Chapter 41
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Tru Davies awoke to the knowledge that this day was a repeat. The horrors of what had happened would happen again if she didn't do something about it. And that's what she intended to do.
Originally she wanted to save Roxana but she never asked. She never got the chance to ask because her body was turned to ash before Tru could get to it. So she had to save Lenny because he did ask. Tru knew it was a bad idea to save someone that didn't ask. That path led to bad things happening, but if saving Lenny happened to save Roxana so much the better. And the best way to save Lenny was to save Roxana. Win, win.
Tru got up and got dressed and left her room to find Faith. On her way she decided to stop by Melinda's room to convince her to come along. She was a key person in what had happened and thought they may be a pretty good team in the future, especially if it saved slayers. She knocked on the door but there wasn't any answer.
"Hmm must be in the cafeteria." She said to herself and so made her way down stairs to the main floor where the cafeteria was. Once she got there she looked for Melinda and her family while she poured herself a cup of coffee. She found them and made her way to their table only to slow down once she saw who they were dining with. At the table alive and vibrant as ever was Roxana.
"Umm, Hey guys, mind if I sit with you?"
"No, not at all have a seat, the more pretty girls at the table the better." Aiden announced.
"Aiden! Melinda reprimanded while his father laughed." Roxana blushed while Tru smiled.
"Wow the Romeo's start earlier and earlier." Tru commented.
"My name is Aiden. Did you forget?" Aiden asked confused as to why she would think his name was Romeo. That was after all the name his neighbor back home in Grand view called his cat even though his real name was Oscar but he didn't think he told Tru about that.
"I know that handsome, how is everyone this morning?" Tru asked as Roxana stood up.
"Take my seat; I have to get to class anyway." She told Tru. Before she left she looked at the family and said. "It was nice talking to you. Bye."
"Good buy Roxana." The family coursed.
Tru sat down and got right to business. "Melinda, I'm on a rewind. Someone needs my help and I can sure use yours."
"Why what happened?" Melinda asked but Tru looked to Aiden as an indication that she didn't want to discus it in front of the young boy. Melinda took the hint and excused herself from her family and walked out of the cafeteria with Tru. "We need to see my sister. One of the slayers dies, two of the people on the team she is on get captured and become part of a nasty ritual that turns everyone who is a part of the G.C. insane. "
"Oh no! What do we do?"
"My sister will be on duty today. We need to find her and tell her what's going on. She should be in the duty office. I thought you should be there because you were the one to make contact with Roxana's ghost."
Just as they rounded a corner they literally ran into the person they were looking for.
"Oof!" Tru said bouncing off of Faith.
"Hey sis what's your hurry?" Faith asked.
"We were looking for you. We need to talk."
"Sure I was just headed to the duty office. We can talk there."
Just after they entered the office and shut the door Tru relayed the story of what happened in the other timeline in great detail.
"Well S*#T… Obviously I'm going to have to do something about that group of screw-ups before they get themselves hurt or dead…again! And I guess if you can't find anyone to do the job right then you got to do it yourself, but for now first things first." Faith said as she picked up the phone.
"Hey James, its Faith, can you tell Rona to come to the duty office and then gathered slayer team nine and have them wait in the empty classroom across from the duty office, I need to speak to the team… yes I know most of them are in class but this cant wait. Okay thanks." Faith said before hanging up.
"Five minuets later Rona walked into the office."
"Hey Rona do me a favor and check if all of team nine is across the hall."
"I already know they are. None of them had keys to get in, I did."
"Great let's get this show on the road." Faith said.
"What Show?" Rona asked as they all walked across the hall.
"All will be revealed in a few minutes Rona, just bear with me and you may want to take notes." Faith said mysteriously as she opened the door to the classroom.
"Miss Faith what's going on? I was in the middle of a pop quiz in history." Becky said.
"Don't worry kid; I'll make sure you make it up." Faith began. "I called you here for a different kind of pop quiz actually. Now get in formation. No speaking unless spoken to, no talking out of turn, anyone who opens their mouth beyond what I ask you about will find their team off the slaying schedule for a week."
Making these commands had stunned them but the team hurried to comply as they stood in a line looking loosely like a military troop at parade rest.
"Let's see who I can stump. Becky, what does a Blean demon look like?"
"It has a crystal or jewel in its forehead and shoots a beam from its hand."
"It's actually a wave of energy but I'll accept that." Faith said.
"Marie how do you slay a Blean demon?"
"Avoid the wave and try to get behind it. Any blade will do it doesn't have to be silver bronze or gold. It could even be slain with a wooden stake like a vampire but it doesn't dust like one, instead it decays really fast." Marie replied.
"Correct. Nice definition. Roxana, what does a Vargogh demon look like?"
Roxana paused for a moment before she said a Vargogh demon can easily be slain by…"
"STOP!" Faith yelled without anger. "I didn't ask how to slay a Vargogh demon I asked what it looked like."
"Oh, Umm, I'm not sure."
"You're not sure or you don't know?"
"Umm, I don't know Miss Faith."
