It's Not Exactly Stealing

By Jill

Chapter 6

Joe, Methos, and Legolas met in the hotel lobby. Not having left the hotel, they were all a few minutes early and were waiting for Duncan to arrive. "How’re you doing?" Joe asked the elf.

"I feel almost back to normal. A few hours of meditation was just what I needed," Legolas replied.

"That’s good to hear, you weren’t looking too good earlier today." Then turning toward Methos, "You were the one looking up info on the city today, where should we go eat?" Joe asked.

"There’s not a lot to choose from. Besides all the standard fast food places, there’s a handful of coffee shops that do sandwiches, your standard greasy spoon diner, and one supposedly fairly decent Italian restaurant," Methos replied.

"Italian it is then, as soon as Mac shows up," Joe said glancing at his watch.

"Actually, I’m glad he’s not here just yet," Methos said. "We need a plan for how we’re going to do this."

"A plan to do what?" Legolas asked, having missed the intervention discussion, it having taken place during his meditation.

"Adam thinks we should do something to convince a certain skeptical Highlander that there really is something supernatural about this town," Joe explained, careful to not use the name Methos is a public setting.

"And you don’t believe Duncan needs to be convinced?" Legolas asked, noting Joe’s lack of enthusiasm for Methos’s plan.

"People believe what they want to. I don’t think there’s anything we can do to change Mac’s mind. But, if Adam wants to try, I’ll go along with it," Joe explained.

"And, why is it so important that Duncan’s mind be changed?" the elf quizzed Methos.

"Because he’s deceiving himself!" Methos exclaimed, disgusted with his friends for not seeing what was so patently obvious to himself.

"And, if he’s happier that way?" Legolas asked.

"He won’t be happier when his willful blindness gets him killed," Methos insisted.

"How do you know it will get him killed? Is there anything we know at present which might save his life? What difference could knowing of the supernatural make at this point?" Legolas asked reasonably.

"I don’t know, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make a difference. He’s just being stubborn. He’ll be much better off after he’s admitted the truth," Methos said mulishly, not really having an answer for Legolas’s last question, but still positive he was right. Then catching the glance that passed between Legolas and Joe, a glanced that said Methos was just as blindly stubborn as Duncan, a thought occurred to the ancient Immortal. "If Duncan wasn’t living in denial, he would have taken Legolas’s warning of evil seriously. Instead, he dismissed it as superstition," Methos pointed out.

"In that, he was wrong. Elves are not given to superstition," Legolas assented. "However, since my warning was extremely vague in nature, I doubt his ignoring it will make any difference," he added with an elegant shrug.

"Fine then, I’ll do it all by myself," Methos said, with a long suffering sigh.

"Now’s your chance," Joe said looking over at the front door through which Duncan had just entered the hotel.

Duncan walked over to his friends, looking to be deep in thought and at least slightly worried about something. "Sorry, I’m late," he murmured distractedly.

"Just by a minute or so," Methos dismissed the apology. "We were thinking Italian."

"Hmm?" Duncan asked, not having heard what his friend said.

"Italian? What do you think of Italian?" Methos asked carefully ennunciating each word, but Duncan still wasn’t paying attention. "Earth to MacLeod? What’s going on? What happened?" Methos said, waving one hand in front of his friends face.

Methos having finally gotten his attention, Duncan answered, "What happened? I’m not sure. I’ll tell you as soon as I have it figured it out." Then pulling the recently retrieved sword of Kali from his coat he continued, "Let me just put this in the hotel safe, then we can go eat."

"What do you think that was all about?" Methos asked Joe and Legolas as Duncan made arrangements with the hotel manager.

"I don’t know, but I’m dying to find out," Joe said curiously, smelling a Watcher Chronicles entry in the making.

"I’m sure we will find out eventually," Legolas said with a patient smile.

"Don’t you have any curiosity?" Methos asked the elf accusingly.

"Of course I do, but I also know how to wait for the right moment," Legolas returned, implying that Methos was being overly impatient.

Duncan rejoined them and they headed toward the restaurant, which was located only a block from the hotel in the opposite direction from the Magic Box.

They were seated in a secluded corner of the restaurant, at a table mostly hidden by a row of potted ferns, and ordered. After the drinks were delivered and the waiter left them alone, Methos started on his self appointed task. "Mac," he said, "while you’re sorting out whatever it is that you’re sorting out, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you."

"What’s that?" Duncan asked absently, still deep in thought.

"You remember how, earlier today, you insisted that there was a reasonable explanation for everything that has happened so far?" Methos began.

"Yeah," Duncan answered, wondering where Methos was going with this.

"Well there is a reasonable explanation. This is the Hellmouth, a place of highly concentrated mystical power, most of it evil. That is why Legolas felt ill upon arriving here. That is also why that woman was able to steal your sword and disappear without a trace. Proximity to such a high level of mystical energy boosts any magical powers a person might have. It all fits together," Methos lectured.

"I know," said Duncan.

"You can try to explain this stuff all sorts of other ways. You can dismiss the old name of the town as the result of an earthquake. You can call Legolas’s reaction simple superstition. You can even call that woman’s vanishing into thin air an isolated incident that has nothing to do with the rest of the town. But, if you do you’ll be wrong."

"I know," Duncan repeated.

Still not catching Duncan’s acquiescence and being on a roll, Methos continued, "There have been many, many accounts of strange happenings and mysterious deaths dating back to well before the Spaniards came. Even today, there’s an obscenely high death rate for such a quiet little town. There’s far too much evidence to dismiss this all as coincidence. If you’re being truly reasonable, and not just burying your head in the sand and refusing to admit what you don’t want to, you have to admit that it’s all connected, connected through the supernatural. That is the only reasonable explanation," Methos concluded.

"Finished?" Duncan asked.

"You’re not going to argue with me?" Methos replied, disbelief evident in his tone.

"No. You’re right," said Duncan matter of factly.

"I’m right? Of course I’m right. I almost always am," Methos said with a cocky grin.

"I wouldn’t go quite that far," Duncan said dryly.

Joe and Legolas had been sitting quietly on the sidelines throughout this exchange, watching the action like tennis spectators, observing each side in turn. At this juncture Legolas decided to join the conversation. "Duncan, perhaps you could tell us what changed your mind since this afternoon?"

"I’d be interested in hearing that myself, along with how you got that sword back," Joe chimed in.

"Yes, do tell," Methos thirded the suggestion.

"Well, getting the sword back was easy enough. I went to the Magic Box and found out that the woman who took my sword was indeed the owner, Anya Jenkins. At first she pretended she didn’t take it and had no idea what I was talking about, but when two of her friends, Buffy and Dawn Summers, came in, sword in hand, she admitted to it. They gave me back the sword and told me some bizarre story about borrowing it for a sorority scavenger hunt," Duncan explained.

"A sorority scavenger hunt?" Joe interrupted incredulously.

"That was my reaction," Duncan continued. "Then Buffy repeated the story about borrowing it to kill a demon, as if she really believed it. I thought they were delusional. I had my sword back, and they didn’t seem dangerous. I had just about made up my mind to take my sword and leave them to their fantasy world, but as I was leaving I brushed by Dawn and I noticed that she is going to be an Immortal."

"Dawn Summers did you say?" Joe asked, the Watcher in him rubbing his hands together in glee. Discovering a new Immortal was quite a find.

"Don’t put in a requisition for a field agent yet," Duncan told Joe. "She couldn’t be more than fifteen or sixteen. She won’t be an Immortal for a while yet... hopefully."

"Okay, so you meet a teenage pre-immortal who you think has been sucked into some sort of group delusion," Methos said, bringing Duncan back to the point. "I assume you followed them. Then what happened?"

"Why would he follow them?" Legolas asked, not knowing where Methos got that assumption.

"Overblown White Knight complex," Methos explained. "Traditionally, older Immortals train new Immortals, if the new Immortal is fortunate enough to run into a fairly decent Immortal to start with. If they’re unlucky, they just get killed. Mac has to insinuate himself into the life of every pre-immortal he meets, so he can be there to insure they get a good mentor when the time comes."

"That sounds an honorable thing to do," Legolas said, contradicting Methos’s slightly mocking explanation.

"Thank you," Duncan said to the elf, giving Methos a look that said, ‘see he, agrees with me.’ "Actually, I did follow them. That’s when things got interesting." Here, Duncan paused for a moment to get everything clear in his mind.

Impatient with the delay Joe prompted, "Interesting how?"

"The girls were walking home and decided to take a short cut through the cemetery," Duncan began.

"A cemetery?" Methos asked one eyebrow raised.

"That’s what I thought, but I still haven’t gotten to the really strange part," Duncan replied. "I was following them, making sure to keep out of sight, when suddenly they were attacked by vampires."

"Vampires?" Methos asked incredulously.

"I know it sounds crazy, and I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself, but that’s what they were. They had fangs, glowing yellow eyes, and deformed faces. And, when Buffy, the older of the two girls, put a stake in the leader’s heart, he turned to dust," Duncan explained.

"Are you sure you saw, what you think you saw?" Methos asked. "It was dark, you were in a cemetery, sometimes the mind plays tricks..."

"Weren’t you just giving me a lecture on not denying the supernatural?" Duncan pointed out.

"Well yeah, but vampires?" Methos said, still disbelieving.

"I know vampires sound pretty far fetched, but not anymore far fetched than say... guys who live forever competing for some mysterious prize in fights to the death," Joe said, suggestively. "If Mac says he saw vampires I believe him, he’s not the type to imagine things."

"Vampires, would they be undead blood drinkers who cannot tolerate sunlight?" Legolas asked having a vague recollection of something he over heard the week before--while Methos was watching what he termed a late night creature feature. Legolas found the idea of plays performed so that all could view them in their homes a good one, but found the content uninteresting. For Legolas, television was a novelty, but not something he really cared to watch.

"Pretty much," Methos agreed with Legolas’s definition.

"Then there are vampires in Middle-earth, though they are, thankfully, very rare. I see no reason why their presence here is an impossibility," Legolas sided with Duncan.

"Fine then. I believe you. They were vampires," Methos said without much conviction. "Then what happened?"

"A large group of vampires attacked the girls, so of course I tried to help," Duncan continued his tale.

"Of course," Methos echoed with mock innocence, picking at Duncan’s boy scout tendencies.

"Like I said, I went to help, although I don’t think they really needed it. Dawn and Buffy were both carrying stakes and they knew what to do with them. Dawn showed good sense and knew how to get out of the way. Buffy was... unbelievable. Her style was rough around the edges, but her speed and strength were amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it," Duncan said, trying to impress the oddness of what he saw on his friends.

"So, this Buffy knew how to fight," Joe said, not getting what Duncan found so impressive.

"That’s an understatement. Judging from the handful I took on, these vampires aren’t overly bright, but they have more than enough speed and strength to make up for it. She took on half a dozen of them without so much as batting an eyelash. The things she did shouldn’t have been possible. Buffy’s rail thin and barely comes up to my shoulder and she was tossing guys two and three times her size across the clearing," Duncan explained.

"That does sound suspicious," Joe agreed.

"Yeah, good balance and training can only do so much, no matter what Hollywood would have us believe," Methos added with a nod. "You think she’s not exactly human?"

"There’s definitely something strange about her," Duncan replied. "The vampire called her something..." Duncan paused for a moment, trying to remember, "he called her ‘Slayer.’ On the phone, Anya Jenkins said something about a Slayer too. Does that mean anything to you?"

"He called her the Slayer?" Methos asked excited. "Are you absolutely sure that was what he said?"

"Yeah, that was it," Duncan confirmed. "I guess this means you’ve heard the term before?"

"It was when I was researching that prophecy about Ahriman and your being the champion," Methos explained. "I kept running across references to another Champion called the Slayer. Supposedly there’s one girl in every generation destined to fight the forces of darkness and she’s called the Slayer. I didn’t give much credit to the stories, a teenage girls with superpowers seemed more like a comic book than something that actually existed. But, if you’ve seen her..."

"The Slayer," Duncan repeated meditatively. "Destined to fight the forces of darkness, that’s a pretty big burden for just one girl."

"So it would seem," Legolas agreed.

