The Book Of Three: Homecoming
By Phoenixgod2000
Rating R
Pairings- C/X//F, B/A, W/O, Anya/Riley, Amy/Tara
Disclaimer- these aren't my characters please don't sue.
Buffy/Highlander/Charmed/Destroyer series ( Remo Williams)
Plus lots more eventually.
Summary-Au beginning of season four. No fluke. Cordelia broke up with
Xander at the beginning of the year for reasons that will be stated in the
story. Xander and Faith fell in love nearly immediately and were very
happy together. Seems they had a connection. Dawn is Buffy's real sister.
Other changes will be mentioned in the story.
Feedback- please it's the only way I'll get better.
Dedication- To Tenhawk, Nick Midian, and all the other authors of epic
stories. I don't know you, but your stories have entertained me and
spurred my imagination. Thank you.
Part 1
Dark energy swirled around the five casters. Each one sat at the point of a pentagram that shielded them from the ravages of dimensional energy.
At the head of the pentagram sat a middle-aged man clad in tweed. Sometime during the spell his glasses had slipped off, but he sat unnoticing as rivulets of sweat poured down his face. This was beyond any spell he had ever cast and it was straining his skill to keep the raging power under control.
To his left sat a redhead wearing a long skirt. She sat in a lotus position and breathed deeply and evenly as the spell took its shape under her mind. It drew its form and purpose from her thoughts. It knew what she knew. A few lines formed over her brow as she fought to keep her mind on a specific image. Though the spell was beyond her power, she didn't care. Her purpose was more important.
To his right sat a short, light brown haired woman in a simple dress. She sat serenely as the energy moved through her. She was used to such powers coursing through her body. A few short months ago she could have used such magic's easily. Now, it came with far more difficulty. Her long years of controlling great power caused her to be made one of the anchors for the spell. Sweat coursed down her newly mortal face, and not for the first time she cursed her now fragile body.
Another two women, one brown haired and the other blond were holding the remaining two points. Though neither girl had a real connection to what they sought, their presence helped to power the spell. They were natural witches and the store of energy they possessed was necessary for powering the ancient seeking spell.
**
The spell drifted through the ether of space and time. It sent its tendrils through the waves of history as it sought out three figures, three lost friends. It drew the signature of the three from the minds of redhead and the librarian clad in tweed for they were the ones that knew the three best.
**
The man opened his eyes first. He sighed deeply. All his research and divinations had led him to this spell. This spell should have found and mystically tagged those they were looking for. Nothing was found, which could mean a few different things. Perhaps their astral signature was changed, maybe they had some sort of mystical protection, and unfortunately the most likely scenario was that they were de-. No, he wasn't going to think about it.
The redhead burst into tears. Her mouth quivered with emotion. She had been so sure this time. This was the spell that was going to do it. Giles had said so. Everything told her that this was the best way to find them.
The blond winced in sympathy pains. She was a powerful empath and the pain radiating from the redhead eclipsed the fatigue and drain of the other casters. She sent out soothing energy trying to calm the redhead.
Calming down, the redhead shot a grateful look at the blond and mouthed a silent thank you. She moved closer to the librarian and stretched her stiff muscles.
" You said that would work Giles," she said accusingly. " You promised," she continued brokenly. She wrapped her arms around her body and whispered, " He's really not coming back, is he? None of them are coming back!"
" I don't know Willow," Giles replied sadly. He seemed to age before Willow's eyes. He always seemed so vital, so full of energy. Now he just seemed old. " If they were anywhere in time or space, this spell should have sensed their astral signature and allowed us to grab them wherever they were." He rubbed his face and absently reached for his missing glasses. " I don't know what went wrong since the spell clearly worked."
"Your friends are most likely dead," the brunette spoke in a matter of fact voice. " After all a new slayer was called after Faith fell into the portal."
" Yes, thank you for that depressing recap Anya," Giles said while rubbing his glasses. An act he seemed to do most frequently when the former demon revealed just how tactless she could be.
"A-A-Amy and I are going to leave, okay Willow," Tara said. The young empath walked over to the redhead and hugged her, feeding her courage.
" I'm going to leave, Giles and check my notes. Maybe I missed something." Willow sounded defeated.
After all of the young girls left the home of Rupert Giles, the watcher shut his door and sighed. He never felt older than he did at this moment. He didn't realize how much he missed his three missing students, their troubles, their jokes, their life, till they were gone.
It had been six months since Xander, Faith, and Cordelia disappeared, taken through the Hellmouth.
**
Buffy summers was scared out of her mind. It wasn't the two vampires who thought they were stealthily trailing her. It wasn't her three friends that have been missing for six months.
It was her not so broken arm that was scaring Buffy.
An odd thing to be scared of to be sure, but that didn't dissuade Buffy. Sunday had broken her arm during that first fight two months ago. She was sure of it. She felt the snap. Heard it.
But later that night she was able to use the arm like it was as good as new. She and Angel had surprised Sunday and her minions and Buffy staked Sunday using her supposedly broken arm.
Slayers weren't supposed to heal this fast. A broken arm should have taken a week to heal. Fast, but not this fast.
In addition, in the last two months Buffy had not received a single major injury. Even the ordinary aches and pains that plagued her as a side effect of nightly combat to the death have totally disappeared. She had never felt better in her whole life. The last time Buffy had been seriously injured was during the graduation. She had been a little slow leaving the library and was caught in the explosion that killed the Mayor. She was knocked out for about two hours and Giles found her lying under some rubble. Even before that, she recovered really fast from Angel draining her to cure that poison the mayor used on him.
It worried her, but what was she going to do? Complain to Giles that she was feeling too good and she wasn't getting hurt enough on patrol?
Right.
" Come on out guys. I know you've been following me for like two hours. Lets get this over with cause I got class in the morning." Buffy turned around, crossed her arms and began tapping her foot.
Two vampires materialized out of the darkness and advanced on her. They were newbies and the dust from their graves flaked around their bodies as they stalked the blond slayer. Buffy smiled and met them head on.
**
Angel swept through the same cemetery as Buffy, looking for her. He finished his half of the patrol and was now looking for his friend.
Friend. That's was it.
Sure.
After the disappearance of Xander and the others, Angel felt he had to stay. Despite the problems in their relationship he was not going to abandon Buffy when half of her friends disappear. She needed him and for as long as he was capable he was going to be there for her. They just had to watch out. They needed to make sure he never lost his soul again. That meant that as much as they wanted it to be different, they couldn't be together. Buffy had even tried going out on a few dates with some college guys and Angel was doing his best to be supportive, to be her friend.
And it was killing him.
His sensitive ears heard the sounds of battle up ahead and he could pick out Buffy's distinctive voice over the din of battle. Every pretense of stealth left him and he rushed forward with vampiric speed. He entered the small clearing where Buffy was dueling with a pair of new vampires. He slowed down and stopped to watch.
He watched with a small smile as Buffy played with the two vampires. She ducked a slow punch from the first vampire and grabbed his arm. She flipped him into his friend causing both vampires to crash to the ground. While they were untangling themselves buffy looked up and smiled at Angel. She gave a small wave and tapped her foot impatiently. " I'm not getting any younger here guys, you wanna try a little harder to give me a workout?" Tiring of the vampire's incompetence, she picked up her stake and flicked it into one of the vampires' chest. Grabbing the second vampire around the neck, Buffy gave a short jerk and snapped its neck. Wiping her hands free of the dust Buffy looked up at Angel who was making his way toward her.
" Hey," she smiled. " How was patrol?"
Angel frowned as he remembered why he'd come to find Buffy. " I killed a few vampires and a gra'lock demon. Just a regular night. But I spied those Military guys you saw a few weeks ago. They were carrying some kind of gun and carrying a stunned vampire. I stayed low and got their scent so if I run into one of them without the mask, I'll know."
" We need to tell Giles to step up the research. These guys are bothering me."
Angel paused for a moment and the asked, " Did Giles or Willow call about the spell? Did it work?"
Buffy shook her head sadly. " I should never have let Xander stay with us for the Hellmouth opening. It wasn't his fight."
" Buffy," Angel began softly. " It became his fight the instant he started dating Faith. You know how close they became after Cordelia broke up with him. If you had forbid him from helping, he would never had forgiven you for embarrassing him in front of Faith, and she liked having him for backup."
" I know, but I still miss him," buffy whispered. " I never knew how much he really meant to me, how much he helped keep me going until he wasn't around anymore. How much they all meant." She buried her face in Angels jacket.
Angel wrapped his arms around her and the two of them walked out into the night.
Just friends.
**
The din in the cavern was deafening. Several jackhammers rattled in different parts of the cavern and to Spikes sensitive ears it sounded like a dragons roar. He snorted at the thought.
Spike poured over the map one last time. He knew the Gem was somewhere in this cavern. The map however was too faded to be sure what area it would be found in.
If he had a pulse it would have quickened at the thought of being this close to the gem of Amara. It made the vampire wearer nearly indestructible. With it he could control the Hellmouth. The only other vampire master in sunnydale right now was that ass Thomas Thorne. what the hell was her name again? Bah!!! He didn't need some other vampire girl. He's got his Dru back. That was all he ever needed.
She was his again. He proved to her that he was still the same big bad he always had been. She'd forgiven him for that fiasco with Acathla. All it took was a few night of torture with fishhooks and holy water and she was back to being his girl.
He looked up from the map and smiled at Drusilla. She was standing in the middle of the cavern waving her hands about like a conductor. He didn't know if she was conducting the jackhammers, or some sound only she could hear. She was happy and smiling and that was all that mattered.
Spike growled and approached her. She shivered with anticipation and giggled like a schoolgirl when he seized and kissed her savagely on the mouth. He bit down on her tongue and tasted Dru's sweet blood.
Together they danced madly beneath a thousand pounds of rock
**
Oz came home to the apartment he shared with Willow. After the disappearance of Xander and the others she and Oz became even closer and decided to move in together at the beginning of the college semester. He opened the door to the bedroom that they shared. He saw her at her desk, head resting on a book filled with arcane doodling. He paused and watched her in the dark, his keen senses picking out her features. Oz smiled, a real smile, which he only did alone or with Willow as he studied his life mate.
The stress she put herself under with her full course load and the additional research she put in searching for the missing had taken a toll on the petite redhead. Oz could see the wan features, her sharply drawn cheeks and skeletal neck. Magic burned calories like nothing else and the always slender Willow had become nearly emaciated with the amount of power she was spending. Coupled with her not eating or sleeping much and Oz could clearly sense how much her health has taken a turn for the worse. He had tried to talk with her, to get her to slow down but she refused to listen. Anything was worth the price of Xander and the others.
And Oz could hardly blame her with the role he played in their disappearance. It was the aftermath of that event that inspired him to do research, not for a cure, but for a method of control. His meditations had given him wolf senses in his human form. Not merely scent, but hearing and night vision. He was also slowing learning how to remember his actions as a wolf, the first step in learning eventual control.
He walked silently to Willow and scooped her slight form into his arms. She stirred and half opened her eyes. " Wassup Baby," she yawned.
" Just got home from the set at the frat party," Oz whispered. " Saw you passed out, so I'm moving you."
" Your talking a lot," Willow whispered as he laid her on the bed and peppered her with several small kisses.
" Too tired to be Monosyllabic." He replied sardonically. He lay next to her and curled up against her. He inhaled her scent and let out a soft growl as he snuggled against her. No matter what, Oz was going to support his mate.
**
Margaret Walsh cracked her neck as sat in front of her computer screen. She frowned as she plunked some keys as she tried to figure out a way to store more information inside the mind of her creation. She was going to need a lot more processing power and memory space for her brainchild.