"Okay fair enough, Eddie why don't you tell your charge what a Vargogh demon looks like."
"Ah, yes of course. A Vargogh is easily recognized because of its yellow glowing hooves. Is has a nasty attack that…"
"WRONG!" Faith yelled and this time she was mad. "That is the definition of a Vargoth demon not a Vargogh."
"Oh god your right. I'm sorry."
"Not as sorry as you could be. What would have happened if you had pointed out a Vargoth to Roxana and told her it was a Vargogh demon? Remember she doesn't know what a Vargogh demon looks like. She just knows they are an easy slay."
"Yes, I can see where the outcome would be less than favorable."
"Less than favorable?... You upper class British geeks really have a gift for understatements." Faith said with a shake of her head.
Tru had her head down to cover a smile and Melinda was biting her lips trying to think of something not so funny.
"Okay does everyone here know my friend Melinda?"
Everyone responded in a positive tone.
"Good, can anyone tell me what her talent is?" Raise your hand.
Everyone raised their hand.
"Roxana." Faith picked.
"I talked to her this morning. She said she talks to spirits."
"That right, Melinda sees and talks to earth bound spirits. Because they often have unfinished business and need closure." Faith then turned to Tru.
"Does everyone know who this is?" Faith asked pointing at her sister.
"Faith had noticed that Eddie seemed to be the most unsure of the group."
"Eddie." She picked.
"Is she your cousin?" He asked.
"Answering with a question? That lost you a couple of points. This isn't jeopardy you know."
"I was unaware there was a point system. Actually I'm not sure what the point of all this is." He replied.
"Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Faith tisked. I did say from the beginning that this was a pop quiz didn't I?"
"Ah yes, so you did." He replied.
"And since you spoke beyond what I asked you for your team can enjoy a week off from slaying." Faith added.
Eddie gulped as he saw the angry stares from the rest of his team.
"For everyone's information this is Tru my Half sister. Can anyone tell me what she does?"
Faith picked Becky to answer.
"I heard she was a Mortician."
"Correct." Faith said with a smile, while everyone wondered where she was going with all this.
"Now can anyone tell me what my sister's very special talent is?"
Faith noted that everyone was hesitant in raising their hand. She picked Roxana.
"It's just a rumor but… they say she can go back in time."
"You know what, I think my sister and I like the idea that it's just rumor so let's try and keep it that way. But you're right my sister relives a day because a corpse asks her to stop whatever happened to cause his or her deaths, which is why she works in a morgue."
At that statement Marie gasped as she put things together. Faith waited to see if anyone else would catch on. Eddie seemed deep in thought because he figured that there was something going on as did Roxana. Becky seemed to be the only one bewildered and least likely to make the connection.
"If you haven't guessed yet one or more of you die tonight."
Everyone looked at her in shock.
"And it happened just the way I said Eddie, you got Roxana killed because you gave her bad information."
"I'm… I'm so sorry."
"You should be. But you shouldn't be apologizing to me you should apologize to Roxana."
"Yes… that is yes… yes, your right." He said as he turned to Roxana who looked devastated. "Roxana I, I can't tell you how sorry I am. Oh god what have I done. I'm so, so sorry I would never knowingly… well of course I wouldn't but…"
"Relax Eddie." Faith interrupted. "You're not the only one at fault here. Roxana couldn't tell a Vargogh demon from a Dementor. She's more interested in how to kill something than to know what it looks like."
"That's not true. I saw the information when I helped Miss Tish grade the papers. What they look like wasn't one of the questions." Roxanna explained.
"Regardless, you took action only knowing half the information. You're just as guilty for the cause of your own death as Eddie."
At this the pair had the decency to look ashamed.
"As for you two," Faith said looking at Marie and Becky. "You both stood in front of a Blean demon and let him scramble your brains. It's unclear what happened at that moment so I'm going to give you two the benefit of the doubt and say it was because you watched a friend die right in front of you, but it got Becky and Eddie captured and drug off to who knows where to be part of a ritual that destroys the whole Guardian Council world wide. When you are in a fight for your lives you don't stop to gawk, mourn, or panic. You need to keep you head in the game and keep fighting. You can grieve when it's over."
"Miss Faith… what happened to me?" Marie asked in a small voice. But it was Tru that answered
"You were dazed for a while but when you came to your senses you got up and carried Roxanna's body back to the Guardian Council to report what happened."
Faith glared at her sister for interrupting.
Marie almost stumbled backwards when Roxana rushed over to her wrapping her in a hug and crying out a thank you. Marie was bewildered at the fact she had acted so nobly. She never doubted she would but to hear that she did something that would now never come to pass was a weird feeling.
"If any of you wish to hear the story in more detail you can ask Tru on your own time." Faith said as a way of getting back at her sister for interrupting.