"I suppose this means you’ll be sticking around to help," Joe observed.

"For a little while at least," Duncan agreed. "Dawn needs someone to keep an eye on her. And, we should probably give her sister a hand while we’re at it."

"Yeah, you better start looking for a good location to set up a bar, I think you might just be here awhile," Methos told Joe.

"What you don’t think it’s foolish for him to stay? No lectures about minding our own business?" Joe asked Methos somewhat surprised. "Duncan has his sword back, I’d think you’d want us to leave as quickly as possible."

"And miss the chance to see a legend in action?" Methos replied. "I can’t wait to meet the Slayer. I’ve read so much about her."

* * * * * *

Dawn and Buffy were sitting in their kitchen combing demon goo out of their hair in preparation for a good scrubbing. "I don’t know why you were so mean to him," Dawn complained. "He helped us slay the bad guys even though we swiped his sword, not to mention the fact that he’s majorly hot."

"I admit, he’s a real hottie, but we have no idea who he is or what he wants," Buffy protested. "Just because he doesn’t have horns or a tail, it doesn’t mean he’s not evil. He followed us, even though we’d already returned his property. And, what about that sword he was carrying around? Normal people don’t take weapons with them wherever they go. And, I really didn’t like that look he gave you on the way out of the Magic Box."

"You’re one to be complaining about people carrying weapons," Dawn pointed out.

"That’s different," said Buffy.

"Umh hm, of course it is," Dawn said with a sarcastic little smirk.

"It is!" Buffy insisted.

"Whatever," Dawn replied. "I still think he’s one of the good guys. He was super cool about the sword and he helped us when he didn’t have to."

"Whoever he is, I hope he does like I asked, and leaves town really soon. We’re short handed without the rest of the gang. I don’t need anything else to worry about." And with that, Buffy worked the last bit of demon loose and headed off to the showers.

* * * * * *

The next morning Buffy and Dawn were at the Magic Box, helping Anya stock shelves. Dawn still had her debt to pay off from shoplifting. Buffy was working to pick up a little extra money before Christmas. Buffy was standing on a step stool, placing items on a high shelf when the bell on the door chimed. Putting the last book in place Buffy said, "Sorry, we’re not open yet. The grand reopening is January 6th." Then turning around and finally seeing that it was Duncan MacLeod and friends who had come in, Buffy said, "Oh, it’s you, and you brought friends. Now what do you want?"

"Would you believe to help?" Duncan asked.

"With what?" Buffy asked, scrunching her face up in confusion.

"You were attacked by vampires last night and you borrowed my sword to kill a demon," Duncan stated as if what she’d need help with was perfectly obvious.

"So? That’s pretty run of the mill for a Hellmouth. Nothing I can’t handle," Buffy said with a shrug. Then thinking of what Dawn said in support of Duncan she added, "I appreciate your offer to help, it’s really nice and all, but you’ll probably just get in the way or get yourself hurt or killed or something."

Just then Anya and Dawn came into the shop from the stock room, "I heard the bell," Anya said. Then spotting Duncan and his friends, she said, "Oh, it’s you. I don’t suppose you’re here to buy something really expensive." Then spotting Legolas, who was hanging to the back of the little group, she made a beeline toward him. Stopping right in front of him, she said, "You’re not suppose to be here. How did you get here? Elves are never suppose to leave their dimension, not to this one anyway."

"You know me for an elf?" Legolas asked, surprised. He’d been told there were no elves in this world.

"Well, duh. Elves are unmistakable. You’re all bright and glowy. How did you get here?" Anya said.

"I’m not sure precisely. There were some magical stones and there was an accident," Legolas answered.

"The world gates are open again? Someone finally got rid of Sauron then? Maybe I should take a little trip to Middle-earth. I hear it’s fabulous," Anya babbled excitedly.

"Excuse me, but huh? Could you try that again with a little more making of the sense?" Buffy asked Anya.

"I wouldn’t mind an explanation myself," Methos seconded.

"Sauron was this major bad guy in a dimension just a couple notches up from this one. Anyway he went through an Ascension, destroyed every record in that dimension of how to do it, and sealed himself off from the other dimensions," Anya explained, looking back at Buffy who was now nodding in understanding.

"You know of Sauron?" Legolas asked.

"Not personally, he was way before my time," said Anya, "but, I have heard the stories. He’s famous, or infamous, in certain circles. Sealing himself off like that, even at demon get-togethers today you hear demons debating whether he was smart to keep out all the competition or stupid to cut himself off from reinforcements."

Dawn, observing all this from the sidelines suddenly interjected, "I thought elves were suppose to be short?"

"Please Dawn, are you trying to scare me? Tall elves and short elves are two completely different races. Try not to bring up the short ones," Anya commanded.

"Right, no bunnies, midgets, or little elves," Dawn agreed.

"I still don’t get it," Methos said. "What’s an Ascension?"

"That’s when a person turns into a higher demon," Buffy explained briefly. "But, nevermind that. Who are you people and what’s all this about?"

"I was just getting to that, Slayer," said someone said, in a heavy New York accent, behind the four men.

Joe, Methos, Legolas, and Duncan looked behind them and made way for the short man in a tacky outfit to come into the shop. Buffy crossed her arms in front of her, tapped her foot impatiently, and said, "Whistler, I should have known. What have the Powers cooked up to torment me with now?"

"This time you caught a break. Lady Luck’s sent a little help your way. I’m here to tell you how you’d be foolish not to take her up on her offer," Whistler said defensively.

"Mmh hm," Buffy said unimpressed.

Whistler ignored Buffy’s reaction and said, "I think it’s time for a few introductions." Pointing at Duncan, who was standing to his immediate right, with a thumb, Whistler began, "The big guy’s Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, an Immortal and a real boy scout. He became a Champion for the light when the demon Ahriman decided he was a good candidate for a grudge match." Ignoring the bug-eyed expressions of shock from Methos, Duncan, and Joe, Whistler continued with the introductions, "The slightly shorter one with the ponytail and the aristocratic nose is Methos, aka Adam Pierson. He’s the oldest living Immortal and has a checkered past that makes Angel’s look like school boy high jinx, but now he’s trying to make up for it." At these revelations, Methos started making strangling noises and went very pale. Not pausing long enough for any comments to be made, Whistler went on, "The pretty blond with the pointy ears is Legolas Greenleaf an elf from Middle-earth. He’s not actually suppose to be here, but the Powers use whoever’s available. He helped destroy a high level demon, so he should know what he’s doing. And, the old guy with a limp is Joe Dawson, MacLeod’s Watcher, no relation to the Slayer Watchers. No super powers, but he’s got a real way with the blues."

"And now for the home team," Whistler continued the introductions, still not letting anyone get a word in edge-wise. "The lady shop owner is Anyanka, aka Anya Jenkins, a thousand-year-old vengeance demon, specializing in domestic disputes, who’s been thinking of switching sides, coming over to the light. The annoying blond is Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer of Vampire Slayers. Other than dying a couple times, she’s got the best track record on record. Last, but not least, is Buffy’s little sister Dawn. She’s pretty much your normal teenager, except that if she falls into the wrong hands everlasting hell will descend upon the world and all life as we know it will be destroyed in not just this universe but all universes."

Everyone fell silent for a moment, absorbing what they’d just been told. Then pandemonium broke out. The Sunnydale crew was protesting the revelation of so many details to strangers. The group from Seacouver were doing the same, but they were also demanding to know how Whistler knew all that. With everyone talking at once, nothing was getting accomplished. Finally, realizing that they weren’t getting anywhere, Buffy put her fingers in the corners of her mouth and gave a loud whistle. The room immediately quieted down and Buffy said to Whistler, "Thanks for all the intros. Some of them anyway," Buffy tacked on as an afterthought, throwing a glance in Dawn’s direction, "but now what are we supposed to do?"

"You’re suppose to work together and stop the apocalypse. The one coming up is a big one, you’re going to need some help," Whistler answered.

"I don’t suppose you could share a few details on this apocalypse?" Buffy asked, not holding out much hope of that happening.

"Sorry Slayer. All I know is that it’s going to happen before the New Year and you, with the help of these gentlemen, are suppose to stop it," Whistler said sincerely.

Buffy nodded in understanding, rolled her eyes, and said, "One holiday without the world threatening to come to an end, I knew it was too much to ask." Sighing in resignation she plunked herself down in a chair next to the counter.

Seeing that Buffy was through asking questions, pandemonium broke out again. This time, however, it was of a slightly lower volume. Duncan, Methos, and Joe were the only really vehement voices.

"Sorry kids, I’d stick around and answer all your questions, but I have places to go and people to see," Whistler said backing towards the door. "You’re just going to have to work the details out on your own," with that, Whistler stepped through the door. Duncan looked out the door after him, but Whistler had disappeared without a trace.

Chapter 7

Duncan returned to the highly irritated and confused group in the shop. In the wake of Whistler’s many bombshells and abrupt exit, silence had fallen. "Would someone care to explain what that was all about?" Joe asked to get the ball rolling, "Who’s Whistler and how did he know all that stuff?"

Buffy, still sitting in the chair next to the counter, looked at the group of men assessingly. Then, propping her elbows on the counter and resting her chin in her hands, Buffy sighed in resignation. Cocking her head to one side she answered, "Whistler’s a balance demon. He works for the Powers. They probably just told him all that stuff."

"The Powers?" Methos asked, arching one eyebrow inquisitively.

"The Powers That Be," Buffy attempted to clarify. "You know God, Buddha, the aliens that speak to you through your little tin foil hat?" Buffy added, taking in her audience’s blank expressions.

"So you’re saying this Whistler is a messenger of God? And he’s also a demon?!" Duncan asked incredulously.

"Uhmm... yeah?" Buffy answered, not really getting what the problem was, these guys were supposedly not exactly normal humans themselves.

"He’s a totally different kind of demon from Ahriman," Anya tried to explain, realizing why Duncan was confused. "There are bad demons and not so bad demons and even a few good ones and there are all different levels of power. Ahriman is a really high level demon--or, well, low level ‘cause the really powerful demons are called the lower beings--which is why he can interfere with Immortals at all. And, he’s so bad that most other demons won’t associate with him--watch and admire his work--but they keep a good distance. Whistler’s a low level, not so bad demon."

In an aside to Buffy, Anya explained, "Immortals are completely immune to higher circle demons--you know, the minor, not super variety--our powers don’t work on them at all. Demons are suppose to stay out of their contest. Whoever wins is going to play some major role in the end times and interfering is against the rules, it gets the balance out of whack."

"But, if demons and Immortals aren’t suppose to mix, how come Whistler wants them to help us?" Dawn asked.

Anya rolled her eyes at the obviousness of the answer, "Ahriman already broke the rules on the side of darkness by attacking Mr. MacLeod. That gives light a free move, to make everything balance out again."

"Okay, let me see if I’ve got this right," Methos said, pacing around the shop. "Demons are supposed to stay away from Immortals because interfering in the Game is against the rules, which would explain why I never encountered one in 5,000 years."

"What Game?" Buffy interrupted, wondering what kind of ‘game’ could be so important.

"We’ll get to that in a minute," Methos replied irritably. Then he continued with the catalogue of what he’d learned, "Ahriman broke the rules in favor of evil, and now we’re breaking the rules again in favor of good to put things right. Whistler works for God--or what have you--and wants us to work together. And, he knows all those things about us because God told him. Is that basically it?"

"You’re catching on really fast," Buffy encouraged.

Methos paced back and forth a little more, cursing under his breath and running his hands through his hair in agitation. Then stopping right in front of Buffy he said, "I don’t know which is crazier, the story you’ve just told me, or the fact that I think I believe it." Turning to his friends he asked, "What do you think?"

"Don’t look at me," Joe said with a shrug. "I’m only here to observe and record. You’ll have to make up your own mind about gods and demons."

"I do not believe I am in a position to judge," Legolas answered. "This is not my home, all seems equally strange to me."

"Those vampires last night were real enough and then there are all the things Whistler knew which he couldn’t have known," Duncan said with a shrug. "I think we should help. If everything’s on the level, it sounds like we’re needed."

"And if it isn’t?" Methos asked, always willing to play devil’s advocate.

