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Extra Help Needed (Part 3)
By Amy Mina

Disclaimer: Any characters that you recognize from Buffy belong to Joss Whedon, the Mutant Enemy company, and the WB. Strange characters that you have never heard of such as Amy, Beth, Angela, Mr. Kraus, Mr. Upton, and any others belong to themselves.

. . .

Chapter 2

"I don't like this," said Beth, pacing back and forth in the library. "She's been missing too long."

"I know how you feel, but what can we do? Buffy and Mr. Giles told us to say here," Angela answered. "If we leave, it is not going to look good."

"If we lose her now, how will we be able to protect the Slayer?"

"Beth, calm down. Willow and Xander are returning."

Willow and Xander entered the library, where they were all waiting on some news about Amy and Angel's disappearance. Willow and Xander appeared concerned, but not too worried about Angel, especially Xander. He appeared to be kind of happy. Beth didn't trust Xander at all.

"Anything?" asked Willow.

"Nothing. I'm beginning to wonder if we should go to help."

"No," said Xander. "Buffy said to stay put. Angel may call."

"You don't seem too concerned about his safety."

Xander shrugged carelessly. "Angel's a big boy. He can handle himself."

Beth snorted at Xander. "Boy, am I glad we get to see this side of you now. I can't believe I danced with you. You're such a jerk."

"You chose to dance with me, what does that make you?" asked Xander, jumping up from the chair he was in and walking towards Beth.

"Stop IT!" yelled an animated Willow. "Right now we need to be concerned about our friends, and fighting isn't going to help matters any."

Xander, Angela, and Beth all sat down.

"Now," continued Willow, "Two of us should leave to go help look for Angel and Amy. I would prefer to stay here, I want to look on the Internet for some things. Xander, you and one of the others should go look."

"I'll go," said Beth. "I need to help instead of just sitting here, not doing anything."

"Okay. Angela, do you mind staying here?"

"Nope. I would prefer it right now."

"Okay. Xander, get your jacket from the cage and go out with Beth. Some places to check, Angel's apartment, the cemetery, the park, and the hill that Angel likes to visit with Buffy."

"Yes, Sargent sir!" said Xander as he saluted Willow. He led Beth out of the room to get his jacket and other materials.

Willow rolled her eyes and sat at the computer. "Do you want some coffee?" Willow asked Angela. "It could be a long night."

"Sure. Where is it?"

"In Giles' office. Could you make it?"

"Sure." Angela went off into the office. She turned on the lights and quickly made the coffee. As she was waiting for it to finish brewing, she noticed a book sitting on a desk nearby, opened to the middle. She walked over and saw that it was very old and appeared to be in Latin. There was a piece of paper next to it, and it appeared that someone was trying to translate it. She picked up the paper.

The Three Fems will come; they will hold the fate of the world in their hands. They will enter the life of the Slayer's without her knowing and will become . . .

Whoever was doing this didn't get very far, thought Angela. She them picked up the book and saw a word on the binding: CODEX.

. . .

"Where are we going?" said Beth, trying to catch up with Xander.

"You'll find out."

"I want to know."

"Just follow me."

Beth stopped in her tracks. "Excuse me?"

Xander turned around. "You know, right now your friend is out there and we have no clue where."

"So why are you helping to look for her?"

"I'm trying to be nice."

"Well I have news for you. Amy can most likely take care of herself and I don't take orders from you."

Xander rolled his eyes. This girl was beginning to get on his nerves. "Fine. You want to know where we are going. We're going to Angel's apartment. Are you happy now?"

Beth huffed. "Are you coming?" yelled Xander. Beth hurried to catch up with him. The sooner they found Amy, the better.

. . .

Angela just stared at the book. This is the book we were predicted in. Mr. Kraus said that it had disappeared years ago, and theirs was one of the few prophecies to remain. Oh, boy. This means that who ever uses this office has something to do with the Slayer.

"Angela, do you need some help?" asked Willow, coming through the door. Angela was still holding the book and looked up, wanting a few answers.

"Willow, whose book is this?"

Willow's face turned a little white. "Well, um. . ."

"Please, tell me."

"If I don't, are you going to try and hypnotize me?"

Angela looked at her in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"Your friend, Amy. She got some information out of me by hypnotizing me, then she left the Bronze with Angel following her."

Angela figured out pretty quickly what Amy must have done. Amy, I'm the leader, not you. You should have told me what you were going to do.

"Willow, I'm not going to do anything to you if you don't tell me."

"Well, then, I think I need to keep that to myself for now."

Willow left the office. Angela took out an emergency cell-phone that Mr. Kraus have given them when they left. She dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.

"Do you know what time it is?" was the greeting she received.

"Mr. Kraus, this is Angela."

