Feedback
Author: Desdemona
Rating: I think it's R level here. So be warned there's some course
language ahead.
Disclaimer: Still not mine, but that doesn't mean I won't keep
fighting.
Distribution: BAU, Land of Denial, My site, Beth's site. Otherwise,
go ahead and take it, just give me a heads up.
Summary: A challenge from Jec. AU. I redefine the initiative in
Season 4.
Spoilers: For sure...The Freshmen. I'll let you know as the come.
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Chapter 1: The Freshman
The sterile white lab glowed from the harsh lighting above. The nervous private watched the inmates wearily. It was his first night on guard duty. He hated it, the agitated hostiles were pacing and making assorted growls and snarls. A particularly vicious looking vampire was watching him through a haze of bloodlust. Jackson knew that the vampire in question was on a restricted diet. The vampire, Hostile 59, was huddled in a corner of his cage. He had wrapped the rags he wore as clothes around him as protection, though it did nothing when they came to get him. Jackson was lost in his contemplations of Hostile 59 when the door slid open behind him. The young man whirled around to point his taser at the intruder. "Hey, Jackson, calm down, buddy" Agent Riley Finn chided. The newer recruit lowered both his weapon and his head, "Sorry, your lordship" he muttered. "God I love frosh week" his friend Graham cheered as he pushed past and walked through the corridor to the entrance to the frat house upstairs. Like every other frat house on campus, Lowell House had a frosh party going on upstairs. The faints beats of music could be heard in the cells below where Riley and Jackson still stood. "Thank the Lord, patrol was short" Riley agreed as he too headed for the exit. "Oh, and Twitch? Keep up the mighty fine work" Graham teased as he walked into the elevator. Jackson could still hear the seniors' laughter. "Laugh at this Finn" Jackson sneered and pointed his weapon at the empty corridor.
It was yet another sunny day in Sunnydale. A few students were milling around the Sunnydale University campus but most were still enjoying their last day to sleep in. No such luck for the slayer, she was here at the bright and early hour of eleven. Buffy frowned as she searched for Wiesman Hall. Her stack of flyers was getting higher and higher she had everything from supporting the Gay and Lesbian Alliances to saving the student body from Meatloaf day. "Oh God" she groaned as she spotted another flock of flyer totting frat boys. To top that off she'd missed all the frat parties for a dead guy who never showed. So far no one had been able to help her find Wiesman hall, but before she could give up she spotted her best friend Willow. "Buffy, Hey!" the red head cheered. "Oh boy, am I glad to see you" Buffy announced in return. The girls walked for a moment. Willow remarked, "Isn't this cool? There's so much going on." Buffy looked around unhappily, "Yeah. Almost, one might say, too much." Willow happily told her friend of all the courses she'd gotten that term. Willow tried to trade some flyers with Buffy but little interested the blonde. "Are we heading anywhere near Wiesman hall? I need to get my ID card." Buffy explained. "Oh, I got mine this morning. The lines are really long now, you should have gone earlier." Willow announced. Buffy replied, "well, I hope that I learn from this experience, and that I grow." Willow rambled as they wandered but they eventually reached Oz, where Willow crooned about her "on campus" boyfriend. Buffy tried to relate to Oz on the bustle of campus life but again that seemed to no avail.
Eventually Buffy got registered and she and Willow wandered the hallowed halls of Sunnydale U. They stopped into the library to check out the books, while they bemoaned the loss of both Giles and Xander, who was still on a "Across America Road Trip." They stopped in the large school library, and stared in awe. "You know I never wanted to hurt Giles' feelings, but occult books aside, our old library didn't have the greatest selection. But this..." Willow stated. "Yeah, this is great, you know, if we ever need a place to hold the Nuremberg rallies" Buffy quipped. "This is a real library," Willow continued in awe. Someone shushed them, "see we even have to whisper. It's like a whole new world" Willow gushed happily.
The girls got to the bookstore a while later. Buffy was loaded down with books until her helpful friend arrived with a basket for them. "Can't wait till mom gets the bill for these. I hope it's a funny aneurysm" she teased. Willow directed her to a stack of books on top of the shelf, labelled `Introduction to Psychology.' Buffy reached to grab them but they were sent tumbling over the shelf, directly onto the blonde head of a guy crouched beneath. "Oh God, I'm so sorry" she apologized. "I'm okay" he assured her with a small grin. "I'm so... the books were just too high and then everything was bad" she rambled an apology while picking up the books. He helped her return the books to the shelves, placing some lower. "So, you taking Intro to Psych or do you just want me dead?" he remarked as an ice breaker. "Uh-huh" she replied obliviously, then realized the implications. She beat a hasty retreat, "I mean the first one." Willow seemed to hit it off with their new TA, Riley Finn, almost immediately. Buffy was once again left aside to watch from the outskirts of the conversation. She smiled and nodded appropriately and hoped to whoever was up there it would get better...
"Kathy" her new roommate introduced. Buffy smiled and set her things down on one of the beds. "You took the right side" Kathy announced. "Yeah, ummm, but if you want it..." Buffy offered, but Kathy declined replying she was only checking to make sure it was what she wanted. Buffy listened as Kathy rambled on about horror housing and parties and her not so hyper days. Buffy watched as the brunette picked up a poster to place on the wall, "I'm glad they put me with somebody cool... I can tell that you're cool. I just know that this whole year is going to be super fun!" Kathy exclaimed while unrolling her Celine Dion poster. Buffy smiled falsely to her new roommates back.
The snoring was deafening in the silence of the night. Buffy couldn't stand it anymore. She had two options; cover Kathy's face with a pillow, or go out hunting. She decided upon the later since the first could be construed as attempted murder. She walked through the cemeteries holding a stake in her grip watching the shadows as she walked. She heard a yelp from around a hedge and perked up but once it was followed up by a drunken giggle she was certain it wasn't vamps. She watched sadly as a young girl and her boyfriend struggled back home after a long night out partying. "Stupid Slayer gig" Buffy muttered. "Stupid frat parties that have to fall during slayage hours" she added. Finally when she couldn't think of anything else she remarked, "stupid Kathy." She continued her stroll through the cemetery until she found a large grey headstone to sit on. "I know you're out there" she whispered into the night, "don't you want some tasty slayer blood." Nothing moved. Unhappily she gave up, she could only hope that Kathy had stopped snoring or murder would be a serious consideration.