"He did say apocalypse," Duncan pointed out. "How can we not stay and do what we can?"

"I must agree," Legolas interjected, "If there is any chance of a great evil happening which we can prevent, it is our duty to try to stop it."

"As long as we have a consensus," Methos said, unenthusiastically. Then turning to Buffy, a slightly pained smile on his face, he said, "We’re in. Now what?"

"Great," Buffy said with just a smidgen of false enthusiasm. Gesturing toward the circular table in the middle of the room, which was very similar to the one which was destroyed, she said, "Grab a book and pull up a chair. We have research to do. Right after you explain that game thing."

"What kind of research? What are we looking for?" asked Methos.

"Well..." Buffy said suddenly realizing how little they had to go on, "I just slayed a Kratha demon that said something really ominous before it died, so it was probably in on whatever this is. Dawn, do you remember exactly what it said?"

Forehead wrinkling in thought, Dawn replied, "Something about it doing its part, I think. And, maybe a death threat?"

"That sounds about right," Buffy agreed. "Also look for anything apocalypty that is scheduled to happen some time soon. A lot of these prophecies have a specific date attached, so that should narrow it down some." Then, as an afterthought, she added, "Or anything really big. The Powers wouldn’t have sent help for just your run of the mill apocalypse."

"There are run of the mill apocalypses? How can an apocalypse be run of the mill?" Duncan asked as Dawn handed him some books and he took a seat at the table.

"You’d be surprised," Buffy answered.

"When the world is about to come to an end every other week, you get use to it," Dawn added with a shrug. "Mostly," she tacked on as an afterthought.

"That time with the singing was pretty remarkable," Anya put her two cents in. "Although I’m not sure if that would qualify as an apocalypse, everyone in Sunnydale would have died, but that’s not that many people really. I mean on a good day I’ve... What?!" Anya switched directions midstream as she noted Buffy’s rather pointed look and hand gestures towards the Immortals.

"Nothing," Buffy said innocently as everyone turned to look where Anya was staring.

"Singing?" Joe asked curiously, sifting through the stack of books in front of him, looking for one written in English.

"Dancing demon, show tunes in the street, it was a whole thing," Buffy said. "But, we’re getting off the subject. You were going to explain about the game?" she reminded.

"Sure," Methos agreed, "and then you can tell us how Dawn can destroy the world."

"Uhmm... You know this apocalypse thing is really important. Maybe we should just get on with the research and do show and tell later, way later, maybe never," Dawn suggested brightly, really not wanting to discuss her role as the key.

"That sounds like an excellent suggestion," Duncan seconded, not wanting to upset Dawn and trying to keep relations peaceful between Buffy and Methos, they hadn’t resorted to open hostilities yet, but for some unknown reason there was a certain underlying tension between the two.

"This is in Sumerian!" Methos exclaimed holding up a slender volume. "A hundred year old copy of a thousands of years old manuscript and it’s just sitting out here in a pile of books," Methos said shaking his head in bewilderment.

Buffy glanced at the book Methos was holding, "Oh, that one," she said unimpressed, "Giles hates that book. He always gets the translations wrong."

"Sumerian is a very complex language," Methos said a little condescendingly, "I’m impressed that your friend can translate any of it."

"I guess being around since before they invented words must come in handy, reading stuff written by a bunch of dead guys," Buffy said airily, subconsciously needling Methos a little. Something about the eldest Immortal rubbed the Slayer the wrong way.

Duncan snorted in amusement and Methos answered dryly, "It does come in handy from time to time."

Legolas had been quietly leafing through a few books while this conversation was going on, "I’m afraid I will not be of much help with the research, I don’t recognize any of these languages," he said apologetically.

"It’s all right if you don’t understand any of it," Anya told him, "you can just flip through, look at the pictures, and pretend like you’re doing research. That’s what I usually do."

"I think we have enough actual help that we can do without you trying to look helpful, just this once," Buffy said, somewhat facetiously.

"Oh good," said Anya, oblivious as always, "I have lots of stocking to do. Legolas, you can help," she ordered taking the elf by the arm and leading him toward the stock room. Then in a slightly lower tone which was still completely audible to the rest of the room, she added, "After we unpack the crucibles, we should have sex. I’m sure you could give me lots and lots of orgasms. Xander used to give me orgasms in the stock room, but now he’s gone and I wouldn’t take him back if he begged me."

The elf was struck speechless at these revelations. He blinked twice, opened and closed his mouth several times like a dying fish, and blushed a becoming scarlet. "I... You... We..." Legolas made a couple false starts, then Anya pulled him into the stock room and out of sight.

As soon as Legolas and Anya were out of the room, Methos burst out laughing. He had warned Legolas about the kind of attention he’d likely get, but Methos never imagined someone like Anya. Duncan and Joe shared Methos’s mirth, although to a lesser extent, seeing the normally unflappable elf unquestionably flapped was somewhat amusing. Up to this point Legolas’s most extreme reaction to the modern world was a slight grimace at the thought of modern transportation.

"Is she always so...?" Duncan asked, chuckling slightly and searching for the right word.

"Literal?" Dawn suggested.

"Completely lacking in tact?" Buffy added. At Duncan’s nod of agreement, she shrugged and said, "Pretty much."

* * * * * *

After hours of research and some surprisingly good takeout from Mario Wang’s Chinese & Pizza, they finally came up with something. Kratha demons were frequently members of the Order of Thalos, a demon priesthood dedicated to resurrecting major powers of evil which had suffered a prophesied death. They believed that once the prophesied death had passed the resurrected demon would be nearly immortal until such time as another prophesy, about a second death, came to light.

"Now we know that it’s these Thalos guys doing a resurrection. But, how do we stop them?" Buffy asked the group which included a nervous looking elf and a very determined vengeance demon, newly returned from the stock room.

"They have to do a ceremony at a certain time and place under very specific conditions," Duncan explained, having found the explanation in a Gaelic text. "All we have to do is stop the ceremony from happening, and they won’t get another chance for... how long?" Duncan asked Methos, who was in charge of matching astrological occurrences with historical calendars, having once lived with all the calendars in question.

"Three hundred and sixty-two years," answered Methos, after referring to his notes.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Buffy agreed, "What are the conditions?"

"First off they can only resurrect a demon who’s died in the past 9 years, and they’ll pick one that was the subject of a prophecy," Duncan said referring to the book in front of him.

"That narrows the field down some," Buffy said with a nod.

"They have to perform the ceremony at the place of the demon’s death, at midnight on Thalos’s night," Duncan explained the next section.

"Do we know when Thalos’s night is?" Dawn asked.

Methos looked at the notes he’d made of ancient calendars and astronomical info off the Internet, reviewed the calculations one more time, and said, "December 29th."

"Are you absolutely sure of the date, we’ve had date mix up badness before?" Buffy asked.

"Checked it three times, that’s the day," Methos confirmed.

"And, finally, the cult has to sacrifice the ‘favored child’ of the demon in question, ‘the son for the father’ it says," Duncan explained the last condition.

"Okay, this is the 23rd, so we have some time," Buffy said, relieved. "There’s not too many it could be. We can figure this out. And, I can still have my perfect Christmas dinner."

Dawn groaned theatrically. "You’re not going to go psycho on us like you did for Thanksgiving a couple years ago?" she asked suspiciously.

"There’s nothing wrong with wanting a nice holiday meal," Buffy objected. Then taking notice of their audience and thinking that no one should miss Christmas dinner, she added, "You guys are welcome to come. It’s just going to be Anya, Dawn, and me, since our other friends aren’t going to be back for a few weeks."

"Yeah, you should come. You can help me keep Buffy from freaking out about not perfect peas," Dawn encouraged.

"I do not freak out about vegetables," Buffy insisted. "Well, not unfreaky vegetables. Those white asparagus are kinda creepy," she added.

"If it’s not an imposition, we’d be happy to come," Joe said graciously after gauging the feelings of his friends with a glance.

"No imposition at all, we’ll be happy to have you," Buffy answered equally graciously, having warmed to Joe shortly after meeting him. He reminded her of Giles in a weird kind of way, even though he wasn’t at all British or tweedy.

"Perhaps we should focus on trying to figure out who the Order of Thalos is trying to resurrect," Duncan suggested.

"Right, well, like I said, there aren’t too many possibilities," said Buffy.

"We should make a list of all the big bads," Dawn said, picking up her heart shaped notebook and matching pen with fluffy pink feathers on the end. "Who’s first?"

"The Master," Buffy said with an almost imperceptible shiver. "The bad guys already tried to resurrect him once, they could always try it again."

"Master--repeat offender," Dawn said writing down his name, "Who’s next?"

"There are a lot of prophecies about Angelus, but Angel’s still alive so he’s out. I suppose the next one is the Mayor, but I don’t think there are any prophecies about his death. "

"I’ll put the Mayor down as a maybe," said Dawn, "Next?"

"Adam’s out since he was more machine than demon and I’m sure there aren’t any prophecies. I don’t think they could resurrect Glory if they wanted to and the Watcher Council guys said she was beyond prophecy, she’s out," Buffy concluded. "What does that leave us with?"

"The Master and maybe the Mayor," Dawn answered. "Are you sure you aren’t forgetting anyone?"

"Well it is supposed to be a major player. I suppose it could be the Judge, there’s lots of prophecy about him, but he’s not so much dead as disassembled. And I’ve slayed lots of Badass vamps that have prophecies written about them, but no one that caused me too many problems. I can’t see Whistler and the Powers interfering for some vamp I didn’t even break a nail dusting," Buffy said with a shrug.

"Well, that pretty much cinches the where," Dawn said optimistically. "They both died at the high school."

"Who are the Master and the Mayor?" Legolas asked.

"The Mayor was the town mayor, he turned himself into a giant snake demon at my high school graduation. I blew up the school with him inside. It was the only way we could think of to kill him," Buffy explained matter of factly.

"And the Master?" Joe asked.

"Master vampire, trapped under the Hellmouth for a century or so, got out, I slayed him," Buffy said with forced casualness, examining her manicure.

At Duncan’s inquiring look, Dawn elaborated, "He killed Buffy."

"You died?!" Duncan asked, shocked. Buffy was definitely not an Immortal or a pre-Immortal.

"Just for a minute," Buffy said nonchalantly. "I drowned, but my friend Xander gave me CPR and I was fine."

"Now, we know the when, where, and have narrowed down the who. Do we have any idea who the favored child is?" Methos asked.

"The Master seems like our number one suspect. His favorite childe was Darla, but she’s already dead and would be a daughter anyway. Then there was Luke, he’s dead. And the Anointed one, he kind of disappeared. Maybe he’s the one?" Buffy said, thinking aloud.

"No, he’s dead too." Dawn said. Then at Buffy’s surprised look, Dawn explained, "Spike told me. He put the Anointed One out in the sun when him and Dru first moved into the factory."

"Oh," Buffy said. "I don’t know who else it could be then. The Master probably sired a bunch of other vamps, but I can’t think of any that were particularly close to him."

"What if it isn’t limited to a direct father-son relationship?" Duncan asked. "The words aren’t literally father and son. Any kind of parent-child relationship would fit."

Buffy suddenly went pale. "Would grandfather-grandson be close enough?" she asked.

"Yeah," Duncan said with a nod, "that would work."

Buffy swallowed hard and said, "Angel. There’re going to try to sacrifice Angel. Anya, can I use the phone in your office? I have to call him."

"Sure," Anya said. Then she added, "It’s not long distance is it?" Buffy ignored Anya’s completely tactless question and walked into the office, which had formerly been Buffy’s weight room but now contained file cabinets and a computer.

"Am I missing something here? Who’s Angel, and why is Buffy calling him?" Methos asked.

"Angel’s the Master’s grandchilde, Darla was his sire, and he’s Buffy’s ex," Anya explained.

"Wouldn’t that make him a vampire? And isn’t it the Slayer’s job to kill vampires?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, but Angel’s different," said Dawn. "He was cursed with a soul. He’s good now."

"How can a soul be a curse?" Duncan asked. "Isn’t having a soul a good thing?"

