Wicked Witches, Weirdo Watchers, Vengeful Vamps

#

Part 1:

"Very well," Giles began. "Let me briefly go through everything we know so far."

"Anyone got coffee?" Cordelia asked, earning a scowl from the Watcher. "What? You honestly expect this to go less than two hours? It's late and some of us have a hard day of school behind us."

"As if," Faith huffed at her. "I bet you my tutor is a worse nightmare than all your teachers combined, C."

Buffy looked on in amazement as the two girls quarreled playfully for a minute. It seemed that Cordelia and Faith had formed a fast friendship during the whole cursed candy affair.

"I will try to keep you both entertained, Cordelia, Faith" Giles said sourly, then turned towards his whiteboard.

"As you all know, only a few hours after Buffy and Angel returned from ... from Hell," he gave his Slayer a brief glance, but she seemed unfazed by his mentioning this delicate topic, "they were tracked by two vampires wearing business suits and reporting back to some unknown party. Said unknown party apparently ordered them to kill Buffy and Angel, only they were quite unable to do so."

"Losers," Buffy mouthed, earning a giggle from Willow where she sat snuggled up with Oz.

"The vampires were killed in the struggle," Giles went on, "but Buffy retrieved their cell phone. After some ... investigation Willow was able to determine that their last conversation had been to a public phone here in Sunnydale. In city hall, to be exact."

Giles went to the next item written down under the heading 'facts'.

"A few weeks later Amy accidentally cast a spell over the town that unveiled everyone and everything that is not quite human for any and all to see."

"The casting wasn't exactly an accident, was it?" Cordelia gave Xander a deadly stare, the dark-haired boy just looking down. He felt incredibly guilty for coercing Amy into doing that spell and Cordelia reminding him about it certainly did not help matters. Willow opened her mouth to defend him out of habit, but then decided against it. Rehashing Xander's sins and reasons for them would not avail anyone anything right now. He was trying to make up for his stupid mistakes, that was the only important thing in her mind.

"What matters is," Giles brought them back on track, "that the spell was reversed later that same night. Not only reversed, actually, but undone in a way that left everyone with no direct knowledge of its casting with no memories of the rather disastrous events of that night."

Said events being the death of seven innocent people, of course. No one spoke that out loud, not even Cordelia.

"The following night," Giles continued in a sad voice, "Amy was killed. From what Buffy, Angel, and Oz were able to determine the killer was probably a vampire." He wrote the latter down under the heading 'near certainty'.

"Xander was arrested for Amy's murder, even though there was practically no evidence against him. The police also neglected to conduct any kind of proper investigation, not even examining the body or the scene of the crime. Xander was held for the maximum amount of time possible and then released without even having been questioned. There seems to have been no follow-up, either, and the investigation into Amy's death officially ended when she was put in the ground."

Willow winced a bit at his wording, but said nothing. Amy had been her friend. Not a close one, but still a friend.

"Only a few nights later we were all attacked by professional assassins, who were obviously after Buffy, Angel, or Faith. Maybe all three of them. The attempt failed and most of the assassins were killed, but left us with absolutely no clue as to the identity of their employer."

"One of the vampires escaped," Angel mentioned. "I asked Willy about her, but it seems she did not stick around long after that. She has vanished without a trace."

Giles nodded. "I expect that she will not want to be found by her disappointed employer. Anyway, a few weeks after that there was another spell cast over Sunnydale, this time by my old 'friend' Ethan Rayne. Ethan admitted that he was hired by someone. He did not know the name of that someone, only that it was a human with vampire bodyguards. Faith believes she caught a glimpse of that man in the sewers later on, but did not see enough for us to identify him."

"Well, excuse me, G-man," Faith said from where she sat cross-legged on the library table. "I was a bit too busy, what with demons, vampires, juvenile Watchers, and a love-crazed vampire/Slayer couple."

Giles, Buffy, and Angel all looked down, the two with actual circulation blushing a bit. None of them was particularly proud of the things they had done under the influence of Ethan's cursed candy.

"Anyway," Giles quickly steered them on, "the purpose of this spell seemed to have been to set up a distraction for the town's population in general and us in particular. Several vampires stole infants from the hospital to sacrifice them to a demon called Lurconis, an entity known for granting power to those that worship them. Lurconis was destroyed, but whoever engineered that ritual in the first place escaped."

He sighed, walking to the other side of the white board.

"Here end the facts we have. The rest, I fear, is conjecture up to this point." He pointed to a column titled as such. "Someone has hired two out-of-town vampires to track Buffy and Angel. This someone must have a strong sensitivity to supernatural events to have noticed their return from Hell only hours after the fact. He or she also saw their return as a threat and ordered them killed.

"Next we have Amy's spell, which could only have been reversed by someone who is, again, well-versed in the supernatural. Someone who did not like having everything inhuman in town unveiled, maybe because he himself is not human.

"Amy is killed by a vampire, probably an out-of-town job again, considering the fact that said vampire used a method quite common among non-Sunnydale vampires to disguise the puncture wounds in Amy's neck. The police arrives quickly, but obviously has no intention of solving this crime.

"Then there are the assassins, hired by someone or something to kill the same people who should have been killed weeks earlier by the two out-of-town vampires."

"Should have? What, too bad they failed?" Buffy asked, giving her Watcher a look.

"From our mystery employer's perspective, Buffy," Giles told her. "If we speculate that the same person is behind both these attempts on your life he or she must be getting quite frustrated by now."

"Slayers are hard to kill, eh, B?" Faith looked at her fellow Slayer, who high-five'd her with a grin on her face.

"Only a few weeks later a major plan is put into motion to distract us," Giles brought everyone's attention back to his white board. "The person behind it had access to the school board somehow, arranging for Ethan's cursed candy to be sold by the students. Also Ethan does not come cheap, I suspect."

"You couldn't judge it by his shirts," Cordy mumbled. "Guy dresses like he thinks he's still a hot boy toy instead of being way old."

Giles, roughly the same age as Ethan, gave Cordelia another look, which she promptly ignored.

"Be that as it may," the Watcher finally said, "if we assume that these events are all related we are left with something of a problem."

Angel nodded. "Someone with tremendous influence in Sunnydale. The police, the school board, intimate knowledge of magic, and quite a few financial means."

"His or her influence might be even greater than we suspect," Giles added. "It has always amazed me that Sunnydale's astronomical mortality rate has never once attracted the attention of any federal agency. One would think that institutions like the FBI or something similar would have gotten involved years ago."

"You think someone is actively covering up the weird stuff?" Buffy asked. "Who?"

"That, I fear, is the question we need answered." Giles drew a large question mark at the bottom of the white board.

"I'm not sure it belongs on the board," Willow said sadly, having been mostly quiet so far, "but I ... I heard at school today that Amy's father was killed. He was ... well, the usual. Mysterious puncture wounds."

"Same guy as Amy?" Oz asked.

"Unlikely, given the difference in methods," Angel said, giving the redhead a sympathetic smile. None of them had known Amy's father, but knowing he was killed so shortly after the violent death of his daughter left them all with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Giles sighed deeply, then turned to look at his two Slayers and the souled vampire. "I want you three to patrol extensively tonight. Concentrate on the area around city hall. The phone call Willow tracked came from there and if our mystery man or woman is indeed influencing events in Sunnydale to the degree we suspect I think that is the logical place to look for him or her."

"Off we go, lust bunnies," Faith said, jumping off the table. Buffy just groaned, figuring Faith would never let her live that down. It was not her fault that she had acted like an extremely love-struck teenager a few nights ago, shooting for new extremes in public PDAs. It was all the cursed candy's fault.

"And be careful," Giles called after them as they left. Willow, Oz, Xander, and Cordelia excused themselves as well (or what passed for that courtesy among American teenagers), leaving a tired Watcher alone in his office.

Giles looked at the calendar on the wall. It had only been about seven weeks since Buffy and Angel had returned from Hell, turning all their lives upside down. Beside trying to make sense of all the things that had happened to their group during these weeks he was also busy researching possible long-term effects Angel's blood might have on his Slayer. Beyond those they were already seeing in her amber eyes, elongated fangs, and the occasional outburst of demonic temper.

He was honest enough, towards himself at least, to know that he was quite worried. Buffy had been regularly ingesting a powerful vampire's blood for about thirty years. No human being on record had ever done so for anything even close to that length of time. It was known that vampire blood was highly addictive to humans, at the same time endowing them with some vampire characteristics like resistance to all forms of poison, rapid healing, decelerated aging. What they saw in Buffy, though, was quite unprecedented, even more so because she was not a normal human being but the Slayer. He also feared that it was nowhere near finished. She was still changing and he had no clue into what.

His musings were interrupted by a knock on the door. He looked up to see a blonde woman standing just outside his office. She was dressed quite conservatively and had a stern, almost arrogant look on her face that caused him to immediately dislike her.

"Can I help you?" he asked, rising from his chair.

"Rupert Giles?"

He nodded, one hand behind his back reaching for the stake he had in his desk drawer. One could never be to careful with strangers, especially if they just happened to turn up after dark.

"I am Gwendolyn Post. I was sent here by the Watchers Council."

Giles almost dropped the stake.

#

Part 2:

"I'm telling you that woman is a fucking nightmare," Faith insisted.

Buffy could not help but smile. Faith's ranting about the evilness of the tutor Giles had arranged for her to take lessons with had become something of a ritual for them these past two weeks.

"Out of luck, Faith," Buffy just answered, smiling. "Now Ms. Burg, she is real nice."

Buffy herself was amazed at how great she got along with the tutor Joyce had gotten for her. She had stolen the idea from Giles, of course, after Buffy had decided not to go back to high school, but had apparently had a much better hand at choosing. While Buffy had yet to meet Faith's own personal demon in person she felt she had gotten a better deal by far.

"You say that now," Faith shot back. "You only had two lessons with her, girlfriend. Wait until you get around to the algebra."

Faith shuddered upon uttering that word. Buffy loved seeing her like this. Not shuddering, but so relaxed. The other Slayer had been with them for little over a month now, but she was really starting to let her guard down. The bad girl attitude was still firmly in place most of the time, but there were times like this at well. Times when Faith acted her age and complained about the evilness of teachers.

Somehow it all made Buffy feel almost like a teenager as well.

Angel was moving at a little distance, knowing that he was hopelessly outmatched in the chattering duels between the two Slayers. Buffy was only getting back into it now herself, having had no one to trade barbs and quips with for decades, but she was rapidly regaining her razor-sharp tongue. Faith gave her plenty of practice, too.

"How's the state of legal guardianship coming?" Buffy asked. "Giles your official parent yet?"

"Paperwork's supposed to be finished by now." Faith was marveling at how quickly she had gotten used to the idea of Giles being her legal guardian. A month ago the very thought of having a stuffy British librarian lording over her would have sent her running with a string of obscenities on her lips. Giles was cool, though. In his own, British way.

