Author: Tim Knight
Title: Be Careful What You Wish For
Copyright: January 2001
Rating: R
(Language, Fight Scenes, Descriptions of Horrific Events and Sexual Innuendo
(Well, this IS Vamp Willow we're talking about here))
Spoilers:
Buffy:
Season 2 until Phases.
Specific Episodes: The Wish and Dopplegangland. In
other words, you now know where this story is going. Or that is, you think you
do.....
Highlander:
Season 5 until Season finale. Richie Ryan lives and Season 6 does not take
place.
Specific Episodes: Quite a few. Season One finale and Season 2 opener,
Revelation 6:8 and Comes A Horseman, Archangel and Avatar.
Also, Highlander.
Yep, the flick that started it all.....
Hercules:
A couple, but they're the ones where it was Hercules playing Kevin Sorbo playing
Hercules playing Kevin Sorbo. You know which ones I'm talking about.
Keywords: Buffy/ Highlander/ X-Files/ Hercules: The Legendary Journeys/ Xena: Warrior
Princess/ Beverly Hills Cop/ Bureau 13/ Blade (the movie)/ Ghost Rider (Marvel
Comics)/ SERRAted Edge (by Mercedes Lackey)/ Aladdin (trust me).
Summary: In the aftermath of Witch Hunt and Hunter In Dark,
some new players (and old favorites) arrive in town, and the Scooby Gang must
decide who's who (or who's what) in a game of cat and mouse. Then, things get
really interesting, as Steve St. Wolf and Buffy Summers must assemble a team to
jump into another reality where neither Steve St. Wolf nor Buffy Summers ever
came to a quiet little town on the Hellmouth....
Legalese: All
characters except those noted below with their respective rights, properties and
copyrights are the property of their respective creators, authors, owners,
producers and agencies. These characters are used without permission. No
copyright infringement is intended or meant, and no money will be made from this
story. This story may be copied in its entirety, and may be distributed as long
as all copyright information remains.
The characters Shaw Hunter, Maxine Thomasson and Ulric Johansen are mine. Anyone
wishing to use them may contact me at doobytim@aol.com.
The characters Steve St. Wolf, Frank Iverson, Randi Jessup, Brian Jessup, Charlie,
Marc Le Chevalier, and Joe N'Gato and the Knights of the Order of the Grail are
property of Steve Pantovich, as is the universe in which this story takes place.
Steve can be contacted at steve711@concentric.net.
The character Robin Goodfellow is property of Mike Weyer.
Dedications:
First, to Steve, for letting me play in the Wandererverse and who, from this
moment forth, is likely going to be cursing the day he ever became smart alec
enough to suggest we unleash Vamp Willow on our beloved characters. Hey, I'm
only following the man's suggestions.....
Second, to Rebekah, the beta reader and Almighty Editor, who makes these stories
what they are. Nuff said.
Third, to Mike Weyer, for introducing Robin Goodfellow into the mix of the
Wandererverse, and for trading more dialogue than one story can handle.
Fourth, to Timbo, for some of the suggestions we traded when discussing the
possibilities beyond Sunnydale in the Wanderer version of the Wishverse. No,
I'm not telling....
Here are the changes from normal shows that may play a part in this story:
Buffy:
Due to her drowning at the hands of the Master in Prophecy Girl, Buffy is Immortal.
Passion and Becoming never took place, so Angel is evil, and Jenny and Kendra are alive
and well. Kendra has taken up residence in Sunnydale and is attending UC Sunnydale.
Amy Madison is a full time Slayerette.
Highander:
Richie Ryan is alive.
No Highlander: the Raven continuity.
Pretender:
Jarod and Parker are Immortal, and thought dead by the Centre.
Also, Sydney,
Broots, Angelo and Broots' daughter Debbie have taken up residence on the
Hellmouth.
X-Files:
Mulder and Scully are Immortal, and married. Skinner's their Watcher. Anyone who
doesn't like the relationship stories, you are warned.
Author's Notes: The Chapters will be noted as to which universe they take place in. Those
Chapters taking place in the universe we all know and love will be indicated as
the Wandererverse, whereas the Chapters taking place in the Wishverse will be
titled as such. Hopefully, this will avoid any confusion for the readers (and
the beta reader, who would kick my virtual @$$ if I screw this up).
Unnamed Factory
Sunnydale, California
Late hours
7 December 1998
Buffy slowly stalked her way through the crowd, her companion even more silent then she. As the object of her ire raised a glass, the contents of which she didn't care to think about, he smiled with his evil face.
"To the future," the Master said, raising the glass higher.
The crowd of vampires shouted the phrase, over and over, like a mantra or prayer chant.
"To the future! To the future! To the future!"
The Slayer raised her crossbow, and lined up her shot. When she was certain of her aim, she pulled the trigger. The shot went unerringly towards the bald vampire, but with inhuman reflexes, the Master grabbed one of his lackeys and pulled the vampire in front of him. The unwitting shield screamed as he took the quarrel in his right shoulder.
Buffy quickly lined up a second shot, but a vampire to her side knocked the weapon aside. Without hesitation, the young woman drew a stake and killed the vampire for his actions. As he burst into a cloud of ash, the vampires began to panic as they realized that the Slayer was among them.
A vampire came forward and swung at Buffy, but she ducked, jumping up and bringing her foot down to smash the back of his knee when the momentum from his miss took him past her.
Angel, the vampire she'd found imprisoned in the Bronze, attacked a vampire by the cage that held numerous humans, who'd been selected to have their blood drained by the assembly line machine designed by the Master and his minions. Angel, with his game face on, punched the vampire in the face and shoved him aside. He rushed to the gate and, before anyone could stop him, threw off the crossbar.
On the stage, a teenaged vampire with striking red hair noticed Angel's actions, and smiled.
"Uh oh," she said. "Puppy got out."
Angel, unaware of her attention, threw the gate open and began pulling many of the humans out, until the others realized that he was attempting to free them, at which point the living beings took matters into their own hands.
Meanwhile, Buffy twisted a second vampire's arm around, and gave him a jumping roundhouse kick as the first humans who'd exited the cage decided not to flee into the Sunnydale night, but to take revenge on their captors. As the gathering became a mass of confusion, several single people began to perform their own actions.
In the cage, the young man known to his friends as Oz broke off a piece of wood, having been splintered by Angel's vampiric strength, and deftly staked a vampire from behind. The humans and vampires had engaged in a mass melee, and the two vampires who had been on the stage with the Master, the boy who'd taken Buffy's crossbow bolt and the redheaded girl, jumped off the stage to join the battle.
Apartment of Rupert Giles
Sunnydale, California
Late hours
7 December 1998
Rupert Giles, member of the Council of Watchers, stared down Anyanka, the Patron Saint of Scorned Women, who'd answered his summons.
"Cordelia Chase," he demanded, naming the young woman who, according to what he and his teammates had been able to piece together, had inadvertently changed the world to an alternate reality, "What did she wish for?"
Anyanka smiled, and said, "I had no idea her wish would be so exciting! Brave new world. Hope she likes it."
Giles snarled at the demon's attitude, and promised, "I'm going to change it back."
Anyanka started to approach Giles, who quickly began chanting in Latin. Anyanka stopped in surprise at the recognition of the spell Giles was casting, and suddenly screamed, her necklace beginning to glow with a luminescent green color.
Buffy ducked a vampire's punch, and smashed the back of his knee with a kick identical to the one she'd done to one of her earlier opponents. The scarred Slayer then grabbed him by the shirt, and threw him over the conveyor belt to the machine.
As the vampire flew over the belt, he grabbed onto a piece of machinery to try to break his momentum. What happened instead was that he tore the piece off, and it crushed his ribs as he landed with the full weight of the item on his chest.
Buffy punched a second vampire in the face, and gave a spinning elbowsmash to a third, who she'd sensed coming up behind her. As the second vampire recovered from her punch, the Chosen One grabbed him and sent him barreling into the third.
Looking around, Buffy spotted a fresh opponent, the redheaded teenager, and went to make her own unique brand of introductions.
As Giles continued chanting, the necklace that served as the power center of Anyanka, the Vengeance Demon, pulsed twice in rapid succession. With each pulse, Anyanka shuddered in pain.
Willow Rosenberg, one of the Master's favorites, swung at Buffy, but Buffy ducked her blow and backhand punched the vampire in the face. As Willow staggered from the force of the blow, Buffy roundhouse kicked her in the stomach, knocking the redhead to the ground. Buffy the spun once again, and backhanded yet another vampire. Sensing another vampire coming up, she spun again. This time, she faced the vampire calling himself Xander.
Without hesitation, Buffy grabbed the vampire's shoulder, and drove her knee into him three times; the first two times in the stomach, the third time in the face. She left him clutching at his face, and turned to find someone else to fight.
Xander regained his feet, and pulled out the stake that she'd shot into his shoulder. Seeing him preparing to backstab the Slayer, Angel moved to block his attack.
As Xander saw Angel closing in on him, a strange green light enveloped both of them, and they suddenly vanished into thin air.
Buffy, preoccupied with staking a lower-level vamp, never noticed the strange occurrence.
As her screams grew louder, forcing Giles to raise his voice to make the spell heard over her, Anyanka's necklace pulsed again, not noticed by Giles or his target.
Buffy caught a vampire attempting to blindside her, and threw a backhand punch, sending him flying. She looked for a fresh foe, and set her sights on the one and only Master, who was tossing humans off of the stage left and right as if they were toys.
The Slayer started to make her way towards him, and Willow noticed, beginning to run towards the stage to intercept her.
However, she was grabbed by one arm by the large, muscular White Hat known as Larry. Even with her vampiric strength, it would take some effort to free herself of the massive football player. But, at that point, Oz shook himself free of a vampire, and grabbed Willow's other arm.
Nodding towards a piece of wood sticking out of the cage, the White Hats made ready to throw her back into it to stake her, but hesitated when a green light surrounded her. Before they could finish their team maneuver, she vanished right out of their hands.
Oz looked at the sight, and said, "Huh."
"Beam me up, Dracula," Larry said. "Does it really matter how she's gone?"
Oz just shook his head, noticing the Master watching the woman the vampires called the Slayer making her way towards him.
The Master slid down the stair railings from the stage and began to move forward, shoving aside anyone in his way, human or vampire, in his haste to engage the Slayer in hand-to-hand combat.
Buffy Summers did the same.
As Giles' spell reached its crescendo, and Anyanka collapsed to the floor in excruciating pain, her necklace pulsed one last time, and stopped glowing.
Giles stepped back from the prone Vengeance Demon, waiting to see what happened.
Buffy and the Master started trading blows, swinging and blocking each other's strikes. Buffy saw an opening, and wrapped her hands around the Master's left forearm. Seeing an opening of his own, the Master swung his arm in a backhand punch that snapped Buffy's head around, dazing her.
As her head came back around, her eyes glassy with shock, the Master grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her forward. He wrapped his large hands around her neck, and lifted her off the ground.
As he prepared to squeeze, and snap her neck, the Master was blinded by the green glow that suddenly covered his opponent. As he released his hold, and she began to drop to the ground, she vanished, leaving the ancient vampire completely confused as to this turn of events as many humans, having the openings presented by the White Hats, the Slayer, and Angel, took off into the night and freedom.
Giles looked around in confusion, wondering why the spell hadn't taken effect. As he mused, Anyanka jumped to her feet, and stared at her necklace.
"Nooooooooo!" she screamed, realizing what had happened.
"Why didn't the spell work?" the Watcher demanded of the distraught demon.
Glaring at him in impotent fury, she shouted, "You incompetent fool! All you have done is negate my powers of the Wish! This world is now permanent!"
Anyanka vanished in a burst of light, leaving Giles staring at the spot she'd occupied.
With the demon's final words ringing in his mind, Rupert Giles looked to the Heavens, and whispered, "What have I done?"
Sunnydale High School
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
10 December 1998
"Auuuuugh!"
The Slayerettes looked up from their lunches to see Cordelia looking in frustration at a sheet of paper. She seemed to be stumped on something, and was almost ready to break her pen in half, if the grip she had on it was any indication.
"What's wrong, Cordelia?" Buffy asked her friend.
"This stupid yearbook thing," the Amazon explained, waving the sheet of paper as if that action would explain what was irritating her. "Under hobbies, I can only list three. How am I supposed to pick only three?"
"Maybe you could put down your three favorite hobbies," Willow offered. "That's one way."
"Yeah, but how do I figure out which hobbies are my favorites?" Cordelia asked, lowering her eyes to glare at the questionnaire that had dared to complicate her life.
"That would seem so be easy enough."
The entire group of Slayerettes looked at the person who'd spoken aloud, and Cordelia said, "Really, Hunter? How do you know?"
