BTVS & Angel:The Epic New Series
by buffyfaith19
Rating: R
Buffy Summers' House.
Dawn was pacing in the living room as Xander sat on the couch watching her burn a hole in the carpet. She anxiously waited for Buffy and her mom to return and as she heard the front door open, she rushed to greet them.
Buffy walked in the door and the moment she made eye contact with Dawn, she saw her little sister's face turn from happy too devastated in a matter of seconds.
Falling to the floor, Dawn began screaming hysterically. With her eyes filled with tears and not a drop of energy left in her body, Buffy willed herself over to her sister where she knelt down beside her and held her tight.
Faith sent Xander home and then helped the Buffy and Dawn upstairs where they eventually fell asleep on Buffy's bed. Not knowing quite what to do, Faith pulled up a chair and fell asleep by their side.
Wolfram & Hart Offices.
Morning at Wolfram & Hart was a time for meetings, meetings and more meetings. Angelus hated meetings of any kind and avoided them like the plague.
Today however, he had a meeting with the three senior partners and it was one meeting he was happy to attend.
What he did dislike was the cloak and dagger routine he had to go through just to find the meeting in the first place. It was like a game of catch me if you can, where they sent Angelus to numerous locations, making sure he wasn't followed or bringing a pack of mercenaries with him to kill the partners.
After a couple long hours of following, what he felt were idiotic and pointless instructions, he ended up at a deserted construction site a couple miles west of the city limits.
Enjoying the sunlight of the early morning hours, Angelus got out of his car and had a quick look around.
"Enough with the games. Either come out or I'm gone." Angelus said as he kept his eye on everything that moved.
Seeing a portal appear ten feet in front of him, he heard a voice call out, "The portal is what you seek. Enter it now or be forever banished from Wolfram & Hart."
Even though he hated surprises, he knew he had no choice so he jumped into the portal.
Unceremoniously dumped on his ass in the middle of an immense stadium, Angelus got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Okay, I'm here. Let's get on with it."
There were close to 50,000 people, demons and things he couldn't explain, all seated and staring down at him, when he noticed a trio of men step forward on a podium some fifty feet above.
"Welcome Angelus," said the tall, bearded man on the left side of the group."
"Yah, yah, yah, let's dispense with the formalities." Angelus said in a dismissive tone, "I've been trying to arrange a meeting with you guys for over three months, I do not need to be kept waiting any longer."
It was the shorter, rounder man in the middle who spoke next, "Ah yes, we heard you were an impatient one. Please begin, what would you like to discuss?"
"For starter's, I want a raise." Angelus demanded.
"Done," the wiry looking demon said.
"Just like that?"
"It is done. Anything else?" asked the demon.
Angelus studied the demon carefully, sure he'd seen it before, but tried to stay on topic. "Well yes, but I haven't even told you how much I wanted."
"I know what you seek and it shall be granted. Please move on." The demon said with a slightly annoyed tone.
"Fine, I'll get to the important stuff then. I want the power to kill my assistant without going through the channels. Lilah is annoying and I can't tell you how many times I want to sink my teeth into her long luscious neck and taste the warm evil blood the runs through her nasty veins, but I can't and I hate it."
"Angelus, if we allow this, we would have chaos on our hands. We cannot grant you this wish. Is there anything else?" Said the tallest man; his white cloak flopping in the wind.
"Then give me another assistant." Angelus countered.
After conversing for a couple minutes the tall man stepped forward, "We will look into that request."
"Now we're getting somewhere." Angelus smiled and then took out a list from his jacked pocked, "Okay, I want a seat on the board of directors. I've paid my dues and I want more power. My patience is wearing thin. If you can't help me move up then I see no reason to stay with the firm."
"You would be foolish to leave, but that is your choice. We would revoke all access to Wolfram & Hart immediately. You would also be treated as an enemy upon resignation. Although we would not actively attempt to harm you in any way, we would respond swiftly if you became a threat to us. Be very sure this is what you want before you make such an important and perhaps fatal decision."
"I don't call it a choice." Angelus said shaking his head, "You want to control me by limiting my access to certain high level meetings, to security decisions and also to personnel decisions that affect me and my department. What I think you fail to understand is that it's unwise to make an enemy out of me."
"We are well aware of your power Angelus. With the Ring of Amarra, you are a formidable foe, but if we felt you were unstoppable, we'd give in to your demands. But, with every powerful item, such as your ring, there is an equally powerful counter measure." The demon said as he stepped forward, "We believe you have the potential to achieve greatness with us. Considering you are a vampire and have unlimited life expectancy, we believe you will be around long after we are all dead and buried. Patience my friend, it's a highly underestimated asset."
"That's a really pretty speech. Clap, clap, clap." Angelus said, clapping his hands in unison with his words. "Whether you have a counter measure for this ring or not, it won't keep you alive long enough to see the light. If I had patience, I wouldn't be here. And keeping me down on the food chain just because I'm a vamp is discrimination."
"You amuse me Angelus. Your sense of humor is always welcome, but I fear we cannot help you any further." The shorter man said, just before he waved his hand towards the ground.
A portal opened in front of Angelus and he shook his head at how things had turned out, "That's what they call an impasse boys. I've made my concerns known. If nothing is done about them soon, I'll have to call it quits when my contract is up. Which as you know is only two months away." Angelus added, making sure they all knew how much time he was giving them, "I'll be off. Thanks for the meeting." He said and hopped into the portal.
Buffy Summers' House.
Faith woke up before Buffy and Dawn, so she quietly slipped downstairs. It was Faith's first morning in her new house and it couldn't come at a more tragic time.
Trying her best to stay somewhat calm, she looked through the cupboards and the fridge hoping to find something she could make for breakfast.
Cooking wasn't a strong suit for Faith, but she'd been on her own long enough to know how to get by when she had to.
She settled on something simple, since she wasn't even sure Buffy and Dawn would have any appetites.
Once she had everything ready, she sat opened the front door, picked up the paper, walked back and sat down at the kitchen table. Opening the paper, she nearly fell over when she read the headline.
Gwen Raiden Convicted of Manslaughter in the Death of her Psychiatrist.
Before she could process anything Buffy walked into the kitchen, "Good morning."
Faith smiled, "Good morning Buffy, how are you?"
Sitting down at the table she looked around and smiled at Faith, "She's usually up before us. Always getting things ready, making us breakfast, making sure we were never late for school. Do you know what's so sad, I don't think we ever said thank you once."
"Oh Buffy, you can't keep doing this." Faith said, kneeling down in front of Buffy, "This is not your fault. A vampire killed your mother."
"What did she say?" Dawn said as she stood at the doorway.
"Dawn, I didn't know you were there." Faith said as she got to her feet, wanting to take back her words so badly.
Buffy rushed over to her, "What do you think you heard?"
"I don't think it, I know what I heard. She said a vampire killed mom. Is that what that Spike guy was? I didn't know they were real. Why would he kill mom and why were you there? What's going on?" Dawn said, the questions flying out of her mouth as fast as she could speak.
"Slow down." Buffy said as she helped Dawn to a chair, pulled another up and sat across from her, "There is so much I don't know about all this and there's so much that happened so fast I can't keep up. Something happened to me yesterday morning that changed my life. I'm beginning to think it was all a big mistake."
"That makes no sense. Just tell me what's going on. What do you know about these vampire things?" Dawn asked, hoping to hear something she could understand.
"I don't even know if I can tell you or should tell you." Buffy said, struggling with what was right, wrong and not having many answers for Dawn. "I guess I have no reason not to anymore."
"Buffy, are you sure you want to do this?" Faith asked, not even sure what the etiquette was for being a slayer.
"Yes, I do want to do this. Dawn deserves to know." Buffy said firmly and then turned to her sister and told her the whole story of the last 24 hours.
Dawn didn't say much through the whole thing, but when Buffy finished she had plenty to say. "Well, now I see I was wrong, it wasn't the vampire that killed mom, it was you."
Faith stepped forward to defend Buffy, "Hey, that's not fair Dawn. Buffy tried to save you both."
"It's okay Faith, she's right." Buffy said, walking over to Dawn, "Just not about everything. Spike wanted me, not mom. He used you and mom to get to me. I'll never forgive myself for any of this. I didn't kill mom and I won't have you say that to me again."
"Fine, but all of this was because of you. I just don't understand why this happened. Mom never hurt anyone." Dawn said as she broke down and started crying again.
"Don't cry. Please don't cry." Buffy pleaded, taking Dawn in her arms until she'd shed even more tears and released some much needed raw emotion.
A good 10 minutes past with no words spoken, Faith slid to the end of the table and read more on the headline.
Reading more about the story, Faith discovered that Gwen was in a psychiatric facility in San Diego when Gwen allegedly killed her lead psychiatrist. According to the paper, she snapped and without warning electrocuted him.
It went on to say that, Gwen had been at the Tranquil Nights Psychiatric Facility for the past three months for a parole violation. The facility primarily catered to those under-18 years of age.
Faith felt a strong desire to go visit Gwen, but the timing was terrible with Buffy having to deal with so much right now.
When the doorbell rang, Faith got up, answered it and was surprised to see Fred standing at the door.
"Hi Faith, how are you doing?"
"I don't know; it's not really a good time right now. Buffy and Dawn that are dealing with so much as it is." Faith said, still not sure why Fred was there.
"Yes, it must be terrible for them." Fred said softly, "May I come in for a moment? I was hoping to talk to Buffy."
Faith wasn't happy about it, but knew she couldn't stop people from visiting at a time like this, "Of course, come in."
"Thank you." Fred said as she stepped inside.
"Buffy's with Dawn right now." Faith said as she led the way, "There's a lot of tension and confusion about why this happened. I'm sure they will have even more questions when they feel up to it."
"I'm sure they will and I'll try and answer some of them and I believe they'll both want to talk to Rupert Giles when he arrives later this morning." Fred said just as she entered the kitchen.
Buffy got up and smiled at the sight of Fred, "Hi, I didn't know you were coming."
"Actually, that's what I'm here to talk to you about, but I don't want intrude."
"It's okay, this is my sister Dawn." Buffy said as she helped Dawn to her feet.
"Hi Dawn, my name is Winifred Burkle, but you can call me Fred. I'm very sorry for your loss." Fred said, shaking Dawn's hand softly.
"Hi, do you work for the same people my sister does?" Dawn asked bluntly.
Fred sat down in front of Dawn and looked her right in the eye, "Yes, we all have the same basic goal. I know it's hard to see in a time like this, but we are here to help protect the people of Sunnydale and around the world."
"Then how come you didn't protect my mom?"
"Dawn, that's not something Fred had any control over." Buffy said, her voice raising more than she knew. "None of us did. It was horrible, horrible tragedy that some sick vampire was responsible for."
"She's still gone." Dawn said, turning away from Buffy, still very angry.
"Yes she is and I don't know how we're going to move on, but somehow we will. She would want that. I know she would." Buffy put her hand on Dawn's shoulder and tried to console her as best she could.
"I can't talk about this now and I'm not going to school today." Dawn said as she ran upstairs.
Buffy turned to Fred, "Well, I guess we can have that talk now. Did you want anything to eat or some coffee?"
"No, I'm fine thanks." Fred said, as she watched Buffy sit back down, "I'm here to offer my help in any way I can. The mayor suggested I stay with you indefinitely, helping out around the house, doing little things and just trying to make your life a little easier during this time of tragedy."
"Thanks for the offer, but I couldn't ask you to do that." Buffy said politely.
"I'm offering, I think it's a wonderful idea and a great opportunity for me to help out and get to know you and your sister while I do. You can assure Dawn that I'm not here to replace your mom at all, that's not even possible, I just want to help. I honestly think I can."
Buffy looked over at Faith, "We do have Faith here with us, so that will help."
"That's true and everyone is happy she is staying with you." Fred said as she smiled over at Faith, "Still, you will have to get back to school and I can be here for Dawn when she gets home from school and I'm not the best cook, but I can help with that as well. It never hurts to have an extra person helping out."
"I guess it can't hurt. I accept your generous offer." Buffy said as she stood up and gave Fred a hug.
"It's my pleasure." Fred said as she gave Buffy a warm hug in return.
Faith watched the two girls hugging, looked over at the paper and decided it was time for a change, "Hey, I hate to break up the lovefest, but I think I will take this time to visit a friend of mine in San Diego. She's been accused of a crime and I want to look into it. You have Fred here now so you don't need me, I'll just get my things."
Buffy followed Faith through the kitchen and she stopped her on the stairs, "What is all this about?"
"Read the paper, it's the big headline." Faith said as she continued up the stairs.
Chasing Faith into her bedroom, she stopped and turned her around, "I asked you what this is about?"
"A friend is in trouble and I want to go see her. That's it." Faith snapped, then lowered her voice, "I know it's a tough time for you, but with Fred here I think everything will work out."
"I thought I'd have you here too. We haven't had a chance to talk much at all." Buffy said as she sat down on her bed, "I understand you wanting to see a friend in trouble though and I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."
"I'm sorry, I just read about it this morning. I know the timing sucks, but I do feel good knowing you will have someone here with you, even if it is the tall beautiful Fred." Faith said, smiling at the last part.
"It's good you can joke about it, but I'd really like to have you here with me." Buffy said as she slid her hand over Faith's arm, "I feel there is so much I want to tell you about my mom. I want you to feel like you knew her. She would have loved you. I know it. I just hope we can talk when you get back. I will miss you so much."
