MacLeod's Antiques
New York City, New York
22 November 1998
"Okay, here's the plan," Steve said, looking at a map of Central Park. "Connor, you're meeting her here, at eight o'clock." When the Highlander nodded, St. Wolf continued. "Okay. Buffy, you and I will enter through the north. Xander, Cordelia, the south. Amy, from the west. Give it 'til eight-twenty before you go in."
"Steve, that leaves the east side wide open," Xander pointed out, pointing out the relevant area of the map.
"I can handle that," Maxine said, looking over Connor's shoulder.
Steve looked at her, and to Connor, who turned to his current student. "Maxine, we've explained how dangerous Shaw is. I don't want to endanger you needlessly."
"Hey, ain't this why we're here? Help the helpless, save the world, that kinda shit?" she asked in a challenging tone as she chewed snapped her gum between her teeth.
Buffy laughed slightly, and said, "That's one way of putting it, Max."
"Yep. I figure, I can at least keep 'er busy, 'til the rest of youse show up."
Connor looked back at the Wanderer, who smiled. "Okay, Maxine, you've got the east entrance. We've all got the cell phones, that's how we'll keep in touch."
"Here's how we'll do it. Cordelia will split with Xander about halfway between the entrance and the meeting point. That way, you can backup Maxine. Amy, even though you're alone, you should be able to handle Shaw."
Amy nodded. "Yeah. Shaw said Willow could beat her easily if came down to a spell fight. I can do it."
"And, hopefully, she'll hold back," Buffy added. "I know we can beat her, honey, but that leaves Xander kinda in the lurch."
"I can slow her down," Xander assured her. "I'm pretty sure Connor wouldn't be far behind."
"That's right," Steve said, folding up the map. "Amy, as soon as you're in the park, use the tracer spell and get a lock on her, so that we can track her."
"Got it," the witch said. "Just remember, the range's only about three hundred yards."
"Okay. It's seven-twenty now, let's head out."
The gang got up and started walking out. Cordelia stopped short at the doorway, when she saw the moderate downpour of rain coming down outside.
"Oh, Goddess, no," she moaned. "We get out of Seacouver before it rains, and now it rains here! My hair is toast!"
"Warm front coming through," Connor said with a smirk. "Sorry, Cordelia. Normally, it'd be snowing."
"Steve, this is gonna cost you," Cordy promised. "An appointment with the best stylist in Sunnydale." She stormed out into the stormy weather, and called out to Xander. "Move it, dweeb boy."
Xander looked over at Steve. "At least she didn't say the most expensive stylist."
"In New York," Buffy added with a giggle.
"Don't give her any ideas," Steve muttered.
Central Park
New York City, New York
22 November 1998
Shaw and Blade casually made their way into the park, trying to avoid attracting any attention to themselves. Blade seemed to be irritated by the steady precipitation, and also by the lack of concern showing on the Slayerette's face.
"How can you stand this?" he asked.
"I was raised in forests and woodlands," Shaw said with a slight smile of remembrance. "I worship a Forest Goddess, who represents the cycle of nature, which rain is an important part of." A small grin tugged at her lips. "Besides, if I do happen to catch a cold or worse, a spell to cure diseases will handle that."
The dhampir didn't bother to respond to her slight barb. "How do we do this?"
"I will separate from you, and I will meet with Connor. If anyone tries to interrupt the meeting, you will stop them." Shaw stopped and faced him. "Without resorting to lethal measures, unless they are vampires."
Blade didn't look pleased, but tilted his head slightly to signify that he understood.
"What are you packing?" he asked.
Shaw mentally went over her list. "Soulreaver, inside the duster you gave me, left side. Five daggers, one in each of the launchers Whistler provided, two in sheaths above my right forearm. One in my right pocket. Bowie knife tucked into the back of my jeans. The short sword he gave me, here," she said, pointing to her unbound hair, which, while wet, was still thick enough to hide the hilt of the sword hidden inside of a spine sheath underneath her duster. "The Baretta in the shoulder holster, the Uzi underneath the duster. Finally, the arm claws strapped to my left forearm."
"You think like I do," Blade said, not glancing at her. "Maximum firepower."
"Let us separate here," Shaw said softly as they passed a pair of late strollers. "I. . .Blade, I know this probably does not mean anything to you, but. .thank you. Beware on all sides."
At his confused look, she shook her head. "Watch your back."
For once, the Daywalker cracked a slight grin. "Always. You too."
Shaw nodded, and the two parted, each taking a different path.
From the south entrance, Xander looked at Cordelia. "Ready, honey?"
"Yep," Cordelia said determinedly. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Steve's.
"St. Wolf," Steve answered.
"Steve, Cordy. Shaw's walking north, from the south entrance. And she brought some backup."
"Description?"
"Big, black, mean-looking," Cordelia told him. "Six-plus, two-twenty, has the look I had when I walked out in the rain."
"Damn. Okay, wait five minutes, and walk in. Try to distract him, separate them if necessary."
"Got it, Steve." Cordy ended the call and turned to Xander. "We're goin' in."
Xander nodded as the pair began to prepare enter the park. "Let's go get her."
At the western entrance to the park, Amy jumped as her cell phone went off. She clicked the button and answered, "Shoot."
"Shaw, plus one. Negro male, large," Steve said quickly. "South gate. Go in, hit the tracer, be ready to jump."
"Gotcha." Amy threw the phone in her jacket pocket and jogged across the street.
"Ready, my lady?" Steve asked Buffy, who was instinctively reaching for her sword.
"Not really," the Slayer said. "Never tried to fight someone for real without hurting them."
"I know," St. Wolf said tenderly, kissing her forehead. "Just remember, this isn't her fault. She may not be controlled, but she is being herded. And she knows we're trying to help her."
"Okay, honey. Let's bring her home."
Connor was sitting on a bench in one of the more secluded areas of the Park, awaiting Shaw Hunter. He looked at his watch, checking to see what time it was.
<Seven fifty-five.> he thought. He stood up to stretch, and started pacing as the rain continued to beat down on him. <Good thing the coat is good for more than hiding my sword,> he thought wryly.
A sound behind him caught the Immortal's attention, and he smiled. "Punctual, just like the man said," he said to himself, turning to meet Shaw.
As he turned, he saw a flash of metal in the moonlight and a "whoosh" that could signify only one thing; a sword aiming for his neck.
Four hundred years of honed warrior instincts kicked into high gear, and Connor MacLeod quickly dropped and rolled to the side, coming up and reaching into his coat to pull out his katana.
As the rain continued to beat down on the ground, MacLeod's eyes went wide at the sight of the opponent he now faced.
The figure wore German soldier gear, from the Revolutionary War period. He was garbed all in black, from his hard-soled riding boots to his long, flowing ebony cloak. However, it was the one thing that the new arrival lacked that threw Connor.
A head.
<What the hell?> Connor thought as he took up a defensive stance. <Did Shaw. . .>
He threw the unworthy thought aside, and shouted, "Come on, Ares! I'd think you had more style than to send some type of zombie after me."
Ares appeared out of thin air, standing in between Connor and the demon. He wore his customary smirk as the cranium-lacking swordsman stopped his progress.
"Oh, no, no mere zombie for you," the God of War said arrogantly. He stepped aside to give the Horseman a clear path at the Immortal. "Only the best for the warrior who trained my future champion. None other than a living, so to speak that is, legend. The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow."
Connor's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do your worst."
"Oh, I'm sure he will," Ares said, disappearing from the battlefield.
The Horseman started walking forward, bringing his hand and a half sword to bear.
The demon swung, and Connor parried the blow easily. The Horseman continued swinging, but Connor had little trouble blocking his strikes. In less than two minutes, a look of confidence began to gleam in MacLeod's eyes.
<The Horseman's good, but not good enough.>
Thirty seconds later, Connor performed a disarming move, flinging the evil one's blade off to the side. Connor quickly brought his katana back, and drove it into the Horseman's heart.
Connor set himself to withdraw the blade, and the Horseman chose that moment to throw a superhumanly powerful backhanded roundhouse that connected with Connor's jaw.
The Highlander was sent spinning away, but he was able to roll, coming to a crouched upright position. His opponent picked up his sword with his left hand, and slowly drew the long axe with his right, slowly spinning it in a circle.
The Horseman pressed his attack, using his sword to keep Connor busy, hoping to set the Immortal up for a devastating chop from the axe.
When the Horseman did bring the blade over, Connor ducked to the demon's left, and brought the katana across the ebon-clad warrior's stomach. Connor then brought the katana up for a decapitation chop, too late realizing his error.
The Horseman swung his sword out, catching the scrambling MacLeod in the meaty portion of his left thigh. Connor cursed softly as the blade tore into his thigh muscle, and he quickly backed off, blood glistening on the demon's blade as he hobbled backwards.
The Horseman turned around, marching forward after the retreating Highlander, who was attempting to keep the space open between them until his leg healed. As the blue electrical arcs played over his wound, he began to realize why Ares had chosen this particular opponent for him. With that realization came a single thought.
<I'm in trouble.>
As Xander and Cordelia were walking north, heading for the meeting area where Shaw was supposed to meet Connor, they were discussing what to do if the meeting came to blows.
"You sure we should split up, Xander?" Cordelia asked, looking around for any sign of danger. "I don't like the idea of you being alone, against Shaw or that big guy who walked in with her."
"C'mon, Cordy," Xander said with a grin, "have some confidence in me. Go meet Maxine, and we'll meet in the middle."
The dark-haired Amazon looked doubtful, but nodded. "Be careful, Lame-O. I'd hate to have to break in a new boyfriend."
Xander winced at her jab as she headed off to rendezvous with the Immortal Maxine, and he shook his head.
"Great," he muttered. "Things must be getting worse than we thought. Now CORDY'S making jokes."
Xander started walking north again, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He slowed his pace, and finally stopped, looking around and settling into relaxed guard position.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," he sang out cheerfully, hoping to draw out whoever was following him.
There was some light rustling that Xander barely make out through the rain falling around him, and a dark figure stepped out of the brush, clothed in a soaking wet, dark-colored duster. Shades hid his eyes, but his posture left no doubt as to his intent, which was to block the Slayerette's progress.
Xander considered the man in his path, looking him up and down. The black figure watched, and finally lost his patience with the teenager.
"What are you staring at?" he asked curtly.
"Just wondering why *I* can't get a good archfoe," Xander said in a lamenting tone. "I mean, Connor gets Kurgan, Duncan gets St. Cloud, Steve gets Throlog, Shaw gets Ares, and Buffy gets the Master, Angel, Spike, Dru, Katherine and every other big, bad vamp in the U.S. Me? Nooooooo. I get stuck with Shaft."
The large, imposing figure didn't so much as twitch.
Xander sighed. "Tough crowd," he muttered before smiling again. "So, what do you want, tough guy?"
"To give someone some privacy. Turn around and take a hike."
"Sorry, dude, but no can do," the Slayerette said firmly, starting to reach for his pistol.
With surprising speed, the man drew out a pistol of his own, aiming it at Xander.
"Drop it, kid," he ordered. "I was told not to use lethal force, but I'm not stupid."
Xander was surprised by this admitted restriction, but decided to try to exploit it.
"Fine, dude," Xander said, throwing the pistol aside. "What do I call you? I like to know who I'm gettin' into a fight with."
"Blade," he replied, tossing his own pistol off into the night. He then drew his sword, and Xander started sweating.
"Whoa, wait a minute here," he pleaded. "I thought this was gonna be a fair fight."
Blade nodded, and stabbed the blade into the dirt. The modified katana stood straight up out of the ground.
Xander nodded. "Very Excalibur," he stated.
"Like I said, I'm just making sure the Hunter's meeting remains private. You can walk away, you can wait, or you can get beat up. Your choice."
"My choice? Cool." Xander rubbed his chin, and he looked back at the other. "I'll take, 'kick the homey's ass for not letting me help my friend' for five hundred, Alex."
As both men assumed combat stances, Xander decided to try another barb.
"Blade, right?" he asked. When the man gave a single, terse nod, he smiled. "Obviously, some people vastly overrate their own attributes."
When Blade showed no reaction whatsoever, Xander sighed.
"Not even Hunter's insults get through to this guy. Yep, tough crowd, alright."
Xander and Blade began exchanging blows, throwing tentative punches in their attempts to find possible holes in their opponent's defenses. After each man had blocked several blows, they backed away, each man measuring the other's defensive stances.
"Not bad," Xander said with an easy grin. "So, why are we doing this, again?"
"To let the Hunter have a little privacy with her friend," Blade said evenly.
"Oh, yeah. Well, you see, that's the problem," Xander continued. "She's got a spell on her, she's goin' goofy, and you're keepin' me from helpin' her. So I guess that means that I get to layeth the Slayerette smacketh down on your nappy ass."
Xander started throwing punches with rapid speed, attempting to get past Blade's defenses, but Blade blocked his fists every time.
Blade started to take the offensive away from his opponent, throwing a combination of front and back punches, with a couple of elbows thrown in. When Xander blocked a right roundhouse, Blade threw a circle kick that connected with the teenager's face, knocking him back several steps. Rather than press his attack, the dhampir let the Slayerette get his bearings.
Xander rubbed his jaw and checked for a nosebleed. He smiled again.
"Not bad, Blade man. But you don't let up on an opponent. Bad for your life expectancy." The Slayerette went into a fighting stance once again. "Lemme show you."
Xander started another offensive routine, moving in a nearly blinding pattern to confuse his opponent. If seemed to be failing, as Blade only slowly gave ground, dodging and blocking flawlessly. Xander started to grow concerned, but then inspiration struck.
Deciding to try a variation of Shaw's combo, Xander threw a spin kick. As Blade ducked, Xander used his momentum to throw himself into a crouching spin kick that actually connected, sweeping Blade's feet from under him, sending him flying to the turf.
Xander quickly sprang to his feet, and began to take off running towards the meeting area. That is, until Blade grabbed his ankle, bringing Xander down.
