Dragon wing mercenary

Disclaimer in chapter one

2 days to go. Willow had woken up hours ago; she found the reference and decided to consult Giles alone. Obligingly he went off in search of the book; but it was when he found it he called everyone to the library. Buffy, Xander, Faith and both Giles and Willow sat around the table.

“What’s the deal G-man? What was so important that you had to drag me outta my bunk for me to come to this dusty hole?” Faith was obviously unimpressed, leaning back on her chair boots on the table.

“I wouldn’t have asked you to come here Faith if it wasn’t important.” He was franticly cleaning his glasses. “Now can’t you just follow everyone else’s example and be quiet, and for heavens sake get those boots off of my table.”

“Yes teacher” Faith whispered making Buffy giggle, just a little bit. Giles shot her a stern look and the smiling soon ceased. There was a book placed in the centre of the table open to a particular page.

“This morning Willow asked me to find this reference, the pages are open in front of you and you all have a copy, please read the writings, and note the diagrams.” He turned to see Willow’s down trodden face, quietly he said, “Chin up Willow, it may not be as bad as we suspect,”

“Done” Buffy chimed

“Done” Faith droned

“Uh, what were we doing again?” Xander had been busying himself by watching the lint float in the air.

“Sometimes Xander I despair with you.” Giles sighed to a blank face.

“So back to my original question, what’s the big deal? So there’s a new demon in town yippee ki yay lets break out the steak knives! Me and B here are more than enough for him.” Faith held her head to one side like a dog expecting something more fun, like a big chew toy.

“As much I as I would want to share your enthusiasm Faith, it’s not that simple; I’ve met her three times already” Buffy sulked a little, upset that she alone wasn’t match enough for Sable let alone her and Faith. “But Giles, what’s the problem, every time I met them; they weren’t exactly looking for a fight, right Willow? They’ve even saved me Will and Xander already. I don’t see the big evil in this one.” Buffy was satisfied that this meeting was a waste of time. Sure she was a little creepy but, it wasn’t like she was causing any trouble.

“That’s the point Buffy. This Sable character isn’t here by coincidence, her breed of demon are mercenaries, summoned by both good and evil. They don’t care who they fight for as long as they get paid.” The harsh reality hit Willow like a ton of bricks. Sable had saved her life on more than one occasion; she spent all that time around her and never sensed anything other than good intentions. One of the first things that she said to her was “I’m not going to hurt you because I can’t” If she wouldn’t hurt her, why was Giles kicking up such a fuss?

“We may be wrong, but we have to find out why Sable was it? Yes why she is here, if she is being employed for the side of good, then we have nothing to worry about, especially if she is not currently employed at all. But if my suspicions are correct and she is working to aid the demons of the Hellmouth then we have to stop her. So Buffy, Faith I want you to pair up for patrol again, I know, I know the old way was quicker but it’s for everyone’s safety. Willow I want you to try and find out if you can, who would need to pay for her services and why. OK everyone, we all have jobs to do.” Giles took up the book on the table and furthered his research.

“Uh, what about me?” Xander may have been half asleep, but he always wanted to help, Giles pointed to a mountain of dusty books,

“Start reading” He turned away with his trademark smirk. Xander gave Buffy his best puppy dog pout to try and tag along with her.

“We all have our parts Xander, like Giles said, start reading.” Buffy and Faith left the library getting back into old habits of slaying doubles. Willow sat at her computer wordless leaving Giles and Xander to their reading. She prayed and hoped that she wouldn’t find anything that showed Sable to be a danger to her. Hours past and she had not found a single bit of evidence condemning Sable, but what made her heart sink even lower, she couldn’t find any evidence in her defence either.


***

The night crept in as all the gang returned to the library for summation of the day’s findings.

“So what do we know? Do we move in on Sable or not?” Faith resumed her position at the table boots and all.

“Well, I spent all day searching for evidence to show why Sable would be here.” Willow tried to keep quiet, but was eagerly pushed on by the listening audience. “I couldn’t find anything pointing towards her working for the big bad, but,”

“But? Come on Red we’re waiting on your findings here.” The readiness Faith showed to get this over with scared Willow, she didn’t want anyone to hurt Sable, least of all Faith.

“But,” she continued, “I couldn’t find anything in her defence either.” She hung her head as Faith stood from her place,

“Well that settles it, come on B we got a bug to catch!” Buffy shot her the best “so not impressed” look.

“What’s the big deal guys? It’s a demon and it has to go, why all the negative action here??” Giles stood in Willow’s defence,

“Willow’s findings don’t mean that it’s necessarily all bad news Faith. It just means that we have to find out more information that’s all. Before you and Buffy go off in search of Sable, there are a few things you need to know concerning her powers and abilities.”

“So spill G-man! Quicker we get this over, faster I can get out on patrol here!”

“Quite. Sable is a fairly new breed of demon, something that only originated from the past few hundreds of years.”

“Fairly recent then” The sarcastic tone from Buffy cut Willow like a knife. She didn’t want to have to explain herself, so she did her best to hide her reactions.

“As demons go yes. Sable’s kind is a breed apart from many of the demons we’ve encountered. If what Buffy described to me is true, then we know she has vampire slaying abilities, and also she seems to have the vampires and slayer’s strength and senses. She will have keen eyesight and most importantly an apparelled sense of smell, making a surprise attack impossible.”

There was that word, the one Willow was most afraid of, “attack” she hardly knew Sable, but what she did know was she wanted her to live long enough to get to know her.

“So what are we waiting for? Come on B, I can smell those vamps, and they are itchin’ for a kickin’!!”

“Just one more thing you two, if you find her on any of your patrols, try and stall her, or better yet find out why she is here.” Giles was desperate for good news, Willow had told him everything; and if he could he wanted to save her from any painful truths.

“So we stall it, have a little chit chat, why not just capture the damn thing and bring it back here??” Faith, ever the voice of reason.

“I’ll leave it to you, if you can detain her then fine, but keep yourselves out of trouble, and remember she is more than a match for the both of you. You will need more than brute strength to win.”

“Oh yeah! Party time!!” Faith and Buffy left the building out into the perpetual night of Sunnydale.