To Save A Vampire

Chapter Sixteen

Before Buffy could say anything, Xander grabbed his head and screaming silently into the night fell over, panting and crying. Angel rushed to his side, and began cooing, and asking what is wrong.

“Remember, Angel I am new to magic so the pathways are still raw and sore, so when I cast the spell and channeled the power of the goddess, it really hurt to do so. But I am so use to pain that I was able to hold it in until the others had left, and it was safe for me to collapse,” Xander managed to get out between pain filled breaths.

“I knew you would need me, that Xander would not be any type of help or back up,” a rather smug Buffy commented.

Gently propping Xander against a tomb stone, Angel, after making sure he was okay, and still vamped out, moved with speed only a master vampire could move.
Rushing to Buffy’s side, he slid in behind her, with her back to his front, grabbed her throat, his nails elongated and razor sharp, his grip so tight that the razor nails bit into her skin and beads of blood began to appear on her pearl white throat.

Hissing in to her ear, Angel began to speak, “Listen well bitch, Xander is in pain from channeling the power of a goddess tonight. He had to show not only Gustin but the rest of the Sunnydale underworld, that he was the new high priest of Hecate. He then proceeded to vaporize 9 to 12 Vampires, Masters and Minions both, with a single spell. When was the last time you saw Willow do such a feat.”

“We did not need nor will need your help if this is your attitude. Get it into your thick skull, we are through. It is only Xander, Spike, and me. You are not nor will ever be again in the picture.”

Grasping her throat in a tighter grip, he literally threw Buffy down the path towards
the front gate, “Now leave, get back to the mansion, and wait for us there,” Angelus ordered.

Grasping her throat, and coming away with blood on her hands, Buffy starts to cry and as tears run down her face she turns and runs away into the night.

Angel does not look up to see where she goes, as he squats down next to his soon to be lover. Reaching out, he pulls Xander next to him, as some how he could absorb the pain his mate is going through.

Feeling Xander relax into his arms, he reaches under the boy’s legs and gently
lifts and carries his precious cargo back to the waiting car. After settling Xander comfortably into the seat, he leans down and kisses the forehead of the young magic user, and notices a slight warmth there. Fearing a relaps, he quickly runs around the car and throws it into gear.

Peeling the tires Angel sped back to the mansion in record time. Slamming in into park he leaps over Xander and nearly rips the door off the hinges. Grabbing the boy, who let out a soft moan at this point, Angel quickly heads into the mansion, and kicks the door open.

Startling everyone inside, they jumps to their feet and land in a defensive position, not knowing what was coming through the door.

“Giles,” Angel screams, “Xander may have undone some of Willow’s healing, he is running a slight fever, and he has over extended himself on the magic along the new pathways.”

“We know, Willow was unconscious until a short while ago from the backlash for all the magic in the air. Set the boy down on the couch and let me look at him,” commanded Giles.

Running the magic stone over the boy again, and twice more to be safe, Giles stands up with a grim look on his face.

“Xander will be alright, but we have to keep him from doing any magic for the next week or so until his pathways heal some more. If he keeps pushing himself like this then his magic will start to over come him, and he will never heal right,” Giles said grimly.

“What do you mean over come him?” Dawn asked, looking worried at her one time crush.

“I mean his magic will rule him, and the pain will stop being pain, and the two will combine into a factor that will lead him to the darkest of magic to feel the pain/magic/pleasure that he will receive from using magic. The more powerful the spell, the more powerful the effects he will feel.”

“If need be I will make an offering to Hecate, and ask her to temporary bind his powers until he is healed enough to handle them,” Giles continued.

The rest just sat back and looked worried at the young man that had come to mean so much to them all, as he lay them making slight whimpering noise now and then, as he healed from the magic he did tonight.

Because of her slayer healing the scratch marks were all be gone by the time Buffy reached the Alibi. She was in the mood to tear something a part and the bar was the perfect target.

Upon seeing the slayer enter the bar, Willy the barkeep/snitch made a signal and the other occupants quickly either left through the back ways and tunnels, or stood up to block her way so that the others could escape, all depending on their nature and kind of demon. Some were just not cut out to handle a slayer, especially a slayer that was in a bad mood.

Willy, picking up a bat, stood straight, and probably for the first time in his evil life, decided not to be a coward.

“Listen Slayer, we all heard what you did to your side kick. Now normally we would cheer something happening to you and yours, but to have it done by YOU to him, well that just doesn’t set right with us. We may be demons but we do have a code of ethics among ourselves.”

