Once again thank you for the support, now can we please get all of the 52 people who have my sotyr on alert and yes I know who you are (evil grin) to review, or I'll the lot of you down. Grrrs. I promise, the actions gonna start soon.

Twice Lucky

Boca Del Inferno

Chapter 8: Introductions

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Well, that was interesting," Angel said, with a dark scowl, as he looked about the room that the three of them were now standing in. One moment, he'd been preparing to take on Kakistos when, suddenly, something - a demon - had landed like a meteorite, right smack on top of the limo, cutting off the Master's plan of attack in one swift punch.

The next minute, he was grabbed and flung through a portal, into here. The demon had stated that Xander Harris had sent her…why didn't that surprise him?

The demon looked at the three of them. "There is sustenance in there," she pointed toward what he guessed was the kitchen. "I took this place from a demon. It is mine now."

"I will be back." The demon reached a hand up and tore open another portal, jumping through. It was eerie; Angel almost had a feeling of déjà vu.

Illyria knew that she had to retrieve Xander Harris; the youngling had given her explicit instructions. She landed a few moments later in the young man's room, surprising him. She grabbed him by the shirt and threw him into another portal, back to the flat she had taken. The youth landed and rolled on the other side, almost gracefully. For a mortal, he had skill.

"Illyria," Xander said, dusting himself off, "Dammit, you need to give me warning."

"There was no time."

Xander scowled and stopped, looking up at three stunned people. He sighed and nodded at them. "Hi, Angel."

"Xander."

"Sorry about that, I thought you might need a hand." Angel smirked and nodded at Xander. "I take it she was successful then?"

"Yup, one Master and his crony down, an odd hundred thousand to go." Xander chuckled, turning on his heel, and without another word, went to the kitchen. He came back a moment later with a six-pack of Coors, pulled one out and tossed it at Faith.

The potential plucked it out the air with a smirk. "Read my mind."

Xander grinned and walked up to her, images flashed in his mind, her hands wrapping around his neck and squeezing. He shook it off and looked her up and down, she may have been a killer in the alternate reality, but in this one, she was Faith, vampire potential… and, soon to be, Slayer.

"See anything you like?"

She had a smirk on her face, her brown curls cascading down. He nodded and gave her a wink with his brown eyes, "Only you."

"Flatterer…"

"What can I say? I see a beautiful woman and I have to look. It's a male thing." He stopped when he saw the older woman looking at him. "This must be your sister?"

The older woman smiled, as he looked at the blue-skinned demon. "Illyria, please take Angel back to Sunnydale, Buffy's going to need him."

"Of course," the demon inclined its' head and did the same with Angel, grabbing him and throwing him through the portal. The vampire didn't have much to say, other than a 'Hey,' before disappearing.

Faith looked the boy up and down, just as he had her. He couldn't have been much more than 15, but he looked good, definitely worked out. His legs and arms were well toned, his skin had a healthy tan about it, and he had a warm and generous smile. His brown eyes seemed to be alight with some joke he didn't feel like sharing with the world. Perhaps, in time, she could come to know what that joke was. For the moment, she simply wanted to throw him on a bed and have her wicked way with him. Faith grinned as he waved his hand to the sofa. It seemed that he shared her thought… too bad her Watcher was there.

"It's Diana, isn't it?" Xander asked. The older woman nodded. "Good, we've got a lot to talk about."

They were sitting on the sofa and chairs, with Faith right next to Xander. In fact, she was practically on top of him, with a leg over his. She had a husky look about her, as though she wanted to jump his bones right then and there.

"I have information that I'm willing to share."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Naturally, for a fee."

Xander nodded. "Once upon a time, there was a small town called Sunnydale"

. … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Angel hit the ground and slid along the floor. Xander hadn't really been specific about where to dump the half-breed, so Illyria dropped him where she found him. She nodded slightly at him before turning around, vanishing, to complete her next mission. She was going to take much delight in wiping out the senior partners. Those powerful demons wouldn't know what hit them; Xander had said revenge was a dish best served cold. In this case, he was definitely right. She ripped open a blue port and jumped through, ready to pummel the life out of them and the law firm.