"Now you're trying to make me cry. I hate crying." Faith said with a smile as she sat down beside Buffy, "I want to know all about your mom. She must have been very brave to take on all those vamps. I know she was a good mom because of how well you and Dawn turned out. I hate leaving now, but my friend is facing murder charges and I have to find out her side of the story."
"I have so many things to do now and I have no idea where to start. I feel so lost you know." Buffy said in a reflective moment, "It's strange how much I relied on my mom and never really noticed it. God, I took her for granted so much. Anyway, this is going to take some time to deal with for both Dawn and I, but I do want to help you with your friend. I hope you know that."
Faith put her hand on Buffy's, "Of course I know you'd have my back. What you are dealing with now comes first. Besides, I'm just going to talk to her, if there's something I need your help with, I'll be back here dragging you with me, so don't worry about that."
"Thanks, that actually makes me feel better." Buffy said, a smile covering her face as she looked into Faith's sexy eyes, "I'm going to miss looking into your beautiful brown eyes."
"Just my eyes?" Faith laughed, as she leaned in and gave Buffy a big hug.
They laughed and held each other tight for a few long lingering minutes, slowly breaking free their eyes met and they both felt the exact same thing.
It was a moment of silence where nothing but eye contact was needed, but they both knew what they wanted. They leaned in and kissed, so soft at first. Savoring the moment as their arms wrapped around each other in a warm, tender embrace.
As the kissing became more intense, shifting from soft and sweet to hard and deep, long and passionate, falling back on the bed they kissed like it was their last night on earth.
Rolling back and forth on the bed, they began exploring each other's bodies with their hands. As the kissing grew to a fevered pitch, Buffy slid her hands under Faith's t-shirt and put her hands over her full round breasts.
Moaning lightly, Faith held Buffy's hands close to her chest, squeezing them tight against her breasts before sliding them up her arms and over her shoulders, feeling the warmth from Buffy's soft smooth skin.
With her thumb rubbing both of Faith's hard nipples, Buffy pulled herself up to a sitting position, moved her right thumb from Faith's breast and replaced it with her mouth.
Faith held Buffy's head as she felt her tongue sliding over her sensitive nipple, slowly licking every inch before taking it deep into her mouth and sucking it hard and long.
Buffy moved from one nipple to the next, her small hand caressing her amazing breasts as she licked and nibbled at her nipples, for what seemed like hours at a time.
It was then they heard someone coming down the hall.
"Buffy. Buffy. Come here please." Dawn said as she stood at the top of the stairs, just a few feet from Buffy's bedroom.
Both girls slid down off the bed, Faith pulled her t-shirt down and smiling over at Buffy, "We need to start locking that door."
"Yep, shutting it would work too." Buffy grinned and then got to her feet, checked her hair in the mirror and walked calmly out into the hallway.
"Oh there you are. Is that girl with the boy's name staying?" Dawn asked rather calmly.
"Yes, I think she can help us a lot. She's not trying replace mom okay?" Buffy explained, being sure Dawn understood that right away. "She knows this is a tough time for us and wants to help. She's just a very friendly girl. Are you okay with that?"
"I guess so; I don't really know her though. She seems nice enough." Dawn said with little emotion either way. "What about this Rupert person? Mom said we should talk to him you know."
"I forgot all about him. I'll ask Fred about that." Buffy said as she looked into Dawn's sad little eyes, "I don't even know what to say to you. I want to help you through this, but I don't know how. Is there anything you want or need? I am here for you, so please just ask if you want to talk or just sit together or anything."
"Thanks, I think I'm going to go lie down for a while. Maybe later we can talk or something I guess." Dawn said and then waved and walked back to her bedroom and closed the door.
Faith walked out and they went downstairs and sat down with Fred, "I'm sorry we took so long. We got a big carried away talking." Faith said as she put her hand over Buffy's as she looked over at Fred.
"I did want to let you know that Rupert Giles is on his way to Sunnydale at this very moment. He needs to talk to you and your sister." Fred said as she looked at Buffy.
"Yes, I guess my mom told Dawn about this man before…"
Fred jumped in as Buffy paused, "I'm sorry, I know this must be hard to talk about. I don't know what Rupert has to say to you, but I'm sure he will explain it all."
"I certainly want to know who he is and what he knows about mom. I think Dawn mentioned something about secret that Spike knew that freaked my mom out."
"Well, he should be here before noon." Fred said as she looked at her watch.
Faith got up, grabbed her coat from the back of the chair and stood in front of Buffy, "Well, I guess I'll be on my way." Faith said, finding it harder to leave than she thought, "I know you'll have Fred, Dawn and this Rupert guy to talk to, so you won't be lonely at least. I'll keep in touch and I don't expect to be gone more than a couple days."
"I'm gonna miss ya. I know your friend will be happy to see you. Be careful okay?" Buffy said as she gave Faith a hug and walked her to the front door.
"I will miss you too. I don't think I've said that to anyone before. But, I will miss you." Faith said, checking to see if Fred was watching and then planting a soft kiss on Buffy's lips.
"Now I'm going to miss you more." Buffy smiled as Faith turned and walked down the sidewalk.
Fred came rushing to the door, "Faith, hang on one second." She said as she ran towards her, "If you want, we can book you on a flight to San Diego and pay for any hotel or food expenses you might have. All you have to do is call the mayor and let him know what you are doing and he'll set it up."
"Oh, thanks. I didn't know you guys did that kind of thing." Faith said with a surprised look on her face.
"Well, for certain things we do. This is important to you and that means it's important to us. Richard will be happy to help. Good luck." Fred said and then walked back to Buffy's house.
"Thanks again." Faith waved and headed to the mayor's office, not happy that she was having a hard time disliking Fred.
Sunnydale High School English Class.
Xander was back in school, even though his night was long and ended on a very sad note.
Willow caught up to him in English class, "So, what happened last night? I know it was something bad happened. I could feel it all last night. I couldn't even sleep."
"Everything was going so well." Xander said. His voice full of hope, "We got through the maze of passages, we found Buffy's sister and I was able to help get her home safely, but that's when things went bad."
"I'm afraid to ask what went wrong."
"I wasn't there, but Faith filled me in on some of the details." Xander said, trying to remain calm as he continued, "I guess the vampire that kidnapped Dawn and her mom, ended up killing Buffy's mom in some fight. These two girls, still teenagers, have to deal with something that nobody is ever ready for."
"OMG, those poor girls. I feel so bad. I had no idea. I need to go see Buffy." Willow said and then started gathering up her books.
Xander reached out and put his hand over Willow's books, "Wait a second, you barely know her. Except for that weird connection thing you did last night, you've never even met her."
"No, it's not like that. I can't explain it, but I know Buffy Summers. I know her history. I know details about her that I have no business knowing." Willow said, more than happy to share this with someone.
"Okay, that's scary. I thought seeing you appear out of nowhere was freaky; this is just Outer Limits bizarre." Xander said as he sat back in his chair.
Willow turned and leaned over his desk, "I know it is. How do you think I feel? I don't know what's going on either. I just know that I have a powerful connection to Buffy. I just want to give her a hug and show her she's got more friends than she might realize."
"That's the Willow I know, always so sweet and caring." Xander said, smiling back at his best friend.
"It's the least I can do. She has to worry about her sister now too. She's got so much to deal with. I just want to help." Willow said, already thinking about how she was going to do all this.
"Well, I don't know that she'll want virtual strangers dropping by unannounced, but maybe we give her a call after lunch and see if she needs anything. That way she knows we are and yet we aren't invading her space."
"When did you get so wise?"
"Oh, I'm not really wise, at least not with most things. I do have my moments. But, put a pretty girl in front of me and I'll turn into the bumbling fool you know so well." Xander said with a smile.
"Yep, you're my favorite bumbling fool." Willow countered, "Okay, we'll call her when we go for lunch."
"Good, that's settled, so let's see what Miss Orlen has in store for us today." Xander sat up in his chair, watched Willow turn and do the same as the teacher began the class.
Wolfram & Hart: Angelus' Office.
Anya sat patiently waiting for Angelus to arrive, humming some old song as she flipped open a folder on his desk. The second her hand touched the folder, Anya was sent flying through the air, landing hard on her cute round ass. "Ouch. Stupid room." She said as she got up from the floor.
Drusilla entered the room, but stopped cold as she made eye contact with Anya. "Do you ever leave?"
"I could say the same about you. Weren't you sent on a little errand?" Anya said as she quickly scurried over to Angelus' chair.
"Sadly, I was too late to finish my assignment and that's what I need to talk to Angelus about." Drusilla said and then walked over and sat across from Anya.
"As you can see Angelus is not here, so I'll tell him you stopped by." Anya turned her attention to the computer, but backed off just short of touching it.
Drusilla put her feet up on the desk, enjoying the look of annoyance on Anya's face, "I was under the impression Lilah was the assistant, not you. She sent me in. So I will stay."
"That little bitch shouldn't even be there. If Angelus had it his way, she'd be dead many times over." Anya said, her anger clear as day whenever she heard Lilah's name.
"My my, she does get you all hot and bothered though, interesting." Drusilla smirked.
"Don't even start." Anya yelled, "Do you have nothing better do with your time than sit around making silly innuendos?"
"You act like it's a bad thing." Drusilla said, getting to her feet and slowly walking around the large oak desk, "Tell me, where did you get that outfit? It's one of the few that actually look good on you."
"Well since you asked so nicely, bite me." Anya said, quickly backing up with a smile, "Of course I don't mean literally."
"But of course." Drusilla grinned, "Why would I ever bite you? You're now a big bad wicca. I don't need to be on your bad side. I do wish we could get back to how things were like, when I first met you. Ah, you showed your true talent when you helped me get revenge on that unfaithful man."
"That was a lifetime ago." Anya said with a sigh, "Things change in a hundred years. Although, I must say you still look good. But, I thought you were interested in Angelus?"
Drusilla moved up close to Anya, slid between her legs, "Angelus could be a very good ally, but, he and I are much too different to be together. You on the other hand have been on my mind constantly since I saw you yesterday."
"Really? I'm surprised to hear that." Anya said, finding it hard to concentrate as Drusilla climbed up onto her lap.
"Oh come on Anya dear, you know how things ended between us. I wasn't sure you'd want to speak to me again. I tried to play it safe, but as you can see, I'm not very good at that."
Anya slid her hand around Drusilla's tiny waist to keep her from falling, "I think we might be able to talk about all this over dinner. Say my place, 8ish?"
"I'll be there. Just point me in the right direction." Drusilla said as she leaned in for a kiss.
It was familiar, yet new all at the same time, but one thing that was certain, they knew their way around each other's mouths.
Their slender bodies melded together quickly as they became entangled in a kiss that wouldn't end.
Stepping up in front of his own desk, Angelus stared down at the two sexy women, "Is this what you do when I'm gone Anya?"
Anya pushed Drusilla to the floor and stepped over her as she ran around to welcome Angelus back, "I've been waiting for you. I've got some good news."
"I can see you were very comfortable waiting with Drusilla's tongue in your mouth." Angelus walked around, stepped over an angry Drusilla and sat in his chair.
"Oh honey, Drusilla and I are old friends, we were just saying hi. You know how they kiss in England, it's a big spectacle. Anyway, let me tell you about Spike. You won't believe it but I turned him into a girl." Anya said with a big laugh.
"A girl? That's interesting." Angelus said with next to no reaction, "I assume he turned down your offer?"
"Well yes, but you're missing the point." Anya said, as she pushed past Drusilla again and hopped up on Angelus, "A girl Angelus? Spike was a girl! Oh well, maybe you had to be there."
"I can top that." Drusilla said as she wiped off her pretty white dress and smiled at Angelus.
"It wouldn't take much to top that." Angelus said, pushing Anya off his lap.
Anya picked herself up off the floor, gave Drusilla a sneer and then looked back at Angelus, "Aren't we in a foul mood. I take it the meeting with the senior partners didn't go according to plan?"
"I don't want to talk about the meeting." Angelus yelled, "Now Drusilla, what is your news?"
"Oh goody, I get to make your day." Drusilla slinked past Anya and stood right in front of Angelus, "Spike is dead. Dust. No longer a threat."
Angelus sat up in his chair, looked deep into Drusilla's eyes to make sure she wasn't lying, "I don't like games. This better be true. Who killed him? One of his own?"
"Word has it, one of the new slayers did. I believe the name is Faith. Pretty young thing too. I caught a glimpse of her when they entered Spike's crypt. The other is a blonde called Buffy, quite a name I must say."
"You chose to sit and watch instead of helping?" Angelus enquired as he took in the moment as best he could.
"I do not call fighting two slayers helping, I call it suicide." Drusilla said, offended at the accusation, "So yes, I felt it was best to stay alive and provide you with the information you wanted."
"Fine, he's dead. He wasn't a threat to me anyway; I just wanted to keep tabs on him." Angelus looked back at Drusilla, "Is that all?"
"I can see you are doing that moody thing again, so I'll be off." Drusilla said, smiling at Anya as she made her way to the door.
"Good." Angelus said as he turned to his computer and started typing away.
Anya took a step towards Drusilla, "Wait, I'll meet you outside. I just have talk to Angelus for one second."
"Don't be long." Drusilla purred as she smiled and shut the door behind her.
"Okay, tell me what happened at the meeting?" Anya asked, hoping Angelus would be ready to talk by now.
