Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel belong to their copyright holders, I own nothing.

Chapter 14: The Killings

Willow, Xander, Dawn, and Oz were in a hotel. After the long activities of the night before, they were all tired and really had nowhere else to go. They waited and waited but received no call from Angel. Willow took that to mean Harmony didn't give him the message or he just really didn't want to talk to them.

Anyway, it was morning again. The start to a new day, and it probably wouldn't be a good one. They needed to find a way to save Buffy. The thing was; none of them knew how. She had a soul. Really, what else could be done? Well, there had to be something, because there was no way they were going to resort to killing her like Giles had suggested. There had to be a way. Buffy was dead, sure, but the real Buffy wasn't gone, she couldn't be, she had to be in there somewhere. They just had to find her.

Willow was the first to wake up. Oz was short behind her. They stood awkwardly for a little while, not sure if they had anything to say. Finally, though, Willow decided they should talk. While everyone was asleep, it was probably best that they talked a little to really get a full handle on the situation. They stepped outside so as not to wake anybody and breathed in the morning air.

"You know, you-you don't have to stick around any longer," Willow told Oz. "You just kind of got dragged into this by chance. If you want to go you should leave now, I think. We'd all understand if you did. Things are just a crazy mess right now."

Oz had nothing to say at first. They were quiet for a minute or two.

"I'm not going to leave," he said shortly. "Buffy was my friend too. I want to help you guys…for her."

She smiled. "That's sweet. But really, we won't be mad at you or anything."

"I'm staying."

The tone of his voice was so final that Willow decided that he was telling the truth and he wasn't going to be leaving. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad. There would be some awkwardness between them, no doubt. That wasn't what this was about, though. They were friends. Or, at least, they could be friends. Because there was a big problem that needed to be dealt with.

They headed back into the hotel. Deep down, Willow was glad Oz was staying. It added an extra member to their little group to save Buffy. Plus, there was something just good about seeing him. It kind of reminded her of the old days back in high school. Jeez, that had been so long ago.

Back in the room, Xander was just waking up. Still, they remained quiet enough so Dawn could sleep. They could all imagine that it would be hardest for her, and why wouldn't it be? She lost her sister and then saw her undead sister attack people she cared about not only once but twice. Poor Dawnie.

Xander went out to go pick up some breakfast.

Eventually Dawn did wake up, and it was like she was in shock all over again. Silent. Secluded. Didn't even glance at Willow or Oz. But what should they have expected?

Willow tried running through their options again. She did it last night before she fell asleep and found nothing. But there had to be something. They could save Buffy. She knew they could. They'd saved her from worse, hadn't they? Like when she was in heaven, they brought her back. There had to be a way they could bring her back from this too.

Willow would find a way. There would be no possibility of giving up. And no matter what, she decided she was going to do anything in her power to get Buffy back.

While Wesley and Faith were still sleeping, Giles and Kennedy were awake. Last night, Faith and Kennedy went patrolling and found nothing but a few of Buffy's followers. Unfortunately, they gave no hints to her whereabouts and there were too many of them to fight to or have an actual "conversation" with them.

Since Wesley had refused to do a locater spell with Giles last night, they couldn't find Buffy. Giles disliked how difficult Wes was being, and he regretted asking him to train Kennedy already. Sure, he was doing him a favor by keeping him away from Angel and Spike, but he wasn't very much help when it came to here in England. Especially when he wouldn't help Giles with locater spells when he had the ability to do so.

They weren't going to get anywhere without magic. While Giles knew some, he didn't know enough, and he didn't exactly have plans on learning any new magic. And without Wes's help, someone else would have to help with magic that could locate Buffy or even help kill her.

He decided easily enough. Faith, while fully recovered, hadn't exactly been the most reliable ally over the years. Kennedy, on the other hand—even if a bit snotty and acts a little too much without thinking—was loyal. Plus, she was certainly strong enough to take anything coming her way, and she would do anything that needed to be done. If Giles could teach her just a little magic, enough to help with this whole Buffy ordeal, then that would be enough for them to succeed. It would really, really only be a magic, just enough to do a simple spell or two. She wasn't going to become a witch overnight, or anything.

