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Dawn's POV

"What the fuck are you!?" the killer asked after his gun ran dry of bullets with her mom showing no signs of injury or pain.

"VENGEANCE." Mom replied with threatening calmness before grabbing the man by the shoulders and throwing him like a rag doll through the air.

Whether it was by accident or design the airborne man came down on top of one of his crew sending both to the floor leaving only the idiot guarding the door and one other on their feet but that was going to change.

With as much speed as she could muster without sacrificing skill she grabbed the man's left arm and pulled it in one direction while executing a kick that'd send the leg on the same side to go in the opposite direction. As a result of this she managed to put the man right on his back and since the idiot hadn't been expecting it he was dazed just like she'd been hoping. Before he could recover, while retaining a grip on his arm to maintain control, she lashed out with as strong a kick as she could manage right to his head. Seeing his head snap to the right with the force of her kick she waited three seconds to see if he was even a little conscious but when nothing happened she labeled him as unconscious.

~One down. Three to go.~ She thought reaching under the man's vest to grab his gun.

With the others too far away for her to hope to reach before they got a bead on her she needed something to shoot back with and it would do more good in her hands than in the possession of her defeated foe.

Seeing her mom almost at the location of the sole standing robber she on a whim moved over to the door, unlocked it and pushed it wide open.

"Everyone out! NOW!" she yelled to those civilians in the store.

For a moment the people seemed to weigh their options as well as the risks that were attached to each option but in the end they bolted for the door as quickly as they could. Turning her gaze back to where she'd last seen the remaining gang members she was glad to see that her mom had the one she'd been heading for in vice grip a good foot off the ground. However when she saw her mother's first foe and the one he'd landed on she could see that the former was slowly regaining his senses while the other was visibly angry about how their robbery was going.

Deciding that her mother had things in hand she moved to get a better line of sight on the pair while at the same time moving closer to increase accuracy. While the gun she had in her hands wasn't the same as the pistols that her Gabrielle Van Helsing memories provided her some competency with it was close enough that she was sure she could use them effectively. The moment she saw the duo turn their eyes towards the door and the escaping civilians she opened fire on them aiming to wound rather than kill. Unlike her mom she didn't know how guilty the duo were or whether they deserved death or not so she chose not to take any chances.

One round succeeded in going through scumbag number one's shoulder causing him to drop his gun while the other would definitely be walking with a limp for a while. When the one that'd dropped his weapon made to retrieve it she fired another shot that went through the other arm's shoulder thus it would be quite difficult to use the gun effectively. When the other turned his gun in her direction she took aim, prepared to aim someplace a little more important, but when she pulled the trigger all she got was an empty click. She'd been in such a rush to help her mother that she hadn't checked to see how many shots she had and now she was in a bit of a pinch.

She needn't have worried.

Before the man could shoot a fire laced chain shot through the air like an arrow and took the arm holding the gun completely off. The only good point, if it could be called that, was the fact that as a byproduct of being imbued with fire the chain cauterized the wound preventing it from becoming a bleeding stump. Instead it was a blackened stump that took its owner a second or two to realize that the bottom half of his arm was missing causing the obligatory screaming in agony. The other thug, the one she'd disarmed and shot in the shoulders, took one look at this and made for the door as quickly as he could no doubt realizing that fighting would be beyond stupid.

She tried to stop him but the scumbag had intelligence enough to use the last remaining civilians as obstructions preventing her from tripping him up and sending him off to la-la land.

~Dammit!~ She thought with frustration before turning back to where her mother was, ~He got away!~

Still it wasn't like she could chase after him on foot and in broad daylight because not only would it likely end in failure anyway but it'd also attract attention.

Was it even possible to attract more attention when compared the leather clad flaming skeleton kicking robber butt? Not likely. In fact she probably wouldn't even get mentioned in any witness statements as anything other than a brave civilian looking to protect the rest of them.

~Just to be sure though…~ she thought before grabbing a cheap cloth napkin off of a display and wiping down the gun she'd used as best she could to get rid of any fingerprints.

Giles had already made it clear that while most of the Watchers Council might be stuck in the middle ages the people in the extermination platoon were different. They used modern technology and had connections to all levels of law enforcement as well as a few other sources that could get them the information they required. It'd make sense that they might track their prey to Los Angeles and once there it was only logical to check with the local police for anything that screamed 'paranormal'. Along with pictures of Buffy and Giles it'd be their best bet for ending things quickly rather than doing a ton of legwork searching the city themselves.

~Here's hoping everyone who saw anything got their memories scrambled by the trauma of the whole robbery.~ She thought watching her mom lift the guy with the Scorpion themed bling off the ground with one arm, ~With a little luck any cop taking a statement will just write in 'severely traumatized to the point of seeing things that are not real' instead of 'the flaming skull biker took one a crook's arm off'.~

"YOUR SOUL IS STAINED WITH THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT. THEIR SPIRITS CRY OUT FOR VENGEANCE." Mom said in a way creepy voice, "LOOK INTO MY EYES!"

Less than two seconds later the thug began screaming like someone had set him on fire she almost looked away but she did not. She'd sneaked a peek at her mother's book and knew that this was the ability known as the Penance Stare whereby the suffering of a target's victims were forced upon them without filter or toning down. If what she was hearing was right then the robber had harmed a great many people and had caused them no small amount of pain. Ten seconds later the screaming stopped and her mom unceremoniously dropped the thug to the floor still breathing from what she could see but entirely unresponsive.

Then, much to her delight, the fire surrounding the skull turned to blackest smoke and when it dispersed only her mother's flesh covered face could be seen.

Flesh covered face AND the little fact that instead of her mother's usual dark blonde hair there was now a decided amount of borderline artificial fiery red hair.

It was wavy but not a mess like someone who'd just popped out of bed but rather like you'd expect of woman who took pride in her appearance.

"We'd better get out of here." Mom said after taking a moment to collect herself, "The police will be here soon."

"Right." She said quickly moving to pick up what'd been on her list, "Let's grab our stuff and go."

Her mom hesitated a moment before nodding in agreement.

Walking over the cash register she looked down to surprisingly find that the cashier was still there. She'd have expected him to bolt the moment the opportunity arose and when she looked to find out that he was the manager she was a little more surprised. Still it made things easier so she dumped her stuff on the counter.

"Mind ringing us up real quick?" she asked with a polite smile, "Kinda don't want to play Q&A with the cops."

"S-sure! Right away!" the manager said standing up from his hiding position sounding quite willing to accommodate her.

How nice of him.

A Little Over an Hour Later

Outside of the Mason Family Store

"What've you got for me Danny boy?" he asked after getting out of his tenth patrol car.

Hopefully this one would last longer than the other nine did but somehow he doubted it.

Not with things heating up the way they were.

"About an hour ago four Scorpios decided to rob the place, probably for kicks more than money, only they picked the wrong day to pay this place a visit." Danny replied going through his notepad, "Witnesses are still in a bit of shock so they're not making much sense. All they can agree on is that one of the other customers started having some sort of episode after an elderly woman was killed by one of the robbers for her ring. The customer, a woman in her early thirties, then decided to take care of the murderer herself only to get shot multiple times. Must've been wearing body armour because there was no blood and she didn't stop walking towards him. HELL! They say the woman threw the guy through the air into another guy on the other side of the store!"

"Could've been wearing body armour. Would've kept her from bleeding and the pain would send a spike of adrenaline through her. Maybe enough to help her with the toss." He speculated since that line of thought would certainly explain things.

