"MMMMMmmmm..." a woman moaned, as she stretched. <Oh, my muscles feel
  like lead...> She opened her eyes with difficulty, as they felt like
  they were glued shut. Sitting up carefully, her muscle screaming in
  protest, she gazed around herself in confusion. <Where am I?> The place
  was sterile and colourless, with machines and monitors. She found a
  glass of water on her sidetable, which she drank. It somewhat eased the
  desert in her mouth.

  "My Lady! You're awake! Oh, bless the Daemon!" The proclaimed 'Lady'
  turned to see who had addressed her. A small man stood before her,
  wearing a nametag which read 'Doctor Michaels'.

  "What happened?"

  "Don't you remember, my Lady? You were hit by a strong energy wave, and
  we couldn't heal the damage. Your uncle saved your life, and you were
  brought here to rest and recover."

  "Ah, I remember now. How long have I been here?"

  "About twenty years."

  "TWENTY!!!" she looked at the doctor with disbelief in her eyes, then
  sighed. "So, where are Keith and my Uncle?"

  "I don't know, My Lady." A young girl entered, carrying two dark wine
  bottles. She uncorked the first, and handed it to the Lady. She drained
  the bottle dry in no time flat. The girl took the empty bottle, and gave
  the other bottle to her, which she also drained. Meanwhile, the doctor
  had been talking the whole time.

  "Your Uncle vanished, as usual, and we haven't heard anything from him.
  Keith left to do his annual chores for your Uncle, and hasn't returned
  since. That was about a month, a month and a half ago."

  "Where is he?"

  "Like I said, My Lady…"

  "You don't know. Well, I'll just have to find him myself." She moved to
  hoist herself off the bed, and a small tattoo became visible on her
  wrist for a moment. And then it was gone. The doctor pushed her back
  down.

  "You're in no condition to go anywhere at the moment. You must wait a
  least a week to regain your strength. The Daemon brought you back to us,
  and..."

  The Lady Mystique gave Doctor Michaels a blistering stare. "The
  *DAEMON* didn't do anything." She tried to get out of bed, and winced.
  "Two days, no more. Then I'm gone." She then settled back into the bed,
  and ignored them. The doctor sighed, and motioned the girl to follow as
  he left the room.

  <What is it with her kind...?> he asked himself rhetorically

  *****

  Xander sighed. Going to the Bronze just wasn't any fun without Willow.
  He missed her silly sayings, her weird tricks to get free drinks, her
  general SELF. He dug his hands deep into his pockets, and continued to
  trudge along the street. He realized that walking alone at night was
  foolhardy, but he didn't much care right now. He could pretty well take
  care of himself, with his trusty stake, cross, and syringe filled with
  holy water. He'd already done in one vamp that way. Plunge it in, and
  they were soon screaming in pain. Then it was easy to stake them. And
  they never saw it coming. Xander smirked.

  Xander was getting near the Bronze. He was hoping that Buffy would be
  there, but also not. If she was, it meant she wasn't lying dead
  somewhere, but if she wasn't, maybe she had found Willow. He knew that
  both ideas had next to no chance of happening, but he could dream that
  she'd find Willow. And dream that he'd never learn that Buffy was killed
  by this vamp or that demon.

  "Yo, kid." Xander frowned. That was weird, even for around here. He
  turned, and saw a man standing in the shadows. And he just SCREAMED
  vampire. He was about to pull out his cross, when the vamp put up his
  arms in a non-threatening gesture.

  "Look, I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk. You're a friend
  of the Slayer's, right?"

  "And if I am?" Xander asked cautiously, taking the vamp in. He was
  tall, looked strong, and had the weirdest accent. One that Xander
  couldn't even remotely place. Other than that, though, Xander couldn't
  see well enough.

  "She's going to be in some major trouble. Michelle's back, and wants a
  mighty big piece of her."

  "And why are you telling me this? Aren't you with her?"

  "Yeah, I am. But she's gone nuts. The dancer's possession's drove her
  insane. I just wanted to let you know, and thereby the Slayer know, that
  Eternals are by no means her enemy. We don't have anything to do with
  other vampires, and want to keep it that way." He glanced around. "And
  tell her not to underestimate Michelle. She's got a few tricks up her
  sleeve that the Slayer hasn't seen yet."

  "Do you WANT to get her killed?" Xander asked with confusion.

  "As much as I love her, it's better that she die than bring such
  dishonor onto our clan." The Eternal then glanced around again, and
  vanished practically before Xander's eyes. One minute he was there, the
  next he was gone. Xander rubbed his eyes, then shook his head.

  "So much for Bronzing it tonight," he sighed. "But it wasn't like my
  heart was into it really anyway." he muttered, as he changed directions
  to head for the library instead.

  *****

  Buffy sighed as she patrolled. She rather be Bronzing it, but Giles had
  insisted. She was pulled from her musing as her vampire radar started
  pinging. <Not far... In the alley...> Buffy walked into the alley, stake
  in hand, and was attacked from behind. Buffy rolled into a spin, losing
  the stake in the process. She turned, and saw Michelle standing behind
  her, long hair loose in the wind, and a mad light in her eyes.

