A/N: I should mention the title of this story; most of my longer stories had someone die in chapter 13. This may be the first time I've reached chapter 13 and didn't kill someone off.
No One Dies in Chapter 13.
"Thank you for taking me flying with you, Buffy," Joyce said as they landed. "Next time, let me grab a jacket first. It's chilly up there."
"Sorry, I never noticed," Buffy replied.
Xander and Amy joined them on the front lawn. Both of them looked a bit smug, but Xander at least had the decency to look slightly abashed as well.
"It's getting late," Amy observed. "We should get going if we're going to get any hunting done. Should we call Mr. Giles?"
"There's no need," Giles said as he and Willow approached on the sidewalk. "Shall we?"
On the way out of Sunnydale, Buffy used her crossbow to nail a vampire that was feeding on a dog. By the time the gargoyles got to him, the dog was already dead. It had no collar.
"I suppose we should take it back to camp with us," Giles observed.
"Why?" Willow asked, confused.
"Well, to eat of course."
"Giles, it's a dog!" Buffy objected.
"Many cultures consider dog meat to be a great delicacy," Giles countered. "And it is meat that we did not have to hunt. In point of fact, five gargoyles can put rather a strain on any area's wildlife. Especially now. This just means we'll have to hunt less tonight," he said as he picked up the carcass. "Anyone who doesn't wish to eat this does not have to. But I'll have it cooked and ready when you get back." With that, he took off. On his own he was no match for the group's speed, however, and he fell in line when they passed him, but peeled off when they neared camp while the others kept going.
Willow caught Xander's eye and turned. Xander sighed, not really wanting to have this conversation but followed anyway, leaving Amy and Buffy flying together.
When you talk, sound moves out from your mouth at roughly a constant speed – the speed of sound. It doesn't matter how fast you're moving at the time, sound will only travel so fast. If you happen to be flying through the air with a group of gargoyles, sound seems to travel backwards. Which isn't what's happening, actually you're just traveling through the sound waves. Which is why it's much, much easier for everyone to hear the person in front than the person in back. To combat this, when they weren't using the radios for whatever reason, the person who was in front would say what they have to say and then pull up – moving themselves up and to the rear of the group to hear what the next person said, unless it was a very short conversation.
"So, what was it like?" Buffy asked before pulling up and moving behind Amy to hear the response.
"Sex with Xander or sex as a gargoyle?" Amy asked.
She just looked back for her answer, expecting Buffy to hold up 1 or 2 talons. Instead, Buffy just nodded, 'Yes'.
"Mom always said boys had more enthusiasm than skill. You had to train them to be good lovers. Which is-" she shook her head. "Anyway, Xander was way better than average. I'm not sure if that was due to him or just because sex is better as a gargoyle. You know how flying just feels... good?"
Amy looked back to see Buffy nod a little too eagerly. Buffy loved flying.
"Well that might be because our wings... new erogenous zones. Like getting your ears or neck nibbled on, but better. Not quite 'getting your tits sucked' good, but close."
Buffy dove to get in front of Amy, "Speaking of which," she said before pulling back up.
Amy grabbed her chest where her boobs had been until recently. "Not as good as it felt before," she gave as much of a shrug as she could while flying. "But the actual sex was so much better than as a human. Cause our tails also feel really good. And Xander, as good as he is with his tail in a fight, is even better with it in bed."
Buffy's eyes glazed over as she imagined just what Xander had done with that huge, thick appendage. She shook herself out of those thoughts and flapped a couple times to regain the height she'd lost in her daydream. Amy giggled like a school girl. Buffy was about to swoop in front of her to tell her to knock it off and/or to ask more questions but instead she noticed something below them. "Boar!" she shouted loud enough for Amy to hear despite Amy being in front of her. Amy looked down, they both readied their new crossbows.
Xander followed Willow to a reservoir. She flew low and fast over the calm water and then pulled up as they neared the dam. She alighted on a ledge on the cliffs to the right. They weren't technically cliffs, if the reservoir had been full, they would have been underwater, part of the drop-off. A very steep drop-off. But it was safe enough for those of them with wings. Well, not safe. As the ledge was rather small and put Xander rather closer to a very upset female gargoyle than he thought was healthy for his well-being. But he was a gargoyle, not a chicken, and so he landed.