"Good for us, most definitely," Anya said emphatically. "Angelus is a raging psychopath without a soul. His favorite hobby was to torment the helpless and innocent till they went insane. He wasn’t an evil vampire for very long, well under two centuries, but him and his little family made quite a name for themselves."

"Now that he has a soul, he mostly broods and feels guilty," Dawn added, "even though it was the demon that did all those things, not him."

"Interesting choice of boyfriend for a Slayer," Methos observed.

"Buffy’s always been special," Dawn replied vaguely.

"She means her sister has a thing for vampires," Anya clarified. Then, to make sure she wasn’t misinterpreted as being critical of the Slayer, Anya added, "Not that there’s anything wrong with boffing the undead. As long as we’re talking good-looking Master vampires I’m all for it. Sex with minions is just gross, but Buffy’d never do that. She only has sex with hot vamps."

Duncan, Methos, Joe, and Legolas sat in silence through Anya’s explanation, completely nonplused by these revelations on Buffy’s love life. Dawn, meanwhile, was crossing her fingers, hoping Buffy didn’t over hear any of that.

Just then Buffy walked out of the office with a purposeful stride. "I just got off the phone with some of Angel’s friends. He’s been missing for weeks now," she said in a tightly controlled voice.

"That settles it then," Methos said, glad to be getting back on topic, "They’re going to try to resurrect the Master."

Seeing how much strain Buffy was under, Duncan added, "But, we’re going to stop them. They’re not sacrificing anyone. Remember, they have to keep your friend healthy till the 29th. We have time to rescue him," he reassured.

Buffy took a couple deep breaths, got her panic under control, and said, "You’re right. He’ll be okay. Knowing Angel, between now and then he might rescue himself and save us all a lot of trouble," she said with a tremulous smile. "In the meantime, I think we should see if we can find these Order of Thalos guys. The more we can take out now, the fewer there will be to perform the ceremony when the time comes."

"Patrol?" Dawn asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah, who want’s to come?" Buffy asked the group at large.

"I think I’ll stay here, see if I can dig up anything else," Methos said, eyeing a stack of rare books he hadn’t gotten to yet and practically drooling.

"I’ll go along," Duncan volunteered. "I could use a little exercise."

"I as well," Legolas hurriedly volunteered when he noticed Anya staring at him.

"But Legolas, I thought we could go back to my place and test out my new, Xander-less bed. You took so long placing all those crucibles just so on the shelves, we never got to the orgasms part," Anya complained.

"Sorry Anya, duty comes first," Buffy came to the elf’s rescue.

"Wish I could come along, see some of this for myself, but I’m afraid I’d just get in the way," Joe said tapping one false leg with his cane. "I’d better head back to the hotel before it gets dark. I should probably get started on my creatively edited report to the Watcher’s Council. I don’t think they’re ready for Slayers and vampires yet. Do you think they’d buy teenage activists and gang-violence?"

"That’s what the Sunnydale Police always put it down as, PCP and gang violence," Buffy answered. "Come on, we’ll walk you back to the hotel. We’ll pass it on the way to the burnt out remains of Sunnydale High."

Chapter 8

Buffy, Duncan, Legolas, and Dawn dropped Joe off at the hotel. While they were there Legolas ran upstairs to fetch his bow. Then the group proceeded to the high school. As they walked along, Buffy explained the ins and outs of slaying vampires, with occasional comments from Dawn.

"Vamp Slayage 101," Buffy began. "As far as slaying vamps goes most of the stuff in movies is fairly accurate. You can kill a vamp with a stake to the heart but it has to be wooden. Simulated wood doesn’t work," Buffy grimaced, remembering an occasion when a chair leg didn’t work like she thought it would. "Decapitation is good, so is direct sunlight or fire. Vamps are highly flammable. Holy water and crosses burn them, but you have to get them to drink it or bath in it to kill one with holy water, so holy stuff’s mostly just defensive. Garlic doesn’t really do anything, besides offending their sense of smell. And, you can always get away from vamps by going into a private residence they haven’t been invited into. They can’t come in without an invitation."

"What about the other stuff?" Duncan asked. "Sleeping in coffins? Turning into bats?"

"Myth," answered Buffy. "They sleep any place out of direct sunlight, usually in beds. Dracula’s the only one that can turn himself into a bat or mist. There are a few older vamps that can do a hypno thing but mostly they can’t mesmerize people. Vampires all have super strength, speed, and senses, but for most of them that’s about it."

"Lucky for us most of them are kind of dumb too," Dawn interjected. "I mean, I don’t have any super powers or anything and I can dust my fair share."

"There’s an actual Dracula?" Duncan asked curiously. "There’s a famous story written about a vampire named Dracula," Duncan explained to Legolas, noticing the elf’s inquiring expression.

"Yep," Buffy said somewhat proudly. "He came all the way to Sunnydale just to meet me."

Dawn rolled her eyes, having heard the story just under a million times shortly after it happened. "Buffy’s famous," she explained to the others, clearly unimpressed. Then as the group turned the corner Dawn spotted the burnt out remains of Sunnydale high. "Look," she said, pointing to a construction company sign in front of the school, "they’re going to knock it down and rebuild."

"I thought I saw something about that on the news," Buffy said. "That’s just what I need. My sister going to school on the Hellmouth. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about already."

"Who would choose this as a place to build a school? Evil is all over this town, but it is strongest here. Children should never come here, much less seek to learn in the midst of such darkness," Legolas protested, a sense of dread building in him as they approached the school.

Buffy shrugged and said, "I wouldn’t build a school here."

"We’re here. Now what?" Duncan asked.

"Split up and look for clues," suggested Buffy. "If they’re doing a major ceremony here next week, they’ve must have dropped by to check things out, maybe set up an altar or something."

"Why don’t Mac and me go that way," Dawn said pointing to the left, "and you and Legolas go that way," she continued gesturing to the right, "and we’ll meet around back, where the library used to be."

Buffy was about to object to her sister going off with a near stranger, but then she remembered that the near stranger in question was vouched for by the Powers and he didn’t know his way around the school. "Sounds good to me," Buffy agreed, unable to think of an alternate arrangement. "Got a flashlight?"

Dawn pulled a small Hello Kitty flashlight out of her coat pocket, and asked her sister, "What about you?"

"Slayer vision. Moonlight through the holes in the roof should be enough," said Buffy.

"For me as well," added Legolas.

The issue of light being settled, the pairs each set out in their appointed directions.

* * * * * *

"So, how long have you and your sister been fighting vampires and demons?" Duncan asked Dawn as they ducked through a hole in one wall.

Happy to be able to talk about this stuff to someone who wouldn’t freak, Dawn answered, "Buffy’s been slaying vamps since her freshman year of high school, when she first became the Slayer. That was like," Dawn paused for a minute mentally counting the years, "seven years ago. I’ve only been helping out for a few months now. Before, Buffy always tried to keep me out of it, saying I was too young. Since now I’m older than she was when she first started, she kind of lost her best excuse." Pointing the flashlight toward a gaping hole in the wall opposite them she said, "That way, we’ll go left down what’s left of the hallway and circle around the back.

"She just wants to keep you safe," Duncan pointed out as he entered the burnt out hallway where stars could be seen through patches where the roof had disintegrated.

"I know," said Dawn, following just behind Duncan. "But, hello! Hellmouth, sister of the Slayer, there’s no way I’m not in danger. I’m way safer going on patrol with Buffy and learning how to defend myself than just staying home and hoping none of the nasties come and get me."

"I can’t fault your logic there. Everyone should learn to defend themselves," Duncan agreed, kicking a charred board out of his way and peering into one of the classrooms.

"Really, you think so?" Dawn asked surprised by his ready agreement. "They’re always telling me I should stay home where it’s safe and that I’m too young to help fight the bad guys. But, I’m not. I can do stuff," she declared punctuating her point with her hands, waving the flashlight about.

"I’m sure you can," Duncan said cautiously, "but just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should." Making out the stubborn expression on Dawn’s face through the gloom he realized he was starting to lose her. "Your desire to help save the world is admirable, and I’m not suggesting you should just stay home doing nothing. If I were you, I couldn’t not do something," Duncan said hastily, not wanting his potential new student to decide that he was against her. "I only mean that perhaps hunting demons in the middle of the night isn’t the best way for you to help. Isn’t there something a little less dangerous you could do?"

"You mean like sharpening stakes or reading dusty books?" Dawn said in a tone clearly demonstrating her frustration with that often heard suggestion.

"I’ll take that as a no," Duncan surrendered the point with a grin Dawn missed in the dark but could guess at from his tone of voice. "If you’re going to be out here hunting vampires you should learn how to fight. Is your sister teaching you any kind of martial arts?"

Dawn shook the Hello Kitty flashlight, which had picked that moment to dim and flicker. Once the batteries settled back into place and the light became steady again, Dawn answered, "Not really. I mean, I work out with her sometimes and she gives me lots of pointers, about using your head and never underestimating your opponent, but between work and school and slaying we don’t have much time for actual training. Mostly it’s just learn as we go, but I’ve picked up a lot just watching."

"Maybe I could help with that while I’m here," Duncan offered, seeing a good way to squeeze in a little preparatory training without spilling the beans about Dawn’s eventual immortality.

"Huh?" Dawn asked, still fiddling with the flashlight. "How?"

"I own a dojo, in Seacouver. I teach martial arts classes, professionally," Duncan explained. "This apocalypse is still a week away and I need to do something in the meantime."

"Oh, cool," said Dawn really liking the idea. "That would be great... if it’s not too much trouble."

"No trouble at all," Duncan assured her as he stepped over a fallen rafter and extended a hand to help Dawn over. "I like to teach."

Dawn stepped over the rafter, holding on to Duncan for balance. "The library is the first door around the corner," she said pointing the light toward a bend in the hall just ahead.

"We’re almost through then? I didn’t see any signs of a demon cult, or anyone else for that matter. Did you spot anything?"

"No, but Buffy and Legolas might have found something or they could have set up in the library." Dawn paused for a moment, gave Duncan a speculative look, and said, "Mac, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask," Duncan replied curiously, wondering what the teenager wanted to know.

"Are you single?"

"Uhm... yes," Duncan answered hesitantly, confused by Dawn’s question which seemed to come completely out of left field and a little nervous about the motivations behind it. He did not want to have to deal with a teenage crush. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Dawn answered with a shrug and a too innocent grin.

* * * * * *

Buffy and Legolas entered the shell of a school in silence. Without speaking they fell into the pattern of Legolas checking the rooms on the left side of the hallway and Buffy checking the ones on the right. About halfway down the corridor, Buffy tripped on a warped piece of tile but Legolas managed to catch her before she fell.

"Thanks," said Buffy. "If you hadn’t caught me I’m sure I would have fallen on something sharp and rusty, either that or picked up the world’s largest splinter. And, I so don’t need another tetanus shot this year."

"I am always happy to be of service, m’lady," Legolas said, smoothly cutting off Buffy’s embarrassed babble.

Buffy cocked her head to one side and considered the elf for a moment. "That’s good, the part about being of service," she said, giving him her most brilliant smile. "I mean here you are, with people you don’t know in a place you don’t want to be, I did notice the pained look when we got near the Hellmouth, risking your life to help save a world that isn’t even yours. And, then to top it all off, a vengeance demon starts throwing herself at you. So, thank you," she concluded sincerely.

Legolas didn’t really know what to say to this expression of gratitude. In Middle-earth, waging war against evil was assumed to be a responsibility of the elves. He never imagined being shown gratitude simply for doing his duty. Finally he replied, "Do not thank me until I have proven my worth. It remains to be seen how much good I can do."

"Fair enough," Buffy agreed with a shrug. "I suppose they don’t have that saying about the thought counting where you’re from." Then leading Legolas further down the hall, Buffy said, "While we’re on the subject of how much good you can do, how good are you with that bow? Not that I doubt you or anything, it’s just that if we run into a nest of vampires, I’d like to know what to expect."

"There are many more accurate archers than I in Mirkwood," Legolas said modestly. "But, I’ve had much practice in the past few centuries guarding my home against invading goblins and other foul creatures. There aren’t many who are faster than I, and speed is the more important skill in the midst of battle. Usually, having more than one arrow in the air at once is of more use than planting an arrow within a hair’s breadth of where it was aimed. Vital organs are not such small targets."