She could imagine him practically jumping up with renewed energy. "Angela, is everything okay?"

"No, Amy's disappeared. She's been gone for a few hours now."

"Well, are you guys looking for her?"

"Yeah, there's some friends we made here, they're helping us look for her. Beth went with one of the people, and two others went out together."

"Hopefully you'll find her soon."

"There's more. Amy tried out our persuasion on one of the girls and she remembers everything."

"That's not good. Amy must have done something wrong because they're not supposed to remember."

"I know. I have also found the Codex."

There was a pause on the other line. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, and someone has started to translate it. They are translating the one that talks about us."

"I'm coming to Sunnydale. I'll talk to Mr. Upton when I get there. Where should I meet you guys?"

"The Sunnydale Hotel where we are staying."

"I'll call you back as soon as I know when I'll be there."

"Okay. Bye."

Angela hung up and went back out in the main room with Willow. Angela tried to focus on the weird sensations she was getting from the room. Beth was the physical fighter of the group; she didn't rely as much on her mental abilities as Angela or Amy, so she probably hadn't felt it.

. . .

"There's no one here," said Beth, annoyed that their luck wasn't better.

"Don't you think I know that?" screamed Xander.

Beth ignored his outburst, when she heard steps outside the door. "Who's that?" she asked.

"I don't know. Quick, grab something that you could defend yourself with."

Beth grabbed a pan she found in the kitchen and got ready to fight off whoever was at the door. Now that she listened closer, it sounded like they were running. The door opened, and a young man ran in, carrying someone. He briefly looked around and saw them there, ready to fight.

"Don't just stand there, Xander, shut the door. There's four mad vamps chasing me."

Xander went to shut the door, when one of the vampires started to push back. Angel laid down whoever he was carrying and went to help Xander. Beth followed close behind, and they were able to close and bolt the door.

"So, who's your friend?" Xander asked Angel.

"Remember, Amy? The girl who came to the club with you guys?"

Beth left them to talk and went to check on Amy. Amy wasn't awake but was breathing evenly and seemed to be doing fine.

"Beth, this is Angel," said Xander from near the door. Beth looked at Angel and began to get weird feelings in her chest. Before she knew what had happened, she took out a stake and aimed it at Angel. He smiled, almost smirked at Beth.

"You must be another one," he said. "Amy told me about you and how you're supposed to protect the Slayer. She already threatened to kill me."

"What are you?" asked Beth. "Are you a vampire?"

"Yes, I am a vampire, but I have no more desire to hurt the Slayer than the next guy, human anyway."

Beth slightly lowered her stake. "You seem more forward than Amy," commented Angel.

"We have the same powers and have had the same training, but Amy would rather fight with her mind than with her muscles."

"Do you three have increased strength, like the Slayer?"

"No, at least not much. We're a little stronger than the average human, but not like a vampire or the Slayer. Our mind needs to make up for it."

Xander walked over. "Excuse me, but what the heck are you two talking about? Who are you?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

Beth looked at Angel for his opinion on whether she should tell Xander. He shrugged his shoulders, but said, "You can tell him. He'll keep it a secret."

Beth explained everything as quick and painlessly as possible. Xander quietly listened and when she was done, he slowly let out his breath.

"Just what Sunnydale needs, more female fighters."

"Do you have a problem with that?" asked Beth.

Xander backed up, knowing if it came to a fight, Beth would win. Beth turned back to look at Amy and saw Angel holding her hand. She was confused. This vampire seemed somewhat fond of Amy. Amy started to move her head back and forth on the bed.

"Amy?" asked Angel quietly. She slowly opened her eyes, fighting to get back to reality. The first thing she noticed when she opened her eyes was that her vision wasn't very clear. The next thing she noticed was Angel hovering over her, with a worried look on his face.

"Uggh," was the only reply she had. She heard Beth laugh and wondered where she was hiding. Xander came walking over and appeared behind Angel, leaning over her. As her vision began to clear up, she noticed the smile on his face. It annoyed her, and more than anything, she wanted to wipe that smirk off of his face.

"Are you okay?" asked Beth. Amy still couldn't see her.

"Yeah, I think so. Ouch!"

"What is it?" asked Angel.

"I've got a headache, a Tylenol the size of New York City wouldn't kill. Anything interesting happen while I was out?"

"Nothing too exciting."

"Is there a reason why you're holding my hand?" Amy asked Angel. He dropped it quickly and backed up. Beth smiled to herself. Amy was always blunt when it came to guys. She didn't like getting any help from them at all.

Amy attempted to stand up, and found her stomach turning over. She fought down the waves of nausea and grabbed onto the wall. She looked around and saw that they were at some sort of apartment. Whoever lived here just lived with the necessities; a fridge, a table, and a sofa. There was no television, not even a radio. She walked out into the larger room and saw many art things like paintings and statues. Amy ran as fast a possible to the sofa.

