Bring Me to Life
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel Crossover Event
Part 75
Touched, Part 3
Sunnydale, CA - The Summers Home, Basement, 1630 Revello Drive
9:07 a.m.
Back in Buffy's basement, or Command Central now, the room was lit with battery-powered emergency rooms, the Big Board stood behind Faith and the troops…
…and the troops were oddly silent since Faith's meeting opener asking them what they wanted to talk about.
Deciding that lightening the mood was useless in this situation, Faith abandoned the laissez-faire attitude that she usually walked through life with and opted for a more serious approach.
"So, team….what do we know?" Faith asked, looking around the room and the table she sat at the head of rather expectantly, like a teacher asking her class to turn in last night's homework.
Xander took in a breath and then replied, "Well, we know we're basically the last humans left in Sunnydale."
"And that there's only barely a week left until The Awakening," Cordelia sighed, deflated.
"And that, like, all the evil in town wants us dead," Fred glumly added.
Vi was scared. She murmured, "I don't want to die."
"Don't worry," Anya said, quietly comforting. "It's far more likely that you'll stay alive long enough to watch most of your friends die first."
Missing Vi's stricken look, she patted her on the back. "Then you'll die."
Dawn stared at Anya in a mixture of shock, annoyance and incredulity. "What in the actual fuck is wrong with you?" she blurted out, knowing this was the last thing the troops needed to hear.
"Language, Dawn," Giles scolded.
Annoyed yet again at the ex-demon's crass comments, Cordelia decided not to let that go. "No, Dawnie's right, Giles," she chimed in, then directed her sharp gaze at the former Vengeance Demon. "Hey, Miss Pep Squad of the Damned? Take your glass full-empty crap and go find Happy Hour somewhere. You're scaring everyone," she said icily.
Anya scowled at the stunning Seer. "I'm not saying anything that isn't true, Rich Girl," she replied equally as frosty, and with a hint of defensiveness.
"Ex-Rich Girl," Cordelia fired back, just as feisty. "And speaking as someone who's fought and survived my share of apocalypses, I think I speak for everyone when I say that if you can't contribute something useful, Anya, then go park your happy ass at another table."
Anya's eyes lit up in anger. "How dare you talk about my ass again!"
"Quiet!" a fed-up Giles snapped, silencing both of them. "Look, I understand tempers are frayed at the moment, but can we please focus on the impending apocalypse right now?"
Both women sighed, Cordelia looking down at the table in some penance. "Right…sorry, guys," she muttered.
"She started it," Anya mumbled quietly under her breath.
But not quietly enough to escape Xander's ears. "Seriously, Ahn?" he asked in annoyance, wanting nothing more than for both of the women in his most serious relationships ever to stop bickering.
"Nothing! What?" Anya shrugged, playing innocent.
Faith rolled her eyes. "God, I hate this 'Days of Our Lives' crap," she uttered aloud. "Okay, look, you guys, I know some of us have baggage, but The First and its buddies aren't going to care who's banging who 'round here when this Awakening thing happens. So let's save the drama for after we survive the apocalypse, alright?"
The room collectively nodded.
Satisfied, Faith turned to the right. Towards Wesley. Her Watcher.
Her Wiseman.
"Wes?" the brunette bombshell asked him. "What do we got?"
The hardened new Watcher stood and walked over behind Faith until he came to the newly-drawn Big Board, Version 2.0.
Wesley had erased some of Andrew's crudely-drawn and cartoonish drawings and covered them with a detailed map of Sunnydale. Xs and red and black pins marked various positions and places of power.
This map was not the kiddie version; this was a war map for adults looking to win a war.
Wesley pointed to New Sunnydale High. "We know as per Lilah's intel that the Awakening is happening at the school in roughly 8 days."
The stubbled, brooding new Watcher looked at Faith, then to the others. "According to the National Weather Service, and correlating it with various texts that Fred, Giles, Willow, Darla and myself found on lunar and solar eclipses and astronomical phenomenon, it appears the planetary alignments necessary for The Awakening will trigger an eclipse set to start at approximately 12:01 p.m. that day."
"High noon," Gunn muttered. "Guess The First was a John Wayne fan."
"Or maybe Clint Eastwood," Fred replied, looking at Gunn with a small smile. The normally hardened Gunn's face softened with a smile at the pretty physics whiz.
There would have been a time where the exchange between the two former lovers would have felt like a knife in the heart to Wesley. But Darla's affection and Faith's renewed trust in him to be her Watcher again had filled that hole in his heart. And now where there would have normally been the stab of jealousy and envy he felt barely even a twitch.
"Right," he said plainly, turning to Faith. "But that alignment is obviously days away. Not something we can tackle immediately."
Smiling, Faith nodded, impressed. "Nice work, Wes! Back on the clock and already hitting doubles at the plate."
Wesley smiled faintly at the praise from his new Slayer and nodded.
Turning back to the Command Table and the rest of the room, Faith looked around. "Okay, what else we got?"
"Well, we know that the only thing that can open the pocket dimension where the Eye of Creation is hidden is the Keystone," Fred offered.
"And unfortunately, we know that Big Daddy Evil and the Cronies from Hell have their greasy little mitts on it, which pretty much puts it out of reach," Cordelia added, shaking her head in consternation.
Off the Seer's deflated comment, Anya quietly muttered under her breath again. "Yeah, now who's glass half-empty?"
Interjecting before another Snipe Fest between a glaring Cordelia and a mouthy Anya could erupt, Willow quickly chimed in. "Faith, what, um, what are you looking for, exactly? I mean, if it's something specific, maybe we can help out better."
"Answers, Red," Faith explained simply to the Witch. "Maybe there's something in the mess of what we know that we're missing. Something we can hit back with."
Oz got it. "A weakness," he replied, astutely.
Faith nodded. "Bingo, Ozzie. They're getting pretty cocky over there in Camp Evil. And where there's a little too much cock in their walk, there's a banana peel around the corner for them to slip on."
"You think they've left an Achilles heel to exploit?" Wesley asked his new Slayer, intrigued.
"Call it an experience thing, Wes," Faith sighed, a flood of dark memories from her time as the right hand of Mayor Richard Wilkins, a different time in her life, rushing back at her. "I took a walk on the dark side once before. If there's one thing I know about these guys, it's that they get prone to counting their chickens before they hatch."
Those at the Command Table pondered Faith's words, realizing their new leader had a point.
Dawn looked at Faith, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I-I don't suppose you have anything we can use, Faith? From when you…" the pretty brunette teen struggled to find the most tactful way to put it. "...um…from when you were…"
"Stuck down there in that vineyard hellhole?" Faith finished, plainly. Her face was a guarded mask of emotionless steel. "Sorry, kiddo. Was a little too busy getting brutally tortured to get much intel."
Dawn swallowed, not wanting to dwell on that any longer. Neither did anyone else there, frankly.
Seeing an opportunity to jump in, Kennedy, from the crowd of people in the basement sitting on the floor, directed her words to Faith.
"We also know that Caleb told Buffy that everything's going down at the Seal." Then the young upstart motioned to the rest of the room, she enthusiastically began to unfurl her plans, ready to prove her worth at last. "I think we should get a team together, with the best fighters, head down the Seal for scouting, do some recon and—"
Kennedy was too eager to unveil her awesome new plans to everyone, to show she could be a leader, to notice the subtle look between Wesley and Faith as she was talking.