"Now for your homework and yes there will be homework. As the four of you obviously need more study, your going to give a report on the differences between a Vargogh and Vargoth demons, their descriptions their strengths and weaknesses and how to slay each, the longer the report the better. Eddie and Roxana you two are going to give a demonstration on how to slay a Vargoth demon. I'll give you points the more creative you are. Marie and Becky you'll also give a short report on slaying a Blean demon. If you all work together you should have these for me by next Friday. Consider it a team building experience. Now needless to say your team won't be patrolling tonight. Rona and I will be taking care of this personally. Right Row?"
"That's right Faith." She confirmed.
"And for your information your patrolling privileges have been put on a three week suspension even before all of you walked in here. With Eddies out burst that's a full month. It takes a lot out of my sister to come back in time and save your asses from death so I don't want to hear you pissing & moaning about your punishment even though you technically haven't done anything yet. That lack of knowledge isn't something that might have got you killed one day, it did get you killed, 'today' and you took the rest of us down with you. So this is a small price to pay and you should thank me for not kicking your asses up and down the street and expelling you. And thanking my sister wouldn't go down too bad ether. She did save the world in our place." Faith finished. None of them made a sound for fear that they would lose more of there privileges. Faith looked each of them in eye before she said "dismissed."
On the way out everyone thanked Faith and Tru. Roxanna even gave Tru a quick hug before she left.
"Do you really think all that was necessary?" Melinda asked.
"Years ago I wouldn't have done anything like that but we had a slayer here that ran this place like a drill sergeant and I noticed that she got results. She was as crazy as bat S*#T and we had to get rid of her but the Scoobies and I noticed that without a firm hand these students will walk all over you. None of us is anywhere near as bad as 'crazy Kennedy' but they respect us more now and when the teachers want to scare the students they send them to me to deal out the punishments. I don't like being the bad guy but it keeps them in line."
"But to threaten them with expulsion, where would a slayer go if not here?" Melinda asked.
"Buff got through high school. It wasn't quite normal as it was in SunnyDale after all, but if you took out all the demons, vamps and death you would still have all the drama of a regular high school. Besides there has never been an expulsion yet. Even Kennedy is still on the payroll, she's just banned from teaching. Right now she's a security guard in Vegas but I think that's supposed to be a secret she doesn't want us to know about."
"Hey as long as she's out of our hair I'm all for it." Rona commented.
"Yeah, but the Scoobies are concerned that we can't keep an eye on her. Their worried that she'll go off the deep end and stop killing demons and start killing people and none of us will be there to stop here." Faith explained.
"Well it won't matter by the end of the year anyway."
"Oh no, quite the contrary. Her big daddy got her a ticket to ride on one of the good ship lollipops." Faith explained.
"Ah crud. How did you find that out?" Rona saked.
"Buffy and Willow inadvertently found out the last time 'Special K' made an appearance. So if she makes it and she probably will we just might see her at some point. But enough about the wick slayer of the west, we need to plan out how we're going to handle these demons tonight."
"Well I still need to be filled in on the detail." Rona replied.
"Right, it wouldn't hurt to go over it again. You can never have too much Intel."
Later that night, well after sun set, Tru came to the duty office to wish her sister luck. When she opened the door she was surprised to see Faith dressed in chain mail.
"Chain mail? I know I've only been here a short time but I don't think I've ever seen any of the other slayers head out wearing chain mail. You look like Joan of Arc."
"Yeah, yeah, Yuk it up, but this is what will save me from the Vargoth demon."
"Okay how does that work?"
"Roxanna said she was hit by the magical from the Vargoth but she was wrong. It was a static electrical charge like you get from and eel only much more powerful. The chain mail and the metal mountain claming shoes will carry the charge around me instead of through me and go into the ground."
"Wow that's smart. Is that the text book way of defeating the Vargoth?"
"No actually, I was just reading about lightning, lightning rods and faraday cages recently and this idea came to me." Faith said glancing at the book on her desk and quickly looking away. Tru however caught it and casually looked to see the book title. "The GED Study Guide - Preparing For your GED Exam." she read aloud.
"Yeah, I umm…had to quit school before I could graduate. Got in some deep trouble that couldn't be fixed." Faith confessed with a haunted look.
At that point Faith remembered something that was said by the crazy slayer in the other timeline. "Faith! You killed a human 'again.' You killed our watcher. You and your friends will die for that." coming back from her flashback Tru heard her sister continue and let the memory slide for the moment.
"Figured this would be my last chance to do something about it before the …main event, soft ball, bake sale thing. I don't know if it'll matter after that or change anything but I always said I was going to do it so…" Faith said leaving the sentiments hang.
"I'm all for education and I'm sure it 'will' matter." Tru replied.
"Yeah, I'll never be a doctor like you or nothing but…" Faith said, again leaving the sentiments hang.
"You're already teaching and mentoring."
"Anyone can teach phys-ed and fighting. Buffy's actually better at the fighting than I am. I teach street fighting and dirty tricks because that's what I knew, but Buffy learned from her watcher, two long lived master vampires, and a guy from the military. Now that she has her college degrees, she was going to take formal martial arts training but there isn't enough time. Maybe after everything settles she can ask that Caine guy… too bad he's a priest. He's kind of hot."