A long day of horrible classes sent Buffy into yet another tailspin. She'd already been kicked out of Pop culture and Intro to Psych was not looking to be one of the lighter classes she wanted. She hiked across the campus that should be quiet in the dark but was instead teeming with life. "How am I supposed to hunt in this? Don't you people have homes?" Buffy hissed as she struggled through the crowds. Happy to finally be on a quiet path, she wasn't looking where she was going, and collided with a strong chest. "Ooh!" she exclaimed. "Sorry," he apologized. She looked up at him, finally. He had dark spiky hair and his eyes looked almost black, but she was fairly certain they were brown. His shoulders were broad and he was dressed all in black. "Are you lost?" he asked her. She gave him a sheepish smile, "No, I'm just going to Fisher Hall. Which I know is on the planet Earth....somewhere." "I'll take you there" he offered. She happily stepped up beside him. "Thank you so much. I'm Buffy, by the way" she told him. "Angel" Silence ensued as they walked back down the paths toward the imposing building label Fisher Hall. Despite the silence, Buffy was incredibly comfortable just being with this guy. "You taking `Psych 101'?" Angel asked gesturing to the books. She smiled back at him, "Yeah. I mean, I'm gonna try. She's not afraid of long words, is she?" Angel laughed, which made her smile grow exponentially. "Not really, no. One of my frat brothers is the TA, and I know Walsh pretty well myself. Oddly, many people find she's not too friendly" he commented sarcastically. "I have no idea why" she replied in the same tone. They were quiet again for a while, "hey, you're a frat boy. I thought this was a party school" she inquired. Angel laughed again, "Oh, it is. You just have to find the right season and the right crowd" he explained. They walked up and stopped in front of Fisher Hall. "What's your crowd?" she asked him with a coy smile. "I don't know, I'll let you make that up for me" he returned. She giggled slightly, the flirting air being broken. She walked up the steps then turned around to face him again, "I'll get back to you on that." Angel smiled back as he watched her climb the rest of the stairs. He stepped back and blended into the night once again. "Did you lose your way?" a soft voice asked behind him. Angel turned around to face the vampire, "No, but you might have." He grabbed the standard issue weapon they were all required to wear in Sunnydale and shot at the blonde vampiress. The electrical currents from his taser shot through her body as she fell to the ground. He pulled out a walkie talkie from under his leather jacket, another insistence from his commanders. "Gryphon here, Ops unit 3, come in" he spoke into the box. It crackled in response, "Ops 3, Lilac here." "Hostile down in front of Fisher Hall, staying on site until team arrives" Angel explained. "On our way" Riley's voice carried over. Angel looked down at the unconscious blonde vampire at his feet. He couldn't help but think of the other blonde he'd met recently. Angel turned and looked up at the building hoping to catch a glimpse of her through a window. Before long he heard the calculated footfalls of the closest operative unit arriving. Angel looked as Graham and Forrest hoisted the HST and left. "Thought it was your night off" Riley sneered through his mask. "Yeah, Finn it was, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to let them trash the campus cause I'm off duty" Angel returned heading back towards the well lit path. Riley stayed in the shadows to cover his obvious military gear, "I think you're trying to one up me with Walsh, but it isn't going to work." Angel snorted his disgust and walked away.
"Well done Agent McKinley, I was pleasantly surprised to see you capture the vampire that has been terrorizing the campus as of late. She was quite eager to explain those missing students after we began our tests" Dr. Walsh announced, missing the grimace Angel sent her way. They sat in the underground conference room in the initiative base. There were ten officers seated at the table, each the head of one of the Ops teams. Also, there were five of the other military officials turned University professors. "Was she acting alone?" one of the other officials asked, Dr. Gordon, history prof. at Sunnydale U. "No, and so Agent McKinley you will take your unit to this address. Hostile 64 gave us this location" Dr. Walsh ordered passing over a case file containing the required information. "She claims that her minions are young and not well trained, but be on full alert" Walsh declared. "And the rest of the teams?" Riley Finn asked his superior. Walsh looked at him, "you will do your usual routes, team 8 is on night watch tonight." The other Ops leaders took their leave at her dismissal and left the conference room.
Angel quickly skirted past the flourish of activity and got into the hidden elevator to the frat house. He flipped out his cell phone and put in the call to Gunn's voice mail. The man was in class but the rest of his team were some where in the frat house ready to receive orders. He stepped from the sterile white box into the warmer atmosphere of the fraternity house. The halls were well cleaned and decidedly homey. He walked into the games room to find his frat brothers taking wagers on a game of pool. His teammate Penn was cleaning the table against some other hot shot from Ops unit 7 if he wasn't mistaken. "Penn, nice shot. Where's Spike?" Angel called to his brother. "Got Dru upstairs, I think" Penn called back before he sunk the eight ball and took his cash off the table. "We got orders?" he asked as he met up with Angel. The older man nodded and climbed upstairs to claim his officer from his sister's arms.
The two men climbed the stairs and prepared to pull their friend from the clutches of a very attractive woman. "Spike. Dru. We gotta move. Get some clothes on, and get out here" Angel called through the door, slamming his fist against the heavy door three times. Dru was the first to throw the door open, clad in her skirt and still puling her top over her head to cover her black silk bra. "Angel, can't you leave us for a little longer?" she sneered as she brushed past her brother and his friend to leave the house. Angel swung the door open farther to see Spike sprawled on the bed groaning in annoyance and pain. "Jesus, Angel. You may not have got any in a while, but can you leave me alone to get mine?" he groaned. Angel laughed slightly and shot him a mock grin, "not when you're getting some with my baby sister. Now we've got orders lets move, we're meeting Gunn in half an hour."
"Hey! Check it out," a thin, acne scared vampire exclaimed as he pulled a roll from a box of freshman items. "Do we have another Klimt?" a fat and hopelessly loser-ish type vamp cheered from her spot on the ratty sofa digging through yet another box. As he unrolled it sure enough yet another Klimt poster came into view, "Yes" she cheered. The lanky vampire took his new found poster to the wall and posted it with all the other posters, which consisted of two kinds: Monet and Klimt. Stapling the poster to the wall, he added yet another tick to the Klimt column of the white board monitoring their poster collection. His accomplice cheered, "freshmen, man, they're so predictable." His cheesy reply was, "and you can never eat just one." This reminded the fat one that she was once again hungry and so they threw down their stolen paraphernalia and headed for the door just as it was kicked in by Ops team 5 dressed all in black. The four men stepped into the abandoned building shooting off a shockwave directly into the larger vampire, knocking her down. The acne scarred sidekick raced forward to defend his fallen friend but was quickly knocked aside by a well placed kick from Gunn. "Damn, either I'm getting stronger, or these vamps are just pathetic" Gunn quipped. "I vote for the pathetic big bads there. They're hardly worth our time, anymore." Spike returned. "How do vampires get fat on a purely liquid diet?" Penn complained while hefting the large unconscious female over his back. The others quickly lifted the thinner vampire. "What'll we do with all this stuff?" Penn asked as he deposited his burden into the large holding vehicle they'd brought. "Send in a containment crew to sort through it all then give the stuff back, I guess" Angel told him. Looking around to make sure no civilians noticed their unwarranted activities, the crew loaded into their van and moved away. They didn't notice the small girl ducked behind the bushes.
"Kay. Giles they were freaky, militia type guys. All black carting away two vamps I'd been watching for a couple days now. They beat me there, then they just bust in and took them away" Buffy reported. "Who do they think they are?" Xander protested loudly, "The vamp police?" "Yes, well despite the uh... `wiggins' they gave you Buffy, they appear to have done nothing wrong" Giles remarked. He wearily lifted his glasses and polished them before resettling them on his face. "Yeah, but why are they taking these vamps, Giles? Who are they? What are they doing?" Buffy asked irately, beginning to pace her Watcher's small flat. All the Scoobies were assembled on the Friday morning to discuss what the Slayer had seen the night before. Willow and Oz cuddled on the Watcher's love seat, while Xander was seated in an armchair with his on again off again girlfriend Anya in his lap. Buffy was alternating between sitting on one of the barstools to pacing angrily. "Well, I can begin some research Buffy, but if they appear to be normal humans there would be little in my books about them" Giles advised, feeling his quiet, relaxing retirement slipping away. "Willow, could you check the web?" Buffy asked eagerly. Her red headed friend looked back skeptically, sharing a look with her now blue haired boyfriend before replying, "Group of men dressed all in black? That could be anyone Buffy" Willow told her with an apologetic look on her face. "I swear I'm not crazy, I was out looking around the campus finding no vamps. I did see one totally gorgeous guy, who was totally flirting with me...." she looked around as she realized she strayed off topic to find only Willow interested in this new development, "uh, sorry. So I leave him go to class, and then I see these vamps and I follow them back to the warehouse. I watch them a couple of days cause they looked a little weird and then these guys roll up and take them away. Is it just me or is that wiggins worthy?" Buffy explained. "I'll lie on the side of the wiggins" Xander vouched. "Yes, well perhaps you could watch for more of these men, but in the meantime you should focus on your regular patrols, Buffy" Giles suggested finishing the conversation and dismissing his misfit group of pupils.