Wesley's blue eyes, hard as steel, ticked between Faith and Kennedy. His eyes conveyed a simple, but silent message to his Slayer: You should handle that. Right now.
Faith didn't need to be told twice, silently or otherwise. She subtly nodded back at her Watcher. On it, Obi-Wan.
"Whoa! Slow down, Greenhorn. Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Faith loudly interrupted, then she looked at the group at large.
The interruption had clearly startled Kennedy, and Faith took advantage of that to take command of the meeting once again. "We know we've got a lot of enemies," Faith said. "We'll start there."
Stung, annoyed, yet undeterred, a frowning Kennedy moved back in. "Faith, I'm sorry, but don't you think we should take action or—?"
"I said 'I got this,'" Faith dismissed her, leaving Kennedy staring at her, brown eyes dark and angry and…a little hurt.
Faith ignored all of those emotions, and was glad to do so, in fact. She had enough drama without having to worry about Little Miss Wanna-Be-A-Slayer trying to pretend to lead the team with the big game coming up.
The Boston-born beauty directed her gaze to the rest of the room and pressed on. "So, let's go over our Rogues Gallery. Who exactly do we got here?"
She tapped the Big Board, version 2.0, the Wesley edition.
"Well, there's The First Evil," Dawn started with the obvious."...who we can't touch."
"Incorporeal or otherwise with its new Jasmine 2.0 edition upgrade," Xander added, then his lone eye darkened with a hint of anger and dread, "And The First's newest bestest friend, the esteemed Reverend I-Hate-Women."
Faith, Cordelia, Gunn, Dawn, Fred, and the others all shared similar dark, sullen looks at the mention of The First's deadly, unhinged and powerful new servant.
"Who's basically untouchable," Anya pointed out.
"Then there's our old pal The Beast, back from the dead and charbroiled as ever," Cordelia said, repressing a shudder at the memory of the resurrected horn-headed rock monster that seemed to be undressing her with its disgusting yellow eyes in her last few encounters with it. A monster I unleashed…a monster that's here because of me…
"...who seems to be un-killable," Fred added, folding her arms as she looked down, deflated.
"Then there's the alabaster Trouble-Mint Twins, Pearl and Nash," Lorne muttered.
"Who with their whole flying, green 'lasers of doom' motif might as well be un-killable," Oz replied, frowning as he remembered encountering them at Angeles National Forest.
Faith's eyes darkened at their mention, yet she maintained her poker face, giving nothing away of what was going on inside. Wesley noticed, but wisely opted to say nothing.
"What's their deal?" Gunn asked. "What are they supposed to be, anyway, The Stay Puffed Marshmallow Demons?"
"Half-demons," Wesley corrected him. "Based on what Angel and Spike told us, Giles and I started to do some research on them. According to a volume in the Watchers Diaries, their real names are Pearl and Nash Finney, born in 1935 to one Susan Finney, a woman born into poverty who began exploring the black arts as a means to escape her lot in life. As part of that, she became impregnated by Armagus, a very powerful pureblood hellspawn demon."
"On purpose?" Molly asked from the crowd, disgusted.
"Eww!" Amanda agreed, shuddering.
"Nasty," Caridad agreed, the Latina Potential crinkling her pretty nose.
Giles shrugged, then picked up where Wesley left off. "She, um, raised Pearl and Nash to believe that they were to be the next step in evolution, according to the texts. Since then, they've been traveling the world over the last few decades seeking other demons to, um, breed with to fulfill their mother's plans."
Like Spike, Faith thought silently, remembering what the blond vampire told her in the forest about his and Pearl's ill-fated fling decades before.
Cordelia frowned. "Yeesh. I heard of 'hit it and quit it', but those two losers really take the cake, huh?"
"Erm, yes. Fortunately, Alasdair's raid on their compound decades ago killed off all of their offspring," Giles added, clearing his throat. "But they are most formidable. They're said to possess the power of flight, can manipulate organic energy into a weaponized form and they draw their strength from primal emotions, such as hate, fear or pain."
"Yeah, met those guys, G. Not a fan of either," Faith replied curtly. "Who else we got?"
"They got that mad scientist guy, Warren-something?" Fred chirped up.
Willow's blue eyes clouded with dark emotions as she heard that name, and for a moment, she could feel Tara's warm blood splattered on her face, her hands, all over again.
"Mears," the pretty Witch said quietly. "Warren Mears. Mad scientist-slash-murdering scumbag."
At that, Oz gently squeezed Willow's hand, a gesture she accepted with ease. "Believe me," the handsome werewolf quietly replied. "Not a fan, either."
Kennedy's eyes narrowed, her nostrils flaring in jealousy at the contact between the two. My kingdom for a silver bullet right now…
"I'd say he's your weak link, but he's protected by Amy," Willow said, shaking her head. "Who's leveled up with so much dark magick that she's basically made herself and Warren something pretty close to untouchable."
"And who's also proven that love comes in all sorts of shapes and gruesome sizes," Lorne added, shuddering visibly.
"And there's Drusilla," Xander pointed out.
Faith's hand unconsciously balled into a tense knot at the mention of her name…yet again, something Wesley quietly noticed. Something that concerned him…
"The psycho bat-less belfry who's proven she's deadly enough to kill a Slayer and crazy enough to want to destroy the world, on more than one occasion," Cordelia shook her head.
Vi looked alarmed. "She's…killed Slayers before?"
"Just one, that we know of," Xander amended. "Kendra. The Slayer before Faith, and just after Buffy when she died for like 5 minutes. Man, Kendra was something. Jamaican, hot, serious-type, packed a punch. She and Buffy were…" his features turned sadder at the mention of the two Slayers, one dead and one…gone now. Because of us… "...close."
The Command Table of both Scoobies and Team Angel grew quiet at the mention of their friend Buffy, who they mutinied against just the other night.
"And there's that warlock you guys mentioned," the Latina potential Caridad offered. "What was his name, Elias or Ean, or…?"
"Ethan," Giles replied quietly, his eyes growing cold and bitter for a moment at the mention of his former friend-turned-bitter rival. "His name is Ethan Rayne. And," he sighed, with a hint of distaste, "I doubt he'll stray too far from The First's stronghold. Ethan was never one to risk his own hide."
"And lastly, the 'Roid-rage Vamps, who are pretty much the worst," Dawn added with a sigh, "oh, and I guess that leaves the . . ."
"Bringers!" Faith said decisively, almost in a 'Eureka!' tone.
Off everyone's puzzled looks, Faith explained. "I think they're our weakest link."
"The black robe eyeless guys?" Fred asked, repressing a shiver as she recalled her and Gunn's nearly-fatal encounter with them at Sunnydale High searching for Buffy.
Giles frowned, looking concerned. "Faith, are you saying we should think about attacking the Bringers?"
"Maybe, or…" Not so decisive, Faith shrugged, but then quickly elaborated. "Okay, what if we kidnap one?" she suggested.
"And what, hold it for ransom?" Kennedy snorted dismissively, her tone hostile, chock full on the attitude.
Faith frowned, clocking that and not liking the 'tude in Kennedy's voice one bit.
