Chapter 32: What's My Line Pt. 2

December 4, 1997 – Thursday

Angel's Apartment

Buffy stared.

Kendra stared back.

The two of them continued to circle each other, fists raised and ready. For a long moment there was only the ragged sound of their breathing.

"Let's start again," Buffy said at last. "You're the who?"

"I'm the Slayer," Kendra replied.

Buffy was speechless. The young woman across from her radiated poise and intensity. There was a faintly regal air about her. And it was way obvious she didn't take anything from anybody.

Still, the whole thing was totally ridiculous.

"Nice cover story," Buffy told her. "Here's a tip—try it on someone who's not the Charmed Slayer."

Kendra looked at Buffy momentarily thrown at the mention of the Charmed Slayer. What was the Charmed Slayer? "You can't stop me," she returned. "Even if you kill me, another Slayer will be sent to take my place."

Buffy was running out of patience. "Could you stop with the Slayer thing? I'm the Charmed Slayer!"

Kendra wasn't sure why Buffy kept mentioning the Charmed Slayer. Nor did she really care. "Nonsense. I am the Slayer."

Again Buffy lapsed into silence, totally baffled by this turn of events. Kendra was so annoyingly earnest, she couldn't help but wonder . . . "Okay," she relented, almost reluctantly. "Scenario: I back off. You back off. You promise not to go all wiggy until we go to my Watcher and figure out what this is all about."

Kendra frowned. "Wiggy?"

"You know—no kicko, no fighto?" Buffy said. "And none of this…" She held up her hand as a fireball formed in it.

Kendra paused, considering. Then she stood back, folding her arms across her chest. "I accept your scenario."

They still didn't trust each other. With suspicion and more than a little contempt in their eyes, they let down their guard at last, but each continued to silently assess the other.

At last Kendra said, "Your English is very odd, you know."

"Yeah, it's something about being woken by an axe. Makes me talk all crazy." Buffy paused, then added, "So you were sent here?"

"Yes, by my Watcher."

"To do what, exactly?"

"To do my duty," Kendra informed her. "I am here to kill vampires."

The Alibi Room

Angel looked up at the window high on the wall of the storage area.

Sun was streaming through the barred glass, spilling light into the room.

He could hardly breathe now. Huddled in a corner, he tried to draw into himself, tried to put even an inch more distance between himself and the morning.

He thought of Buffy. He wondered if she was safe; he cursed himself for his helplessness.

The sun angled across the floor, leaving him only a small patch of safety. With every passing minute, it crept closer.

Angel was sweating. His body was wracked with pain. He closed his eyes and tried to envision the darkness.

Gateway High School

Giles paced restlessly in front of Buffy and Kendra, trying to make sense of the situation. "Your watcher is Sam Zabuto, you say?" he asked this new Slayer.

Buffy watched with interest. Kendra seemed strangely subdued in Giles's presence, almost subservient. Even her voice held a touch of reverence as she answered his question. "Yes, sir."

"We've never met," Giles went on, "but he is very well respected."

"What?" Buffy broke in. "So he's a real guy? As in, nonfictional?"

Giles ignored her. "What are you called?" he asked Kendra.

"I am the Vampire Slayer," Kendra replied.

Buffy sounded irked. "We got that part. He means your name."

"Oh." Kendra nodded. "They call me Kendra, only. I have no last name, sir."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Can you say—stuck in the eighties?"

"Buffy, please." Giles frowned. "There has obviously been some kind of misunderstanding here."

Everyone turned as Willow and Phoebe came into the library, followed by Prue and Piper.

Willow stopped just inside the door and smiled. "Hey—"

Before Willow could finish her sentence, Kendra advanced on Willow, Prue, Piper and Phoebe, ready to attack.

"Identify yourselves!" Kendra ordered.

"Back off, Pink Ranger." Buffy as she appeared in bright flames between Kendra, her family and Willow, her look was withering. "Willow is my friend. And Prue, Piper and Phoebe are my cousins."

"Friend?" Kendra demanded. "And how did you get across the room so quickly?"

"You know. Person you hang with? Amigo? And on the other thing, that's on a need to know basis. And you do not need to know."

Kendra looked annoyed. "I—I don't understand."

Again Buffy rolled her eyes, turning this time to Giles. "You try. I'm tapped."

Prue marched over to Buffy with a look that could kill. "Payson Patricia Halliwell!" she said shaking her head.

"Kendra," Giles said patiently. "There are a few people, civilians if you will, who know Buffy's identity. Well not all of them are civilians. Anyways Willow is one of them. And they also spend time together. Socially. Prue, Piper and Phoebe here are the Charmed Ones."

Piper looked at Giles with a raised eyebrow. "Seriously. You reveal our secret to a stranger?"

Buffy looked at the floor, not meeting Prue's eyes. "I'm sorry, Prue. Really."

"You know how worried you had us?" Prue asked her gaze finally taking one of comfort.

Kendra was taking all of this in. She understood what was being said, but she was still very much puzzled by the concept. "And you allow this, sir?" she finally asked.

"Well," Giles stammered, "you see—"

Buffy sighed as she finally looked up at her eldest cousin. "I know, Prue. I'm really, really sorry. I was scared, okay. I don't want to die again, twice was enough."

Prue wrapped an arm around Buffy. "There will be punishment of course. But I understand, I really, Buffy. That is our fear too." She looked at Phoebe and Piper. "Right?"

"Right," Piper and Phoebe agreed.

"We'll talk more about this at home," Prue said turning back to Buffy.

"But the Slayer must work in secret," Kendra broke in. "For security—"

"Of course. With Buffy, however, it's . . ." Giles looked momentarily at a loss. "Some fiexibiity is required."

"Why?" Kendra wondered.

"Hi, guys," Willow said quickly, putting an end to the discussion. "What's going on?"

"That is what I would like to know," Piper said looking at her cousin.

"There's been a big mix-up," Buffy replied.

"It seems that somehow, another Slayer has been sent to Sunnydale," Giles added.

Phoebe looked from Buffy to Kendra and back to Buffy. "Is that even possible? I mean, two Slayers at the same time?"

"Not that I know of." Giles took off his glasses, gazing down thoughtfully. "The new Slayer is only called after the previous Slayer has died—" His head came up. He shoved his glasses back onto his nose. "Good Lord," he mumbled. "You were dead, Buffy."

"Which time?" Buffy questioned, sounding a little defensive. "I was only gone for a minute or two either time."

"Clearly, it doesn't matter how long you were gone," Giles concluded. "You were physically dead both times, either time would have caused the activation of the next Slayer."

"She . . . died?" Now Kendra really did look lost. "Twice?"

"Just a little," Buffy insisted.

"The first time she drank a potion to vanquish a ghost," Giles explained. "The second time she drowned. But both times she was revived."

"So there really are two of them?" Phoebe stared at Giles, who finally managed a nod.

"It would appear so. Yes." He sat down, stunned. He pressed one hand to his forehead. "We have no precedent for this," he mumbled. "I'm quite flummoxed."

"What's the flum?" Buffy piped up. "It's a mistake. She isn't supposed to be here. She goes home." Turning to Kendra, she added, "No offense. But I'm not dead, and it's a teeny bit creepy having you around."

"Buffy!" Prue scolded her cousin. "Apologize, that was rude."

Buffy looked at Kendra and sighed. "I'm sorry."

Kendra stood her ground. "I cannot simply leave. I was sent here for a reason. Mr. Zabuto said all the signs indicate that a very dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale."