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Chapter 2: The Harsh Light of Day
"God, I hate night watch" Penn bemoaned as he dramatically threw himself onto the cool, damp, perfectly maintained campus grass. The four members of Operative Team 5 were hiking around the campus looking for vampires who were apparently taking the night off. Gunn and Spike sat down beside their friend, in total agreement over the suck of night watch. "You guys stay here then. I'll give the perimeter another check before we crash" Angel suggested as he crept away blending into the shadows as his friends looked on. "Damn, how does he do that? Why can't I pull that disappearing shit?" Gunn complained. "He's always done bleedin' shit like that, ever since we were brats" Spike told him, knowing there was more to Angel's sudden departure then he let on. The Leader of Ops Team 5 never let his crew slack off on patrol.
Following the flash of blonde he'd caught out of the corner of his eye Angel walked through the bushes. She was out again. He kept following, telling himself he was only trying to make sure she got home safely, not verging on obsessive stalker like tendencies. After their meeting a week ago he couldn't get her out of his head. She was so sweet, funny and so innocent. Very different from the continuous flow of women Gunn, Spike and Penn kept throwing at him unsuccessfully. They continued to insist he needed to date. Angel stopped when she stopped. She was in a clearing her head cocked slightly to the side as if she sensed something. He remained absolutely silent hoping she didn't know he was there. She tensed slightly as if preparing for a fight. "I know you're there" she called out softly. Angel sat silently, not answering her call, but the call was not for him. He saw a vampire dart out of the clearing on the opposite side followed by two larger demons. Angel covered his face with the mask he'd been told to wear and moved forward just as she efficiently sent the vampire tumbling with a well placed kick to the solar plexus. The two demons, a variety he'd never seen, rushed forward then. "Ew" she moaned as she took in their slightly slime coated state. The first demon threw a punch but she ducked out of the way. As the demons fought her, never really landing a solid blow, the hostile pulled himself to his feet. Seeing that his crush was still occupied Angel ripped a branch off a near by tree and threw it with deadly accuracy directly into the vampire's chest. The thing looked shocked before it crumbled to dust. The two demons were still battling Buffy and she was beginning to tire. One of the demons was now armed with a club like length of tree, and he swung it knocking the petite blonde aside with the well placed hit. She lay stunned on the ground and the demons began to move in closer. "How am I going to explain that one tomorrow?" she moaned. Again Angel perked up expecting to have to step in to save the girl. But, she surprised him again, just as she had all night. As the first demon got close she wrapped her legs around it's neck and twisted, effectively snapping the slimy beasts neck. It exploded into a large pile of yellowish goo that now coated the young freshman. The demons brother looked on in horror, then dropped his club and took off at a run. Grimacing in both pain and disgust, Buffy stood and wiped off some of the slime she was now coated with before trudging off in the direction she came. "Damn" Angel hissed as he headed back to his crew to alert them to the demon still loose somewhere on campus.
Angel watched continuously for the blonde beauty who seemed to be some form of demon hunter but he didn't see her again. He watched Fisher Hall every Wednesday evening but he never saw her again. She didn't seem to be anywhere on campus. He tried looking in the school's database for her, but without a last name or address it was useless. Despite everything he told himself, Angel was hopelessly smitten. It had been almost a month since he saw her fight those demons on an abandoned part of the quad, but he still couldn't get her out of his mind. She was sexy and sweet and apparently very strong. God, help him, he was obsessed. Even his team had noticed and they were still trying to get any sort of information out of him, even Dru was looking to know who had captured her big brother's eye.
Angel looked through his closet for something to wear to the party, his date was supposed to be there in twenty minutes. Penn's idea for this date could be interesting, all he knew was she was leggy and had a nice rack. Angel threw on his trademark black ensemble with his favourite pair of leather pants. Claudia was meeting him at the party and Angel had to be there, a rule forced on him by Penn. Grabbing his wallet off his dresser, Angel left Lowell House for an evening of fun and surprises.
Buffy sat on the ugly brown couch and sipped at the fruity concoction in her cup while chatting it up with her new friend, and maybe with some luck more than friend. Angel, who had recently been starring in her dreams, seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth. Parker was a nice boy, he had none of the billowy, sex god goodness that Angel possessed, but normal could be good. God knows her sexual performances of late hadn't received stellar reviews. "So, Parker, hobbies?" "Yeah, hobbies. Interests. I feel like there's so much I still don't know about you. What do you like to do?" he asked offering an attentive, alluring, painstakingly practised smile. "Well, mostly...I, you, know, hang out and do stuff" she returned, smiling as well. She felt giddy and warm, unsure if it was good conversation, an attentive guy or the fruity concoction she'd been sipping all night. "Yeah, I was into that for a while" he quipped in return. She laughed happily, if not a little excessively. As her mirth faded she noticed his attention was drawn to her shoulder. "What's that?" he asked. Her black denim jacket had slipped off her shoulder and revealed the ugly yellow bruise surrounding a gash which she knew was going to scar. `Damn Krezloff demons.' "You're going to have a scar" he remarked scooting closer to check it out. She shivered happily when his warm hand brushed her shoulder. "Yeah, I got attacked by a....angry puppy. Damn little buggers with those claws" she replied weakly, grimacing as he touched a tender spot on her shoulder blade. He smiled in apology and reluctantly withdrew his hand from inside her jacket. "So, do I get to see any of your scars?" Buffy asked, resuming the shameless flirting once more. "Oh, mine are all psychological" Parker was quick to explain. Buffy smiled brightly and offered her hand for a dance. "Please, they're the best kind" she joked as she tugged him onto the dance floor. As an after thought she shrugged out of her coat and tossed it back on the couch where they'd been sitting.
"So what do you think man?" Penn yelled over the loud, pulsing music. Angel looked over at his date who was currently drinking herself into a stupor and was dressed like a prostitute. "I'll pass, tell her I went home with a headache" Angel yelled in return. Penn frowned but didn't stop him. Angel had almost made it to the door when he spotted her. Buffy was here. She was busy dancing with some stupid jerk with a wandering eye, but she was there. Angel stepped into the room and followed her with his eyes. Her soft pink halter top was cut daringly low and her black pants hugged her like a glove, and damned if the little ass wipe she danced with didn't know it. That little shit had his hands all over her. Parker Abrahm, everybody who had a younger sister at the school knew who Parker Abrahm was, and exactly why you kept your sister away from shits like Parker Abrahm. Angel watched the drunken frat boy fondled his girl. `His girl?' Save that thought for later. Angel moved farther into the room intent on removing Buffy from Parker's grasp and break some limbs in the process if necessary. A slow song came on and she moved closer into the kid's grasp. "Oh my God, Angel, I love this song!" Claudia crooned as she caught him and pulled him into a dance. Distracted by the attractive but drunk brunette in his grasp, Angel failed to notice Parker lead Buffy off the dance floor and upstairs to the bedrooms.
His pager thankfully interrupted his dance with the insightful Claudia. Looking down to see the Initiative's Code Red number he sighed in defeat. He was never going to get near Buffy again. He did a quick search of the dance floor for his friends and colleagues, also, noting sadly that Buffy seemed to have disappeared. "I have to go Claudia, I got paged into work" he covered, disentangling her arms from around his neck. "Oh, where do you work?" she asked swaying against him happily. "In a horribly boring office building. Excuse me." he intoned before stalking away to find Spike, Gunn, and Penn.
