Giles' Apartment, 0200 hours.

Giles hoped that they did not fail.

That they did not fail to stop Drusilla from syphoning enough of Angel's energy to rejuvenate herself fully. He hoped that Buffy's hit, which managed to bury Spike and Drusilla under concrete and steel of the church, meant that they were somehow dusted. As he sat in his armchair, with a lit table lamp on the side table on his left side, Giles took a sip from the glass of scotch in his hand. Giles them looked over his shoulder at the back of his couch where the second Slayer, Kendra, was fast asleep.

He then looked back at his glass of brown liquid, and still couldn't believe it, especially since it was unprecedented.

'Two Slayers at the same time,' thought Giles to himself as he looked back up at the wall while drinking his scotch, 'Buffy died just for an instant, and then there's a new Slayer. That's what was supposed to happen, but then Buffy returned. The prophecy girl defies the prophecy… she came back to life. Amazing, simply amazing.'

As he looked back over his shoulder at the couch once again, Giles couldn't help but compare the two Slayers in his mind; both had their unique traits and he couldn't help but wish that Buffy shared some particular traits in which Kendra excelled. Particularly listening to her Watcher. But he also knew that Buffy had already grown on him, and having her be a different kind of Slayer would be off-putting.

Shaking his head, Giles then finished the scotch, and then placed the empty glass on the side table, and then turned off the table lamp. He got off the armchair and was about to walk around it when the phone rang. He looked at the clock on the wall while Kendra stirred in her sleep, before picking it up and then placing the receiver on his ear.

"Yes?" whispered Giles as he looked at the couch where Kendra had yawned and then sat up, her back was to the Watcher as she rubbed her face. Giles was about to give whoever called that early in the morning a piece of his mind when the person on the other line spoke up first.

"Mr. Giles," said an accented individual, a familiar male voice who Giles had spoken with only yesterday, the day that Kendra first arrived in Sunnydale, "I apologize for calling you at this early hour."

"It's fine, Mr. Zabuto," said Giles as Kendra spun around while she was seated and looked at Giles with her eyebrows knitted together, "do you need to speak with Kendra? I should tell you that she was instrumental in defeating both Spike and Drusilla, as well as helping to rescue a friend of my Slayer."

"I am glad she has been useful," said Zabuto, pride evident in his voice. It was the same pride that Giles had felt the day Buffy killed the Master. But Giles could tell that there was something else in his voice, a hint of apprehension and fear, "but that is not why I have called. I realize that Kendra is due to return to Jamaica tomorrow, but I would like for her to stay in Sunnydale with you and your Slayer."

"Is everything alright?" asked Giles as he looked at Kendra who had gotten up in a T-shirt and sweatpants that Buffy had loaned her. The new Slayer joined Giles on the phone while she crossed her arms over her chest.

"There is a great darkness in Sunnydale, Mr. Giles," said Zabuto as Giles looked on confused, "and this has nothing to do with the Order of Taraka, or this Spike and Drusilla. This is something completely different. I have already cleared this with the Council. And I apologize for contacting them before asking you, but I felt that the situation called for urgent action."

"I understand," Giles nodded his head as Zabuto asked him to take over training Kendra temporarily. He then asked to speak to Kendra, and Giles handed her the phone before stepping back. He then walked over to his glass on top of the side-table and headed to the kitchen while Kendra spoke on the phone. He poured another glass of scotch into the glass just as Kendra put the receiver down, and turned around confused. She then looked up at the Watcher and told him that she was to stay in Sunnydale for the immediate future because of this new danger.

"That's what I was told," said Giles as he took a sip while Kendra frowned. Giles then told Kendra to get some sleep, and that he would talk to everyone at the library tomorrow morning. Kendra then nodded her head before heading back to the couch. Giles watched her lay back down before he walked out of the kitchen with the glass of scotch, said good night to Kendra, and then turned off the light. Upon hearing the 'goodnight' from Kendra, Giles headed up the stairs and then into his room before closing the door behind him. The older man couldn't help but wonder what this new darkness was supposed to be.

'No matter what it could be,' thought Giles to himself as he sat on the bed, and then took a sip of his scotch, 'there are two Slayers who would be able to handle whatever pops up, as the Americans would say.'

