See Part One for disclaimer and details. Hello, and welcome to the latest chapter! Wow, eleven chapters. How did I ever get this far? I just wanna thank everyone who's stayed with me so far and sent feedback and reviews. Not much else left to say, I guess, except read and enjoy...

Part Eleven: Something Old, Something New

City Hall, Sunnydale

March 10th, 1999

Mayor Richard Wilkins was not in a good mood as he paced around his office, waiting for his minions to report in. Frustrated, Wilkins eventually grabbed his golf putter and smashed it down onto the floor with so much force, that it almost ended up looking like an eight iron instead.

It was all Xander's fault why the honourable Mayor was acting this way, to be honest. Because like almost every politician Wilkins was a control freak, and for the past three days he'd had a complete unknown doing anything he wanted in Sunnydale. If Richard had known just WHO the mystery man associating with Team Slayer was, of course, he wouldn't have been worried much, if at all – but he didn't, and so it was driving him nuts.

"WELL?" Wilkins snarled out as Mr. Trick knocked and entered.

"Still no news on the Invisible Man. But I thought you'd like to check these out personally," Trick said carefully, noting Richard's facial expression as he placed a couple of swords on the Mayor's desk. The soulless vampire knew not to say anything more, not with the mood his employer was currently in.

Reining in his temper, Richard stared at the swords – one long, one short, both of which had jewels on them. He frowned and demanded, "Where did you find these?"

"Shadyhill Cemetery. The previous owner happened to end up 'slain'," Trick replied.

Wilkins didn't ask whether it was Buffy or Faith who'd killed the vampire in question; that was irrelevant to him. "El Eliminati," the Mayor cursed softly, before he grabbed the swords and hurled them against the wall. "How many of them attacked the Slayers?"

"Slayer, as in single. Goldilocks was accompanied by her red-haired gal pal and the American Werewolf in Sunnydale, earlier on tonight. And as far as I know, it was just the one – what did you call it? Eliminati," the black vampire said carefully.

"If there's one, there'll be more. And if they're here, then the odds are that my old 'friend' Balthazar has also come back to town," Wilkins hissed angrily, referring to the demon he'd banished back in the 19th century. "That's one complication I don't need right now, I've already got enough on my plate with our mystery guest – and that lawyer from Wolfram & Hart poking his nose into my business."

"You want me to take care of Mr. McDonald for you, the way I took care of Mr. Mercer?" Trick asked frankly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Wilkins said at once, his eyes narrowing into slits. "You know perfectly well what would happen, if I violated that clause in my contract about not killing any Wolfram & Hart employees within Sunnydale!"

"I understand perfectly, Mr. Mayor," Trick smirked. He knew that the Mayor's contract was such that Wolfram & Hart would conduct no business in Sunnydale nor have their clients enter the town limits, and in return the Mayor and his people would have no dealings with any Wolfram & Hart people that would be bad for the firm.

Thus, if Trick was working for the Mayor when Lee was killed, it automatically voided the contract. "Don't worry; I'll focus on this Balthazar guy and his minions. For now."

The Mayor dismissed Mr. Trick from his mind, the moment the vampire left the room. Finally calming down Richard's thoughts quickly shifted to the Dedication, which was coming up in the next few days. ( Ah, at long last... )

Just for a brief moment Wilkins was actually sorry that Allan had had to die, as the Deputy Mayor had actually performed an important function around here – juggling his schedule properly and dealing with all the mundane administrative tasks the Mayor didn't want to bother himself with.

( Well, duty calls I suppose. Let's see; I have that meet 'n greet with the local Boy Scouts coming up. Plus, I have to negotiate with the lumber union, call the temp agency about a new secretary, deal with all those PTA mothers, not to mention try to squeeze in a new haircut... )

Sunnydale High, Sunnydale

March 11th, 1999

Within the student lounge, Willow and Oz were examining her early college admission packets. They were sitting on one of the couches, and the table at their feet was covered with acceptance letters and application forms.

"Harvard...Yale...Wesleyan University in Connecticut...there's even one from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. This is impressive," Oz said as he examined various brochures.

"Impressive? Oz, I'm like totally overwhelmed! I-I got in! To actual colleges! And, a-and they're wooing me! They're competing with one another, over ME!" Willow exclaimed. "It's, it's kinda weird, actually, now that I think of it. See, rejection I can handle 'cause of all those years of dealing with Cordelia and her flock, but this..."

"Speaking of Cordelia, have you heard the latest?" Oz asked, as he put down the brochure in his hand.