"Witness' say she was wearing biking leathers." Danny said with some doubt, "Unless she's got a really eccentric tailor then that's a big no to the body armour. The adrenaline I can see though from the gunshot wounds but it wouldn't be enough to keep her on her feet for more than a minute. Seeing as how we don't have a body in there or a woman on the way to the hospital we still got a lot of unanswered questions."

Point.

Biking leathers were usually pretty form fitting by design so any sort of ceramic plates or other components common to bulletproof vests would be pretty obvious even to the uninformed eye. If the witnesses were right and the woman had been shot multiple times she'd either be dead or on her way to the hospital. He didn't hear anything over the radio about an injured woman on her way to the hospital and Danny would've told him if her body was still in the store.

"Maybe the guy missed mostly and only one or two hit her. As long as it wasn't anyplace vital she could've walked right out of here before the blood loss got too bad." He proposed knowing unless it was a vital organ or artery a person could survive a good while with a bullet wound.

"Maybe. I'll put a watch on all the hospitals and clinics in the area to be on the lookout for a woman with gunshot wounds." Danny said nodding in agreement with the possibility.

"Check with the traffic cameras in the area too." He said knowing that some of the cameras had been damaged by the gangs and not yet replaced or repaired.

One of the smarter things the Columbians and Jamaicans had done since starting their fight for control over the city's drug trade was to target things like that. Anything that'd help them move about and conduct their business without being seen was suffering some sort of complication ranging from sabotage to destruction to suspected bribing. As much as he'd like to believe that no one in his precinct was on the take he couldn't be sure of that, not one hundred percent, so he did what he could to keep tabs on everything.

The second he got the feeling that someone or something wasn't right he shredded procedure and did whatever sounded good in his mind.

Gave Captain Pilgrim ulcers but the man never failed to back him up when he needed it.

"Almost thought we have a bit of luck though when I saw that the store had security cameras but the damn VCR ate the tape when I hit rewind." Danny said sounding pissed at the machine, "Pulled the plug right away but anyone's guess what got saved and what got shredded."

"C. will do their job." He said having faith in the eggheads, "Let's do ours."

Turning to the store he was just in time to see paramedics wheeling a Scorpion out that was missing an arm and judging by the bandages it was freshly lost.

"What's his story?" he asked not bothering to personally ask the Scorpion anything personally.

"According to one of the last civvies to make it out…and I quote…'threw a chain that was burning and it took the asshole's arm right off'." Danny replied showing how little be thought of the account, "I didn't get a look at the top half but the bottom half is still in there for forensics to look at."

Almost as if summoned he immediately spotted the truck that carried the CSIs pass through the police cordon before coming to a stop a few feet away. What did surprise him though was seeing Doctor Edwards getting out with the usual forensics kit in hand. She was widely considered to be the foremost forensic pathologist in L.A so they normally kept her in the labs so that she could handle the important cases with minimal risk to herself. No one EVER said the reason they kept her in her office was because she was a little past her prime.

No one who wanted to keep their front teeth that is.

"What're you doing here Doc?" he asked curios in spite of himself.

"Hodges, Cortez and Pope were suspended yesterday pending the results of an I.A investigation." Doc Edwards replied without breaking stride or her gaze on the door of the store, "With all the work the Jamaicans and Columbians are giving us Heinemann ordered everyone with the needed credentials to pull double duty when necessary."

~Probably getting pressured by the higher ups and wants them to think he's on top of things.~ He thought with a grimace that he got whenever he thought of his former friend.

When Heinemann got promoted high enough up to have a say in L.A.P.D politics he went from being a friend and someone he could trust to just another suit.

Entering the store he looked about to get a feel for the place and immediately agreed that if it hadn't been for the crappy VCR the cameras could've told them the whole story. Didn't take him long to find the other half of the Scorpion's arm but when he did it immediately made the back of head itch and that was never a good sign. Some people might call him superstitious but whenever the back of his head got itchy shit never failed to get complicated or just plain nuts.

"Interesting. There's very little blood from the dismembered limb but it is evident that it was brutally separated from the Scorpion's body." Doc Edwards said with mild fascination, "If this had been done carefully and with precision I could understand but anything done as quickly as the evidence would suggest would be nothing like this."

He knew what she meant.

In his long career as a cop he'd seen a lot of stuff up to and including seeing someone's arm taken off in the blink of an eye. Everything about the arm he saw in front of him told him this had been done all in one go with little if any finesse. He just couldn't figure out how someone could rip off the arm without leaving a mess of blood and cauterizing the wound the quick way would've burned more of the skin around the…point of separation. From what he could tell there was barely an inch of black burned skin around the edges of the damage area.

It was a mystery and while solving mysteries was a part of the job these types of mysteries he could do without.

"Let me know when you've got a theory." He said as he began to turn back to the door, "I'm gonna look around outside."

Leaving the store he looked about the neighborhood to try and figure out where their 'good Samaritan' might've gone after saving the day. Assuming they didn't have a car they'd have wanted to get off the streets quick since even stretched thin Los Angeles still had a good response time. Walking over to the nearest alley he looked down it hoping to find trashcans on their side or some other sign that someone had stumbled quickly down it.

Nothing or at least nothing he could identify with his years of experience.

He couldn't case all of the alleys and he doubted he'd get clearance to order patrol cops to give every alley in five blocks a once over.

The next possibility would be the subway system since he recalled there was a station a little over seven blocks away. If the good Samaritan headed that way she could be anywhere in the city at the moment or on her way out of it if she knew what was good for her. Scorpion crews usually pulled stuff like this in groups of four and they only had three in custody at the moment. If the guy got back to Vega with news of what happened the Columbians were going to want the woman dead or convince her to try the same thing with the Jamaicans. Either the good lady would succeed in an assault that King Willie wouldn't see coming or she'd get massacred the moment she looked at them funny.

He doubted that the Columbians would care either way.

~It's getting too hot for this shit.~ He thought wiping some sweat off his brow.

"Harrigan! Harrigan!"

"Ah hell! It's Pope!" Danny said with exasperation as Tony Pope advanced towards him with a cameraman following close behind.

Definitely getting too hot for this shit.

The Abandoned Factory

Early Afternoon

Giles' POV

"While I understand your outrage Missus Summers I cannot say I agree with your course of action." He said once both Missus Summers and Dawn finished their story, "This is precisely the sort of lead that the extermination platoon will be looking for."

"I know, I know! I just…I couldn't help it." Missus Summers said with genuine regret, "Those…those men had hurt so many and killed even more! Vengeance was demanded!"

"Demanded by who?" he asked even though he had his suspicions.

"By the spirit of vengeance, Zarathos." She replied sounding somewhat uncomfortable, "According to my book the story that's most often the case is a human gets approached by a demon called Mephistopheles when they're desperate. Desperate to avoid the hangman's noose or desperate to save someone they know from dying because of a disease it doesn't matter. He offers to solve their problem in exchange for one single thing: their soul."

"Such deals almost never end well." He said remembering countless recorded instances in the Watchers Council historical records.

"Not in this case for sure. Most humans who sign either don't believe he can come through on his end of the deal or they don't care what happens to them as long they get what they want." She said with eyes that implied that she was seeing things in her mind, "In every case though the people that agree quickly come to regret their decision. Mephistopheles tends to obey the letter of the contract but not the spirit. He can save someone from the hangman's noose only to have something worse happen to them afterwards or save the loved one from the disease only for them to die in an accident a week after the good news is received."

"Even the most learned and experienced who try to word such agreements to cover all the bases fail in such situations." He said remembering the few incidents he'd reviewed when studying to become a Watcher, "What do these deals have to do with Zarathos?"