"So Giles can officially order you around soon."

"As if! He tried to scold me for setting that cursed candy factory on fire, but the whole authoritative thing isn't really his style. He's wicked cute, though, when he tries to look cross with me."

Buffy giggled, surprised at the sound. With everything that happened, not just these last seven weeks but the last thirty years, she had spent much too little time laughing. Even those times in Hell when Angel and her had managed to hide away and spent some time alone together in relative peace she had not had much reason to laugh.

Returning from Hell had not been the happily ever after they had so long imagined it to be, no, but things were slowly but surely getting better.

That mere thought, of course, was the universe's cue to send trouble their way.

"Vampires," Angel was the first to notice. "At least six of them."

The two Slayers nodded, falling into step with him. Angel and Buffy fought together like a single entity with two bodies after all this time and these last weeks Faith had managed to adapt her usual rush-in-and-bust-heads style of fighting so they worked together almost flawlessly. The three carefully sneaked up to the spot where they could now hear several voices involved in a heated argument.

"This is not a good idea," one of the vampires said to the others.

"It's nearly been half a year since Angelus lost the reigns of power," another reminded him. "It's about time someone new took over."

"Angelus is still in town," yet a third said. "He was seen at Willy's several times."

"Rumors," the second one said. "And even if he were still around, from what I hear Khan is way more powerful than Angelus ever was."

"Khan?" Buffy whispered, looking at Angel. He frowned a bit, but said nothing.

"Look, guys," the argument went on, "it's clear that sooner or later there will be a need to take sides. So, who are we gonna pick? Someone who might or might not be around anymore and we haven't seen hide nor hair of these last five months or someone who might reduce us all to dust in a second if we refuse his offer?"

"Did these guys work for you when you were all evil?" Faith asked.

"Could be," Angel whispered back. "It's been a while. But that gives me an idea."

Without waiting for any of them to say anything he rose and walked out into the open, directly toward the six arguing vampires.

"Well, boys," he announced himself, a cruel smirk easily slipping onto his face. "I could not help but hear my name being mentioned."

Six faces turned at once to look at him, six almost identical looks of fear appearing on them the moment they recognized him.

"A-Angelus," one of them stuttered. "We thought you ... I mean everybody said you ..."

"Reports of my true death were very much exaggerated." He walked up to them, casually slipping an arm around the closest one. "What is it I have to hear here? I take a few months paid vacation to work on my tan and here you guys are arguing about taking up with a new boss? I must say I'm a bit ... disappointed."

"What? Us?" The vampire beside him shook his head. "No way, Angelus. Never! I mean, you know us, we are ..."

"It's bad enough I had to take care of that bastard Kakistos," Angel interrupted him. "Who is the new guy? Who is trying to take my beautiful little town from me this time?"

The vampires looked even more scared now. They had all heard of Kakistos, of course, one of the most powerful vampires of all time. He had come to Sunnydale for reasons no one was quite sure about only to find his final death. There had been rumors that the Slayers were involved, other rumors naming Angelus as his better.

"We ... we didn't see him," one of the vampires stuttered. "We just ... you know, the old undead grapevine. Says that Sebastian Khan has moved into town and is looking to take over."

"Sebastian Khan," Angel mumbled. He had heard that name somewhere before.

"Yeah, you know? Guy caused quite a stir in Louisiana a few years back. Deposed the local master in no time flat and ... well, the humans blamed it on an outbreak of cholera. Can you believe that?"

Angel chuckled, even though he felt sick doing it. Khan, yes, he had heard that name before. Sometime before Hell, when he had been Angelus and looking to get back up to speed on the happenings within vampire society. Sebastian Khan. An upstart master, they called him, too young to hold any true claim to that position, yet with the power to back it up. No one knew much about him, but everyone acknowledged that he was dangerous.

"You are sure he is in town? Do you know where his daylight retreat is?"

"No. Only a few of the boys have seen him so far. He has these guys with him, fancy themselves warrior vampires of some kind. They have been putting out the word that he'll be looking for recruits soon, but that's all we know."

Angel looked at the other vampires present, but they all looked down and offered no further clues. With the fear coming off them he was quite sure that they had told him all they knew.

"Very well, boys. I guess that's it then."

"You ... you mean we can ...?"

The vampire was never able to finish its question before a stake flying out of nowhere buried itself in its heart and reduced him to dust. The remaining five were too shocked by the sudden appearance of two Slayers that they hardly managed to defend themselves. Angel took out the two standing next to him with the stakes hidden up the sleeves of his leather coat and Buffy and Faith needed less than a minute for the rest.

As the dust slowly settled around them Buffy looked at Angel.

"You all right?" she asked softly, knowing how hard it must have been for him to play the part of Angelus.

"That remains to be seen," he just answered, quickly filling them in on what little he remembered hearing about Sebastian Khan.

"We should check in with Giles," Buffy said when he finished. "Maybe he can tell us more about this Khan guy."

#

In the darkened office of Sunnydale's city hall Mayor Richard Wilkins III. looked at an old black-and-white framed photograph. It showed the man known as Richard Wilkins I., who held a truly uncanny resemblance to his own grandson. He was standing in front of an old steam locomotive, the first such train to make a stop at the newly built Sunnydale train station more than a century ago.

Next to him stood a younger man, also dressed in contemporary clothing. He was smiling and had a hand placed on Wilkins' shoulder in a gesture of easy companionship.

"Sebastian," Richard Wilkins mumbled to himself. "After all these years you have come back."

Stubbornness was a trait he usually admired in people. Not in this particular instance, though. No, right now the only thing he did feel was a certain amount of anger, tinged with just the tiniest trace of fear.

#

Part 3:

"How come that Khan guy has two names anyway?" Faith asked as they walked back towards the school.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean all the big vamps seem to have but one name, you know? Angelus. Kakistos. Dracula. That pseudo-goth couple you told me about, Spike and Godzilla."

"Drusilla," Buffy corrected with a chuckle.

"Most vampires don't really need more than a first name," Angel said. "The only families that matter to them are their bloodlines."

"Angelus of Aurelius," Buffy pronounced. "Sounds more impressive than Liam O 'Connor, doesn't it?"

"Liam O'Connor?" Faith asked, looking at Angel. "That your real name?"

"It was a long time ago," Angel said, a dark tone to his voice that made Faith decide drop the topic. She was actually starting to develop something like tact around these people. Funny that it had never taken with Cordelia.

"Maybe Khan isn't into that whole blood line business," Buffy figured, also looking to change the topic.

"I hope Giles can find out more about him. The vampire rumor mill isn't exactly the most reliable source of information in the world."

They approached the school and Buffy motioned for Faith to go on ahead, wanting a moment alone with Angel. Easily moving into the comforting circle of his arms she tipped back her head to look into his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought up your past like that."

"No apologies necessary," he said, brushing his cheek across her golden hair. "I ... I haven't exactly learned to live with everything I have done, but ... it has gotten easier."

It went unspoken that it was because of Buffy that things had gotten easier. Because of the closeness they had shared for so many years. To Angel it often appeared that those long centuries before he had met Buffy were getting less and less real. As if his entire existence up to that point had only had the one purpose of leading him to Los Angeles in order to see this beautiful girl descend the steps of Hemery High School.

"Just stop me the next time I start blabbing like that," Buffy ordered him. She knew that sharing his entire past with her like he had done over the years was not something that had come easy to him and she did not want to betray his confidence, even to a friend like Faith.

They shared a soft kiss, more of a promise of things to come once they got home tonight, then followed Faith inside. They were about to enter the library when they heard the other Slayer's loud voice ring out to them.

"Another Watcher?" Faith all but yelled. "Wow, that's ... wicked cool. Another Watcher."

Buffy and Angel shared a look, getting the hint.

#

Faith breathed a silent sigh of relief when she heard the barely-there footsteps of Buffy and Angel moving away from the door. The Watchers Council did not know that Buffy and Angel had returned from Hell and everyone thought it better to leave them in the dark on this.

The woman standing next to Mr. Giles, introduced to her as Gwendolyn Post, gave her a puzzled look as to her rather loud announcement.

"Sorry," Faith said. "Didn't expect another British guy to turn up here. Or girl. Surprised me."

"I am pleased to meet you, Faith," Post just said, though her face looked anything but. "As I was telling Mr. Giles, we have a lot to talk about."

"We do?" Faith asked, looking at Giles for help.

"The Council has received Mr. Giles reports on everything that has happened to you, Faith," Post continued.

"They sure took their time," Faith muttered under her breath.

"We like to do things thoroughly."

"Mrs. Post is here to ... evaluate the situation," Giles said, looking rather uncomfortable.

"The situation?"

"You," Post said candidly. "There has been a lot of discussion over the issues of having Mr. Giles as your new Watcher and legal guardian. I have all the necessary paperwork with me, but before we finish that process we want to make sure that ... Mr. Giles is qualified."

#

"The nerve of these people," Buffy whispered to Angel. They had sneaked into the library through the stacks, close enough to observe everything going on without being seen themselves.

"I can't honestly say I'm surprised," Angel whispered back. "From their point of view Giles has made quite a few mistakes when it came to your handling."

"Such as?" she challenged.

"Allowing you to have friends. Any outside contact at all, actually. Not preventing your falling in love with a vampire. I have met a few Slayers over the centuries, Buffy, I know how the Council likes to treat them. You were lucky to get someone like Giles but as far as the Watchers are concerned he violated quite a lot of rules."

"Just great," Buffy muttered. She knew the Council held rigid rules on a lot of things, which was one of the reasons she had decided not to let them know about her return and the way she had changed. Now it looked like they were looking to make Giles responsible for all the bad stuff that had gone down.

#

"G-man ... I mean Mr. Giles is great," Faith protested. "I would still be on the run if not for him. If Kakistos hadn't captured and killed me by now, that is."

"As I said, we've read Mr. Giles' report," Post just repeated, unmoved by her statement. "We want a more detailed account before we make a decision, though. I will hold interviews with both you and Mr. Giles. If I am satisfied the Council will bring the process of making him your legal guardian to conclusion. If not a new Watcher will be selected to guide you."

"I don't want a new Watcher."

"Fortunately that is not up to you to decide."

Faith was a hair's breath away from exploding, but forced herself to remain calm. Beating up this arrogant bitch would not make things better. It would make her feel good, though, very good even. Maybe that was worth the trouble it would no doubt bring.

"You have our full cooperation, of course," Giles said, seeing Faith's rage and looking to defuse the situation quickly.

"Good. I fear there is another matter we have to deal with, though. The Council has learned that a demon called Lagos is on his way to Sunnydale. He is looking for the Glove of Mhynegon. Mr. Giles?"

Giles needed a moment to realize she wanted him to explain about the glove.

"The glove, yes. Not much is known about it except that it is a powerful magical artifact. I need to do some research on it, but it is safe to say we do not want a demon getting its hands on it."