The other three were huddled at the door waiting for Angel, so they could get going. "I fucking hate you guys for this" Angel gritted out before stalking into the night. "Claudia wasn't your cuppa tea, mate?" Spike drawled while lighting a cigarette. The three headed to Angel's regulation black SUV. They piled in and Angel sped off down the street, while Gunn, who was riding shotgun, called in for orders. "The corner of West and Main, into the sewers, and then 1 mile Northeast, Walsh's radar picked up a HST in the sewer tunnels. A reconnaissance team found evidence of digging in the area" Gunn reported. "Digging?" Penn chimed in, "what the hell are they digging for in the sewers?" "Nothin' I want to know about, most likely" Gunn replied. "The team is standing by?" Angel asked strictly business as he drove through abandoned suburban streets. "They're waiting for us. Apparently Team 3 is preoccupied with some demons on campus so they called us" Gunn replied. Spike snipped from the backseat, "had to call on us. Just as I was workin' Dru." Angel growled testily, but made no reply. When the black vehicle pulled up beside a sewage drain on the corner of West and Main, right in front of Morningside Meadows, yet another local graveyard, four highly trained government soldier clad all in black fatigues filed out, quickly lifted the lid and disappeared into the darkness below.
Harmony Kendall, former Sunnydale highschool cheerleader, bounced happily into her room. "Hi baby, I'm back" she called throwing herself down onto the queen size bed which decorated their underground layer. Her `baby' and a group of minions were mining into the wall on the opposite side. "And it is definitely the crypt, right?" Brian asked again to one of the minion holding blueprints, "I'm not keen on tunnelling into someone's septic tank." A lowly minion shrank at the thought, of both his masters rage, and the horrifying outcome, "It's the crypt. The radar soundings are clear. The walls are thinnest here, at the bottom. You have to tunnel from underneath. More work, but I'm sure-" His ramble was cut off effectively by a strong hand clamping around his throat. "Better be more than sure, buddy, cause I'd hate to have to hurt you. No. Wait. Hate is such a strong word. Harmony took the opportunity to wrap her thin arms around her boyfriend cooing about her `baby' and begging lover for a little retribution. "Nobody knows I'm here" Brian reminded her for the umpteenth time, "Now I'm not killing the Slayer's best friend, as that would tend to announce my presence. And we're too goddamn close..." he trailed off. Scenting the air, he smelled some nice fresh meat. "You almost killed her last year, suddenly it's a big deal" Harmony cried, pouting like a dejected child. "Harm, shut up" Brian called his face showing both annoyance and fear, "We've got company" he announced. He quickly motioned to the team who had just broken through the last barrier. "Go, distract our guests" he demanded, and they scampered off to do his bidding. "Harm, after tonight, the world will seem like an all-you-eat buffet" he grabbed her arm and they climbed through the opening in the ceiling.
Gryphon, Phoenix, Cerberus, and Chimera all stalked through the sewer tunnels, heading northeast, the sounds of a fight echoing off the walls ahead. They rounded the corner and found the reconnaissance team engaged in a fight with approximately twenty hostile subterraneans. Launching into battle Gryphon and Phoenix went to help with hand to hand combat while Chimera and Cerberus stayed behind to blast vampires with high currents of electricity which would play havoc with their nervous system. Half an hour later, they had contained twelve HST's and had destroyed three others. The remaining vampires had escaped into the shadowed tunnels of the sewer system. Their own casualties were minimal. Phoenix had sustained an injury to his shoulder which would likely put him off active duty for at least a week, and a couple of the reconnaissance team sustained non-life threatening injuries. Gryphon had averted the one and only possible fatality, by pulling a demon off of one of the recon team members. Cerberus placed a call to headquarters while Chimera helped move the wounded and HST's into waiting holding vehicles. Gryphon was tending to his friend's shoulder, probing gently at the flesh that was beginning to swell. "This is Cerberus, we have about five lose HST's still in the system. Requesting containment crews at all subterranean exits within a quarter mile radius from our location." "Gunn, I'm going to start looking around. Take him and get him out of the tunnels" Angel requested. "Man, you need back up" Gunn protested though he accepted his friends wait against him. "I'll be cautious, Dru will kill me if something else happens to Spike so, get him out of here" The commanding officer, known by the code name, Gryphon, ordered. Gunn grudgingly obliged and pulled his friend toward a nearby exit.
Angel snuck through the deserted tunnels and stumbled upon the HST's lair. There was a large four poster bed decorating the space, draped in cascades of white fabric. The supplies used for digging decorated the floor, and in the far corner a hole was bored through the ceiling into some sort of space above. Angel approached cautiously and peered above him, nothing moved. Keeping his weapon aimed at the hole, he began to move closer and pull himself into the room above. It was a crypt. The space reeked of decay and death, and tombs and reliquaries were damaged and spewing their contents onto the dust stone floor. Two sets of footprints lead outside through the broken door way which had once been sealed. Fetching his radio from where it was clipped to his belt, he placed the call to the control centre, "This is Gryphon. Requesting a containment crew at my location. The HST's have dug through and have collected whatever they were searching for"
"A ring. The tomb belonged to the Wilkins family and contained bodies that are all over one hundred years old. We have cross referenced the list of items said to be within the reliquaries with that we recovered, and the only thing missing was a ring" Dr. Walsh reported at the Debriefing. "This ring has no estimated value and was not insured, it would appear gentlemen that the HST's we collected last night were no more than petty criminals" Agent Finn added helpfully, smiling serenely to his long time nemesis, Agent Angel McKinely. "I can't believe that. Why would these vampires take the time to carefully dig up from the floor to collect a useless ring" Angel insisted. "It is none of our concern now, we'll let the police decide that" Walsh suggested. "In the meantime, we will continue the progress of Project 314 and the rotations of night patrol. I believe Agent Douglas will be taking Ops Unit 9 out tonight. You are dismissed gentlemen" she instructed. The soldiers happily trooped from the conference room in the military base beneath up to Lowell House. It was important the students and faculty, as well as the rest of the town, believed that Sunnydale U was just another small town university.
She woke to a strange, empty room. "Parker?" Buffy called into the dark space and received no answer. She glances around the space once more, even in the faint light, she noticed things she hadn't seen before. It was your typical guy's dorm room; dirty clothes, dead plants and lots and lots of beer cans. Suddenly realizing she was now in the running for slut of the week Buffy scrambled out of the bed wrapped only in a sheet to search for her clothes. She found her top, bra and panties, but her pants seemed to be misplaced. "Pants. Everybody needs pants!" she whispered as she searched. Still searching for her lost pants, Buffy looked up to see the door open and Parker walk in. "Hey. You're up!" he said with a smile, carrying his coffee and a paper bag. "You're here" Buffy returned relaxing slightly. After that horrible incident with her last boyfriend she was just hoping this sexual encounter would go better. "I live here" Parker reminded her. "I didn't know where you were" she replied solemnly. "Yeah, well, I thought you might be out for a while. So I got coffee and doughnuts. Better than whatever it is I have around here" he teased. "You look cute" he added once he'd sat on the bed beside where she'd been searching underneath. "Well, if you think this is attractive wait till you see me with the stomach flu" she quipped, while adjusting the sheet to sit beside him. They split up the breakfast and Buffy tried to pass off her grimace as a grateful smile when she tasted the coffee. "So, do you have plans for today, or...?" she offered. "Actually, the thing is, my mom's coming to visit" Parker answered "Oh, okay. Didn't know. So, I'll just clear out of here. But later, may be we could talk and stuff?" Buffy asked him. "Yeah. I'll call you" he returned. "Great. Before I go though" she started only to be cut off. "A kiss?" he asked smiling impishly. "I was thinking more, pants. But a kiss could be good too" she replied smiling happily.