"You still have the chances to learn more fighting styles. You can ask Mr. Caine to teach you as well."
"Yeah, I suppose I could." Faith said unsurely.
Tru realized how self depreciating Faith was and how little she herself knew about her sister. She would need to ask Faiths friends about her. And maybe get some answers about her possibly killing someone.
"And for your information Shaolin priests aren't those kind of priests. They can have girlfriends and even get married." Tru said.
"Yeah? I bet Buffy doesn't know that. Maybe I should see if he's available before any of the other eligible girls take their shot."
Just then there was a quick knock on the door as Rona poked her head into the office
"The cars all packed, everything's ready Faith." Rona informed.
"What about the secret weapon?"
"All ready to go." Rona confirmed.
"Cool, well sis wishes me luck." Faith said.
"You got it. Don't do anything stupid. I want to see you come back in one piece." Tru replied.
"You mean more stupid than fighting four or five really dangerous demon?" Faith said with a smile. "Don't worry about it Row and I got it handled."
"Just come back." Tru replied.
Faith and Tru left the office and went their separate ways. Halfway down the Hall Tru spotted Mr. Giles coming down the stairs while reading a book. It was then Tru had an idea.
The minute later Tru headed to Giles office and found a man in what looked like a very expensive English suit.
"Hi my name is Tru Davies and your name is on this slip of paper but I'm not sure how to pronounce it."
"Ianto Jones, Mr. Giles's personal secretary and coffee god to the rest of the Scoobie."
Tru looked at the paper and then back at him with a quirked eyebrow before saying. "Well then, I'm really glad I didn't try to pronounce it."
Ianto smiled.
"But don't you mean personal secretary slash watcher."
"No. I suppose I could be a temporary substitute watcher in a pinch if needed but Mr. Giles is very busy and needs me in a secretarial capacity."
"And you're obvious coffee making skills. Hey wait a minuet your English shouldn't you be making tea. Oh crap that was a stereotype I'm so sorry."
Ianto continued to smile as he said. "Actually I'm Welsh and I make an excellent English tea however, Mr. Giles has been drinking some sort of herbal concoction that the witches have been making him drink because of a resent condition he's developed. Therefore my excellent tea making is still going to waste as Mr. Giles would be the only one here that can appreciate them."
"I see, well I got a note here from Mr. Giles to allow me access into his office so I can use the chair."
"The chair?" Ianto asked.
"The ghost-chair, Mr. Giles told me you would know what that was."
"Ah the ghost-chair. I was unaware that it was something to be used by someone on this plane of existence. That is to say, I thought it was only used by ghosts from the other side."
"Well, I'm here to find out if it can be used to contact the dead."
"Should you be doing this alone? Do you want me to stand by you?"
"No thanks Ianto, I'm only trying to find out if I can call my mom. But if you hear a scream you can come a running."
"I'll do that. Good luck."
"Thanks." Tru said as she went into the office and closed the door behind her
/Scene Break/
Faith and Rona walked slowly through the grave yard carrying crossbows and talking to each other as if they weren't looking for trouble as slayers often did. It wouldn't do any good to let the monsters know you were expecting them.
"You know the grounds keeper should pay me for walking around in these spikes and aerating the lawn like this."
"Is that even a word?" Rona asked.
"What, 'aerating' sure it is, it's one of the words in my GED study book. It means…"
Just then two demons jumped out of the bushes. One was a Blean demon the other a Vargoth. Further back two Feral demons stepped out from behind a crypt as well as a mysterious robed figure with it's hood up. The Vargoth made its move and lightning shot from its hand hitting Faith in the chest only to ground itself out through Faith's chain mail and metal spikes.
"Hmm, kind of tickles there, Sparky." She said.
The Blean demon began to raise it hand but Rona brought her crossbow to bear. She fired before the demon could give her a taste of its scramble wave. The barbed metal bolt imbedded deep into its stomach. Its hands went around the bolt to find a cord tethered to it. It began to raise its hand once more to scramble Rona's brains and Rona saw the wave around its hand start to build.
Umm… any time now, Faith. Rona said.
Faith fired her crossbow and its bolt went into one of the Vargoth demons hearts the bolt also had a cord tethered to it. A heavy electrical charge traveled from that bolt, through the cord to the other bolt lodged in the Blean demon. The Blean demon sizzled and smoked to become the consistency of charcoal. The Vargoth's electrical life force drained from it's body. By the time the Blean had died the Vargoth was nearly drained and was barley able to move. Faith walked up to it and pulled her sword. With a satisfying chop she sliced the demons head clean off.
The robed figure began to usher commands to the Feral demons.
"Grab and subdue the dark skinned Watcher. We can use her as bait to lure her slayer into a trap. We need them alive for the ritual."
Like two charging bulls the Feral demons attacked Rona believing she was just a watcher. But as they drew closer she drew her sword. The robed figure just smirked under his hood at the thought that the watcher could protect herself from the two powerhouses headed her way. But in the next second he was surprised at the woman's speed strength and ferocity as she dispatched them with such ease. This was no watcher this was another slayer. But then where was the watcher?