A nonplussed Xander threw his hands up in the air, not getting it, either.
"Yeah, I'll get the magazines and start ripping out letters now," the one-eyed young man quipped, in full snark mode. "'Dear The First, if you want your Bringer back . . . well, we will be surprised because you have three million other ones, so please disregard this letter. Yours sincerely . . ."
"Quiet, Xander!" Wesley harshly snapped, lacking the patience for Xander's bad comedy. His eyes ticked to Faith, his voice becoming calmer, supportive. "Let Faith speak."
Surprised, Faith gave Wesley a subtly grateful nod, appreciative of his support when she really needed it on her first day in charge. Xander, caught off guard by Wesley's cracking of the whip, clammed up immediately like a kid being scolded by the teacher for disrupting class,
"I'm saying," Faith explained to the group, "we think about getting us a Bringer and making it talk. Get some info on The First and Caleb that way."
Dawn liked that. That was a good idea, she decided. Others were hopeful, agreeable . . . and maybe a little incredulous.
"I'm on board," Dawn announced, looking at Faith in support. "I think it's a pretty good idea, Faith."
Faith gave her a wane smile. "Thanks, D."
"Yeah," Gunn nodded. "A classic flunkie shakedown. We catch one of those freaks and make it squeal. I like it."
"Except for the part where the Bringers are, oh, I don't know, dumb?" Anya stated everyone.
Everyone turned and looked at her in surprise.
"Dumb?" Fred asked, confused.
"And you were expecting, what? A Rhodes Scholar?" Xander asked, quipping as he rolled his one eye.
"No," she corrected, annoyed. "Dumb as in mute. The more P.C. way of saying that they can't talk."
Lorne looked at her in quiet intrigue. "And you know this how, Tinker Hell?"
"When you've been around a millennium or so, you hear things through the grapevine, Lorne. People talk," Anya elaborated. "Halfrek…"
The former Vengeance Demon's eyes lowered for a moment in sadness at the memory of her dead friend, killed by D'Hoffryn just months ago.
Swallowing, Anya continued. "She once told me she ran into a group of Bringers once in eastern Russia, sometime around the War Against the First Evil about a thousand years ago, when it took the form of an avatar to try and destroy the world. Hallie was granting a wish to some bratty virgin girl who wanted revenge on her dad for, I dunno, not buying her a pony or something silly, when a bunch of Bringers ambushed them, killed the girl and began draining her blood. Might have been for a sacrifice of something, or maybe they were just being jerks…"
"Anya," Giles tiredly interrupted her. "The point?"
Anya rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Fine, geez! Anyway…Halfrek noticed something when she was killing the ones that were attacking her. They didn't scream. Or talk. They couldn't. Someone ripped out all their tongues."
"What?" a horrified Vi gasped.
"Eww!" Molly frowned, revolted.
"Oh, gross!" Amanda cried out from the side, her face scrunched in disgust.
Dawn shuddered at the revelation. 'And I'll take 'Nyaahh!' for $500, Alex," she muttered, equally as grossed out as her young friends.
Xander looked around at the panicked girls and imitated a bit of pirate swagger to make light of the situation. "Hey, whoa there, ladies! Missing body parts can look pretty awesome."
Off everyone's stares at him, some of them in pity at his lost eye, Xander deflated, his quippy smile gone. "But in this case, it's totally gross."
"I don't get it," Gunn asked. "Why would The First want to rip out the tongues of its minions?"
"Could be to make sure they keep secrets," Fred suggested.
"Yeah," Dawn agreed. "Like, making sure that they can't spill the beans on The First if they were ever captured."
"Or," Willow guessed. "It might be some kind of black arts ritual. It's known that in some cultures, the removal of body parts constitutes a sacrifice of flesh and blood to higher deities. They believed such a sacrifice would be rewarded tenfold. Immortality, longevity, enhancement of senses…"
Faith looked at Willow, her brows furrowing as she caught something the witch said. "Enhancement of senses?"
Willow shrugged. "Yeah. Some of them, umm, believed if they gave up a body part important to one of the senses, they'd be rewarded by a higher power or a demon with power, blessed with those senses being heightened. Enhanced…superior."
Faith frowned. "You might be onto something, Red," the Boston-born brunette beauty said, everyone looking at her. "I've gotten a closer look at those freaks in the last few days than I wanted to."
Nobody questioned how that was. They all knew what Faith had recently gone through in the vineyard.
"Their senses are freaky," Faith continued. "They seem like they have great hearing, and even with them not being able to talk, they looked like they were all able to get on the same page with each other, like they were having a conversation without words."
Dawn thought back to the vineyard, when she, Connor and Matthew…two names that still hurt her heart to think about…had to battle their way through the Bringers to get to Buffy and the others.
"That…that makes sense," Dawn said in realization. Off Faith's curious look towards her, Dawn elaborated. "They're doing the Daredevil thing. You know, the blind superhero in the comics?"
Gunn got it; the Daredevil comics were one of the few pastimes he enjoyed in his rough childhood. "Right! Matt Murdock, blind lawyer, lost his sight to radioactive chemicals, but had all his other senses dialed to 11."
"And became a butt-kicking ninja superhero," Xander noted proudly.
"Except instead of chemicals, the First used dark magick to amp up its boys' senses," Willow realized.
Wes and Giles looked at each other, the two Watchers sharing the same thought.
"Mutilate the eyes…and that enhances their hearing and possible sense of smell," Wesley began to figure it out.
"And likely their sense of touch, as well," Giles uttered, the gears in his brilliant mind whirring. "And with the right adaptation and proper training, they could be turned into the perfect assassins and very deadly warriors. Especially with thousands of years the First must've had to perfect the process."
"Oh my God! Blind lady killer!" Cordelia gasped, in an 'ah-HA!' manner.
Off everyone's confused looks, Cordelia looked at Wesley. "You remember, Wes…when Angel and Lindsey had to fight that psycho blind chick that Wolfram & Hart tried to use to kill those cute little magickal kids?"
After a moment, Wesley remembered. "Vanessa Brewer," he realized.
Giles frowned. "Who?"
"An assassin for Wolfram & Hart," Wesley explained. "Angel encountered her about a year into his first arriving in Los Angeles. She blinded herself at age 21 and went to the far east to study with the Order of the Nanjin."
"Nanjin?" the well-read Willow perked up. "I've read about those guys! Aren't they those blind Indian monks who-who-who believe that they can achieve enlightenment by getting rid of physical sight and 'seeing with the heart', or something?"
"Correct," Wesley replied.
Gunn remembered now. "Oh, yeah! She was that chick y'all were trying to stop when you had me and the crew bring a live vampire and drop it at Wolfram & Hart's doorstep at lunchtime."
Dawn smiled at Gunn incredulously. "You dropped a live vamp in their office? That's one heck of a prank!"
Gunn smirked at her. "Yeah. Trust me, kiddo, they were not happy."
Dawn giggled, as did Fred, and so did Molly, Vi, Amanda, Rona and many of the other Potentials…except Kennedy, who silently rolled her eyes and sulked as the 'adults' carried on without her.
"So, how did Angel beat this super blind assassin lady?" Willow asked, curious.