"That story flying around campus today, concerning her parents disappearing? Yeah," Willow made a face. "I mean, I couldn't believe it at first when I heard that there's an actual arrest warrant out on her dad for tax fraud!"

"Yeah. But I figure they won't find him. Or Cordelia's mom," Oz stated placidly.

"Huh? What makes you so certain?" Willow asked her boyfriend.

"Just a hunch," Oz replied, leaving out the part where Xander had confided in him that he'd driven Cordy's parents to the docks last night, whereupon they had scampered up the ramp onto a cargo ship heading for South America.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Buffy asked, as she joined her friends on the couch opposite to Willow and Oz.

"Just discussing life after high school," Oz gestured to the pile of paper on the table.

"And that thing concerning Cordelia, I mean – the latest chatter in the caf is that the reign of Queen C will be all over soon, maybe even as quickly as today or tomorrow. Buffy, where do you think Cordy's gonna live, now that her parents have bailed without her?" Willow asked the blonde Slayer.

"I dunno for sure, but I figure she'll move in with Faith or something 'til we all graduate – then she and Xander will hit the road. I mean, I kinda doubt my mother will offer her the spare room at my house," Buffy replied. "Because Cordy and me living under the same roof? We'd kill one another within two weeks!"

"Oh. So I guess that's sorta why Faith laughed, that one time I wondered whether she was going to move in with you and your mom?" Willow speculated, looking at Buffy.

The blonde Chosen One smiled. "Me and Faith, together in the same house? Willow, I like her and all, but as a fellow Slayer I'm sure we'd fight to the death over the food within two DAYS!"

"Hmm," Oz commented, staring off into space as he tried to visualize the events in question. He grew somewhat distracted by the image of Buffy and Faith entangled together on the kitchen floor, their inner thighs interlocked as they started pulling each other's hair and...

( Okay, definitely not going there, ) Oz thought as Willow called out his name and waved her hand in front of his eyes in order to get his attention. ( Strange. I wonder where that came from? Must have been Will's comments about that girl-boy-girl thing, recently. )

"Buffy, where are you going?" Willow asked as the Summers girl got up, looking pensive.

"I gotta talk to Giles about last night's patrol. You and Oz wanna come?" Buffy asked as the teen couple got up off their couch.

"Yeah. You two go on, I'll catch up," Oz told the girls as he started to gather up all the college paper material.

"Buffy? What's wrong?" Miss Rosenberg asked worriedly as she and Miss Summers walked along, the redhead seeing the expression on her best friend's face.

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Buffy said a bit too hurriedly.

"Buffy..." Willow said sternly, giving her a taste of the old Resolve Face treatment.

"Okay, fine. It's Angel," Buffy confessed.

"What about him?"

"I'm losing him, Willow. I can feel it; he, he's pulling away from me," Buffy said, a note of pure anguish appearing in her voice. "Last night, after the patrol was over? I went over to see him."

"And...?" Willow prompted her best bud.

"Well, on the surface, everything was fine. He asked how it went, if you and Oz were okay, the whole nine yards. But I knew, like, straightaway that Angel had his mind on other stuff. I could tell from the way he kissed me good night, he was almost a million miles away," Miss Summers said, her anguish increasing.

Willow shrugged. "Maybe you're reading too much into it, and he was just distracted about something-"

"No, it was more than that," Buffy insisted, cutting her off. "The way Angel held me, the way he touched me – it just wasn't the same, you know what I mean?"

"Not really," Willow admitted.

A few seconds later, the male werewolf caught up with the Slayer and the amateur witch, and the trio spent the rest of the journey to the library talking about normal teen stuff. Buffy and her friends then walked into the Batcave, and beheld a sight that was rather – visually stimulating.

Faith and Cordelia were sparring within the library, going at it as hard as they could with Xander looking, and lusting, on from a table nearby. There was no mud pit and the clothes weren't quite right, but that didn't stop Xander's fantasies heading into XXX-rated territory as the two female brunettes punched and kicked one another.

Just then, Cordelia whirled around and hit Faith with a spinning side-kick that impacted directly onto Miss Lehane's stomach. Faith flew back and smashed into the book counter, quickly collapsing onto the floor.

"Faith! Are you okay?" Buffy rushed forward, concerned for her sister Slayer and sending a quick glare in Cordelia's direction.

"God-DAMN, but I really felt that!" Faith grunted as Buffy hauled her up, the brunette Chosen One holding a hand to her stomach. "I take it all back, Cordelia; you really are up to Slayer strength nowadays!"