"He's quite right," Giles admitted. "I'll need to contact him."

"So what was your plan for fighting this dark power?" Buffy asked Kendra. "Just sort of attack people till you found a bad one?"

Kendra sounded indignant. "Of course not."

"Why the hell did you jump me?"

Kendra hesitated. Then sheepishly she said, "I thought you were a vampire."

"Really?" Phoebe chuckled.

"Ooh," Buffy quipped, "a swing and a miss for the rookie."

"I had good reason to think you were," Kendra justified herself. "Did I not see you kissing a vampire?"

Piper looked at her cousin in understanding. "She saw you and Angel at the rink."

Buffy tried to explain to Kendra. "You saw me with Angel. He's a vampire, but he's good."

"Angel?" Kendra echoed. "You mean Angelus? I've read of him. He is a monster."

"No," Prue broke in mildly, "no, he's good now."

"Wow," Buffy said looking at Prue in astonishment. "You've always been on my case for dating Angel."

"I still think that is a bad call," Prue insisted. "But even I can't dismiss that he is good."

"Anyways," Buffy said looking back at Kendra, "he had a gypsy curse."

"Oh." Kendra stared at Buffy. "He had a what?"

"Just trust me. Angel's on the home team now. Wouldn't hurt a fly."

"I cannot believe you," Kendra argued. "He looked to me like just another animal when I—" She stopped.

Noting her strained expression, Buffy eyed Kendra worriedly. "When you what?" she asked her. "What did you do to him?"

Kendra didn't answer right away. "I . . ."

"Take it easy, Buffy," Prue told her cousin before looking at Kendra. "What did you do?"

Piper looked to Phoebe. "Did you call the Manor to let Cordelia and Xander know. That Buffy had been found?"

Phoebe shook her head. "I forgot."

The Alibi Room

Angel's patch of shadow had dwindled down to a mere sliver.

As he lay there moaning softly, he tried to rearrange his jacket over his head, taking what little protection it provided. In spite of that, he was literally smouldering now, and the pain was almost more than he could bear.

The stench of scorched flesh hung in the room.

As sunlight flooded the storage area, Angel prepared to die.

He was too far gone to notice when the door slammed open . . . too weak to look up when a pair of hands grabbed his legs and began to pull.

Willy dragged Angel through the dirt of the stockroom. He pulled him away from the light and into the next room, then lifted a trap door hidden in the floor.

Leaning down, he pushed Angel's nearly lifeless body down into the sewer. Angel collapsed in the water, and as Willy lowered himself down, Spike and his minions stepped out of the shadows to meet them.

"Here you go, my friend," Willy announced proudly. "A little singed around the edges maybe, but he'll be good as new in a day or so."

Helplessly weak, Angel was almost unconscious. Spike reached for him, but Willy tugged Spike's hand away.

"Hey, now," Willy reminded him. "We had a deal."

Spike gave Willy a look. He pulled a wad of money from his pocket and started to peel off several bills, handing them over to Willy as he did so.

"What's the matter, Willy?" Spike asked him. "Don't trust me?"

Willy was quickly counting the bills. He gestured to Spike for more.

"Like a brother," Willy responded.

Spike held the last bill up. He made Willy reach for it. And then he struck him hard across the face.

"Talk," Spike warned, "and I'll have your guts for garters."

Willy got the message. "Wild horses couldn't drag it."

Spike unfolded one more bill. He crumpled it in his hand and dropped it into the filthy water.

"Oops," he grinned. "Sorry—friend."

It didn't bother Willy to fish for his money. As a matter of fact, there was very little thatever bothered Willy. Still, after all the trouble he'd just gone to, he couldn't help but be curious about this particular outcome.

He paused and looked up, watching Spike's minions gather up Angel.

"What're you gonna do with him, anyway?" Willy asked.

Spike looked deep in thought. "I'm thinking . . . maybe dinner and a movie. I don't want to rush into anything. I've been hurt, you know."

He thrust his hands in the pockets of his black coat. And then he strode confidently away, disappearing from view around a bend in the tunnel.

The minions followed with Angel, leaving Willy behind.

Halliwell Manor

"Do you have this in raisin?" Cordelia held a lipstick out to Mr. Pfister. "I know you wouldn't think so, but I'm both a winter and a summer—"

She broke off at the sight of the weird little salesman. He was standing there beside his open satchel of cosmetics and creams, and he was just looking at her. Not moving, not answering. Just unblinking and totally creepy.

Cordelia took a step back.

"Nine ninety-nine," Mr. Pfister spoke at last. "Tax included."

"You—you said that already," Cordelia reminded him. "Do you haveanything in the berry family?"

The salesman didn't respond. He simply took the lipstick away from her and dropped it back into his bag. "Are there more ladies in the house?" he asked politely.

"They aren't home," Cordelia said. His fixed expression was making her nervous, everything about him was making her nervous. "Nothing personal," she offered, "but maybe you should look into selling dictionaries."

She stopped as a single worm suddenly appeared from under his coat. It fell to his feet and squirmed across the floor, while Cordelia backed away with a gasp.

She looked back at Mr. Pfister, who was looking back impassively at her. No emotion, no expression.

At that moment Xander came back downstairs, seeing Mr. Pfister for the first time. "Hey," he said amiably. "What's up?"

Cordelia grabbed Xander by the arm. "He's a . . . salesman," she babbled. "But he was just leaving."

Feeling strangely freaked, she hid behind Xander, then looked hopefully at Mr. Pfister. "Right?"

The salesman just stood there.

"Okay," Cordelia ran on. "Bye-bye. Thanks."

Nothing. Xander moved to hustle him out. "Come on, Mary Kay. Time to—"

But as Xander approached him, Mr. Pfister's face began to ripple. To slither and squirm in the most hideous way, as though there were creepy crawly things under his skin. He was appalled. He couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. "Time to . . ." He turned to Cordelia. His voice remained calm. "Run."

Mr. Pfister was standing between them and the front door. As the two of them bolted in the other direction, the little salesman suddenly began to shift, his human form falling away as he decomposed into thousands of slimy worms. The worms immediately streamed after Xander and Cordelia.

The twosome ran past the stairs for the back door, but now Mr. Pfister had reformed as a human and was blocking their path. They had no choice but to duck into the cellar, bolting the door behind them. At once worms began flowing through the crack underneath.

Cordelia screamed in panic. Xander grabbed an old broom and attempted to beat them off.

"Find something to block the crack under the door!" he shouted.

Frantically, Cordelia began to search. She could feel worms crawling over her, and she screamed again, trying to brush them off. At last she spotted a roll of duct tape on a shelf. She grabbed it and shoved it at Xander. "I—I don't—do worms," she shuddered.

Xander shoved the broom back at her. "Cover me."

Grimacing, he quickly ran some tape around the cracks in the door while Cordelia tried to kill worms. When the door was finally secure, the two of them finished off the rest of the worms that had made it through, then waited to see if the tape would hold.

To their relief, nothing came in. For the moment, at least, the worms seemed thwarted.

The Alibi Room

Breathlessly, Buffy burst into the storage room. Her frantic eyes scanned the walls, the corners, the puddles of liquor, the shards of broken glass . . .

To her dismay, Angel wasn't there. "Angel . . ." she murmured.

Kendra and Prue came in behind her, moving slowly about the area, carefully inspecting the floor.

"No ashes," Kendra announced.