"Angel found her weakness," Wesley explained. "She could only attack if her target was moving. Without movement, she was just like any other blind person. Angel exploited that and used it to defeat and kill her."
"Angel killed a blind lady?" Xander scoffed. "Geez, we sure he had his soul that time?"
"Considering Vanessa Brewer was a murdering assassin who was going to kill a bunch of sweet blind kids? Excuse me if I don't shed any tears," Cordelia rebutted snappishly, fierce in her defense of Angel, and sharp in having an excuse to lash out at Xander some more after…what happened at the Bronze the other night, she quietly thought.
Seeing the anger in Cordelia's eyes, Xander had the good graces to look away, somewhat embarrassed.
"Wait a minute," Willow said, raising her hand. "So, if Evil Blind Lady got her powers through the Nanjin, who are basically good guys and used power based in light…and her weakness was Angel being quiet and not moving…maybe, since the First used dark magick for the Bringers…the reverse is true for them? I mean, magick is just science we don't completely understand. Same fundamental concepts can apply."
Fred's pretty brown eyes lit up. "The inversion principal! Right?"
Willow's blue eyes also lit up, happy to geek out with someone. "Right!"
"Uhh, is that English for those of us who don't speak geek?" Kennedy said snarkily, and a bit jealously at how Fred and Willow seemed to be so gleeful with their inside science-y references only they got.
Willow gave Kennedy a mildly annoyed look, before she turned her gaze to the rest of the table. "Maybe if silence was Evil Blind Lady's kryptonite since she used light magick to get her powers…"
Oz's blue eyes widened as the borderline genius werewolf saw what Willow was thinking. "...Then maybe the opposite is true for the Bringers since they used dark magick," he realized.
Kennedy's frown deepened, not liking to be reminded of Oz's hidden yet formidable intellect, a 'fun' factoid that Willow shared with her about her lupine romantic rival.
"And what's the opposite of silence?" Fred smiled and asked the room, like an excited teacher knowing her class was close to the answer.
"Noise," Giles astutely answered, then he got it. "You-you're saying that we, umm, could use loud noises to disorient the Bringers, potentially?"
"Maybe," Willow suggested. "It's worth a shot, right?
Faith nodded, liking that idea. "Couldn't hurt. Good idea, Red and Fred."
Willow beamed at Fred, who returned her gesture with a giddy smile of her own.
"Yeah, let's just get Amanda to lead the gals as a marching band to fight the Bringers when the apocalypse arrives in a few days!" Xander joked. "A few rounds of 'When the Saints Come Marching In' and the First's army will be running for the hills."
Cordelia, growing annoyed with Xander for more than one good reason, shot him an icy glare. "Hey, Jim Carrey," she snarked snappishly. "You're not funny. Save the comedy shtick for your audition to 'America Doesn't Got Talent' or get serious, okay? We've got the fate of the world at stake here!"
The room grew quiet. Uncomfortably quiet.
Xander, stunned, normally would've had some kind of equally stinging retort for Cordelia, like they used to banter back in the old days…the good days, he silently added…but after…after everything they'd gone through together in the last few weeks, he just couldn't do it. Couldn't bring himself to fire back at a woman he had seen come so far. And not just in the last few days…in the last few years.
A woman he cared about, more than he thought was possible.
A woman he…that he could still be with, if he hadn't blown it, like he always did, he realized in misery.
He sat, quietly, his lone eye looking down, gaze hurt.
Silently, Cordelia felt, and cursed, the ache in her heart of seeing Xander so hurt by her words. But she tried her best to stifle that hurt. After all, she wasn't the one who stabbed him in the heart. Again.
Opportunistically, Anya patted Xander's knee. "I thought you were funny," she said quietly, and maybe a little unctuously.
Taking a moment to focus the group back to the topic at hand, Fred cleared her throat.
"And the 'talking without talking' thing the Bringers do…could it be telepathy?" Fred ventured.
"Maybe," Faith shrugged, grateful for Fred's subtle steering the convo back to where it needed to be. "Hard to say, Fred."
"Does it matter, though?" Anya asked, not following. "Last I checked, we don't have any working telepaths here. So without that and no way to make a Bringer talk, we're still on the screwed side of boned."
"Relax, Depresso Gal," Cordelia snarked at the former Vengeance Demon, earning another scowl from Anya that she promptly ignored. "We don't need it to talk." The Seer's mental gears were grinding, her smooth brow scrunched in thought. "We just need what's in its head."
Xander frowned, not getting it. "Isn't that kind of what we mere humans need tongues for, Cor?" he quipped.
Cordelia shot him an icy glare. "Don't talk to me, thanks," she said with the bite of a mid winter's wind.
Xander's half-smile crumbled at the leggy brunette's cold reply, his lone eye looking down, sadly. He knew damn well why Cordelia was angry with him; he just wasn't sure how much she knew. Or if she'll forgive me…
Ignoring his hurt puppy dog look that would have normally moved her heart, Cordelia focused her attention back to the group. "We have magick at our disposal, right? Why don't we just find a way to, I dunno, magick our way into one of the Mister Mute Squad's noggins and 'Boop!' the intel out of them?"
Wesley and Giles turned to each other, considering that suggestion.
"Um, it actually is an excellent idea, Cordelia," Giles said, drawing a pleased smile from the Seer. "However, we may not necessarily have all the magick we need without…"
At that, the seasoned Watcher turned his bespectacled gaze to Willow.
The witch frowned, feeling the pressure.
Wesley sighed. "I'm afraid Cordelia's right. Giles and I are both fairly adept spellcasters, in our own right. But the power to go inside one's head is recommended for someone with a considerable amount of magickal power at their disposal, and I'm afraid we both fall a bit short of that at the moment to…"
"I'll do it," Willow interrupted them.
All eyes turned to the (depowered?) Witch.
"What?" Giles asked, surprised.
Oz gave her a concerned look. "Willow…are you sure about this?"
Willow turned and gave the werewolf an assured glance, though she remained serious. "I am," she said simply.
Giles looked at her in concern. "Willow…a spell like this isn't easy. If you're not at full strength, the-the-the side effects could be potentially catastrophic, dangerous, even."
Kennedy frowned, not liking what she heard. "How dangerous?"
"The 'it-can-kill-you-if-you're-overwhelmed' kind of dangerous," Wesley said in a cautioning tone.
"Kill?" Kennedy blurted out. "Nope! Not happening. There's no way."
Willow frowned, taking a deep breath. "Kennedy…"
"No!" Kennedy angrily turned to Willow. "Willow, you could die! It's too risky! You don't even have your powers anymore!"
Willow turned to Oz with a questioning look, as if silently seeking his advice. After a beat, the blond musician stared back at her…and then he nodded.
Willow turned to Giles and the others. "The other night…at the…at the Bronze…when, well, Oz and I were…"
At those words, 'Oz and I', Kennedy's face fell, her eyes clouded in hurt, in jealousy. In betrayal.
"...we were attacked by Bringers," Willow said, averting her gaze somewhat guiltily from Kennedy. "And in fighting them off, I…" she swallowed, looking to the group. "What I'm saying is, I might not be as mojo-less as I thought."
Cordelia looked at her in surprise, and concern. "What? Willow, are you…are you sure? I mean…we don't want to be wrong here. The last thing we need is another friend hurt."
