*Red Robin, do you read me?*
Willow jumped at the crackling that emitted from the walkie talkie secured at her belt, her heart frantically hammering away in her chest. She fumbled to loosen the device and brought it up towards her mouth. "I read you, Xander."
*_Nighthawk_* Xander insisted, his voice pained. Sometimes, Willow rather thought her friend enjoyed playing soldier a bit too much. He'd taken to their 'Slaying Parties' eagerly, dubbing himself master tactician. Willow let him have his fun - although the names he had dubbed each of the Slayerettes with did tend to grate on her occasionally.
"Right. All's clear so far. I'm heading in."
*I'll check in with Ladybird. Careful, Red Robin.* Xander's voice disappeared with a last, protesting squeak.
She was alone again. Little Willow Rosenberg. Alone. With dead people who didn't know better than to _stay_ that way. Without Buffy. Putting it that way made Willow seriously question what in the world had possessed her to take up a stake in an attempt to cover graveyard duty while Buffy was gone.
'Admit it, Willow. You're just too darn responsible.' Willow's hand tightened around her stake. The rough feel of it beneath her palm wasn't as reassuring as it should have been. 'Vampires keep on hitting it right out of my hand!' Willow thought indignantly. 'And I think I'm getting a splinter...'
Willow's sneaker clad feet seemed unnaturally loud in the silence. She winced at the sound her rubber soles made against the wet grass. If it seemed that loud to her, a vampires enhanced hearing could probably hear her coming minutes before she got close enough to even _see_ it.
The earth shuddered beneath Willow. She yelped and leapt backward. "I've got one!" Willow cried into her walkie talkie. "I've got one!" The loosely packed mound of earth exploded upwards in a shower of dirt. A beefy hand thrust it's way up into the night air, hovering there in confusion for a long moment before it's owner figured out that it should follow.
The newborn vampire's head shoved out from beneath the loose scatter of dirt, and Willow found herself looking into the hungry golden eyes of Principal Snyder's pet football player. "...And it's a _big_ one..." Willow choked into the small device she held.
Arnold Banks, big, dead and _very_ hungry, turned towards Willow at the sound of her whimpered words. He smiled, a chilling sight that displayed his sharp fangs to their best advantage. His immense form began to lumber towards Willow's small frame.
"Hurry!" Willow urged before discarding the communication instrument. 'I don't think that I'll be staking the big guy anytime soon,' Willow thought, her hand scrambling around in her large jacket pockets. Her fingers encountered the cool metal chain of the cross Giles had presented her with, and Willow withdrew it. She brandished it towards Arnold, relief shooting through her when he hesitated at the sight of it.
"You just stay right there," Willow commanded in as stern a voice as
possible at the moment. She held her ground with stubborn determination,
hoping with all of her heart that Xander and Cordelia would reach her before
Arnold's hunger overwhelmed his distaste at the sight of the cross.
Spike wasn't quite sure what had led him to the graveyard that night. Usually, he bypassed it, leaving it for the fledglings and the Slayer. So it came as a surprise to find that he had wandered into one of the many graveyards Sunnydale boasted.
What he found there had convinced him to stay and enjoy the show. He
had sensed the fledglings awakening moments before Willow had. Concealed
by the welcoming shadows, Spike hung back, letting events play out as they
would.
"Hang on, Willow!" Xander screamed, weaving through the headstone spotted ground in a mad dash to reach his friend. Cordelia trailed behind him, her speed detracted from by the cumbersome, if pretty, shoes she wore.
'That's it! After tonight, I'm getting a pair of sneakers!' she thought as her heel narrowly avoided sinking into the damp earth of a freshly dug grave. "How ew!"
Despite her heels, Cordelia managed to reach Willow only shortly after Xander. They faced the lumbering vampire together.
"Oh my..." Xander groaned, peering upwards. "He's _huge_! I don't think we could even manage to reach his chest!" He shifted around, his cross joining Willow's in warding off the demon. Arnold hissed.