There was no call. Five days later and still no call. After a while she stopped expecting one, but it still hurt. She was walking across the quad after class when she finally saw him. He was with another girl, and she seemed riveted with whatever he had to say. As a she got closer Buffy made out the same pathetic sob story about his father that he'd fed her. "Parker?" she asked. "Buffy! Buffy Summers, this is Kate Loomis" Parker introduced calmly as if it was mundane and he had not just tossed her off for another. "Parker, what's going on?" Buffy asked. She wasn't naive, she knew what was happening, but a girl could hope. Kate moved off to whatever class she had and left them alone for a moment. "She a friend?" Buffy asked bitingly. "Yeah. I like her a bunch" Parker answered smoothly once more. "You didn't call, Parker" she stated. "I know. But, I'm a little confused now. I mean, I definitely got the idea you'd done it before. You were one who was all over me. It was fun. What else was it supposed to be?" Parker asked genuinely perplexed by her interrogation. "Fun, I guess. All it was supposed to be was fun" she replied holding back the tears that were threatening to fall. "I just thought you might have been different" Buffy turned and walked away biting her lip to hold in the tears that clouded her vision. She walked with no idea where she was going. Only that she needed to be away from Parker.
Angel watched the conversation on the quad. She left with tears in her eyes, and Angel could only guess why. The little jerk broke her heart and instead of following, he just went after his newest catch. Dru had been briefly interested in Parker Abrahm and Angel now thanked God that Spike came into the picture before Parker got his hands on her. Watching Buffy walk away with as much dignity as she could put a new level to his respect of the pretty demon hunter.
Buffy walked as quickly as possible away from Parker Abrahms, tears weren't flowing down her cheeks but pain laced her eyes. A body stepped up beside her, "Well, that was just pathetic" Brian said keeping his stride timed with hers. Just as she turned to return some angry retort, a fist hit her in the face knocking her back. Buffy looked up at the looming face of something she never thought she'd see; a vampire standing in the noon time sun. Wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, Buffy struggled to find a makeshift stake. Her enemy didn't seem in the least bit concerned. In fact he waited patiently for her to rise. "Isn't a fantastic day? Birds singing, squirrels making lots of rotten little squirrels, sun beaming down in a nice, non-fatal way. It's very exciting, I can't wait to find out if I freckle." Brian announced casually, basking in the warming glow around him. Buffy got up and threw a punch, hitting him in the face and knocking him back, but he was up in no time, and returned the punch knocking her down once more. He waited patiently, and seeing her opening, Buffy slamed her makeshift stake through his chest and into his heart. Smiling smugly she waited for him to crumble to ash, but he didn't and her smile changed to a look of shock. "Ooh. Do it again. It tickles. You know, in the good way." Brian mocked slamming his fist into her stomach and removing the branch from his chest. "I got myself a nice shiny new bauble, do you like it? A lovely little trinket, called the Gem of Amarra, Slayer" he hissed. He held his ring up to the light, flashing the gem on his hand. While she was distracted with the shining green orb, Brian punched her with it.
The fight dragged on. Buffy and Brian traded punches, twists, kicks and spins of equal force and skill. While Buffy's injuries mounted, Brian stayed strong with no bruises, cuts or scrapes, he was invisible all thanks to the ring he wore on his right hand. "Getting tired Slayer?" he taunted. "I'm okay. How 'bout you? Sun in your eyes?" she hissed in return, between pants to catch her breath. "A little. Awfully bright, disorienting... oh, no, I lied. I'm fine." Brian answered sending a punch at her that sent her staggering back, and she hesitates to return to the fight. "So, you let Parker take a poke, eh? Didn't seem like you knew each other that well. What exactly did it take to pry apart the Slayer's dimpled knees?" he asked slyly "You're a pig" she replied while deflecting another of his blows. "Did he play the sensitive lad and get you to seduce him? Good trick if the girl's thick enough to buy it" Brian asked wisely while stopping one of her kicks. "Wonder what you did wrong. Too strong? Did you bruise the boy?" he continued, while punching her in the face once more, "Whatever, guess you're not worth a second go."
When he swung again she blocked his hit, and allowed the momentum to throw him off balance. When he looked back at her his rage obvious in his flashing eyes, Brian could see he had taken his taunting too far, and now the Slayer was awake and aiming for a kill. Buffy hit him with a dizzying flurry of punches and kicks, which amazed her classmates and finally began to break the vampire before her, the last roundhouse left him sprawled upon the cool grass. She lands on his body, pinning his arms behind him and grasping dangerously at his ring."Take it off me this way and we both burn" he told her smugly, confident that he would live to see another day with his precious gem. "Really? Let's see" she returned, tugging the ring from his finger. She leapt off his body just as the first rays of the sun touched him. His body began to incinerate and he howled in pain and rage as he crumbled to ash. Buffy rested on the grass near the pile of dirt left behind by her newest foe. In her left hand she clasped the Gem of Amarra.
"I like it." Willow offered as the Scoobies studied Buffy's newest piece of treasure. The Gem of Amarra sat on Giles table, while they all looked at the pretty piece of jewelry. "It's small." Oz offered, somewhat dismayed by it's size. "Quite tasteful" Xander added his ideas. Giles interrupted their comments upon the stone, "So the question now is, what do we do with it? It's obviously extremely dangerous and destroying it..." "Destroy it" Buffy announced definitely "Yes, well, I'll start right away. I'll start researching a spell to contain the magical elements of the stone..." Giles was interrupted by the sound of shattering crystal and a rumble of power. "Or we could just smash it" Xander offered, gesturing to Buffy who wielded the large tome responsible for crushing the stone. Giles whispered a prayer for the young people he worked with each day. Muttering to himself he sauntered away to pour himself a shot of good English liquor.
"So what I'm wondering is, does this always happen? Sleep with a guy and he goes all evil?" Buffy asked as the two girls walked back toward the dorms. The night was quiet, and the girls enjoyed the peaceful blanket of the dark. "Well, from what I understand, pretty much. But it won't always be like that. You've just had some really bad luck." her friend offered helpfully. "I don't know, Will. Bad luck just happens. I made this happen" Buffy replied, "I mean I think I was so caught up on not needing Scott anymore, that I didn't see who Parker really was. God, how come I didn't see it? "Well, maybe you made a mistake, but that's okay. Next time...What?" Willow looked over at her friend to see a distraught look on her face. "Parker said it was okay to make mistakes. It was sweet" Buffy whispered painfully "No, it wasn't. He said that so you'd take a chance and sleep with him... He's a poop-head" Willow offered in her best friend bashing the ex kind of way.
The girls walked silently in the night toward their rooms. Buffy gazed up at the shining light of the glittering stars above. Turning to her best friend, she asked hopefully, "maybe me and Parker could still work it out. Do you think we could still work it out?" "You're missing something about the whole `poop-head' principle" Willow told her sadly as they arrived at their dorm. Willow takes out the keys to let them inside. "You go on up. I'm gonna walk" Buffy told her slipping back into the night to take a quick walk in the quiet dark, unaware of her hidden shadow. "Be careful" Willow warned the night as she head inside.