The problem was both the interface and the storage. Just not enough was known about the human brain for her to be able to figure out a way to connect the cyborg and organic parts of the brain with nonhuman nervous systems.
YOU CAN DO IT MAGGIE
" Thank you Malcolm. I know I will, its just that I can finally see the finish line and I'm getting a little impatient to see the fruits of our labor." Maggie spoke to the voice that emanated from the computer the way she would a respected colleague, and a good deal more respect than she dealt with most of her students or the soldiers under her command.
YOU SOLVED THE PROBLEM OF THE POWER SOURCE AND ORGAN REJECTION DIDN'T YOU. YOU WERE THE ONE WHO FIGUED OUT HOW TO ALIGN MORE THAN A DOZEN DISPARATE ENDOCRINE SYSTEMS. YOU CAN DO THIS TOO.
Maggie leaned back in her chair. " I appreciated the vote of confidence Malcolm, but none of those things would have gotten done if you hadn't given me invaluable insight. Which I still don't know how you managed to gain.
I HAVE LIVED A LONG TIME MARGRET AND I WAS NOT ALWAYS A COMPUTER PROGRAM.
" Soon you will have a body again, my friend and I will be responsible for the most magnificent discovery in science since the completion of the human genome project," She smile as she contemplated her name eventually going down in history as the greatest expert on preternatural biology and surgical techniques.
Knock, Knock.
" Later Malcolm." She closed what she was working on. " Come in."
Captain Riley Finn walked in the room and saluted. " Ma'am, I wanted to let you know that all of the squads have returned and we managed to corral another vampire hostile. The lab boys are preparing the hostile for surgery as we speak."
" Excellent Riley." Maggie smiled at the soldier she considered a son. " Your men are doing an excellent job."
Riley smiled at the complement. " If you'll excuse me ma'am, I have one last paper to grade before class tomorrow." Riley rolled his eyes and laughed. " I've been saving Miss Anya Jenkins for last. Her papers on abnormal psychology are always something to see."
" She does have a rather unique view about certain aspects of the mind." Dr. Walsh raised her eyebrow as she watched the young military man flush as he spoke about the coed.
It seemed that young Mr. Finn was quite taken with Anya Jenkins.
**
The sun shined brightly as it always did in suunydale, as if the brightness and beauty of the day could counteract the shadows the hellmouth cast upon the city at night. The campus of UC sunnydale was packed with kids who were studying on the grass outside.
Buffy Summers walked along the tree lined walk way down to the psychology building with Willow and Anya. Abnormal psychology was the only class Buffy shared with both of her friends.
Buffy still found it hard to believe that she could actually call herself friends with the former vengeance demon Anyanka. But the girl had more than a thousand years of experience in the demon realms and she proved invaluable in stopping the Mayors ascension. The knowledge of his weakness came from her and she bravely stayed behind to help prep the explosives despite her newfound mortality. Sure Anya had no sense of tack, was rude, abrasive, and seemed to have an overly strong desire to share about her lack of a sex life but on the whole Buffy was glad to have her as a friend.
The fact that Harmony's dating issues were the reason for Anya's new found mortality caused Buffy to burst out laughing every time the thought entered her mind.
" I am exceptionally pleased with the results Riley Finn received on my Cosmo compatibility test, " Anya was telling willow and Buffy as they walked to psychology. " Plus, his hand and shoe size suggest a large penis and I am eager to find out if my estimates are accurate."
" Uh Anya, you haven't actually met Riley yet. How could you take a compatibility test for him?" Willow asked, not even touching the second part. Buffy just smiled and rolled her eyes.
Anya waved that fact off as if it was a trifling matter that was irrelevant to the subject at hand. " Please, I have not dealt with no good for nothing cheating men for ten centuries without being able to read people. He used to be in the military. Based on his height he must drink his milk, and his smile suggests that his parents must have paid for braces and whitening fluid. The calluses on his hand suggest he grew up on a farm. Everything else is extra."
Buffy perked up at hearing that Riley used to be in the military. " How do you know that Anya?" In the past Anya had demonstrated that she possessed an uncanny ability to read people, particularly nasty men. She had saved Buffy's behind when Buffy started to fall for a slick senior named Parker.
" Easy, it's the way he holds himself." Anya shrugged her shoulders. " Soldiers hold themselves straight and stand in a way no one else duplicates. Not even slayers," she added before Buffy could interrupt, " because of the differences in the way soldiers and slayers are trained."
They stopped the conversation as they reached the classroom. The three of them stopped by Riley's desk to pick up their papers he had graded. He smiled at them, mostly directing those white teeth toward Anya. Anya returned the smile with a direct assessing gaze, and Buffy could not help but notice that her eyes dipped toward his crotch subtly or the wide and not subtle smile that broke on her face when her gaze met his eyes again. Anya leaned forward to give him a good view of her breasts and was about to speak when professor Walsh entered the room looking flustered and if buffy didn't know better, upset.
" Girls get to your seats," she snapped with much more rancor than she normally mustered.
Anya shot professor Walsh a death glare as the three girls took to their seats and prepared for another day of exciting abnormal psychology.
***
" Buffy there is a polgara nest in the sewer system. Angel ran into a couple of them and trailed them back to their lair. Even for him, that number of polgara is too many to take on by himself. It will take all of us to kill them." Giles shook his head as he saw his slayer was once again distracted from the matter at hand. He sighed and asked, " What is it Buffy?"
Buffy looked at Giles sadly. " I was just thinking that another slayer would be useful right about now and it got me started thinking about- ," She trailed off. " It's just, I never knew how much I relied on them, all of them until they were gone. Now it'll be too late forever to tell them how much they mean to me. Faith was like another sister to both Dawn and me. Xander was like my strong right arm. Someone I could rely on because no matter what, quit wasn't in his vocabulary. And Cordy," Buffy and Giles both smiled, " Cordy was a walking reality check for all of us."
" I agree with you. Those three, despite the arguments they had were people worthy of respect and are greatly missed by everyone who knew them."
" Even you Giles?" Buffy asked with a teasing smile. It was no secret that the frequent screaming matches between Faith and Cordelia over Xander caused the reserved brit no end of consternation.
Giles smiled at his slayer. " Yes even I miss them."
Growing serious, buffy asked " Is there anything else we can try Giles?"
" Short of opening the hellmouth ourselves and rummaging around inside I can't think of anything."
" That's not sounding like such a crazy idea right about now," Buffy said seriously.
" No, its really not."
***
Maggie Walsh rubbed her eyes as they began to blur from staring at the computer screen too much. The math just wasn't coming together; she just could not solve the information storage problem. She was never going to get Adam off the ground if she couldn't find the solution. At least Riley had found a nest of polgara demons that they could kill and harvest. One thing was going to go right tonight.
DON'T THINK LIKE THAT MAGGIE. I KNOW YOU WILL FIND THE SOLUTION.
" I once again thank you for the vote of confidence but I don't think our current level of scientific knowledge is up to the task." She sounded defeated
IF SCIENCE WILL NOT DO WHAT YOU NEED, WHY DON'T YOU TRY MAGIC? I KNOW A SPELL THAT MIGHT DO THE TRICK.
Maggie snorted. " Magic is far too unstable for this kind of delicate operation. It is too easily dispelled and far too chaotic for information storage in Adam."
DO NOT POO-POO MAGIC MARGERET, IT CAN DO NEARLY ANYTHING IF YOU CAN FIND THE RIGHT SPELL.
A stream of words began to flicker across the screen. When Maggie took a closer look she saw it was an incantation and a list of ingredients for a spell designed to preserve memories the caster wanted to never forget.
I BELIEVE THIS SPELL CAN HELP YOU CIRUMVENT THE DIFFICULTIES YOU ARE HAVING UNTIL SCIENCE CAN 'CATCH UP' WITH YOUR VISION.
" Thank you Malcolm, I can definitely get this to work for me." Maggie smiled as visions of Nobel prizes danced before her gaze. She swiftly turned off the monitor when she heard a knock at the door.
" Come in."
Riley walked into the room dressed in his black operating fatigues. " We're about ready to leave, Dr. Walsh. I just wanted to let you know in case you had in last minute changes in your orders." Walsh could hear the note of hope in his voice. Her orders had been particularly strict on this mission. They were to inflict a minimum amount of damage on the demons and they were to bring back the carcasses as intact as possible. That meant that they could not use the more effective armor piercing rounds on the Polgara's, which meant that the job was suddenly a lot harder than a simple demon-killing mission.
" My order's have not changed Captain." She said coldly. Then in a softer tone she continued, " My order's are for a good reason Riley. Please don't question them."
" Yes ma'am."
Maggie smiled and waved her hands, " Go and be safe Riley."
***
" I have a plan." Buffy's announcement was met with slight groans from the others. Her plans never worked the why they were supposed to. She, Angel, Anya, Willow, Oz, Giles, Amy, and Tara were hovering around the entrance to the part of the sunnydale sewer where the Polgaras were living. She searched the faces of the others and saw a couple of people yawning as they held their weapons. " Here it is. The sewers are way too cramped to fight them. We won't have any room to maneuver" her gaze went to Tara. " I know your witch power is empathy. Can you project feelings of lust or something and lead them over there?" Buffy pointed to an old cemetery near where they were. It was Quiet Grove, one of the first cemeteries in Sunnydale and one filled with large trees and enough gravestones to give cover from any cops that might actually brave the night.
Tara's lowered her face and her hair created a curtain blocking her eyes from buffy. " I-I-I think I-I-I can do that. Demon emotions are weird though. I can generate something to get them into the graveyard but I can't guarantee any specific emotion. Their j-j-just too hard to pinpoint." Tara looked sheepish at not being able to help Buffy.
Buffy smiled kindly at her. " Do what you can. I'm sure it will be enough."
Amy looked at Tara and gave her a proud look. " She can do it. She is the strongest empathy my mother or I have ever heard of." Amy looked a little sick at the thought. When she broke free from her mother's possession she kept some of her mother's memories and Tara indeed was a powerful empathy. Empathy was one of the rarest witch gifts because not only can she sense or project emotions. She can use her emotions to power her magic.
The Scooby's made their way to the graveyard and hopped the gate. Giles motioned to the spell casters to hide behind several of the larger tombstones and statues while he, Angel, and Buffy stood in the open weapons at the ready. Oz took his place beside Willow and hefted a heavy crossbow while Anya hefted a large axe. Angel could swear he heard her mutter a Viking prayer under her breath.
Tara closed her eyes and her hand sought out Amy's on its own. She clutched her girlfriends' hand and took several slow deep breaths as her thumbs gently rubbed Amy's soft hand. Her pulse quickened the way it always did and she felt the power coil around that particular emotion. She visualized it as golden light that suffused her entire being. She gathered that light into a ball that rose to the top of her head. Tara unleashed that power with a mighty mental blast and she was rocked back with sudden overwhelming lust. Tara began to hyperventilate in unison with Amy as she clutched the other girl like a lifeline.
Amy felt the urge to grab Tara right there and damn anyone who saw. She felt the power that Tara released and lust washed over her. Her nipples hardened, she grew moist and she squeezed the hand of Tara so hard she forced the blood out. " I am so going to rock your world tonight," Amy grunted.
The others also sensed the massive release of lust by Tara. Oz raised his eyebrow and Willow moved uncomfortably. Giles rubbed his glasses and shifted his pants while he made a silent vow to call Olivia again very soon. Anya licked her lips and made a silent vow to own Riley Finn. Buffy glanced at Angel while breathing heavily. She saw him stoically look straight ahead; the only sign of stress a sheen of blood sweat that dripped from his brow. Buffy fought the urge to drag Angel to the ground and ravage him. A skill she had perfected over the years.
