A Marvel/Buffy/Nest Freemark crossover

I have to admit, this isn't what I origanally planned to write. I've just had a couple of stories buzzing around in my head trying to get out. One was a crossover between Spidey and Buffy, while another was trying to explain why Gambit and Angel are so much alike. I decided to see if I could cram them into one story and threw Nest in the fun of it. I would appreciate any (well, almost any)feedback you want to send me. This is my first fanfic that I've shared, so if you have any suggestions or corrections, please feel free to send them to me. My e-mail address is Wily_Coyote_PhD@yahoo.com

This is the part where I have to say that I don't own the rights to Buffy, Angel, Peter, MJ, Nest Freemark, or the rest of the gang. For those of you already familiar with Terry Brook's Nest Freemark, I know I changed a lot of things and I haven't even read the third book, so don't e-mail me complaining. I have no clue where this would fit in any of the ongoing series, so I guess you can consider this my own private omniverse. For any lawyer types that might read this- I'm not worried about the possibility of getting sued, 'cause I don't have anything that anyone would want. You can't take money from someone who is broke.

Finally, on to deluded mutterings of a mad man....

********

"Why can't you tell me what's bothering you?"

How could he explain it to her? For all her claims, she was still so innocent and naive. She'd seen so much death, pain, heart-break and horror, maybe more than anyone else still alive and certainly more than any teen-age girl should have to face. She'd faced adversary after adversary, and she'd always some out on top. She didn't even have any physical scarring despite the number of the times that she'd been injured. She was still one of the most graceful, robust, agile, and powerful people that he'd known in his over two centuries life, but just because she was still physically perfect didn't mean that she was the same way mentally and emotionally.

She'd been forced to watch as friends and loved ones around her were repeatedly hunted down, stalked, hurt, tortured, and even killed. She had to go to school day after day and act like a normal teen-ager, while she spent her nights waging a war against the worst the earth and hell had to offer. She might spend an afternoon at a friend's house, studying, laughing, eating junk food, gossiping - acting like a regular teenager - and have to force a stake through their heart two nights later. She'd fallen in love with him, and he'd been wild for her - and was again. They'd joined in one of the most beautiful, intimate, and sacred acts that a man and a woman can share. Then he had laughed at her, mocked her feelings for him, and insulted what she was physically, emotionally, and mentally. He'd taken the greatest gift that she could give him and used it as a weapon against her. He'd been the one that inflicted so much hurt and pain. He'd been the one that had known her weaknesses and used them. He'd been the one that had tortured her slowly, night after night, slowly dragging her closer and closer to the edge of insanity. It still seemed a miracle to him that she hadn't gone over it long ago.

What amazed him even more was that she still cared for him. He had explained that he hadn't been in control when he hurt her, and she had believed him. Her perfect face was turned up to his, her gorgeous eyes and sensual mouth were telling him better than any words that she loved him, cared for him, and was trying desperately to help him with whatever was bothering him. How could he ever tell this angel what was bothering him? She'd already given up so much because of and for him. He'd already caused her enough problems. He wasn't going to hurt her anymore. By sheltering her from the truth, he was just protecting her.

Maybe, just maybe, if he kept repeating that over and over, he might come to believe it. It was bad enough that he was hiding shielding the her from the truth for her own good, but how much worse would it be to confess that he wasn't protecting her, he was protecting himself? He had nightmares everyday in which she found out the truth. The look on her face, the sudden distance between them, the hurt and horror in her eyes, the way she cringed at his touch, the loathing in every line of her body......His nightmares were so realistic that just the memory made bile start to rise up his throat and his insides churned so hardthat it hurt. No, it was better for both of them thatshe didn't know. So he tried to charm his way out of it.

"Sorry, I was just distracted by that perfume your wearing. It's very, very sexy. Is it new?" He purred as he wrapped his arms around her.

Buffy could read Angel better than anyone else in the world. The way he moved, the way he held his arms, the shortest hesitation in his voice, the slightest tightness in his jaw, a momentary twitch at the corner of his eye, were all she needed to understand what he was feeling. Something had been bothering Angel lately, but he wouldn't tell her what it was. Hewouldn't even admit that there was anything wrong. She knew that he wasn't ready to share his problems with her yet, but she hoped he would be soon. How could their relationship survive if he didn't trust her? But she could force herself to wait until he was ready. Besides, it felt so good to be held in his arms.

"Yeah. Willow helped me pick it out. So, you like it?"

"Oh, yeah." He said as he softly kissed her on the forehead.

"Don't we need to finish the patrol first?" She softly whispered as he kissed her on the tip of her nose.

"I think it can wait a little while," Angel said in a husky voice before their lips finally connected.

********

"Homebase? I've got a definite lock on the two reported possibles. I'm gettting a definite aura here from both of them. What do you want me to do?"

"Stick with them. A team is being gathered to come down. Continue survelliance of disignated targets 1 and 2 until you recieve further orders. If possible, find their place of residence and any possible allies."

"You got it. Though it doesn't look like they'll be going anyplace soon."

********

From the east a lone figure roared toward Sunnydale on a custom Harley. After all these years, the rider finally had a location on Angel. After years of searching, the rider was going to have another chance to confront the vampire. The bloodsucker was finally going to get payback for everything he'd done.

********

Tom Riley was sweating and glancing around nervously as he got the couple's bags out of the luggage compartment. His hands were shaking so badly he almost could grab the handles on their suitcases. He'd been hearing strange stories about Sunnydale ever since he's started driving bus, but he'd never believed them. I mean, nobody believed all of those old wives tales about monsters, demons, and vampires? Besides, the other drivers were always making up stories, trying to pull pranks on the new guys, and telling whoopers to each other, so he just laughed at their stories. At least he had until two weeks ago. If it hadn't been for the girl that had taken those things out, he was sure that he wouldn't have ever seen his wife and kids again. He could still feel those things closing in about him. Smell the foul breath of the one that had grabbed him and effortlessly and slammed him against the brick wall. The grusome laughter still echoed in his head. He could still see those huge, hideous, glowing eyes looking at him like he was something to be played with, enjoyed, and devoured.

Suddenly a hand closed around his shoulder. The driver screamed and threw himself cowering upon the ground where he began to pray desperately.

"Are you alright? I was just going to say thanks."

Tom lowered his arms from his face and saw the young man kneeling beside him with a concerned look on his face. Tom quickly looked around to make sure that no one else was around before he darted inside the bus, slammed the doors closed, and floored the bus. He kept sobbing as the bus spun out and fish-tailed around the corner, "I ain't ever going back. I ain't ever going back."

The handsome young couple could only look at each other in astonishment.

"What do you suppose got into him?" asked the gorgeous red-head.

"Maybe he just remembered that he left the iron on?" joked the young man in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Peter, be serious for a moment. That poor man was terrified of something. What could scare someone that badly?"

"Besides your infamous broccali and hamburger casserole?"

"You better take your insult to my cooking back right this minute young man, or you are going to be sleeping on an extremely cold couch for the next two weeks." warned the woman, but the corners of her mouth were curved up and there was a twinkle in her eyes. "Besides, at least I can make toast without burning down half the apartment."

"Hey, no fair. How was I supposed to know that the automatic pop-up thingy was broke? Besides," he added with a sly smile, "Darin might be planning on us both sleeping on the couch anyway."

"Won't they have any spare beds? I thought he said that the rest of his family had already gone ahead to Disneyland?"

