Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season 8, Episode 12
Old Wounds
Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the Buffyverse, I am just a fan.)

Summary: While out on a solo patrol Buffy comes across the man Rona and Amalia encountered months ago who sent a rather gruesome message to the Slayers and he offers Buffy some insight into Faith's new dream catcher tattoo. Hector and Amy plan to stop the training of the newbie Slayer by casting a spell of Buffy's High School Diary and when Alicia and Kate go snooping to find out their fearless leaders deep dark secrets, old and long dead faces arrive in Cleveland.

Extra: If you're only just clicking onto this story now and are confused as to why I've began writing a season on episode 12, I haven't. Episodes 1-11 can be found in a separate story that you'll find in my profile. Please let your curiosity overload and check it out.

Nicholas sat at his desk in his room on the fifth floor. He sat tapping his pen against a brown file with his head being held up by his other hand. His sunglasses were perched on the window sill; the lenses reflected the sunset gleam of the Cliffside that his room faced. It was that time when he was due to make a report to Wolfram & Hart about the progress of their investment in the Slayers. However his mind was supposed to be filled with events that had taken place in the manor since the scoobies had moved in, but his mind was focused completely on the thought of a single scooby in particular. Since his conversation with Cordelia when they were rescuing Chris from jail Nicholas hadn't been able to think of anything or anyone other than Buffy. Her walk, her smell, her eyes, her hair, her…everything. And so as he sat at his desk, ready and prepared to write his report, with a smoothly sharpened #2 pencil, he couldn't think of a thing to write.
He'd never been in love before, never thought a person of his stature and employment was capable of…love, only lust. When he began living with the Slayer in the beginning that's what he thought it was, lust. He'd had sexual partners before, women and men, some to get ahead in business (becoming a liaison to the senior partners of Wolfram & Hart is a dirty job) and others so he could feel something other than the cold. His belief about sex was that it didn't matter who it was with, only that it was done well.
He threw his perfectly sharpened pencil at the wall and folded the file in half; he knew he wasn't going to get anything other than the title onto the paper that night. He shook his head so as to shake his thoughts from his mind, 'just get in a good screw and you'll be fine…or a cold shower' he thought. To distract himself he thought a few hours with a good book would do the trick. He got up from his seated position and grabbed his deep dark blue-lensed sunglasses from the window sill and headed toward the library.
He arrived on the third floor and found himself gazing at Buffy's door. He imagined knocking on it and involving himself in casual conversation with her but they had only exchanged words about business and Slaying, she'd suspect something was different and he couldn't have that. He got to the entrance hall and headed toward the library. It was still and quiet, no sounds but those of his own creation. He decided a little non-fiction light reading was the book for him and picked out a massive encyclopaedia on demonic vegetation and amphibian hybrids. He placed it under is arm as he headed back to his room.
When he found himself in the entrance hall he found Buffy in a leather jacket, jeans and boots. "Going out?" he asked.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yeah," Buffy sniped as she turned to look at him. She was so…defeated. Her hair was lifeless and fell lazily onto her shoulders, her emerald green eyes had become dark and tired and she'd lost weight. Since Buffy got back from Wolfram & Hart last week she hadn't been the same, lots of people had noticed, even the girls had picked up on it when they stopped getting the usual destiny and responsibility speech in training. And then with Dana whom Buffy had devoted a lot of her time to, she'd lost her glow. Dana had made some progress of the last week; she'd recognised Buffy from her dreams and felt at ease when she was around. She was on edge at the sight of Faith, she must have picked up on what Faith's old…hobbies…were.

"Alone?" Nicholas asked.

"It's been a while since I went on patrol without a troop, gonna find out if I'm really rusty," Buffy acknowledged.

"Bit dangerous don't you think?" he asked.

"It's not like I haven't patrolled alone before Nick, I'll be fine, besides don't you have that report to right tonight?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. Buffy indicated the musty old book under his arm. "Progress is slow," he admitted.

"Right," Buffy said as she turned to leave the manor. Nicholas exhaled heavily as he turned to the main staircase and headed upstairs.