"Are you okay?" asked Beth, again.

"I think so." Amy looked at a stake laying on the coffee table. She slowly moved it with her mind into her hands. "My powers are strong. Physically, I need to rest."

"You'll have time for that later," said Xander. "We need to talk to Buffy and Giles."

"The Slayer and the Watcher," said Beth.

"I knew about Buffy, but not Giles," replied Amy. "Why do we need to see them?"

"You said you were here to help the Slayer," said Angel, "yet you seem to have no idea exactly what you are going to need to help her with."

He has a point, thought Amy. I shouldn't have been so rude to him earlier. "You're right, we need find out what is going to happen."

Xander let out his breath, loudly. For a minute, he had thought Amy might say a few things to Angel. One thing he had noticed about these two girls, they were very strong on their independence from guys.

"Let's get to the library," said Beth. "Angela's probably worried by now."

. . .

Buffy paced in the library, waiting for Angel and the others to show up. All Angel had said was that her three new friends had a lot of explaining to do. Giles was back in his office, working on something she didn't care about right then. Willow sat at the table working on the computer, and Angela sat on the table, tears in her eyes. Someone had called her on a cell-phone that she carried. Buffy didn't know what was said, but knew Angela was more uptight than before. Buffy ignored them once again and went back to her pacing.

A few minutes later, Angel finally entered the room, following Amy, Xander, and Beth. Buffy's heart melted just watching him. There was just something about Angel, no other guy had ever had that effect on her. She really hated that he was a vampire. Of course, how else was she supposed to feel. She silently yelled at herself. She shouldn't be thinking of Angel like this. She loved Angel. That was a typical day in her head when her thoughts turned to Angel. There seemed to be no straightforward answer.

"Buffy, you awake?" Angel now stood in front of her, looking very worried.

"Yeah, fine. Now, what is this big secret that I need to know."

Angela looked at Amy and Beth and then she walked over. Angela knew she should be the one to explain everything, she was the leader, but she was too shy.

"I guess I'll start," said Amy. "We are the Three Fems and our job is to protect the Slayer. For as long as I can remember, I have known that someday my job would be to protect the Slayer. When I was in elementary, there was a babysitter I used to have that came over and began my training. He taught me that even though I was young, I could still do a lot. He explained to me that I was to be in a trio called the Three Fems. We would have strong mental powers and to be able to do more than the Slayer with them. I have spent all of my extra time since I was five training to help you. My parents don't know, obviously, and the only one that do are Angela, Beth, our mentor, and my mysterious babysitter. Unlike Beth, I depend on my mental powers to get out of sticky situations. That's about it. Who's next?"

"I'll go," said Beth. "I have known about my destiny since I was seven. I had always relied and developed my physical strength, so when I found out about my mental powers, I only developed them as much as I felt necessary. I concentrated much more on how to fight. A former watcher was the one to inform me. He met me in the barn at my house-I live on a farm-and taught me many staking techniques as well as others. When I was eleven, he left, said to keep practicing, he had been called to get ready for his next Slayer. Since then I have tried to get ready, and until a few months ago, when our mentor showed up at school, I was pretty much a normal teen."

"That's always how it works," said Buffy.

"Now me," said Angela. "My story is a little different. One of my mother's boyfriend's told me about me powers. I had no one to train me, I developed them all on my own. I don't depend on my mental abilities like Amy, or on my physical abilities like Beth. I depend more on my ability to stay calm and act if need be. That is why our mentor appointed me as leader."

"So, all three of you are here to help save me?" asked Buffy. The other three girls nodded in response. "From what exactly are you saving me from?"

"We're not sure. That's is where we need some major help from your watcher. We can't find out because he has the Codex."

"If it is from there, it can't be good."

"No."

"Giles is in his office. I'm going to go talk to him, and I'll be back in a minute."

Buffy left and entered Giles' office. Amy looked up and stared at her friends. She didn't know what they were going to do now, but they were going to need all of the help they could get.

"Amy," said Angela, quietly. "Mr. Kraus is on his way here. The plane left a few hours ago. I don't know when he'll get here."

"What is he going to do?"

"Try to send Mr. Upton and the guys home. They can't be here while this is going on."

"How?"

"He's going to end up lying to get rid of them."

"He could loose his job."

"Yeah, I know. But there is no other way to do it."

Buffy re-emerged from the office and walked over. "Giles wants us all to go home and get a good nights rest. Come to school tomorrow morning like nothing is happening. During your free periods and your lunch, come here. Angel, Giles wants to know if you can join him tomorrow somehow."

"I'll be here."