Shaw shrugged and said, "Based on what I have observed in my time here, I could offer my guesses as to your favorite hobbies. I freely admit I could be wrong in my guesses, but it might provide the beginnings of a solution for your problem."
Cordelia thought about it, and said, "Okay, Shaw. What do you think my favorite hobbies are?"
Without hesitation, and in complete seriousness, the half-elf said, "Shopping, playing matchmaker, and slapping Xander on the back of the head."
The Slayerettes, save Cordelia, Xander and Shaw, began snickering at the answer that Shaw had given her friend.
Xander looked at Cordelia, and said, "The sad thing is, she's being serious."
"I know," the dark-haired woman grumbled. She sighed, and said, "I guess I can come back to it later. What did you put down, Hunter?"
"Nothing," she replied. Before anyone could comment, she elaborated. "As I am only a junior, I do not have to fill out one of those questionnaires."
The Scooby Gang stared at the small smile on Shaw's face for a few seconds, and looked around at each other.
"When a junior can rub something in a senior's face, that's a bad thing," Xander said to the group.
"Are you getting your picture taken, at least?" Buffy asked.
Shaw nodded her head, and said, "Amy explained that this is something of a tradition, and she convinced me to participate in it."
"You are going to dress up, right?" Amy asked the half-elf. "It's what you're supposed to do for pictures."
"Yes," Shaw sighed slightly. "I might need help to decide what to wear."
"We'll help," Cordelia said happily. Any chance to get the Faerun-born woman more into the Earth way of fashion was a challenge she relished. "Well, we girls will. We'd never inflict Xander's fashion sense on you."
"Hey!"
"Why not?" Shaw asked the Amazon.
"Because he doesn't have one," Buffy pointed out.
"Hey!" Xander snapped again, before a pain shot through his head. "OW!"
The Slayerettes all stared at Cordelia, who let a small moan escape her lips as she realized why they were staring at her.
<Maybe Shaw has a point,> Cordelia mumbled to herself. Looking down the list of her questionnaire, she moaned again. "Student quote? What in the name of Artemis is that?"
"It's where you put in a quote to immortalize yourself in the yearbook," Willow replied with a smile. "It'll go beneath your name and picture in the yearbook."
"Don't feel bad," Buffy told Cordelia with a grin. "A lot of seniors are caught on that one, too."
"You too, Buffy?" Amy asked, virtually confessing to being stuck on that point as well.
Buffy's grin widened, and she said, "No, not really. That one was easy for me."
The Slayerettes, save for Oz and Shaw, glared at the smug Immortal Slayer, who just kept on smiling.
"All right, Buffy," Willow asked for the others. "Spill. What'd you put down?"
"Just a little something I said to Giles last year," Buffy answered. She pulled her paper out of her pocket, and read, "'If the Apocalypse comes, beep me.'"
"Appropriate," Xander said out loud. Looking around, he asked, "Anyone else find his or hers easy?"
Oz just smiled, and most of the Slayerettes groaned again.
"It figures," Cordelia muttered.
St. Wolf Residence
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
10 December 1998
The Slayerettes sat around Steve St. Wolf's living room, relaxing and cooling off after a fairly grueling training session. Willow and Xander walked out of the kitchen with their arms loaded with sodas and other drinks, and began passing them out to the rest of the team.
"Here, Steve," Xander called, tossing a Coke to the demon hunter. Tossing a Pepsi to Oz, he said, "Oz, Pepsi for you, and grape juice for Hunter."
Shaw gratefully caught the drink, and Xander and Willow finished handing out the refreshments. Sitting down (or plopping, in Xander's case), the Amazon and empowered man opened their own pops.
"So honey," Buffy asked, cuddling up to Steve, "who's on patrol tonight?"
"Joe and Kendra," the Wanderer answered first. "And you and I. Since Duncan and Amanda went home yesterday morning, we're back on duty."
"Oh well," Xander grumbled with a silly grin. "We knew it was too good to last. Still, it was nice to have a couple weeks of downtime."
"Here, here," Cordelia agreed, holding up her own Coca-Cola. "And another one coming up in two weeks."
"Good old Christmas vacation," Buffy said with a smile. "At least that's something the Hellmouth can't cancel on us."
"Buffy, this is the Hellmouth," Robin muttered dryly. "Don't give it any ideas."
Xander followed that up by saying, "Good point, Rob."
"Oh come on," Buffy said to the group. "What is there to worry about? Angel's dead, we took out Dracula, the Black Mages got a one-way ticket to Hell, and we kicked Ares' butt so bad he's scared spitless that Artemis and Mielikki are going to do something like shoot him in the tail."
The team couldn't argue with her analysis, and relaxed again. Buffy looked at Shaw, who was sitting next to Amy and Robin, but at a discreet distance.
"Hey, Shaw? About Ares," Buffy asked gently, but with a grin. "Has Millie shown or told you what She plans to do to Him?"
"No," Shaw replied with a touch of anger. She must have sensed it herself, because she sighed. "Buffy, as far as I am concerned, I simply wish to leave what happened behind. I want to look ahead, and the holiday would seem to be a good place to begin."
After what she'd been through in previous weeks, no one felt that they could begrudge her that.
"Okay, then let's talk about that," Steve said to Shaw. "What are you going to be doing for your first Christmas vacation?"
"I will be spending some time alone on the 21st," Shaw said quietly; it reminded the others that the day was a holiday, and a very important one, for the half-elf. "Christmas day, I will spend with Ulric after we exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, and the day after, Amy and I will be going to San Luis Obispo to her grandmother's home to meet members of Amy's family."
Amy glanced over with a light frown, and said, "What did I tell you about that?"
Shaw squinted in confusion, but leaned back and moaned when she figured out what Amy meant. "Sorry."
"What was that about?" Randi asked in confusion shared by the others.
Folding her arms in superiority, the blonde witch said, "I'm trying to get the fearless ranger here to grasp the concept that my Mom's family is HER family, too. She keeps saying 'Amy's' or 'her' family. I'm trying to break the habit before we leave. She's coming along."
The Slayerettes laughed over that, and Amy said, "How about you two? Have some kind of romantic getaway planned?"
"Oh, yeah," Buffy said with an infectious smile. "Mom and I are spending Christmas Day together, and then me and Steve are leaving for the Bahamas that night."
"But we'll be back New Year's Eve," Steve added as Buffy leaned her head on his shoulder. "That way, we won't miss New Year's Day here."
"Oh, sure. You just want to watch football all day, honey," the Slayer said sourly, going on before he could protest to the contrary. "I just happened to overhear you talking to Frank, asking him if he was going to be here."
"I need to get a new cell phone," Steve mumbled to himself. "How about the rest of you? Xander? Cordelia?"
Cordelia smiled, and said, "We've got our own little getaway planned, but it'll be cheaper than flying to the Bahamas."
"Motor Lodge?" everyone asked, and Cordelia's smile vanished.
"Hey, don't knock it," the Amazon told her colleagues. "A whole week that Xander and I don't have to deal with our parents, cleaning service, and with Steve getting a batch of Knights to do the patrols, we don't even have to think about the vamps. We're looking forward to it."
"Oh, yes we are," Xander said slyly, and Cordelia blushed a bit. He looked at Willow, and asked, "How 'bout you, Will? Any special Christmas plans?"
"I don't celebrate Christmas," Willow said with a smirk that was unusual for the redhead. "Hanukkah vacation for me. Anyway, the Dingoes have some dates at the Bronze during vacation, so Oz and I are hanging here."
"Yeah," Oz agreed.
"You're working during Christmas vacation?" Jenny asked with a smile.
The guitarist simply shrugged, and said, "We're popular at the Bronze."
"How about you, Kendra?" Cordelia asked the other Slayer. "What are you going to do to celebrate?"
Kendra's face was stony as she said, "I have no plans. I've never celebrated Christmas in my life."
Everyone stared at the young woman, who didn't react one way or the other to the looks directed her way.
"Didn't Sammy Z let you have *one* Christmas?" Robin asked in disbelief. When Kendra shook her head, the sprite snarled. "I swear, if I didn't have these restrictions on my magic, I'd go to Zabuto's house and teach that Jamaican Scrooge a thing or two about human decency."
Amy gave him a light smack on the back of the head. "Don't make empty threats," she said. After a pause, she asked, "What would you do to him, anyway?"
"Combine the shower scene in Psycho and the 'Candygram for Mungo' joke from Blazing Saddles, and you'll get the basic idea."
Most of the Slayerettes shuddered at that, and Robin added, "I can dream."
Kendra looked confused at their vehemence, but kept her silence. Buffy caught her attention, and said, "Don't worry, Kendra. Mom and I will help make your first *real* Christmas one to remember."
"And we'll help," Giles promised, with an agreeable nod from Jenny. "But we will try to keep from overwhelming you."
Kendra just nodded, apparently now embarrassed by the attention. Any further comments were broken up when the phone rang in Steve's office.
"If it's Jack Ryan, tell him you're on vacation," Buffy said as the Wanderer stood up.
Steve rolled his eyes, but didn't comment as he walked into the office. As the door closed, Buffy looked at her fellow student, Randi.
"Randi, what about you and Brian?" the Slayer asked. "Are you going to be okay by yourselves that week?"
Randi's eyes unexpectedly grew tight. "I haven't thought about it."
Buffy was taken aback by her answer and attitude. "What do you mean, you haven't thought about it? It's Christmas."
"I know, Buffy. But like I said, I haven't thought about it," the Immortal reiterated. "I've got some homework to take care of. I'll talk to you later."
Randi started to head upstairs to her room, and Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she caught Shaw shaking her head out the corner of her eye. Buffy looked at Shaw, who shook her head slowly, as if to say, "Let it go."
Buffy just nodded, reluctantly, and eyed the ranger, saying, "Later."
Xander looked at Brian, who was watching Randi go up the stairs more quickly than someone going to do mere homework.
"Bri, what's wrong with Randi?" Xander asked.
"I don't know," the young man said with a shrug. "Something's bugging her lately. I'll go see if she's okay."
"Might I join you, Brian? I might be of some help," Shaw offered to the younger Jessup. "I think I may have some idea of what ails her."
Brian considered the two ways he could go; keep it between him and his sister, or have someone he considered another sister try to help Randi. Finally, Brian nodded, scampering up the stairs with Shaw following at a more dignified pace.
"What was that about?" Buffy asked herself as Steve walked out of the office. Before anyone could comment on Randi's strange behavior, Buffy asked, with a sense of worry, "Who was it, honey?"
"A contact of mine," Steve said, looking towards Kendra. "Kendra, I have some news for you about the matter we discussed a couple of weeks ago. Do you want the news in private?"
"No, it's all right," the Jamaican answered, with a tremor in her voice that betrayed her calm demeanor. "It doesn't have to be a secret."
He nodded, and said, "Well, the easy part is this; your parents are alive and well, and living in Jamaica. I just had it confirmed by a Knight of the Grail who lives on the island. But there's something more, and it might come as a bit of a shock."
"Steve, don't scare her," Buffy admonished him. "What is it?"
Steve sighed, collecting himself to deliver the rest of the news. "Okay, since there's really no delicate way to put this, I'll do it bluntly. Kendra, you have a sister. A *twin* sister."
Kendra's eyes went wide with the revelation, and it took her several seconds to recover her composure and think on the information. Very quietly, the normally stoic Slayer asked, "What happens now?"
"That'll be up to you," Steve said supportively. "If you must, I can arrange a phone call, a letter of some sort, or I'd even arrange a face-to-face meeting if it's possible. This isn't a decision to be made lightly, but knowing you, I'm sure you'll consider all of the options before you."
Kendra just nodded, deep in thought while the others recovered from the news that had left them just as stunned as the recipient.
Randi tried to ignore the persistent knocking at her door by concentrating on her homework. When the knocking refused to cease, she stifled a scream and stormed over to the door. Throwing it open, she snapped, "WHAT?!?"
Brian jerked back in surprise, and he looked hurt at his sister's outburst. Her anger dissipated like fog in sunlight, and she said, "I'm sorry, Brian. What do you want?"
"We wanted to talk to you," her brother said, stepping into the room.
Randi started to close the door, but paused when Shaw stepped into the doorway.
"Shaw?" the Immortal asked, and Shaw nodded as she walked in. Randi closed the door, and said, "What's this about?"
"Christmas," Shaw answered evenly.
Randi's reaction wasn't unexpected; she jerked back in anger.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, turning back to her homework.
Shaw folded her arms, and said, "Brian, what is different about this Christmas?"
Brian thought about it, and said, "I don't know. I mean, it's Christmas."
Shaw kept watching Randi, and asked her, "Randi, how is this holiday different from last year's?"
Randi whirled around, wrath in her eyes, and angrily said, "How can you ask me that?!?"
"Because it is hurting you," Shaw told her as she stepped forward. "And I want to help if I can. Randi. . . I understand how you feel."
