Then

One of the really brilliant things about public buildings, Spike reflected, was that there was just no real way to keep a vampire out.

Oh, you can hide all you want, and you can run all you want, and you can even lock yourselves in the school gym if you think it'll help... But it's always just a matter of time.

"I've got a taste for blood," Spike declared as his forces finally made their way through the barricades and began to cull their way through the crowd. "Leave the weak, leave the young," he ordered his men.

Fifteen hungry vampires turned as one to face their leader with a single unspoken "huh?"

Spike let out an annoyed grunt. "The weak don't taste right," he explained, clearly feeling this much should be obvious. "And they just make you all sad and droopy. Kill them and move on. As for the young..." he added smiling wickedly, "they belong to me."

"Are you sure about that Spike?"

Spike looked up and came face-to-face with the one person he had really been hoping to encounter tonight. "Hello, Slayer," he smiled. "How's your boy, then?"

But Nikki Wood wasn't the type to fall for Spike's little head games. "He's safe," she assured him, matching his smile with interest.

"Are you sure about that?" Spike asked, continuing their funny little dance. "After all, you've already invited me into your flat, it would no problem for me to pop back in."

Nikki wasn't about to raise to the bait, if she told Spike where Robin wasn't, that was his first clue to as to where her son was, and the vampire was nothing if not single-minded about what he wanted. "I'm gonna make you a deal," she declared, letting him see her at full bravado.

"Oh?" Spike raised an eyebrow mockingly.

Nikki nodded. The hostages hadn't been harmed yet and Spike's men would not make a move without word from their leader; she could still get out of this without any loss of life. "This is about you and me," she cast her glance at the hostages. There were two girls in the crowd, shaking and shivering with fright. "Let the hostages go and we'll settle this."

"What?" Spike snorted. "One on one?"

Nikki shook her head, never letting her confidence waver. "Me, you, and every last one of your boys."

Spike's lips curled back into a snarling smile. "Now, you're talking."

"But you let these children go first," she insisted, never dropping her combat stance. "Every last one of them gets out alive."

"Every last one," Spike agreed.

Suddenly there was a loud popping noise as the two shivering girls exploded like balloons.

"Okay... that wasn't me," Spike said flatly.

----

Scotland, Now

"So, have you spoken to Andrew yet?" Xander asked as he sat down on his decidedly unmade bed.

"More times than I want to remember," Buffy groaned theatrically.

"About Warren," Xander supplied. Anytime he had to play the serious one he knew Buffy was something less than comforty.

"I will, it's just..."

"You're worried that he's going to jump ship when he finds out Warren's back," Xander finished.

Buffy flumped down on the bed next to him. "He's not evil, but he's just so easily influenced. First his brother, then Warren..."

Xander nodded. "Then us."

Buffy made her eyes all crossy. "When you point that out it just makes us look bad."

"Sorry," Xander replied sheepishly.

"But..." Buffy continued. "He's always looking for someone else to define him. To tell him who he is and what to do... and that's dangerous."

"Right," Xander agreed. "So why did we put him in charge of an army of untrained slayers again?"

Buffy shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

As she sat there with Xander, Buffy couldn't help but think back on her recent dreams. While in theory all the girls were free to date on their nonexistent downtime, the fact was that they choose this castle because of its relative distance from any major city or town. Dating was difficult for any of them... and all but impossible for Buffy with her exponentially larger workload. It was only natural that her subconscious thoughts would wander in that direction. But Xander? After everything that happened?

In a mad attempt to distract her own mind, Buffy searched the room furtively for absolutely anything to comment on. "You know, if you didn't use all those blankets, you wouldn't need to keep that fan running all the time," she pointed out sagely.

"Ah, but without the fan I'd have no way of muffling the sweet, subtle sounds of young girls in combat boots," Xander countered.

Buffy raised an eyebrow dubiously. "And sound-proofing the room would require some sort of contractor, right?"

"Hey, that fan has a long and important history of blocking out noises and I'm not about to abandon it now," Xander argued.

