Brave New World

Chapter 12
From the Diary of Jenny Calender
Feb 28, 1996
Something odd has happened.
After living in the sewers and back alleys of New York for years, the vampire Angelus has moved to a small town in California by the name of Sunnydale. I do not know what has brought this sudden change on. It began in early January, when without warning he disappeared from New York. Grandmother's tracking spell enabled me to following him first to LA where he stayed for a week and then up to this town where he has apparently taken up residence.
He has dramatically changed his appearance, so much so, that at first I did not recognize him. When I finally realized that the wretched creature that I had watched for years in New York was suddenly cleaned up and looking extremely handsome. I immediately feared that the curse had somehow been broken, and that he was stalking people again. However, the orb that Aunt Tatiana gave me continues to glow indicating that he still carries his soul. What he is doing here, I do not know, but he has taken up residence in an apartment. He seems to be waiting for someone or something.
*
*
March 10, 1996
I have obtained a job at Sunnydale High School as a computer teacher. It was surprisingly easy. They assured me that my lack of a California Teaching license could be remedied over the summer.
*****
From the Journal of Rupert Giles, Watcher.
June 30, 1996
London, England
The Watcher's Council has request that I assist them by taking a long term position in a town named Sunnydale in the States. In California. I am to monitor the situation and make recommendations as to the need for the Slayer. They have arranged for me, a position as Head Librarian at the local high school.
*
*
Sept 10, 1996
Sunnydale, California
I have only been here a week, and a terrible slaughter has occurred last night in a local club known as 'The Bronze'. Local authorities have tried to cover-up what has occurred but with so many dead...there is no doubt in my mind that it was the work of vampires, but I have never heard of so blatant and public attack as this. I have advised the Council of what has occurred and requested the presence of the Slayer to oppose whatever dark force has come to this town...
*****
From the Diary of Jenny Calender
Sept 24, 1996
The new school year began today. Everyone is still in shock and upset over the massacre at the Bronze just two weeks ago. The media has moved on to other stories as the police simply keep repeating the same tired story of a gang disputed gone tragically out of hand. I suspect there was more, but doubt that the Sunnydale PD will ever catch or convict anyone for this horrible crime. The victims were buried as fast as possible. Almost as if the faster we bury them the faster this story will go away. Many of them were students from this high school. A few I even knew.
*****
From the Journal of Rupert Giles.
Oct 30, 1996
There has been surprisingly few incidents since the attack on the Bronze. Perhaps it was 'gang related' as the police have classified it. But I doubt it. I believe that there is something in this area which draws evil things to it. I have been researching this town's history and have discovered and astonishing number of incidents that may have been paranormal related. In fact, the early Spanish settlers' original name for this area is 'El Bocca del Inferno' or 'The Mouth of Hell'. If this 'Hellmouth' is the source of the mystical energies that draws the creatures here, I believe the Slayer is most definitely needed here. However, the Council seems to be dragging their feet about sending her here. I shall gather all the reports that I can and pass them on. Hopefully, that will get them to act.
****
From the Diary of Jenny Calender
Nov 23, 1996
I was nearly caught by a vampire two nights ago only to be rescued by of all people, Rupert Giles. He is the librarian at the high school where I work. I confess I have never taken the time to get to know him at school. During the faculty meetings, he had always struck me as an arrogant and pompous English snob. I had wondered what he was doing in Sunnydale. I hacked into the personnel files and discovered that he had worked as a curator to The British Museum. 'Quite a step down, he must have screwed up royally to have been forced to take such a lowly position amongst us colonists,' I assumed. Boy am I an idiot. As it turns out, I'm the one who has been a snob. He hasn't confided in me yet, big surprise, but I now know he is here because of the vampires. Though as one man, what he expects to do... mild mannered Liberian by day, fearless vampire hunter by night. I have invited him over for a Thanksgiving dinner. He tried to say no but I sort of bullied him in to it. He spends too much time alone in that library as it is...
*****
From the Journal of Rupert Giles.
Nov 30, 1996
Still no word from the Council. On the plus side. The vampire activities remain low. I have manage to hunt down and kill a few myself. Risky, yes, but I just cannot sit by and do nothing. It has had one positive result. I rescued a Miss Jenny Calender, a computer teacher at Sunnydale HS, from a vampire. Although she was shaken, she seemed remarkably calm for someone who had just seen a mythical demon for, what I supposed to be, the first time. In a rather forward, yet typical American manner, she invited me over for a holiday dinner. Out of curiosity, I attended and found her to be both a rather charming and intriguing woman. Although she evaded my tentative inquires, I believe that she knows much more about vampires than she has let on. I also believe that I may have found an ally to assist me in my research.