They both looked out over the reservoir for a few minutes. It was late and the fishing and pleasure boats that used the water during the day and early evening were now gone. The only artificial lights were around the dam, those never turned off and attracted large numbers of nighttime insects which, in turn, attracted large numbers of bats with wings not dissimilar to their own.
Finally, Willow spoke, "Giles explained to me why you can't think of me- why you can't feel for me what I feel for you."
"Will-"
"You love me. I know. Like a sister," Willow nearly sobbed at that but she swallowed it back down. "And I'd rather have you as a brother than lose you entirely. And I already thought Giles was cute and smart and funny. To be honest, I thought he was too mature and out of my league before this."
Xander really didn't want to hear about that.
But Willow didn't stop. She gave a sad chuckle, "I guess there's something good about this spell limiting our options. You get the girl of your dreams and I—I at least get my second choice."
Xander almost put a hand on her shoulder at that but stopped himself. He wasn't sure how a gesture like that would be taken right now. So instead they simply stood side by side watching the water and the bugs and the bats.
Until Buffy came over their radios, almost startling them both off their narrow ledge. "Hey guys, we bagged dinner. See you back at camp!"
"Copy that," Xander keyed. He turned to Willow, "Shall we?"
The next evening it was finally Buffy's turn to patrol with her watcher, and she was thankful for the distraction that meant she didn't have to think about 'other' things. After they finished a breakfast of leftover wild boar (the dog had been fully consumed despite any reservations) from the night before, the group took off.
Buffy had the same fighting style that Giles was afraid he remembered. She traded blows with the monster she was supposed to be slaying instead of dusting him. She even punned.
"We haven't been properly introduced," she said as she knocked the vamp to the ground. "I'm Buffy, and you're history!" she said as she finished him off.
Giles hopped up from the mausoleum he was perched on and glided to the ground while speaking. "Poor technique. Prioritizing, sub-par... Execution was adequate, but a bit too bloody for my taste."
Buffy frowned. "Giles, don't mention it. It was my pleasure to make the world safe for humanity again."
"I'm not saying that your methods are without merit, it's, uh, y-"
"I will say it, however," a deep voice interrupted. "I would never tolerate such sloppiness from my Slayer; but then again, that's likely the reason that you died and were transformed."
Giles turned to face the interlopers. "Sam Zabuto and Kendra the Vampire Slayer, I believe."
"We are," Sam nodded. His skin was dark, as was his suit, and his white teeth almost glowed in the moonlight. The mocha colored girl behind him stayed silent but watchful.
"Rupert Giles," Giles offered his taloned hand. It was ignored until he pulled it back. "Right. And this is Buffy Summers. Former Slayer."
"Still the Slayer. Just a new form is all," Buffy countered as she twirled a stake in her talons. It had taken three nights of practice to relearn that skill with only four talons. "And for your information, I lasted over a year, killed Lothos and stopped the Master from rising before I ran into a superwitch who did this to me. So there," Buffy blew a raspberry at the newcomers.
"Buffy-" Giles shook his head, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and looked at the ground. "Please try to be more diplo- Oh. Hello," he gingerly picked up a ring off the ground.
"Oh, that's great! I kill 'em, you fence their stuff. What is it?" Buffy quipped.
"Brethren of Aurelius. It seems they're in town already," Giles confirmed the markings on the ring belonged to them then looked at Zabuto and Kendra. "It's good you're here. You can help me research this. It seems the Master, having been foiled by Buffy, has summoned a champion of sorts. The Anointed One. I haven't found out much except that he's due to rise tomorrow night."
"That is very little to go on," Sam observed.
"Yes. But there was very little written about him," Giles countered. "Only Aurelius' own writings allowed me to find the date."
"Besides, we're already trying to find this slice-n-dice decapitator guy too," Buffy added.
At a confused look from Sam, Giles just shook his head, "I'll explain later." He remembered the first time he'd tried to translate Buffyspak into English.
"We will need to find somewhere to stay yet tonight. We've only just arrived," Sam said.
"Well, my flat has a few more weeks left on the lease. It's furnished, I have the keys, and you'd probably be able to take over the lease if you wanted," Giles offered.
Zabuto considered it briefly. They didn't exactly have any more attractive offers at the moment. And a few weeks would give them time to search for something else if it wasn't to their liking. "We accept."