Needless to say, he proposed the idea to Kennedy about teaching her some magic when they were up alone.

Kennedy wasn't sure what to think. It was kind of random to just ask her suddenly. In the past, she'd never really thought about learning any magic. Giles seemed certain that it was necessary, though, so what option did Kennedy have but agree. Besides, it'd be cool to learn some magic. It wasn't like there were any other witch Slayers out there.

So she agreed. She couldn't really say no, could she? It made sense. Plus based on how powerful Buffy was, magic could definitely help them in this desperate situation.

Giles took out some beginning spell books so they could start right away.

Many hours later, when night arrived in L.A., Spike came back to Wolfram & Hart. Despite their failed attempts to find anything last night, Angel was hoping that maybe tonight things could be different. There had been no more taunts or bodies left, but the notes still stuck with Angel.

Who would write a note to both him and Spike? Someone who had a vendetta against them from way-back-when, when they were evil? Well, it was possible. It wouldn't be the first time someone from their past showed up. Still. Did it really make sense for someone to kill two Slayers? The fact that both of the girls were Slayers showed some kind of significance. Unless, of course, Angel was reading too much into it and the simple fact was that the bad guy just wanted to show his strength by killing two Slayers.

Admittedly, guiltily, Angel thought about calling Buffy. He and Spike both still had anger towards her, but someone was killing her Slayers, so didn't she deserve to know that?

He refrained from calling, though. Whether that was a good or bad decision, he wouldn't know, at least not yet.

Spike was angrier at this situation than anything else. Someone was pretty much terrorizing them, taunting them, and he couldn't stand it. Plus, he killed two Slayers over the span of many years, but somehow this vampire managed to kill both in one night? How was that even possible?

It wasn't, not for any normal vampire, anyway. That meant this was something stronger.

As much as Spike didn't want to admit it, could this be related to that stupid Vamp Master guy they'd all been hearing so much about? Now that he was dead, who had taken over? It could've been anybody.

The entire situation was problematic.

"Do we just go out again?" Spike asked once he was in Angel's office. "Hunt the town, ask some questions? I want to find this guy, Angel. Thinks he's tough, killin' two Slayers in one night. Well I'll show him tough."

"I want to find him too, Spike," Angel said. "I don't know what to do, though. We checked all our resources last night, along with random vampires on the streets."

Just then, Harmony walked in to the office. "Boss, I was just leaving, but this guy showed up. He said he had some kind of information about the killings, whatever that's supposed to mean? Do you want to talk to him or no?" She ignored Spike the whole time. It was always so awkward seeing her ex Blondie Bear around the workplace.

The killings? Could it possibly be…? Or just a coincidence, something totally unrelated?

"Send him in," Angel instructed, thinking the guy was a client and "the killings" was maybe a project or something.

Harmony said okay, and told them she would send him in and then leave for the night. Spike didn't want to have to deal with this now, but "the killings," whatever that meant, surely did sound interesting.

A few seconds later, the man walked in. He was tall and muscular. Brown hair and brown eyes. Wore dark clothing. Kind of had similar features to Angel, but Angel didn't really think too much about it.

"What information do you have?" Angel asked instantly, not bothering with any pleasantries.

As if reading from a script, the man deadpanned: "The Slayers were a gift. The notes alarmed. Have you figured out the clue? Do you know of the leader?"

Spike was alarmed immediately. This guy…who was he? And who was the bloody leader? A part of him said he should jump and attack, while the other said he should be completely still. He listened closely and heard emptiness inside the man's chest. He was a vampire. The one who killed the Slayers?

"What are you talking about?" Angel questioned. "You know who killed those Slayers?"

"I know everything you'd like to know," the man continued. "And unless you want more to die in your name, you will come with me and I will bring you to the leader. There, all your questions will be answered."

It didn't take much for Angel to know he wasn't going to let more people to die in his name. He was going with the man to find out who this leader was.

Spike was wary. "Angel, it could be a trap," he urged. "What if he's just leading us somewhere to try and kill us?"

"We don't have a choice."

Spike wished Angel were wrong, but the simple truth was that he wasn't. There was no choice in the matter. They were going to go with this man to meet the leader.

