Above the Rosenberg residence, 11:10 pm.
Willow was breathing hard while she was hovering several meters above her house. She kept her eyes closed shut while she rolled her hands into fists while they were at her side, and at the same time, she kept her concentration, therefore, holding her body aloft. She didn't want to panic and let the dizzy feelings she was experiencing overtake her, and possibly resulting in her falling to the ground and breaking something… or worse.
'Keep your concentration, Willow,' thought the redhead to herself as she felt herself swaying from one side to another because of a light breeze that rushed past her; the redhead automatically compensating so that she remained hovering in the same spot. Willow told herself that this was what Niko's zero-gravity training must have been like.
'If she could do it, so could I' was the prevailing thought in Willow's mind, but then again she would have to become used to the new fact that she was afraid of heights while thinking to herself, 'open your eyes, come on Willow… open your eyes. What would Giles say if you just quit, and you know how would be ridiculous to have to cycle somewhere in this so cool get-up. So, open your eyes, and just don't look down, just check out the view.'
Taking a deep breath, and then breathing out slowly; Willow opened her eyes and looked at the lights in the distance. There was something at the back of her mind telling her to look down, that she needed to look down, but she refused to follow that order. Then there was another gust of wind that moved her to the left, and she concentrated so that she wouldn't go too far off course… the redhead imagined her telekinesis propelling her the opposite way she was moving while continuing to keep her balance. It was then that Willow realized something else, she was slowly getting a headache.
'Probably since I'm so high up,' thought Willow to herself as she spun vertically in the air so that she could see all around her, 'at first, I was just floating a few inches off my bed, but now I'm meters up over my house; gravity's pulling me back down... but my powers are keeping me up. Gotta get used to it though.'
Taking another deep breath while she used her telekinesis and angled her body forty-five-degrees, Willow continued looking straight ahead as she slowly propelled her body forward. It was a few seconds later that she was moving at a fast speed, but the wind was buffeting her, and her headache was getting worse due to the drag created by the way she angled her body. With determination on her face, Willow angled her body to ninety degrees while she kept her head facing up towards her front she didn't want to look down, at least not yet. With the pain in her head slowly decreasing due to the way she was propelling herself through the air, Willow was chuckling as the wind brushed against her jacket, and a bit of her skin. Willow tried to contain her joy while she was flying through the air as she sped through her neighbourhood before hitting the city limits, and then flying towards the buildings in the business district itself. As she flew circles over the city for twenty minutes, the redhead closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them once again from behind her goggles.
She didn't want to be afraid.
That's what she kept on thinking to herself as she flew, one part of her was telling her to just keep on looking at her front, and that it would be better if she angled upwards slightly. But the other part of the redhead was telling her that she needed to stop being afraid, that she needed to slowly conquer her fears if she wanted to be a Ranger.
'You must choose,' the redhead smiled as she thought about what Ariel would tell Niko when she was unsure of something after comparing the pro's and cons.
'I... I don't wanna be afraid... well, not so much,' thought Willow to herself as she slowly looked down at the buildings, the cars, the lights, and some people who whizzed by at the fast rate of speed that she was going.
And then Willow laughed.
However, unknown to her, the redhead was reducing her altitude while she was laughing as she flew. She looked around at the last moment and she noticed that she was getting closer to the roofs of the buildings in the city, so she concentrated and pulled up into the air. Smiling behind the mask, the redhead used her telekinesis to perform a roll before she headed back down towards the buildings below.
Now she wanted to try landing, so she angled down towards a building, and then imagined what she needed to do. When she was close enough to the roof, the redhead angled her body upwards before lowering herself down slowly. Once her feet had touched the ground, Willow's headaches were gone as she jumped up and down in excitement.
'I flew…. Baby, I flew!' thought Willow as she grinned under the balaclava while she punched the air. She wondered what it would be like if she used the badge when she managed to get it to full charge, but for now, she was flying with her own telekinetic abilities. Smiling to herself, she wanted to get to Buffy.. she knew where the Slayer was going to be patrolling with Giles by her side. Willow wanted to prove to the Watcher that she was ready; and if she could conquer her fear of heights, or at least, she was starting to conquer her fear of heights, then the redhead could do anything. Smiling to herself, Willow jumped and pushed off using her telekinesis again.. but this time, nothing happened. Instead, she landed back onto the roof after having jumped up only a few inches when she suddenly grabbed her head and silently screamed because of the spike that she felt was being pushed into her brain. Willow fell onto her side on the floor of the roof she was on, and her body writhed as she rolled around in pain.