“Now you have a choice, you can leave, or me and the boys and girls here will start showing you how unhappy we are with ya,” scowled Willy.

Buffy stood there shocked. Willy the rat was standing up to her, TO HER, of all people. She knew there would be repercussions to her acts in the human world, but never in her wildest imagination did she ever believe that this would be happening.
Fuming and getting angrier, she was not stupid enough to take another human, thus more council trouble, and the small army of demons that seem to be backing him.
Turning she stormed out, making sure to break the door on her way. As she left she could hear the others left behind laughing at her, and congratulating Willy on his performance.

Turning back to his customers, “Okay boys, drinks are on me, unless there a few of you who wish to hound the slayer back to Angel’s mansion,” Willy said with an evil grin.

Hooting and laughing about half of the demons took off to do just that, inventing a new game, Tag the Slayer.

As she stomped her feet on her way away from the Alibi, Buffy could hear the demons following, and knew they were more than even she could handle. She started running to get away from them. Her humiliation now complete, the Slayer of the Hellmouth, running from a bunch of demons.

As the other got ready to leave or settle for the night, there came a pounding on the Mansion’s front door.

Carefully Giles, Angel, and Vic approached the front door. Suddenly both Vic and Angel froze and looked at each other. There was a slayer behind that door, and it wasn’t Buffy.

“Giles, you better answer the door, there is a slayer there, and its not Buffy. If we answer it might cause some confusion,” Angel said.

“Okay, you two head back to the living room and Xander, and I will deal with Faith, I believe her name is,” replied Giles.

As the two vampires returned to the living room, Giles hurried to the front door, and carefully opened it.

Standing on the other side was tall young lady with curves that even Giles could appreciate, and she was tapping a stake against her left leg.

“Well Geives, you going to let me in, or do I have to die of old age out here. You all did call for a slayer right?”

Standing to the side, Giles gestured her in, and smiling she did. “Now I know I am at the right house,” Faith said as she sauntered into the foyer.

As Giles closed the door, he suddenly was flipped around, and a stake shoved against his chest, “Now, gramps, maybe you can tell me about the big bad vamps I feel in the other room, and behind the door just before you opened it. And I had better like your answers or this slayer is heading back to Bean Town.”

“The vampires you felt were Angel, the vampire with a soul, and a new associate by the name of Vic. Both have proven worthy of our trust over and over again, young lady. While you have not!!!” Giles roared, and batted the stake away from his chest.
He stiffly walked into the living room, feeling Faith following, he began the introductions.

“Over by the fireplace are Angel and Vic I told you about them. If any harm befalls them you will answer to me, is that understood Faith?”

After looking at the vampires for a few moments, and deciding to play along with this groups idea of allies, she nodded, and Giles moved on.

“On the couch is the young man all of this is centered around, Alexander Harris, Xander for short. Please forgive him not getting up or acknowledging you, he is a bit indisposed at the moment.”

“Over there we have Willow, former high priestess of Hecate, and our resident witch. She has power unknown, as she just got done healing Xander of every hurt he received from the torture that your predicator caused him to endure.”

“On the other couch are Joyce and Dawn Summers, mother and sister to the former slayer of the Hellmouth, now that you’re here.”

“And I am of course Rupert Giles, watcher of said slayer, and the one to request you and your watcher to take our places here.”

“Speaking of your watcher, young lady, where is she?” inquired Giles.

“She is heading back to merry old England to gather some of her more unusual items for staying on the hellmouth. She said that you could cover for her for a while, until this prophecy thing was done and you had to leave for the trial in England.”

“I will also tell you all, that I am not here to make friends, I have a job to do , and I will do it. As for Buffy, keep her out of my way. I have no understanding for traitors, especially the type she turned out to be.”

At that moment, Angel’s cell phone began to ring, Monster Mash of all things. Looking embarrassed, he quickly got the phone to stop ringing and began talking into it.

“Now Faith Xander, is the new High Priest of Hecate, the first in all of history, that this makes him even more powerful than Willow, but we have to keep him from using magic for a least two weeks until his pathways heal.”

“He is also your number one charge to protect until we get on the plane to England. The reason for this is because you have no loyalty to this group so you are neutral, and you’re also the best bet to protect him from your sister Slayer.”

“I hate to interrupt, but speaking of Buffy. That was Willy, he just told me an interesting tale. Seems that he and his patrons stood Buffy down, and made her leave. It seems she came there for a fight and got into a situation bigger than she could handle and had to leave. Well now the younger demons are chasing her through Sunnydale.”