Faith and Diana both sat there, stunned, as Xander finished his story about the destruction of Sunnydale and the events afterward. Diana was completely lost for words. The Watchers, how in the name of Hell they could be so callous about the Slayer? How they could even contemplate turning their backs on her in her time of need? No wonder she turned out like she had…

Diana now knew what she needed to do. Getting up, after sharing a look with the younger…older man, she nodded her thanks. The time of war was upon them and, by God, was she going to fight.

Faith smirked, as she had thought he looked older somehow, and she couldn't put her finger on it until now. Xander had told them about her dark side and things she had done; she was certain that he had omitted certain details. She knew, for certain, that she had left scars. What they were, she would probably never know, but, at least now, she was able to seek redemption. She moved in such a manner that her leg found his crotch. Old or not, he still had fifteen-year-old hormones, and she was pleasantly surprised at his reaction to her, despite the bad memories. He grinned and reached over to her bosom…

. … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Giles looked up from the book he'd been reading; so far, it had been an interesting week. Not very productive, but interesting. He'd met Diana, heard her story and met Faith. Xander was still about, as was Willow, but neither of them seemed particularly interested in the happenings of the Watchers.

The door to the library banged and a figure walked in, a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She eyed him wearily. "Hello Mister Giles, let's talk about vampires."

Giles sighed. "Look, I must apologise for my lack of tact…"

Buffy smirked. "Miss Watson's got a better bedside manner." Giles nodded, even though he knew she was joking. He waved a hand to the table.

"You're not alone," he said, sitting down opposite her. "There are others out there who fight the good fight, even a vampire."

The blonde's eyebrows rose up. "A vampire?"

"Actually, that's rather an interesting story. Angelus was once known for his cunning and cruelty. He was infamous across the world until roughly a hundred years ago."

"What happened?"

"He killed the daughter of a gypsy clan and was ensouled. One moment of pure happiness and he turns into a monster again." Both winced at the thought. That was the last thing they needed at the moment, was another master vampire running loose in Sunnydale.

"Neat," the blonde answered. "So what do we do now?"

"How about introducing you to some of the people fighting?" Both of them looked up and saw Diana standing there with a big smile on her face.

She walked into the library with Willow, Faith, Xander and Jessie in tow; also following suit was Angel. They all sat around the table looking at each other. "Why am I here," Jessie whined.

"Because you know about vampires, and the more we have who know about them, the more who can support the Slayer," Diana snapped.

Jessie winced and went quiet.

"I think the best thing we need to do is start at the beginning," Giles said calmly. "First off, Miss Rosenberg, Angel tells me you've been doing some research into vampires. Have you found anything of use yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm going to need some blood samples."

Angel nodded with a smirk. "I can help on that one." The witch-to-be smiled warmly at him. Xander couldn't quite get his mind around it. Angel hadn't actually come out of the darkness until, at least, when Spike arrived; and Buffy had practically been fighting on her own up until that point. There was so much happening here at once, that it was quite a bit to take in.

"Right, Vampire one-oh-one," Giles said grimly. "A stake, or any wooden tool, through the heart. Vampires are also highly allergic to silver, sunlight and garlic. You can also use crosses and Holy Water."

Willow looked up, stunned. "I didn't think those old legends were true." Giles nodded. "Oh, I can create some neat weapons out of this." Giles chuckled as she pulled a pad of paper from her bag and started scribbling down on it. He was almost certain he heard her mumble whether or not she could get ordained.

"There is a Master vampire running the underground for the moment. But, sooner or later, we are going to have to take the fight to him." He looked at Buffy. "I would rather we didn't, give it a little more time so that we could train you better."

"Don't worry about it," Buffy waved her arm. "I'm the Slayer. I'll deal with it."

Xander's face darkened at this phrase, so often had she said she would 'deal with it,' and so often had she gotten people killed because of her arrogance. That was going to change, he would make damn sure. Across the room, Faith was looking at Xander and saw the darkness flicker across his face. She correctly guessed that it had something to do with the Slayer. Faith sighed and shook her head in amusement.