"How come it's never easy?" he heard her whisper to the velvet sky above littered with silvery stars. She walked through the night calmly, like a goddess in her personal garden, where nothing could harm her. Angel sighed. She was a mystery to him, a mystery which he was just beginning to unravel. After her scene on the quad with what he had to assume was a vampire, even though it was daylight, he'd been able to find out her last name, and using the Initiative's database he'd discovered her address. And so now he watched, and he trailed her like a shadow. As she lit the way he followed in her wake.
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Chapter 3: Fear, Itself
The basement was damp and dank and had that eerie basement smell. Xander pulled the knife up once more then plunged it back down, before repeating the process again. Finally he stopped and admired his work on the gleaming orange face; "I don't know, I was going for ferocious, scary, but it's coming out more dryly sardonic" Xander complained. Willow remarked dryly, "It does appear to be mocking you with its eye holes." Oz added, "The nose hole seems sad and full of self-loathing." "What do you think, Buff?" Xander asked turning his jack-o-lantern to face his friend who lounge on his bed not touching her own pumpkin. "I was just thinking about the life of a pumpkin. Grow up in the sun - happily entwined with others, then someone comes along, cuts you open and - rips your guts out." Xander paled slightly at the thought, "Okay, and on that happy note, I've got a treat for tomorrow nights second annual Halloween screening. People - prepare to have your spines tingled, your gooses bumped by the terrifying...Fantasia. Fantasia?" Oz's face was as devoid of emotion as ever, but he remarked, "Maybe it's because of all the - horrific things we've seen, but hippos wearing tutus just don't unnerve me the way they used to." "Phantasm. It was supposed to be `Phantasm". Stupid video store!" Xander exclaimed "I thought we were doing the Alpha Delta thing." Willow asked innocently forgetting her civilian friend. "The scary house? Sounds kinda lame" Buffy asked skeptically "It actually borders on fun. You have to go through the scary house maze to get to the party. Which is usually worth getting to. Those guys go all out" Oz explained "As witnessed last Friday" Willow remarked, reminding Buffy and Oz of the massive beach party "Very true" Oz remembered, somewhat fondly. "There is a party?" Xander asked hopefully Willow seemed confused, "We didn't tell you?" "No, it's cool. You guys got your little college thing. I'm fine. I mean, I got better things to do than tag along to some Fraternity" Xander bluffed Willow offered, "You can come." "Okay. But only because I lied about having better things to do" "A blast will be had by all" Oz foretold Buffy got up from her perch on the bed, "I'm gonna get going" she told the Scooby gang. "Now? Tonight's still...okay, it's a little mature, but still" Xander cried helplessly as he checked his watch. "I'm sleepy. You guys have fun." "You want me to come with?" Willow asked in concern for her friend "No I'm fine" Buffy told her climbing the stairs and leaving the pumpkin carving fun. Xander looked sadly after his friend. "Sad Buffy" he determined sagely Willow pouted, "She didn't even touch her pumpkin. It's a freak with no face." Oz knowingly replied, "She's still suffering a little post-Parker depression." "Bailing on the Buff. Does anyone else want to smack that guy?" Xander asked in righteous anger. The friends all raised their hands. "I mean first Tyler, then Owen and Scott, now Parker. Buffy never has any luck with guys" Willow remarked with a sad smile for her best friend. "Poor Buffster," Xander declared, "She's just a loser in love"
Buffy walked home in the quiet dark. She walked through graveyards doing a quick patrol, even the vamps seemed inclined to stay away tonight. She held a stake in her hand while she wove through rows of drab grey stones. Her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Parker and Kate, laughing happily on the quad, while Parker fed her sweet lines and they laughed at her misfortune. "Damn, Parker" she hissed and shook the thoughts from her mind. Slipping the stake inside her sleeve once more Buffy took off for home, her stride, angry and purposeful. She walked up to Wiesman Hall and disappeared inside never glancing over her shoulder to her ever present shadow.
A bright and sunny day allowed the students of UC Sunnydale to eat lunch on the quad. Willow and Buffy were not inclined to miss a beautiful day, so they were lounging happily in the grass as Willow flipped through a book on magic. "I've got the basics down – levitation, charms, glamours. I just feel like I've plateaued wicca- wise" the red head moaned unhappily as she looked through her book. "What's the next level?" her friend inquired Willow looked at the page she was on and summarized, "Transmutation, conjuring, bringing forth something from nothing. Gets pretty close to the primal forces. A little scary." Buffy grimaced, then offered not so helpfully, "Well, no one's pushing. You know, if it's too much don't do it." Willow whined "Don't do it? What kind of encouragement is *that*?" "This is an `encouragement' talk? I thought it was `share my pain'." Buffy looked confused. Willow sighed, "I don't know. Then again, what is college for if not experimenting? You know, maybe I can handle it. I'll know when I've reached my limit." she told her friend confidently. Oz came up to where his girlfriend and her best friend rested, "Wine coolers?" he asked "Magic" Buffy clarified "Ooh, you didn't encourage her, did you?" Oz asked Willow looked to her boyfriend in pain, "Where is supportive boyfriend guy?" Oz dead-panned, "He's picking up your dry cleaning, but he told me to tell you that he's afraid you're gonna get hurt." Willow perked up happily and remarked proudly, "Okay, Brutus" Oz stared at her in confusion, which was also Buffy's current facial expression, "Brutus – Caesar?" Willow looked from Oz to Buffy. "Betrayal – trusted friend? Back stabby?" Oz realized her intended comparison, "Oh, I'm with you on the reference, but – I won't lie about the fact that I worry? I know what it's like to have power you can't control. I mean, every time I start to wold out, I touch something, deep, dark. It's not fun. But just know that what ever you decide, I back your play." Buffy smiled brightly for her friend and cheered, "See? Concerned boy, sweet boy." Willow smiled too, "I kinda like him - worrying anyway." Laughter echoed across the quad and Buffy turned to investigate the noise. Parker sat at a table across the path, laughing with his friends and an unrecognizable girl, about some stupid thing or another. Buffy allowed her pain to be clear in her eyes, "You know I, uhm, I forgot – to... be hungry." Buffy threw her fork down and left her friends to escape the nagging sadness she felt because of Parker's betrayal. It wasn't so bad until she saw him. "Wait, Buffy!" Willow called but her friend was already escaping into the crowded school hallways. She didn't see a dark figure follow her friend into the building.
Buffy didn't slow down once she got inside. She wove quickly through students who were all seeming to head in the opposite direction. Pushing past one freshman she recognized from her English class, she knocked the books from his grasp. She turned back to help the guy collect what she'd knocked from his arms. Just as she passed back his copy of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra a shadow settled over her. She turned to look up and saw the current star of her dreams. The mind-numbingly handsome Angel. "Hi" she whispered smiling slightly. "Hey, thanks" the guy she'd helped said as he turned to leave. "Buffy, Can we talk?" Angel asked hopefully. He tried to focus on the things he wanted to say to her, but she was driving him distraction. She was a petite girl, but her legs were long and lean and were nicely displayed in her short red skirt and black leather boots. "Ah, sure" Buffy offered standing again so she wasn't still crouched on the floor. Nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear she followed him as he led them through the thinning crowd.