Blade started to move forward from his crouch, but Xander lashed out with a kick that grazed the Daywalker's jaw, breaking his momentum.
Xander kipuped and threw a vicious spin kick, which connected with Blade's jaw and sent him rolling backwards. He quickly used the momentum to roll back to his feet. Xander now had a look of anger on his face, which had replaced the normally easy manner he usually wore.
"All right, buddy," he said in an abrupt tone, "who, or what, are you? You're not human."
Blade wiped a bit of blood from his mouth, and sneered. "The bloodsuckers call me the Daywalker. What about your power?"
"Fairy magic, courtesy of my good bud, Robin," Xander replied. "So you're the one that Shaw fought last night, huh? Let's see if I can improve on her draw." He tensed, and started throwing punches and kicks once again, and when he saw an opening, he popped a snap kick to Blade's jaw, which only compounded the earlier punishment he'd taken there. However, when Xander tried to follow up on the kick, Blade dropped and threw two quick punches.
The first connected with the teenager's gut, while the second landed straight into his most sensitive area. Xander's mouth opened in a silent scream, and Blade picked the Slayerette up, military pressed him, and tossed him ten feet back in the direction he'd come.
Xander landed with a crash, and Blade watched him as he moaned, sparing the younger man with an icy gaze through his sunglasses.
"Should I follow up on my opponent, now?" he asked.
Cordelia was quickly making her way to Maxine's location at the east side of the park, when she started to feel the hairs on her neck starting to stand on end. She stopped and looked around, completely turning around before deciding she was imagining things. She quickly turned around. . . and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of someone less than two feet in front of her.
Cordelia glared at the person in front of her while trying to get her heart back into her throat, and finally said one word in frustration.
"Goddess!!!"
"Yes?" Artemis asked with a smile of innocent amusement.
Cordelia spitted her with a glare that would have cowed a lesser person, but kept her tongue for the most part. "Hello, have we ever heard of knocking? Or clearing your throat?"
"You need to go back. Xander is fighting the Daywalker," Artemis informed her Amazon. "And he's not doing as well as he normally would, because the fight isn't with lethal intent. He's holding back, but too much."
Cordelia's eyes went wide. "Oh, shit. I gotta get to him. But Maxine. . ."
"I'll keep an eye on her, Cordelia," Artemis promised. "I will tell her what has happened, but I cannot directly interfere. Now go."
"Got it, Boss Lady," Cordelia snapped, turning on her heel and taking off back the way she'd come.
Artemis just stared at her back for a second.
<Boss Lady?> she asked herself, before smiling. <I like it.>
She quickly disappeared to go talk to a newborn Immortal.
The Ghostbusters' converted ambulance pulled up outside the western entrance to Central Park with a screeching halt, the locked wheels spraying water in all directions. The doors quickly opened, and the quartet of teenagers stepped out into the evening rain.
Garrett was the first to comment on the less than perfect weather. "Great. Just great. This is gonna play havoc with my mobility, guys."
"Well," Eduardo said with his customary smirk, "if you wanna wait in the car that's fine by me."
"Cut it out, you two," Roland said. He looked at Kylie, who was waving a PKE meter towards the park. "Anything, Kylie?"
The girl had a worried look on her face. "You want the good news, or the bad news?" she asked.
"I hate it when she says that," Eduardo muttered to Roland.
"Good news, the Level Nine's in the park," she remarked, nodding towards the entrance. "Bad news, there's more than just the Level Nine. I'm getting, according to this modified PKE meter, several Level Three and Level Four readings."
"How many?" Roland asked.
"Uhm. . . two Level Threes, and six Level Fours. That's not good."
Garrett flashed his devil-may-care smile. "Of course it's not good. Egon doesn't pay us by the baddie. Too bad."
"Let's go," Roland said, spurring the others into action.
The Ghostbusters quickly made their way across the street, heading for the entrance.
As Maxine was waiting near the entrance, a bright flash of light took away her night vision. She blinked her eyes and drew out her darn dao, and once her vision cleared, she saw a woman in armor standing before her.
"Oh, shit," she said with a sigh, "I'm not in the mood for this."
The woman seemed to be amused by her attitude. "Peace, Maxine Thomasson. I am Artemis, the Patron Goddess of the Amazons. I merely came to talk to you for a moment."
"So you're the Amazon Boss, huh?"
"Yes, I am," the Goddess said with a nod.
"Okay, where's Cordy? She's supposed to be bookin' here," the Immortal said.
"Xander is fighting someone, and she had to go back to aid him. I came to tell you this, and to tell you that I will be keeping an eye on you. You may proceed to meet with Connor," Artemis explained.
Maxine snorted in frustration. "Okay, whatever. I gotta jet. Talk to ya later."
The Immortal took off at a brisk pace, and Artemis watched her go, somewhat surprised at the lack of awe in this woman. After a few seconds, she smiled.
"I like this one's attitude."
Shaw was nearing the location at which she was supposed to meet Connor, considering what she was going to say when she saw him.
<What AM I supposed to say to him?> she thought sadly. <'Can you help me?' 'Where can I go?' If only I had not run from Frank. . . stop. Stop it. It must have happened for a reason. I encountered Blade and Whistler, perhaps that was the reason I saw Angelus, so that I could meet them, rather than kill that. . .>
She slowed her pace, attempting to focus on the matter at hand, rather than letting her thoughts wander around.
<Focus!! Think!!> she berated herself, clenching her fists. <You are meeting with Connor. You cannot lose control. You must truly listen to his words, and not take things literally. If the others are with him, you can go home.>
Shaw stopped, considering her last thought. <Do I even have a home with them anymore? I ran . . . so that I would not hurt them. Meet with Connor, and proceed from that point.>
As she started to walk again, she heard the sounds of metal striking. A sound she was far too familiar with.
<Sword fight. If Connor. . .>
She left the thought behind as she began sprinting towards the sounds of the battle.
She entered a small clearing, and was greeted by a sight that chilled her to the very core of her being.
A man with no head, stalking a wounded Connor.
Shaw barely hesitated before running forward and setting herself into position. She stopped thirty feet from the combatants and unslung the Uzi from underneath her duster. She used one hand to whip off her shades, allowing her infravision to go into full effect. There was no time for explanations, and the half-elf had to protect Connor, so she gambled.
[Incoming!] she shouted in Gaelic.
Instinct took over, and Connor dropped to the ground. Shaw pushed the trigger to her Uzi as hard as she could, the silver bullets ripping through the night, the recoil causing the gun to buck upwards despite the deathgrip the Slayerette held it in.
The enchanted projectiles slammed into the demon's spine, as well as shredding his lungs and heart, causing him to stagger. As he fell to his knees, the gun clicked empty. Shaw ran up and drew one of her daggers, and stabbed him between two of his ribs, driving the silver blade into his heart. She kicked the demon over, and the headless corpse plunged to the side.
Shaw reslung the submachine gun, and rushed over to MacLeod, who was rubbing his leg, which was finally nearing the end of the healing process.
Blade picked Xander up, and pushed the Slayerette back a bit. The young man staggered dizzily, and Blade took up a defensive stance.
"This doesn't have to go any further, kid."
Xander rubbed his own stomach and growled. "Oh, no. I'm gonna enjoy taking out my frustrations out on you. Let's rock, asshole."
Xander started to throw vicious punches, focusing his power and skill as much as possible, but Blade proved equal to the task. On one punch, Blade sidestepped, grabbed Xander's wrist, and dragged him forward, throwing his elbow into Xander's nose.
The bone cracked, and the vampire hunter threw Xander to the grass once again.
A loud moan sounded through the rain, and Xander slowly stood up, clutching at his bleeding proboscis.
"You boke my nobe!" he shouted.
"I was told not to use lethal force," Blade reminded him. "Anything else is fair game."
"Oh, yowr a dead man," Xander promised.
"Talk is cheap, kid."
"So is that outfit. It is SO 'Terminator,’" a feminine voice called off from the side.
Blade and Xander looked over in the direction the voice had come from, and their reactions differed greatly. Xander started grinning through his bloody face, while Blade growled at the sight of Cordelia holding his sword.
"Is this a private party," she asked sweetly, "or can I make this a threesome?"
Xander gave her one of his patented silly smiles. "Well, if yowr game, Cody. I'm willing to twy anything once."
Cordelia's face took on a positively green complexion. "Eeeewwwww!!! That is SO gross!!!"
"Hey, it was YOWR suggesjen," Xander retorted. "Anyway, here's duh wules. No guns, no weapons, no killing. Anything else, we can do to this dipstick."
"Cool. Sounds fine by me," Cordy said, dropping the sword. Three seconds after she did, a quartet of evil looking prongs came out, snapping with a vicious sound. Cordelia looked at it, and made a face. "Ewww. What the hell?"
"Keeps anyone from using it but me," Blade said, preparing for the assault he figured was coming.
"Sheesh," Xander muttered. "Talk about not wetting anyone pway wid yowr toys."
Xander then took the offensive, throwing punches and kicks designed to take Blade's head off. As Blade dodged and retreated, Cordelia ran up from behind.
She landed a punch to the back of the dhampir's head, and when his head snapped forward, Xander connected with a palm strike, which snapped his head back again. He staggered back, clutching at his head, and Cordelia followed up with a jumping kick that hit Blade in the chest, knocking him back some distance before he fell to the ground.
As the pair of Slayerettes started to move forward, the sound of an automatic weapon tore through the night. The Slayerettes ducked, hitting the ground posthaste. When the shooting stopped, they quickly stood up, but the Daywalker was nowhere to be seen.
Connor looked at her and saw tears, and naked worry, in her eyes.
{Connor, are you all right? What happened? What manner of ta'narri was that?} she asked, the babbled questions coming out at a speed rivaling that of the bullets she'd shot into the Horseman. The fact that she was speaking Elvish didn't help him any.
"Whoa, hold on a minute," Connor ordered, holding his hands up. "English. Calm down."
Shaw paused, closing her eyes and concentrating to slow her breathing. After a few minutes, she was breathing normally. She nodded nervously and spoke softly.
"Goddess, Connor, if I had been late. . ."
"Stop," he said, forcing her to look at him, "You're making it a habit of defending my life. One might think you had an interest in me besides friendship."
Shaw tensed, and her eyes narrowed. "Hardly."
"Thanks for helping out. But, you wanted to talk, right?" When she nodded, he smiled. "Okay. I know what's going on, and I need you to listen. Just listen to me. Ares, Artemis' brother, activated the Quickening inside of you. Artemis' brother. He's trying to take you away from Mielikki. . ."
Shaw's face twisted into a fit of rage. "NO!!!" she screamed in raw anger. "NEVER!!!"
"SHAW!" Connor shouted, grabbing her by the biceps. "Stop! The anger only grows stronger each time you lose your temper. Calm down. The others have the spell, you know that. Ares is also attempting to use you to hurt Steve and the others. You have to go back to Sunnydale and let them remove the Quickening. Then it'll be all over."
By this time, Shaw was shivering. "Why? Why did he do this?"
"To hurt the others," Connor said. "To make you his champion, like the Amazons serve Artemis."
Shaw almost lost her temper again, and it took a visible effort to calm down. A few seconds later, she said, "Connor, I am so tired."
"I know. It's okay," he swore. Something behind the half-elf caught his attention, and he threw Shaw aside.
As she tumbled violently to the turf, she looked up to see the Horseman once again on his feet, engaging the Immortal in combat.
Ares was smiling, having regenerated the Horseman with a touch of his power.
<Girl's got style, if not the right motivation,> he thought to himself. <I've got to put her over the edge, though. How can I do that?>
Shaw quickly jumped up, pulling out her Beretta. As soon as Connor backed away, she began pulling the trigger. The bullets thudded into the Horseman, who didn't seem to notice, continuing his pursuit of Connor.
She simply kept pulling the trigger, until the last round ejected. She didn't have time to reload, so she went to another tactic.
Xander and Cordelia looked around in confusion, wondering where Blade had disappeared to.
"It was a setup!" Cordelia shouted.
"Sounded wike it," Xander said in agreement. "wet's get going."
The couple started forward, but as they passed a tree, a fist came from around and smacked Cordelia flush between the eyes. She fell backward, and the split second it took Xander to react was all it took for Blade to grab him by the coat and monkeyflip him into the brush.
Blade quickly got to his feet, at the same time the Amazon did. She jumped at the black man with a fury of a pissed off Amazon, and threw several furious kicks in an attempt to take Blade out of the fight. When Blade ducked a kick, he tried to sweep her feet, but Cordy jumped, doing a somersault while turning, and landed behind him.
She grabbed him by the hair, turned him around, and delivered a wicked headbutt, followed by several right crosses as she refused to let go of his head.
Blade's face grew bloody as Cordelia threw her tenth punch, and she then picked him up and bodyslammed him to the ground. She brought her foot up to execute an axe kick to his stomach, but he rolled out of the way.
He stood up, and quickly pulled out a derringer. Cordelia stopped short, and snarled.
"I thought the rules said no guns," she demanded.
"I also told the other kid I wasn't stupid," he said. "All he had to do was wait for the meeting to end. But he was determined to fight."
"Yep," Xander said from behind.
Blade turned just the slightest fraction before Cordelia reached out and grabbed the small gun, throwing it off into the night. Xander grabbed Blade, turned him around, and threw a right-handed roundhouse that sent the dhampir reeling towards his girlfriend. She quickly threw her own punch, and it knocked Blade back towards the clearing.
As he rolled, the Slayerettes ran forward, determined not to give him a second's respite. As he stood up, Xander got a running start, and jumped, attempting a side kick. Blade ducked it, and threw a backhanded roundhouse that connected to Xander's already broken nose, beginning the blood flow anew. As Xander staggered back, Blade's next move, a side kick, caught the warrior in the breadbasket, sending him to the ground. But before Blade could recover, Cordelia arrived on the scene, throwing a knife-edge to his neck that sent him to his knees. She then got to his left side, turned to face the same direction he was facing, and brought her right leg back into a kick, the back of her knee connecting with his Adam's apple.