As the Feral demons ran at Rona, Rona ran at them. When she was close enough she launched herself into the air and planted her feet onto the demons chest knocking it off its own. She then plunged her sword through its chest even before it hit the ground. Pulling it out the other Feral demon tried to stop before it tripped over the body of its companion. Rona raised her sword to strike. The Feral demon put up an arm to block as Rona sword rain down upon it. With one very powerful swing Rona not only sliced through its arm but through its neck taking off it's head roaring as she did so.
Damn how stupid of me. Of course the one in chain mail would be clever enough to be the watcher. He had thought her to be the slayer only because of how she dismembered the demon. He should have known even a child could put down a wounded animal. He'd need to take care of this himself.
Unexpectedly the cloaked figure pulled a revolver from inside his robes and pointed it towards the supposed watcher ready to shoot, Faith was very much aware of the figure and saw the gun. Faith took her short sword and through it like a javelin at the cloaked figure. Surprise and shock filled the figures mind at the speed the sword flew at him. There wasn't any time to get out of its way as it pierced his shoulder through the front and went through the bone of his shoulder blade in his back. He was only a step away from the crypt. Had he not been the sword may have gone right through him, and the hilt would have ripped his shoulder right off, but the tip of the sword hit the stone of the crypt and stopped its progression. The figure dropped his gun and fell to his knees as he screamed in pain. Faith and Rona ran up and grabbed him so he couldn't try anything else. Faith pulled back the hood not really as surprised as the figure thought she might be when she said.
"Ethan Rayne, we were told we might see you."
"Where the hell is your watcher?" He demanded.
"We didn't bring one." Rona replied
"Yeah we're totally unsupervised." Faith added cockily.
"What do you mean you were told?" He spat.
"When you escaped from military prison the first people they called was Giles and Buffy, knowing you had a vendetta against them and the rest of the Council. So we have been expecting you for a while now." Faith replied.
"Damn them. They shouldn't have even remembered that I was there."
"Yeah that spell you were able to put on your cell made everyone forget, but they wondered who the guy in the prison uniform was on the video feed that had jumped the wall. Once they looked up the I.D. numbers on your prison clothes they looked through your file and saw a note to call us. By the way the Council took the spell off." Faith informed.
"Ethan began muttering a chant and gesturing with his hands and fingers trying to produce a spell that would cause the slayers great pain and suffering when a beautiful African woman appeared from seemingly nowhere."
"You can give that up." She said. "I bound your powers the moment your knees hit the ground."
"Ethan stopped to glare angrily at the woman. Not that he believed her but he was in to much pain to work his spell anyway."
"Thanks Queenie, if I pulled the sword can you heal the wound?"
"I believe this despicable dog should suffer in pain for allying himself with demons to attack your Council."
"Well, we can't move him with a sword sticking through him. He'll bleed out before we get him to the G.C."
"Very well, I only know battle field medic magic. I can't cure him but if you pull the sword I can seal the wound."
"Good enough for me Faith said as she pulled the sword without even letting Ethan know or prepare." Faith smiled triumphantly at his screams. The witch came forth but let him bleed a bit. She took a small jar and let the blood flow into it before sealing the jar and then the wound. Faith quirked an eye brow as she saw the jar.
"For future use, just in case this dog slips his leash again." She said mysteriously.
"Fair enough. Let's go."
"Who the hell are you?" Ethan growled.
"I am Queen Mousette you cowardly rodent."
"Ethan paled even more. Queen Mousette was the second most powerful witch next to Willow Rosenberg in his book but Queen Mousette's dangerous reputation scared him infinitely more."
/Scene Break/
Tru tried to call to her mother for five minutes with no response it wasn't until she actually touched the chair before the ghost appeared.
"Tru, what's the matter darling?"
Surprised that she was able to make contact she stood there stunned for a second before she launched into what it was that was bothering her.
"I rewound today. Before I came back it was mentioned that Faith may have…"
"Killed someone." Elise finished.
Tru was shocked that her mother confirmed her sister was a murderer.
Elise sighed as she continued. "Tru I'm not saying that what happened was ok, just that it was a mistake that could have been avoided. Growing up knowing that you might someday be picked out of thousands of girls to have the power to become a super powered demon hunter is very daunting, especially when you have to be shown the demons to prove that they exist before you can start training. As you train you wonder if you'll be good enough or will you die days after your called. All the young women are told that slayers have very short life spans. Before your sister was called a master vampire heard there was a watcher training a potential slayer and decided they didn't need to exist in his city. Faith was very fond of her watcher she was a fill in for a mother that was too high to be any kind of a mother to her. The vampire caught up with them just after Faith was chosen and showed her how useless her new power was by tying her down and making her watch as he ripped her watcher limb from limb. Faith escaped after wounding the vampire and made her way to SunnyDail where she knew the active slayer was. Buffy and her friend began taking her under their wings and help her to slay the vampire that now tracked and hunted her all the way there. Once she did that Faith began feeling unstoppable. The power was going to her head. One night Faith was in a slaying frenzy when about twenty vampires cornered her and Buffy in an alley. They were plunging their stakes into the vampires' chests so fast that Faith felt very alive and powerful. As I said, it was a frenzy. Finally they were at the last of the vamps when a normal human man walked into the ally. Buffy saw him for what he was and tried to move him back out of the way when Faith plunged her stake into him."