"Something big is coming. We all need to be ready. Willow, Xander, come with me. I want to walk you two home." Buffy left the library and they followed. They all waved bye as they exited through the doors.

"What do we do now?" asked Amy.

"Go and get some sleep," responded Angel. "Do you mind if I take you all there? It would make me feel better."

Amy had to repress the urge to yell at him. "Sure." She left the library and Beth and Angela had to run to catch up. Amy was very quiet on the way back to the hotel, too quiet.

"Amy, are you okay?" asked Angela.

"Angel, he's giving me some really weird feelings. Almost like deja vu."

"Have you met him somewhere before?" asked Beth.

"I don't know. What about you two? Any weird feelings?"

"Nope. We're the normal one of the group. You're the weird one."

"Thanks."

"No problem. That's what friends are for."

"Stop it, you two," Angel said. He walked up to them quickly. "Why are you always fighting? Friends are supposed to be kind to each other. They're supposed to build each other up, not tear them down."

"Not these two," said Angela. "They are always fighting and bickering, yet if they have a secret that no one else can know, they tell each other."

"I don't think I'll ever understand you two."

Amy glared at Angela and Angel. Beth did the same, and they both turned and walked ahead of them.

"They've found a common enemy," said Angela. "They'll forget about all of this tomorrow."

Angela and Angel followed behind the other two. "Angel," began Angela, "Do you recognize Amy from somewhere? Maybe someone from your past?

"I'm not sure, why?"

"She seems to recognize you. The only problem is, she doesn't know from where."

"Maybe. I met a lot of people in my past. Anything is possible, that I am finding out."

"Like, the vampire and the vampire Slayer caring for each other?"

"Does everyone know about that?"

"No, Amy told me."

"I never heard her say anything to you about that."

"She didn't have to, verbally anyway."

"You can ready each other's minds?"

"No, our power isn't that strong. The looks she was sending you and Buffy were enough to suffice."

"What kind of looks?"

"The ones that said 'Angel loves the Slayer. Isn't that so romantic?' Amy's a real romance sucker."

"She seems more like the type that would like to pound in a guy's face than a romance sucker."

Angela laughed. Amy came across that way to may guys. Even Angela's boyfriend thought Amy hated guys. "It's nothing personal," said Angela. "Amy's like that to almost every guy she meets. Beth is the extreme opposite. She teases them to no end."

"Is that a good thing?"

"I don't know."

They finally arrived at the hotel. Angela thanked him for his company back and ran to catch up with her partners. Angel looked towards Amy and Beth standing at the doors of the hotel Amy was looking straight back at him. The look on her face was a relief to him. It was anything but hatred. He slowly slipped back into the shadows. He waited for them to enter. Amy turned and walked away a minute later. What is that crazy girl doing? Angel followed her.

Amy turned her head but saw no one. This unnerved her. She knew Angel was there. She could feel him, yet she couldn't see him. He was doing to drive her nuts if he didn't stop acting so secretive. She liked him, he seemed like a nice guy-vampire. Yet he didn't let anyone get to close to him, not even Buffy. Amy ran to the parking lot and saw Mr. Kraus walking over. She waved and he ran over.

"Amy, what are you doing out here so late at night? You should be inside where it is a safer."

"Don't worry, Mr. Kraus. I am in no danger."

"Yes you are."

"Why do you say that?"

Mr. Kraus looked around. He can sense Angel! thought Amy. I need to get his attention away from him.

"Why don't you get inside the hotel and check in," said Amy.

"I guess I should. Has there been any headway since I talked to Angela?"

"You might want to talk to her to find out. She and Beth went up to our room, number 211."

"Okay."

"I'll be up in a few minutes."

"Be careful."

Amy smiled at him and waited till she saw him actually walk up to the desk to check in. Then she turned around and headed in Angel's general direction. As she got closer, she could see him in the shadows. He was always so quiet, like he usually wanted to melt right into the background. She didn't understand his reaction to people.

"Angel," called Amy in a hushed whisper.

He stepped out from where he was hiding, making himself more visible to her. "Yeah?"

She stepped over and took his hand. "Thank you for saving me tonight. That's the first time I've seen real vampires, and if they had been chasing me, I would have died of fright."

"You're welcome, but you need to be careful around here. Many odd things happen in Sunnydale, the least of them is vampires."

Amy suddenly dropped his hand and backed up. Angel got the feeling she wasn't very comfortable around him. "Well, I guess I'll see you sometime tomorrow," she said.

Amy turned and slowly walked away, leaving Angel to stare after her in confusion. She was a very strange girl. Sometimes, she seemed to be so sure of herself and also seemed to hate me. Others, like now...well, total opposites, he thought to himself and shook his head. He watched to make sure she walked in safely, then turned around to head to Buffy's house for his midnight watch.

. . .

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