"Did you say several centuries of practice?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"Yes, elves are immortal," Legolas explained.

"Oh, good to know. You must be able to get good at all kinds of stuff when you have forever to work on it.... Is that a can’t be killed immortal or just a live a really long time immortal?"

"Our physical bodies can be killed just the same as mortal men."

"Well, if you’ve been fighting goblins and stuff for centuries and haven’t died yet I guess that means you’re pretty good in a fight," said Buffy. "I don’t suppose you could give me a few archery pointers while you’re here? I’m pretty good with a crossbow, but Giles never got the hang of the longbow, so I never trained with one. Crossbows are fine, range wise, most vamp slayage is done up close and personal, but they’re a bitch to load."

Legolas and Buffy separated momentarily to look in the rooms on either side of them. When they met back in the hall, Legolas answered, "If you’re truly interested in archery, I would be happy to instruct you."

"Truly interested?" Buffy asked. Then answering her own question, she continued, "Anya’s throwing herself at you, you think I’m just being sneakier about it. I promise my interest in archery is completely genuine. I mean vampires, wooden arrow through the heart, it’s kind of a no brainer."

"Yes, archery does appear to be a useful skill for one of your... calling. I apologize for suspecting otherwise," Legolas said a little sheepishly.

"It’s not a problem," Buffy waved aside Legolas’s apology. "The cafeteria is up ahead. It’s big enough that we should probably both check it out." Buffy pried open one of the cafeteria doors which was hanging crooked on its hinges. Legolas, standing just behind her winced at the squealing sound the door made. "Actually, if I hadn’t sworn off men and relationships for--well--ever, I probably would have had a sneaky plot up my sleeve. But, I have come to the conclusion that I’m doomed to never having a healthy happy relationship and trying only leads to pain, tragedy, and assorted forms of badness," Buffy explained matter of factly.

"I have never given love much thought. There was always too much else that needed doing for me to consider marriage or to look for a lady I could spend my life with. But, giving up on love entirely and resigning oneself to being alone, it just doesn’t seem right," Legolas protested. "Perhaps you have not met the right person yet," he suggested tentatively, feeling totally out of his depth discussing love with a mortal woman.

Buffy snorted slightly at this suggestion as she looked behind the charred lunch counter and into the kitchens behind, "That’s what Dawn says, that I just have to find the right guy. Even if you two are right, there’s still my total inability to distinguishing between Mr. Right and Mr. So Hideously Wrong We’re Lucky if He Doesn’t Torture and Kill My Friends."

"That would present some difficulty. Does your sister have a solution?" Legolas asked lightly, taking his cue from Buffy’s flip attitude toward her predicament.

"Her latest solution seems to be to set me up with Mac. She hasn’t said anything, but I can see the signs," Buffy complained.

"I haven’t known him long, but I can assure you he won’t torture or kill any of your friends," Legolas pointed out with a teasing grin.

"Fantastic, I’ll get started on the wedding invitations as soon as I get home," Buffy returned dryly. "The library is the next door down. Duncan and Dawn should already be there. Their side was smaller."

* * * * * *

Back at the Magic Box, Methos was still flipping through rare volumes, looking for anything of interest, while Anya stocked a display case. Anya put the last item, a elaborately carve wooden pipe, in the case. Then she sat down in the seat opposite from Methos and proceeded to stare at him.

Methos kept reading for a couple more pages. Then, the steady gaze of the vengeance demon starting to bother him, he carefully marked his place and put down the book he was reading. "What?!" he barked in an irritable manner.

"Well, I wasn’t going to ask, you really have to figure these things out for yourself or they don’t count, you know? But, have we met somewhere before? You look really familiar, but I can’t figure out where I know you from and it’s been bothering me all day," explained Anya. "Were you in Russia during the Bolshevik revolution?"

"No, I’ve never really cared for Russia. It’s too cold."

"How about the West Indies during a slave rebellion?" Anya tried again, picking a warmer location.

"Which one?" Methos asked, "There were quite a few."

"Any of them, there was lots of vengeance to be had in all of them."

"I suppose there would be at that, considering the situation. But, I wasn’t there for any of them."

"Then why did you ask me which one?" Anya asked irritably.

"Just fishing for information," Methos answered unapologetically. "If we’ve run into each other before, it probably wasn’t in the midst of war or rebellion. I’ve been avoiding death and disaster whenever possible for the past millennia or so. Sometimes wars are unavoidable, but I typically try to avoid places that are a war waiting to happen."

"Avoiding death and disaster, that narrows it down some. Death and disaster are sort of a vengeance demon credo. Wait a second, that’s it, Death. You’re Death!" Anya said excitedly. "Hallie is going to be so jealous."

"Jealous?" Methos asked, "And how do you know I was Death? Or were you around back then?"

"In order: Hallie is my best demon friend and she’s going to be jealous because you’re famous, not just for the Horseman thing but also because of Cassandra. When a woman tries to call vengeance down on the same man repeatedly for several millennia it gets justice demons talking, even if they can’t do anything about it. Hallie’ll be nearly as jealous as she was when Laurie met Brad Pitt. Hallie has a thing about celebrities.

"I know who you are because Vince has an enormous picture of the Four Horsemen sweeping down on a village over his fire place. He’s really proud of it because it’s the first really good photo he took with his new digital camera. He’s a Chronos demon, they travel in time and are usually pretty good with technology--not having originated in the dark ages like most demons I know. But, Vince has always been kind of slow to learn new things. Figuring out the sepia function on his new camera was a red letter day for him.

"And, I wasn’t around back then. I’m just a little over a thousand, not old at all. I don’t look old, do I?" Anya asked self consciously.

"You look fine," Methos answered absently. "You don’t object to my being one of the Four Horsemen?"

"I’m impressed. What you accomplished without any magical aid, it’s really amazing. In my better centuries I’ve wielded the power of the wish to cause greater pain and suffering--even a higher body count, if you figure it on a number of deaths per event basis, you killed more in the long run of course--but I’ve never been able to inspire so much terror, not even close," Anya said admiringly.

"You enjoy causing people pain and suffering," Methos asked, shocked by Anya’s attitude. Anya was supposedly on the good team.

"Yes, well, I used to. I accidentally lost my powers for awhile and became human again. Since I’ve returned to the vengeance fold, inflicting hasn’t had the kick that it used to. I keep worrying about consequences and thinking that maybe the people I’m wreaking vengeance on don’t deserve it. That’s why I’m taking a break from vengeance for awhile. I’m trying to figure some stuff out. What about you? Why did you stop being one of the Horsemen?" Anya asked conversationally.

"Pretty much the same reason," Methos said with a shrug. "It wasn’t fun anymore and I got to thinking about my victims, started feeling bad for them."

"Do... do you think we can make up for the past, by being good and helping to save the world now?" Anya asked.

"I don’t know, but we can try," Methos said with a melancholy smile.

"Right," Anya agreed with a determined expression. "Have you found anything else? To help stop the cult?"

"A few references, but nothing concrete. Maybe with your experience as a demon you can help me sort some of it out?" Methos suggested.

"Maybe, what’ve you got?" Anya asked moving around the table to sit next to Methos. The two shared a look of understanding, each knowing what it was like to revel in evil then try to do good, then they went to work.

* * * * * *

Buffy and Legolas entered the remnants of the library to find Dawn and Duncan examining a symbol etched into the floor. "What’s that?" Buffy asked. "It wasn’t there last time I was here."

"I think it’s some sort of protection circle," Dawn said. "I think I’ve seen something like it in Willow and Tara’s books."

"It is some type of spell," Legolas added. "That much I am sure of, even with the evil emanating from this place confusing my senses."

"You can sense magic?" Buffy asked the elf.

"Yes, it is a natural elven ability. I have never made a study of magic so I’m afraid the details of the spell are beyond me. The only thing I can tell is that I believe the purpose of the spell is control rather than protection," Legolas explained, a look of intense concentration on his face as he analyzed the impressions he received from the symbol.

"Control of what by whom?" Duncan asked.

"I don’t know," replied Legolas. "I only get the feeling that the intent of this spell is control of something. I can’t tell any more."

"Well, if this cult is summoning up some great evil I’d think they’d want to control him. I don’t think they resurrect their fellow bad guys just out of the goodness--or well, badness--of their hearts," said Buffy. "Maybe it’s a spell to make sure the Master is under their control after they resurrect him."

"It could be," Legolas agreed.

"Would they put it in place this far in advance if it were something they could replace on the spur of the moment?" Duncan asked, beginning to get an idea.

"No, they wouldn’t," Buffy said an slightly evil grin spreading across her face. "There’s probably some complicated--difficult to repeat--mojo involved."

"You guys are thinking that if we can screw up this spell thing now, it’ll cause the cult guys problems later," Dawn said. "Do we have any idea how to do that?"

Everyone looked at Legolas. "I’m no magician, so I may be wrong about this, but I think destroying the symbol might work," Legolas suggested.

"I don’t have any better ideas," Buffy agreed with a shrug. She picked up a twisted piece of scrap of metal which once was part of the cage where Giles kept his more valuable volumes. Buffy wedged the end which had melted into a sharp edge under a floorboard and began to pry it up. She pried up the first board, then looking around at her companions she said, "A little help here."

Legolas and Duncan cast around for materials to use as crowbars while Dawn held the flashlight. After a minute, the two found adequate tools and set to work. They quickly pulled up all the boards, then Buffy broke one of the boards in two, in order to make sure the cult didn’t just put the pieces back as soon as they left. Just as the board splintered down the middle, a sickly green mist rose from the broken board and floated through one of the gaping holes in the ceiling.

"What was that?" asked Duncan.

"A warning and a summons," Legolas said after a moment of thought.

"That doesn’t sound good," observed Duncan.

"It’s not. It’s a warning to the bad guys that their symbol thingy is being destroyed and a summons to come save it," Buffy explained worriedly.

"How’d you know that?" Dawn asked her sister.

"I don’t know. I’m just guessing. But, it makes sense considering that my spidey sense just went off the scale. There are vampires all around us and they’ll be here soon," said Buffy.

Chapter 9

"How many vampires qualify as off the scale?" Duncan asked Buffy, as he drew his sword and removed his coat.

"More than fifty. Hopefully, less than a hundred. If they get in we’re dead," Buffy answered breaking the central board of the design, then pulling a stake out of the back pocket of her red leather pants. "If we only have to deal with a few at a time, I think we might get out of this alive. Most of them should be coming through the main doors, or what’s left of them, but there’s a back entrance that needs to be covered too."

"I’ll take it," Duncan volunteered.

"Good, me and Legolas will take the front," Buffy said, nodding to Legolas. The elf had his bow in his hands and was calmly waiting for the attack. Turning to Dawn, Buffy continued, "Stay between us. Help when you can. But, don’t take them on directly. I don’t want you to get killed."

"What? You’re not going to make me promise to be careful?" Dawn answered flippantly, trying to cover a case of nerves. Buffy arched an eyebrow warningly at her sister. "I won’t do anything stupid," Dawn solemnly promised. "Not dying is way up there on my to do list."

"I can hear them approaching," Legolas interrupted.

"Places everyone!" Buffy ordered as she took her place beside Legolas in front of the library doors. Duncan faced the other direction, alert for vampires trying to sneak in the back way, and Dawn stood just a few steps behind him clutching a stake.

A short moment later the first vamps tried to enter through the main entrance. Legolas let fly one of his arrows, sending the wooden shaft clean through the heart of the first vampire, through the heart of a second, and into the left leg of a third. "Nice shot," Buffy complimented her companion as the first two vampires exploded into piles of dust.

A split second later the first vampire approaching through the back entrance made its way through the rubble that was all that remained of the stacks. Duncan kicked the vampire in the leg, breaking its knee cap. While the vamp was still kneeling, clutching its broken appendage, Duncan swiftly decapitated it.

Then the trickle of attacking vampires turned into a flood. They entered the front door two and three at a time with another steady stream from the back. Legolas backed up a few paces, to give himself more room to use his bow. Buffy took the opposite approach. She jumped right into the action, laying about herself with kicks and punches and a sharp wooden object.