"Speaking of demons," Faith remembered the reason why they had come to the library in the first place, "you might want to add something else to your research list. We ... I mean ... I overheard some vampires talking about a new player in town, vampire by the name of Sebastian Khan."

"Sebastian Khan," Giles mumbled. "I have heard that name before somewhere."

"It is certainly not as pressing as finding the glove," Post decided. "Lagos is the clear and present danger. I propose we work quickly to find and stop him."

#

"I really don't like this lady."

"I know where the glove is," Angel told Buffy.

"You know?"

"Yes. I remember Spike and Dru making a list of all the magical artifacts to be found in or near Sunnydale. They only came up with a small number of items by the time Akathler was discovered, but I know where to find the glove."

Buffy nodded, looking at the Watcher lady again. Something about that woman was giving her the creeps in a major way.

"You should go get it," she finally said. "I'll keep an eye on our brand-spanking new Watcher here. Something's rotten about her."

"I'll bring it to the apartment. Meet you there."

They shared a goodbye kiss, then Angel vanished.

#

Part 4:

Faith had always thought that she was pretty good at lying. For years she had lied to her drunk of a mother, always telling her that, no, she had not taken any of that money that was solely reserved for household expenses (meaning booze). No, she had not gone out at night rather than stay home and listen to yet another tired tirade. No, she had not seen her mother bang the latest of her male friends. She had always been able to maintain the facade that everyone wanted to see. The tough little girl, always in the mood for a party, not a care in the world. That was Faith.

Only all of that seemed to have changed as of late. There were people here that did not want the facade. They wanted to see the real Faith, something she still had trouble understanding. How was real Faith more fun than fake Faith? Everyone had always preferred fake Faith. Still, it was nice in a way she could not yet explain.

As a result, though, her lying skills seemed to have atrophied. Or maybe it was just that this crazy Watcher lady. Telling the entire story of her weeks here in Sunnydale without mentioning even once the existence of Buffy and Angel could not be that hard, could it? Sure, a few events had to be remade a little, some things omitted, others added, but ...

“Concentrate, Faith,” Post reprimanded her.

“Sorry for having independent thought,” she mumbled, but returned her attention to the Watcher.

“While Mr. Giles is researching the glove,” Post continued, ignoring her words, “we should go through some more of the events you have partaken in here in Sunnydale.”

“Such as?” Faith had never even begun pretending to be interested in any of this. If she could not beat up this bitch the least she could do was frustrate the hell out of her.

“About three weeks ago a spell was cast over the town. Mr. Giles described it as an unveiling of the supernatural.”

“Pretty much that, yeah.”

Post waited for a moment, then prodded, “details?”

“I’m sure G-man put it all in there, fancily phrased and accurate.”

The problem was that Faith was not really sure in what way Giles had written down things for his reports to the Council. He, too, had left out everything connected to Buffy and Angel, of course. They really should have agreed upon some kind of cover story beforehand.

Well, truth be told Giles had attempted just that by regularly filling her in on the things he wrote to the Council. Was it her fault that pretty much everything he said sounded like a boring lecture and caused her to tune him out?

“Well,” Post sighed, finally beginning to sound a little frustrated, “Mr. Giles wrote that you were fighting in a church, trying to stop some people from killing a few teenagers that exhibited signs of the supernatural.”

“True.”

“Why weren’t you out in the streets fighting the demons that were running loose?”

Faith jumped out of her chair. “Excuse me?”

“It’s not a difficult question, Faith. Why did you decide to rescue these people instead of continuing to fight the demons?”

“This is a joke, right?” Faith asked, not believing she was hearing this. “Was I supposed to let them die?”

“I am just trying to ascertain your priorities, Faith. You spent your time fighting humans while demons were running loose.”

“Humans that were about to kill a bunch of kids just because they had some fun casting stink spells or whatever.”

“And while you did that seven people were killed in the streets, is that not correct?”

Faith sank back into her chair. “So what? I should have let three people die to save seven? Is that it? I didn’t even know where all the demons where that night. I ... I couldn’t have saved all of these people.”

Post knelt down beside her, a trace of compassion on her face.

“I know that, Faith. I just want you to understand your purpose in the scheme of things. You are the Slayer. Your duty is to fight demons. Instead you let your emotions lead you. Understandable, but not good for a warrior such as yourself. Some of those teenagers that would have been killed were your friends, weren’t they?”

“Friend of a friend,” Faith mumbled.

“So you wanted to save them. Again, understandable. What you also have to understand, though, is the fact that emotional attachments are not furthering our cause. They can even become obstacles. A Slayer must not allow herself to be distracted by anything. Think about that, Faith!”

Post rose, going back to the files she had spread over the library table, leaving Faith somber and deep in thought.

#

Giles was going through the stacks, looking for some more reference materials concerning either the Glove of Mhynegon or, despite Mrs. Post’s opinion about the priority of things, the vampire called Sebastian Khan. So far he had not found much on either.

“Something is really wrong with that woman,” Buffy suddenly said, startling him.

“What do you mean?”

“You should have heard the lines she just fed Faith. I was about to jump down her throat. Something about how she hasn’t got her priorities in order and should be out killing demons instead of forming emotional attachments and the sort.”

Giles nodded, having feared something like that. Watcher policy on how Slayers should interact with the rest of humanity, or rather NOT interact, was rather strict.

“You should probably talk with Faith first opportunity,” Giles told Buffy. “Just to make sure that ... you know.”

“Post’s lessons about the greater value of being a cold bitch don’t stick?”

“Yes, something like that.”

Buffy sighed, plopping down beside him. “I will. I just hope we’ll be rid of this bitch sooner rather than later. Anything on our various big bads?”

“Not much on the Glove, I fear.” Buffy had managed to signal him earlier, letting him know that Angel knew the glove’s location and was getting it as they spoke, so he had concentrated mostly on ways to neutralize or destroy it. So far he had not come up with much, though.

“What about Khan guy? Anything on him?”

“There was a reference to a Sebastian Khan in an old Watcher diary from 1895. The Slayer of that time lived rather close here, actually, in what is today Los Angeles. She and her Watcher were here investigating rumors about weird phenomena in the Sunnydale area. The town was little more than a train station and a Spanish mission at that time, barely a hundred citizens or so.”

“What did they find?”

“Following some anonymous hints they came upon a battle already in progress, apparently between two rival vampire factions. One of them was apparently led by a mage called Sebastian Khan. A human, though, not a vampire.”

“What happened?”

“Well, they decided to wait out the battle and then take care of the winners. Unfortunately that did not work out quite as planned and a few vampires, as well as Khan, escaped. Seeing some of the magics Khan performed during that battle led the Watchers to classify him as a major threat, but he never made another appearance that the Council was aware of.”

“Maybe because he took up the undead style of life?” Buffy asked.

“Quite possible. Since he was still human in 1895, though, that would make him a rather young vampire, not even as old as Spike. Then again we have the rumors Angel heard about him, of course. Despite his youth it looks like he has become quite a powerful player in the vampire hierarchy.”

Buffy nodded. “If he knows the magic stuff as well as the vampire stuff we could be in big trouble. I should tell Angel.”

“Do that,” Giles agreed. “I am still looking for a way to destroy the Glove of Mhynegon once Angel returns with it.”

Buffy threw a suspicious look towards the main room of the library. “I don’t think bringing it here is a good idea, Giles.”

Giles followed her look. For a moment he was about to reprimand her. No matter how unlikable Mrs. Post might be, she was still a member of the Watchers Council. He said nothing, though. Just nodded.

#

Xander was taking his time going home. There were several reasons for this, not least among them that he liked to spend as little time as possible in his parents’ house. Today, though, he was not really thinking about that. Walking gave him time to think and he knew that, once home, he would only plop down on his bed and listen to country music until he fell asleep.

Things were getting better. Slowly, very slowly. Buffy was back to tolerating his presence and after the events of last week with the cursed candy they were even back on something resembling speaking terms. She had not forgiven him, no, but there was a silver lining on the horizon at least. That alone should be enough, should it not?

Then there was Cordelia, of course.

Her remark today had only been the latest in a string of words, looks, and deeds that clearly demonstrated she had not forgiven him, was not even close. If there was one thing Cordelia could not accept it was playing second fiddle to anyone and, Xander had to admit, he had sure done everything possible to convince her that she was. His obsession with Buffy and Angel had ruined their relationship and only then had he realized that he did not want it to be ruined.

These past few weeks he had acquired the talent of being honest to himself. It was a painful process, very much so, but it was the only way of putting his life back on track. That honesty compelled him to admit that, yes, he had treated Cordy as second-best, had taken her for granted. Not consciously, though, but that hardly made it better, did it?

The problem was that he liked Cordelia. Very much so. He was not quite prepared to say the l-word, even to himself, but ...

“Hello, Xander!”

He stopped in his tracks, unable to believe that he had really just heard this voice behind him. Slowly he turned around, his eyes finding the girl standing behind him.

A girl he had found dead in her house three weeks ago.

“A-Amy?”

#

Part 5:

"What's the matter, Xander?" Amy asked, slowly walking toward him. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

About a minute from now Xander would call himself incredibly stupid for not figuring it out immediately. It was after dark, it was Sunnydale, and he was facing a girl he had seen dead three weeks ago. He should have known at once what was happening, realized the danger he was in.

As it was, though, he could only stare at the blonde girl as she came closer, not believing what he saw.

"A-Amy?"

"You already said that," she smiled.

She was dressed like he had never seen her before. Skintight black Jeans, a barely-there top, heavy makeup on her face. Her crimson lips were spread in a seductive smile.

"I ... I saw you dead," he mumbled, the realization slowly making its way to the front of his brain.

"What can I say?" Amy loosely wrapped her arms around his neck, only a hair' s breath separating their bodies. "I got better."

Xander's eyes widened as her face changed, ridges appearing on her brow, eyes turning amber, fangs lengthening. He immediately tried to push her away, but her arms constricted around his neck like a steel vise and held him fast.

"I've come to thank you," she said in conversational tone. "I mean, if it hadn't been for you I would probably never have cast another magical spell in my life and would not be dead right now."

She pressed her body against his until their faces were but millimeters apart.

"I think I should return the favor."

Adrenaline thundered through Xander's veins and a brief flashback to last year's Halloween brought memories of combat training he had never gone through. With a burst of fear-driven strength he managed to break free of Amy's hold and kicked her away, immediately turning to run for all his legs were worth.

Amy, having fallen on her behind, just smiled.

"Thicken," she murmured, her hand sparkling with magic.

The air around Xander seemed to turn into glue, trapping him like a fly in amber. He pushed against it with all his might, but his legs refused to move. Behind him Amy slowly got up, having all the time in the world.

"It's quite impolite to just run away from a girl when she's talking to you, Xander."

"You're not Amy," Xander forced out between clenched teeth. "You're just a monster wearing her face!"