Finally, he opened the door of a classroom she'd never been in and ushered her inside. It was an art room. There were rows of easels and stools all facing a large platform in front of a screen at the front. "I saw you at the party with Parker the other day," Angel told her, "And I saw him out on the quad today" Buffy's cheeks blushed softly in the most adorable way, that had Angel wishing he could just reach out and kiss her. He instead continued with his speech, "Guys like Parker are stupid, and they're insecure about themselves. They sleep with a girl once and make promises they'll never keep. Don't let a jerk like Parker chase you away." Buffy averted her eyes and went about examining a portrait propped along the wall beside her. Keeping her voice calm she replied, "He didn't. I just don't want to deal with this right now. I'm taking a holiday from dealing, happily vacationing in the land of not coping." "I've been there before. It's a nice place to visit but the housing really bites" he teased flashing her a crooked smile though she couldn't see it. "I like this one" Buffy diverted his attention to a charcoal sketch on canvas sitting at one of the easels. It was a woman, her hand outstretched to a young boy. They were sheltered in a glade and the trees surrounding held shadowy shapes. A bird rose over the foliage it's tail long and seemed to be made of flames. A lion's face was hidden behind the trunk of a tree, and a deformed looking dog was sheltered by some rocks in a corner of the board. Shadows surrounded the boy and seemed to creep closer as she examined the painting. Angel looked at it briefly, then replied, "It's not one of my better works. The shading's a little off" "You drew this?" Buffy asked, shocked at the caliber of his talent. He only shrugged. Looking to shift the topic away from his highly personal and mildly disturbing piece of work Angel asked, "Will you be at the party tonight? I mean, it should get your mind off of Parker, and who knows, maybe you'll even meet someone" He gave her a sly smile. Buffy shook her head, "I don't want to meet someone. I've reached my quota on someones. Besides, I think I'm going to have to...do the laundry" she explained almost telling him she had to patrol. Angel looked dubious, "Tonight? Come on Buffy, it's Halloween!" Buffy smiled softly. Though she was definitely interested Angel apparently was not. He may have flirted with her in front of Wiesman Hall, but today he was being charming friend guy. He was only helping a dopey freshman who got hurt. She declined, "I'll double check, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be busy. My overflowing laundry basket doesn't care about Halloween."
Trick-or-Treaters lined the street as Buffy made her way to Giles. It was still early in the afternoon, but the public schools were sending their young students trick-or-treating now so as to avoid the real demons out later at night. She was confident, Halloween or no, Giles would be ready to take her on patrol tonight. Willow and Oz were busy getting ready for the party, and Buffy felt kind of alone. She considered skipping patrol and going to the party just to try and find Angel in costume, but she decided Angel in costume still wouldn't make up for the lonely, third-wheelness she'd feel all evening. Raising her hand, Buffy knocked on her watcher's door. Only to have it opened by a very pale, and Oxford educated, Mexican. "Happy Hallow - Hello, Buffy?" Giles remarked Buffy stared at him as if he'd turned into some odd demon with a third head, "Oh – my – God." Giles stuttered slightly as he ushered her inside, "It's a sombrero" he told her. Buffy nodded and looked both mortified and petrified, "And it's on your head" she declared Giles smiled slightly, and justified himself, "It seemed festive. Uhm, candy?" Buffy looked around at the decorations that covered Giles pretentiously neat bachelor pad, "What's going on here? You hate Halloween" Buffy asked. Giles refuted, "I never said any such a thing. As my Watcher's duties took precedence, I simply haven't taken time to – well, to embrace its inherent charms – until now" Giles turned to a Frankenstein puppet that hung from the wall behind him and turned it on. He cheered happily, "Look, look! It's alive!" at Buffy's blank stare he continued, "See – how he shakes? Is – is there something you wanted?" Buffy straightened and got down to business, "I was thinking that I should patrol tonight. You know, possibly the cemetery or if you had a better su..." She trailed off as she was distracted by the hat her watcher still wore. "Could you please take that off?" Giles set down his bowl of candy and obliged her, "Oh, yes, of course. I see, is there some specific danger you were sensing?" Buffy threw herself down on his sofa carelessly and shrugged. "No. But then you know we were all caught of guard when Ethan turned everyone into their costumes" she reminded him of the time two years ago when one of his friends had turned her into a prostitute. Willow had been a prostitute too until she threw on her ghost costume and ended up turning into something like the vengeful spirit of a crack whore. Giles took off his glasses and cleaned the lenses anxiously. He returned them to his nose and assured her, "What happened then was anomalous. Creatures of the night shy away form Halloween. They find it all much too crass." Buffy looked pointedly at his costume of a serape and sombrero when she replied, "Hard to believe." "Well, I-I promise you - there is little likelihood of any supernatural activity tonight. You sure you don't want one?" Giles told her, and offered her one of the non-kid friendly candies he was giving out.
Buffy walked back to campus and toward the lecture hall where her psych. class should be ending. She peered in the small window and saw only a few students lingering at their seats to collect their books, while Walsh and Riley went over the lecture notes at the front of the room. ""Excuse me, Professor Walsh? I came to get today's assignments" Buffy inquired politely, "I, uh, couldn't make it to class for personal reasons" Walsh looked her over once, and told her directly, "Right. I count four limbs, a head no visible scarring, so I assume your personal issue wasn't a life threatening accident of any kind, I'm therefore uninterested. You got problems, solve them on your own time. Miss another class and you're out." Walsh snapped her briefcase shut and quickly strode from the room. Riley smiled at her, "She means it, you know." "Yeah. I got the impression she wasn't saying it to make me laugh" Buffy retorted sarcastically "You've got to be aware your work's taken a little down turn lately. I can't remember the last time I've seen your hand up" he told her "Does stretching count?" Buffy asked hopefully. She'd had a long day, and this was the last thing she needed. An overzealous TA dictating the proper codes of classroom decorum. Riley took pity on her. "Look, things get pretty intense Freshmen year, - as I dimly recall. Too much fun or not enough?" he asked. Buffy paused for a moment to think. Angel? Fun. Parker? Not so much. Classes? Okay. Slaying? No worse than usual. Giles in a sombrero? Way too creepy. "Both actually" she settled on. Riley handed her the assignment that had been given for the day, "you just got to keep your priorities. Professor Walsh is worth your time" he assured her. Walsh was his idol, and Buffy could tell. She'd give it a shot, but she was thinking she and Walsh would just have to agree to disagree over almost everything. "Thanks, I'll get this done tonight" Buffy promised as she turned to leave. "Tonight? It's Halloween!" Riley protested "So I've heard" Buffy replied "Your not going to dress up and go party?" he asked genuinely outraged "I have a lot of work to do. And what happened to keeping my priorities?" she teased. "I may be out of line here, and it's not really my business, but - you seem like the kind of person that makes things really hard on themselves. Halloween isn't a night for responsibility. It's when the ghosts and goblins come out" "That's actually a misnomer" Buffy told him Riley laughed strangely, as if he was struggling, "Well, I didn't mean real ones. But, hey, there is some good scary fun to be had on campus tonight." Buffy got a good idea. Angel was being all aloof, and Parker obviously was the jerk of the century, but Riley may be fun at a party. "Yeah? What are you doing?" Riley thought for a moment as if coming up with a answer. He finally told her, "Well, I'm going to sit here and grade papers." Buffy frowned slightly. She sarcastically announced "Scary. Well, thanks for the pep talk, coach." "Don't make fun. I worked long and hard to get this pompous" he remarked with an endearing smile. "No, I mean it" Buffy assured him "You're welcome." Flashing him a large smile Buffy turned and left the lecture hall feeling much better than when she'd entered. Now all she had to do was find a costume. Returning to her original thought Buffy needed a costume that would catch Angel's eye.