The three warriors dusted vampire after vampire, with Dawn helping out, but they kept coming. Eventually, Legolas ran out of arrows. In the brief moment it took for him to draw his knives and rejoin the fight, three vampires slipped past Buffy--who was unable to cover the doorway by herself--and into the library.

Legolas ducked a swing by the first one, cut off the second one’s hand, and stabbed the third, backing the three up so that they were blocking the doorway. Buffy, seeing that the elf was hard pressed trying to decapitate vampires with weapons unsuited to the task, tossed Legolas her spare stake. Legolas caught the stake and dealt with the three vampires in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Duncan had exchanged his sword for a stake. Although he much preferred using a sword, staking vamps was much faster and speed was vital. There weren’t as many vampires coming in the back as there were in front, but it was still too many for a single man to handle. Dawn ended up taking a very active role in the slaying. Duncan would incapacitate one, breaking bones with a well placed kick or punch, while staking another and Dawn would stake the one that was down.

Buffy staked what seemed like the thousandth vampire of the night, but was probably only the twenty-eighth. As the vamp turned to dust, Buffy couldn’t help rolling her eyes at the still intact vampire that came into view behind the cloud of dust. "Geez, how many of you guys are there?" she asked as she blocked the attacking vampire’s punch. "After seeing all your buddies turn into little piles of dust, why do you keep coming? I mean, you do know what’s going to happen? Right?" she continued conversationally as she kicked her current opponent in the stomach and followed with a knee to the face. "Or are all of you just convinced that you’re special? Think you have some special immunity to Slayer mojo that none of the others know about? ‘Cause if you do, you’re wrong," Buffy concluded as she stabbed the vampire in the heart, proving her point.

Legolas dusted another vampire and, when another came to take its place, Legolas said to Buffy, "I thought you said fewer than a hundred. I have taken thirty-seven and you have accounted for similar number, and yet they still come." Legolas staked a short, tubby vampire, and in the short lull between demons, he scooped up two of his arrows which were lying on the floor in front of him.

"I said, hopefully less than a hundred," Buffy corrected. Then dusting her current opponent she added, "thirty-seven? You counted?!"

"Thirty-nine," Legolas replied, having eliminated two more just then, "And, yes. Don’t you?"

"Uhmm... no. It must be a guy thing," Buffy said a bit distractedly as she dodged a series of punches from a vamp who’d had some martial arts training.

With Duncan and Dawn things weren’t going so well. Duncan had hesitated to hit a small, pretty, female vampire for a second too long and she managed to get his stake out of his hand. A husky male vamp took advantage of Duncan’s momentary distraction to get a hold of Dawn. "Mac!" Dawn screamed for help. Snapping out of his chivalric daze, Duncan tossed the girl vamp into a wall, scooped up his fallen stake, and threw it into the husky vampire’s heart all in one smooth motion.

"Dawn, you okay?" Duncan asked the teenager.

"Yeah," Dawn answered wiping vampire dust from her eyes. Then looking over Duncan’s shoulder, she tossed Duncan her stake and shouted, "Behind you!"

Duncan caught the stake and dusted the girl vamp who’d recovered from her collision with the wall and was creeping up behind him. While all this was going on another vampire, one dressed as a biker, had gotten past Dawn and Duncan.

Biker vamp was sneaking up behind Legolas who was occupied with two other vampires. Buffy, noticing biker vamp and realizing the elf was too busy with the ones in front of him to take care of the one behind, threw her stake at the vampire. Biker vamp collapsed into a pile of dust. Buffy, momentarily left open by her toss, got slammed into a wall.

"Buffy!" Legolas exclaimed as he finished off the vampire directly in front of him and rushed to his fallen comrade’s aid.

"I’m fine," Buffy insisted as she jumped back up, "but, we have to get out of here. We can’t keep this up much longer and I don’t think they’re going to stop coming till dawn."

"How?" Legolas asked, still defending Buffy from the vampires.

"The back entrance and down into the sewers. It’s narrow so they can’t come at us very many at a time. Willow’s parent’s house is less than a block from here, there’s a manhole a couple yards from their back door, and I’ve got a key. If we can make it there we’ll be safe," Buffy said as she stepped around the elf to take on her fair share.

"You and Duncan clear the way," Legolas agreed. "I’ll be the rear guard. The arrows I’ve been picking up during the fight should serve us well in that position."

"Mac?" Buffy called to the Immortal, "You catch that?"

"Something about us getting out of here," Duncan replied dispatching another vampire. "Lead the way. I’m ready when you are."

Buffy circled around till she was facing the back of the library, then she lead the way over the rubble. Duncan, switching back to his sword, followed a step behind. Dawn was just behind Buffy and Duncan. Legolas was bringing up the rear, bow back in hand and a depleted but no longer empty quiver on his back.

The group made their way out of the library, into the sewers, and into the Rosenberg residence, fighting the whole way. By the time they were safely inside the house, Legolas had used all the arrows he’d picked back up during the battle and was sporting a clawed shoulder, Buffy was limping from a kick to the shin as well as her earlier run in with a wall, Duncan’s shirt was a bloody rag because a vampire got in a lucky swipe and clawed his back from neck to hip, and Dawn had hand shaped bruises on her forearms from when that vampire grabbed her.

The four bedraggled refugees from the vampire wars walked gratefully into the Rosenberg’s living room where Buffy and Dawn collapsed exhaustedly on the couch. Duncan glanced nervously behind him, where vampires were still pounding on the front door, then he joined the girls on the couch. Legolas perched on the edge of an armchair, careful not to get blood on the upholstery, and started to inspect the scratches on his shoulder which were still oozing blood just a little.

"Is everyone alright?" Buffy asked.

Dawn pushed back the sleeves of her sweater and said, "I’m going to have some ugly bruises, but I’ll be alright. At least it’s the right time of year for long sleeves."

"These scratches look worse than they are," Legolas added, "They’re already starting to close."

"What about you?" Buffy asked, looking over at Duncan. "That red head got in a pretty good swipe."

"Already gone," said Duncan, "But what about you? I noticed you limping as we came in."

"She was thrown into a wall as well," Legolas added.

"Rat," Buffy accused. "Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. It’s nothing Slayer healing won’t take care of," she insisted sitting up straight to prove her point. But, being unable to suppress a wince at the pain in her side, she only made her new friends even more concerned.

"Ignoring an injury will only make it worse," Duncan lectured. "Just because ‘Slayer healing’ can take care of it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek first aid as well. With modern medicine, there’s no reason to suffer."

Buffy rolled her eyes and said, "Trust me, if there was anything I could or should do, I’d do it. Nothing’s broken. We’re just talking about a nasty bruise here, not a big deal. And, if painkillers worked for me at all, I’d be popping the ibuprofen as we speak, but they don’t so I’ll just have to grin and bear it."

"I saw how hard you hit," Legolas said skeptically, "I thought you’d have broken ribs at best."

"If it’ll make you two feel better, see for yourself," Buffy said with a shrug and another wince as she pulled up the hem of her fluffy white sweater a few inches to expose a blackish purple bruise spreading across her right side and the visibly intact ribs underneath the discolored skin.

"It looks days old," Duncan observed.

"It’ll be gone by the day after tomorrow," said Buffy, "Something I’m greatly looking forward too. It’s not life threatening, but it’s not exactly pleasant feeling."

"Perhaps I can help with that," Legolas suggested. "Healing is an elven gift, although I have not had much occasion to use it. With your permission, I believe I can speed your recovery. With evil powers looming so close, you will be needed at full strength."

"Speed away," Buffy gave her permission. "Anything that makes tying my shoes a less painful task for the next couple days gets my personal seal of approval."

Legolas, with a look of intense concentration on his face, knelt in front of Buffy and gently placed his hand over Buffy’s bruises, careful not to cause the girl further pain. For a second nothing happened, as Dawn and Duncan looked on curiously. Then the bruise lightened and receded before their very eyes. In seconds it had completely disappeared.

"Cool, it’s like watching one of those computer graphic morphing dealies they do for Band-Aid commercials," Dawn exclaimed.

"Yeah, very cool," Buffy seconded stretching and twisting to test out her newly healed side. "Thank you!" she said impulsively leaning forward and planting a kiss to one side of the elf’s mouth. "It’s like I was never injured. A total recovery in under a minute is way better than I was expecting."

Legolas got up from the floor and retreated back to the armchair. "You’re welcome. I have to admit to being somewhat surprised myself. Not even Lord Elrond can so completely heal a wound in mere seconds. I should not have been able to do that," he said in confusion.

"Isn’t proximity to a Hellmouth suppose to give supernatural powers a boost?" Duncan asked. "We did just spend the last," here he glanced at his watch, "hour or so fighting directly over the Hellmouth itself."

"And, I already have accelerated healing," Buffy added. "Put the two together and it makes sense."

"Yes, that could explain it," Legolas agreed, his tone of voice clearly conveying that he had some reservations about his new found ability.

"I don’t get it," Dawn interjected. "Isn’t being able to heal people a good thing? Why do you all sound so worried about it?"

"No power is solely good," Legolas began.

"And if this one comes from the Hellmouth..." Buffy added.

"It probably isn’t good," Duncan finished.

"Good things don’t come from hell," Dawn said, nodding her understanding.

* * * * * *

Back in the Magic Box, Anya and Methos were still looking through books. "I think I might have found something," Anya said excitedly. "This is a symbol for binding the newly resurrected," she explained, showing Methos an illustration similar to the symbol that was carved into the floor at the high school. "There’s some more written about it, but I can’t read the language."

"Let me see," Methos said, taking the book from the vengeance demon. "It’s in an obscure form of Latin. It’s a warning. It says that once the symbol is drawn, it takes on a consciousness of its own and will act to protect itself. If the symbol is damaged a summons will be sent out to every undead creature in the area and they will be compelled to kill those who damaged the symbol until the dawn of the next day."

"We better warn Buffy," said Anya. "If she sees that, the first thing she’ll do is destroy it."

* * * * * *

Buffy was restlessly pacing the Rosenberg’s living room. She was too tired to fight anymore that night, and she knew it. But, there were still vampires outside, hammering at the doors. Leaving them be went against the grain.

"Buffy, will you please sit down?" Dawn pleaded. "Your pacing is starting to make me dizzy."

"Sorry," Buffy said perching on the arm of the chair Legolas was sitting in. "All those vampires out there have me on edge." Then glancing down at Legolas’s clawed shoulder, she said, "Want me to clean those for you. Vampires aren’t exactly known for cleanliness and there’s no telling where those claws have been. You wouldn’t want that to get infected."

Thinking of her recent kiss, Legolas cast about for an excuse not to remove his sweater in front of Buffy. The elf wasn’t shy or self-conscious about his body, but he didn’t want to encourage yet another girl into throwing herself at him. Noticing Legolas’s hesitation, Duncan decided to help him out. "Why don’t you let me do that, I’ve gotten quite a bit of first aid experience over the years," the Immortal offered.

Seeing her sister’s growing attachment to the wrong immortal, the one who would be leaving in a couple months, Dawn also lent a hand. "Do you think Willow left any clothes here we could borrow? All the vampire dust in mine is making me itch," Dawn asked her sister.

"She might have," Buffy said scratching just inside the neck of her sweater. "The bathroom’s second door on the right; there are wash clothes and towels in the cabinet under the sink and first aid stuff in the medicine chest. Me and Dawn’ll be at the end of the hall scavenging for clean clothes," Buffy told Legolas and Duncan as she lead Dawn out of the room and down the hall to Willow’s old room.

Half an hour later they were all gathered in the living room again. Duncan and Legolas had rinsed what dried blood they could out of their clothes and there was a bandage on Legolas’s shoulder, just visible through the rents in the baggy grey sweater he’d borrowed from Methos. Buffy was attired in a fluffy pink sweater with giraffes on it and a long floral skirt and Dawn was wearing a green jumper with blue patches, ensembles Willow hadn’t touched since her high school days.