"It sucked. I'm leaving when my contract is up and am going to kill each and every one of the partners with my bare hands." Angelus said with a highly irritated tone. "Now, get out and go play house with your girlfriend. I have things to do."
"Don't be mad." Anya said as she tried to get close to Angelus.
"I'm not mad." Angelus said as he stood up and began pacing in front of his desk, "What is it with women anyway, if you raise your voice you have to be mad. I'm not. I accept the situation for what it is, but believe it or not, the meeting was over hours ago and I'm past being angry. However, if you keep telling me I'm mad when I'm not, I'm going to get mad." Sitting back in his chair, he looked up at Anya, "Aren't you keeping Drusilla waiting?"
"Yes, I guess I am. Are you going to be okay?" Anya asked as she gave him a sympathetic look.
"Yes Anya, I'm fine." Angelus said, holding in what he really wanted to say just so she'd leave.
"Good then. Okay, I'm just going to dinner with Drusilla to catch up on old times. Did you want me to come over later?" Anya asked, checked to gauge Angelus' reaction.
"I have things to do tonight; you go have a girls' night out. I'll see ya tomorrow." Angelus said, this time ushering Anya to the door.
"I see you want me gone, so I can take a hint. Bye." Anya said as Angelus closed the door on her ass.
"It looks like I'm free all night. Do you think we can keep ourselves occupied somehow?" Anya smiled as she took Drusilla's hand and led her to the elevator.
"Oh yes, I have many, many fun things in mind." Drusilla nodded with a sexy smile as the elevator opened and the girls began their night out.
Buffy Summers house.
Rupert Giles arrived in Sunnydale under the worst circumstances he could imagine. He was met at the airport by a limo and quickly had the man drive him to the Summers house.
He stood outside and looked at the humble home of the woman he once knew so well. Knowing what lied ahead, he prepared himself for a very bumpy road.
Ringing the doorbell he stood back and waited as a tall slender brunette answered, "Hello?"
"Yes, I seem to be at the wrong place. Is this the Summers house?" he asked, knowing that neither Buffy or Dawn was that tall or had dark hair.
"Yes it is. You must be Rupert?" Fred asked and quickly opened the door and let him in.
"Call me Giles." He said as he put down his luggage, "Where are the girls?"
"They are in the living room right now. Follow me." Fred turned and walked into the living room, "Buffy, Dawn, this is Rupert Giles."
Both girls stood up and stared at the tall Englishman, Buffy moving forward to shake his hand, "Hi, I'm Buffy. This is my sister Dawn."
"Pleased to meet you both." Giles said, removing his jacket, setting it on the coat rack and taking a seat, then as the two girls sat down he continued, "I wish we were meeting under different circumstances, but we are left to pick up the pieces of this horrible tragedy."
Dawn was sitting restlessly in her chair, but couldn't keep silent any longer, "I don't mean to be rude, but could you get to the part where you tell us why you're here and how you knew our mother?"
"It's quite alright. I am getting to that, but I'll speed it up." Giles said, as he cleared his throat and continued, "I met your mother about 19 years ago, right here in Sunnydale. I know you want the condensed version, but I'm afraid it wouldn't do justice to this story."
"I don't mind. I just want to more about my mom and your connection to her." Buffy said, eager to hear more.
"I caution that some of this is going to come as a shock to you, so I will get right to it." Giles shifted in his seat and leaned forward and looked at the two girls in front of him, "Your mother was also a slayer."
"What did you say?" Buffy said as she stood up just as shocked as she warned about.
"Please, sit down Buffy." Giles asked softly, "I know this is all going to be new to both of you, but it's best if I get it all out and then we can talk about it. Okay?"
Dawn just sat there confused, "What's a slayer?"
"I'll try and explain that as best I can." Giles said, learning quickly that this was not going to be easy. "A slayer, or more accurately, a vampire slayer, is someone who well, slays vampires. Yes, vampires do exist and your mother was chosen to be a slayer when she turned 16, just as Buffy has been chosen to be a slayer, or part of the chosen two in this case. Your mother was a special woman in so many different ways. She was more than just a slayer. She fought long and hard to try to live a normal life and be a slayer at the same time but as you will find out Buffy, that is no easy task. Do you any tea by any chance?"
"Um I don't think so. Will coffee do?" Buffy asked as she walked into the kitchen.
Giles got up and followed Buffy to the kitchen. Hiding his disappointment well, he smiled, "That'll be fine."
Fred and Dawn followed and they picked things up at the kitchen table.
"Well, tell us the rest." Dawn said impatiently waiting for Giles to sip his coffee.
"Ah yes, where was I," he said as he picked off from where he'd left off, "I suppose it would be best to start with how I met your mother. I wasn't a watcher then, I was merely a watcher in a training. I was learning the ropes with your mother's watcher. We spent a lot of time together and we connected right from the start." Giles paused, stood up and began shaking his head, "I find it very hard to condense years of experiences and feelings into a nice quick sound byte that you can comprehend. Saying we fell in love does not tell you the how or why or when or any of that, it simply gives you a word that describes everything we meant to each other. There's no way I can explain how deeply we felt for each other. Suffice it to say, we fell in love."
"I think that sounds beautiful. I'm glad you knew my mother so well when she was young. I guess I don't know why she felt we needed to know this." Buffy said, still confused about the whole mess. "This was all before she met my dad right?"
Giles hesitated just enough to get Buffy's attention.
"Why did you do that? You paused. Oh god, don't tell me you were with my mom after she was married? You pig." Buffy screamed as she got to her feet and walked away from Giles.
"There you go jumping to conclusions again." Giles said, removing his glasses as he scolded Buffy. "It's not going to help you as a slayer or in life, so would you kindly stop and let me finish the story."
"Fine. Talk." Buffy ordered.
"I will. Thank you." Giles sat back down, took another sip of tea and continued, "Your mother and I knew each other for three or four years before she met your father. In that time we fought hard not to mix our jobs with our feelings, but in the end we couldn't hold out. As we grew even closer and fell more in love each day, I got the call to move back to England to take the final steps towards being a watcher. This was a dream of mine and I couldn't pass it up. Joyce understood, but it was a terrible time for both of us. After I left, your mother met your father. They fell in love. He was anxious to get married and she said yes. This is where it gets very complicated."
"And why is that, cause you made her cheat on my dad?" Buffy said, staring Giles down in the process.
"It's not that simple." Giles said loudly, "At the same time as your mother's new romance, her watcher began having some serious medical problems and was relieved of the job. I was his replacement. Neither of us knew how to handle the situation, so we tried to stay focused on the job. As her wedding was getting close, Joyce discovered a secret about your father Hank. Let's just say it made her question a lot of things. One night after a particularly grueling fight, your mother required some medical attention and came to my place. I don't know how to say this next part without causing a ruckus, but I have no choice, after a long night of reminiscing, your mother and gave into our feelings and we made…"
"Oh god, do not say it. I get the picture and I don't want it." Buffy said, once again turning away from Giles in anger.
"What's the problem? What did they do?" Dawn asked curiously.
"They had SEX!" Buffy screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Oh, gross." Dawn said as she looked up at Giles.
"It was not gross young lady, but I'm not here to defend this, just explain what took place. Your mother went back to your father and they did get married. Joyce found out she was pregnant and wanted to leave her job as a slayer, but the council forbid it, threatening many repercussions if she tried to quit. Still, she wanted her child to have a safe home and she wanted to be there for it, or I should say you Buffy, as you grew up. This brought her to me again and we worked out a very elaborate, highly dangerous plan for her to get her wish."
"That can't happen unless she died and she didn't die." Buffy said, pointing out the obvious.
"Well, technically, she did die." Giles added softly, "Don't be alarmed, because as you said, she did not die for real. We recruited a powerful shaman to cast a spell on Joyce, rendering her dead in the eyes of everyone who mattered, meaning the Watchers Council. Once they declared her dead, the new slayer was called forth. This coincidentally, is also the first time two slayers appeared as the prophecy of the chosen two began to take shape."
"You're saying she died and then started a new life somewhere else?" Buffy asked, sitting intently in her chair as she listened.
"Yes, that's true. Your mother got married shortly after and you were born a couple months later. All was well. Sadly, something got in the way of her happiness." Giles paused, knowing the next part was going to be tough for the girls to hear. "Your father had a bit of a run in with the law. At the time, it was for a small time burglary operation and he was given a suspended sentence and probation for. He told your mother he wanted to provide more for you than he was. Joyce had gotten a job at an art gallery that allowed her to bring you to work and that was a priority."
"Why didn't my dad have a job?" Buffy questioned with a disappointed look on her face. "I don't understand why he would need to do something like that."
"I can't answer that for him, but I believe he wanted to do more. He wanted to give you everything he didn't have as a child. His solution was a quick fix as he never expected to get caught. Anyway, a little over a year after you were born, your father was sent to jail for another small time smuggling ring and your mother called me, because she needed someone to talk to. We had to work out an elaborate plan just to meet and when we did she told me she wanted to divorce your father. I know this is hard to hear and I'm sorry you have to find out like this, but it's the only way to explain my presence here."
"This is just so wrong. Mom never said a thing to me about this. Any of it. All those times dad was away when I was young, she said he was working. Sometimes he had to go overseas she'd say." Buffy stopped to think of what she's just sent and it all became clear, "God, I was so dumb. How come I didn't know? Why did she lie to me? Why?" Buffy said, becoming increasingly more emotional as she finished.
"I don't know Buffy. I can only speculate about her reasons, but if I had to guess, it was because she wanted to protect you from the truth. She didn't want you to think of your father in a bad way. It was not done for malicious reasons, it was done out of love and to keep the memory you had of your father alive."
"I don't care. It was wrong. I can't believe this." Buffy shook her head in disbelief at what she was hearing. "I just lost her and now I find out these things about her. It's like I didn't know her. I can see she didn't trust me enough to tell me any of this either. God, why did you come here? Why? To make us more miserable? Cause that's what you're doing."
"I'm sorry Buffy, but I'm afraid there's more you aren't going to like." Giles said as he stepped up to the table, "Your mother filed for divorce and wanted to start over. There was some glitch in the divorce papers reaching your father and then a mix-up over finding him a lawyer and it just lingered on for years. During this time we became close again, I was splitting my time between your mother and my new slayer. Eventually your mother became pregnant and Dawn was born."
"OMG!" You're Dawn's father?" Buffy asked, her face a mixture of white from shock and red from the anger.
"I was getting to that. I had wished to say it in a more civilized manner." Giles said softly as he backed up from the angry slayer, "In fact, I thought you may have connected the dots sooner, but I'm also your biological father as well."
Buffy and Dawn were in a state of shock, as was Fred as she sat and listened to the whole story.
"Now please, just give me a chance to explain this." Giles said, trying to pacify two angry and confused teenagers. "I loved your mother and she loved me. You were created out of love. I want you to know this. I know this is a major shock, but your mother wanted you to know."
"This can't be. How could my whole life be a lie?" Buffy said with a soft whisper, and then looked over at Giles with a look that could kill. "Tell me Giles, what do you expect us to say? Hi dad, welcome home? You can just forget that. I have a dad. I think you should leave."
Giles thought about trying to console Buffy, but could see the timing wasn't right, "I understand how you must feel, but I have more to tell."
"Oh great, what's next? Dawn and I aren't sisters? Mom wasn't mom? You are the devil? What? It's not like I can be surprised any more, so go ahead, hit me with your best shot."
"I am terribly sorry about all this. I truly am. It was not my intention to upset either of you." Giles said as he looked at the two heartbroken girls in front of him, "I know it's a lot to take in so soon after your loss, but I feel it's best we get this all out in the open so we can start to heal and hopefully move on from this."
"Heal? You have the nerve to talk about moving on? You can forget that idea right now. I might have to listen to this, but I sure as hell don't have to accept it." Buffy said, steaming mad and not hiding it, "Now, say what you need to say and get out."
"Yes, of course." Giles nodded, "Considering the mood right now, this last part is not going to be easy. I don't know what your mother told you about your father or where he's been recently…"
"He's working overseas again…OMG, don't tell me…is he in jail? Please don't say that. Not now." Buffy pleaded as she leaned over and hugged Dawn.
"I'm sorry, I really am. I do not take pleasure in any of this and I really had hoped your mother would find a way to tell you, but I'm sure she didn't sense the urgency at the time. Anyway, yes, your father is in prison. He got mixed up with some very bad people. It started out as just small time crimes, but it quickly escalated into much more serious fair. On their last robbery attempt, there was a shootout. Two security guards were shot, one died and the other was paralyzed. Even though your father didn't shoot anyone, he was charged with the same crimes as if he had. The two men he was with died in the shootout and he was the only one left to stand trial, and they threw the book at him. His sentence was lowered after a lengthy appeal, but he's still facing 25 years in prison without parole. I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to be the bearer of such bad news."
"Why is this all happening now? Why?" Buffy said on the brink of a breakdown, "She said he was working. I believed her. I hated not being able to see him. I tried to be understanding about it because I knew he had to work. Why didn't I see this? I should've figured out. Nobody is away that long. I mean, he never called and I always wondered why. I can't deal with this right now. You need to go. You dropped your bombshell, it did its job, so go back to the Watchers Council and leave us alone."
"I know you're going to hate this, but I'm here to stay." Giles said as he put a folder full of documents on the table.
"I don't want to look at them now. So go away." Buffy said loudly, stepping towards Giles in a menacing fashion.