"Who's this we?" Buffy said pointing at Kendra. "She hasn't said a word since you guys got here."
Sam looked at Giles. "You do not teach your Slayer to respect her superiors here?"
Giles grinned widely, purposely showing his elongated incisors. "I've found that Buffy is perfectly capable of determining who her superiors are without my help. Besides, it's a fair question. There's a large gap between being quietly respectful and mute."
Kendra made her first facial expression, a frown. "I am capable of speaking, sir. I simply had nothing to add to what Mr. Zabuto said."
"Aww, isn't that cute, Giles? She calls him 'Mister'."
Giles cleared his throat. "Yes, well, anyway. Could you show them to the flat—er, apartment? While you do that, I'll go get the necessary books."
"You do not have the books there?" Sam asked.
"Not any more. Once it became clear that I couldn't stay," Giles looked at his powerful, taloned hands, "I moved them into storage for safekeeping. Once you choose a permanent home, I'll be glad to help deliver all the council volumes there."
The Master was in his cave with a few other vampires gathered around. He took a book off a shelf and opened it on a lectern and started reading aloud, "'And there will be a time of crisis, of worlds hanging in the balance. And in this time shall come the Anointed, the Master's great warrior. And the Slayer will not know him, will not stop him, and he will lead her into Hell.' As it is written, so shall it be."
He picked up the book and continued to read aloud as he walked around.
"'Five will die, and from their ashes the Anointed shall rise. The Brethren of Aurelius shall greet him and usher him to his immortal destiny.' As it is written, so shall it be. 'And one of the brethren shall go out hunting the night before and get himself killed, because he couldn't wait to finish his job before he ate.'
"Oh, wait," he grabbed one of the vampires by the throat and lifted him into the air. "That's not written anywhere. The Anointed will be my greatest weapon against the Slayer! If you fail to bring him to me, if you allow that girl to stop you-" he threw the vampire across the room, smashing a coffin to bits, then snapped his book shut. "Here endeth the lesson."
"So, what are your hobbies?" Buffy asked the new Slayer.
"Hobbies?" Kendra queried.
"Yeah. You know. What do you do for fun?" Buffy explained with her own confused expression on her face.
"I am the Slayer," was all that Kendra said.
"So? I was the Slayer for over a year but I still took enough time to go to clubs and stuff. Shopping! What about shopping?"
Sam answered for her, "Kendra was raised by me according to the council rules."
"And do those rules say 'no fun'?" Buffy asked.
"Yes," was the unexpectedly honest reply. "Such frivolous things detract from training and her calling. As evidenced by your own premature demise."
"My demise was thanks to an uber-witch we didn't know could transform us all like this. Besides which, Merrick told me the average Slayer only lasts a year or two anyway. Which I met. And you can argue am still meeting since I'm still slaying vampires."
Kendra looked over at her watcher. That tidbit had been left out of her training. "Is that true?"
Sam growled. "Merrick should not have told you that."
"I'd have snapped him like a twig if he'd held something like that back from me," Buffy said to Kendra rather than Zabuto.
Her watcher's silence was enough of an answer for Kendra. She had much to ponder tonight.
Zabuto fumed. He was sorely tempted to slay the beast directing them for her impertinence. Not an hour after arriving on the Hellmouth and it was already turning his Slayer against him. The only thing that held his hand was the three other beasts he had spotted circling silently above them. If Rupert were truly off getting those books, then that meant there were at least five of these creatures. He had no doubt that with the element of surprise on his side and his watcher training, he could take this monster. Once the other four were alerted though, he would be at a disadvantage. And his Slayer was well trained but brand new and a bit hesitant yet. She still liked the things she Slayed to make the first aggressive move. A few more months and he'd have 'strike first, strike hard' drilled into her. Taking a few hits that could have been avoided would drill it in the rest of the way. But for now, if he acted first, she would probably hesitate to attack them. He had to get them to make the first move somehow.
Rupert probably knew he was here to evaluate them and decide whether they were threats or not. What Rupert didn't know was that Sam had already decided that he and all his monsters were clear threats to the council and would be dealt with as soon as he was able. He sat down on the traitor's couch to await his return with the council's books.
Buffy was bored. She wished she didn't have to be the one helping with the research at Giles' old place just because she was the one who slew the guy who was wearing the pretty ring. She stood up, "Giles, I'm going to do some patrolling."