'Oh God, It hurts,' thought Willow to herself while she gritted her teeth as the pain reached a crescendo before it finally stopped. Willow, who was now lying on her back, put her hands by her side as she panted before closing her eyes, and let the darkness take over.
It was nearly thirty minutes later that Willow opened her eyes and found herself looking up at the stars before she slowly sat up. The redhead wondered what had just happened as she slowly got to her feet while she shook her head, and tried to regain her bearings. Once her legs weren't trembling, Willow tried to jump up again and use her telekinesis and, this time, she floated in the air for a while before she slowly put herself back down onto the floor.
'I was flying for, what? Nearly twenty minutes? A bit more?' thought Willow to herself as she felt herself sweating through the balaclava. So she pulled back her goggles to the top on her head, and then pulled the front of her headgear to her chin and wiped her brow, 'maybe I can't handle flying for that long? It could take me some time to get used to it… but I'm guessing I can't fly for more than twenty or thirty minutes continuously. Damn, that hurt my head. Luckily Buffy shouldn't be too far away… heck, even if she and Giles aren't there, I could try my hand against a vampire. Or should I wait and... no... stop it. I know that I can handle one on my own. I have to try at least. If I fail, just get out of there.. just fly away.'
Willow nodded her head before she pulled the front of her balaclava up until it fit snugly just over her nose, and then she pulled down her goggles. Keeping in mind about what just happened, Willow jumped up and flew towards the cemetery.
Green Woods Cemetery, 11:45 p.m.
"Watch out, Buffy," asked Giles as he sat on a headstone calmly and watched Buffy kick at a vampire; a kick that knocked the demon over a headstone before she reached into her jacket and then crouched down. She then punched the newly arisen vampire, and then staked him before standing up. As the creature turned to dust, Buffy turned around and walked towards Giles while putting the stake back under her jacket. Giles got off the headstone he was sitting on, and then walked with his Slayer towards another part of the cemetery.
"So did Kendra make it back to Jamaica?" asked Buffy as she looked at Giles who nodded his head.
"Yes, I've already spoken with Mr. Zabuto and he's informed me that Kendra is at home. Well, she is staying with him at his home," said Giles.
"Can't imagine being taken away from mom at Kendra's age," said Buffy as they walked on the grass, the air was still all around them with no wind going through the trees. Buffy scanned the surrounding area with her eyes while they continued to walk before she looked down at the grass when she spotted a small rock. She kicked it as Giles was telling her that Zabuto was a good man, but his thinking was that of a traditional Watcher.
"The Council would take children, Potential Slayers, if they could find them early enough from the parents and then hand them to a Watcher," said Giles as Buffy looked at him with her mouth open in surprise, "some of the family members would see it as a great honor while others.. well, they would have no say. Ultimately, the children would still be taken if they could be found early enough."
"Would they have taken me?" asked Buffy.
"If they found you early enough?" asked Giles as he looked at Buffy, "then yes, they would have taken you. I don't doubt it."
"That sucks," said Buffy as she twirled the stake in her hand, "I guess I'm the lucky one."
"Have you talked to Angel?" asked Giles who wanted to change the topic. It was then that looked up at the sky when he thought he saw something moving above him. Looking at the night sky, he squinted his eyes and search the darkness before he looked down at Buffy once again. Giles frowned and walked toward the Slayer who continued to walk, and talk, all the while oblivious to the fact that Giles wasn't at her side. The Watcher rushed to her side before she stopped talking and looked at the man confused.
"Did you hear what I just said?" asked Buffy.
"Sorry," said Giles as he looked up at the night sky, the half-moon being covered by clouds, and then he looked back down at Buffy, "I thought I saw something... maybe it was a bat. So, you were talking about Angel?"
"Yea," said Buffy nodding her head as they continued to walk again, "he's getting with the Order of Teraka's guys and telling them that the contract on me is over since Spike's dead... well, at least, we think he's dead."
"I did go back to the church and found nothing," said Giles, "we could assume that he and Drusilla were killed, or… well, I dread to think of the alternative. But I feel that if Spike were still alive, then he would come after us immediately in revenge… and since he hasn't."
"We assume he's dust them, or at least unable to talk... or something," said Buffy nodding her head as she raised her hands up, "I can take that. Two crazy vamps are gone, and now just the good old regular vampires, regular demons, and apocalypses."