Giles backed off and looked over at Fred, "Could you please read the first document to Buffy."
"Sure, if it's okay with Buffy?" Fred asked cautiously as she waited for Buffy's response.
Buffy turned and sat back down, "Fine, let's get this over with."
Fred opened the folder and pulled out the first piece of paper and skimmed over it before she began, "Okay, I won't read it all, since it's mostly lawyer speak, but what I can say is that it's an order of custody. It states that Joyce and your father have made Rupert Giles your legal guardian. It also goes on to say that, they've transferred all assets to his name, in the event of Joyce's death. There is more, but those are the main points."
"No. Just no, no and more no. Is that enough no for ya?" Buffy snapped, and then turned to Fred, "How do I know those are even real? He could've created them. He could've made up this whole story. I will get a lawyer and fight this, so until then, I don't have to listen to this. Any of it."
"Buffy, there's one thing you might want to think about here." Fred said softly as she moved closer to Buffy, "If Giles is not made your legal guardian, you and Dawn will be put into foster homes and it's unlikely you will be put in the same homes and therefore will be split up. I don't think you want this. As hard as it is to accept everything you've heard, I have to say, you are still better off with Giles here."
"No, I don't care, I'll find another way. It's too soon, okay?" Buffy said, fighting with everything she had left, "I've got an idea. Let Fred stay here for now. She's an adult. She's already planning on staying, so I want her to live here until or IF I decide otherwise. If you don't like it, fine, I'll take my chances with a foster home, because right now I don't want to see you. Am I getting through that thick British skull of yours?"
"Yes, you've made it all very clear." Giles said with a soft, humble voice, "Let me say one last thing. I know you don't see me as your father, but I've thought of you as my children since the day you born. I knew I couldn't be the father I wanted to be under the circumstances, but let me tell you this Miss Summers, I have felt the pain of having to stay away from you for all these years. I did what I thought was right at the time, but I regret not being part of your life from day you were born. I also loved your mother very much and this trip here has been agonizing for me as well. I don't want your sympathy, but I do want you to show me some respect. For today, I will find another place to stay, but I hope you know this is only a temporary. I am your legal guardian and I hope to be a good parent to both of you one day."
Buffy paused for a good minute before she spoke, "I'm sorry if I got out line a bit, but this is all too much for me right now. I don't know, maybe in time things can different, but it can't be so soon."
"None of this is easy for any of us. I want you to know that I'm not going anywhere. I'm only leaving now because I know it's a lot to process, but as hard as is to hear right now, I will be back. I just hope we can past all this and start over one day."
"I can't answer that right now." Buffy said, her voice and demeanor both much calmer.
"I understand. I will go meet with the major, but I will call later on to see how things are going." Giles picked up his briefcase and his luggage and walked towards the door.
Fred followed as Buffy and Dawn stayed in the kitchen, "I hope you don't take Buffy's reaction personally, she's just upset. I think in time, she will come around."
"I do know it will all take time. I feel better knowing you will be here for them today, but I do plan on returning first thing tomorrow morning." Giles pushed the door open, then turned to Fred, "As angry as Buffy is, she can't be the one making all the decisions." With that, he closed the door, pulled out his cell phone and called another taxi.
Sunnydale High School Library.
Wesley walked into the school's library, sat down in the back room, set down a medium sized steel cage and pulled out a miniaturized version of the creature Buffy and Faith found last night.
Holding it delicately in his hands, Wesley set it in an empty fish tank, secured a lid and began pumping a small amount of fumes into the bowl.
Peering into the bowl, he watched as the creature began to move. Slowly at first, then as it consumed the fumes it began moving rapidly around the bowl in a highly agitated state. As the speed of the creature increased, it became impossible for Wesley to keep track of it and as the bowl became a blur, the glass shattered sending Wesley flying backwards into a wall, where he slid slowly to the ground.
When the dust settled, the creature slithered into view. Only now, it was no longer the same creature. Instead, it had transformed into something three times its previous size, with sharp fangs, a hard outer shell and eyes that had one purpose, searching for food.
It crawled over to Wesley, slid up over his chest and began sniffing at his jacket pocket. Pulling away at the button, the creature unsnapped it and pulled out the contents with its razor sharp teeth.
Opening his eyes, Wesley cautiously watched the creature nibble away at the packet of mustard sitting on his chest, "How many times do I have to say this, stop eating on my good shirts." Wesley said as he picked up the creature and sat in on a table, "You could warn me when you are about to explode. If you hadn't noticed, you almost killed me with the exploding glass."
With one last slop of its tongue, the creature lapped up the last remnants of mustard and turned to look at Wesley, "Ah shut up."
"I'm so glad you still have your voice, albeit a rather rude one." Wesley said, pulling a piece of glass from his hand, "Tell me, did the gas affect you faster this time? I increased the dosage."
"You ask too many questions. I want food." The creature said in a loud, nasty voice.
Wesley picked up the creature and held it up to his face, "What did I tell you about yelling Sigmund? It's not polite and will not get you anywhere with me."
"Just because I'm under your control, doesn't mean I have to like it." Sigmund said, biting Wesley's hand and then hopping down on the floor, where it locked its teeth around Wesley's ankle.
Screaming and shouting, he thrashed his foot about, finally sending Sigmund across the room where it fell against the concrete wall and plopped to the floor.
Panic swept through Wesley as he dashed across the floor and picked up the scary looking Sigmund. Putting it gently on the table, he put his hand under its soft belly to feel for a pulse, "Come on Sigmund, you can't die. Not now. We are too close to our dreams." Wesley took a step back and looked at the lifeless creature, "Wake up you stupid shell of a creature. I didn't spend the last 10 years of my life creating you so you would kill yourself over mustard; now wake up before I…"
"Oh shut up" Sigmund said as it opened one of its eyes, "I'm going to kill myself so I don't have to listen to your idiotic ramblings all day long. Quick, pass the ketchup, pour some vinegar on my soft little tummy and watch me disintegrate. Yes, now that's my dream bub. Death by vinegar."
Wesley let out a big smile as he saw the creature come to life, but it quickly turned to a frown as it continued to talk, "I don't know how you got filled with all this sarcasm, but I'm taking it out right this minute you ungrateful pile of goop."
"Goop? That's not even a word you moron." Sigmund said with a slobbery grin, and then looked up at Wesley with a sad little face. "Oops, no, no, no, you can't take out my sarcasm. It's part of me. It's my soul."
Wesley fumed as he picked Sigmund up and held him up to his face, "One more wisecrack out of you and I'll put you on the next flight to…to…ah, I know, to San Diego. I know how you love the zoo. Maybe I'll loan you to the zoo. I bet you'd fit right in with the, hmmm, I wonder what they'd put you with. Crocodiles? You do have the same hard shell? Turtles? Nah. Lizard? You are kind of slimy. Oh, I'm sure they'll find just the right spot for you. Is there anything else you'd like to add?"
Sigmund grunted, growled and then sighed, "Maybe I said something I shouldn't have, but hello, you programmed me."
"I did not program you talk like an insolent little weasel." Wesley stated emphatically, then put Sigmund back on the table, "Now, what happened to Bongo? The slayers saw him and he's now in some lab being tested like some rat. Weren't you supposed to be watching him?"
"Oh please, Bongo is an idiot. He's got the brains of a turnip and the common sense of a radish. It's not my fault I can't stop him. He's only 5 times my size." Sigmund said as he slid his hand under his belly and pulled out some more mustard, "Oh by the way super scientist, you might want to stop creating super, um, what did you say we were again?"
"I called you, and please write this down this time. I believe I have told you this a 100 times. You are a curliquitaur. I thought you were the smart one?" Wesley said, quickly drawn into the game of sarcastic comebacks, "Never mind. Bongo was the prototype, but he was fed way too often and with too high a dose and well, that's why they call it science."
"A curliquwhat? Get a real name. Besides, I call trial and error by a lunatic. But, who asked me." Sigmund said as he licked another mustard packet dry.
"What did you call me?" Wesley said as he moved towards the table.
Sigmund hopped down and ran under a bookshelf, "It's a reflex."
Wesley walked over to the bookshelf, knelt down on the floor, "You keep this up and you won't have any reflexes."
"Give me more mustard and I'll shut up." Sigmund said as he poked his head up from under the shelf.
"I'm not buying your silence. I created you, which means I can undo my mistake and try again if I wish. Now shut up and answer my question. What happened to Bongo?" Wesley said, well past his patience threshold for the day.
"Fine, get snippy." Sigmund sighed, "He was outside the lab with me, Alec and Alex, oh and those are such original names." Sigmund laughed as he pulled out another package of mustard, "Anyway, Bongo was acting a bit strange, even for him, and he wandered off and I lost track of him. On the plus side, I smoked Alec and Alex at poker. Which brings me to another point, you need to give them more mustard for me to win jackass."
"I give you one thing to do and you blow it off for poker? That's it, back to the shop we go. Time for some adjustments." Wesley picked Sigmund up and carried him back to his cage, "Oh who was it you just hated watching on TV? Some music group wasn't it? You always covered your ears when that song came on. Anyway, when I figure out who it was, I'm going to reprogram you do love their music." Wesley locked the cage and bent down and smiled back at Sigmund, "Oh yeah, I can be spiteful when I'm pushed."
"Well, since you're going to give me a lobotomy I might as well tell you how I really feel about you." Sigmund rushed towards Wesley, grabbed the steel wire of the cage with his sharp little claws and growled, "You are the most wonderful, stupendously talented, brilliant creator that ever lived. I bow at your feet and can only offer my most humble apologies and give you my solemn vow that I'll try not to be as sarcastic in the future. Wesley, my hero, please forgive me. I can't listen to that song again. It's like someone took out a needle and shoved it through my skull and pushed until it oozed…"
"OMG, stop. You were fine until the needle nonsense." Wesley said with a rare chuckle, "Okay, I was just kidding anyway. In an odd way, you're fun to have around."
"I'll be damned; the science geek has a heart. I'm touched." Sigmund said with only a hint of sarcasm, "Now get me more mustard you kilt wearing sissy."
Wesley started his defense before he knew it, "I'll have you know it's the Scots that wear kilts. If you are going to insult, get your facts straight you big shelled thing you."
"Big-shelled thing? That's your big comeback?" Sigmund laughed hysterically, "I take it back, you're not only a sissy, you're a lame ass sissy to boot. Oh and one more thing, are you telling me that not even ONE British person has EVER worn a kilt?"
"Well, perhaps one or two, but…"
"Just like I said, nothing further, you're dismissed. Case closed. Have a nice kilt." Sigmund snapped, then crawled back into his cage and finally took a nap.
Wesley had the strongest urge to laugh, but never in front of Sigmund. He picked up the cage and began walking out of the library when Giles walked into the room.
Tranquil Nights Psychiatric Facility.
Gwen Raiden sat in front of the glass partition, waiting for her only visitor to show up, just as she had for the past 3 months. Like clockwork, a tall, leggy brunette walked in and sat down in front of her.
They both grabbed the phones from the wall and stared back at each other.
"Hello Gwen."
"Hi Lilah. I didn't expect to see you anymore after I was charged with murder." Gwen said, still having trouble figuring Lilah out.
"I told you I wanted to help get you out of here. I still do." Lilah looked at both guards around her before opening her purse and sliding out a piece of paper, "It just got a lot more complicated."
"I know and I don't see any way out, well, aside from me turning the place into a cemetery."
"I'm not opposed to that idea, but that would just bring you more trouble." Lilah slowly slid the piece of paper under the slot, "No, what I have in mind is much more by the books. It just requires a little detective work and some luck."
Gwen slowly pulled the paper towards her, "Well, it's not like I have many options. What do you have in mind?"
"I've done a little digging into your past and found a couple people that might be able to help us out. Let me know which of those names you trust the most." Lilah said as she waited for Gwen to make her choice.
Looking at the names in front of her, Gwen was quick to respond and put her finger on the name as she handed the piece of paper back to Lilah, "This is the only person I trust completely."
Lilah looked down at the name, "I thought you'd pick her. From what I've been able to uncover about Faith, she's led a very unhappy life. Her family sucked, she ran away from home numerous times since she was 12. Had more than a few run-ins with the law and has now vanished from thin air as far as I can tell. Our last records indicate she was set to enroll at Sunnydale High, but I haven't been able to confirm that."
"Well, wherever she is, I know she's just trying to make it through the day. There are many things that happened to her that you'll never find out about, but they helped make her stronger and I know if I ever need her, she'll watch my back, she'd be there no questions asked."
"That's nice, but she's not really what I had in mind. She's just a 16 year old girl. I don't see her being much help." Lilah said as she looked at the other two names, "Anyway, I can try and get a hold of her and see if she can come give you some moral support." Lilah said, "Why don't you tell me a little something about her?"
"Oh, sure. Let me think of the last time I saw Faith." Gwen said, leaning back as she closed her eyes and remembered the last time she saw Faith.
Flashback. Beverly Hills LA. July 1996
Gwen Raiden walked out of Iceberg's wearing a brand new pair of jeans, a thin white halter-top and the latest sunglasses money could buy. Right behind Gwen was an equally sexy brunette wearing a silver mini skirt and matching silver top, that was little more than a strip of fabric across her ever growing breasts.
Two girls, dressed to kill and with money to spare, did what any self respecting tourist would do in LA; they hit the beach.
Once they found a secluded spot just to the west of a family of four, they opened up their brand new overnight bags, pulled out all the necessities and were ready to start the day.