Willow gave Cordelia a thankful look, silently marveling how far the two had come since Cordy had been the resident 'Mean Girl' of Sunnydale High making fun of Willow's sweaters all those years ago.
"I'm good, Cordy," the redheaded Witch flashed a reassuring, yet small smile at the worried Seer. "Promise. You don't have to worry about me."
Oz reached over and laid his hand on the pretty redhead's hand. "If Willow says she can do this, guys…" he trailed off, giving Willow a look of complete, unwavering faith. "...then she can do this."
Touched, Willow felt her heart beat a little faster in her chest, her eyes softening at Oz in gratitude.
And all the while, Kennedy gritted her teeth and seethed silently.
Giles, eyeing Willow carefully, nodded. "I see. Well, perhaps I can run a quick diagnostic check on your powers after we're done here. See if it's safe for you to, um, use magicks again."
Willow nodded. "I…I think that's a good idea, Giles," she agreed.
"Well, okay, so Big Red's back in the game, maybe. Cool," Gunn said, yet he frowned. "But even with Willow, how do we even know what kind of spell to use?"
Dawn perked up at that. "I…think I might be able to help with that, Gunn."
Off their curious stares at The Key, the young heroine elaborated. "I…I've been reading this old Turkish spell book. Has some pretty powerful stuff. I'm getting to a whole chapter on communication through the use of magick." She looked at Willow, meaningfully. "I can start there. See if there's a safe way to get you in and out."
Willow brightened, impressed at the youngest Summers girl's resourcefulness. Just like Buffy, Willow thought wistfully for a moment. "That's-that's great, Dawnie! You're really becoming quite the little researcher."
"Damn," Gunn smirked, nodding at the young girl in acknowledgment. "You Summers girls are something fierce, young'un," he winked at her with respect.
To the side, some of the girls sighed at the handsome Gunn's smoldering look.
"God, he's so sexy when he smiles like that," Vi said, dreamily.
"Seriously," Rona admitted, biting her lip and resisting the urge to fan herself.
Dawn smiled at him and Willow, somewhat proudly at the compliments. She liked being able to help, especially her friends. I guess I…take after Buffy that way, the teenage heroine thought in sadness, reminded of her older sister.
Still, Robin wasn't sure. "How do you think we should capture one of the Bringers, Faith?" he asked their new leader. "If they don't want to be found . . ."
"Oh, they'll be found," Faith assured him. "I managed to get a look at them up close when I was…"
Flashes of her agonizing torture at the hands of Caleb, Drusilla and the First's other monsters and ghouls inside the vineyard flickered through Faith's mind…
"...up close," Faith muttered, trying to keep the troubled look out of her eyes. Shutting out those thoughts, she focused on the reality of the now. "Bringers are like rats. They hide in the dark, slinking around. But even rats need to eat…" She looked at Wesley knowingly. "...and they could never resist a good piece of cheese laid out in the light."
Wesley got it. "A trap. You're suggesting we lay out a way to lure them into the open…"
"And then we can nail those suckers," Lorne concluded, nodding at Faith. "Not a bad idea, Pudding Pop."
Faith gave the Pylean demon a faint smirk. "Thanks, Green Bean," she winked, though Lorne noticed it lacked the same kind of youthful, cheeky pop that he had seen in Faith before.
The weight of leadership, Lorne realized quietly. No wonder Angel and Buffy walk around so serious all the time. This leader shtick is the pits…
"Okay," Kennedy interrupted, more forcefully this time. She gestured with her hand as she spoke, glancing at the others in the eerie, flat light. "I'm not sure that this is such a good idea." She tried again to push her idea to the forefront. "Why try to get information when we already know about the Seal? Why don't we send a team to the high school, do some recon, and then we—?"
"No," Faith said with a shake of her head, harder this time, effectively closing the matter.
Something about Kennedy's suggestion didn't sit right with the more seasoned Faith. Even if the Seal and the high school was where the action was going to be, Faith didn't feel good about going in there blind.
"Just like that? Really?" Kennedy said hotly. "You're not even listening!"
"Yeah, I'm listening, rookie. I just don't like what you're selling," Faith replied, curtly. "If the Seal is where The First plans to hatch its big final plan, then the last thing I'm going to do is send any of you down there into a hornet's nest blind, even to do recon. I'm not going to have another repeat of what happened at the vineyard happening again, not with our numbers stretched thin. We need intel first. Then we can think about a smackdown."
Wesley nodded, stepping closer to Faith. "Faith is right," he told Kennedy and then the group. "There's a safe way to get intel and then there's a stupid way. Going into the enemy's lair without knowing what we're getting ourselves into is the stupid way, as we all found out at the Shadow Valley Vineyard. We have to play this smart. Or else we risk losing more friends, more allies. And that's not something we can afford, not with time winding down before The Awakening."
"But it's not even being guarded!" Kennedy insisted, getting more and more impatient. "This could be our chance!"
"A chance to what? To fall into another trap, get killed?" Gunn replied, his tone sarcastic towards the young upstart Potential. "Or did you forget that when Buffy came there yesterday, Caleb and his boys rolled on her and strung her up like a damn piñata?"
"Charles and Faith are right," Fred added, her own tone cautious, but frank. "Just because we can't see the bad guys in the dark doesn't mean they can't see us. Without knowing more, we could be walking into another trap, like the vineyard. We have to be sure we avoid that if we want results." The normally bashful physics whiz looked directly and boldly at Kennedy. "Look, I'm a scientist. In my world, we go by the scientific method. We've done our background research, we've got our hypothesis…"
She looked at Faith, a trusting look on Fred's pretty face. "...and now it's time to test it with an experiment. Faith's experiment."
Faith gave Fred a grateful look. "Yeah…slap me with a lab coat and call me Bill Nye, I guess," Faith said with a small smile.
Kennedy snorted, unconvinced. "I'm sorry, is this 'Intro to Science' or an apocalypse we're fighting?" She flippantly gestured upwards, where the outside world waited. "We don't have time for hypotheses and bunsen burners or whatever other nerdy crap you want to throw at me, Fred. We need action!"
Faith frowned, not liking where this was going. She looked to Wesley, as if searching for his advice silently. Catching her gaze, he held up one finger silently. Wait…not yet, he silently advised.
Willow looked at Kennedy and gave her a cautioning look, murmuring, "Kennedy, you're pushing too hard."
Kennedy shrugged Willow off as she glared impatiently, accusingly at Faith. "I thought things would be different now that Buffy's gone, I thought that you'd finally be giving us a chance to show what we can do around here, to show that we can be in charge of our fates, too, but you keep shutting me down and I'm tired of it!"
Looking to Wesley one more time, Faith watched as the younger Watcher returned her gaze…and nodded. Now. Do it now…
Not having to be told twice, Faith dealt it right back to the young hotshot, not skimping on the harsh. "Do you have something you want to get off your chest, Kennedy?" Faith gestured around to the room. "We're all ears, rookie. Let's hear it."
Kennedy laughed sarcastically for a moment. "'Rookie,'" she repeated quietly, acidly. Then she took a step closer to Faith, her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flaring like an angry bull. "I am so damn sick of everyone calling me that!"