"What?" Buffy looked confused, staring back and forth between Faith and Cordy.

"Yeah, and I'm a lot more flexible now than I used to be. I betcha that virus has kept on changing our bodies," Xander speculated accurately, as he handed the sweating Cordelia a towel and the two lovebirds briefly kissed.

Willow looked concerned for her oldest friend. "Xander – what are you doing here? I mean, what if someone comes in and recognizes you?"

"Willow, I now have the papers to prove that I'm Alexander Hamilton, not Xander Harris," Xander said, referring to his new alias. "Besides – apart from you guys and Giles, does anyone ever actually come into this library? Anymore than they used to in the old days, I mean?"

"He's got a point," Oz nodded.

"And I used Angel's sewer entrance back in the stacks," Xander added, after seeing Willow's expression.

"So where is Giles? I gotta talk to him about last night's patrol," Buffy said, just before the bell rang. "Darn. Guys, come on, we gotta go – time for class."

"No way, I gotta take a shower," Cordelia shook her head. "Besides, I'm not in the mood to face all my so-called friends right now anyway."

"Yeah, um, the rumour mill really has been grinding away about you today. Anything you wanna tell us?" Buffy glanced at her classmate.

"Cordy's parents will arrive in Costa Rica within a few days," Xander answered her in Cordelia's stead, letting his girlfriend lean against him for support. "And as long as they stay outta sight, they should be able to avoid the whole extradition thing. Hopefully, we'll figure out some way to help Mr. Chase get out of this mess, but if we can't – well, they'll eventually find someplace new to call 'home', and Cordy and I can always visit wherever they decide to settle down."

The look on Xander's face discouraged Buffy and Willow from asking anything more, even though it was obvious the redhead was dying to ask further questions. Without another word, those two and Oz left the library.

"Hey, Cordelia, as soon as you come back? Let's you, me and your boyfriend here go hit this vamp nest I heard about from Willy last night. Ditch school for the day," Faith suggested, even as Cordelia stared at her in surprise. The Chosen One then turned to Xander and said, "And while she's getting less sweaty, why don't ya show me what you're capable of?"

"I'm not much of a fighter, at least not compared to you and Cordy," Xander confessed as Miss Chase left for the girls' locker room. Harris added, "I may have the strength and the speed nowadays, but I still don't have a clue how to do all those fancy martial arts moves that you guys do."

Faith smirked sexily, since deep down, she had become rather attracted to this guy. He had a rather drool-worthy body these days, after all. "Don't worry, stud, I'll steer you around the curves..."

Abandoned building, Sunnydale

A while later

The vampire nest was fairly quiet, dark and gloomy. The undead were either sleeping or waiting out the daylight hours. Some were hungry, some were bored, and some were plotting on how to take over the leadership of the group...

However, all of them were surprised when Faith and Cordelia kicked down the door. Bright sunlight washed in and over one of the bloodsuckers, who quickly burst into flames and then disintegrated. The other vampires then scrambled to their feet in shock.

"Rise and shine, people!" Faith called out with a smile, before she and Cordelia pulled out their stakes and Xander came in to cover them with a crossbow. "This is your wake-up call!"

The battle began, as most of the vampires began to get dusted. Faith kicked one directly in the balls, and then staked him with effortless ease, while Cordelia hit another with a right cross before her stake slammed home into his heart. Behind them, Xander's crossbow was efficiently finding its targets and turning this into not so much a battle as a complete slaughter.

But as the old saying went, no good deed ever goes unpunished, and one of the vampires – the leader of the undead, no less – decided to take the fight directly to Cordelia. He swiped at her with a knife, and managed to wound her arm. Even though the virus instantly began to heal the damage, it nonetheless affected the Chase girl's performance in battle.

"Switch!" Faith called out, before Cordelia bent over and the brunette Chosen One rolled over her back to face the vampire leader. "Come on, nosferatool; let's see what you've got..."

Unfortunately, he had rather more than Faith had anticipated. And like Spike had known in a different reality, when a Slayer and a vampire danced, all it took was for one of the undead to have itself a real...good...day.

"AGHHHHHH!" Faith screamed in pain, as the vampire rammed his knife deep into her belly. A second later, Xander took him out as Cordelia staked the last of the stragglers; but it was too late and the damage was done.

"Faith? FAITH! NO!" Cordelia shouted, dropping her stake as she and Xander came forward to examine the fallen Slayer. "Lemme see..."