"Mephistopheles often approaches these people when he's in need of someone to become his 'Rider'. His 'Ghost Rider'." She replied coming out of her inner memory review, "It doesn't happen often but sometimes the demon needs an enforcer, a bounty hunter, to go after those who either escape his domain in hell or try to break his contract with them. To give them the power to do this he fuses them with the spirit of vengeance Zarathos. According to my book Zarathos is a fallen angel obsessed with dealing out vengeance to whoever or whatever has spilled innocent blood. It can sense when people guilty of this are close and if innocent blood is spilled in front of it…"

"…It becomes all the more insistent. I imagine that if you feel the same way then any resistance becomes minimal." He said as the pieces fell into place, "It may be prudent then for you to remain here for the duration of our stay here in Los Angeles. According to the radio the gang war that is building between the Columbians and the Jamaicans is becoming decidedly more violent. Neither side is showing much concern for civilian lives."

"Then it's definitely not a good idea to put Missus S in the middle of that." Xander said showing where he stood on the matter, "Anyone else have any new urges that might cause problems?"

"Nope." Dawn replied shaking her head in the negative.

"Not that I've read." Jenny replied sounding fairly certain.

One by one the remaining members of the group stated that as far as they knew they didn't have to worry about the same sort thing happening if they went outside. This relieved him for the most part since it meant that he only needed to worry about the usual recklessness his charges exhibited. None of them were the sort to ignore innocents in need of help but between Willow's level head and all of their healthy survival instincts they should be able to keep from drawing any more attention to themselves. By now he was certain that the Council extermination platoon was in Los Angeles and that meant that they couldn't afford to send up any more metaphorical flares.

"If the assassin team's in L.A then let's find someplace else to be." Cordy said sounding like she wasn't in favour of hiding.

"That would be unwise. If the extermination platoon suspects we are here it is likely that they have taken the precaution of preparing something to inform them if we attempt to leave. Ward stones along the major roads out of the city perhaps." He said attempting to anticipate the actions of those who wanted them dead, " The better course of action would be to remain hidden and wait them out. Given the haste of our departure and the degree by which we've been changed it is unlikely that they can locate us magically. Once they are satisfied that we are no longer here or never were here they will move to the next most likely search area. THEN we can leave."

It might not be the most proactive course of action but it was the safest.

"Then we're going to need to get everything we can for a siege G-Man." Xander said sounding like he was volunteering, "If the plan is to hunker down and wait for the bad guys to go away then we'll need to get as much food and water as possible. The more trips we have to make to get what we need the greater the odds of someone from the platoon spotting one of us."

He had a point.

Even if they exercised extreme caution some of what they needed was not easily acquired and there were only a limited number of places in Los Angeles where they could be found. It is likely that the platoon had the locations that possessed food commonly consumed by demons under surveillance and that would mean trouble for Xander. While Janus had made it clear that other food could be consumed blood either animal or human in origin would be needed in order to maintain his strength. He would likely need to consult with Angel in order to determine if he knew of any safe sources of blood in Los Angeles. True a local meat processing plant would certainly be worth investigating and he was fairly certain there existed a demon market of sorts that might sell some as well. They would likely also need some means of keeping it from spoiling like a refrigerator or even a bucket of ice but both could be acquired easily enough.

"Have you forgotten about the little thing called MONEY!?" Cordelia complained focusing of course on the thing she missed the most.

"Then we go with my plan. We mug vamps like there's no tomorrow taking any cash they have and pawning anything that looks like it'll fetch a decent price." Xander said with a bit of irritation as he conveyed his strategy once more, "We do it all in a single night. ALL of us."

"I like this plan!" Cayde declared sounding overjoyed at the prospect of getting out of the factory, "Missions like this are a Hunter's bread and butter! Count me in!"

"While I agree that our goals would be achieved more swiftly if everyone were to participate even the cover of night will not hide the 'unique features' some of us possess." He pointed out recalling how bright the large American cities tended to be.

There were precious few areas dark enough to conceal the inhuman forms some of them possessed.

"Look I know it's not perfect Giles but what other options do we have?" Xander asked with concern and exasperation, "We barely have anything to live off as it is and sending groups of two or something each day is only going to drag things out."

As much as he wanted to say that they should think of something else he couldn't think of something else. Uprooting them all from Sunnydale less than a day after Ethan's bloody spell had given them little in the way of time to gather what they needed to survive. However it had been necessary in order to ensure that they escaped Sunnydale before the extermination platoon cut off all means of escaping the Hellmouth. While he had been in this factory all day he had taken stock of their inventory and done his best to ration everything to last as long as possible.

If they were unable to take in any new supplies they would be able to survive for a week at best.

He somehow doubted that the platoon would abandon Los Angeles any sooner than fourteen days without any leads promising or otherwise.

"Very well. However I must stress that everyone do WHATEVER is needed to maintain stealthy and hidden." He said mentally thanking Willow for successfully coming up with a means of replenishing the ammunition for his gun even if it was only a little, "If we are to survive no one can know we exist or where we might be found. Do not take a direct route away from here or return the same way."

"Got it. Be all ninja-y and lose any tails on the way back." Buffy said summing his words up in her own unique manner.

"So we've got to make up a list if places to hit. This has to be organized if we're going to get the most we can tonight." Miss Calendar said pointing out something that needed discussing.

"I know where most of the major vamp gangs are located." Angel said materializing into existence, "A…friend pointed them out to me once. If they're still operating out of the same places we can hit them for whatever they have."

"Do they have any…connections…that could come back to harm us?" he asked knowing that organized demon or vampire groups occasionally formed alliances for mutual protection.

Harming one could lead to retaliation from the other.

"Only one or two. Most of them will be glad their 'friends' aren't around anymore since it'll mean that they can expand their territories." Angel replied with a quick blink of his 'eye', "Not exactly a lot of honour among vampires without some kind of blood pact or leverage to keep each other 'honourable'."

True.

While some demon species had codes of honour or rules of conduct vampires operated by a single rule: the strong rule and the weak do what they're told if they want to live. Cannon fodder for vampire factions was easy to replenish and trusted lieutenants got regularly reminded who the alpha was in their pack. It was the rule through fear approach where one's life expectancy was determined by how valuable you made yourself to the boss.

"Still be on the look out for these symbols." He said using an old screwdriver to draw them into the floor at his feet, "When I was assigned to be Buffy's Watcher I was given a file containing information on every 'mover and shaker' in California. These are their symbols. If you see this anywhere withdraw immediately. We do not have the means to survive any of them."

All of those present nodded in agreement and he sincerely hoped that some of the more…free spirited members…would actually take his warning to heart.

If for no other reason than to prevent the migraine that'd result from defending them from the extermination platoon AND whatever factions they wound up provoking.

A Boarded Up Mini-Mall

Jenny Calendar's POV

~I can't believe I'm doing this!~ She thought from her perch on a rooftop across the street.

Before Halloween she was a techno-pagan witch doing a job she didn't agree with for her family. None of that really implied that she would be fighting vampires and even after allying herself with the 'Scooby Gang' she'd never been forced to do it solo. Now she was about to attack the HQ of one of L.A's vampire factions to make off with their money as well as anything valuable she could find. The fact that she had powers she'd only just found the on/off switches for the abilities she'd inherited from Morrigan only made this venture a little less dangerous than it would've been.

Now while shock and awe would let her get a lot of kills in before they regrouped Rupert had been pretty insistent that they all keep things low key. That meant no explosions, no light shows and if guns got involved keep the shooting to a minimum. So that only left her going all 'ninja-y' as Buffy had put it, probably pick off as many as she could before being noticed and then go old school on them with whatever sharp piece of wood she could find. If all went well then it'd only be her standing in a building full of dust and then she could bag everything before bugging out.