A few minutes passed and the group waited for the demons to come out. Angel was the first to hear the demons with his enhanced hearing. He motioned for the group to make ready for the demons attacked.
They didn't have long to wait.
***
" Captain Finn, I got a couple of weird things on the pheromone scanner and the heat detectors." Graham motioned to the scanners in his hand.
Riley held up his hand and stopped the march of his squad of six soldiers. Pulling off his mask he asked, " What do you got?"
Graham said, " The polgara hostile's pheromones just jumped off the chart. I think they just went into heat. They're on the move. Heading this way through Quiet Grove Cemetery."
" Weapons up and eyes ready, " Riley snapped. His gaze went to Graham. " What else Soldier?"
" We got a mob of cold bodies heading straight toward the same cemetery and about a half dozen warm bodies just waiting to get caught between the both of them." Cold bodies were the field term for vampires in case they were ever overheard.
Riley straightened up and looked around. " This just became a rescue mission, soldiers. We're going to keep the civvies alive even if we have to plug the polgaras to do it."
" Walsh won't like that," Forrest, Riley's second in command said.
Riley growled, " Let her complain. I signed up to protect Americans from enemies foreign and domestic and these guys are about as foreign as they come." Riley pulled down his mask and strode off. " Everyone switch blasters from stun to lethal."
Forrest stood there for a second and then reluctantly switched his blaster to lethal and followed behind.
***
For nearly eight-foot tall demons with spikes in their arms, they sure were agile. The Polgara demons leapt the tall fence like it nothing. Buffy could hear the pop as the two foot long spikes shot from their arms as they rushed the scoobies that were out in the open. She felt more than saw Angel shift into game face and Giles unleash the Ripper.
Buffy met the first Polgara with a smash to its face from her axe and sent it flying. Angel dropped another with a viscous barehanded combination that cracked the Polgara's armored skin. Giles ducked the blows from another polgara and drove his sword into a gap in the creatures skin.
Others quickly replaced the three they stunned. The nest had more than a dozen members and the scoobies merely dealt the first blow.
***
Thomas Thorne smelled the night air and rubbed his shaved head. Fifteen minutes ago he'd been inside his lair and warm with Alicia draped over him. She'd promised some extra games that night. But no, his scout had to find out the slayer was a block away with all of her little friends. Thorne would have preferred to lay low for a few more weeks to build his brood up but twenty members should be plenty.
He smiled at his consort. Alicia returned with a small nip in his direction and her emerald eyes promised lots of fun tonight after the spot of violence with the slayer. Truth be told he heard lots of interesting things about the Sunnydale slayer. He knew his slayer lore and no other slayer in history had broken from the council. She was the same one to send Spike packing with his tail between his legs and to kill the Master and Kakistos, two of the most ancient vampires in existence. Stopping the pack with an upraised hand, he silently motioned to Alicia. Taking his meaning she took half his force and circled around to the opposite side of the cemetery so they can catch the slayer in between the two halves of the vampire pack.
Thomas Thorne was indeed interested in meeting this Slayer.
***
Willow wiped the blood that dripped from her nose. She swayed a little and took a few deep breaths to steady herself as she focused her will on the nearest Polgara and sent him flying with a telekinetic shove. Willow stumbled to her knee. These demons were a hell of a lot tougher than the vampires she normally helped Buffy with. Dizzily she looked around to assess the battle.
Oz had done an admirable job of keeping the demons away from her with his crossbow and Zen-like precision aim. A quick count put half of the demons down in the first few minutes but at a cost. Giles was on the ground and not getting up and Anya was barely holding her own. Of the two champions, Buffy was unhurt although her clothes had torn in several places, and Angel was bleeding from bad wounds in his shoulder and thigh.
Willow thought to herself. Summoning up her flagging strength she stumbled to her feet and threw her self back into the fray.
***
Alicia Killdare easily led her group over the fence into Quiet Grove cemetery. As one of the oldest Cemeteries in town it had some remarkably thick foliage and her group slipped into the cemetery without notice. The tall blond sniffed the air and smiled at the scent of mortal and demon blood. She could smell vampire, werewolf, normals, and one scent she could not place. The blood was tangy, and strong with an almost electric after scent. Alicia smiled at the thought of killing whatever had such a pungent blood scent. Perhaps she and Thomas could share.
She and her vampires stalked with the careful silence only the dead can master until she spied the battle. The slayer and her pet vampire were doing well against the polgara although several of her more fragile mortal friends sported rather painful looking injuries. She spotted a pretty, pouty-lipped blond hiding behind a large gravestone casting magicks of some kind at the demons. Like a wraith, Alicia slipped around the gravestones between her and the blond and crept up to her. Alicia clapped a hand over her mouth and whispered, " Hey there sexy." Alicia licked her neck and pricked her with elongated fangs.
At her action vampires came from ever direction to encircle the Scooby's.
*** Amy cursed the nature of her witch power. All natural witches developed their own personal power that they could use. Willow possessed a moderate strength telekinesis, Tara was a strong empathy, and Amy could generate fire same as her mother.
Of course it was about as strong as a big cigarette lighter, which meant that she had to get uncomfortably close to use her ability.
Amy blasted a Polgara that strayed too close to her and then took a quick look behind her at Tara. She glanced at her lover to make sure she was still safe and her eyes widened at the sight of a blond, lithe vampiress leaning over Tara's throat.
" Buffffy!!" Amy shrieked. " Vampires!!"
Not even stopping to see how Buffy responded, Amy took off at a run toward her love. Flames sprouted from in between her fingers and her hands wreathed themselves in fire. Reaching her Tara she lashed out at the vampire holding her with a fiery fist that impacted the female vampire's cheek.
Alicia flew back and patted her singed cheek. " Bitch, " she growled, " I'm so gonna rip out your heart and suck on the juices." Alicia rushed toward Amy and ducking a second wild swing, she struck Amy in face knocking her to the ground.
Tara touched her blood soaked collar and the meek girls eyes narrowed at the sight of the blond vampire standing over her beloved. She pointed a finger and uttered a single word.
" Boil."
The effect was immediate. The blond vampire doubled over in pain and night air wavered with heat the emanated from the vampire.
Tara concentrated and poured more power into the spell.
***
" Bufffy!!! Vampires!!!"
Buffy ducked a blow from the arm spike from a Polgara demon and looked behind her. And saw a legion of undead that seemed to materialize from every direction lead by big vampire with a shaved head. He looked like a biker with his ripped leather jacket and silver studded belt. Buffy suddenly noticed what Anya was talking about. Despite his scruffy appearance, he carried himself like a soldier, a warrior born and bred.
Buffy whined to herself. She dropped to the ground and spun around catching the Polgara behind the knee dropping the larger creature. Flipping back to her feet, she looked to Angel who was a little worse for wear from the battle. " Recognize our friend over there?"
Angel grimaced. " Looks like Thomas Thorne. He's a contemporary of Darla. Angelus thought he was a boring ass. He's smart, patient and his brood is really loyal to him. He's actually a good leader and he's killed at least one slayer in single combat."
Buffy sighed. " I hate happy vampire families." She looked softy at Angel for a moment and then ran forward. Angel hobbled after her, slowed by his wounds. He watched as Buffy sent a blurring series of attacks toward Thorne, which he evaded as easily as if she told him where she was going to strike.
***
Tara poured on the power. Hot blood streamed from the nose and mouth of the blond vampire and she lay on the ground in a fetal position shaking.
Amy stood up and turned to see even more vampires come from every direction. Out of the corner of her eye she saw buffy start to fight the leader. A pair of vampire approached her. A blast of fire consumed the one in the lead and the other suddenly decided to go after easier prey. Like the souled vampire. Amy's power might not be the strongest of the three, but hers was the best for vampire killing.
A yelp of pain made her turn around and she saw Tara laying on the ground a vampire standing over her. The blond vampiress stood up and swayed weakly. She wiped the warm blood off her face with the back of her hand and walked over to Tara. " Your going to live for a long time before I kill you," and punctuated her fury with a swift kick to Tara's ribs.
" Stay the Hell away from her you bitch." Amy screamed and once again rushed forward to the aid of her beloved. Amy stopped short when a vampire behind her grabbed her hair and jerked her around. A punch dropped her to the ground and kept her head fogged enough so she couldn't concentrate on her power. The vampire picked her up and tossed Amy over the nearest tombstone.
Amy looked around and saw several vampires advancing menacingly. ***
Anya coughed. you have to think about that sort of thing when you're a fragile mortal. She might be 1119 years old but if she wanted to live to see twenty-one she had to be careful. She evaded a blow from one of the still active polgara demons and darted forward to embed her axe into the throthgar organ on the side of his abdomen. The demon fell to the ground, a fountain of blood erupting from his side. Anya shook her head.
Polgaras were so easy to kill.
Anya sighed and turned on another vampire that tried creeping up behind her. You didn't get to be 1100 years and thrive in D'hoffran's court by being easy to ambush. She dodged the first punch but the second caught her in the stomach.
Of course for 1100 years she had super strength and the power to regenerate wounds.
***
Oz calmly lifted his crossbow and fired again. The fiberglass weapon hummed with accuracy and sent a bolt right through the heart of an approaching vampire. That was the third one he had killed. Willow had nearly passed out from the magical exertion. She was totally tapped out of power, especially since she had performed such a powerful spell only the night before. Oz was grimly firing bolt after bolt but he was nearly out of things to fire. He had used most of his ammunition during the fight with the polgara demons and was rapidly running out.
He was reloading the crossbow when a vampire grabbed him and ripped the weapon out of his hand. The vampire forced him to his knees.
Willow blinked her eyes and saw that oz was in trouble. She tried to stand but couldn't move very much. Willow reached deep inside and felt the guttering spark of her magic reserves.
" Incinerate." The vampire burst into flames and Willow sagged against the tombstone. Several more vampires approached and grabbed both Oz and Willow. Willow raised her hands but nothing happened. She was just too tired.
*** Angel watched buffy in a brutal fight with Thomas. He couldn't help but worry about her. He limped forward but thanks to the polgara wound in his leg he was nowhere near fast enough to catch up to her. A group of vampires surrounded him.
" Angelus." One whispered.
" Betrayer," said another. Angel grimaced. Thomas was unique among vampire masters. He trained his children in pack tactics and fighting techniques. He ran his brood like an army and they were very effective. Angel wasn't looking forward to this fight.
The vampires sprang together as one. Angel grabbed one and swung him around and slammed him into another couple of minions. He slammed his foot down on the neck of one of the vampires severing it. At the same time Angel struck out blindly with an elbow catching another vampire in the chin, dropping him to the floor. Spinning around he tried to keep away from allowing any of the vampires from getting near his back. One vampire jumped off a gravestone and clapped arm around his neck. Angel dropped to a knee and flipped the unfortunate vampire forward into a large tree. Where a branch pierced his heart.
Before Angel could struggle to his feet, a half-dozen vampires bore him to the ground.
***
" So you're the famous slayer that got all those brits in a panty twist," Thorne said while smiling. " Thought you'd be taller." He grabbed buffy and slammed his forehead into her face. Everyone heard the audible crack of her nose. Blood streamed down her face. A backhanded blow sent her stumbling and ripped her pants.
" You are so going to pay for that," Buffy growled. " I love these pants. She sent a flurry of blows that drove the large vampire back several paces. She launched a kick aimed at Thorne's head. He ducked the blow and caught her foot in a vice-like grip. " I think there's a gap somewhere in slayer training. This is how I killed the last one." He smiled at the horrified looking Buffy and brought his elbow down on the slayers knee.
" AAAHHH."