"Indeed," said Giles as he fixed his glass when Buffy suddenly stopped and turned to her left to see a large mausoleum. She looked over her shoulder at Giles and put her finger to her lips, indicating to Giles that he should be quiet; and then she pointed at the mausoleum before whispering that she thought she saw shadows moving behind the door that was slightly ajar. She took out her stake while Giles reached into his jacket and took out another stake with his right hand. He was behind Buffy as they approached the door; and once they had gotten closer, he saw Buffy take a deep breath before she kicked the door open and stepped inside the doorway to see a nest of vampires who seemed to have finished feeding on a young man, and a woman by candlelight. The flames flickering against the wall, the same flames that caused the shadow earlier that Buffy had seen from the outside.
"Hey," said Buffy with a smirk as the group of five vampires looked up at her and growled, "I'm from the city… you know… here collecting rent and, you guys are so overdue."
The vampires growled as they rushed towards Buffy and Giles who stepped back out into the open since the mausoleum had no room for the Slayer to maneuver. Buffy ducked and then staked the first vampire, who turned to dust.. but before she knew it, the second vampire behind the one that was just dusted used the first one as a screen to punch the blonde Slayer. Buffy stumbled back while she grinned at the one that just hit her. She then went and punched the vampire, throwing him into the one behind him while two other vampires went after Giles. She saw out of the corner of her eyes that one of the vampires had pushed Giles into the second vamp that had gone after him. However, that distraction earned her a punch in the abdomen before she spun around and swept the legs of the vampire attacking her from under his feet. When he was on his back, Buffy staked him just as Giles headbutted the vampire who was holding on to him from behind, before turning around and staking him. However, the other vampire that was behind him slammed a back fist to the side of his head, and the Watcher fell to the ground and dropped his stake.
"Giles!" shouted Buffy as she punched the vampire, who managed to block the punch, and then kicked out at the Slayer. In the meantime, Giles was groaning on the ground as he tried to get up, he could hear Buffy fighting her own vampire... a vampire who seemed to be the Alpha of the nest since he was giving Buffy a harder time than the others. The Watcher, whose vision was blurry from that hit he took to the side of his head tried to get up. As he was getting up, he could see the second to last vampire, the same one who back fisted him, rushing towards him when he was suddenly thrown to his left; slamming onto the ground as if he was hit by an invisible wall. Confused, Giles slowly got up just as he saw someone, or something, land close to him before rushing towards him. Giles saw the figure help him up, and it was then the older man managed to get a look at the grey goggles, the balaclava, and then the jacket, and he then looked back up at the goggles.
"You are kidding me," whispered Giles with a frown at the figure.
He swore he could see a smile under the face covering. However, before he could say anything else to the figure, he noticed movement over the figures shoulder and said, 'look out'. He then saw the figure turn around and then telekinetically hit the vampire in his abdomen, an action that made him step back. Giles then saw the dark clothed figure, someone who was a woman given the figure, punch, and then kick the vampire… making him step back again before she gave him a headbutt that made the vampire grab his head in pain. Giles then saw the figure in black reach out her hand at Giles, just as Buffy dusted her alpha vampire; Giles felt the stake leave his hand as Buffy turned around to see what happened next. The stake flew to the dark figure who then grabbed it in mid-air before turning towards the vampire who growled at her. She then rushed the vampire while telekinetically punching him before she connected a kick to the side of his head. Buffy and Giles then watched the figure punch the vampire one more time with her fist before staking him.
Giles and Buffy saw the figure panting as the vampire turned to dust before the figure looked at Buffy who was looking at the figure, and then at Giles and then at the figure again. Buffy could tell from the body type that whoever was under that mask was a female, and she was about to say something when the figure threw the stake over at the blonde Slayer.
"Umm… thanks?" asked Buffy as she looked at the stake, and then at the figure who tilted her head at the blonde, "ok… this is getting a bit ridiculous. You do know that all of this is…"
Buffy opened her mouth wide, as did Giles when the figure looked up at the sky and then flew away into the night.
"Uh," said a speechless Buffy who looked at the sky, and then at Giles, and then back at the sky again.
"Flight," said Giles as he searched the sky for the figure whose costume had blended her into the darkness, he knew exactly who it was underneath that balaclava... and he was going to have a few words with Willow tomorrow. However, the Watcher couldn't help but smile a little as he looked up into the sky when he realized the real reason why Willow had cut her hair.
"Uh huh," said Buffy shaking her head as she walked towards the older man, "oh, Willow and Xander have got to hear about this."
"I can't wait to hear what they have to say about this new… person," said Giles.
"Yeah," said Buffy, "tomorrow's gonna be fun."
"Indeed," said Giles as he fixed his glasses, "I say we've had enough of the unexpected for tonight, I'll drop you home."
"Cool," said Buffy as she looked at Giles, and then at the sky again, "flying.. that's new."
TBC