So no pressure…right?

~Okay so we've got three vamps pretending to be hobos guarding the perimeter.~ She thought as she cased the area around the abandoned mini-mall, ~Got to figure double that at every other window looking for anybody suspicious walking right up to their front door.~

Oddly enough though there were only two vamps on the rooftops but she guessed that they didn't think they needed any more. After all the number of threats that could descend upon them by air were few and most of them were pretty easy to see coming. Mechanical methods of flying tended to be loud and the non-mechanical ones were both slow as well as easy to spot given the size of their wingspan.

Fortunately for her she was neither loud or all that big and as long as she didn't drift into their lines of sight they'd be none the wiser. It was the best way for her to get inside without being seen and from there she could begin to dismantle the opposition one at a time. With that in mind she took to the air ascending up high before beginning coasting over towards the mini-mall doing her best not to be seen or move fast enough to attract attention. It was a little easier since the senses of an Aensland succubus were quite sharp allowing her to see through the gloom of night and great distances without too much difficulty. She had no trouble seeing which direction the vampires on the rooftop were looking and with only a slight angling of her wings she could adjust her flight path.

A few minutes later, when she was sure they were in no position to see her, she descended and when she was just eight feet from the roof she let herself drop. Without making a noise she landed and with measured steps she approached the closest vampire waiting until the last possible moment. Then using a move she'd seen in a manga comic book once thrust her right hand forward while shaping it like a spearhead aiming right for the bloodsucker's throat. With ease that almost surprised her the spear hand thrust went through the undead's neck eliminating its ability to make any noise beyond gurgles. Then, just to be on the safe side, she grabbed it's head with her left hand and once she was sure of her grip yanked for all she was worth.

Pop went the head and then came the ash as the vampire's body fell apart before her eyes. Unfortunately she found out that even if you take out their voice box they're still capable of emitting a death cry when they die. Knowing that the other roof vamp would hear she took a gamble and executed a short teleport to a position right next to it. With all the speed she could muster she ripped its throat out before taking its head off just like she'd done to its 'friend' leaving her alone on the roof.

Taking a moment to listen she didn't hear any signs of increased activity so she presumed that meant that the 'hobos' hadn't seen anything or heard anything. Immediately she moved over to the roof door since despite how it looked in the movies air vents weren't the best way to get around an enemy building unnoticed. Carefully she opened the door while looking for any sign of more vamps but when none were revealed she began her descent step by step. Hearing at its sharpest she proceeded into the mini-mall while keeping her eyes peeled for any of the symbols Rupert had been worried about. While her clan had never done any research of California for potential threats and known factions she did agree that they didn't need to add to their list of enemies by pissing someone off.

Further and further she went successfully managing to pick off a few more vampires before reaching what looked to be their main congregation area. Peeking around the corner she did a quick head count before jerking back to safety when one of the undead looked in her direction counting almost twenty vampires. It looked like the place had once been a food court but had been partially stripped of useful parts and a bunch of new furniture brought in. It hadn't been hard to spot the leader of the group since he had the biggest chair in the court and was dressed in clothes that would've been very fashionable…in the late eighties.

Personally she thought that a major vampire faction would have more members but then she realized that the rest could be out in the city feeding, doing jobs or bringing back a 'choice meal' for their leader. She didn't see anything as convenient as a safe or even a chest for where the faction would store their cash and other valuable items but she didn't think they'd be too clever with regards to where they put their precious things. If worse came to worse she'd just pry the information from the last vampire she fought before dusting him.

Taking a deep breath to steel herself she then darted around the corner aiming her advance for the closest vampire giving him just enough time to widen his eyes in surprise before she struck. It wasn't anything fancy and it wasn't pretty but she knew that if she was going to get out of this in one piece she couldn't afford to get bogged down by any one opponent. One hit and one kill just like snipers. If she couldn't come at the right angle for that then she'd go for a shot that'd halve the vamp's mobility before moving on to the next target of opportunity.

As expected there were the exclamations of surprise and anger but she didn't bother to pay too much attention to it since she'd need to maintain as much environmental awareness as possible. She could not afford to get blindsided even once or they'd dog pile her and she did not know quite yet if her new existence came with increased durability or healing. Out of the corner of her eye she saw two of the vamps bring shotguns out of a duffel back but she didn't give them time to use them. Using one of her more long ranged but non-flashy attacks producing two spade tipped extensions from her wings and sending them at the vamps. It was a choice made spur of the moment and she'd only gotten in a few hours of practice with it but that proved to be just enough. One vamp was struck right where the heart would be and surprise-surprise it dusted even though her attack was not the least bit wooden while the second vampire had the arm holding the shotgun taken off.

Before too long all that was left was the leader and four of his bodyguards none of them looking like they approved of the current situation.

"You must think you're pretty clever." The leader said his demon face a little more pronounced than most vampires, "Everything fell into place like clockwork. Well you made one big mistake!"

"Oh? And what might that be?" she asked trying to exude confidence with just a smidge of condescension.

"You didn't kill me right from the start!" the leader replied tearing off his shirt to show a tattoo of one of the symbols Giles had told them to stay the hell away from, "The time has come my sired to show your devotion! Kěnéng xiěyè gěi wǒ lìliàng! May blood give me power!"

With those words the symbol on the vampire's chest began to glow red and then with all the subtlety of a hammer between the eyes four spikes of blood shot out from the leader to impale the bodyguards. While the lesser vamps did look to be in pain she could see the near fanatic devotion in their eyes even as their vitality was drained out of them. It wasn't like their leader was sucking all the blood they had out of them but rather all the time they might have had in their undead lives had she not come for them. Like someone managed to videotape a corpse decomposing to dust and then showed it happen at super fast speeds she watched as the bodyguards turn into skin covered skeletons before whatever held them together failed transforming them to ashes.

As for the leader…if she thought his inner demon was showing before then it was halfway out the door now and it had company. She'd seen the drawings of older vampires like Kakistos and even a crude drawing said to be of a breed only a few centuries removed from the first vampires the Turokhan but this was something else. If she had to make a bet then whatever demon faction this vamp was allied or contracted with was channeling its power through the tattoo to make the bloodsucker more powerful. She had not been expecting this at all. When Giles had mentioned symbols she'd been expecting carvings in the wall or some sort of jewelry not a concealed tattoo.

"You have dared to provoke the wrath of your betters." The vamp leader said with another voice accompanying the one that was his, "You will be taught a painful lesson in respect."

~Well shit! Rupert tells me not to do something and I wind up doing it.~ She thought even as she realized that the time for subtlety was done, ~Here's hoping I survive to be lectured.~

"Too bad for you I'm a poor student!" she yelled even as she gathered as much power as she could before unleashing her next attack.

Soul Fist.

Like the skull of a serpent her attack shot across the room, its jaws opening wide in preparation to bite its prey, and when it impacted on the enhanced vampire she was pleased to see it go airborne. It flew a good five feet before hitting one of the concrete walls of the food court and while it did not leave a dent she was certain some damage had been done. When it rose from the floor however she beheld something that told her that even if she could hurt it she would need something more to kill it. A visible wound had been made in the vampire's chest in the shape of a serpent's head that had its mouth open wide and blood did pour from it. However it was also showing signs of healing at an accelerated rate that should've been impossible for a bloodsucker without some sort of blood magic being involved. If this was being done to bone as well as to flesh then this fight was going to last longer than she'd like it to.

When you had only recently gained powers to work with and were fighting a stronger more experienced foe the best course of action was to finish it as swiftly as possible. The longer the fight took the more evident your weaknesses would be and from there the easier it'd be to come up with an effective strategy to take full advantage of them. When you had backup the danger was lessened but she didn't have anyone to fight by her side.