Then Buffy’s cell phone rang. "Hello?" she answered it. "Really... All of them?... Are you sure?... Too late, we’re holed up in Willow’s parent’s house waiting for dawn... We’re fine... Okay... See you tomorrow," the rest of the group curiously followed Buffy’s side of the conversation for lack of anything else to do. "That was Anya," Buffy explained. "She just called to warn us not to rip up that symbol because it’d summon every vampire in Sunnydale to come kill us."

"Every vampire in Sunnydale just tried to kill us?!" Dawn squeaked in shock.

"Every vampire that isn’t a master. They’d be strong enough to resist the summons," Buffy replied.

"That’s something at least, the fact that it’s every vampire," Duncan said, looking on the bright side. "I killed forty-six all together, you and Legolas took out at least that many a piece and Dawn probably finished off fifteen or twenty. I’d hate to think there are even more vampires in Sunnydale than the ones we’ve seen tonight."

"You counted?!" Dawn exclaimed, sounding just like her sister did earlier that night.

"It’s a guy thing," Buffy explained in an aside to her sister. "Legolas did too. What was your final total?" she asked him.

"Fifty-one," Legolas answered.

"Okay, so the three of us dusted about fifty apiece," Buffy said moving over to the window and peering out at the vampires still milling about on the front lawn. "Dawn dusted another twenty or so and I’d say there’s about sixty vampires still out there. Wow! I mean, wow!" Buffy exclaimed, impressed with their night’s work. "On a good night I’ve taken on twenty or so and a bunch of them get away. There were more than two hundred vampires attacking the library and most of them are dust."

Dawn joined her sister at the window and said, "So those out there are all the vampires left in Sunnydale?"

"Yep, looks like a lot more people are going to survive the holiday season this year and I won’t even have to do much patrolling. At least not for a few months, until they rebuild," Buffy said happily. "Actually, if I got rid of that last group it might be a few years before vampires come back to Sunnydale," the Slayer speculated.

"Buffy, you’re not going back out there," Dawn ordered.

"You’re exhausted and there’s no good cover out there; you’d be surrounded in an instant," Duncan added, not wanting Buffy to do anything foolish.

"I’m not going anywhere," Buffy grumbled. "It was just a thought." Then, changing the subject, she asked, "Who’s hungry? Mrs. Rosenberg keeps the kitchen fully stocked with non-perishables. Wanna go see if we can find anything edible?"

"I could eat," Dawn agreed.

"Fighting does work up an appetite," Legolas added.

"Let’s see what we can find," said Duncan. The four adjourned to the kitchen. Buffy started going through the cabinets and Dawn looked in the pantry for food that didn’t sound all organic and similar in flavor to cardboard. "It’s nice of your friend’s parents to give you the run of their house like this," Duncan observed as he opened drawers, looking for cooking utensils.

"Well, they didn’t, not exactly," Buffy answered, still poking through a cabinet.

"What do you mean, not exactly?" Duncan asked suspiciously, remembering how the girls didn’t ‘exactly’ steal his sword.

"The Rosenberg’s are in Zurich for the next three months, and they left Willow in charge of the house. Since Willow had to go to England, she gave me the key to house sit for them. But, don’t worry, I’ll put everything back just like it was, before they get back. They’ll never even know we were here," Buffy explained. "Besides, after the whole burning at the stake thing, I figure I’m owed a little snack food."

"I was wondering why you had a key," Dawn said, coming out of the pantry, box in hand. "That’s just so Willow, remembering that someone needed to look after her parent’s house, even with everything that was going on. I found pancake mix. Is there any milk?"

"I think I saw some condensed," Buffy said turning back to the cabinets. "We’ve got milk and syrup. Check the fridge. I think they keep some of that spray butter stuff that lasts forever in there."

"Burning at the stake?" Duncan asked curiously, as he took out a pan and looked for a spatula.

"Long story, there was this demon, people started acting wacky, and me and Willow ended up tied to stakes with our mothers holding torches," Buffy explained. "I don’t really hold it against Mrs. Rosenberg, demon causing it and all, but she could’ve at least said she was sorry or something. She didn’t even give Willow a sorry I tried to kill you shopping trip."

"We’ve got butter," Dawn interrupted, getting the bottle out of the fridge.

"You girls lead very strange lives, you do realize that? Don’t you?" Duncan said shaking his head at the thought of a ‘sorry I tried to kill you shopping trip.’

"Stranger than living forever?" Dawn asked.

Duncan and Legolas exchanged a glance, then Duncan answered for the both of them, "Much stranger."

Duncan mixed up the batter and managed to make some fairly decent pancakes, even with the less than ideal ingredients. Then the four of them passed a strangely pleasant evening as they waited for dawn, eating breakfast food in a someone else’s kitchen and exchanging friendly banter as vampires pounded on the doors and windows wanting to get in to kill them all.

Chapter 10

Early afternoon, the next day...

Buffy--half asleep--was feeling around on the floor next to her bed looking for the ringing cordless phone. Eyes still closed, she located the phone just under the bed skirt. Pushing the talk button, she answered, "Hello," as she tried to suppress a yawn.

"Buffy, I woke you didn’t I? I got the times wrong. I can call back later," Willow said apologetically.

Looking blearily at her alarm clock, Buffy ran a hand through her hair and sat up. "No, you got the time right, I was just up late, slaying. Didn’t get home till after dawn," Buffy said before Willow could hang up. Finally starting to wake up and get her bearings, Buffy asked, "So how’s England? Are you... feeling better?"

"If you mean am I feeling all black-eyed and evil--I’m not. I’m feeling a lot less crazy and tuned into the dark side which is good. But..." Willow trailed off.

"But, Tara’s still gone and it still hurts," Buffy finished sympathetically.

"Yeah... it does," Willow answered, her voice cracking. "It hurts so much."

"I’m so sorry, but it’ll get better," Buffy encouraged.

"I don’t see how it can get worse," Willow agreed weakly. "Sometimes... sometimes I think I deserve to feel this way. That it’s my punishment for what I did," she added in a small, frightened voice.

"No, don’t say that. You don’t deserve to be punished. You know that," Buffy insisted.

"But, I came close to destroying the entire world," Willow protested.

"But, you didn’t. Close doesn’t count," Buffy replied.

"I didn’t just come close with Warren. I killed him. Not just that, I skinned him alive and enjoyed it. Buffy, I tortured a man and had fun doing it," Willow said in self loathing.

"Warren had just killed Tara. You were in pain and not in your right mind. And, it’s not like Warren was innocent," Buffy tried to excuse her friend.

"He was bad, but he didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that," Willow said with conviction.

"Maybe he didn’t deserve it," Buffy agreed, "But, he was definitely asking for it. What you did to Warren was a mistake, I’ll give you that. But, it doesn’t make you a bad person. Will, you’re a good person. You were just pushed too far and made some bad decisions. That’s only human. No one’s perfect."

"That’s what Xander says," Willow admitted, "That I just made a mistake and I need to forgive myself."

"See, if me and Xander both say it, it must be true," Buffy said, a grin apparent in her voice.

"I suppose," Willow agreed with a skeptical little laugh, "I’d feel a lot better about it if Giles said it too, him being wise--have all the answers--guy."

"Giles doesn’t say you should forgive yourself?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"He says forgiveness is up to me and that he can’t tell me how to feel. Then he gives me a lecture about learning balance and control of magic because it’s part of me now and I can’t get rid of it," Willow said, frustrated by Giles’s attitude. "Why can’t he just tell me how I should feel? I’m fragile. I need guidance," she grumbled.

Buffy couldn’t contain a laugh at this, "I think that’s one of those being a grown up things. You know, thinking for yourself and all that other hard stuff."

"I never said I wanted to be a grown up," Willow objected.

"Me neither," Buffy sympathized. "I think we were drafted when we weren’t looking."

"Stupid grown up draft, there should be a law. By the way, before I forget, Xander wanted me to tell you that your Christmas gifts are in the mail. He kind of forgot to mail them until your packages arrived and reminded him, but we are thinking of you and Dawn and Anya."

"So noted. Now I won’t have to take him off my Christmas list. So, speaking of magic," Buffy changed the subject after a brief pause, "You’re learning how to do magic stuff without channeling the dark side of the force?"

"We were speaking of magic?" Willow asked confused.

"Well, you did mention it earlier," Buffy pointed out.

"In that case, yeah, I’m learning lots of stuff about balance, control, and consequences. All the stuff a good witch needs to know to handle magic responsibly. Before, I was always so caught up in how much I could do to really stop and consider if I should do it. Now, I’m learning how it’s all connected and how every choice I make has all sorts of ramifications I have to consider," Willow explained, her excitement over studying magic coming through.

"And this is good. Right?" Buffy asked, not really knowing much about magic.

"It’s great. I’m learning so much and Giles’s friends here are amazing. I finally feel like I’m starting to control my powers instead of letting them control me," Willow gushed. Then with a return of the guilt feelings, she said, "It’s just..."

"Just what?" Buffy asked.

"I feel kind of guilty. It’s like being sent to magic camp for the summer, in no way a punishment. I mean after what I did..." Willow trailed off.

"We’ve covered that already. I thought we were clear. You don’t deserve to be punished," Buffy said emphatically.

"I’ll try to remember that," Willow agreed halfheartedly.

"How’s Xander? What’s he been up to while you’re at magic class?" Buffy changed the subject again.

"He’s been building shelves for Giles. Giles had books in crates and stacked all over the floor when we got here. Now they’re mostly in bookcases. And, the rest of the time he flirts with every pretty girl he can find. I don’t think he’s over Anya yet, but he’s doing his best to pretend like he is," Willow said.

"Anya’s the same way. She misses Xander, but she won’t admit it. It’s good to hear he’s keeping busy and that Giles’s books are getting a place to live. That’s one way for Xander to pay his way, free carpentry. Giles couldn’t be too excited about having not one but two Scoobies living with him. He loves us, but that doesn’t mean he wants us moving in, too much pop-culture and not-tweed."

"When I was starting to feel a little better and I suggested that Xander go back to Sunnydale to help you with the vampires and stuff, Giles said he should stay another week or two. There still wasn’t enough shelf space for his complete work’s of Shakespeare," Willow said with a giggle.

"At least Giles is getting a little slave labor out of this deal. Xander should stay as long as you, or Giles, needs him. We’re good here," said Buffy.

"Are you sure?" Willow asked, "I don’t want to leave you short handed. You said you didn’t get in till dawn, that’s not normal for you. Are you positive you don’t need any help? You’re not just trying to keep me from worrying? I’m not really up to fighting off any apocalypses, but I can do without Xander if you need him."

"No, we’ve got it covered, with a little help from the Powers."

"The Powers? What’d they do?" Willow asked curiously.

"They sent reinforcements. There’s something going on around here, nothing really big," Buffy hastened to reassure, she really didn’t want Willow worrying, "they’re not even trying to open the Hellmouth. An evil cult’s just trying to bring back some big bad I’ve already killed," Buffy explained, seriously downplaying the situation. "Anyway, the Powers, knowing how much I depend on my best friends, sent along some help."

"What kind of help?"

"There are these two guys that are Immortals, with a capital ‘I,’ I’m not really sure what their deal is, but they live a really long time and aren’t demons. One of them, Duncan, seems like a pretty nice guy, he’s also some kind of chosen hero who fought some major demon. The other one, Methos, he’s five thousand years old and really, really irritating, but he does know how to do research, which is helpful. I don’t think there’s a language he doesn’t know.

"Then there’s an elf, Legolas. He’s from another dimension and he’s really, really hot. He’s also amazing with a longbow and said he’d give me lessons. And, Joe Dawson, he’s human, and Duncan’s Watcher, but not like Giles is my Watcher. Unless there’s another one of those deep dark secrets I don’t know about, there are two completely unrelated kinds of Watchers. The ones that watch Slayers and another kind that watch Immortals, because Joe’d never heard of a Slayer. Score two for the unimaginative. You’d think at least one of them would have come up with a better name. Anyway, Joe seems pretty cool. He kind of reminds me of Giles, he got too involved with his ‘subject’ too. I mean Duncan isn’t even suppose to know the Immortal Watchers exist but now they’re friends," Buffy explained in a rush.