She has asked me out on yet another date. To what the Americans call a football game.
*
*
April 5, 1997
We have another ally. Despite her somewhat explosive temper, Catherine Madison has been exceedingly useful in our fight against the vampires. From talking with Oz who has grown somewhat close to her daughter Amy, I am aware that she and her mother have had some difficulties in the past. Amy blamed Catherine for driving off her father. Her mother was so hurt and embittered by his departure that she sought to mold Amy in her image to somehow relive her glory years as a cheerleader. However, with the rise of the vampire threat, and the cancellation of nighttime sports and therefore cheerleading, they appear to have patched up their differences. Or at least discovered a useful outlet to vent her anger.
*****
From the Diary of Jenny Calender
May 22, 1997
School is has ended for this year. A slow steady increase in the number of dead and vanished people has occurred all year. I have not seen Angelus all year, though I know where he is staying. Perhaps I should say being held. In the past, he has always avoided his kind, due to his soul. But there is a large force of vampires inhabiting the building where he is. But then, why haven't the other vampires killed him? I don't believe he has lost his soul as he surely would have made an appearance on the street. The thought that has filled me worried is that the other vampires are attempting to remove his soul in order to regain Angelus, The Scourge of Europe.
I am leaving Sunnydale next week next week in order to talk to the Elders in person. I shall be happy to get out of this town for a while. Although, I will miss Rupert.
*
*
Sept 2, 1997
I have returned to Sunnydale with news for Rupert. The vampires are increasing everywhere. It's just that nobody wishes to talk about. As if they think that by not believing, they will go away. I spent the summer scanning as many scrolls, texts, and family diaries into my laptop as I could. The Elder's of several clans have banded together and have ordered everyone to search and gather as many ancient texts as they could find. They are looking for spells to protect the families. Trouble is, many of the texts that have been found are still useless, since they have been written in a language now forgotten. I hope that perhaps Rupert might be able to help me with their translation. But he will hate the fact that I only have copies on my computer.
*****
From the Journal of Rupert Giles, Watcher
March 29, 1998
Jenny is quite upset over a discovery she has made regarding the curse on the vampire Angelus. It seems the curse was designed to end should he experience a single moment of true happiness. Revenge was the motivation, but it was foolish shortsightedness that would allow such a creature to be free to roam the earth without the curse rather than let him be happy again. I have read some of the old watcher's diaries and he was truly a horrific beast. Jenny intends to research and try to modify the spell. She is convinced that The Master would like to break the spell and that is why they have not killed him.
*****
From the Diary of Jenny Calender
June 3, 1998
Another school year over. I am returning to my family, again to see what more they have found. Rupert will continue to remain here, doing what he can to help, waiting for this Watcher's Council of his to send the Slayer out here for a even a few days.
I am so afraid that I will never see him again.
*
*
Aug 15, 1998
I am not returning to Sunnydale. When I return to my family I found them organizing in preparation of going into hiding. When I was finally able to get in touch with Rupert, he said I should stay away from Sunnydale. The vampires have now seized control of an army storage depot, a night club called the Bronze and several other spots. An attempt to attack them by the towns people resulted in a slaughter. I was shocked. I had heard nothing about it on the news. I shouldn't have been. Most people still don't know what is going on, and the government wants to keep it that way. I wanted to beg him to come with us, but I knew his answer would be 'No'. He told me once about his father lecturing him on responsibility and sacrifice. Until now, I never really believed that line about boys growing up and becoming their fathers.
I pray every night now for the Goddess to watch over and protect him.
*
*
Jan 8, 1999
I am racing to get back to Sunnydale in time. The orb went dark sometime last night. Angelus is free of the curse. I shall attempt to re-curse him but I must get close enough. I am flying to LA and I should arrive about noon. I will then drive to Sunnydale. I should get there by 3 PM. Leaving me 2 hours to get Rupert to help me cast the spell before nightfall. Although, I haven't spoken to him since August I know he is still there. It's strange. The past few months that I've been with my family, with the people I grew up amongst and have known all my life, I have felt like a stranger. Knowing that Rupert is in Sunnydale, I feel like I am coming home.