"You think?" Amy frowned as if considering that idea. "Well, you may be on to something there. Still, I do remember that you are the guy who caused my death. Or Amy's death, if you want to split hairs. What matters is that, one way or another, I wouldn't be the girl I am today if it wasn't for you, Xander."

She moved closer again, baring her fangs.

"And I really need some closure on that. I hope you understand."

#

Despite being tired Cordelia had not gone home to sleep as she had originally intended. There were too many things going through her head at the moment, a statement that would have amazed many of the people who thought they knew her. So she took her car and just drove around town a bit, hoping to clear her head.

There were, of course, all the things Giles had said today. Something very strange was going on in Sunnydale, even stranger than usual, and despite her frequent protests about not wanting to be involved in any of it she could not help but be worried. More or less against her will she had become part of a group that regularly got involved in end-of-the-world situations and her mind would just have to deal with that.

Then there was that strange friendship forming between her and Faith. It had begun the night of the cursed candy when the two of them had been the only sane people around to ride herd on quite a few crazy super-powered people. She was not quite sure how it had happened, but she liked Faith and since that night they had hung out several times. It helped, of course, that Faith had no problems keeping up in the wit department, even though her mouth was quite dirty and she was not at all someone Cordelia would ever have considered having for a friend.

And finally there was, of course, Xander. The immature idiot who had ruined her life as queen of Sunnydale High. Well, that was not quite correct, she had to admit. It had taken two to ruin that and he had not exactly forced her to head into the closets with him. At first she had written it off to temporary insanity, maybe an overdose of hormones or something.

She could not deny one thing, though. She missed him. Missed his jokes, missed his presence, missed the way he kissed her. Every time she saw him a part of her was tempted to just tell him that she forgave everything and kiss him.

It was not that easy, of course. Xander had hurt her and he probably did not even understand how deeply. She had completely abandoned her old life for him, could he not see that? She had given up the security of being the supreme and indestructible queen of school to let him into her heart, even though she had not realized it at that point. Was it too much to ask for him to appreciate that?

No matter his gestures and tokens of affection he had never left any doubt about who came first where his heart was concerned. It was not her. It was Buffy, always Buffy. Cordelia did not blame the Slayer for that, certainly not. Oh, there had been times when it had been tempting to blame Buffy's coming to Sunnydale for everything bad that had ever happened in her life, but that was not it.

The sad thing was that, even if Xander had ever gotten to Buffy, he would probably have treated her no different, she was sure. Cordelia had not missed Xander's jealous looks at Oz when the guitarist had started dating Willow. The redhead had had a crush on Xander forever, even Cordelia had seen that. He had never noticed, of course, at least not as long as she remained his best friend and the only male whom she associated with. Xander was completely unable to appreciate or even see what he had as long as he had it.

She wondered whether that had changed now. His words a few weeks ago when they had defeated those demonic assassins had almost tempted her to believe that. Almost.

She just did not know. She just did not know whether she had it in herself to risk being hurt by him again.

A movement on the road ahead brought her out of her deep thoughts. Two people were standing in the middle of the street, one of them seemingly frozen in a very awkward posture. Was that not ... Xander?

"What the hell is going on?" Cordelia mumbled to herself, driving closer.

Things happened very, very fast then. The headlights of her car fell on the person standing next to Xander, who turned to look at the approaching car. Cordelia saw the stark outlines of a vampire face and reacted instinctively. Her foot hit the gas pedal for all it was worth. The vampire raised its hand, maybe hoping to stop the car somehow, but was too slow. Two tons of metal hit the creature at more than thirty miles an hour and sent it flying into the night.

Cordelia brought the car to a screeching halt even as Xander suddenly found himself able to move again. He wasted no time making use of that newfound freedom.

"Get in, quickly!" Cordelia opened the passenger's side door for him and he promptly dove in. Moments later the car launched back into motion.

"You all right?" Cordelia asked once they had brought a few streets between them and the vampire.

"Thanks to you," he panted, giving her a grateful smile. "Your timing is excellent, Cordy."

"Of course," she simply said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "You can show your appreciation by paying for that dent in my hood."

"Any money I might impossibly find in my wallet is yours."

They stayed silent for a moment, then Cordelia turned to look at him again.

"I only saw that vampire's face for a moment, but wasn't that ...?"

"Yeah, it was," Xander sighed, closing his eyes. "Amy."

Cordelia just nodded, turning at the next intersection to head for the library.

#

Part 6:

A few phone calls later everyone was gathered in Buffy and Angel's apartment. It was already growing lighter outside and most of them were rather tired. Their tiredness quickly vanished, though, the moment they heard the news.

"Amy a vampire?" Willow whispered, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Fangs and all," Xander mumbled. "And magical powers to boot."

Faith, who had managed to steal away from Mrs. Post just in time to join the meeting, was still deep in thought and did not appreciate having yet another problem added to the huge pile they were already facing.

"As if we hadn't enough trouble already."

"Well, one piece of good news," Angel announced, reaching behind him to produce something wrapped in dirty rags. "We have the Glove of Mhynegon."

"That's the magical doohickey that the Watcher lady is so worried about?" Cordelia asked, kind of disappointed by the sorry sight.

Angel carefully unwrapped it, allowing everyone to see the spiked iron gauntlet. An almost palpable aura of evil seemed to emanate from it, making even those with merely human senses quite uncomfortable. Willow started reaching for it, somehow drawn to the thing, but Angel quickly pulled back.

"Not a good idea, Willow. Once you put it on you can never take it off again."

"Oh!"

"G-man is still looking for ways to destroy it," Faith said. "No headway so far, though."

Buffy sighed. "Well, it should be safe here, though. I doubt Lagos knows where we live, whoever he is."

Willow bit her lip before speaking up again. "On the matter of Amy ... I ... I still have the curse."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing her say these words. They brought back a lot of painful memories, especially for Buffy and Angel, who snuggled closer together without conscious thought.

"You mean we can ...," Cordelia began, "I mean ... poof, and she's all good again?"

"Well, the curse ... it was written specifically for Angel, Angelus rather, but ... I think I can modify it. With Giles help, I mean. We can ..."

"No," Angel interrupted her.

"No? Angel, I'm sure I can ..."

"It's not about your ability, Willow. I am quite confident that you could do it. What I mean is that we should not do it."

"Why not?" Willow was on her feet, looking exasperated. "Amy is ... was my friend. We can help her. We can ..."

The look in Angel's eyes silenced her.

"The curse is not about helping, Willow," the vampire said softly. "The Gypsies did not give me back my soul out of the goodness of their hearts. It's not called a curse for nothing."

He sighed, trying to figure out the words to explain what he was felling, what he knew was right.

"Amy has been a vampire for three weeks now. There is a good chance that she was the vampire who killed her father. Even if she was not, though, she has certainly killed for blood. Numerous times. If we give her back her soul she will remember it. Remember it all."

Looking up to meet Willow's eyes again he added, "she will wake up every morning for the rest of an eternal life and remember how good it felt to kill her father."

Willow, looking at the pain in Angel's eyes, remembered that he spoke from vast experience. For the first time she consciously realized how terrible it must have been for him when she gave him his soul back. He remembered killing Ms. Calendar, remembered torturing Giles, remembered all the cruel things he had inflicted upon Buffy and her friends and family.

Remembered how much he had enjoyed doing it.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "Angel, I'm so ..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Willow," he interrupted her again. "You did what was necessary and," he cast a side glance at Buffy in his arms, "I am hardly in a position to complain right now."

Buffy gave him a smile, then turned a serious expression towards the rest of them.

"Angel is right. Giving Amy back her soul is not something we should do lightly. I know I sound kinda hypocritical saying this after everything that happened all these years ... I mean, half a year ago, but it's for the best. Burdening Amy's soul with the memories of killing her father would be nothing but cruelty."

There was silence for a long while.

"We still need to do something, right?" Oz asked. "Having a witch-vampire running around can't be good."

"Certainly not," Angel agreed. "Amy might not be an experienced witch, but she has cast at least two very powerful spells that affected the entire town."

"And that was by accident," Buffy added. "God knows what she'll do now that she's evil."

Everyone quickly agreed that they needed to find and destroy Amy, it was the only way. It was also the best they could do to honor the memory of the girl that had once been a friend to some of them.

As for their other problems, Angel was convinced that there was a way to destroy the glove, having read something about it a long time ago. He and Willow dialed up Giles, hoping that he had come up with something by now. Buffy meanwhile, seeing the thoughtful look on Faith's face, took the opportunity to take her sister Slayer aside for a moment, drawing her into the separated area of the apartment that served as their bedroom.

"I hope you're not planning anything kinky, Buffy," Faith smirked upon seeing the bed. "I'm not that easy a catch."

"I wanted to ... I heard some of the things Post told you."

Faith's smile vanished quickly, replaced by the same thoughtful look she had had all night.

"You know that she is wrong, right?" Buffy asked when Faith did not say anything.

"Is she? I mean ... Post is a bitch, yeah, but ... in the time we spent in that church saving Amy and those other two kids seven people died outside. I mean ... maybe we could have stopped that."

"Maybe," Buffy agreed. "Or maybe they were all too far away for us to save them. It was a very bad situation that night, Faith, and no matter how strong and fast we are, we can't be in two places at once. We can only do our best."

They had sat down on the edge of the bed and Buffy draped an arm around Faith's shoulders.

"Being human isn't a weakness, Faith. Neither is having emotional attachments. Neither Angel nor I would have survived all these years in Hell if we hadn't had each other. I wouldn't have made it through my first year as the Slayer without Giles, Willow, and ... even Xander. Yes, my friends have been used against me now and then, I won't deny that. Sometimes they even hurt me, badly. It does not change the fact that I need them. That we need them. Not just as backup, though that is worth quite a lot."

Buffy looked down. "During my first few months as the Slayer I felt incredibly alone. Here I was, one girl in all the world, destined to fight and die for a world that would never appreciate anything I would do for it, that would probably not even notice my death except maybe as a side note in some local newspaper. I was ready to quit because I had no intention of dying for some faceless masses."

Faith looked up at her. "What changed?"

"I found friends," Buffy said, smiling again. "Friends I could share this burden with and, even more important, friends that gave a face to what I was fighting for. We're not fighting for six billion entries in some tax database, Faith. We're fighting for people like Willow, Oz, Cordy, my mom, heck, even Xander. Because they deserve to live a good life. Because they deserve better than to end up dead because of some hungry vampire."

Buffy squeezed Faith's shoulder. "So don't let Post tell you that having friends is a weakness. It's just the opposite and maybe someday those dusty old Council guys will realize that."

Faith considered this for a moment, then smirked again. "The wise words really clash with your look, B. No one expects a blonde to come up with this stuff."

Buffy smirked back. "You're talking to a really old woman, remember? I'm thrice your age, little girl, so I'm allowed to spout wisdom whenever I want and you have to listen."