"Hey, did you get that new suntan lotion I wanted? It's really good. I still have my tan, see?" Faith said, lifting up her top to reveal the white skin of her breast.
"You're always tanned." Gwen laughed, as she handed Faith the lotion.
"Great." Faith took the bottle and poured a healthy amount onto her hands, "Now we best put the whole bottle on you, wouldn't want to tan up that gorgeous pale skin of yours."
Gwen removed her jeans to reveal her light blue bikini bottoms, and rolled over onto her stomach, "I don't call it pale, I call it porcelain perfection."
"I couldn't agree more." Faith smiled and began rubbing lotion over Gwen's soft smooth skin.
"Oooh, that's cold." Gwen said as she looked back over her shoulder.
Faith leaned down even lower and began massaging Gwen's lower back, "I'm sure we can warm you up in a hurry. If you hadn't noticed it's like 90 degrees outside."
"That's a nice place to start." Gwen said with a grin as Faith's hand slid down over her ass, slowly moving down her legs, then moving right back up over her firm round ass, "I'm starting to get this feeling that we aren't alone."
"What? Of course not, the beach is kind of full already." Gwen said, enjoying where Faith left her hands.
"No, I mean I think we're being watched. Is anyone after you for anything?" Faith asked as she scanned the area in front of her.
"Oh shit." Gwen said as she slowly turned over and looked back at Faith, "Well, I did have a bit of a falling out with this gang a while back. I was only 13 then. I stole one of their bikes and sold it. They weren't happy and threatened to make me pay. I left a couple days later and I've only been back in LA for a week. No way could they remember me. I don't even look the same."
"And here I thought I was the bad girl." Faith smiled, her hands moving up Gwen's tummy, "That's quite a story. You do lead a dangerous life for such a young girl."
"Not intentionally, but trouble seems to follow me around." Gwen smiled, "Do you see anyone around? If someone did recognize me, then I have to get out of here and you have to stay far away from me."
Faith stopped just as her hands were about to cover Gwen's small perky breasts, "Did you just tell me what to do? Cause I don't like that much. If you're in trouble, then we'll take care of it together."
"You're something else, but I can't let you stay." Gwen said as she sat up and wiggled her fingers in front of Faith, "I have my fun little electrical friends to help me out, but I couldn't stand it if something happened to you because of me."
"That's nice of you to say." Faith said, totally ignoring Gwen's words, "Now I see a couple guys just over there behind the white van. How do you want to handle this?"
"Were you not listening? These guys probably carry guns. Even I can't stop a bullet you know." Gwen said, enjoying the closeness this moment was providing.
Faith looked up at the two teenage boys and then looked back at Gwen, "Here's my plan." She said and then put her arms around Gwen and gave her a big wet kiss and then fell to the ground and began rolling to their west.
Returning the kiss was easy for Gwen as they disappeared behind a lifeguard tower, "Aren't you quick on your feet or is that quick with the tongue? Either way, you bought us some time."
"See if you can make out either of those two guys." Faith said as she let Gwen slide in front of her.
Looking up on the hill, Gwen spotted the two guys. "I don't know. I can't tell if it's the same guys or not. People change a lot from 13 to 15."
"They are watching us for some reason." Faith said, leaning up against Gwen as tight as she could.
Gwen turned to face Faith, but could barely shift her body around, "These sure are close quarters. Not sure I can concentrate like this." Gwen said, looking straight at Faith's cleavage.
"Even most guys aren't that obvious." Faith smiled as she slid her hand around Gwen's waist, "Maybe those guys are just out for some girl watching. Maybe we should make it a memorable day for them?"
"Just how memorable are we talking about?"
Pulling Gwen close, Faith reached around and slipped off Gwen's top, "This should get things started." She said as she put her hands over Gwen's round breasts, caressed them softly as she leaned in for an equally soft kiss.
Soon they were kissing as if they were the only people alive. It wasn't the first time they'd kissed, but it was the first time they had kissed so passionately and as their hands began exploring each other's bodies they were interrupted.
"Hi, can I play?" said a little girl carrying a pale full of sand and a plastic shovel.
Gwen turned around and put her top back on while Faith shielded the little girl, "Oh hi there. That's a lot of sand you have there. Whatcha gonna do with it?"
"Oh this, well I was going to build a sand castle, but my dad said I had to wait until the game was over."
"That's too bad." Faith said as she knelt down in front of the little girl, "Hey, look over there? See that family is building a sand castle very close to where you are. Maybe you could ask your mom to take you over there?"
"Wow thanks lady." She said and quickly ran back towards her mom.
Gwen turned and smiled at Faith, "You were so good with her. I'm impressed. Outside that tough exterior is the heart of an angel."
"Let's not get carried away here." Faith said, trying her best not to blush. "Wait, those two guys are coming down the hill."
Gwen turned just as the two guys stepped in front of them.
"Is your name Faith?" the one man said as he looked right at Gwen.
"No, why?"
"That's not important. What's your name miss?" The second man asked, this time looking at Faith.
"Oh, I'm Sally, I'm from Boston. I'm just here visiting my good friend Gwen here. Is there a problem?"
"You'll have to come with us miss." Said the taller man, just as he grabbed Faith by the arm.
"I'd remove your hand from her if I were you." Gwen said as she pushed the man away, "I don't know who you are or what you want, but you have the wrong person. Now, I may not look like much of a threat, but I assure you I will be your worst enemy if you touch her again."
"Out of the way or you'll be joining your friend." The shorter man said as he pulled out a gun.
"I hate guns." Faith said as she leaned to her right and lunged forward with a roundhouse kick to the man's arm, knocking the man backwards and gun to the ground. Faith took Gwen's hand and took off down the beach.
"Faith, you can run but you can't hide. Wolfram & Hart is your true destiny. The sooner you see this, the better off you'll be." The tall man yelled as the two girls disappeared down the sandy beach.
Flashback ends.
"Back up, they said they were from Wolfram & Hart? Are you sure about this?" Lilah said, her voice showing the surprise she was feeling.
"Yes, why? Do you know them?" Gwen asked, intrigued by Lilah's excited reaction.
"Know them? I work for the bastards." Lilah said with a half smile, "What else do you know about this Faith girl?"
Gwen couldn't help but smile, "We met about a year ago, spent a good 6 months together, just hanging out, having fun. She's just your average kid who had horrible parents."
"You have no idea why someone was after her? She never mentioned Wolfram & Hart to you? Something isn't right here." Lilah sat back in her chair, opened her purse and pulled out a large notebook, "Wolfram & Hart only go after unique people, that's why they put you in here. I just don't get the connection."
"I told you they did not do this. How could they? And why would they?" Gwen asked, still not buying Lilah's theory.
"I can answer the why, those cute little fingers of yours is why. They are lethal weapons. This murder charge is never gonna stick. They are using it as a bargaining chip. I'm guessing they will play on your desire to stay out of prison and offer you the moon for your soul. Do not take their deal. Do you hear me?"
"Enough with the orders lady." Gwen said as she put her hands against the thick glass, "You still haven't said why you're here, so don't tell me what to do. Who are you and why are you so interested in me?"
Lilah flipped through her book until she saw what she was looking for. Holding a picture of to the glass window, Lilah shook her head, "Is this Faith?"
Gwen smiled as she saw the picture of Faith, put her hand up to the glass and touched it softly, "Yes, isn't she beautiful?"
"Maybe, but she's also a slayer." Lilah said as she took the picture and slid it back in her notebook, "That means she's as deadly as you are, maybe more so since she's part of the Chosen Two prophecy. Just great, this is not what I need right now."
"Can I have the picture? You can always get a new one." Gwen asked and again leaned forward, this time with anticipation.
"You do not have a crush on this girl do you?" Lilah asked as she looked at the picture before sliding it over to Gwen, "She is pretty, but she's going to be way more trouble than you need right now. Let's get you out from this murder rap first."
Gwen grabbed the picture, held it to her chest, then gave it a quick kiss, before sliding it down her top and into her bra. "It's not a crush. I just really like her. Anyway, stop making this about me and tell me who you are. If not, I will put you on my block list and we're done."
Lilah let out a sigh, shook her head towards Gwen and then stepped up close to the window, "Gwen, you don't need to do that. I have a good reason for being here. Don't push away your only friend."
"I'm tired of this. I really am. For all I know you are just luring me to Wolfram & Hart playing the good cop/bad cop routine. Name? Yours? Now?"
"Normally I'd walk out on someone with such a bad attitude, but fine, if you want a name you got it. Lilah Morgan. Oh right, you already know that." Lilah said, not meaning to get upset. She calmed down and put her hand up on the window, "Listen, you must promise not to breathe a word of this to anyone. I can't stress this enough. Can you promise me this?"
"Yes fine, just tell me." Gwen demanded.
"First, I need you to know this was not my intention when I came to see you. I wanted to tell you then, but I couldn't. I wanted to fix this for you before we got into all this. I see that's not really fair." Lilah said, then a big smile crossed her face, "Hold onto to your hat Gwen and say hi to your big sister."
Gwen stood up against the window, staring back at Lilah and yet saying nothing. Slowly she sat back in her seat, still looking at Lilah she put her mouth to the phone, "Are you serious?"
"I would never lie about something this important. I swear." Lilah said as she crossed her heart for Gwen to see, "Don't think I knew about this all this time either, because I didn't. I found out the day before I came to see you three months ago. It's such a long and complicated story, but I want to tell you everything when we have some time alone. These walls are too thin to discuss something like this."
"But, I was told you died. Before they sent me sent away when, they said you died and I believed them. What kind of parents would do this? I cried so hard when they told me this. We were robbed of so much time." Gwen paused and a look of trepidation covered her face, "Well, this is going to be awkward, but I'm going to need some proof. I don't mean to doubt you, but so much has gone on it's hard to trust people. You must understand that?"
"Yes and it's good you are careful. I have all the documentation you need." Lilah pulled out a large folder and slid it in front of Gwen, "Here is everything you need to know. Our parents were not who we thought they were. In many ways, I think it's best for you to remember them in a good way. Wolfram & Hart manipulated them once your abilities came to light. They saw me as an obstacle and sent me off to boarding school in New York. I never saw our parents again."
Gwen opened the folder, looked at some of the documents inside and then looked back at Lilah, "This is just too weird. Why would Wolfram & Hart go to all this trouble? I was just a kid then. I didn't even know how to control my power. Now, I wouldn't work for them if they paid me."
"You have no idea how quickly they can change people's minds." Lilah said glibly, knowing Gwen was out of her league. "You don't want to mess with them. Best thing you can do is disappear. Once I get these charges dropped against you, I want you to go to the Midwest somewhere and become a teacher or something."
"If you knew me, you'd know that's not an option. I'm staying and I will fight whatever comes my way." Gwen stated firmly, then quickly changed to a smile, "Anyway, I want you to find Faith and let her know my situation. If she wants to come see me that's great, if not, don't push."
"I really don't think that's a good idea." Lilah said with a big sigh, "We know Wolfram & Hart is after her already, I don't think we need that kind of attention right now. Could we just wait until I get you out of here?"
A heavy set guard walked up to Gwen and pointed at the clock, "One minute left."
Gwen leaned up against the glass, "Promise me you'll find Faith."
"Okay, I promise." Lilah said against her better judgment.
"Thanks for everything. Sis." Gwen said with a wide eyed smile.
"I will get you out here little sister. I promise." Lilah said as she watched the guard lead Gwen back to her cell.
When Lilah left the facility, she got in her car, opened her glove compartment, pulled out a business card and dialed the number.
"Kate Lockley Investigations. How can I help you?" Said the female voice on the other end.
"I need you to locate a girl for me." Lilah said as she started her car.
"And a friendly hello to you too Lilah." Kate said as she opened the Lilah Morgan folder on her desk, "As for finding a girl for you, that's really not my line of work. I hear there are escort services that will provide girls as young as you want. Did you want some numbers?"
"Oh stop the bullshit Kate, this is an emergency." Lilah said, slamming her foot on the gas as she flew out of the parking lot.
Kate sat up as she heard the urgency in Lilah's voice. "What is it this time Lilah?"
"I need you to find someone named Faith. I know she's supposed to be in Sunnydale now and since you're working there I figured you were the best choice to help me."
"Faith? No last name? That's not a lot to go on. Do you have a picture you can fax me?" Kate said as she began taking notes.
"I have other information about this girl, but I don't think it will be useful in finding her. My sources say she is in Sunnydale, so all you have to do is find her and bring her to me." Lilah said as she pulled up to a red light, "One more thing, you should try not to use your tough girl routine on her, she's not someone you want to mess with. Ask politely and tell her it's for Gwen and I think she'll come without a struggle."
"Gwen, she's your sister right? How's she doing?" Kate asked, her concern for Gwen clearly visible in her voice.
"She's doing as well as can be expected, but she shouldn't be in that place to begin with. Lilah said calmly, speeding through the intersection fractions after the light turned green, "Anyway, this Faith girl is a friend of Gwen's and I think it would be great if she could come and visit her."
"I'll look into it for you." Kate got to her feet, walked around to the front of her desk and grabbed her coat, "If she's in Sunnydale I'll find her."
Lilah let out a rare smile as she pulled into a gas station at the side of the road, "Thanks Kate, I owe ya."
Buffy Summers' House.
Buffy and Dawn returned from a much needed walk to find Fred sitting at the kitchen table talking to a tall, athletic looking young man.