"Yeah, he did. The whole call was kind of weird. His voice sounded kind of different and he was acting kind of spooky." Peter started to get a worried look on his face. "Mary Jane, if everyone in this town acts this weird maybe we should leave. We could spend the night in a hotel in L.A. I could snap those picks J.J. wants tomorrow, and we could spend the rest of our vacation at home. This is the first break we've both had in a long time. We both need a chance to rest up for a while."

Mary Jane agreed with Peter whole-heartedly. Peter would never admit how beat he was, but the way he had slept the whole time he was on the plane and then passed out again for the bus ride were dead give-aways. His eyes had had dark bags under them for way to long, his shoulders were slumped with weariness, and the characteristic spring in his step had vanished. There was no way she was going to allow her husband to return to that war zone in the condition he was in. "Don't be silly. We've traveled all of this way and I am not going back until two weeks are over. You can protect me from whatever is wrong with this town." she said as she put her arms around him. "Besides, at home we are always getting interupted by J.J. or my career or some emergency that comes up. Darin needs someone to house-sit while his family is gone. He couldn't get a replacement this late. He's leaving early tomorrow morning and wouldn't be back for a couple of weeks. That means that I get to spend some time with my hubby without you running off every couple of hours. Tiger, you aren't going anywhere until I'm through with you." With that she gave him a kiss that left them both breathless and Peter with a silly grin on his face.

Suddenly, the grin disappeared and he began to look around warily. Mary Jane knew what the sudden tension meant and let out a sigh of frustration. "Somebody up there hates us."

A teen-age boy suddenly emerged from the darkness and came toward them with a huge smile on his face. "Peter! Mary Jane! Wow, it's great to see you guys!" He firmly pumped Peter's hand and gave Mary Jane a hug. "Come on, my car's just over there. What's it been? Over a year? Wow, MJ, you look great! Are you still working for that cheap-skate J.J., Petey? How's your career been Mary Jane? I saw you guest star on that soap opera.....what's it called.....Anyway you were great! I saw old Jimmy in San Fran last fall....." he rambled on as he led them toward his car. Peter was still on high alert and it was obvious that his return smile wasn't genuine, but Darin didn't seem to notice. He just kept on babbling on about how great it was to see them and and reminencing about the summer that he had spent in New York living with his Uncle. Peter had slipped a protective arm around his wife and was still very tense. Darin had led them over a block from the bus stop and showed no sighs of approaching any of the cars lining the street. MJ couldn't help but wonder why Darin hadn't just drove to the bus stop instead of parking so far away. "Maybe he had been visiting friends." she tried to console herself. "Peter and I are just being paranoid." But she knew that something was wrong.

********

As Buffy and Angel walked hand in hand down the street, she gave a soft giggle. She decided that one of the best perks of having a boyfriend who'd been around more than 200 years was that he certainly knew how to kiss.

The night had been quite so far. Buffy didn't know whether to consider that a blessing or a curse. It was nice to have a break and it did give her and Angel a chance to spend some quite time together, but it probably meant that Spike and Dru were up to something. Buffy didn't even want to think about what kind of mischief they might be causing.

Suddenly, her Slayer sense kicked in and she noticed a group of people up ahead walking away from them. As she let go of Angel hand and they began to close in on their prey, she tried to console herself with the thought that maybe Spike and Dru weren't up to something after all. "Yeah, right," she thought with a grimace, "and vampires are a myth."

As they drew closer, she realized that only the man leading the trio was a vamp. The couple following him were human and it looked like they were starting to realize that something was up.

When the vamp passed under a street lamp, she gave a small gasp before setting her jaw with determination. It was Darin Michaels. Buffy had a small crush on him in Junior High and he had liked her in return, but nothing serious had ever developed. He had been one of the few boys in school who liked her for she was, not how she looked. She had once wondered what their relationship might have been if Angel hadn't showed up. As it was, Darin was one of her best friends she ever had who didn't know about her being the Slayer. She and Darin were in many of the same classes at school and had often worked on projects and homework together. Darin and his younger sister, Jennifer, were in a very small minority at school that accepted her and the rest of the "Scobby Gang". Or at least they had until last month, when the vamps somehow got into their house and murdered the whole family. Now, she had to take down one of her best friends. "No," she told herself firmly, "Darin is gone. I'm just getting rid of the demon that's using his body."

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition:

And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhood's cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

-Wm Shakespeare, "Henry V"

The trio had turned at the sound of their approach. The couple following Darin looked to be just a couple of years older than she was. She almost smiled at the way that they were backing each other up. The young man looked like he was ready to do anything to protect the red-head, and the woman was ready to do the same for him. Buffy resolved to make sure they both got out of there in one piece. They loved each other so much, one wouldn't be able to survive without the other.

Someone must have told Darin about Buffy's nocturnal "hobby" because the cocky, careless look that most vamps had when they were confronted by a pretty teen-age girl wasn't there. Hate and fear showed in equal proportions on his face and he knew he had to something fast. He knew that his "friends" were closing in to help him with the slayer, but he would have to stall for a couple of seconds. He decided that a hostage would work nicely and immedietly began to move closer to Peter and Mary Jane.

Peter and Mary Jane were caught in the middle of something, but neither of them knew what. Judging from the looks on their faces, Darin and the other two weren't exactly friends. The two who had emerged from the dark reached them at the same time as Darin and they exchanged glares. It reminded Peter of dogs getting ready to fight each other over a bone. He almost expected them to start growling.

The college guy was trying to take in everything at once. Buffy almost smiled as she wondered if it was possible to give yourself whiplash. Darin had tried to get the couple, but now she and Angel were too close for him to make a move. Buffy knew she had to stall for time until they were in a better position. So she tried to make small talk. "Hey, Darin. What's up? We missed you today at school. Were you home sick? I heard there is a cold or something going around. You know, the usual thing. Your eyes get all runny, your nose feels all stuffed up, your sinuses swell, and you have a sore throat." She couldn't resist throwing in that last little barb.

Darin grimaced at her pun, "No, actually, I feel great. I never get sick, remember? I do know a couple people that have sore throats though. In fact," he smiled wickedly as his friends began to emerge from the darkness, "I think I know a couple more who are going to get them real soon."

MJ and Peter knew that there was a lot more going on than met the eye. Whatever Darin and the girl were talking about, it sure wasn't a cold. Peter had managed to put MJ behind him and was trying to slowly back out of the group without being noticed but Darin was delibrately keeping them between him and the other two. Right now, the three of them looked like some of the coldest people he'd ever seen in his life. The second guy, the one who hadn't seen anything, had been trying to slip between him and Darin, but Darin was being very careful to shield himself from the guy. Whoever he was, he was big and he moved in a way that would have humiliated a pro athlete.

As the other vampires began to close in on the group wearing their game faces. Buffy and Angel exchanged a quick glance. There were at least twelve closing in, probably. Buffy and Angel might have had a slim chance but not with two possible hostages. They were in trouble.

MJ was shaking slightly as she surveyed the situation they were in. They were definitely mixed up in something bad, but they didn't even know who the good guys were. A bunch of monsters with fangs, ugly ridges on their faces, and terrifying eyes had them surrounded and were closing in. MJ didn't like the way they were eyeing her and licking there lips. Darin was supposed to be their friend, but he certainly hadn't been acting like one. He'd used them as a shield and was now making no effort to hide that he viewed them the same way that the monsters did. She gave a little scream as Darin's face morphed into a copy of the monsters. The pretty teen-ager and the big guy with her seemed to be their only chance, but maybe they were on the same side as the monsters. To top it all off, Peter wasn't wearing his mask. If they did survive whatever was going on, they needed to worry about future consequences. She knew that Peter would do anything to protect her, but she wasn't sure how much he could do. He wasn't ready for a fight and there wasn't time for him to arm himself. She hardened her resolve and took up a protective stance beside her husband. Maybe all of those gymnastic and self-defense classes were finally going to come in handy.