"How can you, Shaw?" Randi asked with a barking laugh. "It's your first Christmas. How can you understand?"
Shaw just watched the young Immortal, and softly said, "Yes, this is my first Christmas that I will observe. But tell me, this is an important holiday for you, not only in terms of religion, but also for family, is it not?"
Her voice cracking a bit, Randi said, "Yeah, it is."
"And this is the first Christmas that you are without your parents," Shaw continued softly. With genuine sympathy, she said, "I do know what it is like to have to go through a holiday without your loved ones, Randi."
"It's not just that, Shaw," Randi objected helplessly. "It's only been five months since they died. And this being Christmas. . . well, it hurts."
Nodding in understanding, Shaw said, "I understand."
"Do you, Shaw?" Randi asked with a touch of cynicism. "How long was it from the time your family died 'til a major holiday, like Christmas for us? How long?"
Shaw paused to consider her answer. She looked at Brian, then at Randi again. "Do you mean from the day they died, or from the day I was told of their deaths? There is some difference."
Randi looked at Brian, who shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, the day you found out," the Immortal answered. She sniffed and asked, "How long was it from the day you knew your family was dead until you had to go through a major holiday without them?"
"Six days," Shaw replied, a small amount of sadness showing in her eyes. When Randi's eyes went wide, she elaborated. "It was the holiday that we were supposed to meet for, to see each other for the first time in three years. They died on the fourth of September, I received the message on the fifteenth. A message that *I* thought was a confirmation that they had learned what I had gone through, and that I would see them soon. The holiday was on the twenty-first. This year, on the twenty-first, I observed the holiday, but I certainly did not celebrate it. This holiday, when autumn melts into winter, I will remedy that."
Trying to catch her voice, Randi said, "Shaw, I..."
Shaw just shook her head, and said, "There is nothing to apologize for, Randi. I am coming to terms with the past, and Doctor Greene, as well as all of you, are helping me come to terms with recent happenings. But this is something I do understand, Randi, realizing your family cannot share something with you, feeling that there were things left unsaid. . . and if I can, I would help you with this."
"Thank you," Randi said, a couple of tears falling down her cheeks. She looked over at Brian, who wasn't crying, although she could see some pain in his eyes. "What about you, Bri? Have you been feeling that way?"
"A little," Brian confessed, meeting her gaze. "But we have a new family. Yeah, I still miss Mom and Dad, but I figure, if they're in Heaven, I can talk to them and they'll hear me."
"Maybe, but I still wish I could tell them face-to-face," Randi countered as she sat on her bed. "Just to tell them. . ."
Too broken to continue, Randi looked at Shaw with red-rimmed eyes. "Shaw, how did you deal with it?"
With a sigh, the priestess folded her arms and said, "I did not deal with it, Randi, not truly. It was twenty-five years before I opened up my emotions again and grieved for them. It was only a few weeks ago that I realized that I had finally let them go. But this is about how you are feeling, not me. I only wish that I could give you the personal talk with your parents that you want, to allow you to tell them how you feel."
"Somehow, I wouldn't bet against you pulling it off," Randi laughed as she wiped her tears away. Settling herself down, she said, "Thanks for the talk, girlfriend. I needed it."
"As I said, I am always willing to talk," Shaw said with a tiny grin. "The same goes for you, Brian."
"Thanks," Brian said with a smile. He looked at Randi and asked, "You want to come back down, Randi?"
With a smile, and a feeling that neither her brother or friend would allow her a choice in the matter, she nodded. "In a while. I need to be by myself right now. Can we keep this between us for now? I'll talk to Buffy later, tell her I'm sorry."
"Of course," Shaw softly agreed.
Hammersmith
Park
Sunnydale,
California (the Wandererverse)
10
December 1998
Tommy Hill increased his pace, trying to take two minutes off his best running time. One of the better cross-country runners on the Sunnydale team, he knew that the more he improved his times, the better his chances of landing a scholarship when he graduated in June.
<Push it, push it,> he kept telling himself as he increased his stride just a bit more.
Just as he hit the best rhythm he'd ever felt, a cry caught his attention. He stopped, silently cursing the loss of his run. He heard a second call, and headed in the direction of the voice.
He glided over to the main walkway, and saw Willow Rosenburg limping down the path. Tommy called out to her, and she jerked in surprise.
"Hey, Rosenburg," Tommy called out as he jogged up to the limping redhead. Something seemed off about her, but the runner couldn't place it. "What happened?"
Willow looked at him, and said, "Nothing. I'm okay."
"You're limping," Hill pointed out. "You sprain your ankle or something?"
"No," the girl snapped, bending her leg and raising it for Tommy to see. "My heel."
Tommy now saw that the heel of her boot had broken off somehow, thus causing her strange gait.
"You need any help, Willow?" Tommy asked. While he and the girl hardly knew each other, he still wouldn't willingly leave her in the lurch.
"Well, I am a little hungry," she admitted, a smile starting to form.
"Will, I can walk you to the pizza place," the runner said. "I saw your Dad at the grocery a couple hours ago, so he should be home by now if you want to call him."
"My Dad?" Willow said, stopping in her tracks.
"Yeah," Tommy answered, before stopping to look at her. "You okay?"
Willow covered up her shock, and nodded once. "I'm just hungry."
"Well, can I treat you to dinner?" he asked in a completely platonic manner.
Giving Tommy a coy smile, the leather-clad woman said, "I thought you'd never ask."
Tommy didn't think anything of it until Willow's face changed.
City
Limits
Sunnydale,
California (the Wandererverse)
Early
hours
11
December 1998
The Kawasaki Ninja pulled up to the sign welcoming its rider to Sunnydale, California. The rider stopped the bike, and pulled off his helmet. Shaking out his hair, the teenager who'd traded the Ford Bronco with heavily tinted windows to a dealer in stolen cars for his current ride while in Los Angeles smiled at his having arrived back on the Hellmouth.
Putting the helmet away, as he didn't care to wear it now that he was back in his stomping grounds, Xander Harris kicked the Ninja into gear.
"It's good to be home," he said as he took off, popping a wheelie just for the fun of it.
The Bronze
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
11 December 1998
Willow and Shaw sat at an out-of-the-way table, listening to Dingoes Ate My Baby play a soft rock ballad, while other teenagers and young residents of Sunnydale danced the Friday night away. As the song went on, Willow swayed in time to the music while Shaw just sat back and enjoyed the sounds of the music drifting from the instruments of the band.
"So," Willow said, giving a glance at Shaw as the music ended, "tell me something. You've had a couple weeks of vacation. How do you like it so far?"
Shaw waited to answer. Fingering her glass of orange juice, she finally admitted, "I have enjoyed myself, Willow. It is. . . it is good to be resting after so many years of thinking only of survival and duty. For the first time in so long, I am thinking of things beyond what has to be done. I can think about what I might want for making a life in the way I desire."
Willow gave her friend a kind smile, and said, "Well, you seem to be doing better. What've you been doing in your spare time?"
"Christmas shopping, with a great deal of help from Ulric," the older woman said with a smile shared by Willow. "I have been practicing my music, the new languages, and I have taken up running."
"You have?" the redhead asked in surprise.
"Yes, Willow. Larry and I take afternoon runs after his training sessions with us," the half-elf responded. "It is a way to maintain my physical condition, and I have found Larry's presence and friendship to be enjoyable." She paused, and confessed, "Larry is the first friend I have made at school that was not involved with our activities from the beginning. This has shown me that I can have friends outside of fighting. That is important to me, Willow."
The witch nodded in approval. "That's good. You know, you might think about joining clubs at school. That's a good way to make outside friends."
Shaw just nodded, taking Willow's advice and setting it aside to consider at a later date. She looked over at the Dingoes, and said, "Willow, have you considered asking Oz to take a song off so that you could share a dance? It would only seem right for the two of you to have some enjoyment tonight."
"I'm enjoying myself," Willow protested.
"You know what I mean," the priestess countered with a smile.
Willow blushed a bit, and said, "Shaw, Oz is working. It's not proper for him to dance while the rest of the band is playing."
Shaw considered that, and finally said, "Perhaps. It was simply an idea."
"Hey, I'd be all for it," Willow grinned. "But, sitting here listening to the Dingoes play is still more fun than patrolling. Who knows what surprises you might run into."
"What do you mean?" Shaw asked. "Compared to vampires of other planes, these soulless ones are pathetic opponents, with rare exceptions."
"Yeah, but still," Willow said, hedging her bet, "I worry about the others. You never know what surprises the Hellmouth might show you."
"That is one benefit of my background," Shaw said to her companion. "I do not think there is much of a mystical nature that can surprise me."
Weatherly Park
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
11 December 1998
Steve and Buffy walked along, acting like a normal couple on a moonlight stroll. So far tonight, they'd staked two newbie vampires as they rose from their still-fresh graves, sent a fungus demon running for the hills at the mere sight of their Swords, and dusted two more vamps that'd been stupid enough to attack a pair of Immortal warriors.
In other words, a typical, boring patrol.
"Well, honey, now what?" Buffy asked as she leaned against Steve's body. "We've covered most of this side of town, and Joe and Kendra have the other side. Want to call it a night?"
"No, we're not done yet," Steve said with a mock glare. "It won't take too long."
"But, Steve. . ." Buffy smiled, leaning closer and whispering something into his ear.
Steve listened, and then blushed, before saying, "We'll make it quick."
<Yes!> Buffy thought with a knowing smile on her face as the pair began to walk faster.
As they neared the entrance to the park, Steve and Buffy relaxed their pace a bit, slowing down as they were about to head home. As they closed to within fifty yards of the front gate, Buffy tensed up.
Steve concentrated, but quickly relaxed. There were only two things that normally set off Buffy's senses like that; Immortals or vampires. Since he didn't sense an Immortal nearby, that narrowed down the possibilities quite nicely.
"Where is he?" the Wanderer asked with a dry whisper.
"Ten yards up, my side," Buffy hissed back. With a grin, she added, "My turn."
"Vamp hog."
Buffy and Steve walked on, until they reached the point where the vampire was sitting. Since it hadn't moved, they figured it was letting them pass it by. Too bad for him that Buffy didn't feel the same way.
Buffy suddenly lunged to the side, jumping into the bushes and bragging someone as she shouted, "Gotcha!"
She grabbed the vampire by the shoulders and rolled back, throwing the vamp with a monkey flip and sending the undead monster flying several feet. Buffy jumped to her feet and turned to attack, but took note that the vampire, a female by her thin figure and black leather outfit, rolled with the impact, not taking the full damage from Buffy's throw.
The woman, whose red hair fell to just above her shoulders, staggered a bit as she rose, and turned to face Buffy, her full game face on.
Buffy had just started to throw a punch that would send the vampire's nose flying through the back of her skull, but stopped at the sight of her opponent. The young Immortal's face went as pale as the vampire's as the identity of her target registered and sank in.
"Slayer," Willow hissed.
Buffy tried to say something, anything to deny the sight before her. She froze, horror at seeing her best friend as a vampire rooting her to the spot she occupied.
Willow quickly reached out and grabbed Buffy by the neck, and squeezed with all he demonic power. With a sick sounding snap, Buffy Summer's neck broke into two pieces.
As the light faded from Buffy's eyes, Willow smiled and licked her lips evilly as she brought the Slayer's body closer to her.
"Slayer blood. Yummy," the auburn-haired demon purred as she extended her fangs.
"I'm sorry," a voice called out, drawing Willow's attention.
She looked up, hissing in anger, and saw Steve drawing Demon Slayer and advancing on her.
With a grim look on his face, he said, "I'm sorry, but too much Slayer blood will go straight too your hips, Willow. A demon's got to watch her figure, doesn't she?"
Willow threw the dead Slayer to the ground, pouting that she wasn't going to get to drink from Buffy. She hissed, "No fair. My dinner."
She was ready to charge the Wanderer, but the power she could sense emanating from the glowing samurai sword in his hands held her back. Finally, she started to back up as Steve stood guard over Buffy's body.
With a smirk, she said, "I don't like to share."
She then turned and ran off into the night.
St. Wolf, hiding the shock and dread at what he'd just seen fairly well, knelt over the lifeless body of his lover. After five minutes, without any warning, Buffy's body convulsed. Her eyes flew open as she reflexively drew in a deep breath. As she regained control of herself, she sat up, holding her aching neck.
"God, I hate that," Buffy grumbled, before remembering how she'd died. A raw sound of grief escaped from her lips as she screamed, "WILLOW!!!"
She started to jump up, but Steve held her back, taking her into his arms. Buffy struggled, but Steve held her fast until she stopped, falling into his arms and crying with all the grief anyone could possibly muster. Steve just held her for many minutes, until he began to whisper to her, despite being as sad as she was.