Buffy looked up at her. "What?"

"When a vampire combusts, he leaves ashes," Kendra stated.

"We know the drill," Prue returned dryly.

"So I did not kill him."

Buffy got right into Kendra's face. Her voice was cold. "And I don't have to…"

"Buffy, don't even finish that thought," Prue told her cousin. "We don't kill humans. You would think our trip to the future would have taught you that."

They didn't notice Willy as he stepped quietly into the room. "Whoa," he greeted them. "There's a lot of tension in this room."

Before he could utter another word, Kendra charged him. She slammed him to the floor and drew back her fist for a mighty blow.

Buffy caught her hand midstrike. Exasperated, she asked, "Doesn't anyone just say 'hello' where you come from?"

"This one is dirty," Kendra replied, maintaining a merciless grip. "I can feel it."

"That's nice for you, percepto girl. But we're not going to get anything out of him if he's oh, say, unconscious." Buffy grabbed Willy away from Kendra. She helped him up, then she slammed him into the wall. Hard. "Where's Angel?" she demanded.

Willy's voice was strident. "My bud Angel? You think I'd let him fry? I saved him in the nick. He was about five minutes away from being a crispy critter."

Buffy shot Kendra a vicious look. "Where'd he go? Home?" She tightened her hold on Willy, and he squirmed nervously

"Uh, he said he was gonna stay underground," Willy told her. "You know, recuperate."

"Are you telling me the truth?" Prue asked.

"I swear!" Willy could feel sweat trickling down his brow. "I swear on my mother's grave . . . should something fatal happen to her, God forbid."

"Then he is all right," Kendra assured Buffy. "We can return to your Watcher for our orders."

"Orders?" Buffy looked at Kendra as though she'd lost her mind. "I don't take orders. I do things my way."

"Buffy!" Prue admonished.

Buffy sighed as she looked at Prue. "Okay, I don't take orders. But you, me, Piper and Phoebe do things our way. Better?"

"Better," Prue agreed.

"No wonder you died," Kendra said.

"Let's go," Buffy said.

As they started out, Willy ran an appreciative gaze over their strong, slender figures. And then he had an idea. "I have to ask if either of you girls has considered modeling," he called out to them. They stopped abruptly, and he added, "I got a friend with a camera, strictly high class nude work—art photographs, but naked."

The look of disgust Buffy, Prue and Kendra they gave him was the first thing they'd ever shared.

Willy backed off. "You don't have to answer right away . . ."

Prue telekinetically lifted Willy up in to the air. "You are aware they are underage, right? And myself, well I would never consider doing anything with a slimeball like you."

Gateway High School

"Kendra," Giles said as the group stood in the school colonade, "I've conferred with your Watcher, Mr. Zabuto. He and I agree that until this matter with Spike and Drusilla is resolved, you two should work together."

Buffy bit her tongue to keep from retorting while Prue cast a look her way.

"So you believe that Spike is attempting to revive this Drusilla to health?" Kendra asked solemnly.

Giles had removed his glasses. He cleaned them off with his handkerchief, then stuffed the handkerchief into his pocket. "Yes," he answered. "That would be the dark power your Watcher referred to. Drusilla is not just evil. She's also quite mad." He took his handkerchief out again. He wiped his glasses. He put his glasses back on. "Restored to her full health," he persisted, "there is absolutely no telling what she might do."

"Then we will stop Spike," Kendra decided.

"It's a little more complicated than that, okay, John Wayne?" Buffy chided Kendra, and Giles, Prue, Piper and Phoebe agreed.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is," Giles agreed. "Spike has called out the Order of Taraka to keep Buffy out of the way."

"The assassins?" Kendra stiffened. "I read of them in the writings of Dramius."

The look Giles gave her was slightly incredulous. 'Really? Which volume?"

'I believe it was six, sir."

'How do you know that stuff?" Buffy asked Kendra impatiently.

"From my studies," Kendra replied.

Buffy nodded. "So, you have a lot of free time."

"I study because it is required. The Slayer Handbook insists on it."

"There's a Slayer Handbook?" Phoebe chimed in now, while Buffy looked completely puzzled.

"Handbook?" Buffy questioned. "What handbook? How come I didn't get a handbook?"

"Is there a T-shirt, too?" Willow asked eagerly. "'Cause, that would be cool."

Giles was attempting to hide a smile. "Several things brought me to the realization that the handbook would be of no use in your case."

"Focus," Prue said looking at her cousin.

Giles turned his full attention back to Kendra. "Kendra, perhaps you could show me the bit in Dramius six abut the Order of Taraka," he said delightedly. "I must admit, I could never get through that book."

"Yes, it was difficult," Kendra agreed. "All those footnotes!"

The two of them actually laughed. Buffy looked sideways at Willow, Prue, Piper and Phoebe. "Hello and welcome to planet pocket protector," she grumbled.

"Buffy?" Prue said shaking her head.

"I know, Prue," Buffy admitted. "But think about it, I wonder if Giles wishes I was more like her."

Prue watched as Kendra and Giles moved off. "Yeah, I see your point. You aren't after all the typical Slayer." She looked back at Buffy. "And that is because me, Piper and Phoebe wanting you to have a normal life outside of our Charmed and your Slayer responsibilities."

Giles suddenly stopped and turned back to Buffy. "Oh, Buffy. Principal Snyder came snooping around for you."

"Eeee," Buffy grimaced. "The Career Fair."

"You'd best make an appearance, I think."

"Right."

Kendra looked curiously at Giles. "Buffy's a student here?"

"Yes."

Kendra paused, taking this in. Then cooly she added, "Right. Of course. I'd imagine she's a cheerleader, too."

"As much as we would have loved for her to try out again," Piper said. "She didn't."

"Let's go find that book," Giles said to Kendra. "Shall we?"

They headed off toward the library.

"Would you like me to come with you. Explain to Snyder?" Prue offered looking at her cousin.

"No that's alright, Prue," Buffy replied with a smile. "Thanks anyways. And again I'm sorry, really."

"We still need to talk of course," Prue told her.

"Prue," Piper interjected. "I think in light of the circumstances. The assassins…Kendra. I think we can forget about the punishment this time."

"I have to agree with Piper," Phoebe added. "It's understandable why she was freaked out."

Prue looked at Buffy for a moment as she thought about what her sisters had said. "Alright. No punishment. But we are still going to talk."

"Thanks, Prue," Buffy said as she hugged her eldest cousin.

Then Prue, Piper and Phoebe headed off toward the library.

"Get a load of the She-Giles." Buffy muttered once her cousins were out of earshot.

"Creepy," Willow agreed. She and Buffy turned off in the other direction, moving out into the courtyard.

"I bet Giles wishes I were more of a fact geek," Buffy mused unhappily.

Willow glanced at her with a smile. "Giles is enough of a fact geek for both of you."

"But you saw how he and Kendra were vibing. 'Volume six—ha, ha-ha!'"

"Buffy," Willow said gently, "no one can replace you. You'll always be Giles's favorite."

"I wonder . . ."

"Of course you will. You're his Slayer. The Charmed Slayer."

"No," Buffy said wistfully. "I mean, I wonder if it would be so bad. Being replaced."

"You mean, like letting Kendra take over?" Willow sounded shocked.

"Maybe. It would be wild if, after this thing with Spike and the assassins is over, I could say 'Kendra, you slay. I'm going to Disneyland with Prue, Piper and Phoebe.'"