The battle stopped for a moment as everyone stood in shock as the vampire tossed the crippled slayer to the ground. His voice clearly carried over the battleground. " Your leg is broken slayer. Your friends are surrounded by my pack. You're all going to die tonight."
Buffy's hazel eyes blinked clear of the pain and her voice carried just as strongly. " No we aren't."
" Who's going to stop me? Your gimpy pet vampire?" Thomas Thorne pointed at Angel who had been surrounded, and he smiled. " Gather them up, we'll take them back to the warehouse. He smiled at the captured Scooby gang. " You're going to be my guests at a feast."
Just then a cracking bolt of blue electricity hit Thorne in the chest and Thomas flew back and crashed into several of his minions. Thomas shook his head clear and saw what hit him. Looked like a big guy in black fatigues carrying some kind of plastic looking gun. About six other guys who looked the same came from behind him blasting the other vampires in his pack with those blue bolts. The weaker vampires collapsed into dust while the stronger vampires were merely stunned.
Buffy could feel a burning sensation in her leg and the muscles began to cramp. Buffy couldn't believe what was happening. Her leg, which was very broken, was starting to straighten out. The external wound was sealing up and she could feel the bone fusing together. She felt a tingling sensation in her nose and could only assume that was also healing.
She was definitely going to have to ask Giles about this.
***
Anya looked up to see the vampire in front of her turn to dust courtesy of a gun-wielding soldier. When she looked around she saw several other soldiers blasting vampires. She saw the lead soldier rush forward to engage the leader in hand to hand. She thought as she squinted suspiciously at the soldier. Her eyes darted to his pants and they widened. her mind whispered.
Grabbing her axe she rushed forward.
***
Thomas stood up. His chest burned like never before. He saw the large soldier coming at him, stake in one hand and blaster in the other. Struggling to his feet, he blocked the first strike to the heart and gripped the soldier's wrist so he couldn't aim his blaster. Thorne kicked the soldier in the back of his leg and punched the soldier in the chin. He went down like a sack of potatoes.
Thomas cracked his neck and began to smirk. A smirk that died when he saw the slayer whose leg he had broken stand up. Very healed.
It was Buffy's time to smile. " Its my turn now."
***
Willow tried to focus. She really did. But nothing was working. Vampires surrounded her and Oz. Oz was still struggling but Willow could barely summon the energy to keep her eyes open.
" Leave Red alone." A smoky voice called out.
Willow craned her head. That voice was so distinctive. It belonged to the love of her best friend's life. Faith.
She saw woman in a black leather coat with a cascade of dark brown hair that coiled past her shoulders. A pair of sunglasses perched on her nose. Only Faith could smile like that. That smile of perfect confidence. But she was too old. Faith was 17; a year younger than Xander but this girl was about twenty-five.
Willow murmured, " Faith?"
" Got it in one, Little Red Riding Hood." Only Faith ever called her that. Thought it was funny cause Oz is the big bad wolf.
Faith's hips swayed and creaked in their leather casing as she beckoned the vampires surrounding Oz and Willow. " Can't leave me hanging Boys," Her throaty voice teased. Three vampires rushed her as one. Moving faster than anything Willow has ever seen Faith rolled around their blows. A swift punch sent a vampire flying into a statue, which broke apart. Spinning around she drove her knee into another vampire. The rush of his dusting punctuates the sound of that vampire's ribs shattering. The last vampire began backing away, hands up. Faith pouted. " Can't be leaving so soon," she whispered.
Willow's not certain about what happens next. The vampire is backing up and a bright flash and then the vampire was blown to dust.
And a dull glow seemed to surround Faiths hands.
***
Tara rocked back, a drop of bloody spittle dripping from the corner of her chin. Alicia slapped her again. Amy was being held by a pair of vampires in front of Tara, a purplish bruise forming on her face.
A wave of emotions overpowered Tara and sagged in her captor's arms. Someone was here. Someone with more power than anything she has ever encountered in her life. It was at that moment that she heard the tap of heels on stone.
Alicia turned around and saw a beautiful brunet with hair that hung well past her shoulders. She wore a white leather coat and white silk pants that hung loose around her legs. She had a compact out and appeared to be running her fingers through her hair and studying her reflection in the mirror. " Who the Hell are you?"
" You better hope I'm not the fashion police cause you'd get the death penalty." She shrugged her shoulders and laughed. " But then what do you expect from a race that can't see themselves in the mirror."
" I'm going to kill you, bitch," Alicia roared and rushed forward dropping Tara to the ground.
The mysterious woman smiled. " No, your really not." Her eyes flashed white, like they suddenly turned to smoke and so did the eyes of Alicia and the two vampires holding Amy.
Tara was suddenly overwhelmed by emotions being felt by the three vampires. They were feeling overwhelmingly of pain and regret. But that was impossible. Vampires didn't feel those things. They couldn't.
The three vampires backed away, their eyes wide as they looked around. Alicia stared in horror at her bloody hands and the other two vampires looked even worse. They turned around and ran off.
The brunet in white walked over to Amy. " Hi Amy," she said softy.
" Cordelia!!" Came the incredulous reply
" Yeah its me." She smiled. " Its amazing how fast vampires run when you give them a taste showing them what a soul is like." She laughed. " Its like they can't live with a little guilt."
***
Angel struggled underneath the pile of vampires. He was easily strong enough to move two maybe three vampires, but not five. They were digging into his skin with their teeth and his previous wounds burned. He heard two pops and felt the pile suddenly become lighter. He could smell the vampire dust in the air. Forcing several of the vampires off him, he saw a hand extend forward, but the bodies prevented him from seeing the face of whoever was helping him. But nothing prevented him from hearing a voice that he thought he would never hear again.
" Miss me dead boy?"
" Xander?"
The hand jerked him to his feet and now he saw the smiling face of the boy who had hated him since the day they met. Same damn smile but he looked older. Stubble graced his face, real stubble. Not the kind that teenagers try and fail to get, but the kind that turned a goofy young man into a dangerous looking one. He saw Xander rub his face and look toward Buffy. He clearly heard Xander mutter, " Well that's unexpected."
***
" Xander?"
Buffy heard that question and paused in her battle against Thomas Thorne. Her second wind seem to be working much better than her first wind. Whatever is healing her seems to be doing it faster. Several times during the fight Thorne had clearly broken her ribs but after a few moments they seemed to heal same as her leg. A dull pain pounded in her head and it only seemed to clear when she heard Angel say ' Xander' loudly.
Buffy made the mistake of turning to see what Angel was talking about. Thorne took that momentary lapse of concentration and threw all his weight into a punch that launched Buffy through the air. She slammed into the base of a large statue.
Shaking the cobwebs from her mind, she looked up and saw.Xander?
" Hey, Buff. That wasn't very smart of you was it?" Xander smiled and pulled Buffy to her feet.
" Xander.but.how." Buffy tried to ask the questions that were running through her mind but there were so many they tripped over themselves.
" Hold that thought." Xander pointed with thumb back at Thorne. " We still got the biker general to deal with." With that Xander turned around and leaped practically the whole distance between him and Thomas Thorne. Buffy could almost swear she saw his eyes become yellow.
She saw Xander move almost lazily and avoid the blows from the big vampire. As fast as Thorne seemed to move, Xander seemed to move even slower but none of the blows connected. An open palm strike delivered lightly to the vampires chest sent him stumbling back. Xander followed up with a kick the dropped him to the ground. Xander leapt up and jumped down on Thorne, but at the last second something seemed to distract both of them and Thorne evaded the blow. Xander cocked his ear.
****
Angel could hear the police sirens. He was surprised to notice that so could apparently Xander. Only vampires should be able to hear them at this distance. He moved to go to Buffy's side when a soldier appeared before him, blaster in hand and covered in vampire dust. Angel could tell that this soldier was black and Angel was about to speak when the blaster came up and shot him. The blast rocked him back. Were he a younger vampire he would surely have been killed. As it was it stunned him painfully and his last thought before sinking into unconsciousness was of Buffy.
***
Thomas watched the three newcomers that had so effectively killed some of his eldest children. With the oncoming sirens he decided it was best to leave. " Everybody lets go." He waved his hands in a circular motion. " Lets blow this joint."
As he was gathering his stragglers he noticed the black soldier heft the betrayer Angelus over his shoulder and likewise order his men to retreat. The five soldiers left without notice, leaving only one of their members behind. He saw the black soldier take a long look at the downed one for a long moment before sounding the retreat and leaving him there.
***
" Does Giles still live at the same place?" Xander asked. He ran over to Willow and Oz and began checking them over worriedly.
" Yes." Both Buffy and Cordelia answered in unison. Buffy looked over at Cordelia and then Faith in surprised joy.
" You're here. How, what? " Buffy looked overjoyed at her friends return but confused as well.
" Sure am B."
" There's no time for this Buffy." Cordelia said annoyed. " I can appreciate the questions but we got to get the hell out of here. Cordelia gathered up Willow and swung her over her shoulder with ease.
" Can you guys walk?" Tara, Amy, Oz, and Anya all nodded their assent.
Faith walked over to Giles and picked him up and threw him over her shoulder. She patted his ass. " Don't worry G, I won't take advantage of your vulnerable state."
Anya pointed at the downed soldier. " Bring him. I think I know who he is." And her eyes narrow.
Xander shrugged his shoulders and easily picked up the unconscious Mr. Finn. The group was making their way to exit when Buffy suddenly stopped the group. She looked around eyes wide.
" Where's Angel?"
***
The soldiers moved down the street keeping to the shadows, Forrest taking the lead with the unconscious Angel slung across his shoulders.
" What the hell man?"
Forrest turned around and looked at an irate Graham. " What." He asked.
" You left Riley behind. Why?"
" This whole mission is a royal fuck up and you know why?" Forrest poked Graham in the chest. " Riley is a fucking loser as a leader. Walsh gave us a direct order and we didn't do it cause he wanted to play the big fucking hero. She's going to have our Asses for this. Something like this could mean our career. It's not like we can just move to a different base. We are stuck here. We got to do our best cause our only promotions will be through the initiative." Forrest was breathing hard at the end of his diatribe.
Graham got in his face. " Listen up fucker. Were going to drop your boy off at the base and then were going to move and get our captain back. When we do, I hope he kicks your black ass!"
Graham stormed off leaving Forrest and the other soldiers behind.
***
"Sire, Sire." The young vampire broke into the bedchamber of Spike and Drusilla. He saw his sire nearly naked, with only a light sheet covering his slender form. His companion stirred slightly, a smile visible through the curtain of her dark hair.
" There better be bloody good explanation 'ere mate," Spike muttered. Ignoring the presence of his child he stood up and grabbed his jeans.
The vampire could not help but smile in excitement. " The workers found the treasury sire."
" Is the Gem there?" Even spike could not feign disinterest in the possibility of finally discovering the powerful Gem of Amara.
" No one has entered the treasure chamber, just like you ordered." Spike could not help but smile. They'd never be masters if they weren't willing to risk a little death threat. Oh well them being spineless meant fewer dominance plays from the minions.
The two of them strode into the large central chamber of the underground temple. Workers appeared to be talking excitedly amongst themselves. The minion took Spike to the newest opening.
Spike stepped through the entrance and breathed deeply of the imprisoned air. He looked around at mounds of gold, silver, and gems. Those things he ignored. He opened his vampire senses, letting his instincts guide. It was a little trick Dru taught him. They led him to a small bowl piled high with gems. Rummaging around in them, he found a simple gold band, with a teardrop shaped emerald set in it. Lifting it to the light he found himself hypnotized by its beauty. For a single moment, spike felt a poetic urge. It really was beautiful. He squelched it with vigor. Such thought were unmanly, and UN spike-like.
