Last period of the day

Buffy slipped into her seat next to Willow in English class. Willow looked up from the extra
assignment in math she was doing to greet Buffy.

"Hi, Buffy. Have you heard?"

"Heard? Willow," Buffy looked at her friend with worry in her eyes. "You aren't going cryptic on me,
are you?"

"Oh, sorry." Willow flushed as she realized who she was reminding her friend of. "There's a new girl
in school. They say that she was on the honor list of her old school, and that she had the highest
grades of anyone in her whole school in most of her courses." Buffy grinned when she heard this.

"Jealous, Willow?" Buffy teased.

"No, no, no," she protested. "I never get jealous. Not of something like that. It's just, interesting.
Know what else I heard?" Willow continued before Buffy could accuse her of being cryptic again.
"That she has this weird disease, that affects her eyes. And that she can't go anywhere without
sunglasses, because even dim light could blind her."

"Brutal." Then, an unfamiliar girl walked into the room. She was tall, had long ash blond hair that
cascaded down her back, which contrasted quite vividly with her entirely black outfit. She had a pair
of mirrored sunglasses on her nose, which completely hid eyes that Buffy felt could look into a
person's soul.

A girl could be heard in the back of the room saying "Right. Gothic is just SO last year!"

The girl gave her schedule to the teacher, and waited as he checked it over. He then introduced her
to the class.

"Class," Mr. Wilson said, "this is Cassandra Wilton. She just moved here from Seattle, so, please, be
nice to her." He turned to Cassandra. "You can sit next to Miss Summers, third row, fourth seat
down," he said as he handed her an English textbook.

"Thank you," she said quietly, as she carefully sat down in her seat.

The class moved mercifully fast after that, and Buffy kept sneaking glances at Cassandra. That girl
just completely unnerved her. Something about her... <She has that same feeling of flames that I felt
in Cat-woman,> Buffy realized. <But they aren't as strong.> She resolved to talk to Giles about this
after school.

Soon, the bell rang, signaling the end of class, and of school. Students quickly poured out of the
room. Buffy and Willow headed out, talking and laughing, while Cassandra's eyes were on them.
They were especially Buffy, and a smirk crossed her face. Cassandra then hurried out of the
classroom.
 

Buffy laughed as Willow told her an amusing anecdote of her history teacher. However, Willow
could tell that it was forced. Buffy had not been having an easy time of things lately, what with Angel
and all. They reached Buffy's locker, and she opened it as she complained about the massive amount
of chemistry homework that Mr. 'Pitbull', as the students had dubbed him, had assigned. However,
Buffy halted suddenly, mid tirade. She just stared into her locker with shock in her eyes.

"What?" Willow asked. She had to practically physically move the immobile Slayer to see what was
causing this extreme reaction. Taped to the inside of her locker was a picture of Buffy, sleeping. A
small note was attached underneath. 'Soon', it said. Willow grabbed the picture and note, closed the
locker quickly, and propelled Buffy towards the library, Giles, and, hopefully, some answers.

Unnoticed by either of them was Cassandra, who was leaning against the wall, watching them with
interest. <Hmmm...> she mused. <Things are going according to plan. I wonder how long she'll be
able to hold out.> She chuckled as she headed back to her locker.
 

"Giles!" Willow shouted once they entered the library.

"I'm ok, Willow," Buffy said, removing her arm from Willow death grip on it. "I just freaked a little.
I'm ok now."

"What is it?" Giles came out of the stacks to pose his question.

"This was taped inside Buffy's locker." Willow put the drawing and note down onto the table for
Giles to examine.

"Angel drew it."

"What?" Giles and Willow turned to look at Buffy.

"Angel drew it," Buffy repeated. "He showed me some of his drawings, before..." Buffy trailed off.
"Anyway, he always like to draw. And he drew that."

"But, how could it have gotten into Buffy's locker?"

"It was there when you arrived this morning, yes?"

"No, Giles. It showed up sometime between the end of lunch and last period. It was taped so that it
would be seen when I opened my locker. No way I could have missed it. Someone is helping Angel.
Someone who can get around in the sunlight." Buffy sat down and curled up defensively into a nearby
chair.

"Well, this is most distressing. We must determine who is helping him."

"Cassandra," Buffy said unexpectedly.

"What?"

"Cassandra," Buffy repeated. She couldn't help thinking, <Those two are going deaf>. "She was
giving me the major wig earlier. She sort of felt like the Eternal, but not. I got the same feeling of
flames that I got from Cat-Woman, but not quite as strong. And I didn't get that tingly feeling that I
got that showed that she was a vampire. And the Heat! It was driving me nuts."

"Flames? You didn't tell me about this earlier." Giles looked at Buffy disapprovingly.

"Sorry, I guess it slipped my mind." Buffy squirmed a little.

"You think that these flames might mean something?" asked Willow.

"Perhaps we are dealing with an elemental of some kind, probably fire, or perhaps a lava or earth
elemental.