So she had only one chance.

Go all in and hope that enough of her moves caught the enhanced vampire off guard that she could kill it.

With that in mind she tapped into the power within her to fly forward she ducked under the vampire's claw slash with its decidedly longer fingernails before delivering an uppercut that was accompanied by the sharp edge of her wing. As soon as he was in the air she used her magically derived flight to give her the means of doing a back flip kick to slam yet another blow to the vampire's jaw. This time though she knew she'd broken the bloodsucker's jaw with a concussion as a bonus but with the increased healing it was displaying the gain wasn't as much as she'd have liked. However it did provide her with the chance she'd only ever imagined seeing in a pro-wrestling business crewed by combat mages. With one more push she quickly matched the vampire's height and before she could second guess herself wrapped both her arms around him before pulling a full one eighty turn aimed at the floor. Willing the two of them to spin around like a top she built up one final charge of flight power before letting it go sending them both towards the ground.

Then just before they hit she pushed off of him only SLIGHTLY miscalculating so the roll across floor was only SLIGHTLY painful.

Rolling onto her hands and knees she looked to see if her all or nothing move had paid off and saw that it had just like she'd hoped. While the vampire wasn't dusted its efforts to stand back up were proving to be less than successful with difficulty persisting at the halfway point. Her spiral slam into the ground had broken quite a few bones with some of the popping out of the skin at the wrong angles making her believe that even with enhanced healing it'd be a while to fix things.

"You are more powerful than I thought." Came the second voice from the vampire leader's mouth proving that it was mystical in nature, "However do not be too proud. This only means that I must activate the clause in my pact with Hu Lun. It will be time consuming to replace him but not impossible."

She only had a moment to think on what'd been said before the vampire leader Hu Lun began convulsing like someone had shoved a cattle prod up his ass and pressed the on switch. However this proved to be more than just a sort of punishment as she began to the vampire's flesh bulge then distort as though invisible hands were sculpting it like clay into something different. The sculptor was not limited to the existing mass of the vampire though since its musculature quickly grew too big for its skin to cover resulting in tearing. In a matter of seconds it'd gone from a six feet tall man to a fifteen feet tall thing that'd give the tallest NBA player a height complex. It's muscles were like tree trunks but if its actual strength was as far above what the normal for such a size like a normal vampire was above a human of the same build then she was in trouble.

~Please let the rule about increased mass leading to smaller movement!~ She thought preparing herself to evade what would no doubt prove to be devastating if they successfully hit her.

BAM!

CRRSSHHH!

It took the impact of hitting the ground to finally get her brain to reboot but she almost wished it hadn't as pain rippled throughout her body like she'd been worked over by someone with a sledge hammer. Peripherally she was also aware that she was bleeding but with the fear of what she now faced firmly in place she knew she didn't have time to worry about her injuries. This…this contract clause monster was faster than its mass should've allowed it to be and the fact that it'd managed to hit her without giving her any time to react did not bode well. In order to dodge or block something she needed to be able to see it coming.

She had NOT seen the thing get close enough to hit her never mind the actual attack but the fact that she now found herself outside of the mini-mall gave her a good idea of the thing's strength level.

She was done.

If she'd known how much of a power up the monster was going to get in advance she would've used Morrigan's doppleganger power to create a magical duplicate of herself. She would've teleported herself to safety abandoning her mission for the sake of self-preservation. Running definitely was the smart move at the moment but she could tell immediately that her body was in no shape for it and teleporting wouldn't get her very far. She was still an amateur at blinking from one location to another and for now at least needed to be able to see where she wanted to go before trying anything. Given her present state she very much doubted that she had the strength to teleport more than four or five times before becoming exhausted completely. That at best would get her a few blocks away and depending on how much she'd pissed off the monster it would not have trouble pursuing her and then killing her.

All that was left was to decide how she wished to die: at the hands of the monster or as a result of her wounds.

Doing the former was dangerous not for her but for the others since she knew off the top of her head several spells that could use the body of a fallen enemy to locate its allies. If the demon that the vampire leader had formed an alliance with chose to investigate her more thoroughly it could use her to find the others. Whether she died at the hands of the monster or her own wounds the result would be the same so she needed to destroy herself to the very last speck of blood. She could not leave ANYTHING behind to be used in spells like that.

Fortunately for her she knew of a method but she never thought that she'd have to use it.

~Uncle Enyos would laugh his ass off if he knew.~ She thought fighting to face her end standing up.

Once she determined that she was not going to be standing any better than she currently was she got started by dipping her finger in her own blood. Then with as much precision as she could manage she began to draw the required symbols where they were needed for the spell she had in mind all the while glancing at the hole she'd made in the mini-mall. Every spell needed a certain amount of time to work and if the monster got to her before she could recite the invocation then it'd all be for nothing.

When the last symbol was in place it was time to make the last move she could to protect Rupert and the others. It was a spell developed by the Kalderash clan as a sort of self-destruct in order to deny their enemies the pleasure of torturing them to death and to keep the clan's secrets from the unworthy. She had never really considered using it herself even if the clan's teachers insisted she memorize how it was done before going off to watch Angel. In her mind the spell was meant for the more dedicated members of the clan who truly did believe that the whole was more important than the individual. While she loved her family and did value the history of the clan she did not support some of the more archaic practices her Uncle Enyos lived his life by. She was a child of her generation and believed that any holdovers from the past that kept them from growing into something more than what they were should be cast aside.

Traditions were fine things but when they did more harm than good only a fool continued to follow them.

Seeing the monster emerge from the abandoned mini-mall she placed her right hand on the largest of the symbols and with an apology to those who'd grieve she began the invocation.

Only to stop when something happened that she had not been expecting.

A length of light that reminded her of rope wound up behind the monster before being cracked like a whip taking the head of the one who'd injured her so badly. The universe had a sense of drama since it was a full three seconds before the body realized that it was missing an important component and dropped to the ground dead. It was then that she got an unobstructed view of the source of the energy whip and didn't notice when her jaw dropped in shock.

"It would seem that luck favours you tonight Janna Kalderash."

An Abandoned Subway Station

Buffy's POV

~Half of this is SO going into my clothing fund.~ She thought as she zipped up the bag containing her haul for the night.

The vamps she'd found here hadn't had much cash on them but fortunately for her one of them had a thing for bling so there'd been a sizeable stash of jewelry for her to pocket. The tough part had been killing every single vampire in the station without resorting to using…THEM…but she'd managed if only just barely. The vamps had been more organized than she'd been expecting since most of the time the bloodsuckers she'd fought were little better than bar brawlers. Sure they'd occasionally team up but their moves hadn't been coordinated and their desire not to hit an ally by mistake had given her openings she'd been able to use to her advantage.

This bunch though had been trained to fight as a team and knew better kung fu than most fledges fresh from the grave.

She'd followed Giles advice and done what she could to stealthily take them out one at a time but she had zero practice at being stealthily. In most cases she preferred taking the more direct approach with her prey and it'd served her well enough in the past seeing as how she was still alive. What did it matter how she killed vampires and demons as long as she lived and they didn't? Looking down at the state of her clothes though she conceded that maybe when they had the time she could ask Giles to teach her how to be sneakier. It might be fun to sneak about, killing them one by one, while they frantically tried to figure out what the hell was going on.