The thing that used to be Darin had to smile at the grit Mary Jane was showing. He knew that she was smart, too. The babe's got brains, guts, and a great bod he thought as he allowed himself to look her over one more time. She should definitely be one of us. Let the others take care of the Slayer and the traitor, he was going for the prize he thought as he lunged forward.

Angel finally got his chance when Darin put on his game face and focused his attention on the red-head. With inhuman speed he maneuvered himself between Darin and the couple. When Darin leaped forward, he grabbed him by the neck and held him helpless above the ground. With his own game face on he roared, "Return to the slime pit you crawled out of demon!" as he slammed a wooden stake through the thing's heart and reduced the vamp to a pile of ash. He'd just begun to turn when two vamps jumped on him from behind.

Buffy saw Angel's quick move to intercept Darin and acted at the same time. Her arm flashed forward in a blur of motion and one of the vamps who had been closing in on the couple crumbled into dust as the stake passed through his heart. Even before the stake had hit the ground, she was aiming a jump kick a the closest vamp's head that had enough force behind it to snap it's neck.

Both MJ and Peter were stunned by speed and ferocity of the battle going on around them. The monsters had momentarily halted when the big guy and the girl had begun their attack, but now they were rushing in to avenge their fallen comrades. The big guy now looked like another one of the monsters. MJ wondered if everyone in this crazy town was a monster. No wonder the bus driver wanted to get out of here so badly. At least the girl still looked like a human, but she sure didn't act like it. No human should have been able to move that fast or hit that hard. Then again, she knew more than one person who could. Now, the big question was what should the Parkers do. She remembered an old saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." She didn't even realize that she'd said it out loud until Peter agreed with her. She quickly warned him, "Remember that your not wearing your mask. Try and act normal."

MJ quickly grabbed the stake that the girl had thrown and ran toward the pile of monsters that had swarmed over the big guy. Mary Jane Watson Parker, considered to be one of the most beautiful and sophisticated women in New York, didn't hesitate before she slammed the spike into the back of one of the monsters.

Buffy had staked another vamp and looked up to see the dog-pile that covered her lover. She sprang to her feet with a look of terror on her face and fought her way toward Angel. His roars of pain and anger seemed to shake the street. Buffy was almost hysterical with frustration. For every step she took, it seemed like she had to take two steps back to keep from being overwelmed herself by the swarms of the undead. Her body was acting on autopilot as she tore through her opponents, leaving a trail of dust in her path. Her mind was too busy screaming at the idea of loosing Angel again to notice. All she could think about was getting to her beloved Angel. Her attention was suddenly drawn to the red-headed woman as she staked one of the vampires on Angel. Her face had gone a sickly shade of white and she was bewildered when she saw the vampire turned to dust, but she was fighting. Her unarmed husband was guarding her back but didn't seem too bright. The only explaination that he was still alive seemed to be an amazing amount of luck. Buffy gave a yelp of pain as one of the vampires around her took advantage of her distraction and slammed into her from behind.

Peter didn't know how much more of this he could take. Trying to act like a normal husband was getting old fast. Unlike his wife, he had recognized what the monsters were, and he wasn't at all happy about it. Vampires were tough at anytime, but taking them on when he had to worry about his wife's safetly AND act like an average joe was even worse. Where was Blade when he needed him?

Angel was seriously pissed. He hadn't exactly been in a good mood when the vamps had piled on him. And the injuries they'd given him, while minor, had hurt enough to make him angry. But hearing Buffy in pain was stepping over the line. Someone had taken out a few of the vamps that had piled on him, giving him all the break he needed. With a howl he tore up through the vampires on top of him. The lucky ones were the ones that were thrown far enough away that Angel couldn't reach them. The others were quickly to discover why Angel's name was still spoken with awe. Clothe, skin, fingers, hands, whole limbs, and even a couple of heads were sent flying by Angel's berserker rampage through the vampire ranks. When he finally regained enough control, he remembered the stake he still clutched in his hand and began to put it to good use.

Mary Jane had already killed two of the monsters and almost wished she hadn't. When the creatures realized that she wasn't just dinner, she was also a threat, she was quickly made a target again. Two of them hissed at her as they slowly began to circle around her in opposite directions.

Buffy chargined herself as she went down with the vamp. Without hesitation, she grabbed one of the vamp's arm and rolled with the fall. When she stopped rolling, she was straddling a pile of dust that had once been the vampire. She quickly looked around and sighed with relief at the small number of vampires that were left. Most of those that were still in one piece had begun to make a hasty retreat. Angel was back on his feet and finishing off the few that were still sticking around. They smiled with relief at each other and Buffy went to help him with the clean-up. They both whipped their heads at the sound of a woman's scream.

Peter had begun to relax as most of the vampires had made a hasty retreat. Who ever the teen-ager and the big guy were, they obviously had a lot of experience. He'd been ready to leap into the fray, with or without his mask, but the two had everything well in hand. There were still two vampires closing in on MJ, but the two vampire killers were getting closer to her and they would probably take care of it. He remained on alert just in case. He learned the hard way that you could never count on anything. One of the vampires rushed his wife from the left while the other closed in from the right. The vampire killers hadn't noticed the situation yet, so he began to move forward. He hoped that he could take care of them without the vampire killers noticing.

MJ had focused her attention on the one coming from her right, trusting her husband to take out the one on the left. She had never doubted that Peter was right behind her, ready to protect her. She couldn't help but feel proud. She was sick of always being the damsel in distress. It felt great to actually be making a noticable impact in a fight. Besides, with her husband right behind her, she was never in any real danger. She grabbed a hold of the vampires arms as he lunged at her and broke it near the elbow with a quick twist and a little help from her knee. The move had felt so natural after all of those practice sessions with Peter. She'd never actually really used the move before, however, and she was shocked the warm feeling of pleasure that grew in her chest. She'd have to worry about it later, however, right now it was time to stake another of these monsters. The vampire tried to block it, but the stake evaded his useless arm and pierced the center of his chest. He immediately turned into a cloud of dust. MJ's smile was instantly wiped off her face by the hand that grabbed her throat and lifted her off the ground. She started to struggle wildly and let out a short, strangled scream but that cut off by the tightening hand around her throat and a woman's growl, "Knock it off or I break your neck."

The second vampire had never even seen Peter coming. He broken it's neck quickly, paying more attention to the vampire slayers and his wife taking out her own target than the object of his attack. Normally, he tried his best to avoid inflicting any permanent damage to his opponents, but he knew about vampires. He'd fought them on more than one occasion and realized that killing a vampire was really just releasing the human soul and sending the demon back to Hell. What did it matter anyway? Vampires heal so dang fast that it would probably be slinking around again before the sun came up. Aside from that, these vamps had been a major mood killer on his and MJ's "second honeymoon". Out of curiousity, he glanced down at his watch. They'd only been in Sunnydale a little over 35 minutes and they'd already been in a good sized fight. He muttered to himself, "I am really going to hate this town." A sudden strangled cry made him whirl around. MJ!!!

Buffy and Angel could only stare in horror. A hostage situation was exactly what they'd been trying to avoid. Vampires just weren't good negotiators. They didn't want to die, sure, but that didn't mean they wouldn't sacrifice the human body they were inhabiting if it suited their purposes. It didn't help matter's that their heads seemed to be thicker than cement. They just refused to compromise, surrender or honor their bargains. Once you were in the clutches of a vampire, or any other demon for that matter, the chances of escaping alive and unhurt were really, really small. What Buffy and Angel knew about the vampire holding the hostage wasn't encouraging in any way.