"Buffy, we have to go."
Buffy backed away from Steve, her head shaking as tears continued to follow gravity's course down her cheeks.
"Buffy, listen to me," the Wanderer said firmly, gently taking Buffy's chin in one hand to make her look at him. "Willow's been turned. The others don't know. We have to call them before she gets to them. We'll get everyone to my place and go from there. We need you to hold on until then, okay?"
After a few moments, Buffy meekly nodded, her bottom lip trembling like the rest of her body. Steve helped her stand up, and they started to head for Steve's modified Tahoe.
Holding the grieving, distraught Slayer up with one arm, the Immortal demon hunter pulled out his cell phone and began dialing.
Residence of Rupert Giles and Jenny Calendar
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
11 December 1998
Jenny answered the phone on the second ring, not too happy with the distraction is provided from grading her students' papers. She picked it up, and said, "What is it, Steve?"
"How'd you know?" Steve asked in surprise.
"New Caller ID box. What's wrong?" the Gypsy asked, leaning forward as she heard the tension in his voice.
"You and Giles get to the house. Immediately."
Before Jenny could say anything else, the phone went dead. As the dial tone returned, Jenny eyed her papers and sighed.
"I'll never get this grading done."
Residence of Robin Goodfellow
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
11 December 1998
When the phone rang, Robin and Amy groaned out in unison. They broke apart from their embrace, and Robin jumped off the couch and reached for his cordless phone.
"What!" the fairy snapped into the receiver.
"Robin, something's happened," Steve replied with tangible sadness that was not weeded out over the line. "My place, on the double."
"What's---"
CLICK
Robin looked at Amy, and moaned when he saw her throwing her shirt back on, just as pissed off about this as he was.
<You are going to owe me BIG time, Wanderer,> the fairy thought as he and Amy mourned the loss of a very special evening.
The Bronze
Sunnydale, California
11 December 1998
Shaw jumped when the phone rang, and it took a few seconds for her to realize that it was the new cellular phone that Steve had provided her with earlier in the week. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the unfamiliar device.
Popping open the phone, Shaw said, "Hello?"
"Shaw, where are you?" Steve asked the warrior.
"I am at the Bronze. The Dingoes are playing, and I am. . ."
"Get Oz and report to my house. Now."
The line went dead, and Shaw let out a little growl.
"What's wrong?" Willow asked.
"I do not know, Willow," the woman answered in a perturbed voice. "We are to report to Steven's immediately."
"Okay," the Amazon said as the two rose from their seats.
Fifteen minutes later, the three Slayerettes were loading the band's equipment as quickly as possible so that they could get to Steve's house in a timely manner. As Oz closed the back doors to his van, a faint sound attracted the attention of both Oz and Shaw. Oz calmly turned around, whereas Shaw's instincts took over, and she quickly spun around into a defensive position.
Willow looked over her shoulder, and moaned when she saw a lone vampire starting to move towards them, an evil smile on his face.
Willow groaned, "We don't need this tonight!"
As Oz and Willow started to reach for their weapons, Shaw said, "Allow me."
She quickly prayed as she drew something out of her pocket. The half-elf threw something at the vampire, and Willow and Oz could see that it was a thick piece of wood, looking to have been taken from a tree not too long ago. The piece of log flashed as it flew at the vampire, but the demon caught it in one hand.
"Now that was a pathetic throw," the vampire laughed until he felt the wood shift in his hand and a hissing noise drew his attention.
Willow, Oz and the vampire all gaped in dumbfounded shock as what was once a piece of a tree was now an eighteen-foot long python. The immense reptile quickly wound itself around the vampire's arm and began to coil itself around the vampire's body. The vampire staggered back, and tripped, falling to the sidewalk. This gave the enchanted snake time to wrap the undead creature's legs, which would prevent him from rising.
Willow and Oz just stared on, and Shaw said, "The snake will keep the vampire here until daybreak. Then the spell will reverse itself."
Shaw began to head for the van, and her two teammates finally tore their gaze from the sight of the vampire wrestling with a snake, and looked at each other.
Finally, they looked at Shaw, Willow called out, "Where did you learn that spell?"
Shaw stopped and turned around. "It is in the level of magic I was recently given by my Mother."
"Oh," Willow said as she nodded her head absently. "Bit of overkill though, don't you think?"
Shaw looked at the snake and vampire, and shrugged. "As you said yourself, we did not need this distraction."
Shaw turned and started for the van again.
"Uh, Shaw?" Willow asked, causing the ranger to turn around and look at the witch curiously. "Um, hasn't it been about four weeks since. . . well, you know. Female stuff?"
"Yes," Shaw said easily, before getting into the van.
Willow and Oz realized what her answer meant.
"Oh, great," the mumbled together.
St. Wolf Residence
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
11 December 1998
Steve closed the cell phone, and looked over at the sofa, where Buffy was sitting with her legs drawn up to her chest, tears falling as she just stared off into space. Steve slowly walked over and sat down next to her, putting an arm around her.
"Buffy, we'll work it out," Steve said softly.
Buffy's head whipped around, and she hissed at him as she jumped to her feet.
"Work it out?!?" she hissed, growing hysterical. "WORK IT OUT?!? This isn't a fight with you or money trouble, Steve! My best friend's a VAMPIRE!!!"
"And you know that there are spells that can help us," the Immortal offered. He walked up to Buffy and continued to reassure her. "We might be able to get her back. But you also have to remember; she knows everything about us. If she starts spilling secrets, all of Section Seven is in danger."
"Steve, I can't kill her. . ."
"It's not Willow," Steve countered quickly. "She's a demon. A demon with her body, using it to kill people."
Buffy nervously swallowed, and whispered, "I can't believe she's gone."
"I know," Steve said, taking the Slayer into his arms and holding her. "I feel the same way."
"Do the others know?" she asked softly.
"No, not yet," St. Wolf said. When Buffy pushed away and looked at him in the eyes, he said, "I didn't want to tell them over the phone, especially Oz, Jenny or Xander. They're on their way. I couldn't reach Cordelia because her cell phone's turned off. I'll send someone to the Motor Lodge to get them. Joe and Kendra, I told them to stay on patrol."
Buffy thought about everything he'd said, and finally said, "Steve, please tell me nothing else can go wrong tonight."
Sunnydale Cemetery
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
11 December 1998
Xander watched the couple walking through the graveyard, arguing up a storm as they walked. Although he couldn't make out their words, their volume was quite informative.
"Boy, are those two stupid," Xander muttered under his breath. "Walking outside at night, in a graveyard, and arguing loud enough to wake the undead."
As he listened some more, he chuckled, "Oh, man. Those two have got it bad. Well, at least they'll die together."
"Kendra, I am older, more experienced, and somewhat more mature," Joe said, having an old argument with the young woman. "It would stand to reason that I am more accomplished than you are in the martial arts."
"I am the Slayer," Kendra said in contradiction. "My skills are innately greater, plus I am a natural master at the fighting art of the Slayer."
"Yes, the ART of the Slayer," Joe said, stressing the singular. "One style of fighting."
Before Kendra could counter, he asked, "Will you let me explain my reasoning?"
Kendra nodded somewhat reluctantly.
"Thank you," the Knight said kindly. "Take Buffy, for example. In theory, being Slayers, you should be equal in combat. You should trade victories and losses with her, is that not true?"
"Yes," Kendra grumbled, seeing the direction the conversation was going in.
"But she always defeats you."
"Yes," Kendra sighed.
"Mostly, that is due to experience," Joe provided. "She has a year's more worth of experience as the Slayer. Then, compounded upon that, is the six months greater experience she has in the arts that Sir Steve has taught her; Okinawa style karate, tae kwan do, kung fu, and the numerous other fighting arts he has mastered. A key to Buffy's success is that she has evolved into something more than a normal Slayer."
"Are you saying that I have not?" Kendra asked abruptly.
"No, I am saying that you are simply behind Buffy in those departments," Joe replied. He stopped so that they could view each other. "In time, when you have mastered the arts you learn with the rest of us, I can see you being in a class to rival Buffy's. The theory of equality between the two of you will once again become closer to fact."
Kendra nodded, and asked, "But as for you?"
"Experience, Kendra. Nothing more," N'Gato told her. "I have learned many fighting arts, and I can counter brute strength even at your level. You do defeat me fairly often, but I have simply had a wider range of training. From what I have seen, your early training was somewhat limited to one fighting art."
Kendra couldn't argue that point, so she remained silent. It was then that she felt a sick sensation in her stomach, and started looking around. Joe started to finger his Glock 19 as she searched the night.
As they looked around, Xander stepped out from behind a crypt, a smirk on his face. The Knight and Slayer were startled by his sudden appearance.
"Xander?" Kendra asked, quite surprised to see him. "I thought you were at the Motor Lodge."
Xander cocked an eyebrow, somewhat confused that this stranger recognized him, but he decided to play along. "Why would I be there?"
"Spending the weekend with your girlfriend," the Slayer said. It was then that she made the connection between her screaming senses and Xander's appearance.
"So *that's* where she is," Xander said with a smile. He rubbed his chin, and said, in a horrible parody of Kendra's Jamaican accent, "Thanks for de info, mon. I'll just grab a bite to eat before hooking up wit her, mon."
Xander vamped out, and snarled at the pair, his eyes glowing a sickly yellow color.
And seeing stars when Kendra, having closed the distance while he was talking, threw her trademark right cross and solidly connected.
"Ow!" Xander snapped as he staggered back. "That HURT!"
"So will this," Kendra promised, throwing a side kick into his stomach. As the vamp doubled over, Kendra picked Xander up and literally threw him, sending him quite a few yards. Xander landed with an "oof!", and quickly got up and took off into the night.
Kendra just watched, stunned at this development. Regaining her equilibrium, no easy task, she turned to face what would undoubtedly be a lecture from Joe N'Gato.
Imagine the shock she felt when she saw a completely stunned look on his face.
"Joe?" she asked, walking up to him.
"We have to report to Sir Steve immediately," N'Gato said, turning around to leave the cemetery. "You did very well, Kendra."
"He escaped," the young Slayer pointed out, despite the chill going down her spine at the sight of one of her teammates being turned. "I can't believe he's been turned."
"Neither can I," Joe confessed. His trembling voice showed the truth of his words. "You did well, Kendra. You recovered much more quickly than I would have, and you didn't hold back against your friend. I know it's small comfort, but you did outstandingly well under the circumstances."
Kendra just nodded, but she couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride at Joe's praise.
St. Wolf Residence
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
11 December 1998
With palpable silence, the majority of the Slayerettes sat in shock, having been given the news of Willow's fate. Giles and Jenny bracketed Buffy, who just sat on the couch, face in her hands. Robin and Amy weren't crying, but it was only because the shock was still penetrating. Their mourning would come later.
Steve gave them about ten minutes to collect themselves, and said, "I know this is far beyond hard for you, so I won't offer words of condolence, since they won't help. But we have to decide what we're going to do, and we can't wait for the others. Every second we wait endangers everyone in Section Seven."
As the present Slayerettes looked as one at the Wanderer, Giles asked, "What are you referring to, Steve?"
"Do we kill the vampire, or restore Willow's soul?" the Immortal said, spelling it out.
"You want to restore Willow's soul?" Amy asked in shock. "How can you say that?"
"Because it would give her a choice," Steve answered. He sat down wearily. "If we restore her soul, we could give her the choice to stay or go onto the afterlife."
"Do you think she'd stay, Steve?" Buffy asked hopefully. "Would she stay with us?"
"Buffy, there is something you should consider," Giles said, adding his opinion to the mix. "The choice would have to be Willow's. You can't pressure her into staying because of your friendship."
"But. ." Buffy stammered before realizing that the Watcher was absolutely right.
"Look," Steve said with a harsh voice, getting the discussion back on track. "Neither Buffy or I are qualified to make this decision alone. We'll take a vote, and go from there. I'll start by saying yes, we restore her soul, and give her the choice as well as protecting our friends and ourselves. Buffy?"
"Do it," the grieving Immortal whispered. "Please."
Steve looked at Giles, who hesitantly said, "I say yes, but reluctantly. I agree with you, the damage that a vampire Willow could do would be devastating."
"I also vote yes," Jenny added. "We need her."
Without any further explanation forthcoming, Robin realized something in Jenny's quick agreement.
<Well, well, well,> the fairy thought with a sad heart, <I knew Giles felt the father/daughter thing for Buffy, but it seems Jenny's claimed Willow. Of course, she'd be a better mom than the one Willow has. But I should've seen this a long time ago. I'm not losing my touch, am I?>
After a few seconds, Robin thought, <Naaaaah.>
Robin's attention was brought back to the discussion at hand when Amy voted to abstain.
At the group's obvious surprise, the witch said, "Look guys, this is a way serious discussion here. And I can't just answer yes or no right off the bat. I need to think about it."