Throwing the bag over her shoulder she headed towards the way she'd come in desiring nothing more than to get topside and return to the others. With the money they got from tonight they'd be able to buy one of those deluxe motorhomes with showers and she'd be able to clean herself up. It'd been days since she'd last showered and after all she'd been through the B.O was beginning to get noticeable along with all the other stuff she'd gotten on her. All of them had gone into public washrooms and with someone standing watch outside had done their best to clean up but it just wasn't the same as a real shower. With a real shower and real body wash she'd finally feel clean again!

She was pretty sure that it'd be the little things that'd keep her sane until they managed to slip the Council's net and disappear.

The tiny bits of normality that when added up could almost hide the freakiness that'd been thrust upon them without their consent.

Once she reached the street she brought up a mental map in her head of where she was and where Scooby HQ was before coming up with a roundabout route between them. She doubted that it'd be perfect but she did the best she could to come up with such a messed up combo of lefts and rights and backtracking that it'd take a professional to figure out where her ultimate destination was. She'd been tempted to take routes that'd require superhuman abilities to keep up with her but reluctantly decided against it in the end. Giles had been relentless in stressing that they needed to do whatever they could to keep from standing out or drawing attention to themselves. The Council kill squad would be looking for stuff like that and better to have them canvassing all of Los Angeles than focusing on an specific part of the city.

Instead she focused on going through places where the more human freaks and outcasts hung out and thanks to her time in the city before moving to Sunnydale she knew roughly where they were. She didn't get too close to the locals but at the same time stayed close enough to make the odd passerby think she was just one of them. She'd been a little worried that one of the outcasts of society might try to rob her but one glare turned out to be enough to make people rethink things a bit. All in all it took her a little over an hour to make a trip that she could've done in half the time if she'd just gone in a straight line.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it there was a sewer entrance to their TEMPORARY home so they could slip through a manhole cover a block away to get inside.

Disgusting.

Disgusting but necessary.

Needless to say she did her best to get down the sewer tunnel and into the abandoned factory as fast as she could.

When she pulled herself up out of the sewer she was a little miffed to see that she was apparently the last to arrive. Judging from the pile of bags and some of the stuff spilling out of them the others had managed quite the haul but the thing that had her interest the most was the presence of a stranger. Dressed in an outfit that was a cross between something out of a kung fu movie and a warrior viking outfit was a young woman about Miss C's age with long grey hair and pointy ears. None of the others looked like they were on edge or threatened so this proved to be enough to keep her from getting territorial.

She still had questions though.

"Who's the feudal princess wannabe?" She asked once the others noticed her.

"This is my cousin Lexi." Miss C replied with a pleased smile, "Looks like we weren't the only ones to get a 'makeover'. Ran into her while I was taking from the demonic and giving to us."

"She was in Sunnydale on Halloween? How'd she find us here?" She asked a little surprised and a little baffled by what she'd been told.

"It wasn't hard." Lexi replied looking like she was fighting to shake off an ice queen personae and was only partially successful, "Inu daiyokai have sharper senses than any normal beast so tracking your scents was easy enough. Plus the Council isn't exactly subtle when it comes to going clean slate on anyone. I figured you'd run and that L.A would be the closest option. After that all I needed to do was wait for a familiar scent to pass by and track it to its source. Good thing it was you Jenny. You were in a bit of a tight spot."

"What happened?" She asked worried about just how close the former computer teacher might've been to getting seriously hurt.

"Turns out the demon I had to steal from had connections to one of the symbols we were warned to steer clear of." Miss C replied sounding like she'd prefer if it didn't happen again, "Didn't find out until the 'fun' had already started so I did the best I could. If Lexi hadn't shown up and cut him in half…I don't think I would've made it back here."

"Not good." Angel said appearing over Cayde's shoulder before floating about, "Killing someone wearing one of the symbols is a good way of getting the attention of one of the major players in Los Angeles. It messes up the status quo. Whoever you pissed off is going to act quick to find out who killed its minion and make an example out of them. They can't let anyone think that someone can off one of their own and not face consequences."

"So now we got both the Council's kill squad after us AND a demonic godfather's goon squad looking to hang our heads over his fireplace." Xander said with a concerned look on his face, "So… we be screwed?"

"Not necessarily. Both Miss Calendar and her cousin are not like anything any demon has seen before. We are each one of a kind and that might well make us harder to track down." Giles said hands fidgeting a little no doubt missing his glasses, "At most we will have to accelerate our plans to fence what we need to and buy what we need to be self-sufficient. For now let us take stock of our gains and determine what valuable items we can turn into cash the quickest."

With that said she walked over to the pile and dumped her bag next to it causing some of the bling to spill out.

"Who'd you dust Buff'?" Xander asked eyes widening a bit at the sight of shiny baubles, "Liz Taylor?"

"I wish!" She replied remembering each piece she'd put in her bag, "Some of the stuff I bagged was BEYOND tacky! Like seriously weird rapper bling stuff."

"So we melt down the metals and sell'em that way. They ain't tacky if we turn them into little blocks." Xander suggested with a shrug, "Can't track stolen goods if they don't look the same."

She had to smirk a bit at Xander's resiliency.

Nothing ever seemed to keep him down for long and while not baggage free thanks to Halloween he was coping the best out of all of them.

He gave her hope that they'd all get out of their respective funks eventually.

~Might be a bit longer for me though.~ She thought fist clenching at the memory of the changes her body had undergone, ~I've got a BIT more baggage than the rest of them.~

Remote Parking Lot, Los Angeles

Inside an Unmarked Mobile Command Center

First Lieutenant Makarov's POV

"Status report." He ordered wincing after taking a sip of what Americans considered tea.

"Elements of squads one through three have stationed themselves at the main routes in and out of the city. Wards of detection have been placed at the lesser routes and are keyed to the Slayer essence." Sergeant Rorke replied from his station, "Any attempt by the targets to leave via those routes and we'll know."

"And our access to city systems?" He asked forcing himself to stomach another mouthful of American tea.

"There're signs that someone tried to modify the access point but I managed to get around it. Probably Wolfram & Hart." Rorke replied even as he continued to work, "Fortunately Council agreements with the American government have kept the access points up to date and fully connected to every new system put into place."

Good.

With the Americans sticking to their side of the deal his team would have access to every city camera and computer system there was. It'd cut down on the footwork they'd need to do even taking into account the individual cameras or computers that were down because they were busted or undergoing maintenance. With electronic eyes to look through and with a hidden program that'd notify them if certain keywords popped up in city computers they'd have a lot of ground covered. The only thing they'd have to worry about would be the few 'dead zones' that existed in Los Angeles where there were no functional cameras and city officials were scared to go.

For one reason or another.

~Won't be too many of those.~ He thought based on past experience, ~Demons and vamps know that if they make too many of them it'll only make people look harder.~

Both sides of this supernatural cold war had their reasons for keeping the majority of the human race in the dark about certain things even if they were different reasons.

The only thing that concerned him though was the affect that limited manpower would have on his ability to monitor each camera in the city. With most of his men stationed at the exit routes around the city he was down to just a few subordinates to help him search for their targets. Given the number of city installed cameras Los Angeles likely had that made for quite a few to look through. Even taking into account the desire of the targets and their benefactor to keep a low profile for the time being that left numerous places they could be. Still he knew Travers wouldn't tolerate excuses and likely wouldn't authorize more manpower be assigned to him without a VERY good reason.

That reason likely being exceptional losses on his part or a flashy show of lethality on the part of the targets both of which would make it clear that what he had wouldn't cut it.

Both would bring his reliability into question and Travers didn't strike him as the sort to be all understanding and forgiving.

So if he wanted to keep his rep intact he'd need to succeed with what he had.

~How can I improve the odds even more?~ He thought watching Rorke cycle through the video feed from various street cameras.