Willow hesitated. "But not forever, right?"

"No." Buffy cast her a teasing look. "Disneyland would get boring after a few months. But I could do . . . other stuff. Any stuff. Career Day stuff. Who knows, Willow, I might even be able to have, like, a normal life."

Halliwell Manor

Cordelia couldn't stop pacing.

As Xander sat glumly on the bottom step, she walked back and forth across the basement floor, arms clamped about her chest, nerves ready to explode.

"Think you could sit down or change your pattern or something?" Xander asked sarcastically. "You're making me queasy."

"Because you're just sitting there." Cordelia turned on him. "You should be thinking up a plan."

"I do have a plan. We wait. Buffy, Prue, Piper or Phoebe saves us."

"How will they even know where to find us?"

Xander gave a deep sigh. "Cordelia. This is their house. Odds are they'll find us."

"What if they don't?" Cordelia burst out. "I'm supposed to just waste away down here with you? No, thank you." She moved quickly toward the stairs.

Xander leapt up. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Checking to see if he's gone—"

"That's brilliant. What if he isn't?"

Cordelia's eyes were blazing. "Oh, right. You think we should just slack here and hope that somebody else decides to be a hero. Sorry, I forgot I was stranded with a loser—"

"And yet," Xander broke in, "I never forgot that I was stuck with the numb-brain who let Mr. Mutant into the house in the first place!"

"He looked normal!" Cordelia shouted.

"What—he was supposed to have an arrow and the wordassassin over his head?" Xander shouted back. "All it took was the prospect of a free makeover and you licked his hand like a big, dumb dog!"

"You know what?" Cordelia's voice lowered now, icy cold. "I'm gone. I'd rather beworm food than look at your pathetic face—"

"Then go. I won't stop you."

With tempers flaring, Xander and Cordelia moved closer. They were standing toe to toe now, their faces only inches apart, and both of them were seething.

"I bet you wouldn't," Cordelia threw back at him. "I bet you'd just let a girl go off to her doom all by herself—"

"Not just any girl." Xander was deliberately patronizing. "You're special."

"I can't believe I'm stuck here spending what are probably my last moments on earth with you!"

"I hope these are my last moments! Three more seconds of you and I'm gonna—"

"You're gonna what?" Cordelia challenged him. "Coward!"

"Moron!"

"I hate you!"

"I hate you!"

Furiously they paused, emotions out of control.

Then they grabbed each other wildly and began to kiss.

Bodies clinging, lips burning, they kissed with reckless passion, as neither had ever kissed before. The room seemed to vibrate around them, the floor seemed to shake. They kissed without stopping, without coming up for air. They kissed desperately . . . on and on and on.

At long last they broke apart.

And then they leapt apart, as if they had been electrocuted.

For a long moment they stared at each other.

"We so need to get out of here," Xander said, heading for the stairs.

Without hesitation, Cordelia bounded up the stairs and ripped the tape from the door. "He's gone," she announced thankfully, and they bolted.

They managed to make it through the kitchen. But as Cordelia followed Xander into the dining room, hundreds of worms suddenly rained down on them from above. Shrieking, Cordelia raced out the front door and into the yard. She was covered with worms, and Xander ran up to her, trying to brush them off.

"Help!" Cordelia screamed. "Help me!"

Xander dashed to a nearby garden hose. He turned the pressure up as far as it would go, and then he aimed it straight at Cordelia.

This time she shrieked even louder. As the water hit her full force, she flailed her arms and hopped around, her clothes and hair hopelessly soaked. But the tactic worked—as the last of the worms washed away, Xander shut off the hose and hurried Cordelia to her car.

Gateway High School

Buffy and Willow stood in the school lounge amid the hubbub of Career Week. The two of them were looking at a large schedule of events that had been posted on the wall.

"Okay," Buffy sighed. "My tests say I should be looking into law enforcement—duh—and environmental design."

"Environmental design?" Willow raised an eyebrow. "That's landscaping, right?"

Buffy shrugged. "I checked the shrub box. Landscaping was yesterday—so law it is."

They began shouldering their way through the noisy crowd. As Buffy looked around, she suddenly noticed a guy was watching them—and she especially noticed that he was staring at Willow.

"Don't look now, Will," Buffy informed her, "but that guy over there is totally checking you."

Willow followed Buffy's gaze across the room. "Oh," she said casually. "That's Oz. He's just expressing computer nerd solidarity."

"Really? Then why is he on his way over?"

Oz was indeed coming toward them now. With eyes that were only for Willow.

"Hi," he said.

Buffy smiled and kept moving. "Told you." She headed over toward the Law Enforcement booth, leaving Willow and Oz alone.

"Hey," Oz said.

"Hey." Willow studied him for a moment, then added, "Your hair. It's brown."

"Sometimes," Oz acknowledged. "Did you decide? Are you gonna become a corporate computer suit guy?"

Willow looked amused. "Uh, I think I'm gonna finish high school first. What about you?"

"I'm not really a computer person," Oz admitted. "Or a work of any kind person."

"Then why'd they select you?"

Oz shrugged his shoulders. "I sort of test well. Which is cool, except then it leads to jobs."

"Well, don't you have some ambition?"

"Oh, yeah," he answered seriously. "E flat, diminished ninth."

"Huh?

Oz patiently tried to explain. "The E flat's doable, but it's that diminished ninth . . . that's a man's chord." He tried to look serious. "You could lose a finger." He smiled at her.

Willow smiled back, not quite sure what to make of him.

At the other end of the area, Buffy had stopped at the Law Enforcement booth. The same stern policewoman was still there, and she gave Buffy a curt nod, handing her a sign-in sheet. Obligingly, Buffy added her name. The policewoman took the paper.

"Listen up," the officer ordered, "and answer when I call your name!"

Buffy and several other seminar attendees gathered around.

"Buffy Summers!" Police Lady bellowed.

"Here."

In one swift movement, the officer drew a gun and aimed it at Buffy's head.

Buffy dove for cover as shots rang out through the room "Get down!" she shouted.

Utter panic broke loose. As the policewoman fired again, people screamed and scattered. Bullets flew

everywhere, ricocheting off walls, whining through the air.

"Look out!" Oz yelled.

Flinging himself over Willow, he knocked her to the floor. Almost at once he felt a hot, searing pain as a bullet grazed his arm. The two of them landed hard. Oz lay on top of Willow, bleeding.

Buffy glanced around debating if she should flame the gun to her. With the number of people she decided it was too risky. On to Plan B. She tried to maneuver through the chaos. Keeping close to the floor, she crawled up behind Police Lady, grabbed her legs out from under her, and knocked her down. The two of them wrestled viciously.

At last Buffy managed to twist the gun from her hand and toss it away.

The policewoman drew another gun. She pointed it right at Buffy's forehead.

Before either of them could react, a foot came down on Police Lady's hand, kicking the gun out of reach. Buffy looked up to see Kendra and Prue towering over them, their faces cold with determination. Taking advantage of the distraction, Buffy immediately began pounding the officer's face.

The policewoman twisted free. Throwing Buffy off, she grabbed a student before anyone could stop her. She pointed the gun at his chest and slowly began to back up.

"Don't!" Buffy cried.

With her hostage in tow, Police Lady continued on through the lounge. Reaching the door at last, she tossed the student to the floor and beat a hasty retreat.

Kendra took out after her while Prue and Buffy ran over to Willow and Oz. Willow looked pale and shaken, and Oz was sitting next to her, one hand pressed to his wound.