At the Alpha Delta Fraternity House the party preparations were in full swing. Frat boys were hanging skeletons and planting fake spiders and mice. One boy was carefully finishing to draw a pentagram like shape onto the floor with blood red paint. Oz and Xander dragged the last large black speaker into the house. "Thanks for the loan, man. Our sound system sucks" One of the boys called. "Mi casio es su casio" Oz joked dryly. Xander was busy looking at the decorations adorning the house. Noting the pentagram on the floor he asked the boy who was drawing it, "Well, that's an interesting little design. What does it mean?" The guy looked up at him then back at his book, "No - clue. I got it out of this book. There is a lot of really cool stuff about..." he stated but was cut off by Xander who noticed an available snack. He snagged the bowl off a table, "Ooh, grapes! Wow, peeled. You guys know how to spoil your guests" he cheered. "Eyeballs, man. Blindfold chicks and have them stick their hands in the bowl and tell them it's eyeballs. They love that" another frat brother admonished, putting the bowl back in place before the grapes disappeared. Xander joked causally, "And here I was wasting time buying them flowers and complimenting them on their shoes." He looked around the room again and grabbed another grape to eat, "So, you go through the whole house of horrors downstairs and it ends up here. Sweet. You fratly guys have a nice setup." Frat boy number 2 started the chant, "Hey, mighty, mighty Alpha Delts." then looked to Xander adding, "You should think about pledging." Oz told them, "Oh, Xander is a civilian." "Ah! Townie, huh? Didn't know. He looked so normal. You sure we should let him come to the party, Oz?" the frat boy teased before moving along to finish another decoration. Xander raised a hand and declared loudly, "Hey, standing right here." Scary sound effects started to ripple through the room from Oz's sound system. However, Oz looked down at the speakers unhappily, and reached around to adjust something. Xander looked at Oz, who was checking the back of the black box, "You're sensing a disturbance in the force, master?" Oz pulled out a folding pocketknife and explained, "the left speaker is crackling a little bit." "And you feel stabbing it is the proper solution?" Xander quipped. Though he knew little to nothing about electronics, he was fairly certain stabbing was not the best means of repairing the damage. Oz looked at Xander over his shoulder, "I'm just going to trim the wire. It might be a short." he told him. Xander nodded sagely and returned to scoping out the decorations. Oz quickly stood grasping his finger, "Ah!" he hissed in pain. Xander looked concerned, "Oz?" "Cut myself. It's okay." the other boy told him. He listened to the sound quality for a moment and appeared satisfied. Oz walked over the pentagram shaking his hand against the pain. A perfect drop of crimson blood fell on the symbol on the floor. Xander: "Playing with knives, fun, yes, but not safe. And when you bleed to death I've got dibs on your equipment." A ripple ran over the symbol, and no one noticed as one of the plastic spiders at its edge came alive and crawled into a shadowy corner.
Buffy headed to her mother's for a quick and easy costume. She tried a hideous wig and old clothes to be an 80's rock star but her mother had insisted that the little red riding hood get up from back in the seventh grade was the best option. The dress was scandalously short, and the cape needed to be fixed but otherwise red riding hood was looking better than ever, and certainly more sexy. As Buffy headed toward the Alpha Delta house she saw many more students in costumes heading out. She felt much less stupid when surrounded by such characters as a tipsy Cinderella and her date Dracula. Frat boys were toilet papering trees in front of lecture halls and rival fraternities. She found Willow and Oz in front of the fraternity. Willow was cloaked in chain-mail and carried a medieval style shield. Oz wore the clothes he'd worn all day. Quickly joining her friends Buffy noticed that Xander was coming up the walk behind her. "Hey, Red. What you got in the basket, little girl?" "Weapons" she told him seriously Xander blanched slightly but gave her a thumbs up and a grin,"Okay!" "Just in case" Buffy explained then checked her friends costume, " Like the tux, Xander." Xander struck a decidedly un-spy like pose, "Bond. James Bond. Insurance, you know, in case we get turned into our costumes again. I'm going for cool, secret agent guy." "I hate to break it to you, but you'll probably end up cool head waiter guy" Buffy stated Xander shrugged, "As long as I'm cool and wield some kind of power... Hail, ye olde – vareletty – thou" Xander cried to his best friend. "I'm Joan of Arc, Xander" she explained, " I figured we had a lot in common, seeing as how - I was almost burned at the stake, and plus she had - that close relationship with God." All eyes turned to Oz. "And you are?" Xander asked Oz pulled open the dark jacket he wore. Underneath, stuck to a vintage T-shirt, there was a nametag with `God' on it. Xander complained as thy walked up the steps and into the house, "Of course. I wish I'd thought of that before I put down my deposit. I could have been God." Oz shook his head disparagingly, "Blasphemer" he dead panned. Behind the group, two men dressed in black fatigues snuck by with high powered tasers aimed and ready. Willow pushed Xander aside to put an arm around Buffy. Plastering an insincere, but large, grin on her face Willow announced, "We're going to have the best time." Buffy felt a pair of eyes on her and turned around carefully to look, but she couldn't find anything and Willow was impatiently dragging her into the clutches of the Alpha Delta haunted house.
Angel crept past the Alpha Delta house. He and Gunn were stationed to do a quick check of the perimeter of the frat house as a precaution. Walsh suspected that the party would be an easy feeding ground for any HST and demons could mingle in as well. As Spike was on leave until further notice, and Penn was stuck manning the control station so one of the other agents could take out his girlfriend, Angel and Gunn were stuck doing the check. It wasn't a bad mission, it would only take an hour or two to properly scour and secure the house before they could debrief and head out for the evening themselves. Angel crept from the bush to cross the front of the house. Gunn trailed behind him. A group was chatting on the front porch but the two agents were able to creep past unnoticed. As they reached the side of the building Angel looked over the rail of the enclosed front patio to make sure they were unseen. The motley crew was made up of, a medieval warrior woman, a waiter, a punk, and a scandalous little red riding hood. They were still preoccupied in conversation and Angel was just about to continue on when Little Red Riding Hood turned toward them. He sank back into the shadows, only able to make out her shape through the bush that shielded him in the dark. Buffy was at the party. "Well check out the legs on Red" Gunn whistled as he looked over Buffy's short dress and cape ensemble. Her friend urged her inside, and Buffy was dragged away. Angel looked after her as she disappeared into the darkened house. A scream echoed from the back of the house. "Duty calls" Angel grumbled before moving toward their destination. Gunn followed.
A fear demon. A tiny demon, about the size of her hand, and it fed off fear. It was horribly anticlimactic. Buffy remembered the havoc caused by Gachnar. She was expecting some huge thing with horns and razor sharp fangs and instead she got, Tinkerbell And it was all because Giles didn't read the fine print. Isn't that just the way of life. They retired gladly to Giles for a night of free Watcher candy and monster movies. Oz had sorted through Giles albums and had borrowed the ones he liked and Xander had been dared to fill his mouth with candy, and had won until he choked and ended up spewing candy over Giles carpet. After that the former Sunnydale High librarian had politely but strongly insisted that they leave for the night. Promising Giles she'd do a sweep of the campus for any more nasties before she returned to her dorm room, Buffy left the apartment.
Now she walked in front of Alpha Delta House once more. The lights were out and the doors and windows had returned to their places. Cans littered the steps and lawn, and the door was crooked on it's hinges but otherwise the house was back to normal. "I guess I missed the party, hunh?" a deep voice asked from her left. Angel stepped into the pool of light the street lamps made. "I guess so" "Well, there's other occasions and other parties. I heard the Alpha's were having a kegger next Friday" he told her. "Yeah, it could be fun" she replied starting her walk back to Wiesman Hall, allowing him to fall into step beside her. "So, was your Halloween full of spooky fun?" "I've had worse" she answered with a smile playing at the corner of her lips.
TBC...
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