Faith opened her mouth, probably for another comeback, but instead let loose a huge yawn. Infectious as it was it quickly caused Willow, Oz, and Cordelia to yawn as well, reminding them all how tired they really were.

"I think we should call it a night," Angel said, having just gotten off the phone with Giles. The Watcher had found some references to something called the spell of the Eternal Flame, which could presumably destroy the glove. He, too, found himself quite tired, though, and reluctant to cast magic in this state. With the glove safe in Buffy and Angel's keeping and the sun about to rise and chase the vampires off the streets everyone felt it was time to call it a night, so to speak. Most of them would not be able to grab more than an hour or two of sleep before school started.

No one noticed that Xander and Cordelia lingered outside the apartment door for a minute when everyone else left, sharing intense looks. Neither said anything, though, and in the end they, too, departed toward their respective homes.

The sun rose over Sunnydale.

#

Part 7:

Giles had managed to steal about two hours of sleep on the couch in his office before he was woken again, both by the school bell ringing outside and the entrance of Mrs. Post into the library. Somehow the female Watcher looked fresh and rested even though she could hardly have gotten any more sleep than he had last night.

“We have much to do today, Mr. Giles,” she said instead of a greeting. “When will Faith be here?”

Rising from his couch with a groan Giles checked the clock on the wall. “Out training session starts at ten. I imagine she is still sleeping right now.”

Post seemed less than satisfied with that answer. Learning that the Slayer stayed with the mother of the former Slayer had also greatly dissatisfied her or so it appeared, but she had held her tongue so far.

“Very well. We should use the time to continue our research on where to find the Glove of Mhynegon. Lagos has no doubt reached Sunnydale by now and will be ...”

“There is no further need for that,” Giles interrupted her, unable to help the smug feeling he was experiencing. “The glove has been found and is in a safe place.”

Post stared at him for a long moment, a strange glint in her eyes.

“You have the glove? Where is it?”

“Safe, as I said,” Giles repeated. Suddenly the fact that it was in the apartment inhabited by the supposedly dead Slayer and a vampire with a soul was not the only reason he did not feel like disclosing its location to his fellow Watcher. “We should concentrate on preparing the spell for destroying it.”

“Destroying it?” Post seemed almost aghast now. “I ... I believe that is impossible.”

“I believed so, too, at first, but it appears we were both wrong.” He was feeling quite smug again. “There is a spell called the Living Flame and it will suffice to destroy this dangerous weapon. We should be able to gather all the necessary ingredients within the day.”

It took the female Watcher another few moments to regain her bearings, it seemed, but then she quickly agreed to help him. Giles regarded her for a moment, then chided himself for his own suspiciousness. Gwendolyn Post was without doubt not a very amiable person, but she was still a Watcher.

Besides, after over two years of having to research with idle chatter in the background, reading his books in icy silence was almost soothing.

#

“Stop this,” Willow snapped when Xander almost bumped into her again.

“Sorry,” he mumbled back, forcing himself not to immediately resume his pacing. It was day outside, he reminded himself. Sun shining brightly, no vampires on the streets. Amy would be in hiding, resting for the day.

Not out there killing people.

Willow was browsing through the small collection of books she kept in her locker, certain that one of them contained a spell that might help them find Amy. Her hand shook for a moment when it touched a book that had belonged to the blonde witch. Amy had thrust a large part of her magical collection unto Willow after the disaster with the unveiling spell, resolved never to work magic again.

Now she was dead and looking to kill Xander, maybe the rest of them, too. Part of Willow still had a hard time believing that this could happen. Amy had been a friend. Granted, not the closest of friends, but a friend nonetheless.

Her eyes fell upon the other object in the locker, something she had acquired from the local magic shop a few months ago, before Angel and Buffy’s return. An Orb of Thesula. With no one knowing what exactly had happened in the mansion that day she had felt it better to have one close at hand, just in case. Now ... now a large part of her was still tempted to use this Gypsy crystal to snatch her friend’s errand soul from the void and put it back in her body, restore Amy to the person she had been.

Only that would never happen, she reminded herself. The only thing it would accomplish was to curse Amy with guilt for the sins of that monster wearing her face. Before last night Willow had never given too much of a thought to what giving Angel back his soul had actually meant for him. The pain it forced upon his conscience.

No, she resolved, forcing her hand away from the orb. Amy would not have to go through this, no matter how much better it would make Willow feel to get her friend back. Amy was dead and the only thing they could do for her now was to lay her body to rest as well.

Taking half a step back Willow bumped into Xander again.

“What is it with you?” she asked, starting to get irritated. All day long he had hovered around her, fidgeting.

“I ... I want to help,” he mumbled. “There has to be something I can do.”

She was about to say that the best he could do was to leave her in peace, but thought better of it at the last second. These last weeks and months she had become rather alienated from her former best male friend, fed up with his insecurities, petty hatred, and unwillingness to deal. The times when she would have defended him against anyone, no matter what stupid things he did, had passed.

Still, he seemed to have come to his senses now. Too late for Amy, too late for the people who had gotten killed the night of the unveiling spell, but maybe not too late to save himself. Xander had come face to face with his sins last night and the experience seemed to have shaken him to the core, even more so than when he had been the one to find Amy’s dead body.

“Help me get these books to the library,” she finally said, passing some of the volumes to him. “I hope Giles can help us cobble together a spell to locate Amy.”

Xander nodded, quickly taking the books.

#

Faith was not amused and for several different reasons at that. Even after a few hours of sleep her head was still buzzing with Post’s lecture from the day before, as well as Buffy’s words from last night. She was certainly more inclined to believe her sister Slayer than that cold iron bitch Watcher, but she could not let go completely of what said bitch had told her.

Case in point was the matter with Amy. A friend of Buffy’s, at least by association, who had suffered for that relation and was now an enemy. There was that whole business with Xander, a whole can of worms that would never have been opened if Buffy had not allowed herself to have friends.

Most of the times she had an easy time getting rid of deep thoughts with some physical exertion. Pounding away on the punching bag in the library somehow failed to achieve that effect, though. The only thing it did do was chase Giles deeper into the stacks, the silence he so much enjoyed ruined.

Unfortunately it had done nothing about the presence of Post, who was sitting close by and studied her moves while at the same time flipping through a book in search of details about the Living Flame. Faith was more than annoyed by her scrutiny by now. The woman’s arrogant demeanor and complete conviction that Faith’s life was the Watchers’ to do with as they pleased pissed her off to no end.

Raining punches and kicks down on the punching bag only seemed to make her thoughts run faster and faster. Buffy was right. Post was wrong. It should be as easy as that, but somehow it was not. People who got close to her got hurt. Like Joanna, her first Watcher. The first person who had ever cared about her and Kakistos had gutted her for it, had killed her slowly and with pleasure while Faith had been forced to watch.

Who was to say that it would never happen again? She was the Slayer and the monsters were always close, either because they were coming for her or because she was hunting them down. Normal people got killed in these battles, got killed real easy.

Buffy’s friends had survived for years, though. They were still here and giving her the strength to go on, helping her assimilate back into the world after thirty years in Hell. They were becoming Faith’s friends as well and even after these few short months she had been with them she could hardly imagine not having them. Not having Joyce. Not having Giles.

Which would only make it hurt that much more once a vampire got its hand on them, gutted them, made her watch.

“No,” she yelled, agitated by the thought, and kicked the punching bag clear off its chain. Post looked from her books, giving her questioning stares. Giles emerged from the stacks, taking in the ruined punching bag and Faith’s obvious loss of composure.

“I need some real action,” she finally mumbled, wiping sweat off her brow. “Beating the shit out of this thing just isn’t fun.”

Not waiting for any reaction from the two Watchers she left the library. Maybe doing a few dozen rounds on the school track field would do her some good.

#

“You’re a hard person to get in touch with,” the vampire spoke into the phone. “I had to pull quite a few strings to get your number.”

“Well, what can I say?” the other vampire answered. “I’m a busy man. Can’t have every Tom, Dick, and Harry get his hands on my bedside phone number. How did you get it, by the way?”

“I have friends. They have friends. Let’s talk about business instead.”

“I am always open to business. Some details would be appreciated, though.”

Sebastian Khan leaned back in his chair, taking a lungful of smoke from his cigar.

“I was told that you have some experience working in a town called Sunnydale, Mr. Trick.”

There was icy silence on the other end of the line for a moment.

“Yes. Yes, I have.”

“Good. I was hoping that I could purchase some information from you.”

“Information?”

“The usual. What sights I just have to see. What people I just have to kill.”

On the other end of the connection Mr. Trick broke into a smile.

“Well, I might have some insider tips for you there. If the price is right, of course.”

“Of course. If you would be so kind as to give me your details I can authorize a money transaction to an account of your choosing.”

“It is always a pleasure doing business with someone professional.”

“Yes, it is, isn’t it?”

Sebastian Khan laughed out loud, taking but a moment to be irritated about this habit he seemed to be developing. It was soothing somehow.

#

Part 8:

Buffy did not know how long they had tried to find their way out of Dys. It felt like years to her. From the outside the walled city that was the sixth circle of Hell had looked big. From the inside, though, it appeared to be endless.

It did not help, of course, that they had to hide almost constantly. Some way or other the Furies, the rulers of Dys, had learned of their presence and were looking for them. They did not know why. Maybe Pluto, ruler of the fourth circle, was still mad at them and had convinced the Furies to enact vengeance for him. Maybe they were just interested in the living walking among the many dead of their city. Maybe they had reasons all their own.

Buffy knew but one thing. She hated having to hide. It did not freak her out like it had in the fourth circle, maybe she was getting used to it, but she still did not like it. For too long they had been forced to hide, to sneak. She was the Slayer, damn it, and even after all this time down here it was still hard for her to accept being the prey now, not the hunter.

The streets of Dys were like a labyrinth, telling them apart was almost impossible. Burning graves lined both sides, the damned souls inside them screaming as the flames devoured them alive over and over again. Dys was the final destination for those who had put themselves up as gods or committed atrocities under the cover of religion and faith. Buffy did not doubt that many of the people here deserved punishment for the things they had done in life. Still, she had a hard time imagining that anyone deserved this, no matter what he had done.

Maybe it was this impotent rage she felt, combined with her distaste for being reduced to mere prey, that caused them to be captured by the Furies. She did not know and Angel would certainly never put any blame on her, of course. Maybe it was nobody’s fault. Maybe they had been lucky to remain free for as long as they did.

It did not change the fact that said freedom was now at an end.

The Furies were creatures of terrible beauty. Looking at them caused tears of blood to run down Buffy’s cheeks and they found great pleasure in making her weep. They needed but days to discover the bond between her and Angel and made use of it for themselves, separating the two of them for long distances of time until Buffy was reduced to a shivering wreck and Angel was almost insane with worry for her.