"Hi Fred, who's your friend?" Buffy asked as she stood beside Fred.
"This is Riley Finn. He's a friend of Wesley's and has worked for the council for quite a few years." Fred said, as she introduced him to both sisters.
Riley stood up and walked over to Buffy, towering over her petite frame, "Hi Buffy. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Nice to meet you." Buffy said as she looked up at Riley, "So do you work for the council?"
"Not as closely as I used to, but we still work towards a common goal." Riley said as he sat back down. "I just prefer to do my research on my own time. It allows me more freedom with some of my more unconventional experiments."
"Riley is the one responsible for some of the most in depth analysis of vampires ever written." Fred gushed, always happy to talk about her favorite subject, science. "Most of our knowledge about why certain vampires survive longer than the rest was done by him. I even based my thesis on many of his genetic theories."
"You don't look like a scientist." Dawn said as she smiled over at Riley.
"I get that a lot." He said with a laugh. "Actually, I had always planned on a career in football, but a couple freak injuries took care of that. So, I had to find a new outlet for all my energy."
"Still not seeing how science is a cure for an adrenaline junky." Buffy said, looking Riley over and trying to get a read on him.
"Well, I got into some martial arts classes to build up my knee and shoulder, as well as to work on my conditioning when football didn't work out. This allowed me to meet Wesley Wyndham-Pryce and from there I began training with the Watchers Council's elite special forces and from there I helped train many slayers as well."
"Sounds like quite a career you had going." Buffy said, acknowledging Riley's achievements, "What made you switch to science?"
"Mostly it was the drive to be the best. I wanted to know what made the vampires tick, why some seemed much different from the others. I needed to get inside their heads. I found the closest thing to that was exploring how their DNA changed once they became a vampire. It's really amazing what we began to discover once we dug into this more in depth." Riley looked over at Dawn's confused face, "I must be boring you to death."
"Oh no, I was just wondering where you got that ring from. It's way cool." Dawn said as she reached over to have a closer look at the unique ring on Riley's finger.
"This old thing?" he said holding it up for everyone to see, "I got this off a Deparis demon last year. I don't know much about it, but I was drawn to it and just had to have it. The Deparis demon is in our custody and wanted me to have this for all my help. Just so you know I didn't steal it off a corpse or something."
Fred had a curious look on her face and leaned in to have a closer look at the ring. Studying it closely, she noticed the blue triangle was glowing and put her finger towards it, but as she got within an inch, a sharp humming sound filled the room, just before a burst of light zapped Fred hard enough to send her sprawling to the ground.
Riley knelt down beside her, checked her pulse and then looked over at Buffy who was quickly by Fred's side, "She's alive. I don't what happened. We need to get Fred somewhere where she can rest."
"Upstairs in my room, follow me." Buffy said as she turned and led the way up the stairs.
Setting Fred softly on the bed, Riley stepped back and took off his ring, "I need to get this back to the lab so we can find out what just happened. I don't think she was seriously injured, but you should advise your watcher of what happened, then try and wake her up in about an hour. Hopefully it was just a mild shock."
Following Riley out of the room and downstairs Buffy stopped him before he could open the front door, "Wait just a minute. Why exactly were you here in the first place?"
"I just wanted to meet the newest slayer and pay my respects to your mother." Riley said, lowering his head and his voice as he continued, "I didn't know her personally, but I know of her great contribution to the fight and her longevity as a slayer and I admired her accomplishments. It was a tragic loss."
"Thank you." Buffy said, not sure how to continue her questioning after that.
"I'm sorry about Fred and I hope she has a speedy recovery. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call." Riley handed Buffy one of his business cards, nodded politely and walked out the front door.
Putting his card in her jeans pocket, Buffy rushed back upstairs to check on Fred.
Sunnydale High School Library.
Giles stopped Wesley in his tracks, his eyes glued on the cage in his hand, "What are you up to now Wyndham-Pryce?"
"It's good to see Giles. I'm terribly sorry about your loss. Joyce was a wonderful woman and she will be deeply missed." Wesley said, still avoiding direct eye contact as he tried to slip past Giles.
"What's in the cage Wes? Another experiment you're doing on company time? A new pet? What?" Giles said as he stood in front of Wesley.
"If you must know, it's both." Wesley sighed and put his cage on the floor at his feet. "A pet created from an experiment. I do them on my own time old boy, so if that's all I'll be going. I have a slayer to visit."
"What's your rush? Let me have a look." Giles leaned down and put the cage on the table in front of him. "Is it something you are working on for personal use or are you creating these pets, as you call them, to work with or in conjunction with the council and/or the slayers?"
Wesley sighed, stepped up to the table and unlocked the cage, "Be my guest. Say hello to Sigmund."
Giles gave Wesley a bemused look, then leaned down and took a closer look inside the cage, "Well what have we here?"
"Take him out, he doesn't bite. Well, not with his claws anyway, just his foul mouth." Wesley explained as he picked Sigmund up and handed him to Giles.
"I'm speechless." Giles said as he tried petting Sigmund on his hard shell.
Sigmund sniffed towards Giles and pulled away with a horrified look, "You stink. You're not speechless, you're just witless. Now put me down you sorry excuse for a Brit."
Pulling his glasses off Giles stared back at the belligerent creature. "How dare you talk to me like this. I'll have you know I've been a Brit all my life and I'm proud of it. If you ever…"
"Don't bother Giles, he doesn't listen and you'll only encourage him." Wesley said as he rather enjoyed Sigmund doing his thing with someone else for a change.
"In spite of the inappropriate rudeness of this creature, what else can it do?" Giles said, sitting it down beside its cage.
"About time nimrod. Your hands are about as soft as sand paper and worse of all, you stink." Sigmund sneered as he crawled back into his cage.
Wesley closed the door, locked it and turned back to Giles, "Well, aside from its skewed personality defect, it really does have a unique purpose. My main goal was to design something to assist our own people as well as the slayers. I wanted the creature to be more like a pet than just some automated robot enforcer, so I tinkered with the motor functions and as you see, it's a work in progress."
"Interesting." Giles sat down at the end of the table, put his briefcase in front of him and smiled as Sigmund looked back at him from inside the cage, "I applaud your efforts Wesley. Is this part of your feud with Finn?"
"It's not a feud." Wesley said loudly, then adjusted his tie and lowered voice, "What I mean is, Riley has his projects and I have mine. We are not competing against each other, so it has nothing to do with him."
"That's good to know. You two were close to killing each other the last I heard, all over who would get the Watchers Council's big research grant." Giles said with the hint of a smile, "I'm sorry you didn't get it Wesley."
Wesley picked up his cage and nodded at Giles, "Yes, well, life goes on. It was nice seeing you again Giles; I wish it were under better circumstances. I'm off to find my slayer."
Sunnydale High School.
Willow and Xander walked down the steps of the high school, turned down the street and made their way towards Buffy's house.
"Should we call first? Nobody likes the pop in and especially on a day like this." Xander asked as he came to a stop.
"I don't know, I guess we should call. Do you know her number?" Willow asked as she spotted Cordelia across the school parking lot.
Xander watched as Willow's face began to glow, walked over and stood behind her, "She sure is hot."
"Yeah I kno…I mean shut up Xander." Willow said, turning around to slap his shoulder.
"Well, she is though. Can't deny that." Xander said, taking in Cordelia's beauty with an appreciative eye, "So, did you want to tell me what I missed last night? I feel like I'm coming in half way through a movie."
Willow turned away from Cordelia and then from Xander, stopping to look through her purse as she thought of what to say, "Nothing much happened. Cordelia took me shopping. It was fun and I got to see another side to her and I liked it. For some reason she likes me too and we hit if off right from the start. Everything was so natural. I just had fun that's all."
"I'm all for you having fun, I just didn't think it would be with Cordelia." Xander said, the surprise in his voice unmistakable. "It's not because I don't see why Cordy likes you either, but, well, okay, don't get mad for me saying this, but the way you are looking at her just now, it's kinda the way I look at Darla and I have to ask, are you attracted to Cordy?"
Cordelia walked up to Xander, "Why don't you ask me that question too?"
Xander couldn't hide his embarrassment as she struggled to find some words, "Cordelia? I didn't see you. I thought you were at your car. Nice to see you. You like nice. Very pretty."
"Thank you Xander. You look…the same." Cordelia said and then turned to Willow, "Hi there. I'm sorry I missed you at lunch, I had a meeting with the cheerleading committee and it just wouldn't end."
"It's okay, I know you're busy. Xander and I had a lot to talk to about anyway." Willow said, her tone changing to somber as she continued, "Remember the two new girls yesterday, we found out Buffy's mother died last night and we were just going over to see how she was doing."
"We did bump into them last night, but I didn't know you knew them from before." Cordelia said, slightly confused about the whole thing, "I am sorry if the girl's mother died. That has to be awful for her."
"I'm sure it is." Willow nodded her agreement, "We're going over there now, but maybe we can get together later on, if you're not busy of course?"
"My night is wide open Willow, so I'll look forward to seeing you." Cordelia smiled at Willow and touched her arm as she inched closer to her, "Give me a call when you get home and we can work out the details."
"I will." Willow said with a big smile, her hand sliding down Cordy's arm and off her fingers as Cordelia walked away.
Xander looked at Cordelia and then back over at Willow, struggling to compute what his eyes were seeing, "I don't have to wait for an answer to my question I see. You do realize you're not being very subtle about what your eyes are staring at." Xander said with a smile, enjoying Cordy's tight pants almost as intently as Willow was.
"What?" Willow asked, turning her attention to Xander, "Can't a girl enjoy a finely crafted piece of fabric?"
"Sure can kiddo." Xander said as he put his arm around Willow, "Strange isn't it, how it was only two shapely pieces covering her ass you seemed to be admiring."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Willow smiled as she waved to Cordy one last time before she turned to Xander, "Let's go see Buffy."
"Good idea." Xander nodded and they disappeared down the street.
Darla stopped Cordelia as she was about to pull out of her parking spot, "Hey there. Where are you going?"
"Just home for now, why?" Cordelia asked as Harmony slid in beside Darla.
"Hi Cordy." She said with her usual bouncy smile.
"Hi Harmony." Cordelia said with a forced smile of her own.
"Did I see you talking to Xander just now?" Darla enquired as she leaned inside Cordy's violet red, BMW 650.
"Yes, sort of, why?"
"Well, I need to talk him about the party Friday. Do you know where he was going?" Darla asked as she slid her hands over Cordy's head rest.
"They were going to see a friend who's mother just died, I don't think it's the best time for him." Cordy said turning to keep an eye on Darla's wandering hands, "Why not call him at home later? It's not like he ever does anything."
"I guess I can do that." Darla agreed and then took another look at Cordy's car, "I love your car. I need to get me one of these soon."
"Thanks, I like it too. Well, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then." Cordy nodded and was about to put the car in reverse when Harmony stuck her head in the window.
"So what were you doing with Willow last night? Seemed like you two were pretty cozy. Is there something you're not telling us?" Harmony said with an evil grin.
Cordy put her hand on Harmony's head, pushed it gently out the window and smiled up at her, "I have no comment. You'll just have to keep guessing Harm. Bye now."
Before Harmony could get another word in, Cordy had back out of the parking spot and tore off through the parking lot.
"I know she's up to something with that Willow girl. I will find out." Harmony said with a determined look on her face.
"That's nice Harmony." Darla said, doing her best to placate Harmony's obsession with Cordy's love life, "Let's find a ride. I need to meet someone at the park before I head home. Did you want to come?"
"Sure, is it that hunky scientist guy again?" Harmony said as she began giggling and holding onto Darla's arm, "I think he likes me. He's always checking me out."
"Yes, I'm sure he does." Darla nodded and then flagged down one of the girls on the cheerleading squad for a ride.
Both girls piled into the station wagon and were off to Darla's meeting.
Tranquil Nights Psychiatric Facility.
Gwen walked back into the visitor room expecting to find Lilah sitting in front of her, but as she made eye contact with Faith, her eyes lit up and she rushed over to her, "I can't believe you're here. I don't get it. Lilah only left three hours ago."
"Who's Lilah?" Faith asked as she got comfortable in the soft leather chair.
"My sister. Isn't she the one who called you?" Gwen asked, still trying to figure out what was going on.
"No, nobody called me. I saw a story in the paper this morning and well, to make a long story short, I'm here." Faith said with a smile, choosing not to bore Gwen with the details, "How are you holding up?"
"I'm better now that you're here." Gwen smiled and slid her hand under the glass partition, "You look great. I don't know what to say. Tell me what you've been doing this last year?"
Faith slid her hand over Gwen's and held it tightly. "Come on now, you're up on a murder charge. That's why I'm here. To help."
A tall female guard stepped forward, "Hands inside now. No contact. If you do it again your visit is over."
Both girls pulled their hands back and waited for the guard to back off before they continued.
Gwen smiled at the guard and then turned back to Faith, "That's my fault. I knew that, but I couldn't resist."
"I know." Faith agreed and then moved closer to Gwen, "I know you didn't kill this person, so why is this happening?"
"I had no idea at first, but if my sister is right, this is some form of blackmail and my only way out is to agree to work for some evil company."
"That sucks. How does your sister know this?" Faith asked, then quickly asked another, "Since when do you have a sister? You said she died didn't you?"
"It's a long story." Gwen said with a sigh, "I just found out today. I have as many questions as you do, but for now I have very few options and she does seem sincere and my gut feeling is she's telling the truth."