As she connected, she dropped to the ground, and brought her leg down on his neck a second time, this time ending the Daywalker's struggles.
Cordelia jumped to her feet, and ran over to Xander. As she did, a second series of gunshots pierced the night air. She dove to the ground, but kept her forward momentum as she crawled to Xander.
Connor was starting to grow worried over this opponent, due to the fact that there was no apparent way to kill the Horseman. A brief burst of hope began to grow when Shaw fired bullets into the Horseman, but it faded when the rounds had little to no effect.
The Horseman continued to press Connor, step for step, blow for blow, with a single-minded purpose.
As he continued to parry, the Highlander realized that it was exactly that; the demon's purpose.
<To kill me.> he thought.
"Shaw!" he shouted, hoping he had gained her attention. "He's after me! He'll ignore anything else. The others are here, find them! We'll beat him through sheer numbers!"
"No! I will not abandon you!" she shouted, dropping the empty Beretta.
She raised her right arm, sighting along it. She flexed her muscles, and a silver dagger shot out of the launcher. It sank into the Horseman's right thigh with a sick 'thok,' and her hearing picked up a slight hissing noise.
However, the Horseman didn't even slow down.
The half-elf raised her other arm, aiming higher. The dagger fired, and lodged into the right arm. On reflex, the Horseman dropped his axe.
He stopped, and turned to retrieve the weapon. Shaw took the opportunity to run forward and draw Soulreaver. She quickly used her sword to begin swinging at the demon, forcing him onto the defensive.
She slashed as fast as she could, trying only to keep the Horseman's weapons occupied with her until Connor had rested a bit. However, her furious offensive flurry cost her some of her remaining energy, as the days of constant combat finally began to take its toll on her. She dodged a chop from the axe, but the Horseman's backswing drove the haft into her gut.
Shaw was flung to the side, her lungs emptying with a heavy cough. She lay on the ground, coughing violently as the Horseman once again turned his attention to his true quarry.
By this time, however, MacLeod was ready for him. Connor quickly sliced the demon's left thigh, and as the Horseman's leg collapsed, he performed a second sliding cut across the demon's spine. The black-garbed warrior collapsed onto the ground.
Connor watched for a few seconds, and then nodded in satisfaction. He walked over to the Slayerette, who was still bent over double, heaving heavily for oxygen.
"Are you okay, Shaw?" he asked, placing a hand on her back.
She shook her head, still coughing. After a full minute of wheezing, she gave him an evil glare.
"Connor," she said sarcastically, "I owe you two or three cloudbursts in your home for this."
Connor looked back at the Horseman, who was once again rising.
"Oh, no," he muttered.
Shaw followed his gaze, and stood up, fire in her eyes once again.
"Make that four cloudbursts."
The God of War was trying to decide whether to be impressed with the half-elf, or completely enraged.
"I can't believe this," he snapped, watching as the demon rose once again. "She's helping this Immortal trash the Horseman, yet she's obviously picked up a few new toys to try out."
He continued to consider his options, whether to allow the fighting to continue, or to simply end it. Finally, he decided on the former.
"If I don't let the battle take its course, she might allow the Wanderer to remove the Quickening. Sorry, but no dice."
He watched as the battle continued apace.
As the gunfire ended, Cordelia picked up Xander's head as she knelt next to him.
"Xander, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
Xander glared at his lover through a bloody mask. "Hell no, I'm not awl wight!" he said with a whine. "I've gotten my ass kicked and my nose bwoken in a wainstowm. And on tob of dat, I feel wike I'm gonna puke."
Cordelia quickly dropped his head and backed away from him. "Ewwww. Then stay away from me!"
"Gee, thanks four duh woving concoon, Codelia," he said with weak sarcasm. "Yowr wardwobe's alweady wuined by duh wain, why are you compwaining?"
"'Cause I'll have to replace it, thanks to Shaw," she commented. "Your problem'll be easy to fix."
"What?!? My nobe is bwoke!"
"Yeah," she said, shrugging as if weren't a problem. "We get Shaw, she does her voodoo, and one healing spell later you're all set. Me? Nooo, I have to go shopping."
"Wike I said, why are you compwaining?"
Cordelia considered that, and shrugged. "Okay, you're right for once, Dweeb Boy. But let's get this shit over with."
She stood up, and drew her own pistol. She walked over and kicked Blade, who woke up in a surly mood.
"Okay, asshole, we're going to talk to Shaw and Connor," she demanded. "Get up, and we'll take it nice and slow."
"And then what?" he asked tersely.
"Simpool," Xander answered as he walked over, holding his nose. "We see what's gone down, and if it's kosher, we intwoduce you to duh Wanderer. We can always use someone new in Section Seven. But we pwefer that you have a better attitude."
"Like your 'I'm going to kick your ass because my friend wants privacy' attitude?"
"Yep."
Cordy rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Get your sword, smartass."
Once Blade had retrieved his katana, the unlikely trio started walking through the rainy evening.
As the Horseman began to stalk forward, Shaw and Connor were arguing rather vehemently.
"Shaw, I'm going to hold out as long as I can," Connor said. "Find the others, and bring them back here."
"No," she snapped. "I will not leave you alone. I have too many deaths on my hands already."
The grief he heard almost made him stop, but he pressed on. "Shaw, I'm giving you an order. Find Steven and the others."
"No. I will not leave you."
"Shaw," Connor sighed in frustration, "you are one of the most short-tempered, smartmouthed, stubborn-willed students that I have ever come across."
Despite her fear, Shaw flashed him the same grin he often used on Duncan.
"You taught me well."
Connor had no choice but to laugh at that, and he nodded.
"All right. I'll start backing up, you hit him from the side, try to disarm him."
"Is THAT an order?" she asked innocently.
"Like you'd follow it," he snapped. "Keep your mind on business."
Shaw nodded, and ran forward, approaching the Horseman from the left. When he brought his sword up for a chop at Connor's katana, Shaw brought Soulreaver across in a left-handed swing, knocking the weapon out wide. Wide open, in fact, for Connor to drive his katana into the Horseman's stomach.
The Horseman brought his axe down around in a neck level swing, but Connor withdrew the sword and rolled to the side. When he rose, the demon turned to follow him. And it placed him directly into Shaw's path.
She drove Soulreaver into the same wound that Connor had inflicted, and the Horseman actually paused, and brought the sword over, but stopped when Shaw jerked her magical blade upward, attempting to open the Hessian like she would when beginning to field dress a deer.
However, although the Horseman did drop his sword, it left his hand free to grab the preoccupied priestess in a chokehold.
With his superhuman strength, he tossed Shaw nearly fifteen feet away, sending her landing with a soft thud onto the rain-softened turf.
The Horseman then reached inward to draw Shaw's sword out of his stomach, and that caused Connor to grin.
As soon as the Horseman touched the flaming blade, an electrical discharge enveloped him, illuminating him in an iridescent blue glow similar to a bug zapper. The demon threw the sword aside, but fell to his knees.
Connor waited cautiously, awaiting the Horseman's next action. Sure enough, after thirty seconds, he began to rise again. The Horseman picked up his axe in a two-handed grip, and began to stalk Connor once again.
Ares was beside himself with glee. He'd been slightly angered when the Horseman had thrown the half-breed, but he buried that anger as the Hessian began to stalk the Immortal Highlander one more time.
<And this time I don't have to worry about her interfering.> he thought, looking over to where she'd been lying on the ground, moaning.
As he did, his jaw dropped. She'd gotten back up, and was sprinting after the Horseman.
<I don't believe this! This girl doesn't know when to quit!> he said open-mouthed. But then, he smiled. <That's part of the reason I chose her.>
Shaw ran full out, and she knew that Connor had seen her. She neared the sight of her sword, and slid on the slick turf, grabbing the sword as she slid by, and then gathered her feet beneath her to jump up at nearly the same speed she'd been running at before sliding.
She saw Connor maneuver himself so that she could attack from the side again, but she smiled to herself as she neared the demon.
<I am sorry, Connor,> she thought. <But I have another way to do this.>
As the Horseman adjusted his course to stay on Connor, Shaw also adjusted her path so that she came up to the side and slightly behind the axe-wielding warrior.
<What is she doing?> Ares thought in amazement. <She's not going to take out his other weapon? Or his limbs, like she'd normally do?>
Once he watched the girl take her longsword in two hands, and bring the illuminated blade back in a level backswing as she positioned her hips to add even more momentum to the stroke, he understood.
<Sometimes, brute force works better than skill.> the God of War thought. <Eat your heart out, Ken Griffey Jr.>
When she began the swing that would, at least she hoped, cut clean through the Horseman's spine (not to mention the rest of his body at that level), Ares waggled a finger.
<Sorry, but I don't think so.>
As Shaw brought Soulreaver around, aiming just above the base of the Horseman's spine, she felt the subtle manipulation of magic rippling through the demon. However, she couldn't stop her stroke in time.
<I must simply hope for the best.> she prayed.
However, as the enchanted weapon whistled in at the demonic warrior, the worst possible thing happened.
Her sword PASSED THROUGH the Horseman. . .
. . . and sliced deeply into Connor MacLeod's stomach.
Connor and Shaw's faces both went deep into shock, as the half-elf quickly withdrew her blade, and Connor's blood spurted out, drenching her sword and her clothing with crimson liquid. As he fell to his knees, Connor looked at her in surprise, and he could see the astonished grief on her face as she realized what she'd accidentally done.
Steve and Buffy strode into sight of the battle just as Shaw's sword plunged into Connor, and both of them went slack-jawed at the sight of their comrade dealing the wound.
"Oh, my God," Buffy whispered, not wanting to believe what she'd just witnessed. "Steve, we're too late."
"No," he said, drawing Demon Slayer, "look whom they're fighting."
The Slayer looked at the third person in the clearing, and she started to grow fearful at the lack of a head on that person.
"Steve, what the fuck is that?" she asked dreadfully.
"The one opponent an Immortal would have problems with," he said grimly. "The Headless Horseman."
Buffy stared at him. "You mean we just walked into a fairy tale?"
"No, worse," Steve told her. "Ares. He has to be behind this. He's trying to kill Connor, so that Shaw will go over the edge. I saw her swing the sword, it went THROUGH the Horseman."
"How can she fight a ghost?!?" Buffy asked. "How do WE fight a ghost?"
"We don't," the Wanderer said, as the pair overcame their shock, and ran forward. "He's a demon. Ares has to be using magic to aid him."
"Well, let's bail them out."
The two Immortals ran forward, hoping to cover the ground between them and their comrades before it was too late.
Ares shuddered at the sight of the half-elf's blade sliding through the intangible Horseman, and into the Immortal. He looked at the fatal wound, and nodded to himself.
"Now THAT," he said to no one in particular, "has gotta hurt."
The God of War settled back to watch the Horseman finish off MacLeod, and hopefully bring his chosen one closer to his arms.
The Horseman attempted to bring the axe to bear, winding up in much the same way Shaw had done with her sword, and the Slayerette felt another ripple in the demon, and it brought her attention back to reality. She quickly moved forward, and with only two feet separating them, there was no way for the Horseman to dodge her attack.
She drove into the Hessian with a simple football-style tackle, driving both of them to the ground. She quickly got up, beating the Horseman to his feet, and backed up in between him and MacLeod.
She chanced a look over her shoulder, and her eyes went wide at the sight of Connor pitching over, clearly dead from the wound he'd been dealt.
The guilt and grief that welled up in her nearly overwhelmed the ranger with despair, but it evaporated when she looked backed at the Horseman, and saw him rising once again to finish his unholy mission.
It was at that point that Shaw saw the true cause of Connor's temporary death, although she didn't see it as such. Something exploded inside of her, and she welcomed it wholeheartedly.
For the first time in her life, Shaw Hunter welcomed the rage.
Ares felt the amazing surge of anger inside of the elfgirl, and he smiled as she entered into the berserker rage he'd heard spoken of before.
"Finally!" he shouted in glee. "Now we're getting somewhere. Go to town, baby!"
His triumph was short-lived, however, as he saw the target of her rage: The Horseman.
"WHAT THE?!?" he gasped as the woman charged forward. He quickly teleported the Hessian's sword back into the demon's hands, and almost stopped her himself before holding back. "No, let's see how she does against him. If she can beat him, so much the better."
Shaw saw the Horseman's sword appear out of nowhere, but her instincts had completely taken over. Unlike the rages of times past, however, her instincts were driving her to protect someone, rather than to simply survive.
Enough reason remained for the half-elf to quickly utter a prayer before she then reached over her shoulder, and withdrew the titanium-bladed shortsword given to her by Whistler.
As the Horseman started forward again, oblivious to the berserker before him, Shaw's spell took effect. The wooden haft of the Horseman's weapon bent, warping in all directions and making the weapon useless.
The demon didn't notice until Shaw's raging, primal scream pierced the night at the same time her shortsword pierced his gut.
Before he could react, she withdrew the blade and brought it across in a left-handed backhand swing, cleaving cleanly through the ruined axe handle, which shattered into a dozen good-sized splinters.
The Horseman, once again distracted from his target, brought his sword into both hands to chop down the obstruction. But when he did, a flame-covered blade blocked the weapon, and was followed by a second, shorter blade driving it aside. Then, before he could strike again, the unthinkable happened; the Horseman, by the sheer power, rage, and speed of the half-elf's strikes, was forced onto the defensive.
Steve and Buffy stopped fifty yards away, shocked into motionlessness by the elven scream that pierced the night.
As Shaw charged the Horseman, both Slayer and Wanderer could almost see the change enveloping the half-elf.
"My God!" Buffy whispered hoarsely. "Steve, what's happening to her?"
"Berserker rage," St. Wolf said. "Her instincts are in control."