*****
From the Journal of Rupert Giles, Watcher
Jan 10, 1999
So much has happened these past few days. Nancy and Larry are dead. The Slayer, a Miss Summers, is probably dead as well. The only good news for me is that Jenny has safely returned, and however much I wish she was safe somewhere else, I am extremely happy to see her after almost 6 months. It began three days ago. We had rescued a student, one Cordelia Chase...
*****
From the Diary of Jenny Calender
Jan 9, 1999
The vampire Angelus is dead. I will write my family. My duty to them is over.
I am staying with Rupert.
*****
From the Journal of Rupert Giles, Watcher
Feb 15, 1999
Despite the crowding, I have asked Oz to stay in my apartment with Jenny and myself. He has family, but they have left town. I believe he stayed behind due to his feelings of guilt about escaping when Larry died.
*****
From the Diary of Jenny Calender
March 14, 1999
I am to be married in less than a week. Rupert proposed to me and I accepted on the condition that it be as soon as possible. We have settled on the first day of Spring as hopefully an auspicious date.
I have received two of the strangest messages yet from Brother Luca today: 'The Warrior of Rings is being forged in the Vale of the Sun' and 'The balance shall be restored if the bearded Lord of the House of Downy saves the Warrior of Rings.'
The reference to the 'Vale of the Sun' Rupert says is possibly Sunnydale but we do not know who the 'Lord of the House of Downy' is. There are or were four families of that name in town according to the phone book.
*****
From the Journal of Rupert Giles
March 20, 1999
Jenny and I were married today, the first day of Spring. It was a small ceremony. Actually it was two small ceremonies. Father Gregory Stone conducted the first ceremony in the format of that given by the Church of England. The second, a Wiccan ceremony, was performed in the park at noon, rather than at night. Catherine Madison who leads the local witches' coven, officiated this ceremony as a favor to Jenny.
*****
From the Diary of Jenny Calender-Giles
April 23, 1999
I am kicking myself. Amy was over visiting with Oz, and they were poking about on the web when Amy giggled, turned to me and asked how it felt to be 'Mrs. Downy-Bearded'. When I asked what she was talking about, she pointed to the web site while she was looked at which posted the meaning of old English names. Apparently, one of the meanings of Giles is 'downey-bearded'. If I ever do see Brother Luca in person, I have this incredible urge to beat him with my laptop. Now, if we can just figure out who is this 'Warrior of Rings'. I asked Amy and she said it sounded vaguely familiar and she would ask her mother.
*****
From the Journal of Rupert Giles
May 11, 1999
It is confirmed, Jenny is pregnant. I am thrilled and terrified at the same time. I want to take her and flee to someplace safe, but I don't know where that might be. Jenny is also insistent that I am somehow needed here, in this place, to help the one referred to as "The Warrior of Rings". A side note, Mayor Wilkins has disappeared.
*
*
June 11, 1999
The vampires have burnt down our apartment complex. I have lost many of my texts and Jenny's computer was destroyed during the fight with the vampires. While some of her files were stored on a 'diskette(?)' at the library, she has lost many of her families scrolls and spells that she had copied into it. Father Stone has helped by placing us in contact with a Mrs. Amber Johnson. Her own husband was killed late last year. At the urging of Father Stone, she had opened her very large home to provide shelter for several of the orphaned children and forgotten elderly of this town. The children were able to hide when their families were attacked, and the vampires do not care to eat the elderly when there are better pickings more easily available. Except to torment. Including her daughter Harmony, there are 34 of us living here...
*
*
June 30, 1999
We have discovered the reason for the disappearance of several of our S&R teams. I have in the past related how we have rescued several potential victims from by hitting the transport vans the vampires were using as cattle cars. But after three teams disappeared over two nights, I asked Oz to follow, remain in the shadows and report back on what happened. The team had come across a van full of prisoners and moved in to free them. But when they opened the locked doors, instead of 'prisoner's' there was a group of vampires who attacked and overwhelmed the team within seconds.
Last night when we found a van, instead of releasing the 'prisoners', we sprayed holy water through a crack in the wall. When we heard screams confirming that the 'prisoners' were really vampires, Oz lit a pipe bomb next to the truck's gas tank before any vampires could breakout.
****************
Rupert Giles looked up from his Journal and scanned for a crucifix, when the young boy entered the room. It was practically an autonomic reaction now. Like breathing. If he had not been able to see a cross touching the boy's skin, he would have had the crossbow that now rested in his lap aimed at the boy's heart ready to fire, until he had proven himself human. Despite the wards and other protections on his house, paranoia was the best defense, and children were just as likely to become vampires as adults.