"He's . . . he's shot," Willow stammered. She looked over at him, her voice trembling. "Are you okay?"

"I'm shot," Oz said. Buffy and Prue could hear a tremor in his voice just beneath the calm. He paused a moment, then looked mildly incredulous. "I'm shot. Wow. It's very . . . odd. And painful."

Kendra ran back into the room. Spying Prue and Buffy, she quickly came over. "She's gone," she announced.

Slowly people began emerging from their hiding places. Everyone looked dazed. The unfortunate hostage walked over to Buffy and Prue in total bewilderment. "Was—was that a demonstration?" he asked.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"She was definitely one of the assassins," Prue stated.

"And way gun happy," Buffy added as she and Prue recounted this latest calamity. In fact, the seven of them had gathered in the library afterward for a detailed post-siege analysis.

"And this Oz," Giles said worriedly to Willow, "he's all right?"

Willow managed a shaky smile. "The paramedic said it was only a scrape, thank goodness—" She broke off as Xander and a very wet Cordelia trudged in. Both of them seemed agitated and upset; Cordelia was close to hysteria.

Buffy glanced at Kendra. "Down, girl," she warned before Kendra could attack.

But Kendra was totally rooted in place. And gazing at Xander like a deer caught in headlights.

"Who sponsored Career Day today?" Xander dead-panned. "The British Soccer Fan Association?"

Giles sounded weary. "We had a rather violent visit from one of the Order of Taraka."

"You want to talk Order of Taraka?" Xander shot back at him. "We met the king freak of the Order of—" He stopped talking. He stared at Kendra.

"Forgive me." Giles remembered his manners. "Xander, Cordelia, this is Kendra. It's very complicated, but she is also a Slayer."

Cordelia wasn't the least bit fazed by this news. She barely even glanced at Kendra as she passed her and sat down. "Hi," Cordelia flashed a thin smile. "Nice to meet you."

"A Slayer?" Xander turned to Buffy with a knowing wink. "I knew this 'I'm the only one, I'm the only one' thing was just an attention getter."

"Xander," Prue said shaking her head.

"Just say hello, Xander," Buffy sighed.

But Xander was staring at Kendra now. Totally captivated, he moved next to her, but Kendra immediately lowered her eyes to the floor. She looked strangely ill at ease and completely mortified by his attention. "Welcome," he greeted her. "So you're a Slayer, huh? I like that in a woman."

Kendra's eyes were fixed on her shoes. Buffy, Prue, Piper and Phoebe could see that she was totally flustered.

"I—I hope . . ." Kendra stammered. She took a breath and tried again. "I thank you. I mean, sir . . . I will be of service."

Xander paused. He looked questioningly at the four Halliwells, who only shrugged. "Good," he said, backing away again. "Great. It's good to be a giver."

Giles was deep in thought. He steered the conversation back to the important matter at hand. "This assassin you encountered, Xander. What did he look like?"

Before Xander could answer, Cordelia let out a shriek. She jumped up, beating at her hair, then shrieked again as a dead worm fell out and landed on an open book.

"Like that," Xander said.

Cordelia's voice was shrill and shaky. "That's it! I'm showering." She turned abruptly and marched from the room, while Buffy eyed Xander with interest.

"You and bug people, Xander." Buffy looked almost amused. "What's up with that?"

"But this dude was different than the preying mantis lady," Xander insisted, thinking of their substitute science teacher from last semester. "He was a man of bugs. Not a man who was a bug." He slammed the book shut as if that explained everything. He the looked at all of the Halliwells. "You guys ought to think about getting an exterminator."

"He was in the house?" Prue asked as Xander nodded. She looked at her sisters and her cousin. "How do they always seem to know where we live?"

"The important thing is," Giles went on, "everybody's okay. Still, it is quite apparent that we are under serious attack—"

"Yeah," Buffy interrupted. "These Taraka guys are Uberbad. If Kendra and Prue hadn't been there today I would have been toast." She looked at Prue, Piper and Phoebe. "I had even debated actually using my powers…"

"And flaming the gun to you?" Phoebe questioned as Buffy nodded.

"Yeah," Buffy said. "Looking back I should have risked exposing that I'm witch. But at the time I didn't think it was worth the risk. So I went with Plan B. Thankfully it worked out, but it might not have."

Giles's face was troubled. "I fear the worst is yet to come. I've discovered the remaining keys to Drusilla's curse. The ritual requires her sire and must take place in a church on the night of the new moon—"

"The new moon?" Kendra repeated. "But that is tonight."

"Exactly. I'm sure the assassins are here to kill Buffy before she can put a stop to things—"

"They need Drusilla's sire?" Now it was Buffy who interrupted, jumping to her feet, her voice urgent. "You mean the vamp that made her?"

Piper saw the fear on Buffy's face. "What is it, Buffy?"

Buffy turned away from them. She took a moment to compose herself, and then she faced them once again. "It's Angel," she said softly. "He's Drusilla's sire."

"Man!" Xander burst out. "That guy got some major neck in his day—"

Phoebe and Willow punched him. Xander shut up. Kendra looked annoyed but managed to hold her tongue.

"This thingy," Buffy peered earnestly at Giles. "This ritual. Will it kill him?"

Giles hesitated. He met her eyes reluctantly, his tone gentle. "I'm afraid so."

"We have to do something," Buffy choked. "We have to find the church where this ritual will take place—"

"Agreed. And we must work quickly. There are only five hours to sundown."

"Don't worry, Buffy," Willow tried to console her. "We'll save Angel."

But Kendra couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Angel?" she exclaimed. "Our priority must be to stop Drusilla."

Angrily Phoebe turned on Kendra. "Angel is Buffy's boyfriend," she snapped. She then looked at Prue. "And don't you dare say anything, Prue."

"I wasn't going to," Prue told baby sister. "My personal feelings about Angel aside, I agree with Buffy. If only to prevent Drusilla from regaining full health."

"Look." Buffy faced Kendra now, her voice defiant. "You've got your priorities, and I've got mine. Right now, they mesh. You gonna work with me, or are you gonna get out of my way?"

"I, like your cousin, am with you," Kendra said.

"Good," Buffy replied furiously. "'Cause I've had it. Spike is going down. You can attack me, you can send assassins after me . . . that's just fine." She drew herself to her full height. Her eyes smouldered. "But nobody messes with my boyfriend."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

There was still so much to be done.

Night had fallen beneath a full moon, and somewhere in San Francisco a macabre ritual was about to take place.

"There are two thousand churches in San Francisco?" Giles watched over Willow's shoulder as she scrolled through the computer. "That seems a bit excessive." (A/N)

"It's the extra evil vibe from the Hellmouth," Willow explained. "Makes people pray harder."

"Check and see if any of them are closed or abandoned," Prue suggested.

Willow obligingly did so. As Giles carried a large book over to where Xander and Cordelia were sitting, he couldn't help noticing how tense they both looked. Their chairs were pulled together side by side at the table, yet they seemed to be deliberately avoiding eye contact. Both sat ramrod straight. As they diligently searched through a volume of demon pictures, Giles could only wonder at their odd behavior.

"We got demons," Xander told him. "We got monsters. But no Bug Dude or Police Lady."

Giles handed over the book he was holding. "You should have better luck with this. There's a section devoted entirely to the Order of Taraka."

Xander began leafing through the pages.