Buffy's mouth went open, as she processed the information. "That's impossible, honey! He's not a vampire. She said--"
"She's protecting Connor," Steve explained, taking Buffy's hand and heading for the Highlander, who had yet to revive. "She's the only thing standing between the Horseman and Connor's head."
As the lovers reached and knelt next to Connor, whose abdomen was slowly healing, they watched Shaw begin an offensive flurry that figuratively, if not literally, took their breaths away.
The three warriors were walking quickly, but stopped when they heard a piercing scream cutting through the heavy rain.
"What the fuck was that?!?" Cordelia asked.
"Oh, sit," Xander said softly, drawing Cordy's attention.
"What?"
Xander didn't answer, but looked to Blade. "Wook, buddy, we don't have time four games. We gotta get to duh meeting, NOW. We stop pointing duh gun at you, you don't fuck wid us. Okay?"
"What's wrong?" he asked, and both Xander and Cordelia were surprised by the curiosity in his voice.
"Hulk Mode," Xander said firmly. "I'm guessing here, bud I'm tinking dat's it."
"What's 'Hulk Mode?'"
"Half-elven boosooker rage," Xander said as he started to move. "Usually involves somewon being injewed by vamps."
"And YOU kept us from the meeting," Cordy snapped.
"It's okay," Blade said. "Vampires I can deal with."
The three started running as fast as their legs could carry them.
Shaw began swinging with as much speed as she could manage, her vision shrinking into a red tunnel that focus on one area; the Horseman's sword, as her instincts determined that the demon would be no threat once that weapon was eliminated.
She brought the swords she carried, ancient elven steel and modern titanium, into a dizzying flurry, combining skill with pure adrenaline and rage to raise her skill to a new level.
The Horseman tried to do more than parry, but the Slayerette’s rage-enhanced reflexes instantly countered each adjustment.
Shaw struck with such speed that the clangs of her blades against the Horseman's became as if they were a single long, ringing continuous sound.
As she continued to drive the Horseman back, she finally found the opening she needed, and drove the shortsword hilt-deep into the Hessian's chest. As he staggered back, the half-elf engaged the Horseman's blade with her own and brought the blades up. She then executed Connor's own disarming move, but with one modification. When the Horseman's sword started to leave his grasp, Shaw reached in and grabbed it in her left hand. The Horseman used his left hand to throw a wicked roundhouse, but Shaw had anticipated the blow, and was already spinning, so the blow only glanced her cheek. Shaw turned one hundred and eighty degrees, rotating the twin blades in her hands.
Stopping her spin, she jabbed backwards with all of her power, and both Steve and Buffy saw the look of fury radiating from Shaw's eyes as the swords drove half the length of their blades into the Horseman's stomach, both blade tips penetrating out of the Horseman's back.
She turned around, grasped both hilts, and then rolled backwards, somersaulting the demon over onto his backs, while the blades exited his body with a sick-sounding "shuk." She rolled backwards herself, and dropped Soulreaver to pick up the Horseman's own blade in two hands. With a scream that drove chills down even Steve's spine, she drove the sword through the demon's chest, leaning into the crossguards to pin the demon into the ground like an insect in a collection.
The Horseman began thrashing, and clawed at the blade pinning his body to the rain-soaked earth. Knowing that the soft dirt wouldn't hold the demon for long, Shaw picked up Soulreaver and swung with all her fury-driven might.
The Horseman's right hand, wrist, and part of his forearm flew off into the rainy darkness. As the Horseman writhed in agony, Shaw moved to his lower extremities, preparing to sever his legs.
"Steve, we gotta stop her!" Buffy pleaded, wanting to go to her friend's aid. "Before she totally flips out!"
"Buffy, stay away from her," Steve instructed her, putting one hand on her shoulder. "Call her name, try to get through to her, but don't get in reach."
Buffy's face became clouded, as she fought his sensible advice with her desire to help Shaw. Finally, with rain beating down harder than before, she closed her eyes and nodded.
Steve squeezed her shoulder, and she took off.
As Shaw hacked into the Horseman's right kneecap, Ares went "oooooo" as Soulreaver cut clean through the demon's joint.
"You know, it almost makes me feel sorry for the Horseman," he muttered. "Ah, let the Immortal live. The Horseman's done the job I really wanted done, even if he didn't do it the right way."
He quickly disappeared, leaving the Horseman to whatever fate befell him.
Buffy stopped about twenty feet from Shaw, and drew out Vampire Slayer. Holding the sword off to her side, she yelled out.
"Shaw, stop!"
Shaw paused in mid action, at the apex of her upswing. She stood there for several seconds, and slowly brought the magical longsword to her side, pointing towards the earth.
Buffy cautiously moved forward a few steps, and softly called, "Shaw?"
Shaw fell to her knees, holding herself up with Soulreaver, her hands gripping the crossguards for all they were worth. The Slayer could tell she was trembling, and probably not from the chilly rainfall.
Buffy walked up and knelt next to the half-elf, and put an arm around her.
"Shaw, it's gonna be okay."
"No," Shaw croaked in a choked voice, shaking her head slowly, "it will not, Buffy. I . . . I am too far gone. I killed Connor. I . . . I entered the rage. . ."
"To save Connor," Buffy said softly, "you did it to save Connor. You were the only thing between him and the Horseman."
"But, Buffy," she said, trembling as she got a good look at her shirt and duster, "oh, no. Oh, no. Buffy, it is Connor's blood. It is Connor's . . ."
<SHIT! Panic attack!!> Buffy's mind screamed. "Shaw, listen to me!" she hissed. "It's okay. Connor's Immortal, remember that. He'll be okay."
But Shaw didn't seem to be hearing her, shaking her head again and again, and muttering, "I killed him. It was an accident. I killed him."
Shaw suddenly tore out of Buffy's grasp, and started to run, and Buffy got up to take off after her, when Steve yelled, "BUFFY!!"
Buffy turned around, and saw that the Horseman was attempting to rise with his good arm and leg. Buffy's eyes went hard and narrow, and she quickly brought Vampire Slayer to bear.
"Ares, I hope you're watching this, 'cause this is what I'm gonna do to you, you fucking shit!" she screamed, as she threw two lightning-quick slashes of her Katana.
The first severed the Horseman's left arm, but the second, a level cut at waist height, cut completely through the demon's torso, and he fell to the earth, before vanishing into a black, misty fog that quickly dissipated.
Buffy looked on in confusion, and looked back over her shoulder to her boyfriend.
"Please tell me you can explain that," she said.
"He's back in Hell," Steve said simply. "He won't be back for a long time."
Buffy nodded, but quickly turned her attention back to the real reason they were here, but Shaw had vanished into the darkness.
"SHIT!" she snapped. She looked back at St. Wolf. "Steve, I'm going after her."
"No, let the others find her," Steve said, contradicting her intentions. "We need to wait for Connor to revive. Maybe he can tell us what happened."
"But Steve," she started, but realized that with the speed and head start she had, Shaw would outdistance her fairly quickly. With a heavy heart, she walked back over to Steve and the prone Connor.
As the Ghostbusters moved in the direction of the Level Nine reading, they noticed a single, teenaged girl walking in the same direction, setting a brisk pace herself.
"Kylie, tell me that's not the Level Nine," Garrett said.
"Hope not," Eduardo added. "She's a cutie."
"For one thing, she has a head," the female Ghostbuster snapped in frustration. She glanced at the PKE meter. "She's one of the Level Fours. I'm gettin' some real strong magical readings."
"Do we bag her?" Garrett asked.
"I'd like to," Eduardo said offhandedly.
"Will you two stop it?" Roland snapped. He hefted his proton pack. "We can talk to her, and find out if maybe she's here to stop the Horseman like we are."
"Good idea," Kylie said, starting to head in the direction of the blonde woman. "Let's go ask her."
As they started moving, the object of their attention noticed them, and turned to face them. She looked at the gear that the kids were carrying, and she went on her guard.
"What are you doing out here?" she asked, looking at them warily.
"That's classified," Garrett said as he wheeled closer to her. "You need to get out of here. There's a big bad guy in the park, and we're here to take him out."
Now the girl went further on her guard. "Oh, really. And who's the bad guy? Ares?"
The Ghostbusters looked at each other strangely, and Kylie whispered, "Uh, I don't think she's gonna fall for the cover up routine. She's a Level Four, herself?"
"Then you talk to her," Eduardo said. "You know, girl talk, ghost style."
Kylie sighed. "Fine." She took two steps forward, and called out. "We're the Ghostbusters. We're here because there's a demon on the loose in the park. Know anything about it?"
"A demon?" she asked worriedly. "What kind?"
"The Headless Horseman," Kylie replied. "He's what we call a Level Nine reading, and he's in the middle of the park."
The girl processed the information, and her eyes went wide. "Level Nine? You guys are Bureau 13?"
The Ghostbusters all dropped their jaws as she said that.
"You know about that?" Roland asked.
"Of course. But we don't need the backup, trust me," she answered. She started to turn away. "Wait here, and I'll get my boss."
"I don't think so," Garrett said, pointing his proton pack at her.
"Garrett, what are you doing?!?" Kylie asked in astonishment.
"She's trying to book, and heading for the Horseman," he explained. As the girl took up an aggressive stance, he added, "We need to get by her."
"You don't want to mess with me," the girl warned. "You don't know what's at stake here."
"Tell us," Eduardo snapped.
"Someone's soul, asshole," she snapped back at him. "And you're keeping me from finding the person whose soul is in danger. Now stay out of my way."
As she started to turn away, the entire team drew their weapons, and pointed them at the woman.
"Hold it, sweetcheeks," Eduardo yelled. "Just lead us to your demon friend, nice and easy."
The woman grabbed the side of her head in frustration. "I don't have TIME for this!"
She started to turn again, and shouted, "Follow me all you want, I've got someone to save!"
As she started to run, Garrett let out a warning blast from his pack, which missed the blonde teenager by less than five feet.
"Don't move," he warned as the others keyed their triggers.
"I'm getting a bad feeling about this," Kylie said softly.
The woman turned back, and her hands started glowing in a bright, yellow light. She stared them down, and said in an even tone, "I told you not to mess with me, people."
"Try us," Eduardo taunted her.
"Fine," she said with a nod. She started chanting, and the light on her hands grew brighter. "Hecate, work thy will! Show these fools the sun's bright fire!"
With that, a ball of fire appeared in the girl's right hand, and she tossed it straight towards the Ghostbusters.
Shaw was running west, stumbling often as the lowering adrenaline levels had only increased her weariness. She was running on nervous energy, and she realized that sooner or later, she would have to sleep.
<No,> she thought. <I cannot. I cannot stand to see. . .>
Her thoughts were stopped as she heard voices in the distance, and her guard went up tenfold. She cautiously moved forward, standing at the edge of small stand of trees. What she saw was the last thing she'd expected.
Amy, here in New York with the others.
Shaw quickly took in the scene, and she saw Amy's hands start glowing. When the four young humans opposite her started to raise their weapons, Shaw bit back a yell. She quickly exited the trees just as Amy launched a little fireball at the quartet.
The fireball landed about ten feet in front of the four people, and they began to scatter. Two of the three males, a dark-skinned youth and his partner, went right while a man in a wheelchair and the sole female of the group went in the opposite direction.
When they began to recover and point their weapons at Amy, Shaw did the only thing she could think of.
"Holy shit!" Eduardo shouted. "Kylie, why didn't you tell us she was a witch or some shit!"
"Hey," she snapped defensively. "The PKE meter only gives me levels, not specifics. You got a problem with that?"
"Yeah, I do," Garrett added, putting in his two cents worth. "But I'll take it up with Egon when we get back to the firehouse."
"IF we get back," Eduardo said, drawing looks from the others. "So I'm a pessimist."
As the Ghostbusters began to point their weapons at the blonde woman, a scream pierced the night, and they, and the spell caster, turned as one to find the source.
They saw a second woman, this one with glowing white eyes and wielding a flame-covered sword, racing towards them.
The woman who'd thrown the fireball started to look fearful as she shouted at the other.
"Shaw, don't!"
Eduardo and Garrett, with their usual decisive attitudes, decided to shoot first and ask questions later.
"Blast 'em!" they both shouted.
As they fired their proton packs, Kylie shouted in vain for them to stop.
The blonde girl did a pair of backflips, moving out of the way of Garrett's beam, while the sword wielder rolled, Eduardo's beam shooting over her and into the distance.
Both women stood up, and both began chanting, although the chants were distinctly different.
"Oh, crap," Roland whispered, pulling the trigger at the same time as Eduardo.
A blue glow encircled the second woman, and the proton beams blasted an invisible wall, but the woman herself staggered a bit under the impact.
"What happened?" Eduardo asked. "We didn't hit her."
"No, but maybe the shield's not strong enough. One more time," Roland said.
To their left, Eduardo and Kylie, the latter with great hesitation, fired their own weapons at the other spell caster. Their beams struck, and harmlessly bounced off of, a glowing white hemisphere that appeared around the witch.
"Great," Garrett muttered to Kylie. "We get the stronger one."
"We shouldn't be doing this," Kylie said.
"Tell Ms. 'Great-Balls-of-Fire' that, Kylie."
The Ghostbusters fired their proton packs once more, hoping to break the shields.
Shaw felt the protection spell buckle, and she knew that these weapons would eventually break through.
<But I now know that my spells are effective against Earth technology. But how effective remains to be seen.>
As the two men firing at her discharged their weapons a second time, her shield was penetrated and part of the energy streams struck Shaw in the chest. The half-elf was sent flying back, landing on her back with a crash.
"SHAW!!!" Amy yelled, and turned back to the Ghostbusters. "Stop it! Leave her alone!!"
"It's your turn, witchie," Eduardo yelled, as all four of the rookie Bureau 13 agents turned their weapons on her.
Amy realized that four weapons might be more than her shield could handle.
"Oh, Goddess, am I in trouble now," she whispered.