One possibility would be to monitor the major players Los Angeles for any suspicious activity such as the deployment of assets or a restructuring of their defensive measures. The Lawyers, the demons and the vampires that called the city home were quite territorial about the areas they controlled so any newcomers would be noticed by them. The only downside would be the possibility of those players getting to the targets first and relocating them someplace impossible to access. Since the whole point of the mission was to prevent the targets from divulging sensitive information to enemies of the Watcher's Council this would be far too risky to even consider.

Another would be to enlist the aid of the local police using a fabricated story that painted the targets as dangerous and best left to the 'professionals'. With an APB put out on the the photos they had of Watcher Giles and Slayer Summers along with their known associates they could cover a lot more ground. Naturally they'd have to stress not to make any effort to approach or apprehend to the local cops but rather to funnel all info gained back to him or a member of his team. The risk with that was the possibility of an ambitious cop looking for a promotion or a cop that didn't like others playing in their sandbox messing everything up. Either the targets would get away or the body count would cause headaches for his bosses back in the UK and that would lead to headaches for him.

~Perhaps if I hand pick the cops that get involved.~ He thought warming more to the second option, ~Screen out any with any disciplinary actions listed in their files. Focus on those that've had good interactions with federal law enforcement.~

So long as he convinced the local commissioner that his people would be involved and not shut out it might just work.

So long as neither the commissioner or the cops assigned to him guessed at the true criteria for the selection that is.

With a workable plan in mind he went over to his own station and began to work on the fabricated story after which he'd access the police files for any potential 'recruits'. The story would be easy enough to come up with since he'd done it a dozen times before without any hiccups and thanks to the Council's access to the needed computer networks any background checks would be green. Add to that the fact that he'd make sure that the paperwork would direct any phone calls to people who knew the truth and the reason they were being called and any story he put into place would be supported.

One of the many benefits of being part of an organization that's been around for millennia.

Wofram & Hart

Special Projects Division Head Office

Holland Manners' POV

"What've you got for me you two?" He asked looking at the two most promising members of his division.

And the two who hated each other with a passion strong enough that both would pull out all the stops to outdo the other. Eventually one would succeed in proving their superiority and he'd be able to make his decision regarding who his second in command would be. As for the one that lost…well…in this line of work it was usually a good idea to have a spare around just in case something happened to your first choice.

"I got a line on them. Apparently last night several local groups some of which we had contracts with were attacked by person's unknown and were robbed." Lindsey replied managing to get the first word in before Lilah could, "Most were small timers but one or two had ties to some of the major players."

"And what makes you think Slayer Summers and her group are the perps?" He asked knowing all too well that someone else could be responsible.

"As part of our contract with some of the victims an investigative team was sent to determine who was responsible and then offer the client options for retaliation. While still in progress preliminary results match no known species of demon." Lindsey replied sounding sure of his position, "There are some close matches but nothing conclusive. Given the firm's long history and interest in species with an aptitude for combat this is something of an oddity."

"An inconclusive match does not necessarily tie it to Slayer Summers and Watcher Giles." Lilah countered clearly hoping to discredit her rival's lead, "While the firm's library of known non-human races is extensive it mostly consists of races that are beings of interest or obstacles to the Senior Partners' goals. It's entirely possible that the ones responsible for the attacks are just unknowns that've chosen now to make themselves known."

"True. We should wait until our investigative teams finish their duties before taking a position on the matter." He conceded agreeing that it was not impossible for new races to appear unannounced, "Do you have any alternative lead worth pursuing Miss Morgan?"

"The detectives on our payroll in the L.A.P.D brought to my attention a case that recently passed through their precinct. A group of Columbian Scorpions decided to rob some mom and pop convenience store thinking it wouldn't be any harder than any time before." Lilah replied sounding dead serious about her intel, "They found out how wrong they were pretty fast. The tape from the store security got partially eaten by their VCR but there're hopes that some of it can be recovered. Witness accounts claim that a thirty-something woman clad in biker leathers transformed into a flaming skeleton and kicked the crap out of them. Actually managed to get a police artist's sketch."

With practiced ease Lilah took out a piece of paper from a folder before dropping it in front of him on his desk. While not exactly something that'd fit in at an art gallery the police sketch artist did have some talent. Looking at the drawing, both of the woman on the left and the flaming skeleton, biker leathers and all he had to admit that the resemblance to Slayer Summers' mother was striking. The whole flaming skeleton thing wasn't exactly original but he couldn't recall it being paired with biker leathers before.

"Considering the robbery I think we should consider the possibility that Summers and Giles aren't under someone else's command but rather have retained their original minds." Lilah proposed sounding sure of her point of view, "If so they've come here to hide from the Council. However given what we know of Summers and her associates none of them have any experience in doing this especially considering the changes they've undergone. If we anticipate how a civilian would try to stay under the radar of the Council we can track them down."

It had been one of the possibilities he'd been considering since the development crossed his desk. Had someone else changed Slayer Summers and her associates as the first step of an agenda? Was it something unforeseen in which the persons of interest retained their souls and original minds? From what investigating he'd done on his own a spell was cast on Halloween that supposedly turned whoever purchased their costume from a specific store. Magic practitioners who lived on the Hellmouth who had ties with them indicated that the Roman deity Janus was the one behind it all. It would be in keeping with what was known about the Roman since introducing so many wild cards would mean a great deal of changes being introduced.

Even more so if they were untrained civilians doing whatever felt like a good idea at the time.

"While it's true that them being untrained civilians gives us an advantage it also adds an element of unpredictability." He said pleased with what he'd been told so far, "However I believe that both leads are worth following. So let's make it a race: whosoever manages to use their lead to track down the targets will be complimented in my next meeting with the Senior Partners AND have a bonus added to their next pay check. A SIGNIFICANT bonus."

He could see the light of interest and ambition in their eyes and knew that they would give this assignment everything they had from his point on.

Every lawyer hired on was specifically chosen because of their ambition, their ruthlessness and their desire to climb the ranks by whatever means necessary. So long as those means didn't cause problems for the firm or the clients of the firm then just about anything was fair play. Those lawyers who lacked the qualities the Senior Partners approved of were ignored while those who had a glimmer or a floodlight level of the attributes were recruited.

Those who made it into his Special Projects Division were particularly ruthless in the carrying out of their tasks in the name of getting a promotion.

Promotions after all meant more money and more influence within the firm.

Given the dog eat dog world they lived in they could always use more of both.

As such the reward of being mentioned favourably in a meeting with the Senior Partners pretty much guaranteed being moved higher up the list of promotion worthy employees. It might not happen immediately but within a year or two…definitely a possibility especially if the victor continued to perform admirably. As for the bonus it could be anything from money, to a magical accessory to the elimination of a target of their choice. The wide range of possibilities alone would be enough to whet their appetite.

A few more pleasantries exchanged as well as some fine tuning of his orders and he dismissed them so that they could pursue their respective leads.

Letting his gaze drop he looked again at the sketch Lilah had acquired from their bought police detectives his mind began to wander in consideration. Just what had Slayer Summers, Watcher Giles and the others been turned into? What powers or abilities did they possess? He was aware of the attacks that had been carried out the previous night from who had been attacked to how many vampires or demons had been killed by the attacker. Some had been gutter trash that anyone could've taken out with the right plan and enough power under the hood but others would usually require strength in numbers as well as a mystical edge. Had the attacks been carried out by an individual or by more than one person? If it had been done by a single person belonging to Slayer Summers' group then that would imply power greater than many in the supernatural world possessed.

To potentially get such power under contract with the firm would be quite the feather in his cap and if things didn't proceed in that direction eliminating the threat such power represented would be equally beneficial to his career.