"It's eight o'clock," the boy said quietly. Giles rose up, moved to his pregnant wife on the couch and bent to kiss her goodbye.
"I love you, Jenny," he said.
"I love you too. Please, be careful, Rupert," she replied, knowing it was useless to protest his leaving. It was his night to lead the search-and-rescue team. The futility of such excursions was never raised. Everyone knew they were fighting a losing battle. But they continued to fight: some because they refused to go quietly; others simply because they were too stubborn; a few because they refused to give up hope. Rupert was one of those few, or at least he had been a few months ago. Jenny was concerned that his worrying about the future for her and the child she carried was wearing on him, diminishing the light that had once shown so brightly in his eyes.
He nodded and turned to leave. Jenny remained sitting on the couch. The others in the house would come by to check on her soon and find her, as always sitting with a crossbow to her right, a set of Tarot cards to her left. But she would be gazing at neither, looking instead at her belly, and wondering about the child growing within her. Contemplating whether she had done the right thing by not getting an abortion, when she still could. Wondering what right she had to bring a child into this world of darkness and fear that she now lived in. Wondering if there would even be that much left by the time the child was born.
*****
Spike watched Buffy as she slept.
It had been almost 2 weeks since Buffy, had first managed to defeat him. Spike had subsequently succeeded in dropping Buffy a few more times, but they were getting fewer and farther between as Buffy's strength, speed and confidence continued to grow. The last couple of times Buffy had grumbled that he had cheated, and when he pulled the Tazer gun on her she actually screamed at him after she had recovered. Spike had calmly listened to her vent for 5 minutes before pointing out that in a real fight, there were no 'fair play rules' and that she would have to expect that her enemies might use a gun on her to 'take her down' before staking her.
They began to practice outside at night, stalking and hunting each other around the estate. Buffy took to climbing and leaping from tree to tree like a squirrel. The first time Spike saw her do it, he was extremely upset. With a very colorful rant, he pointed out the dangers of crazy vampires impaling themselves when leaping into unknown trees. To his dismay, Buffy had laughed, told him 'not to worry' and proceeded to circle the estate via the treetops. He sighed went back into the house and got a book, came out to the porch and waited. He recognized the signs. She was getting restless. The tiger wanted out of its cage.
When she finally returned, she was covered in pine tree sap and grinning unrepentantly from ear to ear. Spike took one look at her and decided it wouldn't be worth arguing with her.
"Alright Rocky why don't you go shower up," he said disgustedly.
"OK," she said in her perky voice. Buffy started to bounce away while sing the theme to 'Rocky', "Gonna fly noooowww, da-da DA daaaaa..."
"That's not the Rocky I meant, Luv," Spike called after her.
*****
Giles entered the kitchen to find Harmony smothering her current boyfriend with kisses.
"Harm it's OK. I'll be fine," said Mitch Paulsen in between kisses.
"I know you will, sweetie," she cooed. "Your the greatest Vampire hunter in the world. I just want to give you an incentive to come back to me, Baby."
"Not necessarily always a plus when talking about vampire hunting," came a quiet voice from the breakfast nook area.
Harmony glared at Oz who sat by the table. "Oh look, the 'silent wonder' speaks," she sniped. "Just don't go leaving my Mitch behind when you drive-off."
Giles winced at that remark. The girl had just scored a far deeper cut than she realized.
"Hey. Hey. None of that. Oz is solid. He never panics," countered Mitch.
Oz said nothing and continued to sharpen his stake.
*****
Spike watched Buffy as she slept.
He liked to watch her sleep. In a strange way, it soothed him. The new confidence she was showing appeared to have even extended to her sleep. Although she was still troubled by them, Buffy seemed to be less upset by her many nightmares when she awoke.
Every night after practice, she would dart off into the trees. Spike would sit down in one of the deck chairs, pull out a either a book on commando tactics and training, or a weapons catalog and wait for her to return. Usually she would be back within 30 minutes, however, one night after two hours had passed, she still had not come back and Spike began to grow concerned and called out into the darkness, "OK, Rocky, where are you?"