Kylie was trying to be the voice of reason, asking the others, "Guys, we got one down, do we really have to do this?"
"What, you want another fireball in our faces?" Eduardo asked. "Besides, look at her. She's pissed off at us as it is. Like she's gonna see reason."
As the rain continued to drive down, the Ghostbusters fired.
The four beams struck Amy's shield, and it started to flash and buckle. Amy started chanting again, trying to reinforce the spell before they fired at her a second time. But, she saw that they would fire again before she could complete her enchantment.
So busy concentrating on each other, were they, that the five combatants failed to see the sixth person present rise from the ground.
When they entered the clearing, however, there were only three people in the area; Buffy, Steve, and a now reviving Connor MacLeod.
Xander cursed harshly, and Buffy and Steve both wheeled around, pulling their guns before realizing who it was. They quickly holstered the weapons as Connor stood uneasily.
Xander, Cordelia and Blade walked over to the other three, and looked around.
"Lemme guess, setup?" Cordelia asked rhetorically.
"Yes," Connor snapped, holding his stomach, which the Slayerettes could see through the hole in his shirt. "But not in the way you're thinking."
"Okay, update?" Cordelia asked.
"First, who's the poker face?" Buffy asked.
"Bwade, duh Daywalker, duh pwivacy maker," Xander muttered, drawing a harsh look from Blade.
"So you're the Daywalker," Steve said with a nod. "Steve St. Wolf, a.k. a. the Wanderer."
Blade just nodded fractionally, and sheathed his sword.
"Real conversationalist," Buffy whispered.
"So, whud happened?" Xander asked, looking around.
"Oh, let's see," Connor started sarcastically. He snorted, and began. "Ares sent the Headless Horseman after me, Shaw shows up and empties two magazines into the Horseman, it doesn't do any good, so when the Horseman goes after me again, she tries to swing that sword of hers like a baseball bat to cut him in half down the middle."
"Saw duh demon in half twick," Xander said. "Dat's a new one."
"It still is," Steve said angrily. "Ares, at least I assume it was him, used magic to make the Horseman intangible, like a ghost. So, Shaw's swing went right through him."
"Oh," Xander and Cordy said quietly, looking at Connor's bloody shirt. Cordelia added, "Gross."
"How do you think I feel?" Connor asked rhetorically.
Buffy took up the story at that point. "So, while Connor's doing his Lazarus bit, Shaw goes into one of her hissy fits, and totally kicks the demon's ass."
"How bad?" Xander asked, remembering Willow's description of Shaw's battle with Spike.
"Oh, lessee," Buffy said, trying to keep a straight face, "she cast a spell to destroy his axe, pulls out a short sword. ." she pointed to one sticking out of the ground, "breaks the handle of the axe, and goes warp nine with the attacks, using her sword and the other one. She guts the dweeb, takes HIS sword away from him, and drives both swords through his back, then rolls him onto the ground. . ."
"Ewwww, yuck!" Cordelia said, looking sick.
". . .then she uses the Horseman's sword to pin him to the ground, and cuts off one hand and leg, at the knee."
At this point, Cordelia ran off, clutching her mouth.
Buffy looked at her, and at Xander. "Should I go on?"
"Go ahead," he replied, looking somewhat sick himself.
"Okay. I called to her, got her to come back to normal, but she was wigging over what happened to Connor. Before I could stop her, she ran off, and the Horseman was getting back up."
"And since I don't see a cwippled demon anywhere, I'm gonna assume you sent him back where he came fwom."
"Yep," the Slayer said, patting her sword.
"Gweat. So Saw's on the woose again," Xander said. He turned to Blade, and said, "Thanks again."
Blade didn't bother to respond, but Steve cleared his throat.
"Xander, enough. Shaw took off in Amy's direction, we need to get moving if he want to catch her. Come on."
With that the group of five, six after Cordelia saw them taking off and started moving herself, headed off.
Shaw slowly stood up, and she saw the uniformed humans firing at Amy. Worry rose, but was quickly smothered by anger. Anger that anyone would dare threaten her kin.
"Noooo," she hissed, dragging out the word.
She began to search her mind for a spell, one that would provide some offense to drive her opponents away from Amy. However, most of her offensive spells were for single opponents. As she started to become desperate, a spell flashed in her mind. Looking at the four people, she drew her mouth into a thin, hard line.
Shaw began praying, preparing to unleash what was perhaps the most devastating spell in her arsenal. The main drawback was that the spell could only be cast under certain conditions. How ironic it was, she thought, that the current weather situation provided the EXACT conditions she needed.
As she finished, she sang out the final words of the prayer in a loud, singing style voice.
Luckily for Amy, it drew the attention of the others present, and they seemed hesitant as to what to do about it.
Shaw concentrated, and her eyes lit up, sparks flying around her pupils as she called down the first of several strikes.
Lightning strikes.
The Ghostbusters heard Shaw sing out her last words, and turned, distracted by the Slayerette off in the distance.
"Uh oh," Kylie said, looking worried. "Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?"
Her question was answered by something no one could have expected; a bolt of lightning, striking the ground ten feet in front of them, sending them flying through the air from the sonic boom that followed the strike.
As the Ghostbusters tumbled, rolling and getting aches from landing on their equipment, a second bolt struck at the exact spot they'd occupied five seconds earlier.
Amy's eyes widened in horror at the force that Shaw had tapped into, and unleashed against the other teens who had been shooting at them.
"WHY?!?" she shouted, before it dawned on her. "Oh, shit. She's trying to protect me. Oh, shit!"
Amy quickly dispelled her shield, and started casting a spell of her own. She furiously chanted, trying to finish the magic before Shaw drew down another bolt.
"Hecate, work thy will! Shield your children from their enemy's wrath!"
Another shield sprang into existence over the shaken up Ghostbusters, and none too soon, as a third bolt struck the shield dead on, being deflected off into the distance. The errant energy struck a lone bush, setting the shrug ablaze.
Amy looked at Shaw, who looked at her with Amy knew had to be disbelief and confusion, almost seeing her whisper with a shocked "Why?"
Amy shouted, "It was a mistake! They made a mistake!"
When the words seemed to sink in, Shaw raised a hand to her mouth in obvious horror and took off running in another direction.
As Steve's group was moving through the park, heading west, a bright flash of lightning hit the ground in the distance. A few seconds later, a second bolt hit the ground near the same area.
"Oh, great," Buffy said, "now God's against us, too."
"That was magic," Blade said, squinting in the direction of where the strike had touched the ground. "I can feel it."
"Kind of a magical sensitivity?" Steve asked with genuine curiosity.
"A slight one," Blade said. "Helps to tell the bloodsuckers from the humans."
Buffy and Steve looked at him with strange looks, and Buffy said, "That sounds like my spider sense." At Blade's look of interest, she added, "I'm the Slayer. I have something that sounds like what you got."
"Better than what Shaw has," Cordy said. "Doesn't freak people out."
"She's the one casting the magic," Blade said. "I felt her magic when she used it on me and my weapons. She's the one calling the lightning."
"Oh, sit," Xander said. "Se's in Amy's diwection. Think they wan acwoss each other?"
"And if she isn't holding back. ." Buffy said in fear, and it spurred the Slayerettes, plus one Daywalker, into a run.
As if to confirm their fears, a third strike of lightning crashed through the New York night.
"Dammit, Shaw! Wait!!" Amy shouted as she started to take off after her.
She was stopped by the now all too familiar whine of the Ghostbusters' guns being charged. She turned back on them, her eyes flashing.
"Do you fucking idiots realize what you've just done, dammit!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "You just ruined our best chance of bringing her home!"
The Ghostbusters looked confused by her vehemence, but Eduardo started to bring up his proton pack.
Amy smiled evilly. "Go ahead, genius. The shield works both ways."
He stopped short, and Garrett rolled over next to him and grabbed the barrel.
"Hold it, Eduardo," he said, before turning around to Amy. "So, now what?"
"I should leave you there, assholes," she snapped. "But it'd spare you getting soaked like the rest of us."
She quickly waved her hand, and cancelled the spell. As the shield flickered and dissipated, the Ghostbusters started moving forward, and Amy stopped them with a glare.
"Please tell me you learned this lesson the first time around," she warned.
"Whoa, we just want to talk," Kylie said, holding her hands up. "We're here for the Horseman."
"Yeah, well, guess what, I'm not him!" she snapped. "I can't believe you shot at me!"
"Hey, what about you and the light bright, witchie? You were the ones makin' the voodoo on us," Eduardo countered, waggling his fingers in a poor imitation of a spell caster.
Garrett spoke up next. "Much as I hate to agree with the comedy relief here, he's right. That maniac tried to fry us with that 'Wrath of God' routine."
Kylie asked Amy, "Why'd you stop us from going after her?"
Amy fumed, but relaxed a bit as she realized they wouldn't be shooting at her anymore. "She's being controlled. She isn't herself."
Garrett looked dubious as he holstered his pack. "You mean she's not always a crazy, glowing-eyed psycho trying to fry people?"
Amy's relaxation died as she moved forward and grabbed Garrett by his jacket collar. "She was trying to protect me, asshole! You idiots started shooting at us!"
"What, the two of you got somethin' going on?" Eduardo asked.
Amy looked at him with her eyes starting to go black. "WE'RE COUSINS!!!" she shouted.
"Oh, yeah," the Latino continued. "You're cousins. She get the heat vision from your side of the family?"
"It's an elven thing," Amy stated evenly.
The four Ghostbusters' jaws went Earthward.
"Elf?" Kylie asked, dumbfounded.
Amy looked at her. "Okay, half-elf. Her dad was human." She looked at each of the four, who were still stunned. "How long have you guys been doing this?"
"Uhm, about ten months," Roland answered.
Amy rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hands. "Great. Rookies."
The Ghostbusters bristled at her criticism, especially Eduardo.
"Oh, yeah, how long YOU been doin' this?" he asked.
"Two years, the first year was kinda off and on."
"Two years?" Roland asked. "We're trained for this. What do you do?"
"I'm a witch," she said. As Eduardo started to make his comeback, she punched him in the gut, and he doubled over in obvious pain. "And, I'm an Amazon. Like the ones on Xena, which it turns out is based on real events. So don't piss me off any further."
"You know, you're not getting on our good sides here," Garrett said, and with a smirk, "not that Eduardo actually has one, but still."
Amy now got back in his face. "I seem to remember that YOU were the one who started this shit. I said follow me, not shoot me in the back. And if you ain't gettin' the message yet, let me make it clear. My cousin's being royally messed with mentally. She needs my help. YOU stopped me from helping her, and I freaked her out by saving YOUR worthless hides. So don't make jokes about this or I'll make you sit on a fireball!"
"You'd do that to someone in a wheelchair?" Roland asked in horror.
Amy shrugged. "It'd be an Equal Opportunity fireball. Trust me, I know about multiracial stuff." Her smile was pure malice.
"Hey, we're multiracial," Roland protested. "We've got an African American, a Latino, a female and a physically challenged person."
"Here, here," Garrett said.
"Yeah, right. I got your 'multiracial' right here in my group."
"Oh, who you got?" Eduardo asked arrogantly. "Can't beat our mix."
"Hmmm, let's see," Amy said, looking up and chewing on her bottom lip, as if she were trying to recall everyone. "Okay, there's the Englishman. The Jewish girl. The Gypsy. The Amazons. The witches. The Demon Hunting ex-Green Beret. The Slayer. The half-elf nature priestess, who you just met. The fairy. The college freshman carrying Joan of Arc's sword. Her brother, the reincarnation of Marcus the Valiant. Oh yeah, the werewolf." The Ghostbusters jaws dropped once again, and Amy shrugged. "The half-elf's my cousin, and the fairy's my boyfriend."
"You have the Slayer in your group?" Kylie asked. "I've read texts on the legends."
"She's no legend. And if I know Buffy, she's duking it out with your Level Nine right now. Wanna place bets on who's gonna win that one?" When Kylie declined to answer, Amy continued. "Oh, and have you read about the Swords of Destiny?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Buffy carries Vampire Slayer, and Steve, our boss, carries Demon Slayer," she said, awaiting Kylie's response.
"Uhm, I assume. ."
"Yep."
The males looked between the two, not understanding.
"Assume what?" Garrett asked.
"The Slayer swords are rumored to carry a curse. The wielders become lovers."
"Man, talk about a love connection," Eduardo muttered.
Amy grinned. "Like those two needed it," she scoffed.
"What's that supposed to mean? If there's a curse. ." Kylie began.
"What she's saying," Garrett said, "is that they didn't need no stinking curse."
"Oh," she said simply. She looked at Amy. "Hot for each other, huh?"
"Yep. Now, who are you guys? Yeah, yeah," she said, waving her hands, "I know, Bureau 13. I've met Horace. I mean your names."
"Oh," Garrett said, stopping from saying anything he might regret. "That's Kylie, Roland, and Eduardo. I'm Garrett. We've just been activated tonight, since the other teams were out on assignment. Who's Horace?"
Amy looked at him funny. "Horace Gordon, the head of Bureau 13. Steve works for his boss."
"Wait a minute, here," Eduardo snapped. "Your boss works for our boss's boss? Who the hell is that?"
"Horace's dad," the witch replied. Before they could ask who that was, she told them. "Merlin."
"Oh, come on," Garrett said, "don't expect us to fall for that!"
"Kylie, you seem to believe in this stuff," Amy asked, looking at the female Ghostbuster. "So tell me, what was the first Sword of Destiny?"
"Excalibur," she replied.
"And the fact that the Slayer Swords just happen to have the same powers, the same materials, and the same creator?"
"You're serious, aren't you?" she asked.
Amy nodded. She looked over the Ghostbusters' shoulders, and said, "And you can ask Steve yourself. Here comes the Wanderer and the Slayer. And friends."
"Uh, do you see what I see?" Cordelia asked as she and the others saw Amy talking to four teenagers with some high-tech gear on their persons.
