Chapter 13.
After they took care of Patrice, as her ID said, and they divided up the spoils; Xander agreed to search Sunnydale for Buffy and check in with Giles every couple hours to see if she called or went home. With the career fair on, it wasn't like he needed the sleep anyway.
Many hours later it was nearing sunrise and Xander hadn't seen hide nor hair of Buffy. Nor had any demons told him anything useful. Though he had killed a bunch of demons just after 2 AM. He made a mental note to ask when Buffy usually stopped patrolling and suggest that she extend that through 2 o'clock occasionally. He was downtown once more when he saw Angel turn a corner ahead of him. Not that he liked the bloodsucker, but he was willing to be cordial and see if he'd seen or heard from Buffy lately. Before he could quicken his pace though, a young, black girl turned the same corner as Angel. She didn't even glance at Xander, but he followed her intense gaze. She was following Angel, who seemed oblivious. Angel turned into a bar and the girl picked up her pace before entering behind him. Xander waited until she was inside before breaking into a jog himself.
As he got to the bar door, he was almost run over by a bystander trying to escape.
"You don't want to go in there, friend." the man said. "Bar's closed."
"Figured that out from the unlit 'open' sign. But I'm going in anyways."
The man didn't try to stop him again and instead took off for safer pastures.
Once the guy was gone, Xander drew his sword and entered quietly. The sight that met him was not what he expected. Angel was locked in a cage and the girl was taunting him from the other side. She was clearly much more than she seemed.
"I'm afraid you are not in a position to t'reaten." she said with a thick accent.
Angel attacked the cage. "When I get outta here I'll do more than threaten!" he threatened.
Xander stowed his sword before either of them noticed he was there. He walked to the bar and picked up a mug. "Hey, Angel. You seen Buffy around?" he asked casually as he filled that mug with beer. Both people in the back room quickly turned their attention to him as he took a sip. "Gods! This is possibly the worst beer I've ever tasted. It's worse than yak piss."
"That might actually be yak piss." Angel said. "Willy's got it on tap. But you need to get out of here Harris. This girl isn't what she seems."
"No shit, moron. She took you. Obviously she's not human. But not a vampire?" Xander inquired.
"She's after Buffy." Angel warned.
Xander had a hand on the gun he'd only recently acquired from the assassin-cop and was a half second from using it. All it took was for the woman to attack him.
She was fast. She'd traveled two steps before he'd even gotten the gun free. He was already firing before he'd even taken aim. The first shot missed but the second couldn't help but hit at that short of range. She was on him by the third. She was strong. Stronger and faster than Buffy even.
She grabbed Xander's hands and thrust them skyward to avoid being shot any more and drove a knee into Xander's side. He went with it to lessen the damage it would cause but it really hurt! It hurt a lot more than sparring with Buffy ever did. Xander didn't bother trying to get the gun back and instead just moved his hands forward a little a bit as he dropped the gun. The idea was to get the gun to drop on her head and distract her. It worked just enough. He broke out of her superhuman grip and kicked off her. Another jolt to her already damaged torso and to his as well, but his wound wasn't fatal. In the dark and with her dark shirt, he couldn't tell where he'd hit her, only that the grunt of pain from his kick told him he'd definitely hit. Now he just had to survive long enough for the copper and lead to do their job.
After kicking off, he hit the door frame. He winced at the renewed pain from the blow she'd given him. Another blow like that and he might be done for himself. The momentum of the sword in his coat swinging backwards with him made it easier to draw the other weapon. He circled out of the doorway with his sword drawn, looking for room to maneuver in the small bar. He wasn't about to attack when she was already wounded but apparently, she new that.
She tried to kick his sword out of his hands like you see in the movies all the time but Xander simply moved his sword out of the way and then stabbed forward, forcing her to jump back quickly or get skewered. Super speed or no, that shit didn't work in real life, not when he'd been training against Buffy.
