.

"Welcome." One of the elders greeted. "Please sit." he gestured to the chairs on the other side of the table. "We would first like to thank you all for talking care of Faith and for helping us with our cause." he said. "Not many people would do such a thing."

"Your welcome." Giles said. "Although the feeling is mutual, we greatly appreciate your help with the upcoming battle."

"Ah yes, the battle." Another elder said. "It would appear that Olmeck is up to his old tricks again, however we may be lucky enough to have the element of surprise on our side."

"As far as we know nobody knows you're here." Faith said.

"Let's hope it stays that way." Drake commented.

"Mr Giles have you organised any battle strategies?" The first elder asked.

"Well we know that Olmeck plans to attack the high school, where the hell mouth is situated. our best bet would be to mount a defence there."

"What about civilians? We cannot risk humans being killed, or risk ourselves being exposed to the media. If people found out about us……..chaos would ensue." An elder remarked.

"We've got that covered." Buffy said. "The coven in England are going to cast a glamour over Sunnydale. People will think that Sunnydale is about to be hit by a hurricane. When the warning goes out the town will be evacuated, leaving it empty. That way nobody will see anything."

"Most impressive slayer." The first elder said. "It seems that most areas have been covered. However one things remains, just how outnumbered are we?"

Giles cleared his throat. "They out number us ten to one, and last time I checked the numbers where still rising." he said gravely.

Everybody in the room fell silent, as they processed what Giles had said.

"Damn vampires are nothing but vermin!" An elder said, slamming his fist onto the table in anger, his eyes flashing.

"The situation, is more dire than I had imagined. However we have two things in our favour" Another elder said. "We have the element of surprise, and we have the element of fear. The only thing that the Drachna's are scared of is us. We have the power to destroy them, no matter how greatly outnumbered we are." he said, standing to his feet. "Drake call a meeting. We must inform the rest of the clan." Drake nodded and left the room. "It seems we have much still to discuss."

Suddenly a noise started up from outside, and they could hear people roaring and screaming, a small boy ran into the hut and started gesturing wildly with his hands and speaking franticly in Garouvian.

"What is it?" Buffy asked Faith anxiously.

"It's the Drachna's………………………they know we're here."

Tbc.

A/N: Dun Dun Duuuuuunnnnnnnnn.