"One other thing you should be aware of… Robius is dangerously crazy. If you get on his bad side, he will stop at nothing to tear you apart."

Giles was nonplussed: he and Buffy had dealt with such characters in the past. It was nothing new. *But then again, with an army like his…* "Um, Kathryne, how exactly does one kill those mutants?"

Kathryne laughed, peals of hilarity floating through the hall. "Kill them? Not bloody likely. Maybe if you found a really strong ax and beheaded them…" Still giggling, she covered her mouth. Giles exchanged a look with Angel. *This girl is NOT right* the Watcher’s eyes expressed forcefully. But Angel only turned his head, looking down in shame.

"Any other means won’t kill them… your best bet is to give ‘em a good thrashing, and hope they run away." Snickering, Kathryne pressed on. When they reached the double doors of the library, she pushed her way in.

As Giles took in the library with his eyes, a worried look creased his brow. "Wasn’t Willow supposed to be here?" he muttered under his breath. Rushing to the table in the center of the room, he glanced at the open books, the note pads with scrawled notes and random doodles.

"Willow?" he asked loudly, hoping to himself that she was in the stacks, hunting down a particular text. In Sunnydale, you never know what could happen.

The library echoed his call, but gave no response. Turning on his heel, he headed towards the office, intent on finding the phone. But before he made it, Angel called his name. The librarian turned, seeing the vampire holding up a scrap of paper. A sigh of relief came to his lips, but halted there. Looking at the slip in the other’s hand, he was filled with a mix of ease and trepidation. Walking quickly over to Angel, he pulled the scrap of paper from his hands.

"Giles,

Xander and Cordelia were in a car accident. Xander is okay, but Cordelia is in intensive care. I am over there now. Buffy is on her way. Please hurry.

Willow"

"Oh dear." Looking at Angel and Kathryne, Giles said quickly, "We need to get to the hospital. I’ll drive."

Angel nodded silently in agreement, and began to rush towards the double doors. But Kathryne hung back. "What? What’s going on?" Her voice was impatient, angry.

Giles didn’t answer. His mind was too far from the library to even consider a reply.

"Hey, we need to focus on my problems here! What is going on?" But Kathryne went unnoticed. As the vampire and the Watcher left the library, she ran after them. As she caught up, her voice fell silent. But her cheeks glowed with bright color, and her chin jutted out. She felt flames of anger growing within her, but she stayed silent.

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*I should be happy I have Slayer grace…* Buffy was thanking her lucky Slayage stars for balance as she ran up the stairs and into the hospital. Any other girl probably would not be able to stay standing, running in her six inch boot heels. Pushing the button for the elevator impatiently, she mulled over that night’s events. *Mom sick, Cordy hurt, man, what a night.*

As the doors opened on the Intensive Care floor, Buffy rushed out, her blonde hair flying. She followed the signs, taking turns and curves quickly to get to the waiting room. But as she emerged from the hallway, her feet came to a dead stop. *huh?* In the waiting room stood her friends, talking in low voices.

Her eyes fell on Angel, looking upset and nervous. She wasn’t used to that look. Gone was the inner self confidence and power that she had come to expect from her vampire boyfriend. The man before her was someone she had never seen before. But what was even more confusing was the tall, dark haired person standing beside him. Her pale skin and haunted eyes disturbed Buffy; the Slayer sense that had come in handy so many times before was tingling non stop.

Before she could contemplate this any further, Angel looked up. The sadness in his dark eyes lifted a little as he spotted the tiny Slayer. "Buffy!"

The crowd’s heads turned. As Buffy approached, she noted the upset residing on the faces of her friends. But looking at Giles, she saw something more. The librarian looked upset de to the accident, this much was certain. But underneath… she recognized that look. That "the world is about to end look."

Walking over to the group, she spoke hurriedly. "Hey guys… how is she?"

"Unconscious, but they expect her to recover," Giles replied, his voice tired. He looked levelly at Buffy.

"So I assume this is the great Slayer I’ve heard so much about?" The dark haired girl interrupted, her voice cutting with sarcasm. Buffy turned, her temper waking up.

"Yes, I am the Slayer," she retorted, throwing emphasis on that last word. "And you are…?"

"Kathryne. I suppose you want to know what’s going on."

Glaring at the girl, Buffy’s eyes lit up with anger. "That would be nice. Giles, what’s going on?"

As he related Kathryne’s story of the Blood Star and Robius, Buffy felt her body shift into battle mode. She could tell that the next few nights would be filled with fighting and violence. *Good.* It had been a while since she had been able to distract herself with some fighting. She was looking forward to kicking some evil guy butt.

Smiling to herself some, Buffy looked up, gazing at her boyfriend. "Angel, could I talk to you for a minute?"

The vampire nodded, accepting her hand and walking towards the elevator.

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"That was the Slayer? What kind of a name is Buffy, anyways?"

"Now you listen to me, Kathryne. Buffy is a very capable Slayer. One of the best I’ve seen…" Giles’ voice trailed off as he saw the mirth in her face.

"And her boyfriend is a vampire?? Jeez, you Watchers sure know how to keep an eye on them." She laughed, throwing her head back with glee. Giles glanced at Willow and Xander. The red head was talking to her friend, bathing him with the concern in her eyes. *Maybe Xander thinks the accident was his fault…* But it was apparent they weren’t listening to the ranting girl beside him.

"Ahem, well…" Giles stuttered out.

"Don’t try and talk about it. I am perfectly all right. If Miss Blondie here wants to suck face with the un-dead, that’s her choice." Kathryne’s dark eyes glinted with fire. "As long as she helps me beat Robius, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about her screwed up social life."

Giles didn’t know what to say. Anger was welling up within him at these insults to his Slayer, but he wasn’t sure whether or not to retort. *She does have a point, no matter how badly stated…* But yet he still was growing quite upset with the young woman and her harsh words.