Xander again waited. He had time, while her breathing was becoming difficult. A flying jump kick nearly took off his head, but was telegraphed enough that he had ducked out of the way in time. In fact, he had time to strike from underneath her as she kicked at the wall. Sure, stabbing her in the butt wasn't very noble, but it should hobble her pretty well and allow him to get out of the fight alive.
Her cry of pain as she hit the wall and tried to use the injured glutes made him very happy. And the crash as she hit the table was music to his ears. Not that causing pain made him happy, but it could very well signal an end to this very dangerous and painful fight. She rolled off the table onto the floor and tried to stand, but collapsed again. When she did not immediately get up, he shuffled over towards the entrance and picked up his gun. With the gun now trained on her, he made his way over to Angel's cage.
"She's not dead." Angel informed him. "I can hear; her breathing is labored though."
"Got a key for this lock?" Xander asked without looking at him.
"There's a crowbar over against the wall." Angel said.
Xander was loathe to put down even one of his weapons but eventually he had to set his sword against the cage and pocket his gun. He kept his eyes on the assassin while he used both hands to wrench the lock open.
He barely got a "thanks" as Angel exited his prison.
Xander took up his weapons again as they approached the dying woman.
"You- you can't stop- me. When I- when I die, anoder- anoder will be called."
"Yeah, we know how you work." Angel said. Tarakans didn't stop, they knew that. "You really shouldn't have taken this job."
The girl looked confused, but it might have been the lack of blood getting to her brain. "It is not a job." she whispered. "It is a calling."
Both men frowned at that, but before they could say anything, a wracking cough claimed the assassin. Xander gave Angel his sword to give her the mercy stroke. There was no way he was going within range of her arms. He was going to be sore for weeks from the single blow he received as it was. He really wished for Methos' Immortal healing right now.
Angel stabbed the assassin through the heart and she stilled a few moments later. He pulled the sword out, cleaned the blade, and ran an experienced eye over it. "Good sword."
"Did Buffy tell you?"
"The memories?" Angel nodded yes and handed the sword back hilt first.
"Came in handy here." Xander acknowledged as he pulled out a handkerchief and cleaned the weapon a second time.
Angel bent down to examine the body of their opponent. "No ring."
Xander failed to control a sharp intake of breath at that. One group of ruthless assassins was enough. An unknown group who was also gunning for them was just too much. Murphy was clearly laughing at them. He shook his head. "No. She said another would be sent. She probably just lost it in the fight or hid it somewhere beforehand." Occam's Razor after all.
"Are you okay?" Angel asked, concern etched on his face.
"No." Xander replied honestly. "I'm going to need you to walk me to school if you don't mind. It's been a really long day, she got in a good shot, and I need some sleep."
"School? Not home?" Angel wondered.
"Career week. I get credit just for showing up even if I sleep the day away. Just need to make an appearance." he explained.
As they walked, Xander explained about what he and Giles had found out. And about the funny feeling he'd had when he visited Buffy's place. Angel promised to take a look from a few sewer access tunnels that were near Buffy's house. Xander was a bit worried about those, but Angel assured him that he regularly patrolled there and there was no danger to Buffy from them.
"So, what were you doing in that bar anyway?" Xander asked.
"Willie, the owner hears most of what goes on in the underground. But you gotta rough him up a little or he won't spill. I found out who ordered the order of Taraka."
"Yeah, Spike. We found that out like 12 hours ago. What else?" Xander said.
"Nothing. That assassin stopped me before he could tell me where he's at." Angel said. "And why didn't you tell me you already knew it was Spike?"
"You didn't exactly stop by the library before you headed out. Why didn't you tell us all we had to do was beat on your snitch to find out this info?" Xander replied. "And was he the guy that almost ran me over when I came in here?"
"Yeah, that's Willie." Angel confirmed.
OMAKE: (When the Omake is half again as long as the chapter.) I started with this but ran into horrible writer's block that wouldn't abate until I'd killed Kendra. Sorry to Kendra fans, but Yay! for Faith fans.
Xander stowed his sword before either of them noticed he was there. He walked to the bar and picked up a mug. "Hey, Angel. You seen Buffy around?" he asked casually as he filled that mug with beer. Both people in the back room quickly turned their attention to him as he took a sip. "God. This is possibly the worst beer I've ever tasted. It's worse than yak piss."