" So you're the itty, bitty bauble with all the powers," he murmured.
He walked back into the main chamber. All of the servants crowded around him, trying to get a good look at the gem. One of them asked, " What now boss?"
Still mesmerized by the Gem, Spike slipped the ring on his fingers and smiled. " Don't worry mates, the party is just starting. Plenty of favors for everybody."
Part 1
Dark energy swirled around the five casters. Each one sat at the point of a pentagram that shielded them from the ravages of dimensional energy.
At the head of the pentagram sat a middle-aged man clad in tweed. Sometime during the spell his glasses had slipped off, but he sat unnoticing as rivulets of sweat poured down his face. This was beyond any spell he had ever cast and it was straining his skill to keep the raging power under control.
To his left sat a redhead wearing a long skirt. She sat in a lotus position and breathed deeply and evenly as the spell took its shape under her mind. It drew its form and purpose from her thoughts. It knew what she knew. A few lines formed over her brow as she fought to keep her mind on a specific image. Though the spell was beyond her power, she didn't care. Her purpose was more important.
To his right sat a short, light brown haired woman in a simple dress. She sat serenely as the energy moved through her. She was used to such powers coursing through her body. A few short months ago she could have used such magic's easily. Now, it came with far more difficulty. Her long years of controlling great power caused her to be made one of the anchors for the spell. Sweat coursed down her newly mortal face, and not for the first time she cursed her now fragile body.
Another two women, one brown haired and the other blond were holding the remaining two points. Though neither girl had a real connection to what they sought, their presence helped to power the spell. They were natural witches and the store of energy they possessed was necessary for powering the ancient seeking spell.
**
The spell drifted through the ether of space and time. It sent its tendrils through the waves of history as it sought out three figures, three lost friends. It drew the signature of the three from the minds of redhead and the librarian clad in tweed for they were the ones that knew the three best.
**
The man opened his eyes first. He sighed deeply. All his research and divinations had led him to this spell. This spell should have found and mystically tagged those they were looking for. Nothing was found, which could mean a few different things. Perhaps their astral signature was changed, maybe they had some sort of mystical protection, and unfortunately the most likely scenario was that they were de-. No, he wasn't going to think about it.
The redhead burst into tears. Her mouth quivered with emotion. She had been so sure this time. This was the spell that was going to do it. Giles had said so. Everything told her that this was the best way to find them.
The blond winced in sympathy pains. She was a powerful empath and the pain radiating from the redhead eclipsed the fatigue and drain of the other casters. She sent out soothing energy trying to calm the redhead.
Calming down, the redhead shot a grateful look at the blond and mouthed a silent thank you. She moved closer to the librarian and stretched her stiff muscles.
" You said that would work Giles," she said accusingly. " You promised," she continued brokenly. She wrapped her arms around her body and whispered, " He's really not coming back, is he? None of them are coming back!"
" I don't know Willow," Giles replied sadly. He seemed to age before Willow's eyes. He always seemed so vital, so full of energy. Now he just seemed old. " If they were anywhere in time or space, this spell should have sensed their astral signature and allowed us to grab them wherever they were." He rubbed his face and absently reached for his missing glasses. " I don't know what went wrong since the spell clearly worked."
"Your friends are most likely dead," the brunette spoke in a matter of fact voice. " After all a new slayer was called after Faith fell into the portal."
" Yes, thank you for that depressing recap Anya," Giles said while rubbing his glasses. An act he seemed to do most frequently when the former demon revealed just how tactless she could be.
"A-A-Amy and I are going to leave, okay Willow," Tara said. The young empath walked over to the redhead and hugged her, feeding her courage.
" I'm going to leave, Giles and check my notes. Maybe I missed something." Willow sounded defeated.
After all of the young girls left the home of Rupert Giles, the watcher shut his door and sighed. He never felt older than he did at this moment. He didn't realize how much he missed his three missing students, their troubles, their jokes, their life, till they were gone.
It had been six months since Xander, Faith, and Cordelia disappeared, taken through the Hellmouth.
**
Buffy summers was scared out of her mind. It wasn't the two vampires who thought they were stealthily trailing her. It wasn't her three friends that have been missing for six months.
It was her not so broken arm that was scaring Buffy.
An odd thing to be scared of to be sure, but that didn't dissuade Buffy. Sunday had broken her arm during that first fight two months ago. She was sure of it. She felt the snap. Heard it.
But later that night she was able to use the arm like it was as good as new. She and Angel had surprised Sunday and her minions and Buffy staked Sunday using her supposedly broken arm.
Slayers weren't supposed to heal this fast. A broken arm should have taken a week to heal. Fast, but not this fast.
In addition, in the last two months Buffy had not received a single major injury. Even the ordinary aches and pains that plagued her as a side effect of nightly combat to the death have totally disappeared. She had never felt better in her whole life. The last time Buffy had been seriously injured was during the graduation. She had been a little slow leaving the library and was caught in the explosion that killed the Mayor. She was knocked out for about two hours and Giles found her lying under some rubble. Even before that, she recovered really fast from Angel draining her to cure that poison the mayor used on him.
It worried her, but what was she going to do? Complain to Giles that she was feeling too good and she wasn't getting hurt enough on patrol?
Right.
" Come on out guys. I know you've been following me for like two hours. Lets get this over with cause I got class in the morning." Buffy turned around, crossed her arms and began tapping her foot.
Two vampires materialized out of the darkness and advanced on her. They were newbies and the dust from their graves flaked around their bodies as they stalked the blond slayer. Buffy smiled and met them head on.
**
Angel swept through the same cemetery as Buffy, looking for her. He finished his half of the patrol and was now looking for his friend.
Friend. That's was it.
Sure.
After the disappearance of Xander and the others, Angel felt he had to stay. Despite the problems in their relationship he was not going to abandon Buffy when half of her friends disappear. She needed him and for as long as he was capable he was going to be there for her. They just had to watch out. They needed to make sure he never lost his soul again. That meant that as much as they wanted it to be different, they couldn't be together. Buffy had even tried going out on a few dates with some college guys and Angel was doing his best to be supportive, to be her friend.
And it was killing him.
His sensitive ears heard the sounds of battle up ahead and he could pick out Buffy's distinctive voice over the din of battle. Every pretense of stealth left him and he rushed forward with vampiric speed. He entered the small clearing where Buffy was dueling with a pair of new vampires. He slowed down and stopped to watch.
He watched with a small smile as Buffy played with the two vampires. She ducked a slow punch from the first vampire and grabbed his arm. She flipped him into his friend causing both vampires to crash to the ground. While they were untangling themselves buffy looked up and smiled at Angel. She gave a small wave and tapped her foot impatiently. " I'm not getting any younger here guys, you wanna try a little harder to give me a workout?" Tiring of the vampire's incompetence, she picked up her stake and flicked it into one of the vampires' chest. Grabbing the second vampire around the neck, Buffy gave a short jerk and snapped its neck. Wiping her hands free of the dust Buffy looked up at Angel who was making his way toward her.
" Hey," she smiled. " How was patrol?"
Angel frowned as he remembered why he'd come to find Buffy. " I killed a few vampires and a gra'lock demon. Just a regular night. But I spied those Military guys you saw a few weeks ago. They were carrying some kind of gun and carrying a stunned vampire. I stayed low and got their scent so if I run into one of them without the mask, I'll know."
" We need to tell Giles to step up the research. These guys are bothering me."
Angel paused for a moment and the asked, " Did Giles or Willow call about the spell? Did it work?"
Buffy shook her head sadly. " I should never have let Xander stay with us for the Hellmouth opening. It wasn't his fight."
" Buffy," Angel began softly. " It became his fight the instant he started dating Faith. You know how close they became after Cordelia broke up with him. If you had forbid him from helping, he would never had forgiven you for embarrassing him in front of Faith, and she liked having him for backup."
" I know, but I still miss him," buffy whispered. " I never knew how much he really meant to me, how much he helped keep me going until he wasn't around anymore. How much they all meant." She buried her face in Angels jacket.
Angel wrapped his arms around her and the two of them walked out into the night.
Just friends.
**
The din in the cavern was deafening. Several jackhammers rattled in different parts of the cavern and to Spikes sensitive ears it sounded like a dragons roar. He snorted at the thought.
Spike poured over the map one last time. He knew the Gem was somewhere in this cavern. The map however was too faded to be sure what area it would be found in.
If he had a pulse it would have quickened at the thought of being this close to the gem of Amara. It made the vampire wearer nearly indestructible. With it he could control the Hellmouth. The only other vampire master in sunnydale right now was that ass Thomas Thorne. what the hell was her name again? Bah!!! He didn't need some other vampire girl. He's got his Dru back. That was all he ever needed.
She was his again. He proved to her that he was still the same big bad he always had been. She'd forgiven him for that fiasco with Acathla. All it took was a few night of torture with fishhooks and holy water and she was back to being his girl.
He looked up from the map and smiled at Drusilla. She was standing in the middle of the cavern waving her hands about like a conductor. He didn't know if she was conducting the jackhammers, or some sound only she could hear. She was happy and smiling and that was all that mattered.
Spike growled and approached her. She shivered with anticipation and giggled like a schoolgirl when he seized and kissed her savagely on the mouth. He bit down on her tongue and tasted Dru's sweet blood.
Together they danced madly beneath a thousand pounds of rock
**
Oz came home to the apartment he shared with Willow. After the disappearance of Xander and the others she and Oz became even closer and decided to move in together at the beginning of the college semester. He opened the door to the bedroom that they shared. He saw her at her desk, head resting on a book filled with arcane doodling. He paused and watched her in the dark, his keen senses picking out her features. Oz smiled, a real smile, which he only did alone or with Willow as he studied his life mate.
The stress she put herself under with her full course load and the additional research she put in searching for the missing had taken a toll on the petite redhead. Oz could see the wan features, her sharply drawn cheeks and skeletal neck. Magic burned calories like nothing else and the always slender Willow had become nearly emaciated with the amount of power she was spending. Coupled with her not eating or sleeping much and Oz could clearly sense how much her health has taken a turn for the worse. He had tried to talk with her, to get her to slow down but she refused to listen. Anything was worth the price of Xander and the others.
And Oz could hardly blame her with the role he played in their disappearance. It was the aftermath of that event that inspired him to do research, not for a cure, but for a method of control. His meditations had given him wolf senses in his human form. Not merely scent, but hearing and night vision. He was also slowing learning how to remember his actions as a wolf, the first step in learning eventual control.
He walked silently to Willow and scooped her slight form into his arms. She stirred and half opened her eyes. " Wassup Baby," she yawned.
" Just got home from the set at the frat party," Oz whispered. " Saw you passed out, so I'm moving you."
" Your talking a lot," Willow whispered as he laid her on the bed and peppered her with several small kisses.
" Too tired to be Monosyllabic." He replied sardonically. He lay next to her and curled up against her. He inhaled her scent and let out a soft growl as he snuggled against her. No matter what, Oz was going to support his mate.
**
Margaret Walsh cracked her neck as sat in front of her computer screen. She frowned as she plunked some keys as she tried to figure out a way to store more information inside the mind of her creation. She was going to need a lot more processing power and memory space for her brainchild.
The problem was both the interface and the storage. Just not enough was known about the human brain for her to be able to figure out a way to connect the cyborg and organic parts of the brain with nonhuman nervous systems.
YOU CAN DO IT MAGGIE
" Thank you Malcolm. I know I will, its just that I can finally see the finish line and I'm getting a little impatient to see the fruits of our labor." Maggie spoke to the voice that emanated from the computer the way she would a respected colleague, and a good deal more respect than she dealt with most of her students or the soldiers under her command.