"Bang! Your dusted," replied a voice from behind him, which made him spin about to see...nothing. "Up here," came Buffy's voice again. Spike looked up and found Buffy resting on the roof of the house above him pointing a crossbow at his heart. She was very accurate with them, he knew that from practice. She was also deadly with wooden throwing knives, but that was only to be expected.
**How the hell did she do that?!** he thought. Calmly, he said, "Your stealth abilities are certainly vastly improved over what they were."
"You sound like a Vulcan," she said as she leaped down. She attempted to mimic Spike's voice, "'I see no bloody point in any enthusiastic displays of compliments. It is illogical to engage in such reckless behavior.' Come on, I've been sitting up here for the last 20 minutes waiting for you to detect me."
"Twenty minutes, eh?" with a small smile.
"Yup," she said with pride.
"Fine. How about an extra bag of blood?" he asked.
"Hah! Like you weren't going to give me one anyway," she countered. "Nope. I get to pick the movie tonight. Besides, I think I'm starting to get fat."
"You should be grateful for that blood. There are little starving vampires in China who would kill for that blood," Spike deadpanned.
Buffy stopped and stared at him. "Oh, ha ha. That was, like, so *sick*." She shook her head and walked off while muttering darkly about demented vampires who thought they were comedians. "And stop calling me 'Rocky'. I am not a flying squirrel."
*****
Harmony had finally lwhenwhen her mother, Amber, had come and asked her to help get the children ready for bed. There were currently 8 children in the house, ranging in age from 4 to 11 years old.
"I talked with Father Martin today," said Giles as he inspected his weapons. "He sairyl,ryl, Jonathan, Scott and Percy were almost caught last night. It was a 'Trapper Van'."
Oz and Mitch nodded.
Mitch finished inspecting his bow and arrows. He was one of the better archers in their group. Oz wielded a crossbow and had become a bit of a homemade explosive expert under the tutelage of Henry Stevens, one of the elderly residents who had been a demolitions expert in WWII. They were fortunate to have his knowledge. The Master's forces had swept down on the local military base shortly after the 'Harvest' and had seized or destroyed any weapons that might have been a threat to them, including tanks, bazookas, mortar and rocket launchers, etc.... It had not been re-staffed.
*****
Spike watched Buffy as she slept.
Every time she defeated him, he went to sleep with a sense of pride, and a worry that he had missed something. He was certain she could defeat the Master in a simple one-on-one combat situation. The trouble was he was also certain that they would not face a simple one-on-one situation.
The Master intended this gathering to be big. Spike planned to challenge him in front of the whole audience. Some would no doubt challenge Spike, seeking to curry favor with the Master. Champions would be chosen to face Spike or his champion if he had any. Spike could not wait to see the expressions on the Master and Willow's faces when he brought forth his Champion. They would be shocked first that he had a Champion to fight in his place, it would double when he had Buffy come forward. They would then settle back in smug certainty that their former 'plaything' would fall, only to be surprised again as she defeated Champion after Champion. The surprise would turn to anger, and the Master would finally step forward to crush his errant childe only to find Spike waited for him instead. Spike had been concerned that they might realize that Buffy was not insane during her fight. So he had taken to coaching her on how to act insane and still fight effectively.
Buffy awoke with a start. "It's alright, Luv. Your safe," Spike reassured her gently when she suddenly sat up. As usual, she didn't reply to him at first, but instead grabbed her journal to record the new details of her dream. She had lately been having basically four re-occurring dreams. In her first dream, she was falling from a great height, in the second, she was drowning in an underwater cave and, in the third, she was running from a great fire. Finally, in the fourth and oddest of her dreams, she was trying to rescue a dark skinned girl who was sinking in quicksand. Buffy did not know who the girl was but she had been trying to sketch her picture.
She had other nightmares such as her parents being murdered, her time at the Bronze, being tortured by Willow. However, while none of these other dreams bothered her nearly as much as 'The Four', she wouldn't talk to Spike about them, and he found himself becoming irrationally angry about the way she had been treated. He didn't understand why it bothered him so that she had been abused. As her Sire, the Master had been within his rights to treat her in any way he saw fit, including killing her. **Hell, I've done a shit load of mistreating minions myself.** Although he was pleased that the Master had failed to realize the true potential hidden in this slip of a girl, more and more, he found himself growing angry with the Master and Willow for their mistreatment of her. Spike wound now find himself anticipating revenge, not just for Drusilla, but for Buffy as well.
Buffy finished adding to her sketch and got up. "Spike, I want to go out," she said abruptly. "I mean, I want to go into town. Tonight. Alone."