Unimpressed, Faith coolly took a step of her own towards Kennedy, closing the distance between them.
"So do something about it, then," Faith drawled, her words, her tone almost baiting the younger girl. "Or are you going to keep throwing a tantrum in my meeting because you didn't get to sit at the Big Kids' table?"
Kennedy stared back hard at Faith…and then strangely smiled.
A smile that Faith instantly disliked, though she wasn't sure why…yet.
"If you're scared, just say you're scared, Faith," Kennedy said in an oddly pleasant voice. "We'd understand."
Faith frowned, offended. "Excuse me?"
"We get it," Kennedy continued in what she was going for as understanding. "You went through hell back at the vineyard. Being tortured for what seemed like days and days…"
Faith's fists balled at her sides, trying hard to repress the brutal memories of the horrors she suffered at The First's and Caleb's mercy.
Dawn scowled. "Kennedy, back off," she said warningly.
"I'm just stating the facts, Summers," Kennedy replied, yet never taking her eyes off Faith.
"If it's too difficult for you, I understand. Maybe you need some time to sit out, too," Kennedy continued, then looked to the rest of the group, speaking more empassioned, "but we need someone who isn't afraid to take action."
It was as if in an instant, Faith saw Kennedy. Really saw her. Saw right through the games and the attitude and saw her true intentions.
And in that moment, Faith decided, she indeed would act.
Kennedy continued her blustery speech. "What we need to do is—ACKK!"
…right before a hand grabbed her by the throat and shoved her against the wall harshly amidst the gasps of many in the room.
A hand that belonged to Faith.
The Boston-born Slayer stared hard at Kennedy, her deep doe-brown eyes boring a hole through the wide-eyed, shocked petulant teenage girl.
"That enough action for you, kid?" Faith sneered, trying hard not to smirk at the look of fear in Kennedy's face.
Kennedy, shocked, struggled against Faith's grip, but found that her meager above-average strength was no match for the power of a fully activated Slayer.
Rona, stunned, tried to speak up on behalf of her friend. "Faith, stop! What are you—?"
Willow held up her hand, silencing the Black teenage Potential. "Stay out of it, Rona," she said simply, turning her gaze to Faith and Kennedy. "Let Faith handle it."
Kennedy's eyes filled with stung betrayal as she looked at Willow. The redhead's silent reply was a simple, disappointed shake of her head at the upstart Potential. The message was clear; no help would be coming for Kennedy as she faced down an angry Faith.
"Let me be crystal clear on something, Kennedy," Faith said in a low, almost purring growl of a voice as she stared at the gasping, wide-eyed Potential. "Whatever this fantasy is of you holding the big stick around here? That's over. It ends. Right now. You're not in charge, rookie. You will never be in charge. So cut the coup crap. That's not gonna work a second time. And if you want to fight me again, be my guest. Only this time, I won't just put you on the ground…I won't let you get up."
Everyone watched and processed Faith's stark, chilling warning to Kennedy in silence.
"The rules are simple," Faith continued harshly. "I point, you march. I lead, you follow. You got a problem with that, then you can get your spoiled ass on the first plane outta here back to New York. Or you take your chances alone out there. Got it?"
With that, Faith harshly shoved Kennedy away, sending the girl stumbling onto the floor, shaking and coughing and staring up at Faith with a combination of fury and fear in her eyes.
"Finally!" Cordelia muttered aloud, glad that Faith had taken the initiative to shut Kennedy up.
Shooting Cordelia a poisonous glare, Kennedy turned her eyes back to Faith, angry and seething, yet more than a hint of terror in them, like she was a young wolf that just fought the alpha of the pack and lost.
"So much for things being different now that Buffy's gone, huh, Faith?" Kennedy rasped out, sneering.
"Things are different," Faith declared, squaring her shoulders as she towered above Kennedy. But her next words weren't just for the upstart Potential at her feet…they were for the rest of the room. Looking around to make sure she had their attention, Faith continued.
"Because, now? I'm your boss."
Faith stood rooted where she was. Ever the picture of a leader. Strong. Determined. Power on. Sure of herself…
Ready.
The dark-haired beauty looked around to her allies, to the entire room. Her army. "Look, you guys, I'm not Buffy. I'm not the one who's been on your asses all this time." She began to walk around, making sure she was looking all of them in the eyes as she conveyed her next words. "But I'm not one of you anymore, either. I'm your leader. I didn't ask to do this. And honestly? I didn't want to. But you asked for me to step up. So now? I'm in charge. Which means I go first and I make the rules and the rest of you follow after me. No questions. Is that clear?"
Many were silent, but several began to nod. Then more nodded. More after that.
The consensus was clear and undisputed; Faith was their leader now.
Wesley nodded at her, giving Faith a ghost of a smile of approval. She's come a long way. She's going to do just fine…
Faith pointed down at Kennedy, still sprawled out on the ground. "So, Kennedy, back the hell off and let me do my job."
Off Kennedy's stunned look, Faith said almost challengingly, "Alright?"
Sullenly, defeated, Kennedy gestured an unenthusiastic salute and muttered, "Aye aye, captain."
It wasn't a rousing endorsement, but it was clear as day to all; Kennedy acknowledged who the leader was here. And it was not her.
Satisfied, Faith turned to the others. "Okay. Let's get down to business.""
As she looked at the stung, simmering Kennedy getting to her feet, Willow silently watched her. And she realized in that moment, that she was going to have to have a talk with Kennedy.
The talk, Willow sadly realized.
Sunnydale, CA - Sunspot Motel, exterior
J Street
12:32 p.m.
Darla didn't like this.
Not at all, she decided, as she walked slowly up the abandoned street.
Part of her was already missing Wesley. Regretting not taking the handsome, tortured man who she had come to care so much for with her, taking him up on his offer. Yet the rest of Darla acknowledged that this was something she had to do alone. Wesley was brilliant, smart, skilled, resourceful…but he was still only human.
And it was clear that whatever it was that the Beastmaster had upgraded her with had made her more than just human, even with her heart beating inside of her and her soul firmly inside.
As she scanned the streets with ever-watchful eyes, Darla sighed in frustration. Darla was never the most adept tracker when she was a vampire, not like Angel and Spike had mastered the skill. She always preferred to let her prey come to her, not to go hunting for it like some starving dog, some fledgling vampire still fresh from the grave.
Yet she could tell that Connor's path seemed to have no clear discernible pattern, that much her newly-returned preternatural senses told her. Her son's scent seemed to travel south, then trailed east, then veered violently west, and now it seemed to follow north, dangerously close to the Sunnydale city limits.
It's like he was just wildly spinning out of control on these empty streets alone, she realized. With no family with him. No friends. No hope…
The thought of Connor leaving town altogether, riding the roads alone, sent a bolt of pain through Darla's broken heart. Her little boy, her son, was in pain, needing care, needing love, needing a hot meal and a bed…and she couldn't find him.
Connor, baby, where are you? Darla thought in silent desperation, her eyes searching every corner, every shadow in the daylight for her troubled son. You have to be okay. You just have to be. Please…
"Well, well, well," a sneering voice came from behind Darla. "You should really be careful walking around with a nice little ass like that, little lady. Especially walking around in these lonely streets these days."