Buffy shut the door behind her and began walking. She didn't plan on when to turn corners and cross over roads but it just happened. She found herself at a cemetery she had avoided for months. Whenever it was her turn to take the girls out she'd always take them somewhere else. That cemetery reminded her of the time when seven of the slayers had been murdered and some dark magic took over Bethany's body and Faith was shot with some pink and purple light, the pentagram and Faiths' new dream catcher tattoo on her back…everything remained a mystery. Giles had researched some references to dream catchers but nothing relating to any pentagram or flux's of light came up. Rona had mentioned a man, he seemed to have dominance over the vampires but he hadn't been seen since.
Buffy decided that night was the night that she would go back in, maybe she'd get lucky and she'd find this guy, or maybe unlucky depending on how you look at it. She walked through the cemetery and headed for the clearing at the back where she had found the crypt. She strolled past the graves checking for new burials but she couldn't see any.
She stumbled through the trees of the clearing and spotted the familiar mausoleum. She began to remember the pentagram drawn in blood on the back of it with a dream catcher in its centre. She remembered the pentagram as it spun on the wall and Bethany's corpse shot Faith with purple light. She remembered the helpless feeling she had as she watched Faith bathed in electric purple light.
She traced forward toward the crypt when the sound of rustling leaves, to strong to be the wind, caught her attention. She stopped and listened. She took out her stake from her back pocket and stood ready. "Okay, let's get this over with, show yourself," Buffy sounded. A group of around 13 vampires stepped out from behind trees and tall graves. They growled at the sight of the Slayer and their yellow eyes tore holes in her skin with their stare. "Oops," she added under her breath. However the vampires weren't advancing, they were just staring, in awe and fury. Buffy kept waiting for one to make the first move but they never did.

"Now, now boys and girls, we don't play with our food," called a cleanly shaven brown haired man in a suit who leaned heavily on a cane. Buffy turned to him and took in his appearance; he was as Rona had described the man from months ago. Buffy suddenly heard her gut say 'run'. But as she looked for an escape root the only way was up, and unless you can learn flying from The Slayer Handbook, she was trapped. "So has my lucky day arrived? Are you her?" the man asked.

"Depends, who're you looking for?" Buffy asked.

"You've got the Stake, the blonde hair, the green eyes and the glow the demons speak of, you must be Miss Summers," the man sounded.

"And you are?" Buffy asked.

"I trust you got my message?" he asked ignoring Buffy's question.

"They were innocent girls!" Buffy sniped.

"Vampires were innocent once too, it was just the unfortunate choice of taking the alleyway as a short cut home that lead to their new state of mind my love," the man lectured. "So tell me, have the changes begun?" he asked. Buffy furrowed her brow in confusion. "I suppose not…but they will," he announced.

"What're you talking about?" Buffy asked.

"The woman? Brown hair, friskily attractive," the man said, "I went to great lengths to keep you away from this place."

"Yeah well when seven girls are murdered I'm not just gonna cower in fear," Buffy spat angrily.

"You would have been better off if you did-"

"Tell me about the tattoo," Buffy ordered.

"Tattoo? My dear you really don't have the foggiest as to what is going on under your feet do you?" the man and vampires chuckled. "He's coming, and now that she is too, it's going to get ugly, and you're right in the middle of it. Watch your step my dear, third times the charm," the man said before disappearing with a cloud of dark smoke and white flashes.

Buffy looked around at the advancing vampires. They grinned devilishly as they took more steps towards the Slayer. A bench was nearby, it hadn't been sat on for years but any wood would've done. One vampire got a little two excited and charged full force for Buffy, she tossed her stake at him and it caught him square in the chest, he was dust within seconds. She threw her fist in the bench and grabbed a wooden spike; broken on both ends. Buffy cut a bloody and dusty path through the vampires until only about 5 remained. She'd suffered a brain jolting punch to the temple and she knew that she would make mistakes if she tried to dust the remaining vamps. She sensed the strength in two of them and knew instantly they were not your everyday ordinary vampires, but the new special sun-resistant kind.
She bolted and jumped and dodged and sliced her way through the graveyard with her, usually strong and vibrant but now flat and weak, hair acting as a tail for her head because of the speed she was running at.

She lost the vampires when she reached a coffee shop. The running blonde woman carrying a pointy stick caught the attention of some caffeinated customers. She keeled over and reclaimed her breath before heading back to the manor briskly.

Giles and Dawn had a long night of research ahead of them.

Kate knocked on Alicia's door and entered. Alicia's room was different than that of other Slayers in the manor, she'd packed her own bed sheets, added her own furniture; it was a replica of her old room back in Golden Pines. Alicia looked Kate up and down as she was fully dressed at that time of night. Kate watched Alicia toss her journal on the bed-side table. "What's up?" Alicia asked.