With Lilah and Lindsey at work on it he wouldn't have long to wait until the targets were located and once that happened they could explore their options. If Lilah was right they would have a champion of the Powers and her support crew to corrupt and turn to their side of the war. Not an impossible task and one they'd been preparing for ever since prophecy implied that Angelus was to play a key role in a future armageddon. If however they refused the generous offers their allegiance might need to be forced or steps taken to ensure the group would never pose a threat to the firm or its clients.

~Just another day at the office.~ He thought sarcastically as he imagined how events would transpire in the days to come.

Interesting would be an understatement.

The Next Day, Early Afternoon

A Home Improvement Store

Xander's POV

"Well that's another thing off the list." He said pushing the box containing the portable shower into the back of the van, "What's next?"

"Well we've got the water purification kit, a solid First Aid kit and now a portable shower." Dawn replied taking a piece of paper out of her pocket, "Next on the list would be to get some machining equipment for Willow then some dusty books Giles wants."

"Then let's get going. Clock's ticking." He said closing the rear van doors.

As much as he'd like to be optimistic like Giles he'd survived like he had by being more realistic with his expectations. By now there was a good chance that the Council's hit squad was in L.A and were in the process of setting up shop to hunt them down. If that was indeed the case then depending on what the terms were between the American government and the Council getting around town without being seen would soon become much more difficult. Add to that the possibility of a demon boss hunting them down for taking what was his or killing his minions and in his mind they had a limited window to get what they needed.

If they could get what they needed and then hole up in their secret base for long enough there was a chance they could outlast their enemies. If they held on for long enough both the Council and the demon boss to assume they'd left Los Angeles eyes would turn away from them giving them the chance to truly flee. Once they were on the road they'd be able to relax some since with an entire country to work with it'd be hard for their enemies to find them. Indeed in his mind it'd take one of them screwing up enough to get people talking to rip away their veil of concealment forcing them to get as far from the location of the incident as they could fast.

Getting into the van's driver seat he started it up and pulled into traffic before heading for the place that had the best chance of having what Willow wanted for sale. It wouldn't be cheap but fortunately the total talley of their ill gotten gains would be enough to cover it without depleting things to the point where they'd need to pull another few robberies. He didn't do any of the number crunching himself but Willow had told him that even if the things on their respective lists turned out to be more expensive than they thought they'd still have enough to last them six or seven months. By that point it was hoped that they'd have found a place to settle down and begin preparing to counter the activities of the Yautja.

What those preparations would be he had NO idea.

How exactly do you prepare to fight alien big game hunters who didn't care if their prey was sentient or not?

Everyone had their own idea but for him the most they'd be able to do would be to train their asses off until they could make the most of their new abilities. After that keep tabs on any locations the big brains thought the aliens might like to visit and figure out a way to get there quick if signs popped up that the Yautja were there. As for the whole idea that the aliens were terraforming Earth via various pyramids scattered across the globe…well…short of blowing them all up real pretty like he had no idea. However when Cayde had suggested the same thing Willow, Giles and Miss C all shot it down. According to each of them it was rarely a good idea to blow up highly advanced technology that they knew nothing about since there was a chance that destroying them might make things worse. Devices designed to change an entire planet could probably destroy a fair bit of it if not shut down precisely right.

In the end it was decided that they'd wait until they were free and clear of the Council and the crime bosses before trying to nail down specifics.

"So how loud and long do you think Cordy's going to be when we get back to HQ?" Dawn asked having gotten comfortable in the passenger seat.

"I figure we won't hear the end of it until just before we go to bed." He replied after giving it a few seconds of thought, "She's still recovering from being cut off from her wealth and class so being told that she'll be wearing bargain brands from here on out will be like telling me I'll be eating stale oatmeal cookies forever instead of Twinkies."

"And you think she'll be bitching until just before we go to bed?" She asked with a bit of skepticism, "If someone took your Twinkies from you I'd put money on six months before you stopped complaining about it."

"I wouldn't be THAT bad. I can quit Twinkies anytime I want." He said defending his preferences, "They're just better than oatmeal cookies."

The look on her face made it clear she didn't believe him one bit.

"Still don't think Cordelia'll complain past bedtime." He said before making a right turn, "She might be strong enough to shatter concrete and can make energy swords out of thin air but she needs sleep just like anyone else."

While all of them might've gotten some sort of physical upgrade thanks to Halloween it hadn't done all that much to change their sleeping needs.

Their dietary needs on the other hand had shifted by quite a bit.

He could still eat normal food, this had been proven since they'd left Sunnydale, but he hadn't done the blood drinking bit yet. According to the Deadboy turned floaty lightbulb there were butcher shops and meat processing plants willing to part with bottled animal blood for a reasonable price. Based on how he felt he didn't think that he'd be needing to refuel his hybrid powers for at least a week and unless the shit hit the fan he doubted that'd change.

Giles' calorie intake had definitely gone up much to the Brit's dismay and it looked like junk food wouldn't hit the spot for what he was now any more than it would for a human.

At first it'd been thought that they'd just have to hit the local grocery stores for food, maybe spread out their needs across several stores in order to draw less attention, but then he'd pointed out a weakness to this idea. While dividing their needs over several stores would keep them from looking suspicious since each stop would only involve a small order it would also increase the odds of being caught on camera. With the Council's hit squad looking for them he'd bet good odds that they'd tap into the local camera networks to cut down on the leg work. If so then going all over L.A shopping for food would only increase the odds of them getting spotted.

As it was they were taking a big risk just getting what they were with the only thing in their favour being most of the stuff they were buying could only be acquired at a small number of stores thus limiting their exposure. Add to that the fact that half the stores didn't immediately come to mind when you were pursuing a group of fugitives then there was a chance their pursuers might overlook them.

Hopefully.

Instead the food would be acquired from temporary food stalls, farmer markets and independent butcher shops since such places were less likely to have cameras and they'd have enough customers that it'd be easy to get lost in the crowd.

All in all they had most of their bases covered and with a little luck they'd be able to get everything back to base without being spotted.

~Spotted again I mean.~ He thought recalling Missus S' spectacular foiling of a convenience store robbery.

He couldn't blame her because if he'd been in her position he would've had a hard time holding himself back from doing something. Still if the crime situation in L.A was anything like he thought it was from the newspapers being sold to what was on the screens of TV's in store display windows the head of the Summers family was lucky it was just a convenience store robbery. Apparently there'd been a few head to head fights between the Jamaican and Columbian drug gangs in Los Angeles with both sides possessing some pretty nasty firepower.

If Missus S and Dawn had found themselves in the middle of something like that…they'd either make a bigger splash than they had at the convenience store or they'd have died.

Nothing in any of the books they'd been given by Janus suggested that they were now invulnerable or could bounce back from any wound. He was pretty sure if enough holes were put in their bodies or if they wound up getting blown to pieces. In most of the books it was stated that their costume selves had either advanced regeneration or accelerated healing. The two shouldn't be considered the same thing. Regeneration was something that could cause a wound to heal up in less than a minute whereas accelerated healing would take a wound that a human would need a month to recover from would happen in half the time if not less.

In any case he'd read enough comic books and seen enough movies to know that characters with either ability could still be killed if their recovery ability was pushed past the point it could handle.

He had no interest in finding out where his or anyone else's limits were in regard to healing a serious wound.

~Too bad Murphy doesn't care what you're interested in.~ He thought as he continued to navigate traffic, ~He just waits for the worst possible moment to royally screw you over.~

He just hoped that with Janus on their side Murphy wouldn't have the free reign the bastard usually did.