"An earth elemental would project heat?"

"The earth is filled with lava, so it is very possible that earth elementals would project heat, but they
would also have other things. It would probably depend from which area they originally came from.
But, I must consult my books for a more precise description and identification. In the meantime,
perhaps you had better keep an eye on this 'Cassandra', just to be sure."

"I will," Buffy stated softly.

"I'll stay here and help Giles with research. Be careful, Buffy." Willow looked at her friend with
concern in her eyes.

"Of course. I'll see if I can catch up will Cassandra." Buffy then left the library.
 

That Evening

*RINGGG...* Giles looked up from the book he was reading to distractedly answer the telephone.

"Sunnydale High School Library. How may I help you?" he asked in a bland voice.

"Did you find anything, Giles?"

"Hello, Buffy. And, not as of yet. I have been researching the elementals, and I doubt that we are
dealing with an earth elemental, for as well as projecting heat, they simultaneously project a wet
undertone. It's supposedly something that is unmistakable." Giles paused, then asked, "Where are
you? I can hear all sorts of noise in the background."

"The Bronze. And I just ran into Cassandra."

"Oh, and did you learn anymore more that can help?"

"Nothing. I mean, she wasn't projecting anything. She felt entirely human, not at all like this morning."

"But, by all accounts, an elemental can't turn off the projections they emit. Perhaps we aren't dealing
with one after all."

"Well, wouldn't people be suspicious if a person was always projecting heat?" Buffy asked.

"Only sensitive people such as you can feel the projections. Most of the normal population would
assume an elemental is simply slightly odd. Did you get very close to her?"

"Giles, I ran right into her. Literally. Talk about embarrassing..." Buffy trailed off, then seemed to
refocus, "Anyway, I got nothing."

"At that close proximity, it would have been impossible for her to shield herself."

"Sorry, Giles, gotta go. Duty calls. I'll see you at the library later." Buffy hung up the phone, to run
after a vamp that had slipped into the Bronze.

Giles was left with a dead receiver in his hand, and many worries. Elemental were hard to distinguish,
but, once identified, easy to destroy. However, other creatures that projected heat were frequently
deadly, and extremely hard to kill. <I do hope we are dealing with a fire elemental. Anything else
would place Buffy in extreme danger. Again.> Giles went to continue his research, this time trying for
shapeshifting elementals.

"What do you think? Is it intimidating enough?" Michelle asked, showing off her outfit of a skin-tight,
low-cut black catsuit, silver belt, and mask.

"I think you need to show more skin," Angel replied blandly. Michelle promptly took a swipe at him
with her claws, which he quickly evaded.

"Don't mess with me, mister Big-Shot Vampire," the Eternal warned Angel. "I'm going after the
Slayer because YOU-" she poked him in the chest as she said this, "asked me too. So don't
antagonize me."

"Sorry," Angel said with a sadistic grin. "Let me make it up to you." He got even closer to her.

"Uh uh. Don't even think about it. Business before pleasure, remember?" she told him as she gave
him a glare. "Now, is she sensitive?" she shot another glare at Angel. "And get your mind out of the
gutter. Is she psychically sensitive?"

"Yeah, I think so." Angel kept trying to nibble on her wrists, so she put on her gauntlets. "You're no
fun," he said as he flashed her a naughty grin.

Michelle sighed at this. Being a fire dancer had some definite drawbacks. One being that male
vampires were drawn to her, both sexually and irresistibly. It was a pain. She just thanked her lucky
stars that human males weren't affected the same way, or she would be in major trouble.

"If so, then she should have felt the flames. And that should start the cycle." She put on her mask and
tiara, grabbed her staff, and headed for the door. "Don't wait up," she called back to Angel as she
vanished into the night.

"Of course not," Angel said sardonically. <Now,> he thought. <To get myself something to eat.
Young, of course. Maybe a blond.> He continued to ponder his dinner options as he headed for the
Bronze. <A Willow look-alike would be nice. I really can't wait until I get a taste of that redhead.>
He chuckled again as his soul violently reject this idea, and finally settled on a rather wan raven haired
teen sitting alone in the back of the Bronze.
 
 

"Hello, Buffy."

Buffy immediately spun around to find Ms. Tacky standing behind her. She was once again rolling out
the heat, even more intense then the last time. It was almost so bad that Buffy had trouble standing it.
She then noticed the long quarterstaff in the woman's hand.

"What, no return hello? How impolite." Cat-woman spun her staff in a circle around her hand in a
quick movement. "Guess I'll have to beat manners into you." She had a wide grin on her face at this.
Then she attacked.

Buffy jumped out of the way as the staff sailed under where her feet had previously been. She
grabbed a garbage can lid to use as a shield. As she grabbed it, Cat-Woman got in a hard blow to
her left arm, numbing it. <I can't move my arm!> thought Buffy, almost panicking.