In Giles's office, Kendra was gazing quizically out at the others. Then she glanced over at Buffy, who was in the process of checking and rechecking her weapons. Buffy's face was tight and drawn—she was clearly in a silent panic about Angel.

"And those two," Kendra said, indicating Xander and Cordelia. "They also know you are the Slayer?"

"Yup," Buffy answered.

"And you?" Kendra asked looking at Phoebe.

"Yes," Phoebe answered. "Me and my sisters all know."

"Did anyone explain to you what 'secret identity' means?" Kendra challenged Buffy, lifting an eyebrow.

"Nope." Buffy stayed focused. "Must be in the Handbook. Right after the chapter on personality removal."

"Buffy," Phoebe said before looking at Kendra. "Buffy has actually been keeping a much more important secret that she along with my sisters and I are witches. Besides it was only during the course of saving Willow's life that Willow and Xander discovered the truth. As far as Prue, Piper and I are concerned. It slipped out when Buffy came to live with us, when she discovered she was not only a Slayer but a witch."

Kendra picked up a crossbow and inspected it closely.

"Careful with that thing," Buffy warned.

"Please. I am an expert in all weapons—"

Without warning the crossbow went off in Kendra's hand, firing an arrow straight into Giles's lamp, which toppled. Startled, Kendra tried to recover herself.

"Is everything all right?" Giles called.

"It's okay," Phoebe called back. "But your going to need to buy a new lamp."

Kendra shot Buffy and Phoebe a look. "Sorry. This trigger mechanism is different." She paused, then added in a more conciliatory tone, "Perhaps when this is over, you can show me how to work it."

Buffy sighed. "When this is over, I'm thinking of pineapple pizza and teen videofest—possibly something from the Ringwald oeuvre."

Phoebe smiled. "Maybe Sixteen Candles or The Breakfast Club?" she suggested.

"Ooh, yes," Buffy said excitedly agreeing with Phoebe's picks.

"I'm not allowed to watch television," Kendra told them. "My Watcher says it promotes intellectual laziness."

Phoebe and Buffy stared at her. "And he says it like that's a bad thing?" Buffy asked.

They both turned as Xander yelled to Giles. "Here we go," he said excitedly, pointing to his book. "I am the Bug Man, coo-coo coo-chu."

It was indeed an ancient drawing of the creature now known as Mr. Pfister. Round-faced, meek, not even very scary looking. But a magnified detail of the drawing showed every squiggle of his wormy composition.

Xander made a face. He ran a finger down the page and added, "Okay. Okay. He can only be killed when he's in his disassembled state." Cordelia looked up at him. He leaned over, addressing her as if she were a three-year-old. "Disassembled," he pronounced each syllable slowly. "That means when he's broken down into all his buggy parts—"

Cordelia snatched the book from him. "I know what it means, dork-head."

"Dork-head?" Xander tried to grab the book back. "You slash me with your words."

Their tension was almost palpable. Prue, Piper, Willow and Giles stared at them, and then at each other, completely in the dark.

Kendra looked over at Buffy. "Your life is very different than mine."

"You mean the part where I occasionally have one?" Buffy questioned. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"You do have one," Phoebe countered looking at her cousin.

"Not like you, Prue or Piper do," Buffy countered.

"The things you do and have," Kendra tried to explain, "I was taught distract from my calling—friends, school, even family."

"What do you mean—even family?" Phoebe questioned.

Kendra moved slowly about the room, her face grave. "My parents—they sent me to my Watcher when I was very young."

"How young?" Buffy asked as she and Phoebe looked at each other. They both knew what it was like not be with their parents. Buffy at least had it better than Phoebe. She remembered her mother where Phoebe had only a few memories and they were from the last year since they became witches and seen Patty as a result of a spell.

"I don't remember them, actually. I've seen pictures, but that's how seriously the calling is taken by my people. My mother and father gave me to my Watcher because they believed that they were doing the right thing for me—and for theworld." Kendra paused. "You see?"

"Oh. I'm—" At a loss, Buffy and Phoebe stared back at her.

As Kendra read the shock and sympathy in their eyes, she shut down tight. "Please," she said firmly. "I don't feel sorry for myself. Why should the two of you?"

"And I thought we had it bad!" Buffy said with a glance at Phoebe as Phoebe nodded. She looked back at Kendra. "It just sounds very lonely. I don't know what I would do without Prue, Piper and Phoebe or Xander and Willow."

"Emotions are weakness, Buffy," Kendra said, though not unkindly. "You shouldn't entertain them."

Buffy looked surprised. "What? Kendra, my emotions give me power. They're total assets."

"Buffy is correct there," Phoebe added. "Our powers are rooted in our emotions. If we dodn't have access to our emotions we couldn't use our powers." She looked at her cousin. "Show her."

Buffy nodded as she held out her hand and a fireball formed in it. "If not for my emotions I couldn't do this."

"For you then your emotions are an asset," Kendra replied. "But I am not a witch. So I prefer to keep an even mind." She picked up a dagger and began to polish it.

For a long while Buffy watched her. And then Buffy shrugged. "Huh. I guess that explains it."

Phoebe and Kendra glanced at Buffy. "Explains what?" they asked.

"When we were fighting." Buffy shrugged again. "You're amazing. Your technique. It's flawless. Better than mine—"

"I know," Kendra agreed.

Buffy bristled, but managed to keep her cool. "Still," she sighed, "I would have kicked your butt in the end. And you know why? No imagination."

Kendra frowned. She was polishing the knife a little more intensely now. "Really?" her tone was level. "You think so?"

"Yep. You're good. But power alone isn't enough. A great fighter goes with the flow. She knows how to improvise." Buffy leaned back, surveying Kendra with interest. "Don't get me wrong, I mean, you have potential—"

"Potential?" Furious, Kendra put the knife down. She marched over to Buffy and leaned into her face. "I could wipe the floor with you right now."

Buffy smiled as she disappeared in bright flames. "That would be anger you're feeling," she said as Kendra spun around to find Buffy behind her.

"What?" Kendra said, obviously caught off guard.

"You feel it, right? How the anger gives you fire?" Buffy nodded wisely. "A Slayer needs that." She looked at Phoebe. "And for me that's both literal and figurative."

"I remember, Buffy," Phoebe said. "Or did you forget when Piper cast the spell to swap powers so she could heal Leo, I got yours."

At that moment Xander walked in and grabbed a book from Giles's desk. Kendra instantly froze, her eyes shyly aimed at the floor.

"'Scuze me, ladies," Xander said smoothly. He looked at Kendra. "Nice knife."

As Xander left, Phoebe and Buffy regarded the tongue-tied Kendra with sympathy. "I'm guessing dating isn't big with your Watcher either," Buffy asked.

"I am not permitted to speak with boys," Kendra admitted.

"Really?" Phoebe said in surprise.

Buffy couldn't help but smile. "Unless you're pummeling them, right?" And then her eyes widened with a sudden thought. "Wait a minute."

"What?" Phoebe and Kendra asked.

"That guy," Buffy said looking at Kendra. "The sleazoid you nearly decked in the bar."

Kendra was puzzled. "You think he might help us?"

"I think we might make him."

The Alibi Room

Buffy slammed Willy into the bar while Kendra paced restlessly nearby.

"Honest!" Willy insisted. "I don't know where Angel is!"

"How about this ritual tonight?" Buffy said sharply. "What have you heard?"