"Four kids out of Flash Gordon?" Xander asked.
"No!" Cordy snapped, smacking him on the head. "Lemme try again. Do you not see what I don't see?"
"Meaning, one sword-swinging Slayerette? Yeah."
"Cut it out," Buffy said softly, fingering Vampire Slayer. "If Amy's in trouble. . ."
The others tensed a bit, except for Blade, who was already tense, but they relaxed when Amy saw them and nodded. The four people she was talking to turned and they began to look nervous as the group of six approached.
Steve took the lead, and asked Amy, "Who are your friends?"
"Friends? Right," she said derisively, "Meet Horace's Baby Bureau." She pointed to the kids in turn. "Kylie, Roland, Garrett and Eduardo. The Ghostbusters."
"So you're the ones Gordon's been keeping under wraps. He's had some good things to say about you," Steve said. "Why'd you come out here tonight?"
"Chasing the Headless Horseman, until Rambo here started shooting up Central Park," Amy said, giving Garrett a dirty look.
"Oh, we took care of him," Buffy said with a grin.
"What do you mean, 'we?'" Connor asked. "Shaw and I did all the hard work. You got mop up duty."
Buffy shot him a glare, but Steve chuckled.
"Okay, introductions. Ghostbusters, you've met Amy Madison, and I assume, Shaw Hunter?"
"Oh, yeah, lightning bolts and all," Eduardo muttered.
Steve looked at him, and then to the witch. "Amy?"
"The rookies were shooting first and asking questions later, and when they turned all four guns on me, Shaw decided to play Zeus. She missed with the first two bolts, but I cast a shield over them for the last one. She took off running when she realized the mistake."
"Play Zeus?" Cordelia asked.
"Lightning bolts," Amy explained. "Good aim, for the most part."
The Ghostbusters paled at those words, and Steve sighed.
"Amy, cut it out. That's an order," he said, staring at her to make sure she got the point.
"Okay," she said, and then muttered, "Shaw was right. You never let us have any fun."
Steve decided to ignore that comment, and the resulting giggles from Buffy and Cordelia. "Okay, guys, the others. I'm Steve St. Wolf, that's Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, Cordelia Chase. ."
"Call me Cordy," she interrupted.
"Connor MacLeod, and Blade."
"Blade?" Garrett asked. When he just nodded slightly, the wheelchair-bound Ghostbuster said, "Of course."
"How quickly they forget," Maxine said as she came up behind the group. "Can't you guys stay in one place for more than five seconds? I missed all the fun!"
Connor spitted his student with a dagger look that would have fried her on the spot if it had been possible, and she said, "What?"
As the Slayerettes laughed at Connor, the Ghostbusters and Maxine just stared on in confusion.
"Never mind," MacLeod snarled, walking off to louder laughs.
Steve turned to the Ghostbusters, and said, "Kids, how about we take this up at your headquarters? I can talk to your boss, and straighten this matter out."
The kids looked less the excited about this suggestion, the reason being summed up by Eduardo.
"Oh, yeah, like we want Egon to hear about this."
Steve's eyebrows lifted at the name. "Egon Spengler?"
"Yeah, do you know him?" Kylie asked in surprise.
"I know Egon, Ray Stanz and Peter Venkman. Egon's a good man."
"I don't believe this," Garrett said, looking at the others. "You know the original Ghostbusters?"
"Steve knows everybody," Buffy muttered. When the Ghostbusters looked at her, she shrugged. "You get used to it."
Central Park
New York City, New York
22 November 1998
"So, how you wanna do this?" Eduardo asked the Slayerettes. "Youse guys wanna follow us?"
"No, I've been there before," Steve told him, considering his options. "Okay, guys. Buffy, you, Amy and Connor with me. Xander, Cordy and Maxine, meet us at the north entrance and you can follow me there. Blade, you want to join us?"
All eyes turned to the Daywalker, who shook his head. He regarded St. Wolf with an unreadable look. "No, I'm headin' home. I've got the Agents' number, I'll check in from time to time."
"Here," Connor said, pulling out one of his business cards and holding it out. "A number a little closer than Washington."
Blade took it, looked it over for a few seconds, and nodded as he put it in his pocket. "I'll be in touch." He started to turn, but stopped to look Xander and Cordelia over. The barest of smiles touched his face. "You two are good. Keep it up."
As he walked into the park, Xander and Cordelia looked at each other.
"Did he actually compliment us?" Xander asked.
"Me more than you," Cordy said, flashing him a smile. "You're the one with the broken nose."
The Slayerettes and Ghostbusters chuckled at Xander's discomfort, but Roland looked sympathetic. "We've got a first aid room at the firehouse," he offered.
"Okay, let's get going," Steve said to the group at large. "Garrett, we'll meet you at the firehouse, okay?"
Garrett and the others nodded, and they turned away to head for the ambulance. After they were a sufficient distance away, Steve looked at the others.
"Okay, listen up," he said, looking at Amy in particular. "We're going to be in a touchy situation here. Egon's a good man, and I think he might be willing to help us find Shaw. But, she could be in trouble over this."
"For what?" Cordelia asked, looking at stunned as the others were. "She's the one who needs help, Steve!"
St. Wolf turned his head to Amy. "Amy, did she cast lightning bolts at them?"
"Not exactly," the witch said with a shiver running through her. "She cast the spell, and bolts started coming down from the clouds, like a regular thunderstorm."
"Did she try to hit them?"
"The second one, yeah. The third one woulda hit them if I hadn't put a shield over them," Amy responded. "Steve, what are you getting at?"
Steve sighed. "In layman's terms, members of Bureau 13 ARE Federal Agents, Amy. And Shaw essentially tried to kill the Ghostbusters. Horace might not take too kindly to that."
"Now wait a frickin' minute!" Amy snapped, growing pissed. "Those idiots were shooting at us! They hit Shaw, and they would have broken through my shield and plastered me if Shaw hadn't done what she did. They shot first, but I suppose that doesn't matter, huh?"
"We'll figure it out when we get there," the Wanderer said firmly. "Xander, Cordy, Maxine; meet us at the north entrance. I'll lead the way to the firehouse."
As the three walked away, Steve looked at Amy. "Amy, you're going to have to control yourself at this meeting. I know you're upset. . ."
"I'm way past upset, Steve," Amy said. "I'm pissed."
Buffy laid a hand on her shoulder. "Whoa, Amy. Hold it down a bit. We're on your side, remember?"
Amy's jaw clenched hard, but she slowly let the tension drain away. "Steve, this was Ares' plan. Screw us over by killing Connor. Now Shaw's loose in New York. How the fuck are we gonna find her in New York?"
"I don't know," he replied honestly. "If the Ghostbusters help us, it might double our chances of finding her."
"If they don't blow her away first," Amy snapped, starting to walk to their car.
"That's enough," Steve said, staring Amy down when she whirled on him. "Amy, I understand your anger, but you need to tone it down a bit. Egon won't react to this mistake rashly. I might be able to convince him of the danger posed to Shaw, but it you blow up at him, he might ask Horace for advice. And he won't be so reasonable about people trying to electrocute his people."
"Well, I'm not reasonable about people firing those electroguns at my ass while my back is turned," Amy said in contrast to the Immortal's position. "So, forgive me if my opinion of them isn't that high."
Before Steve could comment further, Amy stormed off, and Buffy took Steve's arm, preventing him from going after her.
"Let me talk to her, honey," Buffy said. "She told me more about Shaw, and it's bugging her. Okay?"
St. Wolf looked reluctant, but finally nodded. "Try to make her understand."
"She gets it, Steve," Buffy told him softly. "But I happen to agree with her on this. But I'll try to make her see reason."
Buffy took off after Amy, and Connor, who'd been maintaining a respectful distance from the others, came up to Steve.
"Steven," Connor said, leaning in close to Steve so that no one else could hear, "let it go."
"I'm sorry, Connor, I can't imagine why she's acting like this," Steve said to the Highlander.
"What's their relationship like back home?" Connor asked. "How well do they get along?"
"They're distant," St. Wolf answered. "They're friends, but that's about it."
"Well, maybe that's changing, if Amy's reaction is any indication."
"She listened to a tape that Duncan made," Steve clarified, after which he let out a massive sigh of frustration. "It got to her, with whatever she heard. But as much as I can sympathize with her, she needs to keep control."
"And that's what Buffy's going to attempt to do, Steve," MacLeod said. "She's capable. Let her handle it."
"So I get to put up with you," Steve muttered as they walked off.
"Amy, wait up," Buffy called. The Amazon slowed down a bit, but the Slayer still had to keep a brisk pace to keep up. "C'mon, let's talk."
Amy slowed down a bit more, but still looked peeved. "Fine. What do we talk about?"
"How about why you're acting this way?" Buffy asked.
"Whatever," Amy snapped softly, but she continued before her friend could comment. "Buffy, the look on her face, when I cast that shield over them. . she looked like she'd been betrayed. I shouted that the rookies had made a mistake, and, God, Buffy, she looked horrified at what she'd done. I freaked her out and she ran."
"She realized what she'd almost done?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, but. ."
"That's good." When Amy's head snapped around, Buffy added, "It means she's still with us. We have a chance. As long as she can tell the difference between this and that, Ares doesn't have her."
"But I blew it, Buffy," Amy complained as she waved her hands in frustration. "She wasn't even a hundred frickin' yards in front of me, and I couldn't stop her from running. Are we gonna get a better chance?"
"We'll make one," Buffy promised. "Just try to keep your cool. Remember what Xander said on the plane." After a slight pause, Buffy said, "Amy, I'm not trying to push you or anything, but what are you gonna do about Shaw after this is over?"
"What do you mean?" the witch asked in confusion.
"Are you and her gonna work this out? Try to, well, figure out what you two want?"
"Please," Amy said, patting her jacket pocket as they continued to walk. "I know what Shaw wants. Family. I just don't know if I'm capable of it. I know, I haven't tried, but neither has she. At least now I know why, 'cause she wants it to be my choice. Well, one thing I'm sure gonna set her straight on is that she's gotta have a choice too."
"You say you're not sure if you're capable of 'it.' What exactly is 'it?'" the Immortal asked.
"Caring as much about her as she obviously does me," Amy said. She shuddered, and told Buffy, "Buffy, she tried to KILL those kids because they were shooting at me. That spell she cast, I've never seen anything like that before."
"What? You throw fireballs with the best of them," Buffy pointed out.
"Yeah, but Shaw's magic is usually more, well, I guess subtle is the word. Or maybe precise. You know, healing, defense. The offense she does have is for close in, hand to hand type stuff."
"She's a nature girl, you should have expected something like this."
Amy shook her head. "Yeah, fire, air, which I've seen. But tapping into something like this," she said, waving her hand up to the rainy sky, "and controlling it? Goddess, that's scary." Amy considered it, and clarified her point. "It's not the lightning that scares me, Buffy. I could cast a lightning bolt easy. It's that she's THAT tuned into the nature stuff. I mean, Willow can relate a little bit, she's a Wiccan. But Shaw puts her to shame."
"There's a big diff in knowing about nature and being connected to it," Buffy reasoned.
"Yeah, no kidding."
The two neared the exit where Steve's Century rental was parked, and Amy brought up another question.
"Buffy, what happened at the meeting? The Headless Horseman?"
"Yeah," Buffy said, a little fear in her voice. "Ares brought him here to kill Connor and drive Shaw bonkers. Connor was losing, and Shaw showed up. They threw everything they had, swords, daggers, bullets, you name it. Ares kept using magic, or so we figure, to help the Horseman. He ended up using a spell to make Shaw's sword go through the Horseman, and into Connor."
"Shaw stabbed Connor?" Amy asked in dread, her eyes wide as was her mouth. "Did she freak?"
"Amy, she went berserko," Buffy said. "She was trying to protect Connor, and she kicked the crap out of the Horseman. She cut off a hand, and one leg, all I had to do was cut him twice to send him back to Hell."
"It scared you, didn't it?" Amy asked, recognizing the tone of Buffy's voice.
"Yeah, it did. Not just the fit, but she was actually focused, and her skill level went UP. I wonder if she would have taken me, if it had come to it."
Amy stopped at the back seat passenger's door. "No way."
"Yes, way," the Slayer muttered. "What scares me is that this time, she focused the anger. She didn't just get pissed, she controlled it. She even cast a spell during it. And she was doing it to protect Connor. And with the stuff we DO know she's gone through, I can understand her anger. It's just, well, she got angry because she cared about Connor. And that's what I can't figure out."
"What do you mean?" Amy asked, trying to get the Slayer to elaborate.
"How can someone who's had so much shit thrown her way still give THAT much of a damn about everyone else, and not ask for one damn thing in return?"
Amy didn't have the answer for that, either.
Ghostbusters' Headquarters
New York City, New York
Early hours
23 November 1998
As the two Buick Century rentals pulled up to the old firehouse, Xander stared at the Ghostbusters' headquarters with a look of disbelief.
"You have got to be kidding me," he said sarcastically. "This is the base for Horace's best and brightest?"
"Maybe if you're good," Cordelia snapped, "they'll let you slide down the pole."
To Cordy's immense dismay, Xander actually brightened at that comment, starting to look like a kid in a candy store. "Really? Cool!"
As he got out of the car, the Amazon brunette turned to Maxine. "You see what I put up with?"
"Hey, I got it worse," Maxine said, a smirk on her face. "I gotta put up with Connor. He's my teacher AND my boss."
Both women exited the car, and waited for Steve to take the initiative.
"We sure we wanna go in?" Maxine asked. "This is these guys' turf."
"I've been here before, Maxine," Steve said with a grin. "Okay, Buffy and Connor will join me in Egon's office, the rest of you just try to keep out of trouble."
"Easier said than done," Xander said with a grin. It disappeared when a loud 'smack' was heard. "OW!!!"
"I didn't hit you that hard, dweeb," Cordelia said.