Jessica was one of the most powerful and ruthless vampires to ever visit Sunnydale. Born somewhere in Eastern Europe in 1874, she'd made herself a reputation for violence and inhumane treatment even before she'd been transformed. Xander had once joked that the devil himself had probably ensured that the real Jessica was turned. If she'd died, she would have kicked him out and taken over the place. The sheer cruelity of some of her actions were even enough to make even the other vampires flinch. Buffy and the "Slayerettes" had managed to stop her plans to reopen the Hellmouth the year before, and taken a big bite out of her army of undead in the process, but apparently she couldn't take a hint.

"Why, hello Jessica," sneered Buffy as her mind raced, "Long time no see. Did you forget something when you left last fall?" She eyed the remaining vampires that were positioning themselves at a barrier in front of the vampire.

"Shut up and stay still, Slayer, or the young lady here dies," she hissed as she allowed her claws to dig into Mary Janes throat a little harder with each word, "very, very slowly." A trickle of crimson blood was began to slowly trickle down the pale throat. Jessica caught some of the blood in the palm of her free hand and slowly lapped it up it up with her tongue. "Excellent," she taunted, "I will enjoy draining her dry. Maybe I'll take my time with her. Such a fine repast should be savored." she then added suggestively, "And my minions could enjoy her other charms." Directing a question at the trembling girl, "What is your name, pet?'

"M-mmary Jane." The girl's reply was so shaky and full of tears that it was almost unintelligible.

"Mary Jane?" the vampire mused, "not a bad name but-"

"I told you not to move!!!" she suddenly snarled at Peter as she spun around. "Did you really think you could sneak up on me? Move over by the other two." Then noticing the ring on his finger matched the one on Mary Janes, she began to laugh wickedly. "So, your my little pet's mate, boy?" she jeered, "And what is your name and title?"

"Title?" asked Peter in a hesitant voice.

"Are you deaf as well as dumb? Yes, I asked for your title!" Jessica angrily replied as her claws dug into Mary Jane's flesh a little further.

He quickly stuttered, "My name is Peter Parker. I'm a photographer for the Daily Bugle and a grad student in Chemistry." He hesitated, then added, "I also do a lot of community service."

Jessica quirked an eyebrow at this vague explanation, "Would you mind expounding on that last part?"

The uncertainty in his voice made his words even harder to understand. "I help people in trouble, assist the police in catching criminals, and protect those in danger."

Jessica gave a wicked laugh, "Some protector. First, you let me get her. Now, you're forcing me to punish her because you didn't do what I asked. You must not care much about what happens to her," Jessica mock sorrowed. "Now, what punishment is fitting? Your good-samaritan husband over there doesn't seem to think very highly of you, pet. You are kind of plain. Maybe it we redecorate a little bit, he'll place more value on you." she told the terrified Mary Jane.

Peter was stuttered and shook as he begged her, "Please! Anything you want! I'll do anything you want! I'm begging you! I'll-"

Jessica cut him off with a sharp hiss, "Did I give you permission to speak?" she then turned her attention back to the sobbing Mary Jane. "What should we fix first? Those eyes? Men really do hate crying women. Maybe, if we get rid of them......? Or we could always put a pretty pattern on those cheeks....." The claws of her free hand followed her eyes. Drawing blood, but doing no serious damage. Yet. "Or we could always get rid of your tongue. I must agree that most women really do talk to much. Open your mouth girl. Yes, we should definitely get rid of that pesky thing! Oh, and those ears! They are much too big! We'll just trim them about the edges a bit....."

As she went on about what was planned for the panic-striken Mary Jane, the others were just helpless observers. Everytime the Slayer or Angel so much as shifted from one foot to the other, Jessica tightened her grip on the girl's throat and gave them a warning glare. They kept exchanging worried looks, but neither could come up with a plan. Both kept looking at the anguished young husband.

Peter had never been so devastated in his life. His wife, his beautiful, wonderful, perfect wife, the woman who had given up so much for him, needed him and he couldn't do anything. He was terrified that if he moved the slightest bit or made the smallest noise, she would be hurt or even killed. If he did nothing, she might be slowly tortured and dissected in front of his eyes. Or even worse, taken with this monster so that it could be drawn out even more. The anguish was excruciating. His whole body was ready to explode with energy and emotion, but he couldn't let any of it out.

Angel knew exactly what Jessica was doing, but he couldn't do anything to stop it. His human soul was horrified by what was happening, but the vampire part of him was enjoying every minute. Few mortals have ever realized that vampires don't just feed upon the blood of humans, they also feed upon their emotions. If one is in enough emotionally charged situations, they can rely upon other sources of blood, such as farm animals. But most vampires preferred to get both at the same time by feeding on humans. The vampire half of Angel was busily satisfying itself on the emotions of those present, as he assumed Jessica was. Buffy was giving off mixed emotions of Hatred, Frustration and Pity. Mary Jane's Pain, Fear, and Faith were so sweet and pure. Any vampire would have enjoyed snacking on her tender emotions, but it wasn't Mary Jane's emotions that were keeping the remaining vampires present or drawing others like moths to a flame. It was the young Peter Parker's. Peter was boiling over with Love, Hate, Fear, Pleading, Loathing, Disappointment, Yearning, Frustration, Blame and countless other emotions in a flood that would satisfy his own and many of the other vampires' emotional needs for months to come. If the women's emotions were small, sweet pieces of candy, her husband's were a fabulous buffet. A tear of self-loathing and shame crawled down Angel's cheek as he gorged himself along with the rest. Buffy had noticed his tear and was trying to comfort him. She thinks I'm crying because I feel sorry for them he realized bitterly. How would she react if she knew that I was enjoying this as much as any orgasm? No, I'll never share my secret with her.

Something in Peter recognized that he and the two vampire killers were being surrounded again, but he didn't care. All he cared about was the woman being held up in the air by a hand around her perfect throat. If he could have died right then to save her this pain and torment, he would have done so without the slightest hesitation. He would have done anything to remove the expression on his wifes face. His heart was trying to explode from his chest, his lungs weren't working, and there was something cold and sharp in his gut that kept jabbing him.

When Jessica slowly lowered Mary Jane to her feet and allowed her to take in her first real breath in minutes, the Hope, Relief, and Love in Parker's emitting emotions flared to such an extent that some of the vampires flinched in fear that the sun might be rising. Then Jessica dropped the other shoe.

"I have sentries posted all over town and surrounding this area. If you move so much as an inch or if they hear the smallest peep coming from any of you within the next 30 minutes, she dies. Slowly and painfully. One of my minions will tell you when the time is up." She grinned hideously at their reactions. She then turned towards the vampires surrounding them. "I will not allow any of them to be hurt during this time. Anyone who attacks or even threaten them will answer to me." Her voice was so cold and deadly that even her opposing vampires reluctantly nodded.

Buffy and Angel both started to object, but where cut short. "Time has started. If you don't want to see her die, you'll play by my rules." Then grabbing Mary Jane once more, she dragged her off into the dark.