The Furies tortured them both, both in body and in spirit. Neither of them would later be able to tell how long they had spent in Dys’ dungeons. Years, certainly. For a time they both went insane, the only way to protect themselves from the horrors all around them. Buffy forgot all about Earth, forgot her own name, the only thing that was real were the Furies, the tortures, and her need for her mate, whose name she had forgotten as well. Angel was barely more than an animal, a demonic beast willing to rend everyone and everything into pieces that stood between it and its mate. The Furies took great delight in playing games with them.

One day they escaped. Neither of them was certain how they did it, the memories of their time at the Furies’ mercy dim and repressed. For months afterwards one or sometimes both of them would wake from sleep, almost insane with fear and terror, thinking that they were still imprisoned, that their freedom was nothing but a dream. They needed time to remember their own names, to remember the purpose of their journey, to remember where they wanted to go.

They both made a vow to themselves and each other. No one would ever imprison them again. No one would ever separate them again. And from now on in they were done with hiding.

#

“I hate this,” Buffy said, not for the first time. “Thanks to Post we can’t even go to the library anymore. And she is always sitting in my chair. My chair! I bet she knows it’s mine, the bitch.”

Angel shared her frustration. The Watcher’s presence was making things harder for all of them and considering all the things currently on their plate they certainly did not need this added complication.

The sun had gone down but half an hour ago and they would soon meet with Willow and the rest of the gang at their apartment, both to destroy the Glove of Mhynegon and to perform a tracking spell that should tell them where to find Amy. With a little luck two of their problems would be dealt with tonight.

“Giles and Faith have no choice but to tolerate Post,” Angel reminded Buffy. “If the Council decides to remove Giles as Faith’s Watcher it would lead to all kinds of trouble. I don’t think Faith can take being uprooted again this soon.”

Buffy sighed. “I know. I just hate this. Remember that we promised ourselves that we would never hide again?”

Angel nodded, he certainly remembered. In some ways their time in Dys had been the worst part of their journey, if for no other reason than their lengthy separations at the Furies’ hands. They had stayed true to their promise after that. All through circles seven, eight, and nine they had refused to hide.

Like with so many other things, though, returning to Earth had changed things for them. Angel knew that Buffy was getting frustrated with having to hide her eyes behind contact lenses all the time. Now they had to keep their heads down because of a snotty Englishwoman who seemed to think that Sunnydale should come to a stop at her say-so and could cause no end of trouble for them if she found out they were both still alive.

It was one of the reasons they were out this early. They both needed to work off some frustration.

“You’d think with a big new vampire leader in town the undead would be a bit more active.” Buffy looked around the cemetery they were patrolling. There was not a demon in sight.

“Many of the local vampires still don’t know about my changing back,” Angel reminded her. “They might be staying low until the question of leadership in Sunnydale has sorted itself out.”

Buffy gave him a worried glance. “If that Khan guy wants to be the new big bad on the Hellmouth he might decide to get rid of the competition, Angel. Real or imagined.”

Angel nodded, he had thought about that as well.

Their thoughts were interrupted by a growl hailing from one of the nearby crypts. Buffy and Angel shared a quick smirk, their bodies singing with the anticipation of battle. They moved as one, slipping through the shadows with barely a sound to be heard.

Inside the crypt someone had wrenched open one of the coffins and was busily searching through the interior, throwing away bones and ripping withered clothing. His back was turned to them, but seeing as he was at least eight feet tall and wore a huge ax strapped to his back there was little doubt about what he was.

“Lagos, you think?” Buffy whispered to Angel.

Giles had not been able to supply them with an illustration of the demon in question, but what little they had read of him seemed to support Buffy’s theory. Lagos was supposed to be a warrior demon, big and strong, though not among the great thinkers of the late 20th century.

“I’ll go and ask him,” Buffy finally decided. They both stepped out of the shadows. “Hey, ugly!”

The demon turned around, snarling at them. Neither of them were very impressed. Buffy unsheathed her sword and twirled the gleaming blade in her hand, smiling broadly.

“You’re just what the Slayer ordered.”

Fighting alongside Faith was slowly restoring Buffy’s taste for puns. She still did not run her mouth like she used to, but she was already a far cry from the deathly serious warrior who had emerged from Hell a few months ago.

Angel drew his own sword, but held back for the moment. Buffy needed to let off some steam worse than he did. Lagos, if that was who they were facing, snarled once more and then lunged for them. Both of them easily evaded his hulking frame, Buffy slashing her sword down in a vicious arc to draw first blood as he barreled past her.

The battle did not last long. Lagos was strong and tough, evident by the fact that their kicks and punches did little to hurt him, but he was not impervious to a steel edge. It took Buffy and Angel less than three minutes to maneuver him into a position where he left himself wide open. One sword stroke later his head rolled across the floor of the crypt, his body crumbling where it stood.

Buffy regarded the fallen demon for a moment, then sighed disappointedly.

“I was expecting more of a workout here,” she huffed. “Post sure made this guy sound a lot tougher than he turned out to be.”

“Let’s just be thankful he did not get his hands on the Glove of Mhynegon. I suspect things would not have gone quite that easy.”

He checked his watch. “We should probably head home, Buffy. The others will be coming soon.”

The Slayer picked up Lagos’ huge battle ax, slinging it over her shoulder. If nothing else she was still getting a little trophy out of this very disappointing workout.

“I hope this Living Flame thing doesn’t mess up our living room. We just got everything arranged perfectly.”

“We’ll put some sheets over the couch first.”

#

Part 9:

The creature that was once Amy Madison was not a happy camper. Last night had not gone down as she had imagined it. Xander was still alive and she had been run over by a car. Being hit by two tons of speeding metal was not something even a vampire could just shrug off and she had needed the rest of the night to get back into shape, draining no less than three mortals in the process.

She felt much better now, though. Better and eager.

No need to get upset about last night, she reminded herself. Xander could just as well die tonight, no problem. She just had to find him. If he was smart enough to stay inside a private home there were several spells she could use. If he was stupid enough to just walk around outside like last night ... well, she would probably be doing the world a favor by killing him.

The fact that she had given Willow most of her magical supplies shortly before her death was quite a bother, but her house's attic had provided her with some more leftovers from her mother's witch days. Among them a scrying orb. All she needed for now.

She knew, of course, that last night's failed attempt might make things much more complicated. Xander was friends with Buffy, the Slayer. There was Angel, that vampire boyfriend of hers who was somehow on the side of good. She had heard some stories about Angel, or Angelus, since joining the undead community of Sunnydale, and liked none of them. The guy was either a manipulative sadist or a bleeding-heart do-gooder, one could never quite tell which. Either way he might become a problem.

Then there was that dark-haired girl that had recently joined Buffy's little band of friends. Amy knew almost nothing about her, but she had seen her that night when every monster in Sunnydale had lost its human mask. She had no idea what it meant that her eyes had glowed a bright silver, but whatever she was, harmless certainly was not it.

They would not be able to stop her, though. Amy was not just a vampire, which made her more powerful than any mere human ever could be. No, she was also a witch, well on her way toward being every bit as strong in the mystic arts as her mother ever was. God alone knew how powerful she might become with a few decades or centuries of practice.

She had pretty much resolved her future course. She would not be one of those idiot fledglings that got themselves dusted because they allowed the hunger to overcome them, squandering immortality within a few nights of bloody slaughter. No, she would survive and become powerful enough to be a true player, someone whose name would find its way into the history books beside Angelus and Master Nest. Sure, it would need time, but she had more than enough of that now.

There was just that one thing she needed to do to tie off her mortal existence, then she could be off. Xander. Thanks to him she had nearly been burned at the stake. Thanks to him she had nearly turned away from magic for good. Thanks to him she had died a violent death that, while bringing her into her glorious new existence, had still been quite painful.

He just had to die before she left. It was a matter of principle.

The scrying orb began to glow as her magical power was channeled through it and a smile spread on her lips as she spotted her prey in its crystal depths.

#

"I think we have everything we need, Giles," Willow said, going over the list of ingredients the Watcher had dictated to her over the phone. "If you bring along the essence of toad we can conjure the Living Flame."

Giles nodded, finished double-checking the details of the ritual. "Very well. I will be over soon." Casting a glance at Gwendolyne Post, who was packing up the books and essence of toad, he added softly, "and make sure that certain people are not there when we arrive."

"Buffy and Angel will be pissed having to hide in their own home, but I'll tell them. See you in a few minutes, Giles."

Willow had barely hung up the phone when the two people in question entered the apartment. The red-haired hacker raised an eyebrow in question when she saw the big battle axe that Buffy carried with her like a trophy.

"Scratch one Lagos," the Slayer announced happily.

"Figures!" Faith came into the apartment after them, having just finished her own patrol. "Here I was, just itching for something to pummel in that bitch Post's stead, and you guys bag the big demon warrior. This just isn't my day."

"He wasn't so big," Buffy told her sister Slayer, sounding rather disappointed. "We barely worked up a sweat. I think Post got her undies in a knot for nothing."

Angel looked at the chest in the corner, where they had hidden the glove.

"We should prepare everything for the ritual. Has Giles called?"

"He will be over in a few minutes," Willow announced, having already cleared a space in the living room where they would perform the spell. "Not alone, though."

"Great," Buffy huffed. "Now that English bitch is chasing us from our own home."

"You can hide in the bathroom," Faith offered with a grin. "Keep control of yourselves, though. Bitch might get suspicious when she hears thumbing and repeated moaning of 'Oh, Angel!' from in there."

Buffy had long ago gotten over the urge to blush. Not so Willow, who turned a crimson red.

"I'll have you know we are perfectly capable of keeping our hormones under control," Buffy informed her sister Slayer.

"Yeah, I got a few examples of that not too long ago. If I remember right Cordelia had to call you to order."

Buffy groaned. Odds were that Faith would never let them live down the happenings of the cursed candy night.

#

Hanging up the phone Giles turned toward Post. They had spent most of the day researching every detail of the Living Flame and his anxiety had died down somewhat. Post was a Watcher through and through, which, Giles had to admit, also meant a healthy dose of arrogance. Maybe his years here in America, exposed to Buffy and her friends, had indeed changed him from the ideal of Watcherhood he had once embraced so thoroughly.

Post was obnoxious, arrogant, all-knowing, and, as Buffy would put it, an all-around pain in the butt, but Giles was unable to share his charge's suspicions that the woman might want something more out of this visit than what she had told them. To be on the safe side he had placed a call to the Watchers Council earlier and they had confirmed that Post was who she said she was and that her visit was fully sanctioned.

So, in the spirit of cooperation, he would take her along to see the destruction of the glove. If she asked whom the apartment belonged to they had already prepared a cover story, saying it belonged to Willow and Oz. The two students were more than prepared to play happy homemaker in Buffy and Angel's den.

The two Watchers quickly made their way toward Giles' car, Post slipping into the passenger seat.