"O my god… but… but that's involuntary manslaughter not murder." Tru announced.
"I'm sorry it gets worse. When a slayer kills someone it starts a process that drives the slayer somewhat insane. The first sign that her mental state was degrading was that she lied about it to Buffy's watcher. She told him it was Buffy's that did the act. Giles knew not to believe her. He knew his slayer. He knew Buffy and told Buffy that as well. Unfortunealy for Faith her newly apointed watcher who heard both conversations was very nieave about the Watchers Council. He belived it was his duty to report what had happened and believed the Council would play the diplomat card giving Faith immunity. Instead they sent a hit squad to kill her. Their motto was if one slayer doesn't work out; kill her so another could be called."
"That… That's insane."
"It wasn't helping your sister's sanity ether. At the time Faith knew who the recent bad guy was and joined him so he would protect her from the Watcher Council and Buffy. The evil monster took a woman with a tortured mental state and had her kill for him. This time it was murder."
Tru stood there shocked at what she heard and was unable to think straight let alone speak out.
"She then got into a fight with Buffy. The end result was that Faith was put into a coma for several months. When she awoke she fled to L.A. where some of Buffy's friends went as well as Faiths Watcher. Long story short, a vampire with a soul and trying to redeem himself got through to Faith and put her on the same path. She did some time in prison only to break out to save the world. She never went back and she somehow obtained a pardon."
"It doesn't sound like she was in total control of her faculties so she should have been considered exempt by reason of temporary insanity." Tru said in defense of her sister.
"The bottom line is that the life of a demon hunter is fast and furious whether you're mystically endowed or not. Mistakes are and will always be made. Each one of the core scoobies has made some terrible and horrific ones. But in the end they are all on the road to redemption and have created this school so that the next slayers and demon hunters will learn how not to make them. They are good people and with all there faults you need to trust them, even your sister."
Tru stood there in thought for a moment, thinking if she were in Faiths shoes what would she have done.
"What are you thinking?" Elise asked.
Tru's concentration broke, she looked her mother in the eye and said with a smirk. "That you haven't given me any reason to doubt them."
Elise smiled in relief but warned. "That's because I didn't give you all the details. I'm sure you'll find out in time but always remember your safe with them. Trust them."
"I will." Tru said.
Just then Giles walked in.
"I'm sorry Tru, Elise, but something has come up and I need my office back. I hope you understand."
"Of course, I can't spend any more time here anyway. The Powers have me bouncing all over creation so I really need to be going. Take care of your siblings Tru. See you soon." Just as fast as Tru said goodbye Elise was gone.
Sadly Tru looked towards Giles and said. "Thanks for letting me use the chair."
"Of course, and I'm glad it worked for you." Seeing Tru's sad face that looked so much like Faith's he added. "See me if you'd like to use it again in the future."
He noticed her face become a little more cheerful as she said "Thanks Mr. Giles." And with a small spring in her step she headed out of his office.
"And I would like to thank you for your help with Roxanna, you may have saved us all."
"Is that why you need your office back? Did my sister and Rona slay the demons involved?"
"Yes, she called in just minutes ago. She is coming in with the mage who would have been responsible if not for you. They will take him to the interrogation room before they bring him before me. By that time some people from the military will stop by to collect him." He said with some venom in his voice.
"It sounds like you know this Mage." Tru commented.
"I use to, when we were younger. We grew up and took opposite paths. He has devoted his life to his God Jonas and the ways of chaos. Destroying the Guardian Council would create that chaos and fulfill his need for revenge upon us. You see we sent him to a military prison after he caused some problems back in Sunnydale. He recently managed to give his handlers the slip and found his way here. I'm sure they'll be happy to get him back."
"Tell my sister I'll be by the duty office for the details later. She always tells the story with the most color." Tru said with a laugh.
Giles smirked. "That she does, and I will tell her to be expecting you."
Thanks Tru said as she left the office, "once outside, Tru's thoughts were that it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission as she headed down to the interrogation room where she may not be allowed to go."
The interrogation room was in the basement. A wall had been erected to separate it from the gym. The staircase to the gym was in the center of the building. The only way to the interrogation room was from a stair case in the front of the building which the on duty guard watched as well as the front door and the teleport receiving room. This was a security measure that protected everyone.
Tru, unlike her sister Faith usually dressed in dresses. But since coming to the Guardian Council she realized that putting on a pair of blue jeans and carrying herself with confidence would make many of the staff and students mistake her for her sister Faith. This would allow her access to places in the building that she suspected she wouldn't be aloud otherwise. So it was easy to get by the on duty guard by simply walking past the guard desk and down into the basement like she owned the place. She got to the bottom, of the steps and found the one and only interrogation room. It really wasn't hard there were only three doors down there. She just ignored the door with the sign that read boiler room. Just like the interrogation rooms on television the room had a one way mirror to the observation room next door. Tru walked in and waited for her sister and this warlock (whoever he was) to come back. She didn't know why but she needed to see the twisted man that would do what she had seen done to the Guardian Council.