********

The man in the van was shaking. He'd seen a lot of things in his life that would have scared the crap out of most men and made coldest men ball. Heck, he'd done a lot of things that most suicidal maniacs wouldn't have even considered and seen more pain than most professional torturers. But he still couldn't quite grasp what had just happened. All he knew was that he had the van's heater on high, was wearing two sweaters and a coat, and had wrapped himself in a blanket and he was still shaking from the cold. He kept trying to drink from his thermost of hot coffee, but his hands were trembling so much that he was afraid he'd chip a tooth. It wasn't so much what that Jessica lady had done, it was the way she had done it. She'd drawn it out, savored it, prolonged it, and loved every minute of it. Maybe the worse part was when he'd radioed in and told them what had happened. Headquarters had been interested in what he had to tell them alright. They'd asked him to find out more about Jessica and see if she might be interested in a "co-operative, mutually benificial agreement."

********

For once, the vampires were as good as their word. They didn't disturb any of the three people left in the street. A huge crowd of vampires had gathered all around them and were enjoying themselves. Buffy was frustrated and angry from what had just happened. Now she was embarassed and her pride was hurt by all of the vampires gathering. She had automatically assumed that they had come to laugh at the "mighty Slayer" and her predicament. Angel briefly considered telling her that they were more interested in the anguish of the poor soul in the middle of the street, but rejected the idea when he realized that he'd have to explain about vampires' empathic feeding, including his own. Angle noticed with surprise that the emotions radiating from Peter suddenly began to slow, then come to an almost complete stop.

Finally, the thirty minutes was up. One of the vampires called out, "Times up."

None of the trio moved for a moment. Then Buffy checked her watch to insure that the time was indeed up and not some sort of trick. With a sigh she relaxed and began to stretch to get some blood back into her limbs.Angel didn't have to worry about getting the blood flowing, but stretched anyway to relax his sore muscles. They looked at each other and a half-smile started to form on each face. Then they remembered Peter. They approached slowly, not knowing what to expect.

Peter stood there with no expression on his face, looking at something that only he could see. Buffy looked at Angel with concern on her face. Angel just shrugged, equally mystified.

Buffy began to softly coax, "Come on Peter. You can move now. The times up."

Peter looked at her is confusion for moment, then a slow trickle of understanding entered his eyes. He gently nodded, then took a hesitant step forward. Then another. On his forth step, his foot slipped off a piece of debris, and he fell on his face. He made no move to out his arms up to protect himself. He just let his face slam into the road. Both Angel and Buffy winced in sympathy and moved to help him up. Peter had a nasty bump on his face and his face was brutually scratched from the impact. His face was still disturbingly emotionless.

Angel suddenly realized what was happening. "He's in shock."

"O.K. So how do we get him out of it?"

"Beats me. Maybe Giles could help us. We need to tell him what happened anyway."

They each took one of Parker's arms over their shoulder and began to slowly walk with him toward school. Buffy suddenly realized with a start that they were still surrounded by vamps. She exchanged worried looks with Angel. They each gave the other a shrug and kept going. The wall of undead slowly opened up as they approached it. The vampires were gazing at Peter with an intensity that could almost be called reverence. Angel knew how they felt. No one being should be able to radiate emotions that strong.

The vampires escorted them all of the way to the library. Buffy almost burst out laughing as she imagined Giles reaction to seeing his Slayer and her vampire boyfriend helping an emotionless zombie lead a procession of the undead. When Angel looked at her questioningly, she whispered to him what she had been thinking about. He, too, got a smile on his face. Apparently, vampire hearing was better than she thought, because she heard some of the vampires behind them laugh and tell some of the others. For some reason, the vampires thought it was hilarious. By the time they reached the school, the vamps were all howling with laughter. Seeing the look on Giles and the other Slayerettes faces as the peered out the window led to even more merry making. As Angel and Buffy helped the unresponsive Peter up the stairs, the crowd of vampires began to slowly break up and head their seperate ways, still snickering and giggling.

As soon as they were inside the doors, Buffy heaved a sigh of relief. "I didn't know vampires even had a sense of humor." she said with a smile.

Without thinking, Angel explained, "Emotional overload."

"What?" she asked in confusion.

Oh, crap! Angel thought. How am I going to get myself out of this one! "Well, uh, I assumed that everything that happened tonight was highly emotional to vampires. Since they usually don't experience much emotion, they acted weird." Good one Einstien! Not even Xander would buy that one!

"I guess its possible...., " Buffy hesitantly said, "But-"

Giles' stern voice interrupted, "I hope you have a good explanation for what just happened."

Buffy and Angel exchanged a glance, then Buffy answered, "Not really."

The next two hours were spent explaing what had happened and theorizing about causes, results, and what they should have done differently. The whole time they talked, Peter spent sitting at one of library tables, staring at something none of them could see. Xander finally got bored by all of the talk and decided to experiment with the unnerving statue-like man sitting in their midst. First he tried waving his hand in front of the man's face, but he got no reaction. He blew in his ear, but the man didn't even seem to notice. He kept trying different things, throwing water in his face, slamming a book down on the desk, anything he could think of, but he couldn't get anything. If it hadn't been for the rise and fall of his chest, he might have been dead. Unknown to Xander, the others had noticed what he was doing early on. After an attempt by Giles to stop Xander that was stopped by Willow and Buffy, they had all been watching with varying degrees of concern and uneasiness. Xander finally got frustrated and tried to slap the man's cheek, but someone put their arm in the way and stopped him. He looked up at the others to complain, but realized that they were all looking at the man in surprise and whispering to each other. Xander noticed with shock that the man had actually reacted! It didn't look like the man had moved at all. His facial expression hadn't changed in anyway and his body was in the exact same position, but his arm had moved up to block the slap and was still held there.

Giles surprised everyone by suggesting that Xander try again. Once again the arm was moved to block the slap. They continued to try different appoaches. A slow, weak slap that couldn't cause any damage produced to reaction. A slightly harder, faster slap made the arm move to block it. They finally had the hesitant Xander try to punch as hard as he could in the face. The hand moved so fast it seemed to materialize in front of Xander's fast and stop it from connecting, apparently without effort. Xander tried again and again, but each time the hand easily restrained his fist. Giles finally had Angel try. At normal, human levels of exhertion, his fist was simply blocked just as Xander's had been. Although everyone was nervous about the possible damage to the man, Giles had Angel try to hit him with close to full force. Everyone was stunned by the response. One moment, Angel was standing over an aparently unsuspecting man, his fist a blur moving toward the man's head. For a moment their was a flash of motion to quick to identify and a loud thud, then all motion stopped again. The desk was empty. Everyone kept looking at the empty desk for a moment in disbelief. Xander choked out, "Angel pulverized him."

********

The motorcycle rider finally saw the sign he'd been looking for all night: WELCOME TO SUNNYDALE. The sun was rising in the east as the bike rolled through the street to a hotel. The rider needed to get a couple of hours of sleep and some decent food. Scoping out the town could wait until those neccesaties were taken care of. He needed to be at his peak. Tonight he was going to confront Angel.

********

"Not quite, Harris." Angel gritted as he clutched his arm in pain.

Everyone looked at Angel who was curled up against the wall in pain, then at the Expressionless Parker who had taken his place standing beside the desk, and finally back at Angel. Disbelief was written in across their faces in mile high letters. All except one. Buffy was the only one that had been able to follow the speed of the move and she was already hurrying toward her lover.

Giles was the first one to regain control of himself. "Just as I suspected." he told no one in particular.

Buffy Summers whirled on him in fury. "You knew that he was going to throw Angel across the room hard enough to break his arm?"