"I must say, Mr. Giles," she said as he started the engine, "while I applaud your sense of keeping security tight, I do not see the need of maintaining this secrecy with me."

He had refused to tell her where the glove was stowed away all day, something that seemed to irk her very much.

He was running out of excuses, though.

"Ms. Post, the library, while providing us with a splendid cover and facilities, is still inside a public building. There is no way to know who might be listening in on us there."

Pointedly looking around Post said, "we are no longer in the building, though, are we? Are you afraid the demons have bugged your car?"

Giles sighed, realizing that his behavior was probably bordering on the suspicious by now, at least seen from Post's somewhat uninformed point of view.

"Very well," he finally surrendered. "The glove is in the apartment of two of ... Faith's friends." He had been about to say 'Buffy's friends'. "They are waiting for us there with the remaining ingredients of the Living Flame ritual."

Post actually gave him a smile. They drove on in silence until they reached their destination, Giles parking the car about a block away from the apartment.

"We're almost there," he told Post as he got the bag from the back. "Just down the street."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Giles."

It was the last thing he heard before something very hard connected with the back of his head and then everything slipped away into darkness.

#

Part 10:

Buffy and Angel decided against hiding in the bathroom, mostly because they did not want to give Faith any further material for her teasing attacks. As Angel owned the entire building they simply went up one floor, using the empty apartment above their own as a listening post. The floorboards were thin enough that their supernatural hearing allowed them to hear everything that went on below.

Xander and Cordelia arrived at the apartment as well. No one made a comment on their arriving together, though there was the slightest of smiles on Faith's face. The younger Slayer had overheard one of their conversations a few weeks back and had seen how much it hurt Cordelia to stay apart from this stupid boy. Faith disliked Xander on principle, he had done too much to hurt Buffy for her to do anything else, but Cordelia had become something of a friend to Faith and maybe she was getting another shot at happiness here. Just maybe.

Willow had prepared the ritual for the Living Flame as best she could without the missing details and ingredients. Now she was looking into another spell she was planning to do, one that would help them find Amy.

"How is this supposed to work?" Oz asked. He had begun developing a certain interest in magic as well, most probably because he was still hoping that something from Amy's collection of spells could help him gain control of his lycanthropy, as it had done that night when all the masks had fallen away from Sunnydale's monsters.

"Much of this stuff belonged to Amy," Willow explained. "She has worked magic with these books, which means they carry something of an imprint of her. If I can put this tracing spell together in the right way ..."

Her voice trailed off as she became entranced in another paragraph. Her Latin was getting quite good, but she still did not understand why all these spell books had to be in outdated languages. Was English not good enough for ancient magicians? Or maybe even French, though she was toiling there. Right now the development of her magical skills seemed to be hampered a lot by her lacking language skills.

Maybe once Buffy was not so busy with all the bad currently descending on Sunnydale anymore she would be able to teach her friend some of those languages she had picked up from Angel.

Everyone looked up when the door flew open without a knock, admitting a rather hurried-looking Watcher into the apartment. Post's eyes went immediately to Faith, dismissing everyone else.

"Faith, good. Where is the glove?"

"Where is Giles?" the Slayer asked in return, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Wasn't he supposed to come with you?"

"He is getting the rest of the ingredients from the car. We have to hurry, though. Lagos ..."

"No need to worry about him anymore," Xander announced happily. "Bu... I mean, Faith trounced Lagos during her patrol. He's toast."

"Is that true?" Post asked, apparently not noticing Xander's slip.

"Sure it is," Faith said, not reluctant to take the credit for Buffy's kill in this special case. "Knocked his block clean off. We can chill."

"Good to know, but we should still apply haste. There is no telling who else might be interested in a weapon as powerful as the glove. Where is it?"

Faith regarded the Watcher and some instinct was screaming at her that this woman was up to no good. There was no logical reason for it to be sure, but Faith was slowly learning to trust her instincts.

"Maybe we should wait for Giles," she said slowly. "We don't want to mess up this spell thing and ..."

The rest of her sentence and whatever response Post might have come up with was cut short when the door flew open again, knocked right out of its frame this time and exploding into shrapnel. Oz went down as a large splinter impacted against his head, the rest of the gang quickly taking cover.

A vampire stepped into the apartment.

"Now isn't this interesting," Amy said, her demon face sporting a wide grin. "No problem entering this apartment. Are some of you not what they seem?"

Faith was the first to move again. She might be of two minds about Post, but that thing in front of her was clearly a vampire and therefore legitimate prey.

"You are just in time, sweety! I really need someone to vent on."

She pounced towards the creature like a jungle cat, stake slipping into her hand with ease. Amy , though, just held up her palm and said a single word.

Without warning Faith was hit with a wave of dizziness, the room spinning around her like a carrousel. She stumbled, unable to tell up from down or left from right. There was no way for her to hit her target or to avoid the deceptively slender fist of Amy the vampire. The blow knocked her for a loop and she found herself on the floor with an aching jaw.

Try as she might she could not get her feet back under her, everything still spinning around and around.

"Good luck trying to fight with your equilibrium shot to hell," Amy said, still grinning. Her eyes searched the rest of the room, taking in the other people present. She did not know the older woman, nor was she interested in Cordelia. Willow might be someone to warrant attention at a later date, being the current owner of quite a few magical books Amy really wanted back. First thing first, though.

Her gaze fixed on Xander.

"I hope we won't be interrupted again, Xander," she cooed at him. "Where were we when I got hit by a car last night?"

"Hey, no one hurts Xander except me!"

Amy turned toward the source of the new voice, just in time to be hit in the face by Buffy. Angel was half a step behind her, sword in hand. Amy was thrown across the couch, almost colliding with Ms. Post on her way down. The Watcher leaped out of the way, not really sure what was happening here. A moment later she no longer cared.

Amy collided with a chest standing in the corner, knocking it over and spilling its contents out on the floor. Post's eyes fixed on the Glove of Mhynegon.

"That was not nice!" Amy leaped back to her feet, her demon eyes sparkling black. "I just want to kill Xander, is that so much to ask?"

"You should have asked me that a few weeks ago, might have gotten a more positive response."

Buffy swung her sword, but Amy ducked at the last moment and threw the Slayer back with a burst of magical power. Angel was on his way around the couch, the crowded living room restricting his movements, when he spotted Post heading for the glove. The gleam in her eyes told him everything he needed to know.

For a few confusing moments everyone and everything seemed to be in motion. Angel trying to reach Post, who was scrambling for the glove. Buffy was getting back on her feet and leaping at Amy, who was heading towards Xander once again, who was retreating as much as the narrow space allowed. Willow was huddling over the injured Oz, while Cordelia did her best to be invisible and Faith tried once more to get back to her feet, failing again.

A series of metallic clangs drew everyone's attention just in time to see Post rise with the Glove of Mhynegon on her hand, smiling triumphantly.

"That took long enough," she chuckled. Angel was leaping for her, sword drawn back for a lethal strike, but she blocked it effortlessly with the glove and swiped him away with an equally casual gesture.

"I've waited a long time for this."

Post started pronouncing some words in a language not even Buffy or Angel recognized and moments later the living room of their apartment was filled with lightning.

#

Part 11:

When the first bolt of lightning crashed through the high-set windows of Buffy and Angel's apartment everyone ducked to take cover, even Amy. Ms. Post stood at the center of the carnage, the bolts drawn to the metallic glove on her hand as if it was a lightning rod. Angel tried to get closer, but found himself pushed back by the energy sparkling around her.

Faith, who had just spilled her belly's contents on the floor due to motion sickness, was finally back on her feet. Whatever spell Amy had laid upon her seemed to have faded, probably torn to shreds by Post's fiery lightning show. She was still a bit wobbly, but back in business.

Her eyes found Amy, ducked behind the couch, but her demon eyes were still firmly fixed on Xander. Talk about single-minded.

"Faith," Buffy yelled at her. "Me and Angel take Post. You take Amy!"

Faith just nodded, though she would have loved to be the one to take the bitch down. Make her doubt her friends and then pull something like this. Still, she owed the witch vamp one for making her puke out her guts and this was definitely the wrong time to go into a discussion about who got who.

When the lightning storm finally died down everyone started moving at once.

"Thank you for being so helpful," Post laughed maniacally, pointing the glove at the nearest body, which just happened to be Buffy's. The Slayer threw herself aside just in time, the lightning bolt shooting out of the metal gauntlet tearing a huge hole into the wall behind the spot she had just stood in. Angel was trying to circle around Post from the other side.

Amy, seeing that the lightning witch seemed busy, was all set to resume her mission for this evening, when she got tackled to the ground by an angry Slayer.

"I hate puking," Faith yelled, raining hard blows down on Amy's face. "I finally get away from having to clean puke off the floor every other day and here you go making me puke my guts out. I hate puking!"

The witch finally pushed her away, sending her flying across the room with a magical shove. She tried to redo the spell she had laid on the Slayer earlier, but found that her magic fizzled and died. More lightning spewed through the room and she realized that her spells were disrupted by the presence of this much more powerful force.

"Just great," she muttered, only to have Faith pouncing on her again. This time the two girls collided with enough force to carry them clear through the shattered door and to the outside.

Neither Buffy nor Angel had any attention to spare for the fight between Faith and Amy. They were much too busy staying alive at the moment. Post was bathed in lightning and approaching her seemed impossible. Her aim left something to be desired, but they were both getting tired of ducking energy bolts. Sooner or later one would connect.

They did not need words to communicate with each other. Angel motioned toward the weapon's chest where the glove had fallen out, more precisely towards the throwing axe lying close to Buffy. She understood immediately, picking the weapon up with a role across the floor. Angel, sword still in hand, made a leap toward Post to distract her.

"Filthy vampire," the Watcher screamed as the blade barely missed her neck.

Moments later a new lightning bolt exploded from the gauntlet and this time Angel stood too close to evade. He moved to the side, preventing what would probably have been a killing blow, but was caught in the right shoulder and thrown hard against the wall, most of his right side scorched and smoking.

Buffy's mind was overcome with rage upon seeing her mate hurt and the world narrowed down to Post, now standing with her back turned. A growl emerged from Buffy's mouth, loud enough to draw the Watcher's attention. She turned just in time to see the throwing axe flying towards her, turning end over end ...

... and slicing right through her upper right arm.

Outside Amy and Faith were still struggling, the witch vampire's magical abilities making up for the Slayer's greater fighting prowess for the moment. Faith was thrown hard against the wall, cracking the cement, but she was back on her feet a moment later and threw a kick that nearly tore Amy's head off, sending her staggering back.

"Don't tell me you like Xander," Amy growled as they circled each other again. "He nearly got all of us killed that night. Hell, he did get me killed just one night later. I know Buffy can't be too fond of him."

"You heard her earlier, didn't you? No one gets to kill Xander except her."