It wasn't long before they arrived. They unceremoniously shoved Ethan into the room and onto a chair Rona put her unopened can of Ice tea on the table when Faith and Queen Mousette called her out of the room for a moment. When the door closed Ethan dove upon the can of Ice tea opened it and drank it down as if he had been stuck in the desert for a week. As Tru witnessed this, Faith Rona and Queen Mousette entered the observation room.
"What are you doing here?" Faith asked Tru.
"I wanted to see the man I prevented from killing everyone this time around. By the way Rona, He stole your drink." Tru pointed out.
The three women smiled.
"It worked." Rona announced.
"What worked?" Tru asked with a quirked eye brow.
"Queenie over here put a spell on him." Faith said.
"It was a thirst spell. He could not help himself." Queen Mousette added.
"We knew he wouldn't drink the stuff otherwise." Faith said.
"What did he drink? The can was sealed."
"Yeah, Queenie put a potion in an empty can and used magic to seal it up like a brand new can." Faith explained.
"Earlier I used a spell to bind his magic. But I have seen this spell broken before, so, I did something similar with this potion. This potion when used by a wand waver breaks the connection between their magical core and any wand they try to use. On someone who channels earth magic or entity magic such as gods or other deity's, it severs that connection." Queen Mousette explained.
"We're handing him over to that military and we want to make sure that what their getting back they wont be able to use, especially against us." Faith informed.
"Since we got him here and he already drank the potion, maybe we should interrogate him to find out if he has been doing anything for them and what, before the military shows up to claim him." Rona said.
"That's probably a good idea. Come on let's do it." Faith said.
Faith and Rona left the observation room leaving Tru and Queen Mousette to watch through the mirror. Once the ladies entered the interrogation room the two slayers took a seat with their backs to the mirror but facing Ethan.
"So Rayne, since your incarceration into the military prison, we wondered if they were treating you well." Rona asked.
"The only complaint I had about my imprisonment was that I was imprisoned."
"Well if that was your only complaint then it sounds like you had it pretty good. I was in prison for a time. I always had a complaint. And I've been told horror stories by other inmates how much worse military prison was. I'm guessing you got some privileges somehow. I'm thinking you were helping them with magic research. Am I right?"
Ethan smiled and said. "Hypothetically if that were true, and I'm not saying that it isn't but by the same token I'm not saying that it is, I couldn't tell you about it now could I."
"Why? It's an American prison and you're a British citizen. It's not like you'd be committing treason."
"No but as you yanks say, not knowing just pisses you off."
"Let's put the blade back in his shoulder." Rona said.
Ethan smirked. "Actually I've been living like a dog. The conditions are horrid, the food it terrible and they make me scrub floors and toilets with the same toothbrush I use to brush my teeth."
"Well that's a pile of steaming crap if I've ever heard it." Rona said.
"Actually, that's the kind of thing I heard from the other inmates so it could be true." Faith replied. "So, you never worked any magic for them so they could study it?"
"No, it's been tried before. It's a waste of my time and their money. Magic turns their fancy million dollar technology into rubbish."
"Have you been working for them? Have they been sending you out on some sort of missions?" Rona asked.
"My dear lady, why would I do that for your country? I am as you said a British citizen."
Faiths cell phone rang. Ethan looked curiously in her direction as Faith looked in his. She made an affirmative answer and ended the call looking disappointed.
"Damn, you got lucky Rayne. It seems the military really wants you back. Makes me think you were doing something for them that they don't want us to know about. You sure you wouldn't want to tell us if you were doing anything like that?"
"Not particularly. Well then, I guess there's nothing for it. Take me to my keepers if you will."
"Now you see, that's just weird. Why aren't you begging us for sanctuary or something when you know the only thing you have to look forward to in military prison is French kissing that toothbrush of yours?" Faith asked.
Ethan made a grim expression but didn't reply as he was escorted out the door by Rona. Faith left the room as soon as she heard them moving up the stairs. At that moment Tru and Queen Mousette came out of the observation room.
"Well what do you two think?" Faith asked.
"I took some psychology in college as part of my medical training and from what I could tell that guy was lying about how bad he had it in prison and he lied when he said he wasn't doing jobs for the military." Tru said.
"If what they are using him for is his magic then they will be very angry about what they're getting back." Queen Mousette commented. "He doesn't realize it yet but the combination of the spell and potion will make it impossible for him to ever do magic again."
"In any case you two better follow him and Rona. I don't trust him." Tru said.
"Aren't you coming to watch the hand off?" Faith asked.
"No. I don't think it's a good idea for ether Ethan or the military to know of May's existence let alone that you have a much more vulnerable sister." Tru announced.