Sun Towers Apartments, 0600 hours.

"Liam! Help me!"

Kathy heard a voice in the distance as she sat crying at the table in her home. She looked over her shoulder, wiped the tears from her eyes, and strained to listen for that distance female voice. Confused, thinking that it sounded just like her own voice, Kathy shook her head and told herself that she was imagining things. She then wiped more of the tears gathered in her eyes before looking across the table at her mother, and then at her father who was in the bedroom looking out the window. She turned to the maid who was teary-eyed as she cooked something for dinner; the group had returned from burying Liam O' Brien, a son and brother. The twelve-year-old Kathy sat despondently on the chair in the kitchen and watched as her mother broke down and fled to the bedroom where her father remained looking out the window. She heard the door slam shut before her mother's wails could be heard before the bed creaked.

And all Kathy, the young Katherine 'Kathy' O'Brien could do was sit on the chair looking at the table. She heard footsteps behind her, followed by the maid stroking the back of her head before placing a bowl of stew with a large piece of bread inside, on the table in front of her.

"You have to eat, little Miss," said the maid gently before she headed off to her room in the rear of the house. But Kathy couldn't eat anything, she wasn't hungry. All she did was stare at the food for two hours, by which time it was already dark out. She felt a cold breeze flow in through the kitchen window, and she got off the chair and then ran to the window. Closing it shut, Kathy's stomach growled. Shaking her head, she then trudged towards the dining table, and towards her cold dinner when there was a knock on the door.

Her heart racing as the knocks came in a rhythm, the same rhythm that Liam used when he was alive to tell Kathy that he was at home. A grin on her face, and hoping against hope that what she would see when she opened the door was true, Kathy squealed in delight when she swung the door open and there stood Liam with a smile. She saw that his clothes were dirty, but she didn't care… Kathy had her brother back.

The brother she loved, the brother who was taken away from her.

"You came back as an angel," cried Kathy as he hugged her brother. While hugging him, Kathy noticed there was a beautiful woman standing behind him. Kathy stepped back as Liam told her that he was her angel and that she was the reason he came back.

"I missed you so, Liam," exclaimed Kathy as she hugged him again. The young girl was about to ask about the beautifully dressed woman, but Liam beat her to the question by saying that the woman was named Darla, and that she was a friend.

"She'll be showing me the world, Kathy," said Liam as he placed his hands on Kathy's cheeks, and looked into her eyes. Eyes that showed Kathy he loved her, that somehow her brother had returned, "let's all go into the house. I want father and mother to meet Darla, I want to show them that I'm better. That they'll never be disappointed in me again, and neither will you."

"I was never disappointed in you, Liam," Kathy before she turned and rushed into the house. When she noticed that Liam wasn't following her into the home, she turned and looked on as Liam performed an exaggerated bow before asking, as a nobleman would, if he could come into the home.

"Of course, silly," said Kathy as she clasped her hands together while Darla gave a small smile.

"Thank you, Mistress O'Brien." Kathy chuckled as Liam performed another exaggerated bow before she turned and headed for her parents' bedroom while shouting, "Mother! Father! Look Liam has become an angel and returned to us."

"That I have," said a voice with a low growl behind Kathy.

Her heart beating fast, the girl felt herself being turned around roughly before coming face to face with a demon.

"Liam?" said Kathy, her body trembling while a chill ran up her spine, as she looked at his yellow eyes, and then at the forehead ridges, and finally at the fangs. She then looked at Darla who had changed her face into that of a demon while standing outside the door. Kathy saw her as she smiled at her while licking her lips.

Kathy was then pushed onto the floor roughly as Liam sat on top of her, while one hand was placed over her mouth.

"You're a little bitch, Kathy," said Liam as he leaned down towards his sister's face. He saw the tears gathered in the fearful eyes before whispering, "always following me around like a puppy dog. Be the puppy dog you are, and beg."

"Liam," Kathy said with a broken voice after he took his hand off her mouth. She then started to sob, tears falling down the side of her eyes as she begged, "please… I love you… please stop and.."

"That's not begging," said Liam as he growled before he moved Kathy's head to one side, exposing her neck. Liam extended his fangs as Kathy sobbed uncontrollably before bring his head down to her neck, and then he bit through the skin and started to drain the blood in her twelve-year-old body. Kathy saw that her vision was fading while she was being drained; all she could do was grab a hold of Liam's arm and squeeze one last time before whispering.