The stunning blonde woman turned around, finding two large males. One of them was a man, dressed in a worn-out black leather jacket and ripped jeans. The other, also dressed in biker garb, Darla recognized by its pointy ears, mottled pink skin, jagged yellow teeth and the demonic tattoo branded on its forehead to be a Hellion demon.
From what she remembered, they were road pirates. Even back hundreds of years ago, Darla recalled her coven the Whirlwind occasionally ran afoul of such demons when they each competed to wreak havoc in small, vulnerable towns off the beaten path. Darla held disdain for them even back when she had no soul. Hellions were like locusts. Devouring everything and destroying everyone in their path. No appreciation for art, no desire for the finer things in life like she had learned. They just got their rocks off on raping, destroying and conquering, then they moved on to the next place to destroy. Unfortunately, they were also tough, durable and very difficult to defeat in hand-to-hand combat.
Darla held her ground, taking in a calm breath. "I can hold my own, thanks," she replied coolly. Then she gave them both a withering glance. "Something the two of you must have quite some experience in, no doubt."
The Hellion demon smirked viciously at her. "Careful, blondie," it growled through smiling, jagged teeth. "You keep running that pretty little mouth of yours to my friend Jack here, it might get you into trouble."
"My buddy Kletus is right, Sweet Cans," Jack smirked darkly. "Not a good idea while you're up here all alone. Near a motel like this? Some might think you're looking for trouble."
Darla stared at them, then gave a dark smile of her own. "You have no idea."
She boldly stepped closer to them. "But you two idiots might still be useful. I need information. I'm looking for someone. A teenager. He's 18, long'ish brown hair, he had a red shirt and blue jeans on. Packs a nasty right hook, a little on the violent side. Have you seen him?"
Darla watched something in their eyes change…a hint of recognition, she realized…before they quickly masked it.
"Heh-heh. Now why would a pretty little thing like you be looking for a boy, little miss…" Jack smirked, reaching up to brush Darla's hair with one of his greasy fingers, then letting his hand start to trail down her slender body, reaching down towards the soft, yet firm globes of Darla's backside. "...when you could be with a man?"
But before his hand could reach her butt, Darla's own hand found herself squeezing something else—the front of the man's jeans, her iron grip around his overly eager testicles.
Off the man's pained groan, Darla smiled dangerously. "I will...when I can find one."
With her other hand, Darla let her palm lash out, catching him in the chest as he went flying into several garbage cans behind him.
Growling, the Hellion demon Kletus lunged for her. "You're gonna pay for that, bitch!"
But the more nimble, faster Darla easily averted his clumsy swats and strike attempts.
"With my looks? I rarely do," the former vampiress quipped. She then rammed her fist into his stomach, taking advantage of his doubling over by kicking the larger demon in the leg, hearing the bone give way with a sickening 'snap!' sound.
The formerly feared master vampiress quickly elbowed the Hellion demon in its stubbed nose, drawing black blood from it before she grabbed it by the front of its leather vest and violently swung him around, and around again…
…until with a strong heave, Darla sent Kletus screaming and tumbling over the side of a nearby stairwell to the bottom streets below.
Not bothering to check whether the assailing demon had lived or died, Darla moved in a blur of speed to his companion, "Jack". Grabbing him by the throat, Darla pinned the man against a nearby wall and held him up off the ground, his eyes bulging in wide-eyed terror.
Darla felt the breaths huff and puff angrily from her lungs. Had she been a vampire, she would have already flashed her game face at this douchebag, just to see if he would wet himself.
"Let's try this again, asswipe," Darla said in a deceptively sweet voice that juxtaposed with the dark glimmer in her deep blue eyes. "And keep your heart rate nice and steady when you answer, unless you want to join your friend down below. A teenage boy. 18, red shirt, blue jeans, nasty right hook…have you seen him? And where?"
The biker trembled. "What…are…you?" he gasped out.
"Trouble, if you don't give me the answer I want," Darla coldly replied. "Answers. Now."
"Okay! Okay…ack…" the man rasped, writhing in her grasp. "There was some crazy punk kid that came by this way last night. My-my boys and I heard Sunnydale was closing for business, so we decided to have some fun, raid some stores, score some cash, maybe get laid. Normally Hellions eat, kill or rape humans, but I supply them with some great black magick market drugs that get them the high or buzz they want, so they let me roll with them—"
"Already bored," Darla snapped impatiently. "Get to the important part. The kid."
Over her long lifetime, Darla had learned and mastered the fine art of seduction. But Darla had also learned how to be intimidating and frightening when she wanted to be. A skill that came in handy right now.
"Alright, alright!" Jack blurted out. "So, we came up on this group of girls stuck on the side of the road fleeing town, and we were about to have our way with them when this crazy kid shows up outta nowhere! He scared away the girls and he killed most of our crew. A swarm of Hellion demons, from the San Diego chapter. The kid was…it was like he was the devil, man! Like a destroyer from the Bible or something! He fought like he was angry at the world or whatever…"
Darla's eyes frowned, picturing her handsome son's angry features as she heard this biker scum's description. Connor…it is you…
"Where was this?" she demanded.
"Right…here," he choked out. "He came in like a thunderstorm and then he just bolted!"
"Where did he head to?" Darla pressed him, fighting to keep the desperation out of her voice. "Did he say where he was going?" When the biker toady didn't answer fast enough, Darla squeezed his throat harder. "Talk, idiot!"
Jack cried out in pain. "I-I-I don't know! He-he-he was…I think he was heading south! Yeah, south! Towards Sunnydale Cemetery! He was making a beeline for it! That's all I know! I swear!"
It didn't make any sense to Darla why her son would be headed towards a cemetery, but at the moment, she didn't care. A lead was a lead. She had to find him, and find him now.
Her piercing blue eyes bored into the cowardly biker. "If you're lying to me, I'll be back for you," Darla warned. "And trust me…it won't be for a kiss."
With that, she hurled him with one hand back into the toppled trash cans with a deafening crash, watching as the biker's limbs shot out spasmodically before they fall to his sides.
Deciding she was done getting her information here, Darla spun on her heels and headed back south towards the cemetery.
"Who are you…?" she heard the dazed man cough after her.
Under her breath, Darla, closing her eyes, quietly muttered, "Just a mother fighting the world for her kid."
Sunnydale, CA - Shadow Valley Vineyard
Same Time
"He's alive? ALIVE?!"
CRUNCH!
Pearl and Nash's bodies went slamming simultaneously against the cave walls, courtesy of The First Evil, in Jasmine's body, grabbing them both by the throat.
"We—ack!—we didn't know!" Nash rasped out.
"Im…impossible!" Pearl weakly croaked. "That was my mother's…Dark Blood Retribution Hex! Our family's most…powerful…spell! Nobody has…ever…survived that, human or demon!"
"And yet I can feel it!" The First/Jasmine snapped, her/its eyes glowing a baleful red. "Angel lives! I can feel Hope's Dagger and its magick growing closer. Closer to me. Something that can only happen if it was in the hands of The Champion of the Powers That Be. You were given one simple task to kill one measly vampire, and you couldn't even do that right!"