"Bored mostly," Kate replied.

"Why're you dressed, your patrol isn't until Wednesday afternoon," Alicia said puzzled.

"I know, I tried getting out and going solo but Andrew ratted me out to Mr. Giles," Kate sighed.

"Kate that's dangerous," Alicia warned.

"Oh grow a pair," Kate replied as she bit her lip and looked around the room.

"What're you looking for?" Alicia asked.

"Something to do," Kate murmured.

"Ooh!" Alicia sounded as she tossed the covers off of her, "We could play clue!"

Kate looked at her sternly and rolled her eyes.

Yesterday, Wolfram & Hart, Cleveland, Ohio

Amy sat at her desk twiddling her fingers. She'd been in a lull since she heard of the boys' failure on Halloween. Wolfram & Hart was quiet that day, no big cases, no sacrifices, not even trading virgins to the Ethros demons to possess. Just boring legal stuff that she didn't care for or understand.
Amy didn't think if herself as...evil. Just misunderstood. She'd had her run ins with the dark magics, and they felt good, felt earned, felt hers. And her motto was you get out what you put in, and she thought she'd earned the powers she had…unlike Willow. Her powers were handed to her; she had it easy, the friends, the magic, the life. An idiot floating pencils would have felt Willow's power two years ago and then again a few months ago, but did anybody ever ask about Amy? The girl who had magic first? The girl who introduced Willow to the mystical opportunities the world had? No, they kissed the ground she walked on and Amy would rather drink battery acid than watch it any longer.
She vowed she'd get her own back, someday.

She was startled out of her inner monologue when line 1 began ringing, "Hello?" Amy said picking up the phone. She said it tiredly as she had just finishing getting ready to head back to her overly expensive yet sucky apartment.

"Amy, could you come in here for a moment?" Hector said more like an order than a question.

"Right away sir," Amy replied. Amy came out from behind her desk and pushed open the double doors of the C.E.O of the Cleveland branch of Wolfram & Hart. Hector sat relaxed with his feet on his desk. "Can I get you a coffee or something?" Amy asked.

"Amy, I've just received a report from Ian the mail man about the missing Harpy Venom from the basement store room, you wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Hector asked.

"No sir not a thing," Amy lied.

"Huh, well that's funny," Hector said as he picked up a remote from his desk and pushed a button causing a screen at the back of the office to flash to life. A security camera video of Amy breaking into the basement supply room and casting a spell to summon the venom appeared on the screen. It floated from the shelf into her hands. She then teleported out of the room. Hector hit pause on the remote.

"I can explain," Amy started.

"Tell me Miss Madison, do you enjoy your job here?" he asked.

"Y-yes sir, very much, it's rewarding a-and stable and-"

"Well one thing I don't tolerate in my offices are liars."

"Sir, I can replace the venom, I know it isn't easy to come by but I will get it back to you-"

"Ahh, I don't care about the venom," Hector said as he got up from his chair and moved around to the front of his desk and sat down on the edge, "on your résumé I don't recall seeing Witch."

"I didn't think it worth mentioning," Amy stammered, "I wanted to get this job because I knew I'd be good at it, not because I have power-"

"Power indeed. Teleporting is a high level skill Amy. So I began to check into your background and I found some interesting details," Hector said as he held a brown file. Amy gulped. "Attended Sunnydale High School class of '99 but never graduated or heard of again until 2002 when you were arrested for robbing a liquor store, you served six months before you applied for a job here…tell me…about Sunnydale," Hector asked in the same tone that made it not sound like a request at all. When Amy learned that Willow and pals were in Cleveland too she realised her life was about to get rocky again.

"Just the normal high school experience," Amy lied.

"Amy I've heard stories about the things that go on in the High Schools of Cleveland, you expect me to believe Sunnydale was any different, I will not tolerate any more lies," he said with a dark twinge in his eyes.

"Yes sir," Amy complied.

"Now, I'm going to need your help with a little spell," Hector said.

Present Day

After numerous immature time killing suggestions from Alicia, Kate reached to Alicia's bedside table for Alicia's journal. Alicia darted across the room and snatched the journal up before Kate could grab it. "What're you doing?" Alicia asked.

"Jeez I was only looking," Kate defended.