Giles looked up at the clock. Two hours, a new record for 'time sitting still' for Buffy. Apparently, that was a 'Buffy' feature and not a 'Slayer' feature, though Kendra was starting to shift in her seat a little bit too, he noticed. "Very well. Take Kendra with you. You could use the backup and she needs to learn the lay of the land."
"Alright," Buffy agreed without much enthusiasm. "Come on, you. Let's go show you the playground."
"She is taking her to an actual playground?" Sam asked when they were gone.
"Hmm? Oh, possibly. More likely she was simply referring to the fact that Sunnydale seems like some sort of vampire playground. Especially from the sky."
There was a quick scream from outside. Sam was at the door, machete in hand, in an instant.
"It's alright, Sam," Giles tried to reassure the man. "May I call you Sam? That was a shriek of a human on their first gargoyle flight. You should have heard Buffy's mother the first time she flew with Buffy. I could hear it three blocks away. But it's perfectly safe. You can put your weapon away now."
Sam sheathed his blade regretfully. There was nothing he could do now but be prepared if the monster came back without Kendra. In that case, they would be seconds from turning on him and he would take as many of them down with him as he could. He returned to his seat and tried to concentrate on the book he was reading.
"Oh my goodness. I have never been so cold," Kendra said through chattering teeth.
"Sorry. I need to remember to pack a blanket before I carry someone, but I keep forgetting. Plus, I suppose you're from an even warmer climate than this."
"Buffy, stop talking to her and start warming her up," Willow admonished. "Come here," she pulled Kendra into a hug and then wrapped her wings around her like the blanket Buffy forgot. After a few minutes, the chattering and shivering stopped. "Better?" Kendra nodded and Willow released her gently.
"I must remember to get some warmer clothes for patrolling here," Kendra said, rubbing her arms.
"It's the desert." Xander said. "Warm by day, cool at night. And the ocean only makes sure we don't drop below freezing too often. Can't really call it warm. Anyway, this is the Bronze," he said, waving at the building below and across the street from them.
"Pretty much the only hangout for kids around here," Buffy said.
"I do not understand," Kendra said.
"If you want to hunt predators, you have to follow their prey," Amy explained. "Vampires like chomping down on naïve kids. We try and swing by a couple times an hour to make sure no one's getting snacked on in the alley behind here. But you're human. You have the advantage of being able to go inside."
Xander smiled. "Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to go inside and see if there are any vamps hanging around. If you can't dust them quietly, then see if you can herd them out the back door."
"Where we'll be waiting," Willow finished with a toothy grin.
"Six vampires?" Buffy shook her head. "I knew we should have been coming by here more." She didn't like the way Xander fought, he kept leaping into the middle of things and getting scratched up. It kept everyone's attention on him while he did it, which made it easier for everyone else to get kills, but she still didn't like it.
"Eight," Willow said as she and Amy landed. "Two came out the front door after Kendra went in."
"Guys, we should probably-" Buffy tilted her head up at the roof to indicate that they should get up and out of sight, "before anyone else comes back here."
Xander turned to Kendra, "Do you want to climb on my back or should I carry you?"
"You are only going to the roof?" she clarified. He nodded and she jumped up, pushed off the wall, and landed on the first landing on the fire escape. "I can make me own way up, thank you." With that, she started climbing the stairs to the roof.
"Rejected!" Amy patted Xander on the back. "Don't worry, the rest of us still love you."
"Ahem," Willow cleared her throat.
"Okay, Buf-" But a look from Buffy stopped her.
"Well, I guess it's just me and you, big guy." With that Amy leapt up after the Slayer, though she skipped the fire exit stairs and just jumped from the railing to the roof of the opposite building and then back over the alley. Having wings probably gave her the confidence to make such a leap.
Xander turned to Buffy. "I thought we were-"
"We are," Buffy cut him off. "I'm just not ready to say anything like 'in love' or something like that. I need to take this slow."
"Slow. Got it." Xander held out his hand and pretended to write as he spoke, "Wait another month before bringing Buffy more flowers." He dotted his imaginary note with a flourish.
Buffy stuck out her tongue at him.
"You guys coming or what?" Amy poked her head over the side of the building before disappearing again.
A/N: I am mostly not going to do Kendra's accent. I've gotten reviews that some people find it annoying and it's just easier not to.