"My nose is broken, and you just jarred it!"
"Quit complaining, or I'll break something else," the Amazon promised.
"Enough!" Steve snapped, finally losing his patience. "We could use their help. Behave, or I'll kick both your asses."
That threat made both Slayerettes shrink back a bit.
Buffy went up to Steve and asked, "So, tell me, honey. What's this Egon guy like?"
"Imagine Giles' American twin," Steve said as if it were nothing.
"You're kidding," Buffy said in surprise.
"Nope. Same way of speaking, only in American."
"Oh, God. We're gonna be here for hours." Buffy considered it for a minute before her face went pale. "Or worse."
"How can it be worse?" Amy asked.
"If Steve calls home to check in, and the Egon guy actually begins a conversation with Giles," she said.
"What are you worried about?" Xander asked. "You're Immortal."
"Exactly," Buffy said.
Steve just shook his head in frustration, heading for the front door.
The door opened before he reached it, and Janine stepped out. She looked the group up and down, and a smile appeared on her face. "Hey, Steve. Long time, no see."
"Hey, Janine," he said calmly. "How's Egon doing? You two finally hook up?"
"I'm workin' on it. Egon finds love to be 'unscientific.' Come on in." Janine turned and walked back in, holding the door from inside.
"Before I do, how's he reacting to what happened?" the Wanderer asked.
"He wasn't too thrilled, until Kylie stood up for your witch and your elf," Janine called out. "Right now, he's more interested in your case than getting even."
"Okay," Steve said, releasing a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding. Steve was the first through the door, followed by Buffy. Steve started to ask Janine a question, but didn't get the first word out before a high-pitched, cartoon-like voice called out as a large blur flew at the pair of Immortals.
"Shhhhteven!!"
Steve's eyes widened, and he quickly ducked, grabbing Buffy by the shoulders and taking her with him. The green-colored blur flew over their heads and plowed straight into the next person coming through the door.
Cordelia.
The thing threw its arms around Cordelia and gave her a big, sloppy kiss.
"MMMMWWAAHHHH!!"
Apparently, the floating blob realized his mistake, and floated backwards a bit, looking at two intensely glaring eyes looking through a large mess of green goo covering her face, neck, and her blouse from its collar to her breasts. The blob started to look concerned, and his concern was justified when Cordelia let her feelings be known in the most quick, clear and efficient manner possible.
"AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!"
The green blob quickly panicked and flew away at top speed, screaming "Aaaaaahhhhh!!" at the top of whatever passed for its lungs, and he passed through a wall, leaving a splotch of green mess on the wall.
Xander and Amy quickly came through the door, looking for danger.
"Cordy, what's wrong?!?" Xander shouted.
Cordelia turned around, and the response was pretty much uniform.
"Eeeeeeeewwwww!!" Amy said, wrinkling her nose and covering her mouth in disgust.
"Cordelia," Xander said with a cocked eyebrow, "if you need a Kleenex, just say so."
Cordelia ignored him and snarled, "That half-elf is SO DEAD!! First my hair, and now my outfit!"
The Ghostbusters had quickly come downstairs in response to the screams, and started snickering at the sight of the Slimed Amazon.
"Hey," Garrett called out after Cordelia's comment about Shaw, "at least she didn't try to hit you with a lightning bolt."
"Shaw'd never do that to Cordy," Xander replied with a smile. "Cordy'd never attack Amy, and it's hard to cast that spell in sunny California."
Eduardo looked over to Roland. "Yo, Roland. Wanna rent a U-Haul, load up the containment unit, and move to LA?"
"I don't think Egon would like that," Roland said dryly.
Steve pulled Buffy up, and smiled. "Nice try, Janine. See the Spud's still with you, huh?"
"Yeah, and still eating us outta house and home," the administrative assistant said, returning his smile. "Egon's waiting for you in the office."
"Okay, try to keep the youngsters out of trouble for me," he said, escorting Buffy and Connor into Egon's office.
"Who's the Spud?" Buffy asked.
"Slimer, the ghost that just gave Cordelia the Ghostbuster welcome."
"Slimer?" Connor said, trying to keep a straight face. "It fits."
Steve walked into Egon's office, and Buffy and Connor quickly followed. The original Ghostbuster looked up from his notepad, and nodded a greeting.
"Welcome back to New York, Steve."
"Wow, you weren't kidding," Buffy said, staring at Egon.
"I beg your pardon?" Egon asked curiously.
"He even wears the same glasses," Buffy muttered.
Egon looked at Steve, who shrugged. "She's comparing you to someone she knows."
"Who?"
"Rupert Giles," the Wanderer said innocently.
"Former curator of the British Museum," Egon said in recognition. "He left their employment a few years ago, and disappeared from England."
"Hey! He's my Watcher," Buffy protested. "He works at the library at my high school."
"Where's this?" Egon asked. "Steve, who is this young lady?"
Buffy took the initiative herself. "Buffy Summers of Sunnydale, California. Slayer at large," she said by way of introduction, with a smile as she awaited Dr. Spengler's reaction.
"The Slayer," he repeated, giving her nothing more than an upraised eyebrow. "Hmmmmm. Interesting."
"Giles' American twin?" Connor asked innocently, drawing a glare from St. Wolf. "You were right."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Egon said with a touch of rare humor. "Steve, how about taking a seat, and I'll listen to your side of the story. I have to admit, I'm confused about what the exact situation is, so why don't you begin?"
"Okay, the short version," Steve said as all three took their seats. "Shaw Hunter, one of my group, has had a spell cast on her by Ares. It's raising her levels of anger, and unbalancing the rest of her emotions. I've got the spell to cure her, but the hard part is finding her and getting her to return to Sunnydale."
"One moment, Steve," Egon said. He looked at his notes. "Are you saying that she doesn't want to return? She did run off after using the magic in the park, according to what the others told me."
"Guilt trip," Buffy answered. At Egon's look, and a nod for her to continue, she frowned. "Once she found out the whole shooting match was an accident, she freaked out over nearly nuking your guys like flies in a bug zapper."
"Buffy," Steve warned with a growl before taking over the narrative. "She set up a meeting with Connor here, in Central Park to meet with him, and hopefully come home. Problem is, Ares somehow found out about the meeting, and recruited the Horseman to kill Connor. Why the Horseman, I don't know. Shaw showed up, and she and Connor did some major damage, including a berserker rage from Shaw when Connor was knocked out. She fears that part of herself, and ran off while Buffy mopped up, sending the Horseman back where he came from."
"I don't think it'll be that easy, Steven," Spengler said. "The Horseman can only be summoned by taking his head and hiding it. If Ares still has the head, you might not have seen the last of the demon."
Buffy and Connor went pale at that, but Steve just shrugged.
"That's why I carry Demon Slayer."
"Yes, of course." Egon looked over some more notes, and asked, "So what about the encounter between your people and mine?"
"From what Amy says, she told them to follow her, and they decided not to take the chance she was with the Horseman. Shaw saw Amy being shot at, and decided to help out her cousin. And before you ask, I'll explain that in a minute. Shaw and Amy raised shields, Shaw's got penetrated, and she cast that lightning spell after your team concentrated their firepower on Amy's shield. And I think it says something that Amy shielded them from that last bolt, and the fact that Shaw ran off over the guilt she felt about this."
"I see," Egon muttered, and he looked at Connor. "May I ask what your involvement in this is, Mister. .?"
"Connor MacLeod," Connor said, offering his hand to Egon. "I have three connections to Shaw. First, I was once her teacher in martial arts. Second, I'm her sponsor as an exchange student from Scotland."
"Please pardon the interruption," Egon said apologetically, "but if she's half-elven. . ."
"I'm sure you can understand the need for 'official' records, Dr. Spengler," MacLeod replied politely. "The third connection, also 'official,' so to speak, is that her great-grandmother was a member of my clan in Scotland. To solidify the link between me and her, for being in America."
"I do understand, Mr. MacLeod," Egon said. He looked at Buffy and Steve, and asked one more question. "And this relationship with. ." a quick look at his notes. . ."Amy?"
"That's the truth," Steve said. "Shaw is over fifty years old, I'm sure you know about elven lifespans, right?" When Egon nodded agreeably, Steve continued. "Okay, simplest form, Shaw's great-grandmother was a sister to Amy's great-great-grandmother. The link is on Shaw's paternal and human side, and on Amy's maternal side. And a branch of Immigration that knows about this has already taken a DNA sample with Shaw's permission, if you or Horace have any doubts."
"Your word's always good, Steve," Spengler said, closing up his notebook. "I haven't reported to Horace, partly because this was obviously a mix-up, mostly because I don't want to admit to him that my kids were shown up by you. But before I commit to helping you, I need to know; the anger that this girl carries, what causes it?"
"Seeing someone fuck with her friends," Buffy snapped before considering what she was saying.
"Buffy."
Steve's single word, with the lack of emotion, brought her under control quickly, and she looked somewhat sheepish.
"Sorry, Mr. Spengler," she said softly. "It's just, she's been through major crap, and Ares is getting his fuzzies by screwing with her and us."
"I understand, Ms. Summers," Egon said. He got up, and walked over to a cabinet. "Steve, can you tell me how you plan to take her home?"
"Convince her of the danger. We HAVE been able to tell her what, and who, is happening to her." Steve stood up, and asked, "What information are you looking for?"
"What weaknesses does she have, that we can take advantage of, should we need to take her by force?"
Steve seemed to be seriously considering the question, but Buffy jumped up and shouted, "Now wait a minute!"
"Buffy, he does have a point," Steve whispered. "Shaw nearly killed four people tonight."
"And it wouldn't have happened if they hadn't fired at Amy," she responded. "I know, we can go back and forth all night, but I don't like the idea of telling them how to kill Shaw. No way."
"Buffy. ."
"I'm your second in command, right?" Buffy demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "The assistant boss, Spock to Kirk, Pippen to your Jordan? Well, this is one decision we need to discuss."
Steve looked back and forth, between Egon and Buffy, and didn't say anything until he looked at Connor. "Connor? What's your opinion?"
As the other two looked at him, he slowly stood up. "How about this? We tell them weaknesses that won't hurt her, but can give us a psychological advantage." The Scot looked at Buffy, and asked, "Simple things, that can help us. Is that okay?"
Buffy nodded with the slightest reluctance. "Inside limits, Steve."
"Okay," he said, turning to Egon. "Shaw has a few things we can take advantage of. One, the fact we're in such a large city. She's sort of claustrophobic when it comes to urban areas. She's the wilderness type, and she might head for something like that, if there is one in the Big Apple. Second is her lack of experience in city situations. She knows how to blend in, but she looks to the rest of us for advice. Third, the one that helps us the most, is her desire to help people and her tendency to fight defensively. She rarely strikes the first blow, but if she's pressed and gets an opening, she'll strike hard and fast. She does that to make the kill quick and clean. If something suffers, it causes her guilt. And that's another one. Right now, she's almost certainly feeling guilt over the mistake in the park. She'll be more reluctant to go to such drastic measures again."
"All right, Steve," Egon replied. "No iron or caffeine."
"Iron wouldn't work on her anyway, Egon," Steve said. "Different race of elf. But otherwise, she has the same normal weaknesses as a normal, everyday human."
"Okay, that'll do. Let me talk to Horace, and then if you need to talk to him, you can."
"Actually, I do need to call Sunnydale, and check in with my people. Living on the Hellmouth is hectic to say the least."
When Buffy groaned softly, Egon looked at her curiously. "Is something wrong?"
"Just that if you talk to Giles, and talk LIKE Giles, your phone bill's gonna be bigger than Bill Gate's checking account."
As Steve closed Egon's office door behind him, Janine turned to the rest of the crowd.
"Okay, kids, how 'bout you go upstairs and wait a bit," she suggested. "This might take a little while."
"Hello?" Cordelia snapped, extending her arms out, showing off her mess. "Bathroom?"
"Follow me," Kylie said, pointing in one direction. "Slimer's 'presents' are easy to wash off."
"What about my clothes?" Cordy asked irritably.
"Uh, not so easy."
The Amazon muttered something under her breath and the others chuckled at her situation as Kylie led her into the Ghostbusters' locker room.
At this point, Xander turned to Roland. "Hey, Wowand. First aid woom?"
"Right," he said. "This way." Roland and Xander headed in the opposite direction, and Garrett turned to Amy.
"Guess that leaves us until they get done," he said.
"Oh, I can hardly wait," Amy said frostily. As Garrett started to make a smart reply, Amy held up her hand. "Let me save us some time. You're pissed 'cause I threw a fireball at you and Shaw tried to fry you. I'm pissed 'cause you shot at me."
"That was a warning shot," Garrett clarified.
"And I tend to hit what I aim at," Amy added. "So enough on that. We have something more important to talk about."
"Your 'cousin?'" Eduardo asked, still not convinced about that part of their story. "How the hell are you cousins with an elf?"
Amy looked at Garrett. "Does he ever listen to a word anyone says?"
"Yeah," Garrett said. "But he decides what parts he actually listens to."
"Okay, one more time," Amy said, looking at Eduardo. "Shaw's dad was human. Shaw's great-grandma had a sister. That was MY great-great grandma. Shaw's nanny lived in Colorado, moved to Scotland. Mine lived in Colorado, moved to California. Simple enough for you?"
Eduardo gave her a dirty look. "Yeah, it is. I'm not an idiot, you know."
"You just play one on TV," Garrett said with a smartass grin. He gave Amy a look of confusion. "I did notice that Shaw only had one 'great' in there?"
"She's fifty-three years old," Amy said as if it weren't a big deal. "And in half-elf terms, that's about seventeen."
"So she's a fifty year old teenager?" Eduardo asked dumbly.
Amy looked at him, smiled, and then looked back at Garrett. "Okay, you were right. He's not totally lost."
Eduardo frowned and started to steam, but Garrett turned to Maxine. "How about you? What's your story?"