"No, no, of course not." Giles hastely assured her. "His strength and speed are surprising, but the action itself was to be expected. Mr. Parker here is obvioulsy still in extreme from the loss of his wife. It is doubtful that he is even aware of what he is doing. It's debateable whether he'll even remember his action if he ever does regain his full mental capacity. This man," he said as he surveyed Peter like some sort of ancient text that needed to be translated, "is acting completely unconciously. I would imagine that Mr.Parker has had some military or some other serious combat training. His actions are almost instinctive. His unconscious is ignoring anything that doesn't pose a threat to his well-being. A mild threat is dealt with by a mild defense. While a major threat, such as an attack by Angel, is dealt with harshly. I've read about similiar cases. What is a surprise is Mr.Parker's physiological abilities.

"His what?" acted Cordelia in confusion.

"His muscles." explained Willow in a whisper.

The others began to whisper among themselves exictedly. Angel grimiced as he set the bone and it began to heal. He and Buffy soon joined in the conversation. Despite their animated conversation, everyone was listening to Giles with half an ear.

Giles muttered to himself as he examined and tested Peter. The rest could only pick out vague comments. ".......he looks like a human......doesn't react to garlic.....or silver.....or a cross. Well that's a good sign......has a pulse.....blood sample looks normal with out a microscope, but I'll have to examine it closer......no magical aura......male genitalia......correct number of vertabrae...."

It suddenly clicked with the group what Giles had just said. Everyones head turned in synch to see the unreacting Parker stripped down to his boxers and Giles was flicking a pen light off and on in Peter's eyes.

The group suddenly broke out in protest."Giles, you didn't!" "That's sick!" "Hey Giles, there are girls in here." "Leave the poor guy with some dignity!" "Is that really neccasary?" "Nice bod!!!"

The whole group turned and stared at Willow, who was smiling mischeviously and winked. The other girls quickly caught on. "You know, she's right." "Need a hand there Giles-my-man?"

When Giles immediatly began to redress the hapless Parker, the guys figured out that had been the plan all along.

A couple of minutes later, Giles was summarizing up his findings. "To all appearances, he's human. There is a small amount of magical residue in his system but not enough to account for his present condition. I'd wondered if he might be something similiar to a slayer, but I eliminated that possibility. I believe the most viable theory left is that he's some kind of genetically enhanced super-soldier, but no government that I'm aware of has reached a high enough level of sophistication to accomplish this."

"Maybe he's an alien like that comic book guy, Superman?" asked Xander hopefully.

"Get real, Harris. Alien don't exist."

"Yeah, right. That's what you said about vampires, too!" replied Xander smugly.

Buffy interupted, "Why didn't he have super strength during our fight with the vamps?"

Angel said thoughtfully, "I think he did. If you remember, you and I both got piled on for a while. There was no one to protect them, but they didn't get a scratch. His wife was doing pretty good with that stake she grabbed, but she wasn't a Slayer and Peter was unarmed. Yet, surrounded by an army of the undead, they were safe. That has been bugging me for a while. The other thing was the number of vamps with broken arms and necks. I'm assuming you killed most of the vamps you disabled," he looked at her with a question in his eyes. At her nod, he continued, "and other than a couple of seconds right after I busted out of the pile, I was staking everything with fangs. So someone else was doing all that bone breaking and I'm betting it's Parker here."

"But why would he try and keep you guys from knowing?"

Giles entered the conversation, "I believe its for the same reason that Buffy get on the news and tell everyone she's the Slayer. Could you imagine the public backlash to discovering that super-human creatures among them? Parker and others like him would be hunted down like rabid wolves. Look at how the world has reacted to the alledged reports of mutants. People are still hunting aliens after that Rosewell hoax. Proof that there are indead inhumans among us would result in witch hunts to make those of Salem look paltry. Hundreds, maybe thousands of innocents would be hurt. There's also the fact that the government would probably have him locked up in some experimentatal research station within a week. They'd test and dissect everything about him they could. Then they'd probably try to clone copies of him. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. No, I believe that camouflaging himself to fit in with the rest of society is probably the only way to ensure his own, and possibly others of his kind's, survival."

"Thats all well and good, but his wife is still in trouble if she isn't dead or transformed already. Is there anyway we can get him to snap out of it enough to help out?"

Giles appeared deep in thought. "I'm sorry but I don't really remember any connection between the recoveries of former victims. Perhaps if Willow "boarded the spider" while the rest of you researched in whatever medical journals we have available we might find something? I wish to do some further examination of young Mr.Parker." he said as he gestured to the man sitting on the floor.

"Actually, it might be a better idea if everyone got some breakfast before school." suggested Angel. "The sun came up a couple of hours ago."

"What?" exclaimed the rest of the Slayerettes in horror.

"I've got a history exam I still need to study for."

"My mom is going to kill me!"

"I was supposed to read a book before English."

"I'm going to be grounded for life."

"ZZZZZZZZ."

Everyone looked around trying to locate the source of the snoring. It seemed to be coming from Parker, but he still had his now customary blank look on his face. Closer examination revealed Cordelia curled up on the floor next to him, using his lap as a pillow.

Xander couldn't help but joke about it. "No fair! I've been dating her for over three months and don't get nothing! Zombie boy hasn't been here six hours and she's already sleeping with him!"

Judging from the groans and the nasty looks cast his way, an audience that had been up all night wasn't very receptive to his jokes.

Giles glanced at his clock. "You better all hurry and get ready for school. Angel and I will take care of Zombie boy - I mean Mr.Parker." He glared at Xander, obviously blaming him for the slip of the tongue. "Please hurry back after school as soon as you can."

The "Scooby Gang" were frustrated and running out of patience. After three hours of research, they still had no clue as to how to "wake up the zombie". It didn't help matter any to have Buffy pacing a hole in the floor. She just couldn't stop thinking about Jessica and the poor girl that was her prisoner. And the others couldn't concentrate with Buffy pacing by every couple of seconds. Xander was the first to break.

"Come on Buffy. We're just as worried about her as you are, but your going to wear yourself out if you keep that up. And your distracting us. Do you have any idea how hard it is to concentrate with you prowling around like a tiger locked in a cage. Either help us out or go practice your form with some of those new dummies Giles bought."

Buffy turned on him. "So you feel the same way I do, huh? Did you see that woman grab a stake and try to save your boyfriend's life? Did you see the way she and "Zombie boy" looked at each other? Did you see the fear in her eyes as Jessica played with her?" Buffy's was still yelling angrily, but tears were flowing down her cheeks. She suddenly ran over to where Giles had piled Parker's personal belongings and grabbed his wallet. She came back with the wallet and showed it to Xander. "I hadn't even looked in here yet, but I knew what I'd find. Look at these Xander. Mary Jane Parker was a brave, beautiful woman who's husband was madly in love with her. Look at them! He carries around eight picture of her! You didn't see how much it hurt him to see his wife hurt! Did you see his face when Jessica took Mary Jane?" Buffy had broken down into sobs. "Do you see the her eyes boring into you everytime you close her eyes? Mary Jane and Peter are just like Angel and I are, but they don't have anyone to help them but us. If we get there to late and she's already changed her......" Angel had gathered her into his arms by that time and was slowly leading her away from the others.

Xander and the others were looking at each other in shock. Buffy never broke down. Everyone else broke down and cried when things got too bad but Buffy was.....Buffy was different. Buffy could do anything. Buffy never let anything get to her. She'd even concealed in most of her emotions when Angel has lost his soul agian. Willow was the one that hit the nail on the head.