The man brought them downstairs, to the parking garage. He walked in front of them and never turned around to see if they were following. No one else accompanied him. In reality, if Angel and Spike had wanted, they could have attacked him right then and there, overpowered him, and forced him to tell them what was going on. So why didn't they?

There was just too much at stake. The lives of other Slayers, according to this man. And Spike had to admit that he wanted to save his fight for this leader, whoever he was. No point beatin' up the lackey when he was leading you to the leader, right?

There was a dark limo in the parking garage. The man opened the back door and stood there until Angel and Spike got in. He threw two sacs after them.

"Put them over your heads," he ordered. "You won't take them off until I say so."

"Great," Spike mumbled sarcastically. "Bloody prisoners we are, and we didn't even give a fight or anything."

"We'll be fine," Angel told Spike, although he had feelings of doubt. What in the world had caused him to just follow the man's orders this easily? Why wasn't he fighting? He couldn't place why. Maybe it was the fact that this man kind of resembled Angel, in some odd way. There had to be a specific reason he was the only one sent to retrieve Angel and Spike, right?

Still, giving up this easily wasn't something they often did. But if Spike was yearning for a fight, he just had to wait. Once they met this leader and figured out what he wanted, that was when Angel figured they would have the big showdown. Patience was key right now.

The limo began to move. Angel and Spike sat in blind silence. Even if they had bothered to talk, they both knew the vampire would hear them anyway.

How long did it take? The drive seemed to go on forever, although in reality it was probably no more than thirty minutes, give or take. When the vehicle finally stopped, it was actually a shock.

The door was opened by the vampire. He instructed them to take the sacs off their heads and get out of the limo. They did as instructed.

Neither knew where they were, but they were impressed. There was an extremely large mansion in front of them, completely darkened. It was definitely old, but somehow modern looking. It was black and seemed to loom over many places. The vampire told them to go inside.

There was near silence inside the mansion. Once they opened the door, though, the smell hit them immediately. Both Angel and Spike, despite their horrid pasts, looked up at the ceiling in shock.

All around on the roofs chains dangled. Attached to the chains were either many different forms of weaponry (knives, axes, swords, etc.) or…bodies. Dead, human bodies. Generally fresh human bodies. The stink of blood was overpowering. They hung from the ceiling lifeless, staring, as pools of blood gathered on the floor. Simply, it was horrific. Based on the overwhelming smell, Spike knew that whoever did this had to do it all within twenty-four hours.

The mysterious vampire didn't seem fazed at all. He led them forward, through a few different rooms. Each room had bodies or weaponry hanging. Then they went up the first flight of stairs, and then the first room on the left. He told them to go in.

Angel was terrified, admittedly. What could he expect on the other side of this door?

It creaked open.

What they saw was surprising.

Buffy.

And two other vampires, each holding her back, like they were restraining her. At first glance, she appeared too weak to fight them off. She looked up at both Angel and Spike. It was almost hard to recognize her with that crazy brown hair with light streaks.

"Help," she whispered.

Of course, Angel and Spike leaped forward. Each took a single vampire that had been attacking Buffy as Buffy backed up to the other side of the room. Spike took care of his vampire angrily, keeping up with as many punches as possible. Who did this guy think he was, hurting Buffy? Oh, he'd make him pay.

Angel attacked his vampire and flung him across the room. But something wasn't right, he could feel, and he couldn't place it. As the vampire he was fighting hit his head on the wall and fell to the ground, Angel's mind was racing.

Buffy. Weird, crazy colored hair. Silence.

Silence.

"Spike!" Angel shouted, almost unbelievably.

Spike punched the vampire in the face and sent him sprawling on the floor. "Buffy, are you okay?" he asked hurriedly, spinning around to look at Buffy. At the sight of her being held by those vampires, he realized he didn't know what he would've done if they'd hurt her, and he began to forgive her for the whole Fred ordeal. They could move past it. They had to. He loved her.

Then it clicked in his head. The empty silence. There wasn't a single heartbeat in this entire mansion.

Buffy grinned maniacally as both Angel and Spike stared at her, unable to speak anymore. They were trying to understand what was really going on here.

"Come on, boys," Buffy said normally. She then morphed her face until it was one of a demon's. "It took you that long to figure it out?"