Drusilla rocked back and forth, her mad blue eyes troubled. "It's true. The stars whispered it to me. Daddy's coming home. And he brings presents. Awful, awful presents." The mad vampiress quivered. "He's very angry, ohhh, very angry…"
From the side, Caleb sighed as he spoke to his master. "And ignoring Crazy Pants over there, I told you that you should've sent me instead. Hate to say I told you so, but…"
"Nobody likes a know-it-all, Caleb, now stop talking before I snap your neck!" The First/Jasmine barked at him with an uncharacteristic impatience.
Turning back to Pearl and Nash, the embodiment of evil snarled. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just rip you both to pieces."
Pearl coughed weakly, her bright azure eyes wide in fright. She had rarely seen The First so angry. "Forgive us, master…please, give us another chance, and we will destroy Angelus for you! His screams will be heard across—"
"If you could have done that, you'd have already done it, not make empty promises," The First/Jasmine snapped dismissively.
The Beast lumbered forward, bowing its head and slapping his arm to his rock-plated chest. "Master, please allow me to rid you of Angelus," the rock-skinned horned demon all but pleaded in its deep, rumbly demonic voice. "Long have I sought revenge against that miserable vampire. And he is responsible for having killed me before. Allow me to avenge the both of us, and I shall not fail you."
"And yet you reminded me of how he already beat you once, and that was before he had Hope's Dagger," The First/Jasmine replied coolly. "No, my pet, I need you here. You will guard the Keystone, and my body as I continue my mastery of it."
Alongside Warren, who clutched at his ray gun nervously, Amy raised her hand. "I'm sorry, I may not be as experienced in the whole 'being evil' thing as you guys, but…who cares? So Angel found some magick sword, big whoop! We still have the Keystone, and whatever…" she gestured to the stone where the mysterious weapon was embedded, "that thing is that we're supposed to keep out of Buffy's little manicured hands."
"Yeah!," Warren added, trying to back his girlfriend up. "And the last time they tried to take it from us, we whooped her and her little friends' asses like a redheaded stepchild. Don't we have the advantage?"
Jasmine/The First glared at the dark witch and the skinless man. "You know nothing. You clearly don't understand the power of Hope's Dagger. The last time a Champion of the Powers had that weapon this close to me, it nearly killed me. I am not taking that chance again, not when we're only days from The Awakening. The planetary alignment is happening as we speak, I can feel it in my bones. I'm closer to getting everything I've been working towards for the last few eons. And I am not risking it all now because of some little blonde bitch from Sunnydale and her moping undead boy toy throwing a monkey wrench into the gameplan in the fourth quarter. Understood?"
The rogues around her stayed silent, none daring to speak.
"What, um…what is your will?" Caleb asked, awaiting his orders.
Turning her/its backs to them, The First / Jasmine stayed silent for a moment. Pondering.
Scheming.
Then at last, she/it spoke.
"I think I've been playing it too subtle," The First / Jasmine spoke. "Too much of this reveling crap. No more. If Angel and Buffy want to play hard ball, then fine. No More Miss Nice Evil."
To Pearl and Nash. "You have one chance to redeem yourselves. If Angel's coming back to town, then I suggest we throw him a welcome party. The kind that doubles as a farewell party. Take the Bringers and the Turok-Han with you. Make sure you find him and give him a welcome to die for."
Pearl nodded, smiling darkly. "We'll bring you back his ashes on a silver platter as a trophy."
"See that you do," The First/Jasmine said.
Then she/it turned to Drusilla. "I hear Faith's the new leader of that little ragtag band. Do you remember what we talked about, my dear?"
Drusilla gleefully smiled. "Oh, yes, master," she crooned. "The wicked games we have in mind for the bad little Slayer."
The First / Jasmine smirked. "Then go. Play. Do what you want, but make sure Faith is broken."
Drusilla giggled madly. "Like little people made out of porcelain and china. Crash! Crash! She'll make a lovely mess."
"Good," The First/ Jasmine sighed. Then she/it smiled. "And that leaves The Slayer herself. Brave little Buffy Summers."
"Allow me, if you will, that honor," Caleb eagerly stepped up. "The Slayer is my prey. My quarry. I've layed a whoopin' on that little lady more than once. If you would allow me…I would be humbled to kill her for you."
To his surprise, Jasmine / The First shook her/its head. "I'm not sure you can be trusted. You seem to be more preoccupied with having fun with that little tart instead of finishing the task at hand."
Caleb began to protest, indignant, and a bit desperate. "I assure you, that's the farthest thing from true! My motives are pure, I will bring you The Slayer's heart in my hands!"
Warren smirked, quietly snickering to Amy. "From what I hear, it sounds like Bible Boy's more interested in having Buffy's tits in his hands."
Amy covered her mouth as she tried to muffle a giggle.
In a flash, however, Warren found himself choking as Caleb's steel-like hand wrapped around his throat and hauled the fleshless man into the air like he weighed nothing.
"You findin' something particularly amusing there, Meat Boy?" Caleb snarled. Off Warren's choking sounds, Caleb grinned in evil fashion. "Now, now, don't be shy, little man. Share with the rest of the class."
"Hey!" Amy barked, her hand lighting up with a purple glow, deadly magick crackling around it. "Put him down, Choir Boy, unless you want me to give you your last rites!"
"Enough," The First / Jasmine boomed. "Caleb, we need him. Drop the meat bag."
Off that command, Caleb released his hold on Warren, letting him fall to the floor as Amy went to his side.
Jasmine / The First raised an eyebrow at her/its most devoted disciple. "See? The Slayer is too emotional of a matter for you. You have a personal interest in her. That distracts you, Caleb. Makes you vulnerable."
As Caleb tried to protest, The First/Jasmine raised a hand to silence him. "I will send the Bringers. It's my understanding poor little Buffy's been kicked out of her home. She's all alone. Vulnerable. Dejected. Weak. Beaten. She'll be easy pickings."
"All the more reason to send me!" Caleb protested, trying to hold his temper back.
"The Bringers have no emotional attachment," The First / Jasmine replied. "They're pure killing machines. I trained them that way. As have you. I don't need fun here. I need results. And they'll get it done."
Caleb silently seethed, yet bowed his head, knowing that he could not cross his master. That it would be a fatal mistake to do so. "Thy will…be done," he quietly replied through gritted teeth.
"Good," Jasmine / The First said, slowly walking towards the Beast before it picked up the object just next to the horned demon…
…the Keystone.
Holding up the shimmering white crystal in her/its hands, The First / Jasmine stared at it longingly. The key to its final victory, and it was so close. There couldn't be any mistakes now.
"By nightfall, I want The Slayer and Angel dead," The First / Jasmine uttered darkly, staring at the glowing sacred crystal in its hands. "And then…there will be no one left to stop me."
To Be Continued…
Next: Buffy and Doyle play a game together with high stakes. But will Buffy learn the truth behind her lost memories of Angel? And will she get back in the fight with The Awakening so close?
And Angel finally comes home. But what will the consequences be when he learns of Buffy's departure?
FYI: I've been getting a LOT of requests and offers lately from artists about commissioning artwork for my little story. I'm flattered! :) Please note that I am slow on responding as I am currently moving to another location at the moment. If and when I do decide to commission artwork, I will contact you directly. Thanks for understanding!
More to come soon!
Please read, follow and review!
Best,
Jean-TheGuardian