YOU SOLVED THE PROBLEM OF THE POWER SOURCE AND ORGAN REJECTION DIDN'T YOU. YOU WERE THE ONE WHO FIGUED OUT HOW TO ALIGN MORE THAN A DOZEN DISPARATE ENDOCRINE SYSTEMS. YOU CAN DO THIS TOO.
Maggie leaned back in her chair. " I appreciated the vote of confidence Malcolm, but none of those things would have gotten done if you hadn't given me invaluable insight. Which I still don't know how you managed to gain.
I HAVE LIVED A LONG TIME MARGRET AND I WAS NOT ALWAYS A COMPUTER PROGRAM.
" Soon you will have a body again, my friend and I will be responsible for the most magnificent discovery in science since the completion of the human genome project," She smile as she contemplated her name eventually going down in history as the greatest expert on preternatural biology and surgical techniques.
Knock, Knock.
" Later Malcolm." She closed what she was working on. " Come in."
Captain Riley Finn walked in the room and saluted. " Ma'am, I wanted to let you know that all of the squads have returned and we managed to corral another vampire hostile. The lab boys are preparing the hostile for surgery as we speak."
" Excellent Riley." Maggie smiled at the soldier she considered a son. " Your men are doing an excellent job."
Riley smiled at the complement. " If you'll excuse me ma'am, I have one last paper to grade before class tomorrow." Riley rolled his eyes and laughed. " I've been saving Miss Anya Jenkins for last. Her papers on abnormal psychology are always something to see."
" She does have a rather unique view about certain aspects of the mind." Dr. Walsh raised her eyebrow as she watched the young military man flush as he spoke about the coed.
It seemed that young Mr. Finn was quite taken with Anya Jenkins.
**
The sun shined brightly as it always did in suunydale, as if the brightness and beauty of the day could counteract the shadows the hellmouth cast upon the city at night. The campus of UC sunnydale was packed with kids who were studying on the grass outside.
Buffy Summers walked along the tree lined walk way down to the psychology building with Willow and Anya. Abnormal psychology was the only class Buffy shared with both of her friends.
Buffy still found it hard to believe that she could actually call herself friends with the former vengeance demon Anyanka. But the girl had more than a thousand years of experience in the demon realms and she proved invaluable in stopping the Mayors ascension. The knowledge of his weakness came from her and she bravely stayed behind to help prep the explosives despite her newfound mortality. Sure Anya had no sense of tack, was rude, abrasive, and seemed to have an overly strong desire to share about her lack of a sex life but on the whole Buffy was glad to have her as a friend.
The fact that Harmony's dating issues were the reason for Anya's new found mortality caused Buffy to burst out laughing every time the thought entered her mind.
" I am exceptionally pleased with the results Riley Finn received on my Cosmo compatibility test, " Anya was telling willow and Buffy as they walked to psychology. " Plus, his hand and shoe size suggest a large penis and I am eager to find out if my estimates are accurate."
" Uh Anya, you haven't actually met Riley yet. How could you take a compatibility test for him?" Willow asked, not even touching the second part. Buffy just smiled and rolled her eyes.
Anya waved that fact off as if it was a trifling matter that was irrelevant to the subject at hand. " Please, I have not dealt with no good for nothing cheating men for ten centuries without being able to read people. He used to be in the military. Based on his height he must drink his milk, and his smile suggests that his parents must have paid for braces and whitening fluid. The calluses on his hand suggest he grew up on a farm. Everything else is extra."
Buffy perked up at hearing that Riley used to be in the military. " How do you know that Anya?" In the past Anya had demonstrated that she possessed an uncanny ability to read people, particularly nasty men. She had saved Buffy's behind when Buffy started to fall for a slick senior named Parker.
" Easy, it's the way he holds himself." Anya shrugged her shoulders. " Soldiers hold themselves straight and stand in a way no one else duplicates. Not even slayers," she added before Buffy could interrupt, " because of the differences in the way soldiers and slayers are trained."
They stopped the conversation as they reached the classroom. The three of them stopped by Riley's desk to pick up their papers he had graded. He smiled at them, mostly directing those white teeth toward Anya. Anya returned the smile with a direct assessing gaze, and Buffy could not help but notice that her eyes dipped toward his crotch subtly or the wide and not subtle smile that broke on her face when her gaze met his eyes again. Anya leaned forward to give him a good view of her breasts and was about to speak when professor Walsh entered the room looking flustered and if buffy didn't know better, upset.
" Girls get to your seats," she snapped with much more rancor than she normally mustered.
Anya shot professor Walsh a death glare as the three girls took to their seats and prepared for another day of exciting abnormal psychology.
***
" Buffy there is a polgara nest in the sewer system. Angel ran into a couple of them and trailed them back to their lair. Even for him, that number of polgara is too many to take on by himself. It will take all of us to kill them." Giles shook his head as he saw his slayer was once again distracted from the matter at hand. He sighed and asked, " What is it Buffy?"
Buffy looked at Giles sadly. " I was just thinking that another slayer would be useful right about now and it got me started thinking about- ," She trailed off. " It's just, I never knew how much I relied on them, all of them until they were gone. Now it'll be too late forever to tell them how much they mean to me. Faith was like another sister to both Dawn and me. Xander was like my strong right arm. Someone I could rely on because no matter what, quit wasn't in his vocabulary. And Cordy," Buffy and Giles both smiled, " Cordy was a walking reality check for all of us."
" I agree with you. Those three, despite the arguments they had were people worthy of respect and are greatly missed by everyone who knew them."
" Even you Giles?" Buffy asked with a teasing smile. It was no secret that the frequent screaming matches between Faith and Cordelia over Xander caused the reserved brit no end of consternation.
Giles smiled at his slayer. " Yes even I miss them."
Growing serious, buffy asked " Is there anything else we can try Giles?"
" Short of opening the hellmouth ourselves and rummaging around inside I can't think of anything."
" That's not sounding like such a crazy idea right about now," Buffy said seriously.
" No, its really not."
***
Maggie Walsh rubbed her eyes as they began to blur from staring at the computer screen too much. The math just wasn't coming together; she just could not solve the information storage problem. She was never going to get Adam off the ground if she couldn't find the solution. At least Riley had found a nest of polgara demons that they could kill and harvest. One thing was going to go right tonight.
DON'T THINK LIKE THAT MAGGIE. I KNOW YOU WILL FIND THE SOLUTION.
" I once again thank you for the vote of confidence but I don't think our current level of scientific knowledge is up to the task." She sounded defeated
IF SCIENCE WILL NOT DO WHAT YOU NEED, WHY DON'T YOU TRY MAGIC? I KNOW A SPELL THAT MIGHT DO THE TRICK.
Maggie snorted. " Magic is far too unstable for this kind of delicate operation. It is too easily dispelled and far too chaotic for information storage in Adam."
DO NOT POO-POO MAGIC MARGERET, IT CAN DO NEARLY ANYTHING IF YOU CAN FIND THE RIGHT SPELL.
A stream of words began to flicker across the screen. When Maggie took a closer look she saw it was an incantation and a list of ingredients for a spell designed to preserve memories the caster wanted to never forget.
I BELIEVE THIS SPELL CAN HELP YOU CIRUMVENT THE DIFFICULTIES YOU ARE HAVING UNTIL SCIENCE CAN 'CATCH UP' WITH YOUR VISION.
" Thank you Malcolm, I can definitely get this to work for me." Maggie smiled as visions of Nobel prizes danced before her gaze. She swiftly turned off the monitor when she heard a knock at the door.
" Come in."
Riley walked into the room dressed in his black operating fatigues. " We're about ready to leave, Dr. Walsh. I just wanted to let you know in case you had in last minute changes in your orders." Walsh could hear the note of hope in his voice. Her orders had been particularly strict on this mission. They were to inflict a minimum amount of damage on the demons and they were to bring back the carcasses as intact as possible. That meant that they could not use the more effective armor piercing rounds on the Polgara's, which meant that the job was suddenly a lot harder than a simple demon-killing mission.
" My order's have not changed Captain." She said coldly. Then in a softer tone she continued, " My order's are for a good reason Riley. Please don't question them."
" Yes ma'am."
Maggie smiled and waved her hands, " Go and be safe Riley."
***
" I have a plan." Buffy's announcement was met with slight groans from the others. Her plans never worked the why they were supposed to. She, Angel, Anya, Willow, Oz, Giles, Amy, and Tara were hovering around the entrance to the part of the sunnydale sewer where the Polgaras were living. She searched the faces of the others and saw a couple of people yawning as they held their weapons. " Here it is. The sewers are way too cramped to fight them. We won't have any room to maneuver" her gaze went to Tara. " I know your witch power is empathy. Can you project feelings of lust or something and lead them over there?" Buffy pointed to an old cemetery near where they were. It was Quiet Grove, one of the first cemeteries in Sunnydale and one filled with large trees and enough gravestones to give cover from any cops that might actually brave the night.
Tara's lowered her face and her hair created a curtain blocking her eyes from buffy. " I-I-I think I-I-I can do that. Demon emotions are weird though. I can generate something to get them into the graveyard but I can't guarantee any specific emotion. Their j-j-just too hard to pinpoint." Tara looked sheepish at not being able to help Buffy.
Buffy smiled kindly at her. " Do what you can. I'm sure it will be enough."
Amy looked at Tara and gave her a proud look. " She can do it. She is the strongest empathy my mother or I have ever heard of." Amy looked a little sick at the thought. When she broke free from her mother's possession she kept some of her mother's memories and Tara indeed was a powerful empathy. Empathy was one of the rarest witch gifts because not only can she sense or project emotions. She can use her emotions to power her magic.
The Scooby's made their way to the graveyard and hopped the gate. Giles motioned to the spell casters to hide behind several of the larger tombstones and statues while he, Angel, and Buffy stood in the open weapons at the ready. Oz took his place beside Willow and hefted a heavy crossbow while Anya hefted a large axe. Angel could swear he heard her mutter a Viking prayer under her breath.
Tara closed her eyes and her hand sought out Amy's on its own. She clutched her girlfriends' hand and took several slow deep breaths as her thumbs gently rubbed Amy's soft hand. Her pulse quickened the way it always did and she felt the power coil around that particular emotion. She visualized it as golden light that suffused her entire being. She gathered that light into a ball that rose to the top of her head. Tara unleashed that power with a mighty mental blast and she was rocked back with sudden overwhelming lust. Tara began to hyperventilate in unison with Amy as she clutched the other girl like a lifeline.
Amy felt the urge to grab Tara right there and damn anyone who saw. She felt the power that Tara released and lust washed over her. Her nipples hardened, she grew moist and she squeezed the hand of Tara so hard she forced the blood out. " I am so going to rock your world tonight," Amy grunted.
The others also sensed the massive release of lust by Tara. Oz raised his eyebrow and Willow moved uncomfortably. Giles rubbed his glasses and shifted his pants while he made a silent vow to call Olivia again very soon. Anya licked her lips and made a silent vow to own Riley Finn. Buffy glanced at Angel while breathing heavily. She saw him stoically look straight ahead; the only sign of stress a sheen of blood sweat that dripped from his brow. Buffy fought the urge to drag Angel to the ground and ravage him. A skill she had perfected over the years.
A few minutes passed and the group waited for the demons to come out. Angel was the first to hear the demons with his enhanced hearing. He motioned for the group to make ready for the demons attacked.
They didn't have long to wait.
***
" Captain Finn, I got a couple of weird things on the pheromone scanner and the heat detectors." Graham motioned to the scanners in his hand.