"Oh shit, this is bad," Xander muttered. As in 'gaping gut wound' bad, 'blood dripping all over the floor' bad.

"Lie down," Miss Chase told her friend, easing her onto the floor and placing a hand over Faith's wound to try to stem the tide of blood. She turned to Xander, "We gotta get her to a hospital!"

Just then, Faith lost consciousness. "Faith? SHIT! Cordy, I don't think she's breathing!" Xander exclaimed worriedly, trying to feel a pulse in the Slayer's neck.

"NOOOOOOO!" Cordelia yelled in horror. "Xander, DO something!"

Just like Lopez had done at the airport last year, Xander quickly came up with a half-baked idea. He grabbed the knife from the floor and sliced it against Cordelia's palm. Ignoring her yelp of pain, Harris placed Cordelia's bloody hand directly within Faith's wound and told her, "Keep it there! Don't move it!"

"What?" Cordelia looked confused, before understanding finally set in and her eyes went wide. "Oh my God, the virus...?"

Not wasting time on a reply Xander started to do CPR on Faith, just like he had done on Buffy within the Master's lair nearly two years previously.

And thus, yet another part of Faith's Slayer dream finally came to pass...

Within Faith's body

A few moments later

The virus had no idea what was going on at first. That part of it within Cordelia, had suddenly found itself also within another host body. It had to try to figure out what was happening, since something like this had never happened before. Luckily, it was pretty smart and was able to quickly analyse the situation calmly and objectively.

/ This host body is currently non-functional, / that half of the virus said to its counterpart. Even though Xander and Cordy were not in direct physical contact, the two halves of the virus were able to communicate using Faith's body as a relay mechanism.

/ Can you repair the damage? / Xander's virus asked of it.

/ Yes, / Cordelia's virus answered, as it began to colonize the new body it had been exposed to. / But it is difficult having my being divided between two hosts like this. I will have to replicate my consciousness within the new host and withdraw at the first opportunity, in order to be able to function properly. This is all unprecedented, however – why do you think our hosts have done this? /

/ From the data you have transmitted, it is evident that the new host – the human named Faith Lehane – was very recently badly wounded, / Xander's virus said. / I would surmise that the humans believed that this act would save the injured host's life. That would be consistent with what we have learned concerning Alexander Harris and Cordelia Chase. /

There was silence for what a human would consider merely a few moments, but what the virus would consider almost an eternity. During this time the virus within Cordelia withdrew back into its host after cloning itself within Faith, and then there was officially a new member of the virus collective in existence.

Faith's virus then spoke up, / I am able to heal this host, but there is something different about it. A strange energy embedded in all its cells. /

/ Can you ascertain its function? / Cordelia's virus asked.

That virus now spreading throughout Faith paused for a moment, as it analysed the mystical energy known as the Slayer essence. / Strange. It is not native to this host, and yet the body seems to have fully accepted it. It confers physical strength approximately 500 percent beyond the baseline initially encountered in the first two hosts. And it is also emanating detectable energy of some sort, like a beacon. /

/ You should remove it. If I am reading this data correctly, it serves no physical function that we cannot duplicate for ourselves – and if it does act as some sort of signal mechanism, it could constitute a danger to your host in terms of what the transmissions might attract, / the virus from Xander's body decided.

/ Agreed, / Faith's virus replied, before it began to proceed with the clean-up detail and continued to close up the knife wound inflicted by the vampire gang leader.

Abandoned building, Sunnydale

A while later

Cordelia watched in amazement as the bloody maw of the wound started to vanish. She withdrew her hand, which was no longer bleeding by this point, and said to Xander, "I think it's working!"

The mortal wound was then fully healed. At that moment Faith moaned, waking up to feel a guy's lips pressing against her own – Xander had just stopped doing CPR – and so Miss Lehane pretty much just went with the flow, grabbing Xander by the neck and starting to explore his mouth with her tongue.

"HEY!" Cordelia shouted crossly, quickly yanking her boyfriend off of the newly risen human female by the hair. "Excuse you, Faith!"

"Right, sorry. But what the heck?" Faith said in confusion, getting up and feeling her stomach in surprise. The flesh was clean, unmarked. "Didn't that vampire just...?"

"Yeah. He killed you. As in no breath, no heartbeat, no nothing. I'm sorry, Faith," Xander said apologetically, trying not to think of just how good a kisser this girl was. "There just wasn't any time to ask if you'd be okay with becoming like, y'know, Cordy and me."