"We have to knock his down to size, then," Willow gulped.
"You must be joking!" Cordelia protested, wishing yet another pair of slacks goodbye. 'I may as well give up on fashion and start dressing as fashion-impaired as the rest of this looser outfit does...' she thought with a shudder.
"If you have a better idea..." Xander told his girlfriend, his voice terse.
Cordelia shook her head mutely.
"On three, then?"
"On three," Xander confirmed.
"One... Two... Three!"
The Slayerettes surged forward in a flurry of legs, flailing arms, crosses and stakes. Arnold had time to blink at them in confusion before the three teens plowed into his towering body. The results weren't quite what they had been hoping for.
"Oof!" Xander gasped, his eyes rolling backwards as his head came into contact with Arnold's unyielding abdominal muscles. "Ow?" he mumbled before collapsing in a boneless heap.
"Xander!" Cordelia screamed in a mixture of worry and anger. "Get up, right now!" She yelped and danced backwards as one of Arnold's beefy hands arched towards her.
"He's too big! We have to outthink him!" Willow screamed frantically
as she too was driven back beneath the vampire's lazily flying fists.
Spike watched in interest as the two girls futilely batted at the newborn vampire, careful to steer him away from the boy's prone body. He had nearly emerged from the shadows several times already, only to stop himself before getting further than a single step.
'If the girl can't handle this herself, I'm not about to play saviour. If they want to play with the big boys, they'll have to take the consequences.' He winced in sympathy as Willow tumbled backwards, the breath hissing out of her small body with the impact.
They both looked on in shock as Arnold exploded into dust.
"Cordelia?" Willow whispered, her voice raw and filled with shock. She rose to her shaking feet, rubbing at her smarting elbow.
"What? I can dust vampires, too, you know!" She swiped at her dust covered slacks with a trembling hand before giving up. Cordelia shot a glance at Willow and offered her a tremulous smile.
"That was very impressive. I thought we were as good as dead, this time around," Willow admitted as Cordelia bent down to check on Xander.
She looked up and her face went pale beneath the layer of fine dust covering it. "Vampire! _Vampire!_ Six O'clock!"
Willow swirled around on her heel, her hands patting at her clothing in search for a stake. "Where?" she hissed, finding nothing before her save for empty space.
"Uh... Six thirty? That way! _That_ way!" Cordelia yelled, pointing insistently towards a spot slightly past Willow's range of vision. She scrambled to her feet, hovering over Xander protectively.
"Oh!" Willow gasped as she turned to see Spike watching her.
His eyes were dark and unreadable, but a smile had firmly settled onto his face. "Not bad at it, was it, luv?" Spike said calmly, repeating Willow's words from their first meeting. He had been amused to hear that she and her friends had taken up the Slayer's duties. After seeing them, thought not impressed, Spike had to admit that he could at least admire their determination.
"What? You're here to critique our slaying technique?" Willow spat in annoyance. 'I hope that he's not planning on trying to kill us... I feel about ready to collapse on my face...'
"No, pet. I was just enjoying the night air when I ran into this little show."
"So... What _do_ you want?" Cordelia drawled out, her eyes wide. He hadn't killed either her nor Willow the previous night, but Cordelia wasn't about to put a few cold blooded murders past a demon who even as a human had went by the name of 'William the Bloody.'
Spike's face disappeared into the shadows as he considered Cordelia's nervous question. His head tilted to the side, and Spike studied the small, bedraggled group through hooded eyes. Much to his surprise, he found that the thought of killing them wasn't as amusing as it should have been.
'I really have to start getting out more. I think I'm loosing it.' Without replying, nor speaking another word, Spike slipped back into the darkness and vanished from sight.
Willow stared at the spot he had just vacated, chewing at her lower lip. "That is one strange vampire," she muttered.
Xander groaned and both girls hurried back to his side. He blinked up at them in confusion. "What did I miss?"
~End~
Yeah, I know. The ending is a bit rushed. *shrug*
(Feb. 1, 1999)