"Yeah well don't alright? That's private," Alicia told.

"C'mon you've never let anybody see if before?" Kate disapproved.

"W-well I showed B-Buffy once when she found me," Alicia stammered.

"So our fearless leader is allowed to know your deepest secrets but not your friend?" Kate manipulated.

"Well Buffy said that she never let anybody see her diary when she used to journal," Alicia said.

"Wait, Buffy has a diary?" Kate said with a widening grin.

"She said she used to," Alicia said.

"Does she still have it?" Kate said excitedly.

"I dunno, I doubt she carried her high school diary out of Sunnydale with her," Alicia persuaded.

"If it were you, would you have?" Kate asked already knowing the answer, "c'mon I say it's time we get a little dirt on miss high and mighty," Kate grinned.

Yesterday, Wolfram & Hart, Cleveland, Ohio

Hector slid a book bound in a strange material across the desk; it was opened to a page dedicated to one single spell. Amy was told to pick it up and she began reading. "What exactly do you want me to do here?" Amy said.

"I think you already know, the spell is old so I had the mystics do a little tweaking in places," Hector announced.

"Sir this spell is way out of my league; there is no way I can pull this off," Amy said in disbelief as she read what the spell entailed.

"You have the full mystics of Wolfram & Hart at your disposal, the ingredients have been collected, we just need you to use the power you obviously have," Hector encouraged.

"Even if I manage to pull this off, how do we even know somebody is going to go looking for it?" Amy asked.

"Curiosity is a human's main weakness," he said.

Present Day

Kate and Alicia opened the door to Buffy's empty and dark room. Kate switched on the light and began rooting through Buffy's draws. "Kate I don't know about this, if somebody started reading my journal I'd be pretty pissed, and this is Buffy we're talking about," Alicia warned.

"Relax," Kate began as she gave up on the draws and headed for the wardrobe, "she's out on patrol and she'll never know we were here- Bingo!" Kate announced as she found a box of Buffy's high school diary and yearbook. She opened the cover and found many variations of Buffy 'hearts' 'A' written on the inside cover.

"Wait, A? Stands for Angel right? That guy we all went to last week? The vampire? They Dated! Buffy dated a VAMPIRE!" Alicia asked frantically.

"Leash! Cool it or somebody might walk in!" Kate sounded under her breath.

"Sorry, it's just, a vampire? I mean I thought they were all evil," Alicia said.

"Looks like miss squeaky clean got her naughty on back in the day," Kate smirked. She turned to the first page and began to read aloud.

September 1997

'It's starting again. The dreams I mean, I haven't had them since mom and me left L.A, but last night was intense, blood and candles and fire and did I mention the blood? I started school today, I thought I'd escaped from it all but instead of worrying if I had the right nail polish on I should have been worrying about the dead guy in the locker. Vampire, no questions. And then the librarian tells me he knows I'm the Slayer and this kid 'Zander' or whatever over hears our conversation and before I know it my being the Slayer is in the school fricken newspaper. Willow's cool though, definitely friend material. So I go to this club, The Bronze, to meet up with Cordelia when this yummy guy, let's go with 'A', shows up all cryptic and starts talking about something called The Harvest? He bailed before I could ask but he gave me the wiggins. So Willow's at the bronze and we get into talking and I stupidly told her to seize the moment, which she does, and ends up getting herself attacked by a vampire, in a cemetery no less. So I play the hero card and head after her, I've never had much trouble with a vampire before, I mean they aren't fun but, this guy, goes by the name of Luke totally wiped the floor with me. If it wasn't for my necklace I may not have made it out of the cemetery. But I guess I was lucky, another vamp, blonde schoolgirl wannabe? Took Willow and Zander's friend Jese. I'm going to have to find him tomorrow, Luke and the blonde disappeared. I'll see if I can pick up the trail in the morning.
Look's like burning down the gym isn't going to look so bad anymore, mom's going to kill me.

Authors Note: Thank you to; Boris Yeltin, Laby Anne Boleyn, An anonymous reviewer, calilily and Jeremy Shane who reviewed my last chapter in the first part of My Season 8 and big thanks to everybody else who reviewed all the other chapters too.

So, there it was, the first chapter of the 12th episode of my season 8. Thank you to the people who subscribed to author alert so they could continue to read my story. Next chapter should be up soon.

Thank you for reading:)

xx