"You've had it awhile, huh?" Buffy asked, getting the implication.

"Since I was a kid," he admitted.

And then there came another silence.

"Mister Harris! Ms. Summers!" A young slayer burst in shouting. Yet another case against sound-proofing.

"Yes?" Xander asked, more annoyed than he'd ever been to have someone burst into his room shouting his name before.

"You're both needed in the Situation Room immediately!" she shouted.

Buffy sighed. "Just let me grab my scythe."

Xander eyed her quizzically. "How do you know it's a scythey situation?"

Buffy shot him sarcastic face. "Xander, when has it ever not been a scythey situation?"

Xander shrugged, she had him there.

----

"...And if I were the White Witch, I would have settled Aslan's hash, that's for sure," Willow told the young girls confidently. "It's all anti-witch propaganda, anyway."

"Hey, witchy woman," Xander called as he approached her. "Buffy needs you in the Situation Room ASAP."

"Oh, Xander..." Willow started. "I was just talking strategy with your main magic girls, here..."

"Uh-huh," Xander nodded, his voice sounding less than convinced. "She was talking about the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe again, wasn't she?" he asked the young mystics.

"It reminds me a bad time in my life," Willow replied, reaching wildly for the nearest source of justification. "A time you certainly didn't go out of your way to make easier."

"Yes, I was busy dealing with the wedgies, the swirlies, and the occasional purple nerple," Xander answered, taking her by the arm. "Now, let's head to the Situation Room, where there's a situation waiting for us."

----

When she entered the Situation Room, Buffy saw her two most trusted generals were already bickering, which could only be a good sign.

"Have you guys started the briefing yet?" she asked Willow and Xander.

"We were waiting for you," Xander answered guiltily.

Buffy nodded, then turned to the slayer who had been manning the Command Centre in her absence. "What's the story, Renee?"

"Well," Renee began, "as you know, locating a new Slayer is still not an exact science. While certain Potentials were discovered before they were called, many others were not found until significantly later. Ms. Summers herself..."

Xander stopped her with a finger. "Okay, Renee? We're loving the eager, but Buffy asked for the story. What you're giving us is the backstory."

"Which we were kinda there for," Buffy pointed out diplomatically.

Renee nodded nervously. "We found another slayer..."

"Well, that's great," Willow said cautiously.

"...We found her disemboweled in a room full of human corpses," Renee finished.

"Okay," Willow admitted. "Less great."

"Where?" Buffy asked, instantly becoming all businessy.

"Not too far away," Renee affirmed, pulling out a map. "The site was in Falkirk."

"Of course, Falkirk," Xander said purposefully. Every girl in the room turned to face him and Xander was forced to admit. "I don't really know where that is."

"We haven't actually been there yet," Renee continued, "but Ofelia got a pretty clear vision of the place."

Buffy nodded grimly. "Get as much information as you can from her, but don't press her... that couldn't be easy for her."

"Yes, ma'am," Renee responded and left to comfort the ailing precog.

"So, I take it we're going to investigate?" Xander chimed in.

"Something is out there... and it's strong enough to kill a slayer. That seems like the job description to me," Buffy told him darkly.

"Do you need us to go with you?" Willow asked.

Buffy shook her head. "After what happened with Amy and those army guys, I don't feel safe leaving this place unprotected. And an army of slayers is one thing, but you two have more real world experience than all of them put together."

"You're not going in alone," Xander insisted.

"I'll take some of girls with me," Buffy agreed. "But only a few. I don't want to draw any attention."

"So... not Dawn, then?"

----

Rome

The smell of blood had been overpowering even from the street, and he had followed his nose, hoping to find someone still breathing, but not really expecting as much for a second.

No, Spike had known exactly what to expect.

The entire room had been splattered floor to ceiling with human remains, most of them clearly been torn apart by something powerful, but he noted three young girls (identifiable only by scent) that seemed have exploded from the inside.

He tried to convince himself that he would find the thing that did this, but he knew he never could. These people had been here for days, and there was nothing for him to track.

"So, where are you now, Sleeper?" he mused.