"Well, you'd know better than I would, so I hope you're right. It's great if you've found her again after all these years thinking she was dead." Faith added politely, "I need you to tell me what happened. Why were you brought here in the first place and then how did your psychiatrist die?"
Gwen knew these questions were coming, but still had trouble talking about both, "The quick answer to both questions is, I don't know. I'll tell you what I do know."
Faith leaned forward to reassure Gwen, "Good, just take your time and tell me anything you remember."
"Okay, the last thing I remember on the outside was being at this club in West Beverly Hills with a couple friends. I snuck a couple drinks when the bartender wasn't looking and I wasn't drunk, but I was certainly in a party mood. I remember being on the dance floor with my friend Katie when this other girl joined us. It was pretty hot dancing with her. She was sexy and aggressive and she really was into me. Katie left and I was dancing with this woman and she asked me if I wanted to go to this VIP club on Rodeo Drive, so of course I said yes."
"I'm going to have to find this Katie girl." Faith said, anxious to help out as soon as she could, "Oh and what was your other friend's name? They may know something that can help us."
"Slow down." Gwen said with hurried smile, "My sister is taking care of all this. She has people to do this kind of stuff. If you want to help, you should talk to her, but for now, I'd rather just spend some time talking about you."
Faith looked back at Gwen, smiled and put her hand against the glass partition, "Okay, but there's not much to tell."
"I don't care what you've been doing; I just want to hear about something else for a change. Come on, just talk to me." Gwen said, a step short of begging.
"Let's see, I guess there has been a pretty big change in my life, but it only happened yesterday, although seems like a million years after all we've been through." Faith said, as she looked back at Gwen.
"We've? Who's we?"
"That would be Buffy. It's a long, long story. Somehow, and I'm not sure how or why, but we have become the chosen two. It sounds kind of dumb when you say it, but we are born to be slayers, to kill vampires." Faith paused long enough to take in Gwen's reaction, but was surprised at how calmly she took it all. "You don't seem all that shocked by any of this. Why's that?"
Gwen shrugged and laughed, "I don't know really. I guess because of my own powers, I believe anything is possible. Lilah mentioned vampires and demons a couple times, but she never really got into it. So, you're a slayer with some other girl? That sounds important. I always knew you had big things in your future, I can see this is part of it."
"I don't know about that, but I do feel like I've finally found a purpose to my life and if I can make a difference kicking some ass, then I'm all for it." Faith said with her trademark grin, "You know, I believe you have big things ahead of you too. Once this mess is cleared up I'd like you to come back to Sunnydale and meet Buffy some of the others I've met along the way."
"That is certainly a unique name, Buffy. I hope you get along with her." Gwen said and then shifted gears a bit, "I know we haven't seen each other in over a year, but I have to ask, are you seeing anyone?"
Faith took a moment to think before answering, "I guess the answer is no. I'd say that there's something about Buffy that I'm drawn to, but I think it's the fact we're meant to work together as slayers. Anyway, it's not like we are dating or anything. What about you and Katie or the girl you left club with? Sounds like you're staying pretty active."
"I wish I sensed some jealousy in that question, but I guess that's pretty silly of me." Gwen said, her smile hiding her disappointment, "Katie was fun to be around. She loved to dance and party and have a good time. As for Anya, the girl I left with at the club, I have no idea what she's like, since I don't remember a thing after we left."
"Well, I guess that teaches you a lesson about leaving with strangers. Bad things can happen." Faith said, just a little snarkier than she wanted, "I'm glad you had some friends to hang out with. I am. I really just want to help get you out of here so you can start your life over. You deserve that."
"That first comment is much more like the Faith I remember." Gwen said, her eyes lighting up and her posture changing as she sat up in her chair, "Direct and to the point, no pissing around with politically correct talk. I like that. And you're right, I shouldn't have left with that woman, but she seduced me off me feet. She was good. As bad as it sounds, I regret not finding out how nasty she might've been had we spent the night together. I bet she's a wild one."
"Well, it's a shame you didn't get laid. I feel for ya." Faith said as she got to her feet.
"Don't leave like this. I was just teasing." Gwen got to her feet and leaned against the glass, "Would it matter if I told you I dreamed of you almost every night?"
"Almost every night? I'm hurt. Who'd you dream about on the other nights?" Faith asked, her smile coming back to her pretty face.
"Angelina Jolie certainly kept me warm many a nights." Gwen said as she licked her lips.
"I do love those lips, Angelina's that is." Faith grinned and then her eyes grew wide and she looked deep into Gwen's eyes, "Hmm, since I'm on the outside I might just look her up. I'll send a postcard."
"You're so mean." Gwen said with a sexy pout.
"Here, maybe this will help." Faith said as she dug into her wallet, pulled out a picture and handed it to Gwen under the partition.
Gwen picked it up and started shaking her head, "OMG, you're gonna make me cry. Where did you get this? How?" Gwen asked, clutching the picture of her and Faith kissing at the beach tight against her chest.
"I knew you'd like it." Faith said, putting her hand up to the glass, "I like to think it was just meant to be. I never thought I'd be able to give this to you, so I think it's the first sign that things are about to turn around for you."
Gwen reached up and touched Faith's hand, "I know they will. I'm so glad you came."
Faith noticed the guard stepping forward, "Looks like our time is up, but now that I know you're here I will be visiting you until you get out. I do need to talk to your sister though, so do know where I can get a hold of her?"
"She works at Wolfram & Hart, but she said never try and reach her there." Gwen took out Lilah's business card and handed it to Faith, "This has her home phone number and cell phone. Try the cell; she always said that was the most secure way to contact her."
"Thanks. You stay strong. We're gonna get you out of this place. I promise. It was great seeing you again. I will be back. Bye for now." Faith said as the guard stood behind Gwen.
"I'll be fine now that I know you're here. Bye Faith." Gwen said as the guard led her out of the room and back to her cell.
Outside, Faith called Lilah's cell phone.
"Hello, Morgan here."
"Is this Lilah? Gwen's sister?" Faith asked, thrown off by the Morgan reference.
"Yes, who's this?" Lilah asked, sitting up from her laptop.
Faith got into the rental car, sat down and relaxed, "My name's Faith. I'm a friend of Gwen's. I just came from seeing her and she told me to look you up, so here I am."
"Well isn't that interesting. I have a PI looking for you in Sunnydale." Lilah said, pulling up a file with Faith's picture beside it, "Since you're the slayer, I'm not sure how I can help you."
"I was going to go talk to some of Gwen's friends. They might remember something about the night she disappeared with that woman and ended up in that nuthouse. Didn't you ever ask her about that?" Faith asked.
"No, because that's the least of her problems." Lilah said, not appreciating Faith's question. "She's facing a murder charge, so I'd say that's where my energy is best spent."
Faith leaned in and pulled out her map, looked for the quickest route to LA and the city of angels. "Okay, but I did talk to her about it and I got a name of the girl who took her out of the club the night before she was sent to this place. Do you know anyone named Anya?"
Lilah got to her feet, her eyes filling with anger and surprise all mixed together, "Did you say Anya?"
"Yes, do you know who this is?" Faith asked, sensing the change in Lilah's voice.
"Oh I know her alright." Lilah said, "but as much as I'd like to take her and wring her neck, I know I can't do it. She's a demon working her way to super witch. Sadly, I'm no match for her. If she isn't stopped soon, nobody will be."
"If she did this to Gwen she's gonna pay." Faith said, her hands gripping the steering wheel hard as she thought of revenge, "I think I should head back to Sunnydale and talk this over with my partner and our watchers. We need more information on this Anya demon as well as on Wolfram & Hart."
"I can send you everything I have on Anya and the company, but you need to mention the name Angelus to your watchers. They will know about him and since Anya is very close to him, they are a dangerous duo." Lilah said as she made copies of all her files, "Oh and you should also mention the name Drusilla; she's another vampire with a pension for torture. She's had contact with Angelus recently as well."
"Thanks, I'll be sure to tell them everything you've told me. I'll be in touch." Faith put her cell phone in her purse, made a left instead of a right and headed back to the airport.
Riley Finn's underground lab.
Riley Finn walked into his lab, removed his ring and called for his assistants.
Three men in full body suits ran into the room.
"The ring has made contact with Winifred Burkle. I need to know if any of the properties, designs or anything about the ring has changed." Riley said as he put the ring on a secure pad and watched a glass shell cover it up, "As soon as she was within about an inch of the ring it sent out some type of electrical shock and knocked her to the ground. It appears all our research is paying off. We need to know more about this Burkle woman, and even more about this ring. Get on it. All other projects can wait."
With ring secured the three men rushed out of the main lab.
"It's about time you showed up. I'm getting tired of sitting around waiting. Either you let me in your big plan or I'm out of here." Spike said as he shuffled into the room.
"I thought you had more patience than this." Riley said as he walked past the much shorter Spike. "If you want to go back to your namby pamby scams then go. What I have planned will work with or without you. I've spent too long setting this all up to let anyone mess with this. Are you in or out?"
Spike walked past Riley, running his hands over the many test tubes on the counter, "I watched you create your clone of me. I was even stoked at what a good job you did. But, I fail to see how any of this is going to help me."
Riley unlocked a drawer in front of him and pulled out a video tape, "You know what this is. It's not blackmail, but it is a useful bit of history that many people are unaware of. Even though I don't need you, it would be a waste of my valuable time to find another replacement. If you wish to leave the project that's your choice, but I'll have to make some choices of my own."
"That's just bloody great. I was a fool to trust you." Spike said, his face contorting as she changed into vampire mode, "We always knew this day was coming. Now it's here. Show me what you got."
"You never change Spike." Riley said, not moving from his original spot, "That might've worked for your first hundred years, but things are different now. Technology is something you refuse to be part of. So fine, you can go to that great vampire land in the sky for all I care."
"I've spent three months being used as a guinea pig, but every time I asked about your plan, you blew me off. I'm starting to think you don't have one." Spike said as he inched towards a stationary Riley, "I'll enjoy sucking the life of you."
Lunging at Riley with a vicious right cross to the side of his head, Spike jumped on top and quickly pounced on his throat with his sharp fangs.
As he made contact with Riley's skin, he immediately pulled back, "What the…" Spike said as he felt a burning sensation throughout his mouth.
Riley stood up and walked over to Spike without a mark on his neck. "Do you really take me for a fool? I knew you would try something like this one day and as you can see, I took the necessary precautions. Now, get out of my lab before I stake you myself."
"I don't know what you did, but this isn't over. Not on your life." Spike took off out of the lab and ran off into the woods.
Oz walked into the lab after Spike took off, stood beside Riley and handed him a beer, "I think it's good that he's gone. I never trusted him. He's too smooth, too unpredictable to trust."
"You were right." Riley said as he opened his beer, "I thought he could help us. Technically he did. The research we got from him was priceless. There's so much more he has no idea about. I assume the homing device is working?"
Oz flipped open a computer console, pushed a few buttons and pulled up a map of Sunnydale. On it was a red flashing dot moving away from the lab, "There he is. One guess where he goes next?"
Riley smiled as he watched Spike slowly move further away from the lab, "I'm not sure this time. Although he doesn't know Drusilla is working with Angelus, but there is another option I think he might choose."
"Are you thinking he might try and hook up with Angelus again?" Oz asked, while pulling up Spike's file on another computer.
"I think he's going to be freaked out by his inability to kill me for one thing. He's not used to that." Riley said with a satisfied look on his face, "He may be a loner, but I think he's going to try and put a group together and come right back here and try and take me out."
"Couldn't be more perfect if he does." Oz agreed.
"Did you have a chance to check out the surveillance tapes yet?"
"Not all of them, so far I've turned up nothing useful. I'm about half way through, so hopefully we'll find something on the next group." Oz said and then changed the subject, "Listen, about the recruiting, I've brought in another 15 for processing. I can get more, but I got tell ya, I'm getting bored with it. Before I started using the band to recruit, it was hard to get anyone to buy my pitch, but now that I'm in the band, I could say I want them to give me their hearts and they'd smile and hand em over, it's quite depressing."
"Oh Oz, try and think of the big picture." Riley said enthusiastically, as he patted Oz on the back. "Besides, if you want to recruit them for yourself, feel free. We probably won't need much more than the original 100 anyway. Things are starting to fall into place and I can't wait until we move to the next phase."
"No way I want a groupie." Oz said shaking his head as fast as he could. "I want a nice girl. Someone who actually notices me when I'm not on stage pretending I can play guitar. I know there's one out there somewhere. There has to be."
Riley sat down beside Oz and sat his beer on the desk, "I thought you had a good feeling about Jenny?"
"If you weren't so dense you would see she clearly spent more time talking to you." Oz said as he gave Riley a dirty look, "Besides, I'm starting to like this girl who comes to the club every Friday for open mike night. She's got an amazing voice and she talked to me long before she knew I was in a band. I'd say that is a good sign."
"Come on Oz, Jenny is an employee, so of course she is going to talk to me." Riley added, trying to draw attention away from himself, "Maybe it was just me, but she seemed fascinated by your artwork. She is a photographer you know, she is into art and that kind of stuff."
"Stuff?" Oz shook his head again, "You have so little appreciation for what I do. Yes, I know writing songs isn't creating clones, but it's a great way to relax."
"And meet girls." Riley said with a laugh, "Anyway, who is this girl you're talking about?"