"Nothing. It's all hush hush—"

Kendra was growing more impatient. "Just hit him, Buffy."

"As much as I hate harming mortals, Buffy," Prue told her cousin. "I have to agree with Kendra. If you slapped him around just a little you might get a response from him."

"You know," Willy held up a tentative hand, "maybe I did hear something about this ritual. Yeah, it's coming back to me. But I'd—I'd have to take you there."

Buffy let him drop to the floor. She started dragging him toward the exit. "Let's go."

But Kendra hesitated "First, we must return to the Watcher."

"She's right, Buffy. We need backup." Prue agreed.

"Excuse me?" Buffy stopped in disbelief. "While we run to Giles, Piper and Phoebe, the whole thing could go down—"

"But, it is procedure—" Kendra started.

"It's brainless, you mean! If we don't go now, Angel could be history," Buffy interrupted.

Prue looked at her cousin knowing Buffy was right. In this situation Angel was their innocent. They had to protect him. "Alright," she agreed.

"Is that all you're worried about?" Kendra drew herself up indignantly. "Your boyfriend?"

"As the Charmed Ones and the Charmed Slayer," Prue interjected before Buffy could say anything. "We protect the innocents. In this scenario Angel is the innocent we have to protect."

Kendra looked disgusted. "It's as I feared. He clouds both of your judgments. We can't stop this ritual alone—"

"He'll die—" Buffy interjected.

"He's avampire. Heshould die! Why am I the only person who sees it?" Kendra's patience was at an end. As she squared off with Buffy, she saw the look of pure coldness on Buffy's face. The facts had hit her hard, and Kendra knew it.

"I'm going," Buffy told the other Slayer. "With you or without you." She spun and looked at her eldest cousin. "Prue, go back to Giles, okay. Get Piper and Phoebe. We could use the Power of Three." She grabbed Willy by the scruff of the neck and shoved him ahead of her out the door.

Frustrated, Kendra watched them leave. "Are you that big a fool?" she called.

Buffy looked back at her one last time. With hatred and murder in her eyes.

"If your not going with her then come on," Prue told the Slayer. "We got to get my sisters and Buffy's friends."

Abandoned Church

Buffy followed Willy through a maze of dark streets. They were in the oldest section of town now, a veritable graveyard of condemned buildings, forgotten neighborhoods, and deserted shops. Leading her several more blocks, Willy suddenly stopped in front of an old abandoned church. He looked back at Buffy, then led her inside.

Buffy found herself in a shadowy vestibule. Her footsteps echoed hollowly across the floor, and her breathing whispered harshly into the shadows.

Willy guided her forward toward a thick bank of shadows in the corner. "Here you go," he said. "Don't ever say your friend Willy don't come through in a pinch."

Buffy was right on his heels. She wasn't expecting the shadows to part, wasn't expecting the four strange figures who suddenly materialized from the darkness.

Xander's Mr. Pfister, the Police Lady, two of Spike's henchmen . . .

Before Buffy could react, they surrounded her.

Willy turned to one of the vampires with an oily grin. "Here you go," he said. "Don't ever say your friend Willy don't come through in a pinch."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The ritual was nearing its peak.

Torchlight flickered through the church, reflecting eerily off grimy stained-glass windows. Shadows crouched in silent benediction across the floor. And as Spike swung the censer, breathing in its mystical smoke, he read grandly from the decoded manuscript.

"Eligor, I name thee," Spike intoned. His ghoulish vampire face was transfixed, enraptured with the evil of the spell. "Bringer of war, poisoners, pariahs, grand obscenity!"

Angel and Drusilla stood before him. In the center of the high altar they stood swaying, face to face, tied tightly together by leather straps. Drusilla was gowned in regal black. Tilting her head, she gazed up into Angel's face, her expression wild and dreamily expectant.

"Eligor, wretched master of decay, bring your black medicine. Come restore your most impious, murderous child."

With black-gloved hands, Spike lifted the relic. He pulled at the base of the cross, unsheathing a hidden dagger. Stepping up to the altar, he bestowed a malevolent smile on the couple.

He grabbed Angel's hand, which was bound to Drusilla's. He lifted both hands into the air, and his voice grew louder now, trembling with unrestrained passion.

"From the blood of the sire she is risen! From the blood of the sire shall she rise again!"

With one swift movement, Spike plunged in the dagger. The blade sliced completely through both their hands, binding them with a rush of blood and a supernatural force that flowed powerfully, frighteningly between them.

Angel let out a tortured scream. Drusilla writhed in exquisite agony, savoring her wound. Joyfully, Spike clapped his hands, watching the magick sparkle and lance the air around them. "Right then!" he announced. "Now we let them come to a simmering boil, then remove to a low flame—"

He whirled around as the doors behind him crashed open. To his dismay he could see Willy coming toward him and Buffy being dragged, surrounded on all sides by his evil minions. Spike stared at them in appalled silence.

"It's payday, pal," Willy swaggered up. "I got your Slayer."

Spike snapped out of his shock. He advanced on Willy, seething. "Are you tripping? You bring her here—now?"

While the two of them argued, Buffy frantically searched the shadows. At first she thought Angel wasn't here at all, but then she spotted the altar with its grisly display.

Buffy felt sick inside. 'Angel . . .' she thought. Angel was so far gone, he didn't even know she was here.

"You said you wanted her—" Willy began, but Spike cut him off.

"In the ground, pinhead! I wanted her dead!" Spike replied.

Willy was getting nervous. "Now—now that's not what I heard. Word was, there was a bounty on her, dead or alive—"

"You heard wrong, Willy."

"Angel," Buffy whispered.

In the momentary lull, Spike heard her. He followed the direction of her gaze.

"Yeah," Spike's voice dripped with false sympathy, "it bugs me, too, seeing them like that. Another five minutes and Angel'll be dead though, so I forbear." He paused for a moment. His face was mocking. "But don't feel too bad for Angel. He's got something you don't have."

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Five minutes. Patrice?"

Immediately the policewoman raised her gun to Buffy's head. Buffy steeled herself for the blast, but the explosion she heard came suddenly, unexpectedly, from another part of the room.

The church doors burst open, one flying from its hinges as Kendra did a handspring across the floor. Before anyone could react, she smashed into the policewoman and knocked her down, dislodging the gun so it skidded away.

"Who the hell is that?" Spike demanded.

As his henchmen glanced around in confusion, Buffy disappeared in bright flames to reappear next to Kendra. "It's your lucky day, Spike," she said.

Kendra attacked him. "Two Slayers!" Her punch sent Spike spinning toward Buffy.

"No waiting." Buffy punched him harder, spinning him back again.

Kendra moved in for another blow, but this time Spike ducked, distracting her with fisticuffs.

The policewoman headed for Buffy, stilettos popping out from the sleeves of her uniform, gleaming wickedly in the torchlight. Suddenly she froze.

Piper smirked. "This one of the few times I like having this power," she admitted glancing at Buffy.

The other vampires closed in.

As they made a grab for Buffy and Kendra, two of them pitched forward with arrows in their backs.

Behind them stood Phoebe and Giles, crossbows in hand, flanked by Prue, Willow and Xander who were also armed.

Xander let out a yell. "Hey, larva boy!"

Mr. Pfister turned around. He fixed Xander with a bland smile.

"That's right," Xander taunted. "I'm talking to you—you big cootie."

As Mr. Pfister started toward him, Xander raced for the foyer and shut the heavy oak door.