"She sees Mary Jane and Peter as a symbol. Look at her. The predictions were that she'd be lucky to live a year but she's still alive and Slaying. Her boyfriend was taken away from him, but she got him back. She wants to live a normal, full life and she's desperately trying to get it. The Parkers have obviously gone through similiar things. Yet, they are still together and living a fairly normal life. For some reason, Buffy has idolized them as to what she wants in the future. She's probably ready to fight for their future just as hard as she fights for her own."

Everyone looked at Willow in surprise. Oz slipped an arm around her and pecked her cheek before asking mischeviously, "Since when did my girlfriend become a quack?" He was rewarded by a punch to shoulder.

No one was paying any attention to "Zombie boy", who's wallet had fallen open at his feet where Buffy had dropped it.

Cordelia was the one who suddenly pointed at Peter and said, "Uh, guys. Check it out."

Peter had the wallet is his hands and was staring at the pictures of Mary Jane. Slowly, a tear trickled from his right eye, down his face, and dripped onto the picture. The man didn't seem to notice at all. He just held onto the pictures and gazed at them as ifhis life depended on it. Everyone in the library had froze and was holding their breath, afraid that the smallest distraction would destroy whatever progress he had made. The first tear was followed by a second and a third, until a flood of tears was pouring from his eyes. His shoulder had begun to shake and for the first time, the rest of the Slayerettes got to hear his voice. His only words were, "Oh, MJ, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Then he passed out unconsious.

The Scooby Gang was all gathered on the far side of the library from Peter. Giles had theorized that Parker's return to awareness had been the all that was needed and that his body and mind where now recuperating from the strain that had been placed on it. As usual, Xander was the one that contributed the most helpful opinion.

"It's about dang time Zombie boy woke up. I was starting to worry about having to feed him and change his diapers and stuff." Two elbows, one from each side of him, quickly jabbed him in the ribs. "Ouch. What was that for?"

Everyone else ignored Xander's outburst, but they had to admit that they too were realived that they didn't have to deal with that problem. Giles was the one that brought them back to the topic at hand. "So how are we going to locate Jessica and Mrs.Parker? We didn't even have a warning that she was back in town. We don't have even the slightest lead."

"Even if we had enough time and man power to investigate every known vampire nest, we'd still be lucky to stumble upon them."

But no one could come up with a better idea. They'd never had much luck tracking the undead and interiogating them had yielded even less. It was a gloomy group that concidered the approaching sun set.

Willow was the one that had been elected to sit by Parker until he awoke. She'd decided that as long as she was going to be stuck there, she might as well read some of her homework assignment for once. She didn't know how long it would take for him to wake up, but hoped it would be soon. Willow had her fingers crossed that Giles was right about his recovery. She noticed Mary Jane's picture lying besides him and picked it up. Buffy was right. Even in a picture you could see the intelligence, spirit, and grit in this gorgeous woman. Oz said he'd seen her on T.V. once, but he'd gotten really embaressed and refused to tell her where. Willow flipped to another picture, this one of them together on their wedding day. Anyone could see that they had been madly in love, and still were. She could still see him sobbing as he hugged the picture of his wife to his chest. The anguish in his voice as he had apologized for failing her had made her heart bleed. Her eyes were watering at the memory. She prayed that someday she would find someone that loved her that much.

Peter was having a nightmare. Mary Jane was in pain and was crying out for him, but he all he could do was stand there and watch. Mary Jane was slowly tortured and mutilated while he obseved helplessly. He finally rushed to his wife's side, but it was too late. She'd already been murdered. Suddenly, she stood in front of him. Accusing him of not loving her, of lying to save himself, of enjoying watching what had happened to her, of not even trying to save her. He'd tried to deny all of her charges, but she didn't believe anything he said. Then his beautiful turned into a hideous monster, a vampire, and attacked him.

Peter had begun to toss and turn in his sleep, so Willow had quickly put the pictures back and tried to sooth him. Beads of sweat soon covered his body and tears were start to pour once more from his closed eyes. Soon his thrashing became so frantic that Willow was afraid he would hurt himself. She quickly called for the others to come help her. By the time they had arrived, Peter was colvusing hard enough to throw himself completely off of the couch, only to slam back down. Pitiful moaning and whining sounds were escaping through his cluntched teeth. Willow had both arms wrapped around him in an attempt to restrain him, but it didn't seem to be having any effect. Suddenly, he began to scream out, "No, Mary Jane! No! Not you too!"

With a gasp his eyes flew open and he began to look wildly about. When he realized that it was his red-haired wife that was holding him and telling him everything was alright, he began to relax. It had all been a dream, none of it was real. His wife was safe beside him. His eyes were slowly drying up and his vision was improving.

Willow and the others breathed a sigh of relief as Peter called down. Willow slowly let go of him and looked up at his face.

With a shock, he realized that she wasn't MJ. His wife wasn't safe besides him. His mind was a whirl of confusion. The last thing he could remember was that she had been in pain and needed him. The woman of his dreams was in danger. He reacted without thinking.

The other's were shocked by the sheer speed and ferosity of what happened. Parker had just regained control of himself and the situation was completely under control. Then Willow had looked up at him and he'd seen her face. He'd blinked once, then twice, hoping that that his eyes were fooling him and it really was MJ holding him in her eyes. For a fraction of a second, the wild look had begun to reenter his eyes, but it had quickly been replaced by something much more terrifying. With the same awesome speed that had been used on Angel earlier, he'd grabbed Willow, slammed her against the wall, and was shaking her. His eyes were two burning coals as he roared with desperation, "Where's my wife? What have you done with my wife?"

Buffy and Angel were the first to react. They both lunged forward to save Willow. They could explain the situation to the mad man later. Right now they had to get him to stop shaking Willow before he gave her brain damage.

Peter immediatly felt the danger closing in on him from behind. He dropped Willow without a thought and whirled to face his new opponents, and attacked. The closest attacker went down quickly thanks to a swift sweep with his foot just above floor level. He continue his spin as he rose and used his momentum to slam second attacker across the floor with a blow to the chest that broke at least three ribs. He'd begun to renew his attack on his first opponent when he recognized her.

Xander's mind was racing to try and catch up to what he eyes had just seen. Within a couple of seconds, this guy had scared the crap out of them with his convulsions, made them all heave a sigh of relief that he seemed rational, threatening to kill his best friend if she didn't tell him where his wife was, and sent two of the deadliest people on the planet flying. For some reason, the only thing that Xander could think about was that he was never, ever goiing to call this guy Zombie boy again.

Buffy cursed herself for being an idiot on the way down to the floor. Just because the guy had been out of it mentally for the last little while, didn't mean that he wasn't at his prime physically. She quickly tucked into a ball and turned her fall into a forward sumersault. She kicked out of the sumersault and twisted so that she ended up back on her feet, facing Peter, in a combat stance. Peter had suddenly froze and was staring at her. His face had gone incredibly pale and his hands had started shaking again.

He swallowed hard and tried force the bile that was climbing up his throat back down. His guts had started churning painfully and and hearts was pounding against his rib cage just like in his dream. But he was terrified that it might not have been a dream. He had to know. "It wasn't a dream was it?" He tried to keep his voice steady, but the halting stutter was back.

Buffy could only shake her head sadly. She was beginning to understand why the man had reacted like he had. She might have done the same thing had the situation been reversed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't.....I didn't realize.......I....." Peter could hardly speak and he jammed his hands under his arms in futile attempt to get them to hold still.

The switch from violence to trembling child was almost as unnerving as the suddenness and brutality of his attack. Peter was now sitting back down on the edge of the couch and was shaking like a leaf. He was hunched over, almost as if in pain, with his arms folded protectively across his chest and his head bowed. His stuttered apology was barely understandable. Willow's and Buffy's assurance that they were fine seemed to pacify him momentarily. Suddenly, Peter's head shot up and, if it was possible, his face grew even paler. He anxiously queried, "Where's the other one?" All he got were looks of confusion. "I second one I hit. I broke his ribs. If he doesn't get medical attention soon......"