“My question is should we make sure she arrive here safely or allow her to make her own way here?”

“If Willy called you it probably means she will make it on her own. The other demons will not kill her, just hurt her a little and scare her on the way here. It is the least of her problems.“

“I wonder what caused Willy and the others to stand up to her like that,” Giles wondered.

“It seemed that they heard about Xander and his dad, and the why behind it, and were not happy with what she did,” replied a smirking Angel.

Through out Sunnydale, the human population could hear the demon enjoying the night, and they huddled in their homes.

The one girl in all the world chosen for this type of night did not have that luxury. She was being chased by said demons, and she knew they were just playing with her. They caused her to trip over nothing, and run into lampposts and walls, causing scratches, bruises, and maybe a dislocated shoulder, but they were not going to kill her. Killing her would end this too quickly for them, and Buffy knew they wanted to play some more.

She quickly ran with her left arm hanging limp at her side towards the mansion. Seeing it in sight, she doubled her speed, and just as she got through the front gate, she felt something wrong. It was like a physical wall in that it slammed her to a stop, and caused her to whimper.

Inside the mansion, Faith suddenly jerked from talking to Joyce to her feet, as if she was on fire.

“Either Buffy is here, or one mega bad ass demon just stepped on the property,” Faith quipped.

Everyone noticed that the stake had re-appeared in her hand and started to tap against her left leg, again.

‘Calm down Faith, it is Buffy your feeling, both Vic and I feel her as well,” Angel tried to sooth the Boston Slayer.

“Listen Fangs, stay away from me and mine we will get a long fine,” growled Faith.
Angel just backed away with his hands raised in the air, showing no harm no foul.
Joyce quickly got up and hurried to the front door. She gasped at the sight of her eldest daughter.

Buffy was scratched, bruised, bloodied, and her arm hung limply at her side, but what caught Joyce’s eyes the most was the look of utter abandonment she saw in her daughter’s eyes.

Hurriedly she ushered her daughter in so she and the other could begin examining her and healing her as the best they could. Dawn up on seeing her sister turn a hate filled look upon her, and stormed to the other side of the room to stand by Faith.
“Faith if you don’t mind, I would rather hang out with you, the air on the other side of the room has taken on a rank odor,” said loud enough for all to hear. Causing Buffy to cringe and for Joyce to give Dawn a meaningful look.

“Ho Ho, it looks like little sister has a set on her, she does, “ Faith said laughing. “Sure squirt you can hang out with me, I can understand about foul odors,” Faith said looking pointedly at the two vampires.

No matter the Watcher said she would not trust the vamps until they have proven to her satisfaction that they were trust worthy. She had read too much about vampires, seen to much in Boston, and knew Angelus’s history backward and forward.

Just then Buffy noticed the new Slayer, and yelled “Who the hell is she and what is she doing here?”

Giles gave Buffy a stern look and began, “That’s Faith, the NEW Slayer of the Hellmouth. You do remember I told you and the others that I was contacting the Boston slayer and her watcher, and having them move out here to replace you. Well the Slayer is here, and I am her temporary Watcher. You would do well to keep a civil tongue in your head around her, you might have an easier time until we board the plane to England.”

Buffy cringed, she had hoped that Giles had forgiven and forgot all about that, and just didn’t report the incident. But with Faith showing up it seems he did report it, and is having his request answered without question. Seeing her fellow Slayer, just filled her with gloom.

Pulling her shoulders back, Buffy took on her “I am superior than thou” attitude,
“Well she better stay out of my way, after all I am the senior Slayer, here, and what I say goes.”

Upon hearing this Giles walks up and slaps Buffy. “No my dear, your not the senior slayer here, in fact as far as the council is concern, you are no longer a slayer at all, just a girl with powers, powers that should be taken away.”

Shocked at what Giles just did, Buffy just collapsed unto the couch next to her mother and started to cry, but if she hoped for comfort from her mother she was wrong. Joyce just moved further down the couch, out of arms reach of the ex-Slayer, which just caused Buffy to cry harder.

“Hey B, don’t you worry, I want nothing to do with you either. I can’t stomach a traitor, and after what you did to your man Xander, in my book you rank right up there with Benedict Arnold,” said a smug Faith. At Dawn started to giggle, and Faith flashed her a quick smile, while her mother gave her another meaningful look, which Dawn ignored.