"Okay, Amy," Steve said understandingly. He looked at Robin, and said, "Well, Robin? How about it? Do we restore Willow's soul?"
"Hell no, we don't. Her soul's right where it belongs."
Everyone stared at the fairy in varying degrees of anger and shock. Buffy began to tremble, but couldn't say anything before Amy verbally expressed her comrades' outrage.
"What kind of fucking answer is that?!?" Amy snapped at her boyfriend. "How would Willow feel if she knew you said something that cruel about her?!?"
Looking at the others with an equally fierce gaze, Robin countered with, "And how do you think Arty's going to react when you rip one of her worshippers away from her eternal reward without even asking what Arty or Willow herself what they wanted?"
No one could reply to the sprite's question until Randi, who'd been silently listening to the entire conversation, said, "Then maybe we need to call Artemis."
A chorus of "yes's" rang out from Buffy, Jenny and Amy, but Robin cut off their momentum once again.
"Come on, guys," he said regretfully, "Artemis is not going to let her soul go."
"What?" Jenny asked, not believing what she was hearing.
Robin took a deep breath, and began his explanation. "Well, Jenny, all the Amazons, when they die, go to Artemis to serve her in Olympus while the souls of their lovers go to another plane and by the looks on your faces, this is the first you've heard of it. Oh boy."
"Wait a minute," Randi said, being the first to digest this news. "You're saying that. . ."
"I'm not saying anything else."
Jenny hissed, "Why not?"
With a gulp, Robin said, "Because I'm surrounded by two now-pissed-off Amazons and a grieving Slayer. I'm good at math."
"Yes, but if you're an expert on planar matters. . ." Jenny did a double take, on Robin. "You knew this all along."
"Of course I did," Robin replied easily. "I've been around the block a few times."
"And you wouldn't tell even me?" Amy demanded, tangible hurt in her inquiry.
Robin shrugged. "Well, Amy, in your case I'm a fairy. I can zip through planes like nobody's business, and I'm even more immortal than Immortals."
"Didn't you think the rest of us wanted to know about this?" Giles asked aloud.
To his surprise, Robin shook his head. "Not when you're plenty happy while you're alive, Rupe. It shouldn't matter when you're in love. Look at Shaw, for instance."
"Shaw's not in love," Randi pointed out.
"No, but her parents were," Robin said with a roll of his eyes. "Think about it. A human destined to live eighty years or so, tops, and an elf who would live seven or eight hundred years. They didn't care about that, let alone their afterlives. They seized the moment and never looked back. And if you ask me, I'd say the result of that love is pretty fine indeed."
"Oh, really?" Amy asked crossly.
"Oh, yeah. . ." Robin stopped and glared at her as she began to giggle. "I meant her character."
"Don't you hate it when he makes a good point like that?" Buffy asked of his getting out of trouble.
"Not when it saves me from an Amazon ass-whoopin'," Robin said with a loud snort. "But we're talking about Willow here. I'll tell you what; we can call Arty and ask her to bring Willow's soul here. . ."
Robin's speech was prematurely cut off in mid-sentence when three people
walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. The entrance of the new arrivals sparked quick reactions from the Slayerettes.
Robin, unbeknownst to the others, was squinting at the person in the middle of the trio. "Wait a minute. . ."
"Hey guys," Willow said, her voice and posture chipper as usual. "What's going AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"
St. Wolf Residence
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
11 December 1998
Willow Rosenburg stared at the numerous weapons pointed at her head and chest, including two laser sights creating crimson dots on her forehead. With a nervous swallow, the young Wiccan asked, "Uh, guys? Did I say something wrong?"
With a choking voice, Buffy sadly asked, "Well, Steve? Now what? Stake her or call Artemis?"
"Stake me?" Willow squeaked, suddenly fearful.
Robin, who'd been staring at Willow since she walked into the living room, felt his eyebrows go up in surprise. "Uh, guys? Willow's. . ."
Steve cut off the sprite's speech, telling Willow, "That's what we usually do to vamps, isn't it?"
With confusion shared by Willow and Shaw, Oz asked, "Vamp? Willow?"
The Slayerettes finally remembered that Willow hadn't walked in alone. Jenny and Steve switched their guns to face Shaw and Oz, respectively. Shaw frowned at Jenny, while Oz just cocked an eyebrow in Steve's direction.
"Uh, guys. . ." Robin began to say, but Jenny cut him off.
"Are you Shaw?" the Romany asked, dreading the answer.
"Of course I am," Shaw answered with indignation.
"Prove it," Giles said with a hard voice.
"As you wish," the ranger said with a shrug. With a slight amount of concentration, she calmly said, "Shirak."
Giles' head was suddenly encased in a globe of magical light.
He glared at the half-elf and growled, "Ha ha bloody ha. Very funny."
"What does that prove?" Jenny asked, not seeing the point to the spell.
"If I were a soulless demon," Shaw began, folding her arms, "do you think the Lady Mielikki would still be granting me spells? Her power would leave with my soul, Jenny. Now please point that disgusting firearm elsewhere."
Jenny sighed, and pointed her gun back at Willow.
"Gee, thanks," Willow muttered.
"How about you, Oz?" Steve asked Willow's boyfriend. "Are you still you?"
Oz just held his arm out, and Steve, realizing what Oz was offering, took it. Seconds later, he relaxed.
"He has a pulse," Steve said to the group.
"Uh, guys," Robin said again. "Listen. . ."
"What's this about Willow being a vamp?" Oz asked, interrupting Robin once more.
"Willow's a vampire, Oz," Buffy explained with a sob, wondering how he couldn't know about this.
"No I'm not!" Willow snapped, growing frustrated at this treatment from her friends. "What's going on here, Buffy? How can you think I'm a vampire?"
"Well, let's see," Buffy said, choking back her tears. "Steve and I are on patrol, I sense a vamp, I ambush her, it's you, you break my neck and try to drink my blood but Steve stops you and you run away and I don't *even* want to get into the whole 'Madam of Whips and Chains' outfit you had on."
Buffy took a second to look over Willow, who was wearing a fuzzy pink cardigan sweater and blue jeans.
With a sour look, the Slayer said, "Actually, it was a better look than this outfit."
"That's sick," Randi muttered.
With growing irritation at being constantly cut off, Robin said, "Guys."
Willow rolled her eyes and snapped, "Oh, right Buffy. Oz and I play 'Mistress of Pain' every night."
Everyone's concentration, even Robin's, was broken by THAT comment.
"What?" she asked.
Very slowly, Buffy said, "Okay, did anyone else go into a scary visual place?"
With one notable exception, everyone nodded.
With a sigh, Robin said, "Okay, I gave you guys a chance."
Robin quickly pulled out a Walther PPK and began pulling the trigger. In a matter of three seconds, he shot every single weapon out of the hands of the present Slayerettes. After he did that, he put his gun away while the others overcame the massive shock of seeing Robin Goodfellow shooting their weapons out of their hands.
As the first to recover, Amy said, "You said. . ."
"I said I didn't like to use a gun," Robin stated evenly. "I never said didn't know how to use one."
"Hidden talent, Robin?" Giles dryly asked.
Robin gave the Watcher a bright smile. "Oh, you couldn't begin to guess how many hidden talents I have."
The others let this information sink in, but Buffy was fuming at him.
"Robin, what are you doing?" the Slayer exclaimed. "Willow's a vampire!"
"I'm not a vampire!" Willow protested, sounding quite insulted as she did so.
"I saw you," Steve added, getting everyone's attention. "You killed Buffy."
"I didn't!" Willow screeched.
"You did!" Buffy countered.
"So, she's a vampire?" Robin asked the Slayer with a smile on his face.
"Yes!" Buffy shouted at the same time Willow shouted, "No!"
"I see," Robin said. "So, you're into the habit of inviting all vampires into your house?"
"Well, of course not. . ." Buffy started.
"Then how'd she get in?" Robin asked with false innocence.
Buffy started to answer, but stopped as the point sank in. She seemed reluctant to say anything, so Robin walked up to Willow.
Muttering, "What fools these mortals be," the fairy pulled out a cross, and held it up in Willow's face. When she just put her hands on her hips in impatience, Robin shook it a few times, then looked over his shoulder at Buffy.
"Well," he said with a great deal of sarcasm, "either this is the Willow we all know and love, or I need some new 9-volts for this thing."
Once the fact that Willow was alive fully sank in, Buffy pushed by Robin and mauled Willow with a hug, squeezing with all of her Slayer strength. The others quickly followed suit, making the hacker the target of a massive group hug.
Shaw and Oz just looked at the scene, and then each other, in confusion. When neither one could come up with an explanation for this strange scenario, they looked to Robin.
"When I'm the voice of reason, we're all in trouble," he said at length.
The fairy, werewolf and half-elf all switched their gazes back to the others, and saw Willow begin to squirm around.
"Uh, oxygen becoming an issue here," the redhead whispered, unable to speak louder due to a lack of air. "Uh, okay, you guys do know that if we die we don't come back?"
Realizing that she needed air, the teary-eyed Slayerettes released Willow, who took in air with a big "whoosh." When her face stopped being red, and her breathing returned to normal, she asked, "What was that all about, Buffy?"
"Will, you were a vampire," Buffy said, now even more confused than before despite her relief. "Unless you've got a twin sister you haven't told us about who's a vampire that doubles as a dominatrix."
When Willow took on a disgusted look to her face, Buffy said, "I didn't think so."
"May I ask a question?" Shaw asked. "If you thought that Willow was a vampire, why did you not say so over the phone?"
"Because I wanted everyone here in case Willow. . . in case the vampire went after any of us," Steve responded. "It's been a hectic two hours."
"Two hours?" Oz asked. He looked at Willow, and said, "We've been at the Bronze for four hours. We had a gig tonight."
Steve and Buffy looked at each other, and Buffy asked, "Steve, who did you call on the cell phone?"
"Jenny, Robin, Joe and Shaw," Steve said quickly. "I told Joe to stay on patrol with Kendra. Cordelia's phone isn't on."
"And who was at the Bronze with Willow and Oz?" Buffy asked him.
The Slayerettes, as one, turned to face one Shaw Hunter.
"Why didn't you tell us she was with you?" Steve asked in a "calm" voice.
Shaw folded her arms, and told St. Wolf, "Because *someone*, who shall remain nameless, terminated the connection between us as I was saying, 'I am sitting next to Willow.' If that someone had not done this, this confusion could have been avoided."
"Could you say that in English?" Randi asked for everyone under twenty.
"That was in English, Randi," Shaw pointed out.
"In teenspeak, then," Buffy clarified.
"Oh," Shaw said. "In teenspeak, I said that Steven hung up on me."
Now, everyone turned to face Steve St. Wolf.
"Are you saying this was my fault?" Steve asked Shaw.
Robin grinned. "Of course she is. That's her way."
"You are correct, Robin," Shaw added, with a glance at the sprite. "There are times when these mortals can be fools."
"HEY!" the Slayerettes snapped.
"Preaching to the choir, sister," Robin finished, raising his arm toward her for a ‘high five.’
At this point, Oz asked, "Where're Xander and Cordelia?"
"Motor Lodge," Amy and Willow replied at the same time. When the others looked at them, Amy said, "Hello, it's the weekend. Where do you *think* they'd be?"
"We can get them in a bit," Buffy said with a sigh. "We've got Willow's evil twin to take care of."
"I don't have a twin!" Willow moaned in exasperation.
Robin was now rubbing his chin, and he mumbled, "Twin... twin... twin. Buffy, say that again."
"What? The part about Willow having. . ."
"Oh, I know what you said," Robin cut her off. He was smiling a bit, and he said, "It's just something people always say when they're hitting upon a brainstorm."
"What? You know what's going on?" Steve asked.
"Well, let's just say I wouldn't worry too much," Robin replied easily.
Exactly two seconds later, Joe N'Gato and Kendra McPherson burst into the living room. As the Slayerettes focused their attention on the duo, Robin sighed.
"Let me guess, you two," Goodfellow said before Joe or Kendra could get a word in edgewise, "Willow, or some reasonable facsimile thereof, is being of the fang face persuasion?"
"Willow?" Kendra asked, puzzlement crossing her features.
"Not Willow?" Buffy asked her fellow Slayer.
"No. Xander."
The Slayerettes all moaned.
"Here we go again," Amy muttered under her breath.
"Okay, let's figure this out before we go off half-cocked," Steve sighed.
"Oh, sure. NOW you think of that," Willow said crossly, drawing glares in her direction.
"Steve, isn't Xander supposed to be at the Motor Lodge with Cordelia,?" Jenny asked aloud.
"That was what Xander said he would do after 'grabbing a bite to go,'" Kendra said. "He ran away after I beat him up."