Riley held up his hand and stopped the march of his squad of six soldiers. Pulling off his mask he asked, " What do you got?"
Graham said, " The polgara hostile's pheromones just jumped off the chart. I think they just went into heat. They're on the move. Heading this way through Quiet Grove Cemetery."
" Weapons up and eyes ready, " Riley snapped. His gaze went to Graham. " What else Soldier?"
" We got a mob of cold bodies heading straight toward the same cemetery and about a half dozen warm bodies just waiting to get caught between the both of them." Cold bodies were the field term for vampires in case they were ever overheard.
Riley straightened up and looked around. " This just became a rescue mission, soldiers. We're going to keep the civvies alive even if we have to plug the polgaras to do it."
" Walsh won't like that," Forrest, Riley's second in command said.
Riley growled, " Let her complain. I signed up to protect Americans from enemies foreign and domestic and these guys are about as foreign as they come." Riley pulled down his mask and strode off. " Everyone switch blasters from stun to lethal."
Forrest stood there for a second and then reluctantly switched his blaster to lethal and followed behind.
***
For nearly eight-foot tall demons with spikes in their arms, they sure were agile. The Polgara demons leapt the tall fence like it nothing. Buffy could hear the pop as the two foot long spikes shot from their arms as they rushed the scoobies that were out in the open. She felt more than saw Angel shift into game face and Giles unleash the Ripper.
Buffy met the first Polgara with a smash to its face from her axe and sent it flying. Angel dropped another with a viscous barehanded combination that cracked the Polgara's armored skin. Giles ducked the blows from another polgara and drove his sword into a gap in the creatures skin.
Others quickly replaced the three they stunned. The nest had more than a dozen members and the scoobies merely dealt the first blow.
***
Thomas Thorne smelled the night air and rubbed his shaved head. Fifteen minutes ago he'd been inside his lair and warm with Alicia draped over him. She'd promised some extra games that night. But no, his scout had to find out the slayer was a block away with all of her little friends. Thorne would have preferred to lay low for a few more weeks to build his brood up but twenty members should be plenty.
He smiled at his consort. Alicia returned with a small nip in his direction and her emerald eyes promised lots of fun tonight after the spot of violence with the slayer. Truth be told he heard lots of interesting things about the Sunnydale slayer. He knew his slayer lore and no other slayer in history had broken from the council. She was the same one to send Spike packing with his tail between his legs and to kill the Master and Kakistos, two of the most ancient vampires in existence. Stopping the pack with an upraised hand, he silently motioned to Alicia. Taking his meaning she took half his force and circled around to the opposite side of the cemetery so they can catch the slayer in between the two halves of the vampire pack.
Thomas Thorne was indeed interested in meeting this Slayer.
***
Willow wiped the blood that dripped from her nose. She swayed a little and took a few deep breaths to steady herself as she focused her will on the nearest Polgara and sent him flying with a telekinetic shove. Willow stumbled to her knee. These demons were a hell of a lot tougher than the vampires she normally helped Buffy with. Dizzily she looked around to assess the battle.
Oz had done an admirable job of keeping the demons away from her with his crossbow and Zen-like precision aim. A quick count put half of the demons down in the first few minutes but at a cost. Giles was on the ground and not getting up and Anya was barely holding her own. Of the two champions, Buffy was unhurt although her clothes had torn in several places, and Angel was bleeding from bad wounds in his shoulder and thigh.
Willow thought to herself. Summoning up her flagging strength she stumbled to her feet and threw her self back into the fray.
***
Alicia Killdare easily led her group over the fence into Quiet Grove cemetery. As one of the oldest Cemeteries in town it had some remarkably thick foliage and her group slipped into the cemetery without notice. The tall blond sniffed the air and smiled at the scent of mortal and demon blood. She could smell vampire, werewolf, normals, and one scent she could not place. The blood was tangy, and strong with an almost electric after scent. Alicia smiled at the thought of killing whatever had such a pungent blood scent. Perhaps she and Thomas could share.
She and her vampires stalked with the careful silence only the dead can master until she spied the battle. The slayer and her pet vampire were doing well against the polgara although several of her more fragile mortal friends sported rather painful looking injuries. She spotted a pretty, pouty-lipped blond hiding behind a large gravestone casting magicks of some kind at the demons. Like a wraith, Alicia slipped around the gravestones between her and the blond and crept up to her. Alicia clapped a hand over her mouth and whispered, " Hey there sexy." Alicia licked her neck and pricked her with elongated fangs.
At her action vampires came from ever direction to encircle the Scooby's.
*** Amy cursed the nature of her witch power. All natural witches developed their own personal power that they could use. Willow possessed a moderate strength telekinesis, Tara was a strong empathy, and Amy could generate fire same as her mother.
Of course it was about as strong as a big cigarette lighter, which meant that she had to get uncomfortably close to use her ability.
Amy blasted a Polgara that strayed too close to her and then took a quick look behind her at Tara. She glanced at her lover to make sure she was still safe and her eyes widened at the sight of a blond, lithe vampiress leaning over Tara's throat.
" Buffffy!!" Amy shrieked. " Vampires!!"
Not even stopping to see how Buffy responded, Amy took off at a run toward her love. Flames sprouted from in between her fingers and her hands wreathed themselves in fire. Reaching her Tara she lashed out at the vampire holding her with a fiery fist that impacted the female vampire's cheek.
Alicia flew back and patted her singed cheek. " Bitch, " she growled, " I'm so gonna rip out your heart and suck on the juices." Alicia rushed toward Amy and ducking a second wild swing, she struck Amy in face knocking her to the ground.
Tara touched her blood soaked collar and the meek girls eyes narrowed at the sight of the blond vampire standing over her beloved. She pointed a finger and uttered a single word.
" Boil."
The effect was immediate. The blond vampire doubled over in pain and night air wavered with heat the emanated from the vampire.
Tara concentrated and poured more power into the spell.
***
" Bufffy!!! Vampires!!!"
Buffy ducked a blow from the arm spike from a Polgara demon and looked behind her. And saw a legion of undead that seemed to materialize from every direction lead by big vampire with a shaved head. He looked like a biker with his ripped leather jacket and silver studded belt. Buffy suddenly noticed what Anya was talking about. Despite his scruffy appearance, he carried himself like a soldier, a warrior born and bred.
Buffy whined to herself. She dropped to the ground and spun around catching the Polgara behind the knee dropping the larger creature. Flipping back to her feet, she looked to Angel who was a little worse for wear from the battle. " Recognize our friend over there?"
Angel grimaced. " Looks like Thomas Thorne. He's a contemporary of Darla. Angelus thought he was a boring ass. He's smart, patient and his brood is really loyal to him. He's actually a good leader and he's killed at least one slayer in single combat."
Buffy sighed. " I hate happy vampire families." She looked softy at Angel for a moment and then ran forward. Angel hobbled after her, slowed by his wounds. He watched as Buffy sent a blurring series of attacks toward Thorne, which he evaded as easily as if she told him where she was going to strike.
***
Tara poured on the power. Hot blood streamed from the nose and mouth of the blond vampire and she lay on the ground in a fetal position shaking.
Amy stood up and turned to see even more vampires come from every direction. Out of the corner of her eye she saw buffy start to fight the leader. A pair of vampire approached her. A blast of fire consumed the one in the lead and the other suddenly decided to go after easier prey. Like the souled vampire. Amy's power might not be the strongest of the three, but hers was the best for vampire killing.
A yelp of pain made her turn around and she saw Tara laying on the ground a vampire standing over her. The blond vampiress stood up and swayed weakly. She wiped the warm blood off her face with the back of her hand and walked over to Tara. " Your going to live for a long time before I kill you," and punctuated her fury with a swift kick to Tara's ribs.
" Stay the Hell away from her you bitch." Amy screamed and once again rushed forward to the aid of her beloved. Amy stopped short when a vampire behind her grabbed her hair and jerked her around. A punch dropped her to the ground and kept her head fogged enough so she couldn't concentrate on her power. The vampire picked her up and tossed Amy over the nearest tombstone.
Amy looked around and saw several vampires advancing menacingly. ***
Anya coughed. you have to think about that sort of thing when you're a fragile mortal. She might be 1119 years old but if she wanted to live to see twenty-one she had to be careful. She evaded a blow from one of the still active polgara demons and darted forward to embed her axe into the throthgar organ on the side of his abdomen. The demon fell to the ground, a fountain of blood erupting from his side. Anya shook her head.
Polgaras were so easy to kill.
Anya sighed and turned on another vampire that tried creeping up behind her. You didn't get to be 1100 years and thrive in D'hoffran's court by being easy to ambush. She dodged the first punch but the second caught her in the stomach.
Of course for 1100 years she had super strength and the power to regenerate wounds.
***
Oz calmly lifted his crossbow and fired again. The fiberglass weapon hummed with accuracy and sent a bolt right through the heart of an approaching vampire. That was the third one he had killed. Willow had nearly passed out from the magical exertion. She was totally tapped out of power, especially since she had performed such a powerful spell only the night before. Oz was grimly firing bolt after bolt but he was nearly out of things to fire. He had used most of his ammunition during the fight with the polgara demons and was rapidly running out.
He was reloading the crossbow when a vampire grabbed him and ripped the weapon out of his hand. The vampire forced him to his knees.
Willow blinked her eyes and saw that oz was in trouble. She tried to stand but couldn't move very much. Willow reached deep inside and felt the guttering spark of her magic reserves.
" Incinerate." The vampire burst into flames and Willow sagged against the tombstone. Several more vampires approached and grabbed both Oz and Willow. Willow raised her hands but nothing happened. She was just too tired.
*** Angel watched buffy in a brutal fight with Thomas. He couldn't help but worry about her. He limped forward but thanks to the polgara wound in his leg he was nowhere near fast enough to catch up to her. A group of vampires surrounded him.
" Angelus." One whispered.
" Betrayer," said another. Angel grimaced. Thomas was unique among vampire masters. He trained his children in pack tactics and fighting techniques. He ran his brood like an army and they were very effective. Angel wasn't looking forward to this fight.
The vampires sprang together as one. Angel grabbed one and swung him around and slammed him into another couple of minions. He slammed his foot down on the neck of one of the vampires severing it. At the same time Angel struck out blindly with an elbow catching another vampire in the chin, dropping him to the floor. Spinning around he tried to keep away from allowing any of the vampires from getting near his back. One vampire jumped off a gravestone and clapped arm around his neck. Angel dropped to a knee and flipped the unfortunate vampire forward into a large tree. Where a branch pierced his heart.
Before Angel could struggle to his feet, a half-dozen vampires bore him to the ground.
***
" So you're the famous slayer that got all those brits in a panty twist," Thorne said while smiling. " Thought you'd be taller." He grabbed buffy and slammed his forehead into her face. Everyone heard the audible crack of her nose. Blood streamed down her face. A backhanded blow sent her stumbling and ripped her pants.
" You are so going to pay for that," Buffy growled. " I love these pants. She sent a flurry of blows that drove the large vampire back several paces. She launched a kick aimed at Thorne's head. He ducked the blow and caught her foot in a vice-like grip. " I think there's a gap somewhere in slayer training. This is how I killed the last one." He smiled at the horrified looking Buffy and brought his elbow down on the slayers knee.
" AAAHHH."
The battle stopped for a moment as everyone stood in shock as the vampire tossed the crippled slayer to the ground. His voice clearly carried over the battleground. " Your leg is broken slayer. Your friends are surrounded by my pack. You're all going to die tonight."
Buffy's hazel eyes blinked clear of the pain and her voice carried just as strongly. " No we aren't."