"Right now she's just someone I've talked to a couple times. I have no sense if a girl is interested in me or just being polite, so who knows. She seems friendly and even if it stays like this, I do enjoy talking to her."
Riley looked at his watch and then stood up, "Don't wait too long to make your move or someone else will beat you to it. Listen, I have another meeting with Jenny, did you want to come?"
"Nah, I'm gonna track Spike for awhile and then head to the club later on." Oz said as he maximized his computer screen.
"Okay then, I'm meeting Jenny at The Bronze, so maybe I'll see ya there." Riley got up grabbed his coat and a large briefcase and took off out the door.
Buffy Summers House.
Buffy sat beside Fred's side, monitoring her pulse as she waited for the cavalry to arrive.
Dawn had just stepped into the kitchen when the doorbell rang, so she turned, walked into the living room and asked who was there.
"It's Wesley Wyndham-Price. I'm Buffy's watcher. I brought the mayor and Giles with me as soon as I got Buffy's call. May we come in?"
"Can I see some ID?" Dawn yelled out as she peaked through the side of the window to see who was there.
"Hi Dawn, it's Giles, it's okay to open up."
Dawn spotted Giles who waved back at her, so she opened the door and let the three men inside.
"Where's Fred?" Giles asked as he looked around the living room.
"Upstairs with Buffy. Is she going to be okay?" Dawn asked as she led everyone up the stairs and into Buffy's room.
"I hope so." Giles nodded as he moved over to the side of the bed, "Has she woke up since this happened?"
Buffy looked over at Giles, her eyes heavy from the days events, "One time she opened her eyes and even sat up, but she fell back to the pillow and closed her eyes right after and hasn't changed since."
Giles took out his medical supplies and promptly put a stethoscope to Fred's chest, "She seems to be breathing quite clearly. That's very good to see. You told me a bit about what happened, but could you fill me in again on exactly how this occurred?"
Taking her time, Buffy went through the whole meeting with Riley step by step and sat back down as she finished, "That's everything. It was the ring that did this and Riley was gone before I could ask more about it."
Giles sat up and looked directly at Wesley, "Take Buffy downstairs, hook her computer up to our database and let her look through every ring known to us."
"Right then, follow me Miss Summers." Wesley said as he walked out the door and down the stairs.
"Could you call me Buffy please; Miss Summers is way too formal." Buffy said, turning her computer on and stepping out of the way, "So do you have every ring listed in this database thing?"
"Most every magical ring yes." Giles said as he tapped into the Watchers Council database, "It's constantly being updated and I'm hoping a ring with this kind of power will be here and you'll be able to pick it out."
Buffy stood beside Giles and watched as he pulled up a page filled with rings of all shapes and colors. "Wow, that's a lot of rings." As she began looking down the first of three columns on the left, she saw at the bottom, Page 1 of 1,152, "OMG, It'll take years to go through that many pages."
"Yes, well it might very well take a number of hours doing it that way, but we do have the fancy sort function that should cut that number drastically." Wesley said and then began typing in all the information Buffy had on the ring and hit the enter key. "Voila, now there are only 17 pages, so that should be much easier to sift through."
"Great, thanks. I think I can manage now." Buffy said, pushing Wesley out of the chair.
It was a slow process to look at each ring carefully, but eventually Buffy had it down to an art form and on the 12th page she spotted the ring, "Wes, this is it."
Pointing to the ring, she clicked to enlarge the picture of what they now could call, Ring of Kippirru.
"Very nice work Buffy." Wesley said, "Click on the information link."
Buffy clicked the link and they both began reading.
Ring of Kippirru. A beautifully crafted metallic silver ring; set with the three unique designs in a blue triangle above the main stone; which is a magnificent diamond pendant, 24-karat gold piece of perfection.
Each of three unique designs traces back to demon race, long thought to be extinct, the Glascoph's.
What makes the Glascoph's even more interesting is the fact they were from all accounts an all female race of demons, forever linked to the goddess Aphrodite.
The first design is of the queen of the Glascoph's, Millicent. The second design is of the city of Carravella, the capital city of the Glascoph's. The last design is of queen Millicent and her lover Marisella.
While thought to be extinct, this ring, discovered only a year ago off a Deparis demon makes rumors of their return much more intriguing.
"That all sounds so exciting; like we're discovering a lost civilization." Buffy's enthusiasm was bursting through her wide eyes, "Oh look, there's a picture of Queen Millicent."
Clicking on the picture brought up a life sized portrait of Millicent. Next they brought up a pictures of Carravella and then finally they clicked on a picture of Millicent with Marisella.
"OMG." Buffy said with her mouth wide open.
"My sentiments exactly." Wes said and then printed out the picture and pulled it up to his face, "This is an amazing likeness."
"Screw likeness. That's her. That's Fred." Buffy stated bluntly, "Every inch of her is the exact same. Every curve, every contour, from her gorgeous eye lashes, to her warm inviting smile, Marisella is Fred's identical twin."
"Well, now we have some idea why the ring reacted, but now we have even more questions to ask." Wes said, still staring at the picture, "Like why did Riley bring it here in the first place. Did he know Fred was here? If so, what was he trying to do? Not to mention, what did the ring to do Fred?"
Buffy thought back to her meeting with Riley, "I didn't notice it at the time, but Riley did seem surprised to see us and he did take off as soon as Fred was hurt. I don't have a good feeling about this."
"I certainly have my issues with Mr. Finn, but I've never known him to be malicious, so I need to talk to him and find out just what he was doing here." Wes then turned back to the computer, "If you have some time, try looking up the Glascoph's and see what you can find out about them."
"Okay, I could use some help though, I want to go check on Fred and I'm not sure Dawn's quite ready to be looking up demons and such." Buffy said without turning away from the computer.
Before Wes could respond, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." He said as he opened to door to see Willow and Xander were standing in front of him, "May I help you?"
"Um, who are you?" Xander asked, trying to look past Wes into Buffy's house.
"I'm Wesley Windham-Price. Who might you be?"
Xander was growing impatient, "I might be your momma, but I'm not, so get out of the way before I knock you out of the way."
"Xander, stop it." Willow said as she stepped in front of him, "Hi, I'm Willow and we're friends of Buffy's. Is she in?"
"Oh, of course. Just a moment please." Wes closed the door and walked back over to Buffy, "There are two young people at the door. One rather rude young man and a very pleasant young woman. Willow and Xander are their names. Should I let them in?"
"Yes."
"Right then." Wes nodded and walked back and let the two teenagers in.
"Thanks buddy. Here, take my coat." Xander said, handing Wes his jacket as he walked over towards Buffy.
Willow smiled and followed Xander over to the computer, "Hi Buffy. I didn't know you had company. Are we intruding? Cause we can come back if we are."
"No, I'm glad you're both here." Buffy said as she got up and gave Willow and Xander a hug, "It's been such a long day and I have a lot to tell you and a lot that I have to do."
"Whatever we can do to help just let us know." Willow said in her best reassuring voice.
"Yep, if you want me to get rid of that annoying butler of yours, just let me know." Xander said, still eyeing Wes closely.
"Xander, he's not my butler, he's my watcher." Buffy grabbed Xander and pulled him over to the other side of the computer, "He's one of us. The good guys. Anyway, what I would love for you guys to do is look up Glascoph's using this search function here. Print out anything you can find."
"Sure Buffy, can we ask what this is all about? Or is it top secret?" Willow asked, lowering her voice for the last question.
"To be quite honest, I have no idea what this is all going to be about." Buffy said, getting up from her chair and sitting Willow down in her place, "It has to do with a ring, a girl, some demons, an ex council guy, who's now some kind of mad scientist and well, so far it's a giant puzzle and we have only a few pieces and no way of knowing where they go."
"I love puzzles." Willow chirped in with her infectious smile.
"I'd much rather hit something. Are you sure there isn't anything else I could do?" Xander asked with a hopefully stare, "I still say we should watch this Wesley character. He seems shady. A bumbling kind of shady, but still…or I could go find the mad scientist guy. That sounds like fun."
"That's nice of you to offer Xander, but that's something I might be doing soon. I just need to make sure Fred is okay before I go anywhere."
"You seem very worried about her. Is she going to be okay?" Willow asked, quickly changing her tone to concern.
"I think so, but it's just so sad seeing her like this. She was laughing and smiling one second and then on the floor in a flash the next." Buffy's face grew sad as she replayed the accident in her mind, "Anyway, I'm going up to see her, so good luck with the computer stuff and I'll be back down soon."
Xander stared over at Wesley once more and then grabbed Buffy's hand, "Could you take the butler with you, he's creeping me out just standing there looking suspicious the whole time."
Buffy laughed as she rolled her eyes and then walked over to Wesley and led him up the stairs.
When Buffy walked into the room she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Fred sitting up in the bed, wide awake and talking to Giles.
She quickly rushed over and gave Fred a big hug, "I'm so happy you're okay. I mean, are you okay? Does it hurt? Are you sore? Do you remember anything? Did you…"
"Buffy." Giles interrupted, "Slow down. She just woke up moments ago. I think she needs some space."
"Oh, of course. I'm sorry." Buffy said, sliding off the bed quickly.
"No, it's okay Buffy. I'm fine. A little groggy, but I remember everything and I did need a hug, so thanks." She said with a smile directed right at Buffy.
"Good, I knew you did." Buffy grinned and sat back down beside Fred, "You look good though. You looked a bit pale for a while there, but you are getting that glow back now and I think that's a good sign."
"Well yes, it's a good first step." Giles removed the blood pressure device from Fred's arm and put it in his bag, "I think maybe we should let Fred rest a bit now. You can stay with her for a bit, but try not to tire her out, okay?"
"I won't. I promise." Buffy said as Giles picked up his stuff and left the room with the mayor.
"I guess I gave everyone quite a scare. I sure didn't mean to." Fred said almost apologetically.
"It just shows how many people care about you." Buffy added as she stared deep into Fred's eyes.
"What? Do I have something on my face? Is my makeup running?" Fred said, covering her face with her hands.
Buffy pulled Fred's hands away, "No silly, I was just looking at your eyes."
"Why is that?" Fred asked curiously, her eyes now focusing in on Buffy's green eyes.
"I don't know really, I just think you have beautiful brown eyes. I didn't mean to stare." Buffy said, very aware of Fred's penetrating stare.
"Well thank you." Fred smiled, "I think you have very expressive eyes, so pretty too."
"I was just noticing that your eyes seem much more soft and pretty than Marisella's." Buffy saw the confused look on Fred's face and knew she'd just said something she shouldn't, "Anyway, I should let you get some rest. I'll be back soon."
Buffy got up to leave, but didn't get very far.
"Stop right there." Fred said loudly, "Now sit your cute little butt down and tell me who Marisella is and why you compared me to her."
Turning slowly to face Fred, Buffy knew she just spilled the beans and now had to decide what to tell her, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to mention any of this now. You do not need to worry about anything but getting your strength back."
"If you keep stalling I'll show you how strong I am." Fred said in as threatening a manner as she was capable of, "Come on, what's going on? I deserve to know if it's about me."
"I know and I agree, but you have been through a lot already." Buffy moved back over and hopped up beside Fred, "You're right. You do deserve to know this. I'll tell you and we can move on from there."
"Thank you Buffy." Fred said, lying back down as Buffy told her everything she knew about the ring.
Wolfram & Hart's LA Office.
Lilah made her way to her office, doing her best to hold in her emotions as she spotted Anya standing outside Angelus' office. As she made it to her desk, she tried to ignore Anya, but knew that wouldn't last long and she was right.
"Hi Lilah. I love the skirt." Anya said with a sly grin.
"Thanks." Lilah replied, trying to keep the conversation to a minimum.
"Have you seen Angelus today?"
"Does it look like I've been here today?" Lilah snapped sarcastically.
Anya took in Lilah's sarcasm, but wasn't sure what brought it on. "You could've just come back from a meeting. No need to get all bitchy."
Lilah turned her computer and took a sip of coffee as she looked over at Anya, "This isn't bitchy, this is just normal me when I have to talk to vampire groupies who hang outside Angelus' door."
"Hey, I'm not a groupie." Anya denied instantly, "Angelus and I have a mutual respect for each other and are very close if you must know."
"Whatever you say toots."
Anya wasn't sure how to take Lilah's latest comment, "Is that in insult? Cause if it is I'll have to think of one back."
"Don't strain yourself." Lilah laughed, "Can't you wait inside? I'll let you in if it will give me some peace and quiet."
"Angelus has made it very clear that I'm not to go into his office if he's not there. He can get nasty when he's upset, so I'll just wait here with you." Anya noticed Lilah working on her computer so she moved in for a closer look, "Whatcha doing?"
Lilah switched screens and turned to Anya, "I'm working. I know, novel concept to a demon, but I can't do my job with you hovering over my shoulder. So, if you don't mind."
"Actually, I could make your job very easy. Just say the word and I can finish it all for ya." Anya said, ready to use her magic at a moment's notice.
Angelus walked into the room and stormed past both women, opened his office and slammed the door behind him.
"Yikes, looks like you picked the wrong time to visit." Lilah said as she smiled at Anya.
"He's always happy to see me." Anya said as she checked her outfit in the mirror, "So I will go in and brighten his day like always."
"Right, good luck with that." Lilah said as she watched Anya slink her way up to Angelus' door.
"Honey, can I come in?" Anya said with a sexy voice.
"No. Get out and stay out."