Spike sighed. He knew this had been coming. She was restless. He had hoped she would wait until after the ceremony but had suspected she would not. She was looking at him with her eyes wide, a pleading expression on her face. She was good with that, just the right amount of eyelash flutter to melt a lesser man. Or demon.
**But not me,** he thought. **I'm *Spike*. Yes sir. Killer of two Slayers, the 'Meanest, Baddest Ass-kickin' Vampire of LA and soon to be the slayer of 'The Master'.**
"Please?" she pleaded.
**No. No way. It's asking for trouble.**
The eyelashes fluttered again.
"Sure, Buffy. No problem," he said in a steady calm tone of voice. Inside his mind, he was still screaming denials and had added several curses at himself for being an idiot and not saying 'No'.
She beamed 'The Smile' at him. He had seen it a lot lately. Especially after she first defeated him. It was addictive. He really liked seeing it on her.
"Yes," she said, clenching her hands excitedly. She moved toward the bathroom, but as she passed Spike, she impulsively bent down to hug him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," she said as she pulled back to look him directly in his eyes. Then, just as quickly, she let go and moved into the bathroom to shower and get ready.
It was the 'please' that had really sunk him. At this point, she could have kicked his ass and left on her own. She could have jumped the fence one night while he sat on the porch waiting for her to return from the trees. Instead she had come to him and requested his permission. If he had said 'No' she would have obeyed. Of that he was certain. She just would have been very upset at his denial; angry at his apparent lack of trust in her and resentful of his own occasional trips into town.
He sighed as he realized that, like Dru, she was slowly becoming someone for whom he was unable to deny any request.
******
Jenny stared at the cards and sighed. She had not received any helpful insight into the future in months. Casting of bones hadn't helped either. Catherine had theorized that it was because vampires were immune to certain types of magic that the readings were failing. Since the vampires were so prominent in whatever was to happen in the future, the cards could not perceive them. On the other hand prophets and seers were able to perceive vampires very clearly. Jenny wished she could contact her clan. Since she had returned to Sunnydale, she had not been able to contact her family for advice. She did not know if it was due to them going into hiding or worse.
A knock at the door made her look up in surprise at the two women there.
"Catherine. Amy. What are you doing out at night?" she asked leveling her crossbow at them.
Amy raised her crucifix to show Jenny it was safe. Catherine still refused to wear one. She prided herself on not needing one to defend herself and steadfastly refused to be wear one in deference to her Goddess who had been so oppressed by the 'Christian God'. Jenny sighed and lowered the crossbow. They had argued over this point for months. Oz had dryly referred to her stubbornness as her 'born-again, Wiccan feminism'. Finally, Catherine had agreed that she would take Amy with her when she left her house, so Amy could hold a cross to show they were not vampires.
"We found something that Amy said you may have been looking for," said Catherine. She held out a book.
Jenny looked at the ancient and well-worn cover, then opened it to read the title. 'The Completely Inaccurate Prophesies of Agnes Nitt'.
*****
When Buffy emerged from the shower, she found that Spike had laid out a set of clothes for her to wear. A dark blue, long-sleeve turtleneck, black jeans, a pair of Doc Martins and black leather jacket. The close fitting, knitted turtleneck would mold itself to her body and prevented the rings on her back and arms from making jingling noises as she moved. She quickly dressed, then brushed back her hair, wishing she could see herself in the mirror. Her hair was still extremely short, having grown only half an inch since the Master had cut it. She was sure that the slicked back look, which Spike liked, would look silly on her. However, without a reflection she was dependent upon Spike telling her what looked good and what did not.
Buffy had never spent much time worrying over her appearance when she had been a Slayer, but now she caught herself at the oddest times wondering even if she was attractive as a woman and justjust as a prize for being a former Slayer. Spike had seemed to like her, but he had not made a move on her since they had met. At first, she had put it down to his devotion to Drusilla, but after almost two months she was beginning to have doubts as to whether that was the only reason.
Spike returned to Buffy's bedroom to find her glaring futilely at the mirror as she sat in thought over something. Her pensive look left her face as she turned towards him, set her hands on her hips and asked, "Well, how do I look?"