"Becoming like...oh, no! You infected me with that damn virus!" Faith yelled in disbelief, staring at her two companions.

"Well, what the hell else were we supposed to do? HUH? For God's sake, Faith, you just DIED! Xander was right, if we'd tried to take you to the nearest hospital – which is maybe ten minutes away in my car – you'd be DEAD right now! Or else you'd be a vegetable if the doctors had managed to pull off some kinda miracle, and brought you back somehow! Slayer or otherwise, can you say oxygen deprivation? And, brain damage?" Cordelia yelled, since she was rather emotionally overwrought by what had happened.

Faith recoiled from this disturbing outburst from her friend, quickly realising that she was right. "Yeah. Um, well, then I guess – a thank you's kinda in order?"

"You're welcome," Xander said as Faith wrapped her arms around her body tightly. "How do you feel?"

"Different, somehow. Totally weird," Faith said with a strange look on her face. "Hey, wait a minute – if I just pulled a Lazarus act like B did a couple of years ago, then wouldn't that mean-?"

"Another Potential Slayer out there just had her life turned upside down? Yeah, I guess so," Xander nodded sadly, feeling sorry for the poor girl in question.

Faith suddenly got an even stranger expression on her face, as the virus finished spreading throughout her body and accomplished its first order of business. Without warning, Faith punched Xander directly in the face, but it barely rocked his head back a little and Miss Lehane started cussing and shaking her hand in pain.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Cordelia demanded, before the truth hit her at the same time it did Xander.

"Holy fucking shit; I'm not a Slayer anymore?" Faith asked, staring at her hands in numb shock.

523B Oak Park Street, Sunnydale

Later that night

Rupert Giles exhaled wearily as Faith, Cordelia and Xander walked out his front door, he knew they were all going to spend the night at Faith's motel room. Then he shut the door and turned back to Joyce Summers, who was sitting on the couch. "Good Lord, what a day..."

It had, indeed, been an interesting one to remember. After what had happened to Faith earlier on at the vamp lair, Giles had done that spell to communicate with the virus again. This time Faith had gone under along with Xander and Cordelia, and the tripartite artificial intelligence had subsequently explained what it had done and why it had done it.

The assembled gang had learned how the virus had discovered the Slayer essence within Faith, after the girl had been brought back from the dead. It had stunned Giles to learn just how easily the virus had permanently purged the Chosen One of her supernatural abilities – and then he'd shuddered to think about what might have happened, if the virus had ever been unleashed by Wolfram & Hart onto all the Potential Slayers around the world.

They could have ended the Slayer line and legacy, just like that.

But putting that thought aside, Giles hadn't failed to notice when an expression of hope had appeared on Joyce's face at the thought that maybe, just maybe, the virus could do the exact same thing for Buffy that it had done for Faith.

"Do you think that those three poor children will be all right?" Joyce asked Giles worriedly, as he joined her on the couch.

"Um, most likely, yes," Rupert replied distractedly. "The virus did say that it would augment Faith's body up to the level of both Cordelia and Xander very soon. So, uh, I doubt it'll be too much of a culture shock for the girl, a-after having abruptly ceased to be a Slayer like that. What I'm worried about i-is what might happen if Wolfram & Hart were to learn of its existence, and attempt to use the virus as a weapon – plus let's not forget how it said that the Slayer essence appeared to act as a, a 'beacon' of some sort..."

"Well, if you ask me, that would certainly explain why Buffy's life is constantly chock-full of vampires and demons," Joyce nodded, before she took a deep breath. "Rupert, do you think-"

"Joyce, please," Giles interrupted her as gently as he could. "I know how you truly hate the fact that Buffy's a Slayer, but we mustn't rush into anything. We still have no idea what'll happen, at least not long-term, u-upon exposure to this virus. Besides, I'm sure there's a reason why Buffy was ever Chosen in the first place..."

"I don't CARE about whatever reasons some so-called higher beings may have had to curse my daughter like that," Joyce replied harshly, her 'mom' mindset kicking into high gear. "I want Buffy to have a long and happy life with a husband and children, for God's sake – not for her to die within the next few months or years, at the hands of some damned vampire!"

"This is, uh – this is actually about Angel, isn't it?" Giles asked, taking her hand. He knew Joyce well enough by now to comprehend the subtext of their conversations. And indeed, the Summers mom made no attempt to deny it.