" Who's going to stop me? Your gimpy pet vampire?" Thomas Thorne pointed at Angel who had been surrounded, and he smiled. " Gather them up, we'll take them back to the warehouse. He smiled at the captured Scooby gang. " You're going to be my guests at a feast."
Just then a cracking bolt of blue electricity hit Thorne in the chest and Thomas flew back and crashed into several of his minions. Thomas shook his head clear and saw what hit him. Looked like a big guy in black fatigues carrying some kind of plastic looking gun. About six other guys who looked the same came from behind him blasting the other vampires in his pack with those blue bolts. The weaker vampires collapsed into dust while the stronger vampires were merely stunned.
Buffy could feel a burning sensation in her leg and the muscles began to cramp. Buffy couldn't believe what was happening. Her leg, which was very broken, was starting to straighten out. The external wound was sealing up and she could feel the bone fusing together. She felt a tingling sensation in her nose and could only assume that was also healing.
She was definitely going to have to ask Giles about this.
***
Anya looked up to see the vampire in front of her turn to dust courtesy of a gun-wielding soldier. When she looked around she saw several other soldiers blasting vampires. She saw the lead soldier rush forward to engage the leader in hand to hand. She thought as she squinted suspiciously at the soldier. Her eyes darted to his pants and they widened. her mind whispered.
Grabbing her axe she rushed forward.
***
Thomas stood up. His chest burned like never before. He saw the large soldier coming at him, stake in one hand and blaster in the other. Struggling to his feet, he blocked the first strike to the heart and gripped the soldier's wrist so he couldn't aim his blaster. Thorne kicked the soldier in the back of his leg and punched the soldier in the chin. He went down like a sack of potatoes.
Thomas cracked his neck and began to smirk. A smirk that died when he saw the slayer whose leg he had broken stand up. Very healed.
It was Buffy's time to smile. " Its my turn now."
***
Willow tried to focus. She really did. But nothing was working. Vampires surrounded her and Oz. Oz was still struggling but Willow could barely summon the energy to keep her eyes open.
" Leave Red alone." A smoky voice called out.
Willow craned her head. That voice was so distinctive. It belonged to the love of her best friend's life. Faith.
She saw woman in a black leather coat with a cascade of dark brown hair that coiled past her shoulders. A pair of sunglasses perched on her nose. Only Faith could smile like that. That smile of perfect confidence. But she was too old. Faith was 17; a year younger than Xander but this girl was about twenty-five.
Willow murmured, " Faith?"
" Got it in one, Little Red Riding Hood." Only Faith ever called her that. Thought it was funny cause Oz is the big bad wolf.
Faith's hips swayed and creaked in their leather casing as she beckoned the vampires surrounding Oz and Willow. " Can't leave me hanging Boys," Her throaty voice teased. Three vampires rushed her as one. Moving faster than anything Willow has ever seen Faith rolled around their blows. A swift punch sent a vampire flying into a statue, which broke apart. Spinning around she drove her knee into another vampire. The rush of his dusting punctuates the sound of that vampire's ribs shattering. The last vampire began backing away, hands up. Faith pouted. " Can't be leaving so soon," she whispered.
Willow's not certain about what happens next. The vampire is backing up and a bright flash and then the vampire was blown to dust.
And a dull glow seemed to surround Faiths hands.
***
Tara rocked back, a drop of bloody spittle dripping from the corner of her chin. Alicia slapped her again. Amy was being held by a pair of vampires in front of Tara, a purplish bruise forming on her face.
A wave of emotions overpowered Tara and sagged in her captor's arms. Someone was here. Someone with more power than anything she has ever encountered in her life. It was at that moment that she heard the tap of heels on stone.
Alicia turned around and saw a beautiful brunet with hair that hung well past her shoulders. She wore a white leather coat and white silk pants that hung loose around her legs. She had a compact out and appeared to be running her fingers through her hair and studying her reflection in the mirror. " Who the Hell are you?"
" You better hope I'm not the fashion police cause you'd get the death penalty." She shrugged her shoulders and laughed. " But then what do you expect from a race that can't see themselves in the mirror."
" I'm going to kill you, bitch," Alicia roared and rushed forward dropping Tara to the ground.
The mysterious woman smiled. " No, your really not." Her eyes flashed white, like they suddenly turned to smoke and so did the eyes of Alicia and the two vampires holding Amy.
Tara was suddenly overwhelmed by emotions being felt by the three vampires. They were feeling overwhelmingly of pain and regret. But that was impossible. Vampires didn't feel those things. They couldn't.
The three vampires backed away, their eyes wide as they looked around. Alicia stared in horror at her bloody hands and the other two vampires looked even worse. They turned around and ran off.
The brunet in white walked over to Amy. " Hi Amy," she said softy.
" Cordelia!!" Came the incredulous reply
" Yeah its me." She smiled. " Its amazing how fast vampires run when you give them a taste showing them what a soul is like." She laughed. " Its like they can't live with a little guilt."
***
Angel struggled underneath the pile of vampires. He was easily strong enough to move two maybe three vampires, but not five. They were digging into his skin with their teeth and his previous wounds burned. He heard two pops and felt the pile suddenly become lighter. He could smell the vampire dust in the air. Forcing several of the vampires off him, he saw a hand extend forward, but the bodies prevented him from seeing the face of whoever was helping him. But nothing prevented him from hearing a voice that he thought he would never hear again.
" Miss me dead boy?"
" Xander?"
The hand jerked him to his feet and now he saw the smiling face of the boy who had hated him since the day they met. Same damn smile but he looked older. Stubble graced his face, real stubble. Not the kind that teenagers try and fail to get, but the kind that turned a goofy young man into a dangerous looking one. He saw Xander rub his face and look toward Buffy. He clearly heard Xander mutter, " Well that's unexpected."
***
" Xander?"
Buffy heard that question and paused in her battle against Thomas Thorne. Her second wind seem to be working much better than her first wind. Whatever is healing her seems to be doing it faster. Several times during the fight Thorne had clearly broken her ribs but after a few moments they seemed to heal same as her leg. A dull pain pounded in her head and it only seemed to clear when she heard Angel say ' Xander' loudly.
Buffy made the mistake of turning to see what Angel was talking about. Thorne took that momentary lapse of concentration and threw all his weight into a punch that launched Buffy through the air. She slammed into the base of a large statue.
Shaking the cobwebs from her mind, she looked up and saw.Xander?
" Hey, Buff. That wasn't very smart of you was it?" Xander smiled and pulled Buffy to her feet.
" Xander.but.how." Buffy tried to ask the questions that were running through her mind but there were so many they tripped over themselves.
" Hold that thought." Xander pointed with thumb back at Thorne. " We still got the biker general to deal with." With that Xander turned around and leaped practically the whole distance between him and Thomas Thorne. Buffy could almost swear she saw his eyes become yellow.
She saw Xander move almost lazily and avoid the blows from the big vampire. As fast as Thorne seemed to move, Xander seemed to move even slower but none of the blows connected. An open palm strike delivered lightly to the vampires chest sent him stumbling back. Xander followed up with a kick the dropped him to the ground. Xander leapt up and jumped down on Thorne, but at the last second something seemed to distract both of them and Thorne evaded the blow. Xander cocked his ear.
****
Angel could hear the police sirens. He was surprised to notice that so could apparently Xander. Only vampires should be able to hear them at this distance. He moved to go to Buffy's side when a soldier appeared before him, blaster in hand and covered in vampire dust. Angel could tell that this soldier was black and Angel was about to speak when the blaster came up and shot him. The blast rocked him back. Were he a younger vampire he would surely have been killed. As it was it stunned him painfully and his last thought before sinking into unconsciousness was of Buffy.
***
Thomas watched the three newcomers that had so effectively killed some of his eldest children. With the oncoming sirens he decided it was best to leave. " Everybody lets go." He waved his hands in a circular motion. " Lets blow this joint."
As he was gathering his stragglers he noticed the black soldier heft the betrayer Angelus over his shoulder and likewise order his men to retreat. The five soldiers left without notice, leaving only one of their members behind. He saw the black soldier take a long look at the downed one for a long moment before sounding the retreat and leaving him there.
***
" Does Giles still live at the same place?" Xander asked. He ran over to Willow and Oz and began checking them over worriedly.
" Yes." Both Buffy and Cordelia answered in unison. Buffy looked over at Cordelia and then Faith in surprised joy.
" You're here. How, what? " Buffy looked overjoyed at her friends return but confused as well.
" Sure am B."
" There's no time for this Buffy." Cordelia said annoyed. " I can appreciate the questions but we got to get the hell out of here. Cordelia gathered up Willow and swung her over her shoulder with ease.
" Can you guys walk?" Tara, Amy, Oz, and Anya all nodded their assent.
Faith walked over to Giles and picked him up and threw him over her shoulder. She patted his ass. " Don't worry G, I won't take advantage of your vulnerable state."
Anya pointed at the downed soldier. " Bring him. I think I know who he is." And her eyes narrow.
Xander shrugged his shoulders and easily picked up the unconscious Mr. Finn. The group was making their way to exit when Buffy suddenly stopped the group. She looked around eyes wide.
" Where's Angel?"
***
The soldiers moved down the street keeping to the shadows, Forrest taking the lead with the unconscious Angel slung across his shoulders.
" What the hell man?"
Forrest turned around and looked at an irate Graham. " What." He asked.
" You left Riley behind. Why?"
" This whole mission is a royal fuck up and you know why?" Forrest poked Graham in the chest. " Riley is a fucking loser as a leader. Walsh gave us a direct order and we didn't do it cause he wanted to play the big fucking hero. She's going to have our Asses for this. Something like this could mean our career. It's not like we can just move to a different base. We are stuck here. We got to do our best cause our only promotions will be through the initiative." Forrest was breathing hard at the end of his diatribe.
Graham got in his face. " Listen up fucker. Were going to drop your boy off at the base and then were going to move and get our captain back. When we do, I hope he kicks your black ass!"
Graham stormed off leaving Forrest and the other soldiers behind.
***
"Sire, Sire." The young vampire broke into the bedchamber of Spike and Drusilla. He saw his sire nearly naked, with only a light sheet covering his slender form. His companion stirred slightly, a smile visible through the curtain of her dark hair.
" There better be bloody good explanation 'ere mate," Spike muttered. Ignoring the presence of his child he stood up and grabbed his jeans.
The vampire could not help but smile in excitement. " The workers found the treasury sire."
" Is the Gem there?" Even spike could not feign disinterest in the possibility of finally discovering the powerful Gem of Amara.
" No one has entered the treasure chamber, just like you ordered." Spike could not help but smile. They'd never be masters if they weren't willing to risk a little death threat. Oh well them being spineless meant fewer dominance plays from the minions.
The two of them strode into the large central chamber of the underground temple. Workers appeared to be talking excitedly amongst themselves. The minion took Spike to the newest opening.
Spike stepped through the entrance and breathed deeply of the imprisoned air. He looked around at mounds of gold, silver, and gems. Those things he ignored. He opened his vampire senses, letting his instincts guide. It was a little trick Dru taught him. They led him to a small bowl piled high with gems. Rummaging around in them, he found a simple gold band, with a teardrop shaped emerald set in it. Lifting it to the light he found himself hypnotized by its beauty. For a single moment, spike felt a poetic urge. It really was beautiful. He squelched it with vigor. Such thought were unmanly, and UN spike-like.
" So you're the itty, bitty bauble with all the powers," he murmured.
He walked back into the main chamber. All of the servants crowded around him, trying to get a good look at the gem. One of them asked, " What now boss?"
Still mesmerized by the Gem, Spike slipped the ring on his fingers and smiled. " Don't worry mates, the party is just starting. Plenty of favors for everybody."