However, she had an opponent to think about. She deftly evaded a few more swings from
Cat-Woman, and hit her hard with the lid on her left arm. She followed with a snap kick to her
knees. Cat-woman stumbled a little, but quickly regained her balance and drove her staff into Buffy
right arm, numbing it as well. Buffy could no longer hold the lid, and it clattered to the ground.

She quickly rolled out of the way of spinning staff, then got to her feet and did a succession of high
kicks which drove Cat-woman towards the alley wall. But her last kick was caught in Catwoman's
arms, and Buffy was knocked off her feet. She quickly rolled back onto her feet, and then felt a
tearing pain in her arm, and saw that Cat-woman had slashed her with her claws, drawing blood. So,
Buffy decided that this would be a good time to get the hell out of here. She sent a powerful kick to
Cat-Woman's middle, which sent her reeling into the wall.

And then Buffy ran as fast as her legs would carry her back to the library.
 

Willow wrapped her arms around herself as she quickly continued on the road home. She really
hadn't felt comfortable outside at night since Angel had turned. Before, she could rely on both him
and Buffy. Now, only the Slayer was around, and she wasn't the same anymore. Willow was worried
about her friend.

Willow quickened her pace. Her house was just ahead. As she reached her driveway, a hand
clamped over her mouth, and an arm weaved around her waist. Willow immediately stiffened. She
tried to scream, but nothing but a muffled whimper got past the large male hand securely covering her
mouth.

"Aw, Willow," Angel said from behind her. "I'm hurt. And we're such good friends."

Willow bashed her foot down on his, which temporarily loosened his grip, but he soon had her back
in a tight vise.

"Tsk, tsk, Willow. Such bad manners. I guess I'll just have to do this the hard way." No sooner had
he said this then she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, then, darkness overwhelmed her.
 

"Giles!" Buffy yelled as she limped into the library.

"Buffy! You ok?" Xander quickly unearthed himself from the mountain of books in front of him to
help Buffy into a chair.

"Not really. Where's Giles?"

"I'm here. What is the matter, Buffy?" Giles looked down at Buffy from the stacks with concern.

"I ran into Cat-Woman again. And she did something funny to my arms. As well as shredding one of
them to ribbons." Buffy scowled as she looked at her arm. "This is a new shirt, too."

"Cat-Woman?"

"The Eternal, Giles. Jeez, get with the program."

"I'll get the first aid kit," Xander said as he headed for Giles office.

"Now, what's wrong with your arms?"

"I don't know," Buffy said impatiently. "She hit them with the end of her staff, and then my entire arm
went numb. Same with the other one."

"She probably used your pressure points against you. I'll get a book to see if I can reverse it.
Otherwise, it may take several more hours for it to wear off."

"Great! Just what I need." Xander came back with the first aid kit, and carefully began dabbing at the
cuts on Buffy's arm.

"So, what's the verdict? Are you going to live?"

"I think so. Although this is a major pain. So," Buffy said, changing the topic, "have you discovered
anything new, all powerful Research Boy?"

Xander grinned at the appellation. "Not really. I've been checking on shapeshifters, but none of them
seem to have this heat thing. And Giles has been researching elementals, but most don't seem to be
able to survive in Californian weather." Xander gave a small shrug. "Would you figure that."

"Ah, here we go," Giles said as he returned from the stacks, open book in hand. He laid the book
down on the table, then carefully put his hands on specific points on Buffy's arms and pushed.

Buffy cried out, and Giles immediately let go.

"Buffster! You ok?"

"Yeah. Just major pins and needles. Wasn't expecting it, is all."

"Well, we should do the other arm." As Giles repeated the process, and Buffy simply grimaced this
time around.

"So, nothing on Cat-Woman yet?"

"Well, it's very possible that she stole the costume, as Elementals of the fire variety can never become
vampires. However..." Giles trailed off, lost in thought.

"However," Xander prodded.

"Perhaps we are dealing with some type of demon, that must possess a host in order to walk around
on the surface. Some demons do have a heat-based signature. Come Xander, you take the books on
possession, I'll take demons, as those books are mostly in Latin."

"Oh, umm, really, I don't..." Xander started to stutter.

"Giles, it's late, I'm tired. I bet Xander's tired, too." Buffy smiled at Giles. "Why don't we call it a
night?" Xander cast a grateful smile the Slayer's way.

"Very well. I'll be seeing you bright and early tomorrow morning, then."

"G-Man. Tomorrow's Saturday," Xander interrupted. "You know, no school?"

"Bright and early," Giles repeated as he vanished into the stacks.

"Come on, Xander. I know when I'm whipped." Buffy scolded, as if just realizing something.
"Where's Willow?"

"Oh, she got tired, and headed for home."

"Alone?"

"Yeah, alone... Oops." Xander looked very sheepish.

"Xander, you know how dangerous Sunnydale is at night. We have to go check and make sure
Willow got home alright." The two left the library, and headed for Willow's house. All the way there,
Buffy was chastising Xander for his foolish behaviour.
 
 

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