Immediately Mr. Pfister shed his human form and collapsed into a squirming mass of worms.

Xander and Cordelia were ready.

As the worms began streaming under the portal, Cordelia jumped up to admire her handiwork. She'd spread a thick layer of liquid adhesive across the floor, and the worms stuck fast.

"Welcome, my pretties," Xander gave a mad cackle. "Mwa haa haa!"

Immediately he began stomping. Cordelia hesitated, then began stomping, too—gingerly at first, but finally with unabashed enthusiasm.

"Die!" Cordelia shouted, stomping her cross-trainers into the adhesive. "Die! Die!"

Xander gazed down at the squishy floor. "I think he did, Cordy."

They could hear the fierce sounds of battle coming from the other side of the door.

They stomped harder.

Not far from the altar Buffy and Kendra were holding their own against Spike.

"Buffy!" Piper called out. "She's fighting through my freeze!"

"You got this?" Kendra questioned looking at Buffy.

"Go," Buffy told the other Slayer. She then glanced toward Prue, Piper and Phoebe. "Could use a little of Power of Three!"

Kendra flew straight into the policewoman as she unfroze.

"Rather be fighting you alone anyway." Spike smiled.

The remaining vampire took a swing at Giles, knocking the crossbow from his hands. As the two of them started wrestling, Willow jumped on the vampire's back.

Prue smirked and with a wave of her hand, she hurled Spike into the wall.

"I didn't say I would be fighting alone!" Buffy yelled at Spike.

As Willy tried to escape that way, Spike reached out and grabbed him. "Where are you going?" the vampire asked.

Willy's mind raced. "There's a way in which this isn't my fault."

"They tricked you," Spike guessed.

"They were duplicitous!" Willy agreed, outraged.

"Well," Spike soothed him, "I'll only kill you just this once."

But then he saw Buffy.

She had climbed up onto the altar and was clasping the handle of the knife. She was trying desperately to pull it from Angel's and Drusilla's hands.

Spike tackled her from behind. The two of them crashed to the floor.

Seeing his chance, Willy bolted. He ran past Giles and Willow, who were finishing off a victim of their own.

"Hold him…!" Willow started when the vampire suddenly froze. "Thanks, Piper!" she called out to the middle Halliwell sister as she drove a stake through the vampire's heart. The vampire promptly exploded all over Giles. Willow hastily wiped the dust off Giles's clothes.

Willy heard the vampire scream as he died, but he kept on running. He nearly collided with Xander and Cordelia as they raced in to join the others.

Beneath the organ loft, Kendra and the policewoman were still at it, full force. As Kendra once more managed to sidestep the knives, Police Lady shoved her, sending her back into a wooden beam. Kendra scrambled up again quickly. A fine sifting of dust settled down on her shoulders, and she glanced up at the loft. She could see now that the beam was supporting the entire organ loft, and that the whole thing was wobbling dangerously.

In that split second of distraction, Police Lady lunged. She sliced Kendra's arm, drawing blood.

Kendra stared down at the sleeve of her shirt. "That's my favorite shirt," she said angrily. Then, thinking a moment, "That's my only shirt!" She came at Police Lady in a hail of blows, finally knocking her under the organ loft at the back.

Up on the altar, Spike had managed to get in a good, hard punch at last. While Buffy regrouped, he looked around at what was happening. He was clearly outnumbered. Pausing only an instant, Spike grabbed the dagger and pulled it out. Then he cut the bonds and caught Drusilla as Angel fell to the floor.

"Sorry, dear, we gotta go." Spike swept Drusilla into his arms. "Hope that was enough . . ."

Seizing a torch by the altar, he hurled it at Prue, Piper and Phoebe who had began to chant. The torch missed but fell to the floor, landing on a pile of old curtains. The pile instantly burst into flames. He had to get Dru out. Moving swiftly, Spike carried her to the rear of the church, back behind the fire and toward the organ loft.

But Buffy had recovered now. Furiously she sprang to her feet, grabbing the censer and swinging it over her head, round and round. She threw it as hard as she could, clear across the room. It slammed into the back of Spike's head.

Stumbling forward, he hit the beam beneath the organ loft. A long, low groan vibrated through the air. And then the loft crashed down, burying Spike and Drusilla beneath it.

Buffy stared at the spot where Spike had been standing. "I'm good . . ." she said proudly.

"She's good," Kendra echoed, as though Buffy's cousins and friends needed convincing.

Buffy turned back to the altar. As the others watched through the thickening smoke, she knelt beside Angel, cradling him in her arms. She lay one hand gently upon his cheek. She stroked his face, his neck, his hair, trying to comfort him, even though she wasn't sure he could even hear.

"It's gonna be okay," she promised, over and over again. "It's gonna be okay . . ."

Angel's eyelids fluttered open. "Buffy?" he whispered.

Buffy's eyes filled with tears. Kendra moved in next to her.

"Let's get him out," Kendra said quietly.

Together they supported Angel and headed for the door. The fire blazed behind them, growing in intensity, creeping slowly toward the rubble of the organ loft.

December 5, 1997 – Friday

Gateway High School

Outside the school, Buffy and Kendra were walking toward the street.

"Thank you for the shirt," Kendra said. She was wearing one of Buffy's tops, and it fit surprisingly well. "It is very generous of you."

Buffy smiled at her. "Oh, hey, it looks better on—well, me, but don't worry."

There was ease between them now, a comfortable sort of camaraderie. Kendra even smiled at the insult.

"Now, when you get to the airport—" Buffy started, but Kendra knew the drill.

"I get on the plane with my ticket. And sit in a seat. Not the cargo hold."

Buffy nodded proudly. "Very good."

"That is not traveling undercover," Kendra reminded her.

"Exactly," Buffy affirmed. "Relax. You earned it. You sit. You eat the peanuts. You watch the movie, unless it's about a dog or stars Chevy Chase."

"I'll remember."

They paused at the curb where a taxi was waiting. Buffy gazed long and hard into Kendra's face. "Thank you," she said at last. "For helping me save Angel."

Kendra looked amused, "I am not telling my Watcher about that. It is too strange that a Slayer loves a vampire."

"Tell me about it."

"Still," Kendra relented, "he is pretty cute."

"Well, then, maybe they won't fire me for dating him."

Kendra seemed to be studying her. "You always do that."

"Do what?"

"You talk about slaying like it's a job," Kendra said quietly. "It's not. It's who you are. Just like being a witch is who you are."

Buffy looked down at the ground. Then she looked back at Kendra. "You get that from the Handbook?"

Kendra shook her head. "From you."

"I guess I can't fight it," Buffy tried to joke. "I'm a freak."

"But not the only freak," Kendra reminded her.

Buffy looked into Kendra's eyes. She shook her head and smiled. "Not anymore."

There was an awkward silence. Instinctively Buffy moved to put her arms around Kendra, but the other Slayer stiffened and stepped back.

"I don't hug."

"No," Buffy echoed, embarrassed. "Good. Hate hugs."

She watched Kendra climb into the taxi.

She watched until there was nothing left to see.

Then Buffy walked off to her usual spot where she could flame out without being seen. "Now time to face the music," she said as she disappeared in bright flames.

Author's Note: From the research I've done I found there is at least 1400 churches in San Francisco. That doesn't include of course Synagogues, Buddist Temples, etc. I added another 600 to the total since San Francisco is sitting on the Hellmouth in this story. And in canon Sunnydale was supposed to have more than normally found in a city its size.