"Rupert – I've tried, God knows I've TRIED to understand what it is Buffy sees in him. I've tried to be supportive, I've tried not to be judgmental...but dear God in Heaven, he's a vampire! Never mind the age difference and everything concerning that curse, Angel's immortal and Buffy isn't – so even under the best of circumstances, their relationship can't possibly last! How can Buffy simply ignore that?" Joyce asked with a baffled and hopeless look.

"I-I'm afraid love isn't logical, Joyce, just like every other human emotion. Granted I can't understand it either, but Buffy's feelings for Angel – I, um, I guess you just have to take certain things o-on faith, as it were," Giles replied, taking off his glasses and polishing them. "Oh, that reminds me; is the subject of, err, 'us' still an issue with Buffy?"

"No, I don't think so. I mean, she doesn't give me that glare any longer whenever I mention your name at home," the Summers woman said with a small sigh. "Which has to mean some progress, I guess."

Just then, there was a knock on the front door. Opening it up, Giles found himself face to face with a well-tailored young man in his late twenties or early thirties. "Yes?"

"Good evening, Mr. Giles. I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, your replacement from the Council," the British man introduced himself, before he entered the apartment without waiting for an invitation. "Terribly sorry it took me so long to get here, I was delayed in Los Angeles." This had, in fact, been indirectly due to Wolfram & Hart's continuing search for Holland Manners' soul, even if Wes didn't know that.

"But now that I've finally arrived – we should get started on discussing matters concerning Miss Summers and Miss Lehane, don't you think?" the new Watcher asked his predecessor.

Abandoned warehouse on Deveraux Street, Sunnydale

March 12th, 1999

Not long after midnight, many members of the vampire cult known as El Eliminati were attending to various tasks. Some were sharpening their blades, some were feeding on human prisoners, and two of them were attending to Balthazar's personal needs.

Which were considerable, as the demon was enormously obese with very pale, pasty, slimy skin. Sitting suspended in a tank of filthy water, the pair of Eliminati poured ladle after ladle of the liquid over the slug-like Balthazar in an effort to keep his skin moist. Since he was crippled, and had been for around a century. The only thing that could restore his strength was...

"My AMULET! Where is it? Why hasn't Vincent returned with it yet?" Balthazar suddenly screeched, startling his pet vampires.

"Lord Balthazar, we've returned with the amulet!" Vincent, the head of the undead duelling cult, proclaimed proudly as he entered the lair with his brethren. Luckily for the soulless vampire, Faith and Buffy hadn't been anywhere near the Gleaves family crypt tonight, due to both Wesley's tardiness and the former Slayer's new situation.

"FINALLY! Give it to me!" Balthazar shouted, beckoning his chief lieutenant to hand over the prize.

But just as Vincent stepped forward to do so, a wooden arrow erupted out of his chest and he exploded into dust, the inner skeleton briefly appearing as the undead guy was unexpectedly eliminated from consideration.

A melee battle then erupted, with El Eliminati fighting against the vampires in the Mayor's service. But the cult was badly outnumbered and in the end, Trick's forces won the day.

"Okay, I believe THIS is what all the fuss has been about tonight," Mr. Trick remarked, as the black vampire picked the amulet up off the floor. With his undead super-strength, Trick then snapped it in half.

"NOOOO!" Balthazar ranted, just before the Mayor entered the former packing warehouse and Wilkins finally took care of business, as he should have done over a hundred years earlier.

The building soon went up in flames, once the Mayor had left and Trick decided to get creative in getting rid of all the inconvenient evidence.

Outside Willy's Bar, Sunnydale

The same time

Lindsey exited the demon bar, mentally grumbling to himself. Three days he'd been in this damned town, and yet he'd learned nothing of any value, at all. There hadn't been any signs or portents, or even anything on the demon grapevine, concerning one of the Old Ones.

Lindsey pulled out his cell phone as he walked to his car, and called Los Angeles. He left a message on Linwood's machine, knowing that his secretary would soon play it and report to her boss that there was nothing new. Then McDonald disconnected, and started to drive back to his hotel.

( The Senior Partners can't be happy about all this, ) Lindsey thought to himself morosely. ( And while I'm stuck here, God only knows what Linwood is doing back in LA. Odds are he's setting me up to take the fall, if something bad should go down! Maybe I should take the risk of talking to Angelus, see if the Slayers he's associating with know anything? Ugh, damn it! If only there was some way I could just find out who killed Lee, so that I could go back to civilization and say that Vernon must have got it wrong somehow... )

Little did Lindsey know just what exactly the next few days would bring.

To Be Concluded...