"I help Connor," she said with a shrug. "He's my boss, I know vamps are out there, so I help 'im out."
"With a sword?" Janine asked. "Why not something better?"
"What, you think bullets work on a vampire?" Maxine held up her sword. "This, on the other hand, makes things simple. Cut off the bugger's head, no more vamp. Lot quieter, too."
"How do you explain carrying that pigsticker with you?" Eduardo asked.
"I tell 'em the truth," the Immortal said.
Amy was shocked. "You TELL them?!?"
"Yeah," Maxine said, popping her gum for emphasis. "You'd be amazed at what tellin' some jackoff yer from Jersey will let you get away with."
It took Amy about five seconds to register that, and she rolled her eyes. "Connor deserves you," she muttered.
"Oh, come on. I'm worse than Connor," she said cheerfully.
As the tension began to leave, Roland and Xander walked back into the garage, Xander wearing a band aid over his nose.
"Is it as bad as it looks?" Amy asked.
"Naw, it's just cwacked," the male Slayerette said. "But if we'd found Saw, a heawing spell would've been nice."
At the look of pain that suddenly crossed Amy's face, he sighed. "I didn't mean it dat way, Amy."
"I know," the witch said softly. "We've had a rough three weeks, and it's finally catching up."
"I know. Anyway," he said, looking at Roland, "why don't we head upstairs? Steve could take a while to finish wid your boss. I don feel wike waiting for him."
"Or for your girlfriend to finish blowing her nose?" Eduardo asked with a smirk. When Xander glared at him, his stance became less than friendly. "What, you got a problem?"
"Yeah," Xander said evenly. "You're stealing my wines."
Eduardo's eyes went wide, and he moved into Xander's face, and the two started trading smart comments.
Off to the side, Maxine looked at Janine. "Janine, right? You got a kitchen? I'm suddenly dying for some coffee."
"Me, too," the secretary said, both of them bailing out and leaving the other kids alone to deal with Xander and Eduardo.
Garrett was the first one to realize the possible problems of keeping the two in the same room.
"Uh, Amy?"
"Yep," she answered, before he could even get the question off. "I'll wait down here."
"Oh no, you don't," Garrett said. "If we have to put up with him, you have to put up with Eduardo."
Amy winced at the idea. "I'll keep a disintegration spell online, just in case."
"What are you talking about?" Roland asked, trying to follow their conversation.
"Xander and Eduardo," Amy replied. "Dueling one-liners."
Roland said, "Oh, no. How about casting that spell now, to save us the trouble?"
Before Amy could respond, Xander and Eduardo backed away from each other, and Amy looked at Xander.
"Okay, who won that round?"
"Neider," he answered. "We agweed it'd be much mow fun to mess with evweyone else, espesially Cody. Whoever gets off mow wines, wins."
Garrett looked back at Amy. "Is that bad?"
"Yep."
At this point, Kylie and Cordelia walked out of the locker room, and Cordelia had a look of disgust on her face. The reason was because she was wearing one of the Ghostbusters' coverall uniforms.
Before Xander could even draw breath, Cordy spitted him with an intense look. "Don't start, Dweeb Boy."
She looked at Amy, a look of hope replacing the anger. "Amy, don't you have a spell to make this into something decent?"
The blonde shook her head. "No. I could do color, but I don't like messing with transmutation spells."
"So much for the advantages of bringing a witch along," Cordelia muttered. She looked at Kylie, and said, "So, we go upstairs or what?"
"Why not?" Kylie said. "You can tell us what it's like hunting vampires, demons, and living on the mouth of Hell."
The three male Ghostbusters all looked at Kylie in shock.
"The mouth of Hell?" Roland asked for all of them.
Kylie looked at Amy, and they both shrugged. "It's a dimension thing," Amy said.
After heading upstairs, the kids had made some good progress on telling their histories, battles, and some of the generally paranormal messes they'd had to deal with, making passing the time into something of a rap session. They had worked their way up to September, and it was the Slayerette's turn, having turned the talk into a sort of contest to see who'd had the weirder time of it.
"Okay," Kylie said, looking at Cordelia, "September. School starts. We get to fight all kinds of ghosts, including the raysvelt. A weather-controlling reptile out of Norse mythology. And after he was taken care of, we still had to deal with the tornado he left behind."
"September?" Cordelia asked, a look of thought coming to her face. "Okay, Amy, your turn."
"Gee, thanks," the witch muttered.
"What's the pwobwem? See's your cousin," Xander said.
"Okay, okay," she said. She gathered her thoughts, and said, "All right, Kylie. Keep in mind, we've had this information confirmed, as hard as it'll be to believe. Hell, WE didn't believe it at first."
"Just get on with the story," Garrett said, before looking at Roland. "I think we're ahead on points."
"Okay," Amy said, pretending not to hear the challenge in Garrett's voice. "September, Buffy and Steve are on vacation, and we're thinking, school starting, we'll get some downtime. Ohhh, no. Angel, Spike and Dru, the vamps we told you about, show back up in town at the same time as Shaw does, because a prophecy is about to come about."
"God, how many prophecies have you gone through?" Eduardo asked.
"We're charter members of the Pwophecy of duh Month cwub," Xander said. The battle of the puns had been more or less a draw to this point, but was continuing.
"Anyway," Amy continued, "Shaw's pretending to be a full-blooded human, 'cause she knows she's part of the prophecy. We know about the prophecy, but not about Shaw's involvement. The kicker, we know about each other being involved in fighting vamps, but not about each other being involved in the prophecy. Xander thought Shaw was a demon, a new Slayer, an Amazon, etcetera."
"Why?" Kylie asked.
"Saw's eyes gwow wed in the dock," Xander explained. "Se sees by body heat witout enough wight. In daytime, see sees wike evweyone else."
"Infrared?" Roland asked, and Xander nodded with a smile.
"It's an elven thing," Cordelia added.
"Anyway, once Shaw was told about me and Randi, she's the one carrying Joan of Arc's sword, she came to the library and helped Willow and Giles beat up Spike and Dru. That's when she told everyone that she was the great-granddaughter of my long-lost relative."
"How'd you take having a half-elf witch doctor as a cousin?" Eduardo asked.
"Not good. Of course, she hardly blinked at my being an Amazon witch." Amy looked at Garrett. "Short version, Shaw, Dru and Randi were all involved in the major parts of the prophecy. Dru solved the puzzle while Spike and Angel killed a nightmare demon sent to kill her. Randi used Joanie's sword to cut off the Cenobite's head."
"What's a Cenobite?" Roland asked.
"A demon, and a powerful one," Kylie asked, but it only drew more blank looks.
"Imagine Wocutus of Bowg wid bodypiercing all wover his head," Xander said, and the looks went from blank to sick. <I'm ahead of you now, Eduardo.>
"And Shaw?" Kylie asked.
Xander answered. "Suved her own sword true her guds to stab Ninja Boy true duh hard."
The Ghostbusters went white, except for Roland, who went green.
"WHAT?!?" they asked in unison.
"Se was being stwangled at duh time," Xander said.
"You just HAD to tell them that part," Cordelia said sourly.
"Hey, dey wanted to know," Xander said. "If dis was a movie, it'd barwey wate a PG-13 nowadays. And two weeks ago, we got to go to San Fwan to find the ashes of Dwacula."
The Ghostbusters were stunned at that proclamation, although Garrett tried to call what he saw as a bluff.
"Prove it."
"You prove it," Cordy said, an evil grin on her face. "Call Horace, and ask him what Tunafish was doing two, three weeks ago."
"Tunafish was there?" Kylie asked.
"Yep," Amy said. "Good people. If you get to work with them, you'll have a good time."
"I'll take your word for it," Garrett said to himself. He turned his wheelchair to Amy. "Amy, I got a question. What's your cousin like? Normally, I mean."
"Define 'normal,'" Cordelia said, drawing a nasty look from the witch.
"When she's not getting the Jedi Mind Trick laid on her by some doofus," Eduardo said in an attempt to expand upon Garrett's question, as well as pull back into the competition with Xander.
Amy's face took on a hard look, and Kylie saw the confrontation coming if someone didn't do something fairly quickly.
"Amy, really, what's she like?" the female Ghostbuster asked.
The witch's temper settled, but she appeared hesitant to answer the question. "Actually, telling someone what Shaw's like can be kind of hard. . ."
"Mix Seven of Nine wid Joan of Awk, add two scoops of Xena," Xander said without hesitation.
". . .or not," Amy finished, glaring at her fellow Slayerette. "Et tu, Xander?"
"Hey, it saved you duh twouble," he said with a smile.
Cordelia looked at Kylie. "You have to put up with this kind of crap from Eduardo?"
"Yeah," Kylie said in disgust. "But, he usually gets himself into the most trouble, so we don't have to do anything about it."
"I just slap Xander," Cordy countered. "Like this."
She slapped Xander, who shouted, "Ow!"
"I'll have to keep that in mind," Kylie said, looking at Eduardo, who gulped. "Of course, I'd use a proton pack."
"Anyway, why's she in New York?" Roland asked.
"Well, while we were in Frisco," Amy answered, "Shaw was holding down the fort in Sunnydale, along with a couple of others. Ares cast the spell on her, and when she realized something was wrong, she booked 'cause she was worried about hurting someone. She went to Santa Carla, looked up some friends there, then went to Seacouver, ran when she got mixed up about something someone said, and now she's here. Connor was her martial arts trainer, and she trusted him to help her."
"Enter the walking ghost story," Eduardo said.
"Yeah, no shit," Amy said. "Buffy tells me Shaw and Connor kicked his ass around Central Park, but Connor got hurt, and Shaw went nutzoid. . ."
"Hulk Mode," Xander said.
Amy sighed in frustration, but ignored the comment. "She beat the demon, gutted him twice, cut off one arm and leg each, and was about to finish him when she realized she was berserk. She ran, scared shitless. The rest, you know, 'cause that's when she found us going back and forth on each other."
"And now we're here," Roland finished up.
"So what do you guys do when you're not out saving the world?" Eduardo asked.
"Most of us go to high school or to the local college," Amy said. "We do teenage stuff, and take turns patrolling the town."
"Even your fifty-year old teenage cousin?" Garrett asked.
"Yeah, except for the teenage stuff," Cordelia said, and before Amy could reply, the brunette looked at her. "Seriously, Amy. The Bronze is hard, 'cause the music messes with her hearing, she hates shopping 'cause she's Miss Modesty as well as the other problem, and before she started driving and slinging the Uzi after Ares zapped her, she was techno-challenged 'cause of the dimension thing."
Amy buried her face in her hands. "You had to mention Toril," she muttered dismally.
"What?" she asked, and then she saw the stares from the Ghostbusters.
"Shaw's from another dimension?" Eduardo asked. "Sounds like something off Star Trek."
"Which Shaw hates," Xander said. "The ear ting."
Garrett looked at Amy, with a suspicious look in his eyes. "Amy, you said she's from a planet called Toril?"
"Yeah," Amy sighed. "It's a long story. Simple version, wizard comes to Earth. Witch meets wizard. Witch and wizard exchange info on worlds. Witch goes to Toril on Lewis and Clark kick. Witch meets man, witch marries man, witch starts family. Fast forward to fifty years ago, Shaw's dad marries an elf, and if you've had The Talk with your folks, you know the rest."
"Would this wizard be named Elminster?" Garrett asked.
Amy's face shot up, turning red. "HOW THE FUCK DID YOU KNOW THAT NAME!!!"
"I'll take that as a yes," Kylie said softly.
"Uh, Garwett," Xander started, "don’d tell her about dat."
"About what?!?" Amy snapped, looking back at Xander. "What?!?"
Garrett cleared his throat, and everyone looked at him. "Uh, Amy, you said this info about your cousin had been confirmed?"
"Yeah, by Joanie," Amy said. "Came to the lunchroom at school, told us that Shaw was telling the truth. So did my boyfriend, Robin. I get the suspicion he knows more than he's telling, but I let it go. Why?"
Garrett didn't answer, instead heading over to his bunk and reaching into the drawer next to it. He pulled out a book, and brought it over to Amy. She took a look at the title. Her grip on the book started to tighten.
"Elminster, the Making of a Mage?!?" she said in disbelief. "Forgotten Realms?!?"
As she digested this, something shone in her eyes, and she turned back to Xander.
"You knew about this?" she demanded.
"Yeah, but if I had told you, you would've thought see was lying to us." Xander sighed, and added another thought. "And Wobin's sort of fwom another dimension himself, wight? He told you see was wegit. I figured you'd take his word over mine. And Saw doesn't know about dis. See doesn't wike duh E-man any better dan you do, and he's Merwin for dat world, wemember? How'd SEE take it if she found out dis guy's selwing his wife stowy as a sword-and-sorcery novel on our world?"
"Xander, if the story's true. ." she broke off and turned to Garrett. "Are there any others?"
"Plenty," he confirmed. "It's part of the Dungeons and Dragons stuff."
"She hasn't been there in fifteen years," Amy muttered, handing the book back to Garrett. "This would let her know what's happened since she left."
"And if she decides she wants to go back?" Cordelia asked.
"See won't," Xander said firmly. "I told you dat. She has famiwee here."
"One question," Garrett said, raising his hand. "Why doesn't she like him? He's the living legend or whatever."
"Who knew her backgwound, and didn't tell her after vampires on her world killed her famiwee," Xander said. "If see'd known, it might've saved her some major sit. Which we don't have the wight to tell you."
The Ghostbusters looked curious, and disappointed that the Slayerettes wouldn't tell them, but they let the point go.
"So what do you think our bosses are talking about?" Roland asked.
"Whether or not you can help us find Shaw, whether or not Shaw's gonna be charged with attempted murder," Amy said, looking at the Ghostbusters with a renewed trace of anger.
"Assault with a deadly wightning bolt," Xander muttered.
Amy turned on Xander. "Shut the fuck up, dammit! I've had en