  "I just wanted to thank you for releasing me from the Dancer," Michelle
  said conversationally. Buffy looked at Michelle with doubt in her eyes.
  "After all, I couldn't have done it without you. And I've decided what
  the perfect reward will be."

  "And what's that?"

  "Your death." Michelle comes quickly at Buffy, while she was still
  disoriented. She knocked her to the ground, and sank her fangs into
  Buffy's throat. Buffy used her feet to knock Michelle off of her, and
  assumed a fighting stance. Michelle just grinned like a madwoman, and
  took off. Buffy ran after her, but soon had to stop. Dizzy from the
  bloodloss, slight as it was, she headed off to the library for a quick
  fix-up job, and a lecture.

  *****

  Mist glanced around as she stepped from the small prop plane. Already
  things were assailing her from Sunnydale. Negative emotions, mostly. But
  she could also feel the overpopulation of demons that inhabited the
  area. And she could faintly feel her Uncle and Keith. But it would be no
  easy task to find them.

  Angel's energy was much more prominent, and therefore he would be
  easier to track, so she followed his energy. The first location she
  arrived at was an apartment. She glanced around, and decided that it
  hadn't been lived in for a while. So, she headed to the next location
  her instincts pointed that her Uncle frequented. A dance club called the
  Bronze. He wasn't here at the moment, though. So, she ended up at an old
  warehouse that reeked of vampires. She found it strange that Uncle Angel
  was spending a lot of time there, since the last time they had seen each
  other, he had been avoiding other vampires like sunlight. But Mist
  shrugged, and slipped inside unnoticed.

  A bleached blonde-haired vampire sitting in a wheelchair was talking to
  a raven-haired girl wearing an old-fashioned dress. Mist felt the
  strangeness in her, the power, and the madness. <Drusilla> she
  identified. <Well, better to make an appearance before she feels me.>
  She cocked her head. <That must be Spike with her. Angel said that
  they've stuck together for decades.>

  "Nice place. Seems a little bit sparse, though."

  Spike and Dru whirled around to face the intruder. "Who the hell are
  you?" Spike demanded.

  "The name's Mystique. And I'm looking for Angel. Have you seen him?"

  Mist saw Spike bristle, and thought that was quite interesting. <Seems
  Angel's child can't stand him. I wonder why...>

  Mist casually strolled into the room, taking in the dozen or so vamps
  approaching from various places, and the strange artwork, some of which
  she could see that Angel had painted. She made herself at home in one of
  the chairs at the main table. One of the lesser vamps growled at her,
  and she turned to face him. She gave an unpleasant smirk, and pointed a
  single finger at him. The vamp was ash a moment later, burned to a
  crisp. She turned back to Spike, who looked quite alarmed.

  "She has power. Power beyond anything I've ever felt," Drusilla moaned.
  She put her head on Spike's shoulder. Spike put an arm protectively
  around her waist.

  Mystique smirked. "You have no idea, girl. No idea at all." She turned
  to glare at Spike. "So, have you seen him?"

  "No. He hasn't been here for the last few days, and I don't know when,
  or if, he'll be back."

  Mystique got up, and strolled predatorily towards Spike. "You wouldn't
  lie to me, now would you...?" she asked sweetly.

  Spike grimaced, and gave a slight movement of his head indicating a
  negative. Mist smiled, and turned to Drusilla. She started to say
  something, then stopped and grimaced.

  "You'll start to see, and don't forget," she finally said. Spike looked
  at her as if she was crazy, but Dru seemed to know exactly what Mist
  meant. She then ambled from the room.

  "Next time you see him, be sure to tell him I'm looking for him," she
  threw over her shoulder, as she vanished from view.

  Spike started to swear. <Just what I need. Another egotistical maniac.
  But thank the devil she didn't stay around.>

  Spike was about to roll from the warehouse when Angel strolled in.
  Spike gave him a nasty smile.

  "A friend of yours just blew through. Killed one of my boys, threatened
  Dru, and laughed the whole time. I don't think I like your friends."

  Angel laughed. "You're such a spoil-sport, Spike. So, did he leave a
  name."

  "She had power," Dru moaned again.

  "It was a she, and she left the name Mystique." Angel froze at this, a
  thoughtful expression on his face.

  "Myst," he whispered, with a smile.

  "I don't like this, Angelus." Spike practically snarled. Angel turned
  to Spike.

  "It doesn't really matter, anymore, does it? I'm leaving. I'm SURE that
  will make you happy." Spike looked at Angel with shock and a touch of
  glee, while Dru looked disappointed.

  "You're leaving, my Angel? You CAN'T leave. Not again..." Dru
  whimpered.

  "I'm leaving, Dru. I'm just going to get my things." Angel smirked at
  Spike. "Be seeing you, roller-boy."

  Angel walked into his room, grabbed what little he wanted to keep, and
  left the rest. He then stuffed his possessions into a bag, and threw it
  over his shoulder. He started to whistle an old tune his sister used to
  sing. He couldn't remember the words, but every once in a while, the
  tune would come back to haunt him...

  He slipped up to the catwalks, and made his way onto the roof, where he
  stared up at the black night sky. <Do you think she asks herself if
  she'll ever see this again?> came a voice inside him. He didn't care, he
  convinced himself. But a nagging feeling remained, as he rubbed the base
  of his wrist.
 
 

Next