"Liam," she whispered as her eyes became heavy, and her body cold, "please… please… don't… I…"

Liam growled as he bit down harder, and sucked her blood faster.

"Love…" That was the last thing that Kathy ever said before the hand that was squeezing Liam's arm fell onto the cold floor. Liam then grinned at Darla while leaving Kathy's eyes open, and then killed his mother and father, followed y the maid.

Back in the present day, Beth snapped her eyes open and sat up in bed. She rubbed her forehead before shaking her head at the dream she just had, the dream of the night she died at the hands of her brother. She felt the tears gathering in her eyes, tears that she quickly wiped away as she removed the blanket over her body, and placed it over the drained body of the clerk who she felt had insulted her last night. She looked at the body, after she got off the bed naked, and then smiled.

As she headed for the restroom, Beth thought about all the identities she had taken, the latest being Elizabeth. All identities had her same face except for a tiny change here and there. As she looked in the mirror, she smiled at her own reflection and whispered a spell; a basic glamour that changed her blonde hair to a bright, wavy red. She stepped back from the mirror and looked at the scars all over her upper body, and then she turned and saw the scars on her back.. and Kathy's anger grew towards her brother.

She left everything else the same; she wanted to see if her brother would recognize her. The brother she had chased, and watched, for a hundred and forty-seven years. She stepped into the shower as she remembered the day she heard that Angelus had his soul forced upon him, they were in different areas of Romania when it happened. She had killed an entire village just for the fun of it when she heard one of the elders saying that their descendants would find her, and curse her like they did Angelus.

"Good luck with that," she hissed into his ear just before stabbing him through the heart.

After killing the elder, Kathy stood up and saw the dead all around her. She wiped the blood off her lips with the back of her hand before walking away, whistling in the dark. She knew about the Whirlwind, it was what Angelus, Darla, Drusilla, and Spike called themselves as they went through Europe killing, raping, and pillaging.

The four monsters.

She knew that they were public, they were careless. Kathy wanted to be more towards stealth, and she was thanks to her abilities. Some of her attacks were even attributed to the Whirlwind, but the truth was she didn't care. She just wanted to kill, her anger fuelled her need to kill. She followed them at a distance, always watching her brother and his friends.

And then she lost him during the Boxer Rebellion.

Back in the present day, Beth stepped out of the shower, out of the restroom, and she walked past the bed with the pale, dead, body. She opened her closet and took out a full-sleeved shirt, a skirt that stopped just below her knees, and everything else she needed. Beth looked at the body again and then walked towards the thick curtains in her room. She pulled them apart, feeling the sun on her skin, and then opened the glass windows. Beth stepped onto the balcony, and then looked down at the swimming pool. She walked back into her room, picked up the body, and threw it over the edge. She then walked back in and closed the windows and curtains while reminding herself that she couldn't stay under the sun for too long.

After she called a cab, Beth put on her clothes and grabbed her bag. She then rushed out of her room. She took the elevator down to the lobby where there were panicked members of staff running about. Beth walked out of the lobby while hearing some of the staff saying 'he went home last night', and then got into the waiting cab that took her to the High School. It would be nearly twenty minutes later that she would walk through the hallways, watching people in uniform fixing the security camera's she had ruined that morning. She walked past the student, some of whom turned and looked at her as she walked past.

Smiling as she looked back at them, Beth continued to head to the administration office. It was there that she checked in and then was told to get her books from the library. Which was what she did, and it was the place where she nearly gasped in surprise. Instead, Beth kept herself calm after she swung the doors open at the same blonde girl who appeared in her apartment the last night was talking to an older man.

The only difference was that this girl had a scent, and she could hear her heartbeat.

"We'll talk about our mutual friend later, Buffy," said the older man as Buffy told him that she'll return after second period. She then walked away, waving and nodding at Beth. She nodded her head before turning to the older man.

"I'm Rupert Giles, the school librarian, how can I help you?"

"I'm Elizabeth O'Connell," said Beth noticing the librarian smiling at her Irish accent, "and I need to get my hands on some books."

TBC.