"Steve, are we going to go out there?" Buffy asked nervously.
"I've got an idea," Robin called out, holding up a hand. "Why don't we save some time here? Amy and Willow can teleport to the room at the Lodge to make sure Cordy's not dead or worse. But I think you'll find her alive and well."
As everyone gazed at Robin, Steve hesitantly said, "You know something we don't, don't you, Robin?"
"Steve," Robin said with a smile, "the things I know that you don't would fill all twenty-six volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica. In one sentence descriptions. Let's just leave it at that."
Steve decided that Robin's suggestion was a good one. "Amy, Willow, do as he says," St. Wolf ordered. "'Port over to the Motor Lodge, and let us know what's going on there."
Both witches looked reluctant, but nodded and headed towards Steve's library to find the proper spell.
Sunnydale Motor Lodge
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
11 December 1998
A flash of yellow light heralded the arrival of Willow and Amy into the room normally rented by Xander and Cordelia. As the light faded, the two Amazons settled into a defensive posture, unsure of what to expect. What greeted them was a frantic amount of activity going on underneath the blankets on the room's single bed. As what was going on under the blankets registered in Amy and Willow's brains, they had to bury the urge to find a hole to crawl into.
As they looked at each other, Amy sourly asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"That there was a mix-up like the one with me?" Willow offered.
"Yep."
At this point, the activity under the blankets ceased with amazing proficiency.
"Xander," Cordelia Chase's voice echoed from the bed, "did you hear something?"
His reply was, "Only you moaning."
"Ewwwwwwwwwww," Amy and Willow said together.
After a very brief pause, the blankets flew off and a dark figure reached for the table. The lamp went on, and the naked Cordelia and Xander saw Amy and Willow staring at them with wide eyes. So, Xander and Cordelia said the first things that came to mind.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
Ten minutes later, after some hurried dressing by Cordelia and Xander, and a hurried explanation from Amy and Willow, the four Slayerettes were somewhat settled down.
"Let me get this straight," Cordelia said, holding her forehead. "Steve and Buffy run across a Vamp Willow, who looks like either a Gothic rocker babe or an S&M reject. . ."
"Hey!" Willow snapped.
Cordelia continued. ". . .and nearly wax OUR Willow while Joe and Kendra come across a Vamp Xander, who's under the impression that he's some kind of Fonzie-type sex symbol that gets his ass kicked by Kendra. . ."
"Hey!" Xander snapped.
". . .leading you two to come here and play 'Peeping Witch' on us instead of just renting an X-rated movie like everyone else."
"Hey!" Amy snapped.
"Did I leave anything out?" Cordy asked challengingly.
"No, that about covers it," Amy muttered.
"Fine," Cordelia said as she put on her coat. "Willow, tell Kendra thank you SO much for ruining the start of our weekend, and tell Steve that Dweeb Boy and I will be patrolling at Hammersmith if he needs us."
With a sigh, Amy said, "I'll call Steve. By the way, leave your cell phone on this time."
Xander and Cordelia just glared at her.
St. Wolf Residence
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
Late hours
11 December 1998
Steve's cell phone started ringing, causing most of the Slayerettes to jump out of nervousness.
Quickly opening his phone, Steve ordered, "Talk to me."
"They're alive and well, Steve," Amy said abruptly. "We 'ported in, and Xander and Cordy are fine and on their way to Hammersmith."
"You're sure?" Steve said with great relief.
"We're sure," Amy snapped at him. "And considering what we teleported into, Steve, be glad that Willow and I are still alive. We're on the way back."
Steve began to ask what she meant by that, but Amy quickly broke the connection. It took only a few seconds for the Wanderer to figure out what Amy had meant by that.
"I'm getting too old for this shit," he grumbled. He turned towards the others, and said, "Xander and Cordelia are fine. We're going to go on patrol, and try to track down these vampires. Jenny, I want you, Shaw and Randi to stay here and see if you can come up with any answers for us."
"Steven, I feel that I should object to part of your plan," Shaw said off-handedly.
"Shaw, you're in no shape for combat," the Wanderer carefully reminded her.
To his surprise, she nodded. "Yes, but Randi's sword, being a holy relic, would be better served to be in the field, rather than here. Also, Kendra could carry Soulreaver, she has done so before."
"Jenny's going to be using the computer for her side of the research," Steve replied. "Do you think you can handle the book research yourself?"
"Brian can help me," the half-elf said casually, looking over her shoulder at the young man who'd slept through most of the Willow mix-up. "I would appreciate his help."
<And give him a way to be part of the team without risking his life,> Steve silently added. Taking a few seconds to consider it, he said, "Okay. I just hope you can find an idea of what we might be facing. . ."
Shaw looked offended, and began saying, "Doppelgangers, illusionists, shapeshifters, wizards using polymorphing magics. . ."
"I get the point," Steve said, quickly cutting her off while the others chuckled. Giving them a long glare, the Wanderer said, "Okay, let's get moving. I want to know what's going on before we lost the entire weekend."
As they filtered out of the house, Buffy said, "Well, at least this time we don't have to worry about something stupid like Angel showing up in the middle of this."
Hammersmith Park
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
Late hours
11 December 1998
A lone vampire watched the two men walking through the park, arguing over something that he couldn't make out. Figuring that he could get an easy meal out of these two, he began sneaking towards the men.
Axel Foley was not a happy camper, and he had no problem letting his companion know it.
"I don't get it, man," Axel said disbelievingly. "I was expecting the vampire version of Mayberry, and instead I've got a nice, quiet little 'burb of L.A. Where's the vamps, Angel man?"
"I don't know," Angel answered helplessly. "I mean, so many things are different. It's like I've been transported to another world."
"Hey, man. Don't go 'Outer Limits' on me," Axel joked. He began to say something more, but Angel stopped and grabbed his arm. "What is it?"
Angel nodded as a vampire stepped out into the light generated by a lamp. The vampire seemed ready to jump them but held back as he recognized Angel for what he was.
"What do you want?" Angel demanded in a harsh voice.
The vampire now looked nervous at Angel's confidence, and said, "Who are you?"
Angel let a grim smile form on his face, and said, "Call me Angel."
The vampire recognized the name, and muttered, "Angelus? They said you were killed in New York last month."
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear," Angel said with a chuckle.
"No shit," the vampire said as he relaxed. As Angel moved forward, the vamp switched to his game face. "You want to share your meal?"
Angel also switched to his alternate visage, and evilly said, "I don't think so."
Angel threw a wicked backhand, and drew a stake. As the vampire turned his head back with a hiss, Angel sent the stake plunging into the vampire's chest.
Angel didn't sense any other vampires around as the dust settled, so he turned back to his companion, who was duly impressed with Angel's exhibition.
"Damn, Angel," Axel said, his eyes wide open. "You coulda saved some for me."
"Sorry," Angel said with a friendly smirk.
"Hey, man. I gotta ask you somethin'," the detective said. "Why'd he call you 'Angelus?'"
"It's Latin," the vampire with a soul replied with a smile with great sadness in it. "It means 'the one with the angelic face.'"
Axel immediately started laughing at his answer. "Hyeh, hyeh, hyeh, hyeh..."
Angel looked at the amused cop strangely. "What's so funny?"
Axel stopped laughing, but he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. "The one with the angelic face?" he asked with a laugh. "Dude, have you looked in a mirror lately?"
Angel just looked at him in frustration as he switched back to his human face.
Once he remembered the legend about vampires and mirrors, Axel's humor died as quickly as it had been born.
"Okay, moving on," he said sheepishly, moving down the path once again.
Shaking his head in good humor at Axel's embarrassment, Angel smiled and followed his erstwhile partner into the night.
A few minutes later, Axel and Angel were rounding a bend in the park when they stopped dead in their tracks.
So did the two teenagers who'd been coming at them from the opposite direction.
After a few seconds of staring at each other, the teenaged man began to complain.
"Oh, this is just great!" he groaned to his female companion. "First we get interrupted, then there's supposed to be a vamp double of me running around, and now Dead Boy's back from the dead!"
"No shit, Dweeb Boy," the woman said. With a look of faint disgust, she said, "And he's lost his taste in clothing."
The four people all looked at Angel's outfit, a t-shirt under the Detroit Lions jacket he'd borrowed from Axel, and the blue jeans that had seen better days.
"Hey girl! Don't be dissing my taste!" the detective fumed.
"And who the Hell are you?" the girl asked. After a pause, she added, "What are you?"
"I'm Axel Foley. I'm a cop," Axel harshly answered.
"That explains a lot of it," the boy answered. Then he asked, "Where you from, Ax Man?"
"Detroit," he proudly declared.
With a grimace, the young woman said, "And that explains the rest."
"Hey!" Axel shouted. He drew his gun and pointed it at the man. "Remember me, Dead Boy?"
The kids stiffened, and looked at each other. The boy looked at Angel, and said, "Wait a minute, here. *He's* Dead Boy. I'm Xander."
"Or Dweeb Boy," the girl added.
"You're not helping, Cordelia," Xander snarled. He saw Angel watching him intently, and demanded, "What are YOU looking at?"
"You're alive," Angel said, surprised confusion in his words. "Axel, he's alive."
"What are you talking about?" Axel questioned the vampire. "This is Dead Boy. The undead answer to the Fonz. The dude that was kicking your ass in Detroit last week. . ."
"I get the message!" Angel snapped. "Axel, I can tell he's alive."
"Yeah, well, you ain't exactly dead," Axel snapped as he held the gun on Xander. "So maybe you can't tell the difference."
Trying another direction, Angel said, "Also, look at the wardrobe."
Axel, Angel and Cordelia all looked at Xander's striped shirt and blue jeans.
"You're right," Axel said, looking suddenly open-minded. "Dead Boy had taste in clothes."
"HEY!" Xander snapped.
Cordelia giggled and said, "You know, it's not like you got room to talk, Axel."
"Don't start, girl. Who are you anyway?"
"Cordelia Chase. I'm Xander's girl," she said haughtily.
Axel looked at Angel, and asked, "Is this the wicked bitch that did all the B&D shit to you?"
Angel glared at him, and said, "No, she's not. That's something else that's different. The Xander *I* know dates Willow."
"WHAT?!?" Xander and Cordelia shouted together.
Xander held up his hands, and said, "Wait a minute. Axel, Drive Shaft, whatever your name is, how'd you meet Dead Boy?"
"You and he were throwing down in my hood, and I had to bail out Irish boy here," Axel responded quickly. "Since I was on vacation this weekend, I drove him out here. Since I've got a convertible, Angel was able to sleep in the back seat without getting a tan."
"And you thought I was a vampire?" Xander asked with a laugh.
"Either it was you, or your evil twin," the cop retorted.
Xander and Cordelia looked at each other, and back at Axel and Angel.
"My evil twin," Xander repeated.
"Yeah. With a leather jacket."
"What is it?" Angel asked, seeing that something was up. "You know something."
Cordelia sighed. "Let's just say that the evil twin idea's a recurring theme tonight," she said, pissed off. "How 'bout you two come with us? Steve’ll want to see you."
"The who?" Angel and Axel said together.
Xander looked at Angel and said, "You know, the Wanderer. The guy with Demon Slayer, the magical samurai sword. The guy who gutted you in February."
At the blank look on his face, Xander said, "Cordelia, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"No weekend?" the Amazon moaned.
"Yeah, no weekend," he replied with his patented Xander look thrown at the vampire and the cop.
Cordelia glared at Angel and Axel as well.
"Oh sure. Blame us," Axel said.
St. Wolf Residence
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
Early hours
12 December 1998
Less than ninety minutes after leaving, Steve, Buffy and the Slayerettes, with the exceptions of those who had stayed behind, arrived back at the house at 317 Bryant Terrace. Steve had gotten a call from Xander, who said they'd found a piece of the puzzle that was too complicated to go over on the phone. Steve had quickly passed the news onto the rest of the team, and they somehow happened to arrive at the same time.
As they walked up to the house, Xander and Shaw walked out to greet them, unreadable looks on their faces.
Steve was the first to reach them, and asked, "Okay, what's the story?"
Xander looked to Shaw, who nodded. She looked at Steve, and said, "From what we have determined, the two men in your house are who they claim to be. The first, a dark-skinned human, what you would call a Negro, was easy to confirm as far as identity goes, via Jenny's skills with computers."
"Who is he?" Steve asked as the others gathered behind him to listen in.
Xander supplied the answer. "Axel Foley, Detroit PD. He's a detective, supposed to be on vacation visiting friends in the Beverly Hills PD for the next two weeks. The funny thing is, he filed the vacation papers two months ago, so he's legit. This guy's being here isn't spur of the moment."
"I see," Steve muttered. "And the other one?"
Shaw said, "This is where we have contradictions, Steven. What this man has told us does not coincide with what you and the others have told me of the times before my arrival here."