"Okay, they sent two not demon Immortals, an elf from another dimension, and another kind of Watcher," Willow said, trying to keep track. "Do you trust these guys?"

"Well, yeah," Buffy said, a little noncommittal. "I mean I wouldn’t hand Dawn to them and tell them all about the Key, but when Whistler comes and gives you a message directly from the Powers to trust these guys, you kind of have to give them the benefit of the doubt. And, when I took Legolas and Duncan on patrol with me and Dawn last night, they were great. I broke this symbol thingy that summoned all the vamps in Sunnydale. The four of us dusted nearly two hundred vampires together. Slaying together creates sort of a bond."

"Nearly two hundred vampires?!" Willow exclaimed in shock. "What were you thinking?"

"Mostly, dodge left, stake right, keep them from getting behind me," Buffy said defensively. "I didn’t know I was summoning vampires when I summoned them. Once they were already there, I was mostly just thinking about staying alive."

"Obviously you survived, unless I’m talking to a ghost," Willow paused a beat and continued, "I’m not talking to a ghost, am I?"

"Nope, not a ghost. I’m alive and well. Besides the trying not to die part it was way cool. We kicked some major vampire ass. And, Legolas and Duncan were great. I’m going to have to get them to show me a few moves before they go. Duncan had this katana and he... well you probably don’t care about that, but I was impressed. Anyway, I got a nasty bruise in the fight, but Legolas with his super elf healing powers healed it right up, good as new. Aside from a few bruises and scratches we’re all fine," Buffy insisted. "There’s absolutely nothing for you to worry about."

"Except?" Willow asked suspiciously.

"Except what?" Buffy asked innocently.

"Buffy, I distinctly heard an ‘except’ tacked on to that last sentence. What aren’t you telling me?" Willow pressed.

"I think I’m hearing resolve face," Buffy stalled. "Are you giving the phone resolve face?"

"You betcha missy," Willow agreed, "Now stop stalling and tell me what happened."

"Well, me and Dawn and our new friends are all fine, but we had to hide in your parent’s house, to wait for dawn, and I don’t think your mother’s garden is ever going to be the same," Buffy admitted.

"How not the same is it ever going to be?" Willow asked with a groan.

Buffy winced and said, "Sixty or seventy vampires milling around on the lawn can cause a lot of damage. All the bushes were flattened. And, I think you might need new... what do you call it? Those chunks of grass carpet sort of stuff."

Willow sighed in resignation and said, "Don’t worry about it. I’m sure I can think of some explanation that makes it not my fault before my parents come home. The important thing is that you’re okay. Besides, we’re talking about Sunnydale, they have to be use to weird stuff happening by now."

"Thanks Will, for understanding. If it were spring I’d just pick up some bushes and stuff at Wal-mart and replant, but since it’s December..."

"What are a few begonias in the scheme of things?" Willow shrugged aside the issue. "Now tell me about this really hot elf with a bow. He doesn’t look like one of Santa’s little helpers does he? I don’t have anything against short, but that would be kind of weird."

"Actually he’s really tall with long blond hair I’m itching to run my fingers through and he has the most beautiful eyes. Sometimes they look blue or grey and other times they’re really dark, almost black. I’ve heard of people’s eyes changing color with their mood before, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. And, all that archery has been doing wonderful things. Nicely built is an understatement. Perfect is more like it," Buffy drooled over the elf.

"Sounds yummy," Willow encouraged.

"Very, very yummy," Buffy agreed.

"So, have there been any sparks?"

"No, absolutely no sparkage," Buffy grumbled. "We hit if off right from the start in a friendshippy kind of way, but I don’t think he believes in interspecies dating. Anya threw herself at him and he couldn’t run fast enough. At least, having sworn off men, I saved myself that embarrassment."

"Just because you’ve had a couple bad relationships is no reason to give up. Maybe, you could convince him to give interspecies dating a try," Willow suggested wanting her best friend to be happy.

"I don’t think that’s such a good idea," Buffy nixed the plan. "Besides, I think he’s planning to go back to his own dimension soon anyway."

"Long distance relationships rarely work, interdimensional must be nearly impossible," Willow agreed. "But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to find someone else."

"Why is everyone so concerned with my love life? Legolas told me nearly the same thing last night and I think Dawn is trying to set me up with Duncan," Buffy complained, exasperated with everyone putting their two cents in on her love life.

"Duncan? What’s he like?" Willow asked, intrigued by Dawn’s endorsement.

"Uhh, I don’t really know," Buffy said. "I mean, I haven’t talked to him much. He seems like a good guy. He’s good in a fight and he volunteered to help with the bad guys even though we kind of swiped his sword. And, he is good looking. If I didn’t have Legolas for comparison, I’d probably be drooling. He’s pretty much the stereotype of tall, dark, and handsome. And, he’s good with Dawn, treats her like a little sister, but doesn’t baby her and get on her nerves."

"And this doesn’t sound like a good dating candidate?" Willow asked facetiously.

"I didn’t say that," Buffy protested. "I just don’t want to date anyone right now. Besides, I think he’s kind of old for me."

"Old for you? How old is that?" Willow asked incredulously.

"I think Whistler said about four hundred. I know, I know Angel and Spike aren’t exactly teenagers, but they don’t act centuries old. Duncan, he doesn’t act like he’s ancient or anything, but he’s a grown up. Other than a fondness for sharp objects and occasionally saving the world, I don’t think we have a lot in common," Buffy explained.

"Well, common interests are important," Willow conceded, then she paused for a moment in thought. "So you have more in common with the elf?"

"No, but I’m dazzled by his beauty. He could be dumb as rocks and I’d still be interested. Some things don’t have much to do with shared interests," Buffy said wickedly.

"You’re bad," Willow accused. "Treating that poor elf like he was nothing more than a sex object."

"That’s Anya. I’m interested in him for his archery too, it’s not just about sex."

"I’d have something to say about that, but Giles and Xander just came in the room. I don’t think they want to hear. Wanna talk to Xander?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, put him on," Buffy agreed.

"Hey, Buffster, what’s up in Sunnydale?" Xander said.

"Same as usual, except for a few visitors who’ve come to help. Willow can fill you in later, no sense running up the phone bill to go over the same stuff twice," Buffy said.

"But everything’s okay?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, fine. How are things there? Willow was sounding more like Willow. Is she getting better?" Buffy asked, knowing Xander would give her the details.

Xander checked to make sure Willow’d left the room then answered, "Yeah, she’s getting there. She has her bad days and there’s still a lot of guilt, but she’s getting back to normal. No more evil, scary, Willow."

"That’s good to hear. Any idea when you two will be coming back?"

"I’ve got a job all lined up, we’re breaking ground just after New Years, so I’ll be back for that. Willow’s probably going to stay a little longer, study some more with the coven, but I know she’s signed up for the spring term at school so she can’t stay too much longer."

"I can’t see Will missing more than a week or two of school," Buffy agreed. "So you two will be back next month? Do you think Will’s ready?"

"Yeah, she’s strong. She’s real nervous about coming back, but she’ll be okay," Xander said confidently.

"That’s good. I can’t wait to see you guys. Dawn misses you too. Actually, she’s probably going to be pissed that she missed talking to you two."

"Where’s Dawn off to? Janice’s?"

"Actually, she’s here, asleep, but I’m not waking her up. She kicks," Buffy explained.

"The brave Slayer is afraid of waking up her grumpy little sister?" Xander asked with a laugh.

"Darn tootin’ I am," Buffy agreed. "I’m only willing to chance her wrath for really important stuff, like school. She can talk to you next time."

"We should probably stop using up Willow’s calling card. You and Dawn take care and I’ll see you next week," said Xander.

"You take care too, Xander. And, tell Giles I said hi and that I’m expecting a really big gift."

"Will do. Have a good Christmas Buff."

"Merry Christmas to you too," Buffy said, then she turned off the phone, returned it to the cradle on her bed side table which she’d knocked it out of, fumbling for the phone mostly asleep. Then Buffy stretched and headed for the showers.

* * * * * *

At the hotel in one corner of a mostly vacant restaurant, Duncan was filling Joe in on the events of last night, over lunch. After Duncan finished the tale, Joe gave a low whistle, and said, "Sounds like it was a good thing you were there. Those girls probably wouldn’t have survived without help."

"I don’t know, they might have come up with something. They’re both very resourceful. But, I’m happy I could help. They’re just kids, they shouldn’t have to face hordes of soulless demons on their own, even if they are use to it," Duncan replied.

"Used to hordes of soulless demons, that’s a new one on me," Joe said shaking his head in bemusement. "How can anyone get used to that?"

"I don’t know, and I don’t think I want to know," Duncan replied. "I can’t even imagine what Buffy and Dawn have been through the past few years. Whatever it was, it must have been bad. Buffy knew what was coming, she thought she was going to die saving her sister, I could see it in her eyes, but she didn’t even flinch. Most of the career soldiers I’ve known aren’t that steady in the face of death."

"You said she underestimated the numbers by half," Joe pointed out. "Maybe she didn’t realize how bad it was going to be."

"No, I think she knew and was just underestimating to keep the rest of us from panicking. Buffy’s not much of a liar, I didn’t have time to call her on it then, but I knew she was holding something back. The fact that all of us came out relatively unscathed is nothing short of a miracle. If any one of us was a little less able in a fight they would have gotten into the room, surrounded us, and we’d all be dead."

"I guess this means I should start scouting around for locations," said Joe.

"Locations?" Duncan asked.

"For my new club. I don’t suppose you’re going to leave Buffy and Dawn to fend for themselves, and I need something to do between chronicle entries," Joe said with a shrug. "Besides, there doesn’t seem to be a decent bar anywhere in this town. It looks like I’m needed."

"Don’t start packing just yet," Duncan said with a grin. "We’ve only been here three days. I haven’t made up my mind about moving here yet."

Changing the subject, Joe asked, "You said Dawn was going to be Immortal one day? You still sure of that?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking about what Whistler said about Dawn possibly destroying everything if she fell into the wrong hands. Do you think she could be The One, the one who’ll win?" Joe asked.

"I don’t think that’s it," Duncan said, brow wrinkled in thought. "Dawn’s smart and fast, and I can tell she’ll be hard to beat once she’s had some training. If she can avoid the toughest of the head hunters till she’s gained some experience, she’ll have at least a chance at The Prize. But, if the Game’s rigged and the winner’s already determined what’s the point? Whatever this is, it doesn’t sound like the Prize either. Someone being able to use you to end the world isn’t something you’d fight for."

"What do you think it means then? What’s so special about Dawn?" Joe asked curiously.

"I don’t know," Duncan said, "I think it might have something to do with her sister."

"But, since Buffy’s not really her sister, not blood sisters..." Joe trailed off.

"I know Immortals don’t have families, as a rule, but I think Buffy and Dawn may actually be sisters. I over heard a conversation about Dawn being like their mother and I got the impression that they were talking about inherited traits, as if they really are blood relatives. It could just be that they don’t know Dawn’s adopted, and that’s probably it, but... there’s something more there that I just can’t put my finger on. Could Buffy being the Slayer have something to do with it? She has super powers. Her being related to an Immortal isn’t that far of a stretch, all things considered."

"I don’t know. I read through some of the stuff Methos dug up on Slayers last night, but there was no mention of Immortals. Maybe Methos knows more?" Joe suggested shrugging. Then after a short pause to really consider the possibilities, he continued, "An Immortal with family," he said intrigued. "That’s never been seen before. I’ll get my sources digging for information. See if they can turn up an adoption record or a birth certificate for Dawn."

"I don’t really feel right about digging into their background without their permission," Duncan protested. "It seems like an invasion of privacy. They’re not the bad guys here."

"I’m not going to ask for their school records or any personal details, only information that’s part of public record. I’d ask them myself, except that’d make them wonder why I wanted to know," Joe argued.

"You’re just going to limit it to checking for a birth certificate. No looking into Dawn’s personal life. And, no checking on her sister," Duncan ordered.

"No looking into Dawn or Buffy’s personal lives," Joe agreed. "Besides, they’re just kids. How much personal life could they have to check up on?" he asked rhetorically.

Continue

Return To Fiction By Title