They collided again, but the moment they met the entire inside of the apartment seemed to become awash with lightning again. A shriek filled the air, the sound of someone burning alive, and moments later a shock wave took both of them off their feet. Faith stumbled and the back of her head connected sharply with the steps leading up to the street.

Amy managed a better landing and wasted no time when she felt the strong magical presence inside the apartment flicker and fade. Her full magical power returning she quickly cast a spell and thickened the air around Faith, pinning her down. The Slayer struggled, but she was dazed from the fall.

"I just wanted to kill Xander, nothing else," Amy complained as she walked closer to Faith. "You could have just let me, you know? But that's okay. I figured it out. You're a Slayer, right? Just like Buffy. That's cool. I'd never have thought I'd kill a Slayer within my first few weeks as a vampire. Imagine how everyone will look up to me."

"Maybe you should look," Faith forced out between clenched teeth. "Behind you, I mean."

"Oh, please! Like I'd fall for something like ..."

Amy stopped when a sharp pain penetrated her back. She looked down, amazed to see the tip of a wooden stake burst free of her chest.

"Hey, that's not fair! I had plans. It's just not ..." the rest of her sentence was lost as her body crumbled into dust.

The spell that held her down faded and Faith looked up to see Willow standing over her with a stake in her hand, a befuddled _expression on her face.

"Red?" Faith asked, seeing that the hacker was a bit out of it.

"Yes?" she asked, not sounding all there. Faith knew that she had regarded Amy as a friend. She had not thought Willow capable of doing what she had just done, to be honest.

"Great work, Red. She's gone. You can put down the stake now."

"Oh, I can? Good."

Faith gently took the stake from her hand and guided her back into the apartment. A moment later she remembered that there had been another battle going on inside and that she might want to be on her guard, just in case it had not gone down the right way.

Seeing nothing but a big scorch mark where Post had stood earlier and a concerned Buffy kneeling beside an injured Angel made her relax, though. It seemed the fighting was done with, at least for tonight.

"Everyone alive?" she asked, looking for the others. Oz was kneeling against the wall, a cut on his forehead bleeding profusely, but looking unharmed otherwise. Cordelia was doing her best to slow the bleeding with a towel she had found somewhere amidst the carnage, quickly joined by Willow, snapping out of her little shock upon seeing her hurt boyfriend. Xander was back on his feet, using a broom to move the Glove of Mhynegon away from the few recognizable remains of one Gwendolyn Post.

The apartment looked like a disaster area, but Faith was relieved to see everyone more or less okay. Except Angel, that was. The big guy looked like he had been torched, most of his right arm and side blackened and blistering. It had to hurt like a bitch, she realized, but with him being a vampire he should be back on his feet in no time flat. She hoped.

Faith kneeled down beside Buffy, who had eyes for no one but Angel.

"Will he be okay?" she asked.

"Just need a little rest," Angel managed, sounding more pissed than hurt actually.

"A lot," Buffy ordered. "Plus some extra-spicy Slayer's blood to quicken the healing. No arguments, mister!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied.

Everyone looked up sharply when they heard some commotion near the ruined door, just in time to see Giles stumble inside. There was a wound on his forehead almost identical to the one Oz sported.

"Post," he mumbled. "We have to stop her. She ..."

He stopped, getting his first good look at the desolation that was Buffy and Angel's apartment, complete with big scorch mark right in the center. He frowned, raising his eyebrows.

"I ... is it safe to say that my warning comes a little too late?"

"Pretty safe," Buffy smiled at him.

"But appreciated nonetheless," Angel added with a bit of a chuckle in his voice.

"Don't tell me you got knocked out again," Cordelia groaned upon seeing the wound on Giles' forehead. "God, I'm seriously losing count here."

#

Part 12:

"Well, it is confirmed now," Giles sighed, putting down the receiver. "The Council had Ms. Post's flat searched and found quite a few forbidden texts on black magic. Apparently she had planned this for quite some time. The fact that the Council needed someone to go to Sunnydale to evaluate Faith and myself just played into her hands."

"So what are they gonna do now?" Faith asked. "Another Watcher gonna take over where she left off or what?"

A slight smile appeared on Giles' face.

"No, nothing of the sort. Apparently the ... incident with Ms. Post convinced them that we have matters well in hand here in Sunnydale and ... well ..."

He showed Faith a signed piece of paper. The younger Slayer studied it for a moment, then broke into a grin of her own.

"Okay, but like we discussed, G-man! No curfew!"

"Would not dream of it."

Faith showed the document to the others, wearing a broad grin on her face. Willow squealed and was the first to hug Giles.

"Congratulations, Giles. You're a father now."

"Well, something like that!"

"Better watch out that it doesn't go to his head, Faith," Buffy advised her sister Slayer, though there was a smile on her face as well. The two Slayers hugged. "Don't let him go all strict on you!"

"Nah, he don't do stuff like that, B. He tries sometimes, but he isn't really good at it."

Buffy laughed, the first laugh anyone had heard from her since the battle against Post had ended. At first she had been so worried about Angel that everything else just failed to register. Once it became clear, though, that he was well on the route to recovery and would be back on his feet in a few days, she had time to take in the state of their apartment.

The apartment they had finally managed to get just the way they both wanted it.

"We can't even send the Council a repair bill," she complained.

Giles had sent the Council a report that described a slightly altered version of the actual events that had led to Ms. Post's death and the destruction of the Glove of Mhynegon. The other Watchers remained blissfully ignorant of the fact that one Buffy Summers was back among the living and earthbound. As far as they were concerned it had been just Faith, along with a few of her friends and her now officially appointed legal guardian Giles, who had taken down Post. In this particular case Buffy had no trouble letting someone else take the credit. None at all.

Except maybe when she looked at their ruined apartment.

"Most of the furniture is totaled," Buffy explained to Willow. "We need to throw it all out, clean everything up, paint all the scorched walls, and buy new furniture. It'll take weeks."

"But ... but maybe it can be fun," Willow tried to cheer up her friend. "We can all come and help with the renovating. Our boyfriends can go shirtless and we can sprinkle them with paint."

Okay, Buffy admitted. Maybe there were brighter sides to having one's apartment destroyed. A moment later she had to chuckle, seeing Willow blush at her own words.

"That was some wicked cool slaying, Red," Faith told the red-haired hacker. "Thanks, by the way. I guess you saved my hide."

Faith was amazed how easily she was able to thank Willow for staking Amy before the vampire could tear her throat out. She had never been comfortable with owing others and would certainly never have admitted it. This town and its people really were changing her.

She liked it.

"I still wish we could have done something for her," Willow admitted sadly. "Amy didn't deserve to end up like that."

"No one does, Will." Buffy moved closer, wrapping her arm around her friend' s shoulder. "That's why we do what we do. We might not always succeed, but we have to keep trying."

She looked at Faith as she said that and the younger Slayer gave her a consenting nod. She still had to think about the things Post had said now and then, despite the fact that the Watcher had turned out to be a murderous bitch. Maybe being alone, having no one who could hurt you through their own actions or by dying on you was an easier way of being a Slayer. Or maybe it was not. Maybe it was just an easier way of getting yourself killed real early because you ceased caring whether you lived or died. And besides, when had Faith ever done things the easy way?

With everyone else chatting away in the aftermath of battle Xander managed to get Cordelia into a secluded corner of the library. He was quite surprised that she put up very little resistance when he pulled her along.

"So?" she asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she glared at him.

"I ... I never quite got around to thanking you. For saving my life from Amy, I mean."

"You did thank me," Cordelia reminded him. "You promised me all the money in your wallet to pay for the dent in my car, remember?"

"Yeah," he admitted, rubbing a hand over his tussled hair. So much for an easy conversation starter.

"I ..."

"I still care for you, Xander," Cordy suddenly said, taking him completely by surprise. "God alone knows why. You're a loser, a petty child who perceives every other male as a threat to his own manliness, and can't form a coherent thought for the life of you."

Xander needed a moment to recover.

"Ooookay, could you repeat that bit before the usual barrage of insults?"

She looked at him and there was something almost ... tender ... in her gaze.

"I still care for you," she repeated. "I ... I just can't trust you, Xander."

"Cordy, I know I screwed up a lot and ..."

"Let's not go into another repeat of your sins, okay? I know quite well what you have done and can probably recite it in my sleep by now."

"Okay, then ... what do you want me to say, Cordy? I already told you, I care for you as well. A lot. I know I didn't always show it, but ..."

"How about never? You were always either sniffing around Buffy or being peeved at Willow having a boyfriend. That was when you didn't spend your time thinking up new insults to throw at Angel."

"Well, I ... okay, maybe, but I seem to recall you spending most of your time either insulting me or hiding our make-out sessions from your friends."

She gave him a glare. "Don't change the subject, Xander. I told you once before, I won't play second fiddle to anyone."

"You don't!"

"I wish I could believe you."

She turned away from him, making a step to leave the library, then stopped to look at him over her shoulder.

"You know, it would have been easier if you had just stayed that bastard you turned into when Buffy and Angel came back. But no, now you just have to go ahead and try to make up for all those hair-brained stunts you pulled. You can never make it easy for me, can you?"

With those parting words she walked out of the library, leaving Xander wondering whether they were on the way towards making up or heading in just the opposite direction.

#

The vampire known as Sebastian Khan sat in his newly decorated office and studied a printout of the files Mr. Trick had sent him.

"Very interesting," he mumbled under his breath. "Two Slayers, plus one vampire who had a soul and might have it again. Angelus, eh? I heard a lot about you, my friend. Whose side are you on, I wonder."

He flipped the page, seeing the material Trick had gathered about the honorable Mayor Richard Wilkins III.

"Phobia about germs? Really, Dick, you don't change, do you? I told you years ago that germs would not be the thing that killed you down the line, but would you ever listen to me? No, of course not."

He frowned for a moment.

"Thwarted by a teenage witch? Oh, that is a good one. Looks like the master plan isn't quite as masterful as you though, Dick." A moment later he added, "which I guess might be a scolding for myself as well."

Khan looked at the photograph standing on his desk, an old black-and-white image of two men in late 19th century clothing standing before a steam train. The sun was shining down on them and they both smiled.

"The world has changed since we drew up our plans, Dick," he continued. "Quite a few things we never considered, right? Teenage witches, Slayers with friends, vampires with souls, many complications none of us ever foresaw."

A broad grin spread on his face. "Which will only make it easier to bring things down around your ears, don't you think?"

"My lord?" Elron, Khan's chief minion, stuck his head into the office. "Are you talking to yourself again, my lord?"

Khan thought about that for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, I think I am, Elron. I think I am."

"It is not considered healthy, my lord."

"Thank you for your concern, Elron, but I feel just fine."

Elron took his leave upon hearing this obvious dismissal. A moment later he stopped again, though, hearing his lord and master laugh quite loudly and in a way that reminded him of the movie villains he had seen in the cinemas as a human.

"That can't be healthy," he mumbled, shaking his head. "It really can't."

THE END

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