"He's lying?" Giles asked.
The ranger shook her head, and replied, "No, Giles, just the opposite. I used spells to detect truths or falsehoods, with his full consent. He speaks the truth as he sees or knows it. I also used spells for detecting evil, detecting magic, and knowing one's alignment, should he have had magic unknowingly cast upon him. Jenny used similar magics, which are more powerful, and in some cases more subtle, than mine. All of this was to no avail. As improbable as it might seem, this man, to use your terms, 'checks out.' He is who he claims to be."
"And who is that?" Buffy asked with a frown, since she could see that Xander and Shaw were uncomfortable.
"You'd better see for yourself," Xander suggested. He stood aside so that Buffy and the others could enter. "I will say this; he let us bring him here and he's behaved himself."
The Slayerettes walked in, and when the Slayer and the Wanderer led the way into the living room, they froze at the sight before them.
Angel.
Steve and Buffy quickly began to draw the Slayer Swords, but Jenny waved them back.
"This isn't Angelus," Jenny swore, quite firmly. "As I'm sure Xander and Shaw told you, this isn't the Angelus we've dealt with in the past. This is the souled Angel."
The entire gang looked uncomfortable, to say the least. As the tension began to rise, Steve decided to take measures to rein it in.
Looking at the one unknown person in the room, Steve said, "Detective Foley, I presume."
"Yeah, that's me," Axel confirmed. "Mind tellin' me what's your beef with Angel?"
"Well, let's start with the hundred and fifty years of killing people in Europe," Buffy growled.
"Yeah, yeah, he told me all that," Axel said dismissively. "And those Gypsy guys did their voodoo on them, gave him his soul back."
"And then he lost it," Willow added from the edge of the crowd.
Angel, hearing her voice, morphed into his game face, snarling, "You."
Now, Buffy drew Vampire Slayer, and stepped in front of the advancing Angel.
"Don't even think it, Dead Boy," she hissed.
Angel stopped, looking stricken. He whispered, "Buffy, how could you?"
"Let's see," the Slayer snapped. "My best friend, the Amazon witch, or the vampire who lost his soul and USED to be my boyfriend. Oh yeah, hard choice."
Angel blinked at that, and said, "Wait a minute. You never saw me before Monday, when we attacked the Master."
"Wroooong!" Buffy sang. "I staked the Master last year."
Angel looked even more confused, and that was when a grinning Robin Goodfellow took it upon himself to straighten everything out.
"Excuse me, but before we get any more testosterone or PMS poisoning. . ."
"Hey!" Buffy snapped.
". . .allow me to clear the confusion," Robin progressed as if Buffy hadn't snapped at him. "I'll make this simple; this isn't Angel."
Buffy looked somewhat baffled, as did the others. "Uh, let's see; tall, dark, brooding. Yep, that's Angel."
"It's not OUR Angel," Robin clarified. Looking at the vampire, he dropped the bombshell. "This is the Angel from an alternate universe."
As everyone looked shocked at that announcement, Xander said, "Uh, no offense Rob, but I think you've watched one too many Star Trek episodes."
With a sigh directed at Xander, Robin said, "You've been to another dimension, and you still don't think it's possible? Talk about retarded."
"As I've been saying for years," Cordelia added with a grin.
"HEY!" Xander shouted as he glared at Cordelia. "Robin, that was a one-time deal. It's not like alternate dimensions are that common."
"I beg to differ," Robin grinned.
"As do I, Xander," Shaw added in support of the fairy.
Xander now realized he was caught, as Shaw herself was proof of alternate planes, as well as cross dimensional travel, given her biplanar ancestry.
"How do you know?" Axel asked the two Slayerettes.
"Well, in my case I'm somewhat famous," Robin said before giving Angel and Axel a bow. "Robin Goodfellow, Merry Wanderer of the Night, star of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and servant of the Lord Oberon, High King of the Fairy Kingdom. And to avoid any confusion, I'm NOT Puck. He's another guy."
"You just had to get that in, didn't you?" Amy sighed. Angel and Axel looked at her, and she said, "Saying the P-Word sets him off."
"You're Robin Goodfellow?" Angel asked in amazement.
"They always react that way," Robin said to Amy, who just rolled her eyes.
"How about you?" Axel asked Shaw.
"Shaw Hunter," the ranger answered with a nod of greeting. "Half human, and half elven."
Axel just stared at her, while Angel seemed ready to accept her word. "Okay," the cop said, "vampires are one thing. Fairies and elves are another. Prove it."
Shaw nodded pleasantly, and pulled her hair back, showing off both of her ears. Axel blinked, and started to move forward to touch what he thought were Hollywood-style special effects or makeup. The cold, hard look of a stone-cold killer that suddenly came to Shaw's eyes stopped him in his tracks.
Freezing the Detroiter with her stare, she said, "If you wish to keep that hand attached to the rest of your body, you would be well advised to retract it at once."
"Uh, yeah. You got it," Axel said, moving back three large steps.
Steve took Shaw by the shoulder, and said, "Shaw, don't treat our guests that way."
"Then he should not use improper behavior," Shaw said to him.
Steve looked ready to dress down the half-elf, but Amy quickly came up and said, "Shaw, I need your help with a spell."
Shaw looked at Amy with confusion, and said, "But you are more. . ."
"I need a voice of experience, cuz," Amy stressed, not allowing Shaw to argue. She looked at Axel, and said, "Sorry, Detective. My cousin got her grandma's temper."
"What the hell was her grandma?" Axel asked in doubt.
"Irish redhead," Amy said in complete seriousness.
Axel blinked, and obviously knew what that combination meant. "Yeah, well, heredity's a wonderful thing, ain't it?" he called after them. He looked at Steve, and said, "She got pointy ears, too?"
"No, she's human. And a witch," Steve replied, much to Axel's shock. "Now, let's get back to basics. Robin, can you tell us how you know Angel's origins?"
"Universal auras," Robin explained. He looked at Angel, and said, "Angel here was subjected to a temporal fold of some sort. He was yanked, for lack of a better term, from his universe to ours. But if he arrived in Detroit, that means the temporal fold spell went awry."
"And that explains Dead Boy," Axel said, surprisingly getting the explanation. "The one that looks like him."
Everyone looked at Xander, and Kendra asked, "You're telling me I did fight Xander, but from another dimension."
"Not another dimension, an alternate reality," Robin said with a sigh. "Plus, this explains the mix up with Willow earlier tonight."
"You mean she's here?" Angel asked with an undercurrent of anger in the question.
"Oh, yeah," Buffy snapped. When Angel jerked in response, she sighed. "Sorry. I don't like getting my neck broken."
When Axel and Angel looked at her strangely, she moaned. "OH NO!!!!"
"Okay, I can't wait to hear this," Axel said with a cocked eyebrow. "The leather witch broke your neck? You look good to me."
He looked at Steve, and quickly added, "I meant in a healthy, not dead sense."
"You're Immortal," Angel muttered, drawing shocked glances from the Slayerettes.
"How'd you know about that?" Steve demanded cautiously.
"I've met a couple of Immortals in my time," Angel admitted. "I saw a duel once, nasty stuff."
"Our Angel never knew about Immortals," Buffy said. "Or at least, he didn't know about me after he lost his soul...."
Angel looked at her in confusion, and she mumbled, "Long story."
"Let me get this straight," Axel said doubtfully. "This girl, the one you have the hots for, is Immortal?"
"Hey!" Buffy snapped.
"Not THIS Buffy," Angel said, blushing deeply. "The Buffy on my world."
"She's Immortal, too?" Buffy asked.
"I don't know. She never arrived in Sunnydale, when I was sent here to wait for her to help her," Angel confessed. "Here's what I know. Whistler, the balance demon who recruited me for the Powers That Be, showed you to me in Los Angeles when you were first Chosen. I fell in love with you at first sight. . ."
"Awwww, that's so romantic," Axel teased him, and drawing a few giggles.
"But something happened," Angel continued. "Whistler told me you were destined to arrive in Sunnydale to fight the Master. You never arrived."
"Yes I did. Or, I did here. So what happened?" Buffy asked, being drawn into this alternate history.
"The worst. The Master rose, and took over Sunnydale," Angel said. "The Mayor tried to get the cops to fight them, but the Master had his prize pupils kill him. Xander and Willow killed him within two weeks of the rising. The librarian, who was supposed to be Buffy's new Watcher, recruited a couple of kids to help him fight, but it was a losing battle. I tried to get together with the Watcher to join forces, but I got caught. To punish me, the Master let me live, knowing that I'd failed in my mission. I was tortured almost every day for two years, and Buffy finally showed up, two years later. From what Willow told me the last time I saw her, she said that Cordelia Chase had said something about 'wishing them into Bizzaroland,' something about Buffy never showing up in Sunnydale. When she did show up, we attacked the Master's new factory and I got into a fight with Xander, and the next thing I know, Axel's firing his gun into Xander in Detroit."
"Wait a minute here," Buffy said, cutting off Angel's speech. "So, you're saying because I didn't go to Sunnydale in this other timeline, Xander and Willow are turned, Cordy's dead, Angel's tortured and Giles is doing a Charlton Heston in the Omega Man?"
"Thank you, Mistress of the Recap," Robin muttered sarcastically.
"So, all we need to do is come up with a spell to send them back where we came from," Amy said as she and a now calm Shaw rejoined the gang.
"I don't think it's going to be that simple," Robin said, drawing looks from everyone. "Look, you guys. I'm an expert on this kind of thing, and I'll tell you this; traveling through other realities is harder than different realms and something big must have happened for this to occur. So it's up to us to figure out what is was that triggered their coming here."
"What, Buffy never coming to Sunnydale, the Master running an undead fast food joint, and us all dead doesn't count?!?" Xander bleated.
"Allow me to put it in one word: Fate."
"Oh, shit," Steve, Jenny, Giles and Angel said.
"What?" the kids all asked. Oh, Axel asked that too.
"Look, it's like this," the fairy said. "You have to ask yourselves, why Angel? Why Vamp Willow? Why Vamp Xander? Why did that spell send them to this world? Then, why did that spell send them to other parts of the country or world, rather than plop them in Sunnydale where they were in the other timeline? And then, why are they converging on the Hellmouth now, where we are exposed to all three of these temporally displaced people?"
"Could you say that in something remotely resembling something a poor dumb brother from Detroit can understand?" Axel asked with a frown.
((Author's note: No, I am not dissing people from Detroit. I have to live here too. Yes, I am willing to poke fun at myself.))
With a sigh, Robin said, "I'll simplify this considering my audience."
"Hey!" Xander objected.
"Actually, I was talking about all of you," Robin clarified.
"HEY!" everyone shouted at once.
With a chuckle, Robin said, "Sorry, guys, but you're all laymen when it comes to this. Now, for every major moment, whether it's the course of history or simply one life, there are a number of alternate timelines, each one exploring the various ways that decision could take, each differing decision setting off a chain reaction which includes various other moments that splinter off their own timelines."
The rest of the people in the room looked at each other, and Giles spoke for them.
"I think we need an example."
Robin nodded. "Okay. Suppose George Washington had been killed during the French and Indian War. On the one hand, you have a multitude of timelines where America lost the Revolutionary War and the impact of that change. On the other hand, there are timelines where they still won, but without Washington as President, there are various alternate timelines, each one influenced by whoever was President."
"Wait a minute, Robin dude," Axel said, raising a hand. "What you're saying is, this is like that comic book I used to read as a kid."
"Comic book?" Giles asked in disbelief. "You are comparing this to a comic book?"
"Yeah, Belvedere, I am," the cop growled. "It's like that comic book called 'What If?' You say 'what if this happened,' and they'd come up with a scenario that shows what might happen. Like. . ."
"What if Superman were a bad guy?" Xander asked.
"Yeah!" Axel said with a grin, glad someone else saw the direction.
"Or if Batman was a girl?" Cordelia asked.
"Well, that's a little more out there, but yeah, you get the point," Axel congratulated the Amazon. "That what you're saying, Goodman?"
"GoodFELLOW," Robin said with a tight voice. "But yeah, that's pretty much what I'm saying. You ask yourself 'what if' for anything in the history of the Earth, and chances are better than even that there's a timeline or sixty-seven for it."
By now, even Giles, the most pop culture-challenged member of the Slayerettes, understood Robin's speech.
"So, everything's explained," the Watcher said formally.
Willow's face went pale and she snapped, ""Nothing's explained! Me and Xander have vampire duplicates running around Sunnydale!"
"Hey, it's Cordelia's fault," Xander said.
"What? It wasn't me," the brunette snapped.
"In a way it was," Robin countered.
"Yeah, you made that wish," Xander added.
Fuming at the two men, Cordelia snarled, "Now look, dweeb boy. *I* didn't make the wish, another Cordelia did. And look at the bright side. You're still alive in that universe."