"Faith was shocked by that. "S*#T! I hadn't thought of that. They could use you to get to me."
"Don't worry about it so much, just get up there and make sure he's secure before he's handed over. It would look bad if the G.C. lost him before the hand off. And text me when he's gone."
Twenty minuets later Ethan was annoyed, frustrated, and angry he was being loaded into a van and he didn't even get to see his former friend, now rival Rupert. He had this whole speech he was going to give him that he haphazardly slapped together from the time of his capture in the graveyard just to put a flea in his ear. It was to be a bit of false information that would have drove ole Rupert insane trying to figure out the meaning but now his tail would never reach his adversaries ears because Rupert denied him an audience. Then he was handcuffed and being loaded into the back of a van on his way to the airport. He did however have fun confusing the slayers during his interrogation. Truth be told, he never wanted to go back to that hole of a prison. Oh they tried to force him to do magic in controlled environments but he always found a way to sabotage the equipment before they even started. After a while he just refused but that only brought on all kinds of hell upon him. No, he would never be going back there. It was a good thing that he had the foresight to plan for the eventuality of his capture. As the van turned off of the highway and neared its destination Ethan braced himself.
As the van cruised down the highway taking it's precious captive cargo to the airport three very large and aggressive looking creatures lay in wait just ahead. The large hulking demon in the middle began running down the hill like a dog after a ball. Its six powerful legged propelling it at an incredible speed. It's armored hide would make a rhino jealous while its charcoal color seemed to absorb light. The boney protrusions were thick and blunt and able to absorb the blow it was about to give as it leaped into the air and struck the top of the van as it past. When something slightly bigger than a Volkswagen beetle and weighing twice as much hits a van like that the only outcome is that the van tips over and rolls twice. The other two demons got to the scene and ripped open the side as if it were a can of sardines. One of the guards was dead the other was dazed but quickly came to his senses as he pulled his gun from its holster. He wasn't quick enough as another Blean demon raised its hand. The wave of energy scrambled the man's brains inside the shell of his skull. He screamed before his brain forgot how. In the few moments that the wave hit him his brain forgot a great many things such as, how to breathe, and how to keep his heart beating. His dead body laid in the street as blood and brain matter poured from his ears. The other beastly monster was another feral demon. It pulled a slightly dazed but grateful Ethan Rayne from the wreckage.
Just as Ethan regained his footing the driver came from around the other side of the van with his Berretta raised.
"Hold it right there Rayne. You're not going anywhere." He said not seeing the demons as a threat. But that was as far as he got as the six legged demon behind him brought down its heavy clubbed tail upon his head, crushing his skull and spine.
"Silly toy soldiers the lot of them." Ethan ground out. He then looked to the demons and said. "I must get to my underground contacts. The Guardian Council took some liberties in binding my magic. I'll need their help to release it."
Ethan grabbed the dead driver's gun, wallet and mobile phone as well as the wallets of the other two men. Ethan was disgusted as each man only had about twenty dollars each. He saw car headlights approaching in the distance.
"It's time to leave this place." Ethan told the demons.
The demons headed into a grove of trees while Ethan sat at the curb the approaching car came to a stop at the scene of the accident and the driver and his passenger got out of the car.
"Sir, are you alright? Can you tell me what happened?" The passenger asked Ethan.
"It's terrible they're all dead." Ethan sobbed dramatically. When both the driver and passenger were close enough Ethan pulled out and trained the gun on them. "And so will you two be if you don't do as I say. Now empty your pockets." The men backed up a step and raised their hands.
"I said empty your pockets… NOW!" Ethan demanded which jolted them into action as they emptied their pocket throwing their contents upon the ground.
Ethan stomped on the mobile phone of the passenger and looked upon the driver dubiously.
"Where's your phone?"
"I-I don't own one." The driver replied nervously.
Ethan shot the fedora from his head that he had been wearing. Secretly it was something he always wished he had the chance to do.
"Throw your phone on the ground now!" Ethan said angrily.
With shaking hands he took it from his jacket pocket and threw it to the ground.
"And the keys to your car."
"They're in the ignition." The driver said.
Ethan made to raise his gun to shot the man for lying. The driver seeing this interrupted. "It's true listen the car is still running. It couldn't do that if the keys weren't in it."
Ethan had missed it because the engine was so quiet but the man was right, it was running. Ethan picked up the wallet still pointing the gun at the men and then got into the car. He rolled down the window and said. "Dinner is served." Before driving away.
"That guy was obviously a nut case." The passenger said. "What the hell did he mean by 'dinner is served?"
The driver hearing something behind him turned to see some form of animal shadows moving around in the grove of trees.
"I don't think he was talking to us." The drive replied.
Just as the passenger turned to see what his friend was talking about the demons attacked. The men's screams only fueled the hell-beasts blood-lust as they were viscously torn apart.
It would be several hours before the Guardian Council was informed of the supposed accident and Ethan's escape. Needless to say they were livid.
A.N: Ianto Jones in this story is Giles's personal secretary because Torchwood doesn't exist.
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