"I'm alright this time, but that's twice now." Angel said with a grimace of pain. "Next time I'm going to return the favor."

A wave of relief washed over Peter's face but was quickly replaced by the haunted look that seemed to cling to his face. "Your the vampire hunters from the street? I never got a chance to thank you for coming to my...... our aid. I appreciate you stepping in to help with those vam... things. We would have been rather helpless against such creatures..." Peter rambled on in a desperate attempt to convince them that he was nothing but an average, normal guy. Somehow, it was less then convincing. Especially after what he'd just done.

Giles shook his head and smiled at the earnest way Peter thanked them and tried to pretend to be something he wasn't. Any doubts he had left had been completely eradicated during the short period of time since Parker had woken up. His stumbling attempts to conceal what he was were just supporting his theory about how Parker must have blended into society. Giles tried to gently spell it out in a way that was reassuring. "Peter, its okay. We know. We understand. We're not going to tell anybody about it. Besides, "he added with a chuckle, "to tell anyone about you we'd have to bring in the part about vampires and the Slayer."

Peter felt like a great weight had been lifted off his chest. Over the years, he'd only trusted a handfull of people with what he was, but, for some reason, he trusted these strangers instantly. Peter gave the group a shaky grin and nodded toward the vampire killers, "I guess it doesn't come as that big a surprise after those two." It suddenly dawned on him that he didn't know anything about these people. "I'm sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean it like that."

"Don't worry about it," laughed one of the young men, "Dead boy over there is used to getting insulted. It's Buffy you have to treat with kid's gloves."

"Buffy?"

"I'm sorry! It just seems like we've known you for so long." apologized Giles and introduced everyone, with several interuptions, mostly by Xander. Peter decided he liked Xander Harris, he guy had fire and was just trying to lighten the mood.

After the introductions were finally over, Parker hesitantly asked the question that had been weighing on his mind since he'd woken up. "Do you know what happened to my wife? Where she is? Anything?" Peter's hands were clenched into white-nuckled fists and insides were trying to flip-flop with his outside, but he thought he'd done a pretty good job of sounding calm and in control.

The others all exchanged worried glances before Buffy slowly began to fill him in on the situation. She finished it up with, "I'm sorry, but we're going to be looking for a needle in a haystack while wearing a blindfold. Even if one group does manage to locate your wife, they probably won't make it out alive."

By the time she was done giving him the run down, Peter's pale face was covered by beads of sweat, but his voice was eerily steady as he thanked them again for everything they'd done. It was still three hours until sunset, but everyone had already begun to ready themselves for the nightr to come. Peter asked if he could borrow the chemistry lab and some of their supplies. As soon as he had been given the key, some garlic and a container of holy water, he disappeared from the library for the next hour and a half. When he finally came back, he had a satisfied look on his face.

Giles had ordered pizza, so every one was gorging themselves just like normal teen-agers. Peter was amazed at the way these teen-agers joked and laughed, knowing that in a few hours they could loss their lives for almost complete strangers. He felt guilty. If it had been anyone but Mary Jane, he probably would have refused their aid, but it was his wife who was in danger and nothing was more important than getting her to safetly.

As the others spent the remaining time stretching out, goofing around, and resting up for what was coming, Peter slipped back into Giles' office with his suitcases. He carefully removed each component of his arsenal from it's secret compartment, cleaned and oiled those that required it, checked every piece, double checked them, and finally approved his equipment. As soon as his equipment had proven to be satisfactory, he carefully laid it out so that it could be quickly donned and settled himself into a mediative pose. His emotions were in turmoil and his thoughts were disorganized. He knew that no one was at their best when in such a condition. He slowly gathered himself around one thought, one goal. He was going to get MJ back, and nothing was going to stop him.

By the time he was completely centered, it was time to dress himself and join the others. He quickly put on the suit, boots, gloves, coat, and utility belt. He then carefully positioned the bands that encirled each of his wrists and ankles. The only thing left was the infamous mask. Normally he would have waited until they were on their way, but he wanted to see how the kids reacted to seeing him wearing the full gear.

Buffy and the Slayerettes were getting impatiant. The only reason they didn't immediatly barge into Giles office to get him was because Oz had snuck a peek earlier and said that Peter looked like he was praying or meditating or something. Giving a man time to prepare was all fine and good, but they needed to get going. The sun was already resting on the horizon. Xander was muttering something about "and I thought that girls took forever to get ready". Buffy had just stopped her pacing and was turning toward the door, unable to wait anylong, when the door opened and a he finally came out.

"Holy Cow!"

"Crap! It's that Spider guy from New York!"

"What the crap is he doing here?"

"Not another bloodsucker." Xander groaned

"I thought he was supposed to be a hoax?"

"Where's Peter? What did you do with him" Buffy demanded

Everyone immediatly moved into defensive positins, with Buffy and Angel stepping in front of the others to act as shields. The figure hadn't moved since his entrance. He just stood there regarding him with his eery white eyes. Finally, he began to softly laugh. He then moved his arm slowly up to his mask, so as to not alarm them, and pulled his mask off. No one could believe their eyes. Parker asked with a sarcastic grin, "I thought you said you knew who I was?"

Xander was, as usual, the first to regain control of his voice. "Well, kind of. Giles figured out that you were some kind of meta-human or something who had managed to blend in with everyone else. None of us figured out who you were exactly. Dang, no wonder you were able to take down Buffy and Dead boy so fast. That fake news clip of you and that black dude taking down those guys wasn't fake was it? But you were wearing a different outfit then, weren't you? We all saw you guys on TV and spent weeks arguing about what you might be." Xander realized that he was rambling, but he couldn't seem to stop himself.

Everyone else was still trying to take in the change in the man that had spent the day with them. He was dressed in some sort of urban-camouflaged, form-fitting body armor with a long black coat worn over it. The only readily apparent similiarities to the suit he had worn on the news were the spider-web pattern of lines that covered the suit, the stylized spider symbol on his chest and the back of his coat, and those unnerving white eyes. The heavy duty belts that encircled his waist, wrists, and ankles were definitely a new addition. A great deal of time had been spent debating as to whether or not the "webbing" fired by the masked vigilante had been organic or artificial. It looked like Buffy was going to win her bet with Xander on that one. Buffy's attention was suddenly drawn to some sort of handle sticking up through the coat behind Parker's head. "What's that?"

"A katana," he explained as he drew it out for them to see, "Blade, the other guy that was with me, always claimed that it was the best weapon for taking out vampires. I figure he knew what he was talking about. With possibly two exceptions," he said, eyeing Buffy and Angel, "he was the best vampire killer I've ever seen."

"You mean to tell us that there are other vampire killers?" Giles asked hopefully.

"You'd be surprised at how many I've run into over the years." Parker replied ruefully, "I'm sorry, but we really don't have time for this right now. The sun almost completely set. We need to get going."

"Your right of course. Perhaps later?"

"Perhaps."

Buffy interupted, "Enough small talk. Lets go stake some of those suckers."

Buffy led the way down the hall and out the doors. They'd just started to make their way down the stairs when they noticed the figure leaning back against the parked motorcycle. He casually flicked his cigarette away and spoke without turning toward them. "Hello, Angel. It's been a long time since I've heard anything about you. I figure that you owe me. Big time."