Everyone looked at the Amazon strangely.
"You know what I mean!!!!" she moaned.
"And me and Willow are together in this universe?" Xander asked.
"Why don't you ask them?" Cordelia snapped. "They're out there. Track 'em down and ask them."
"We're going to have to do just that," Steve said, drawing looks from the others. "We're going to have to track the Vampire Willow and Xander down and stop them from creating havoc here in our world."
"We can't do it tonight, Steve," Giles said. "It's too late for all of us to do any more running around."
"Agreed," the Wanderer said. "Angel, I'm sorry about the mix-up between you and your counterpart, will you accept our apologies?"
"Of course," Angel said, taking Steve's hand.
"Well, I think there's only one thing to do with you two, and that's to get you a room at the Motor Lodge. You two mind?"
"No, man. That's cool," Axel said. "I can call Billy and tell him I'll be a couple days late. Maybe I can help you out here if you need it."
"You sure? Fighting vamps isn't easy for first-timers," Buffy promised him.
"Kid, I saw what Dead Boy was like," Axel told him. "You ask me, there ain't much difference between these bloodsuckers and some perp doped up to the max on PCP. I've had to take down a couple of those in my time, and it ain't fun."
"Okay, come on into the office, and I'll make the arrangements," Steve said, but Jenny cleared her throat. "Yes, Jenny?"
"I need to talk to Angel. In private."
"Ah," Steve said. "Angel, do you mind? I know it's important."
"It's all right," the vampire said, more for Axel's benefit than Steve's.
As he began to follow Jenny into the kitchen, Axel went to follow Steve into St. Wolf's office.
As the four disappeared, Xander looked at Amy.
"Hey, Amy, who kept you guys from capping Willow. . ."
"Hey!" Willow protested.
"Sorry Will. You know what I mean."
"Robin," Amy said, looking at the smug fairy. "He took out a gun and shot all the guns out of our hands."
Xander and Cordelia all looked at Amy.
"Robin used a gun?" Xander asked.
Amy snorted. "Used a gun? Uh-uh. He shot the weapons out of everyone's hands. It was like the Lone Ranger."
"Who do you think taught me?" Robin asked in what appeared to be dead seriousness.
Everyone stared at him for several seconds, and he huffed at their doubt in him.
Xander leaned close to Amy and whispered, "Is he serious?"
Amy whispered, "I can't tell."
Xander looked at Robin, and asked, "Let me guess, you use a six-shooter, too?"
"No, he doesn't," Giles said. Adjusting his glasses, he told them, "Robin, it seems, prefers a Walther PPK."
"You know what kind of gun that was?" Buffy asked her Watcher, surprised he'd know something like that.
"I was a teenager once, Buffy," the offended Watcher said. "I was particularly fond of Double Oh Seven in my youth."
Xander looked at Robin, who shrugged.
"I know of only three men in the world who carry that weapon. I believe I've killed two of them myself."
Everyone stared at the fairy.
Jenny and Angel walked into the kitchen, and Jenny slowly closed the door. When Angel turned around to look at her, waiting for her to speak, she hesitated, gathering her thoughts, as well as her courage.
"Angel, you have no idea how hard this is going to be," the Gypsy began. With a sigh, she plunged into her speech. "I'm going to make this as simple as I can. Angel, I know who you are, and what you were. Thus, we need to talk."
"About what?" Angel asked, already confused less than ten seconds into their talk.
"In your world, did you ever see me? That is, did you ever see my dimensional counterpart? Ever? At all?" When Angel shook his head, she nodded. "I see. Very well, then, what I'm about to tell you will not be easy to hear, but you have to listen to everything I say. Everything depends on it. Everything for you."
"I'm listening."
"My name, my real name, is Janna," Jenny said, taking the plunge. "Janna Kalendish."
Angel's jaw dropped in total shock, and Jenny saw the pain in his eyes.
"You know the name, good." With a pain of her own that mirrored the vampire's, she continued. "Please listen, and listen very carefully. There is a clause on your curse. If you ever stop suffering for your crimes, if you ever overcome your guilt enough to achieve one moment of perfect happiness, the curse will be broken."
Angel thought about that, and said, "But if the curse was broken, that would mean. . ."
As his face went white in fear, she said, "It happened here, Angel. To the Angel of this universe. He and Buffy. . . I think you know what I would tell you, given your obvious feelings for your Buffy."
"Yes, I do," Angel dryly whispered, before realizing that she was saying it could happen to HIM. With a pleading sound in his question, he asked, "Can't anything be done?"
"As it so happens, yes," Jenny said with a smile of compassion. "Willow, our Willow that is, as well as Amy, are witches, as am I. We have a copy of the soul spell, and we used it on one vampire, whose soul we restored as he first awakened after being turned. He doesn't see it as a curse, but as a way to stay with his wife, who knows, and his children. Also, Shaw was able to provide us with a spell that we have been able to refine even further, to make the restoration permanent. The curse, if you choose to call it such, plainly states that the only way for the soul to be lost is if the vampire's body is destroyed, at which time the curse acts upon the soul, cursing it to go on to its proper afterlife."
"That's a curse?" Angel asked.
"It's meant to keep the soul from being removed as it was in the case of our Angel," Jenny said. "It's meant to keep any loopholes from emerging if other spell casters try any such magic on one whose soul has been restored. If you want, we can modify the spell on you so that you need never worry about losing yourself to the demon Angelus, ever again. Your soul will be restored permanently."
"And what happens then?" Angel asked.
"That will be up to you," Jenny said with a smile. "I'll talk to Amy and Willow, and we can do it tomorrow night, before we go after your fellow dimensional travelers."
Angel smiled, and tears of happiness started to form in his face as he saw that this woman, a daughter of those who'd cursed him with his soul, had in no uncertain terms forgiven him for his sins. And in that, he took a step towards the redemption he sought, as he finally forgave himself for a sin performed by another inhabiting his body.
As Steve hung up the phone, Axel wasn't happy with the arrangements that the Immortal had made for them.
"Why'd you lie to him?" Axel demanded. "That guy's helped you before, and you lied to him."
"I didn't lie to him," Steve grinned. "I told him the truth and left out a few details."
"Oh, right," Axel argued. "Let's see. Angel works for your team. . ."
"In his universe, and in ours before he lost his soul."
Axel stopped, but started again. "He was deep, deep, DEEP undercover, keeping tabs on a large army of vampires. . ."
"Which he was in both universes, and before you go on, his cover was blown, he was captured, and tortured before escaping and revealing himself to an 'outsider' who took it upon himself to help Angel report to the commanding officer of Section Seven. The *only* part I left out was the part about alternate universes."
Axel sighed, and said, "Man, I'm at the point where I'm expecting one of two things to happen."
"What's that?" Steve asked with a grin.
"One, Rod Serling's gonna walk into your office and start talking," the cop grumbled, "or Alan Funt's gonna say I'm on Candid Camera."
Steve chuckled, and said, "And I suppose your next question's going to be 'Who is Section Seven.'"
When Axel nodded, he said, "Okay, but you have to understand that this is classified, Axel. You can't tell anyone about us, but I'll give you numbers to call if you ever get wind of any 'abnormal' happenings in your town."
"Yeah, yeah, spare me the government cover-up crap. Who are you guys?"
"Well," Steve said, "I'm officially an antiques dealer. Unofficially, I work for Jack Ryan of the CIA. Before that, I was an Army Ranger and Green Beret, and in my copious spare time I double as a demon hunter. My sword called Demon Slayer, consider it a Japanese version of Excalibur. Now, as for Section Seven, I'm the field commander. You heard Angel talk about Immortals, I'm one. I'm truthfully forty years old, but I became Immortal at age twenty-four. That's why I still look like this. About sixty Immortals are in Section Seven, because we can survive missions that even SEAL teams might not survive. We have contacts with numerous law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, which contains two of our other field commanders, and the Texas Rangers, who I have some friends in. Also, I can call in Army Rangers, Green Berets, Navy SEAL teams, and if necessary, I can call in a favor and get a Marine Division. We try to keep vampires and demons from making the world a bigger mess than it is."
"Why didn't you just say so in the first place?" the cop asked. "Hell, you're just another top secret group that doesn't exist."
"No shit," Steve chuckled.
Axel now looked grim. "Now tell me how you let those kids fight with you, before I kick your ass for letting teenagers fight vampires instead of doing kid things."
Steve frowned at the cop, and said, "Axel, any one of those kids could easily kick your ass in five seconds flat. Each one of them has qualifications, both mystical and normal, that make them more than suited for the life that they've *chosen.*"
"Really? Try me," Axel demanded.
"Fine. Willow, Xander and Buffy, along with Giles were fighting vamps and demons for three years before I got here and took over training them. Cordelia, Amy, Jenny and Oz joined up a year later so they’ve been fighting for two more years without benefit of backup or an organization behind them. Now that they have the breathing room, Amy, Willow and Jenny are developing their witchcraft and technomancy skills. Amy’s witchcraft is a family tradition, and she has connections with her family that go back four hundred years worth of magical experience and records. Jenny is the computer science teacher at the local high school, and Willow is her prize pupil. Xander has military experience, Oz is a werewolf and bass player in a local band, and Giles was doing his best to keep them trained, equipped and alive when I showed up. In his own right, Giles is one hell of a research librarian. Also, he’s become the father Buffy should have had. Robin is our newest addition and I’m still not comfortable with him in his present condition. He is more powerful magically than our ladies are, when he has those powers although currently he’s pretty much stripped of them. He’s older than most Immortals, and has contacts with more magical beings than I care to count. He sticks because he loves Amy and she loves him." Steve shook his head and leaned against the wall. "They chose this life before I got here. I’ve just been making it easier on them and more likely that they will survive to a ripe old age say thirty."
Axel's eyes went wide, and he said, "No way! Oz plays bass?"
"Yep. In a local band called ‘Dingoes Ate My Baby.’"
"And how about the Vulcan?" Axel asked sourly.
"Shaw," Steve sighed. "Sorry. She's sort of the team medic, healing spells are her forte. Also, she's got a lot of experience at fifty-four years old, she's hunted vampires as long as I have, and she's our team linguist."
"How many languages can she speak?"
"I'm told she can say four-letter words in just under twenty languages," Steve said. "And she can write them in fifteen of those."
Steve just chuckled at Axel's shivering.
Steve walked out of the office, and said, "Okay, Angel. You and Axel head out to the Motor Lodge, and be here as soon as you can tomorrow night. It's going to be a long night."
"How'd you get the man to let me stay there?" Angel asked.
"Oh, he just told the guy running the place that you're some kind of spy boy working for the good guys and that you had to blow your cover to report in about a big group of vampires getting ready to waste a town 'far from this one,'" Axel informed him. "You're under his version of witness protection."
"Hey, it worked," Steve said. Looking at the Slayerettes, he said, "Kids, head home and get some sleep. We've got a long night ahead."
Cordelia moaned in despair, but Xander went over towards Willow.
"Will? I meant to ask you about some kind of comment you made," the young warrior asked.
"What comment?" Willow asked.
"The comment about you, Oz, and pain," Xander said with a sick look.
"Xander! Buffy said that vampire me was wearing a 'Madame of Whips and Chains' leather outfit!" Willow complained. "And she thought it was ME! Like I'd wear something like that in broad daylight!"
"Uh, Willow, that other Willow is a vamp," Buffy reminded her best friend. "She wears it at night."
The redhead moaned, and said, "Buffy, I wouldn't wear it, period!"
"Oh," the Slayer said with a blank look. "Well, you made that crack and stuff.... look, let's just forget it."
"Good," Willow snapped softly.
"Uh, not to make waves here," Robin said with a look at the gang. "But I couldn't help but notice that Shaw didn't react when Willow said that thing about Mistress of Pain."
"Robin!" Willow squeaked, turning red with embarrassment.
"You didn't react to that, Shaw?" Xander asked.
"Why would I?" Shaw asked him.
Robin tried to explain. "Well, Shaw, you see. . ." he said before remembering something. "Oh, I forgot. You're a virgin."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Shaw asked the sprite. "I am older than anyone here save for you or Angel."
"Yes," Jenny offered, trying to give some advice, "but having no experience in such matters. . ."
Shaw sighed and began shaking her head while looking at the floor.
"Remind me to tell you sometime about the three months I spent on a Harper mission masquerading as a waitress in a pleasure hall in Waterdeep."
Everyone one stared at the half-elf.
Very slowly, Buffy said, "Uh. . . . scary place?"
Everyone nodded.
Abandoned Store
Sunnydale, California (the Wandererverse)
Early hours
12 December 1998
Xander grumpily prepared to settle down for the day when a noise caught his attention. Morphing into his vampire face, he quietly stalked towards the source of the noise.