"You look smashing, Luv," he told her quickly. In truth, he was wondering what had gotten into him to set out such an outfit. The jeans looked painted on, and the top.... He turned away before he did something he would regret. In his mind, he had begun to go down in alphabetical order the words he wanted to use to describe her. She looked arrogant, brash, cocky, domineering, edible, foxy.... He stopped that train of thought before he hit ravishing and sexy. He wanted her, but he did not want to force her. Well, truthfully, he did want to force her, but he wanted her to desire him afterwards, and she'd had more than enough of being forced to last several life times.
They moved down to the kitchen where Spike prepared two mugs of blood in the microwave. She watched him and wondered what was bothering him, but figured better to wait for him to tell her rather than pry. They drank in silence, and then Buffy got up to leave, "Don't worry, Spike, I'll be good. Keep a low profile and all that."
"Hold a moment, Buffy," Spike said. He was gone for only a minute. When he returned he handed her Mary. "Here you go. Just in case. I don't want any problems, pet. Just behave the same as you did before and no one will suspect a thing. But try to keep a low profile. And be careful, OK."
Buffy stared first at the doll and then at Spike. He was acting strange. Like a mother sending her child off to school alone for the first time. She decided not to protest and took the doll.
"OK. I'll be fine," she said reassuringly. "I'm just going to take a stroll around town. What could go wrong?" She walked over to the kitchen door and exited the house.
As the door closed, Spike pulled a small device from his pocket and watched it intently. About five minutes later, Spike followed Buffy into the night.
*****
Mitch fired off his last arrow then turned and ran. He crashed through a deserted shop's door and continued through the shop to the rear where he slammed the backdoor open and kept running into the back alleyway as it slammed closed behind him. Not looking back while running away was important. It distracted you from the important object of fleeing one's pursuers, which was to escape. A glance behind him would do nothing to help that and in fact could distract him. He had learned that in football. One of the few truly useful things that high school had ever really taught him.
As Mitch ran up the alley he tried to avoid the heaps of garbage that could cause him to slip and fall. A stray thought crossed his mind wondering if Giles or Oz had escaped or been captured. He stopped that thought immediately. It was irrelevant at this moment. He would find out later, one way or the other. A crash from behind told him that the vampires had followed him through the store. He dodged down another alley hoping they had not been looking his way, and began looking for another shop to dash through or hide in.
*****
Oz was in the sewers breathing as quietly as he could through his mouth. He was looking through the sewer drain opening that he had slipped through and watching the feet of vampires who had remained behind at the truck as they argued over who had screwed up. Oz, Mitch and Giles had ambushed a truckload of people from out of town as it had passed through the downtown on its way to the 'Factory'. They would hide and wait for a truck to come by then shoot out the tires. If they got lucky, the truck had people in it who they set free once the driver and any other vampires were disposed of.
Giles had shot out the tires, Mitch and Oz had taken care of the driver and the two other vamps. Then they had gone to check the truck and free any human captives, and then lead them to a safe house where they would wait until daylight. Only tonight, as Oz had opened up the truck, a van had roared up behind them and eight vampires had poured out. Giles had yelled for everyone to run, but Oz had gotten knocked down as the people had poured forth from the truck. He rolled under the truck to avoid being trampled and had seen the sewer opening in front of him. He scrambled to the gutter and squeezed inside, hoping that none of the vampires had seen him. Then he waited. Hoping that Giles and Mitch had made it.
*****
Giles was in trouble. He was out of breath from running, and currently, he was holding two vampires at bay with a cross in one hand and a bottle of Holy water in the other. He was also trapped in a dead end ally.
The tall Mexican vampire smiled, pulled out a length of chain and began twirling it over his head. The shorter white vampire picked up a board off of the ground and held it like a bat. They stalked closer.
**Oh, Bloody hell," thought Giles. He hurled the bottle at the vampire with the chain and charged toward the one holding the board with the cross in front of him. The vampire swung the board and he ducked. Giles jammed the cross in his face and lashed out to kick him between the legs. The vampire growled and slashed at him with his claws. Giles tried to get past him, but then he felt the claws on his back indicating the second vampire was still in the fight. He dropped to the ground to try and grab a stick or a board, but pain lanced through him as the claws gouged down his back. He rolled and grasped for the stick he felt his fingertips brushed against. The cross slipped from his fingers and he frantically tried to slam the stick towards the vampire's chest. But he found his arm pinned.
"Enough play, gringo!" snarled the vampire as he leaned in towards Giles' neck. Giles let out a gasp of pain as the vampire bit into his neck.
**Jenny, I'm sorry,** was Giles' last thought before he blacked out.