"That might actually be yak piss." Angel said. "Willy's got it on tap. But you need to get out of here Xander. This girl isn't what she seems."
"No shit, moron. She took you. Obviously she's not human. But not a vampire?" Xander inquired.
The girl looked between the two men. "If you are friends wit' da vampire, den you die too." she said and started advancing towards Xander.
Xander threw the yak's piss at her feet which made her jump back from the broken glass. "Woah. Friends? Nooo. Do you see me rushing to unlock his broodiness? Not a chance." Xander had a hand on the gun he'd only recently acquired from the assassin and was a half second from using it.
"Den who are you?" she asked, taking up a fighting stance but not advancing.
"Me? Who are you? You come into my town and start locking up vampires for no good reason and you want to ask me who I am?"
The girl seemed to consider his words for a moment. "I am Kendra, de Vampire Slayer."
"Impossible. How could you be called so quickly?" Xander denied. Angel also roared in denial and rattled his cage.
"I was called six mont's ago." Kendra stated looking between the men her words had upset.
Xander counted on his fingers then he and Angel looked at each other. "The Master's cave." they both said at the same time with a similar sigh of relief.
"What does that mean?" Kendra asked. Not liking that both men were in agreement.
Xander took the question. "We both know... a Slayer as well. She kind of drowned about six months ago but a little CPR brought her back, good as new."
"Impossible." it was Kendra's turn for denial. "My watcher would have told me."
"Well, why don't we ask Buffy's watcher?" Xander offered, finally taking his hand casually away from where the gun was tucked.
"Fine, but we leave da vampire here." Kendra nodded.
Xander smirked. "Leave him in the cage for all I care. But we don't need to go anywhere thanks to the modern miracle that is the telephone." with that he produced a phone from behind the bar and dialed a number by heart.
"Giles."
"..."
"Yeah, just me. No I haven't found her yet. Now don't freak out, but do you remember how that prophesy said that Buffy was going to die that one night. Well, I guess she did."
"..."
"Because I'm in a bar with a girl who just kicked Angel's ass and claims to be a Slayer."
"Dee Slayer." Kendra added.
"Sorry. The Slayer." Xander amended.
"..."
"Alright. Let me introduce you to Kendra, The Vampire Slayer." Xander said as he set the phone down and backed away.
Hearing only Kendra's side of the conversation was fairly boring. A bunch of 'yes, sir's' and 'no, sir's' with one 'Mr. Zabuto' thrown in for variety. Finally she hung up.
"He said we should meet at da school and dat you would know da way." Kendra said. Then she frowned at Angel. "He said dat we should bring de vampire."
"Yeah, I don't like him much either. But I haven't had cause to kill him yet. Though if you want to stake him, I won't tell anyone." Xander said.
"Hey!" Angel said.
Kendra smiled conspiratorially then sighed. "No. I already told Mr. Giles dat 'ee was not dust. We would have to t'ink up a reason he is now dust."
"Oh well. Guy can dream. You got a key for that lock?"
Kendra walked into the back room and picked up a crowbar. "Not exactly." she paused before busting him out though. "If he's one of da good guys, why was he attacking dat man?"
Xander stepped up next to her. "I'm curious too. Fallen off the wagon, have we Angel?"
"I was just roughing up Willie. You gotta or he won't spill the info. I found out who ordered the order of Taraka."
"Yeah, Spike. We found that out like 12 hours ago. What else?" Xander said.
"Nothing. She stopped me before he could tell me where he's at." Angel said. "And why didn't you tell me you already knew it was Spike?"
"You didn't exactly stop by the library before you headed out. Why didn't you tell us all we had to do was beat on your snitch to find out this info?" Xander replied. "And was he the guy that almost ran me over when I came in here?"
"Yeah, that's Willie." Angel confirmed. "Now let me outta here."
"Do we let'im out?" Kendra asked.
Xander shrugged. "Since you already told Giles."