Graile
Chapter Three – Mr. Covington goes to Sunnydale
By: MacBeth – Connor_MacBeth@yahoo.com
Rating: PG
Disclaimers: The Usual. My people are mine, Joss’ are Joss’. This entire series has tones of a Sapphic variety; if this offends you, then how in the name of Takhisis did you find this fic?
Timeline: Set after "I Robot, You Jane".
Author’s Note: The computer is purely wishful thinking, Cooper’s quote was unavoidable.

* * *  

Library of Sunnydale High School Sunnydale, California

Willow Rosenberg considered herself relatively normal. Disregarding the fact that she almost became a vampire, helped defeat a Demon infected android, hangs out with the school librarian, (who just happens to be a member of an ancient society who trains warriors to fight the forces of darkness,) she also has had a crush on her best friend in the entire world... until recently. That is to say until Buffy Summers transferred to Sunnydale High.

Willow shifted in her seat as she watched Buffy train with her Watcher, Giles. Willow knew that Buffy was special, even without being a Slayer she was special. Buffy had taken the time to get to know Willow and her best friend Xander, even at the cost of earning the wrath of Cordelia "Queen C" Chase. "Willow...?" She shook her head and turned to her friend Xander.

"Huh? I, I was thinking about, uh, Biology. All those frogs we get to cut up this year." Xander nodded absently, taking up Willow's hobby of Buffy ogling.

Buffy rolled away from Giles' padded spear and shot her left foot up in a snap kick to his abdomen thereby ending the training sequence. Giles looked up from the floor at the smirking blonde and promptly swept her feet out form under her. Giles got to his feet and offered a hand to Buffy. "Always consider an opponent dangerous until they are completely dead." Giles pulled Buffy to her feet and they both walked to the other's table, picking up towels to wipe away the sweat from their exercises. Willow suddenly found herself mesmerized by a single bead of sweat trickling down Buffy's temple, along her neck and into the cleavage peeking from the top of her sports bra.

Buffy turned to Willow and grinned. "Hey Wills, what's up?"

"Uh, nothing, we just came in to pass the time. Patrol tonight?" Willow asked, looking for all the world like an excited puppy.

"There will be patrolling, yes. Me, alone; you have more important things to do than to wander around vampire infested graveyards at night, like sleep." Buffy said turning a blind eye to Willow's pouting lip. "Giles? How about some crossbow practice, Please?" Buffy begged.

"Alright, I believe you've earned it." The now depadded Watcher stated as he headed to the weapon locker. "Try to hit a star pattern at twelve, three, five, seven, and nine o'clock." He said, handing her the crossbow. Moving out of the Slayer’s way, he moved to where Xander and Willow were leaning against the counter as Buffy sighted the target set on the far end of the main reading table.

Willow stage whispered to Xander, "Ten bucks says she misses every shot."

Xander grinned. "You’re on."

"I heard that." Buffy turned on them with a mock glare.

Willow ducked her shoulders and settled down in her chair to cheer good shots and ogle Buffy's tensed arm and shoulder muscles. * * *

As silent as a wraith, a jet-black convertible pulled into Sunnydale High's parking lot. Turning smoothly, the nearly three-decade-old vehicle slid smoothly into the spot in front of the school’s courtyard. The driver's door opened, and a handsome, muscular, young man stepped from the vehicle. Turning his head, he plucked a cigarette from his lips and dropped it to the ground, extinguishing it with the toe of his black leather Prada shoes. Absently, he adjusted the gold and emerald ring on his finger and looked around at the campus.

Cordelia Chase was in love, "He's perfect." She thought. "Tall, handsome, ripped, obviously wealthy, has a car, God please tell me he's transferring in..." she mentally prayed as she sauntered over to the newcomer. She quickly adopted her "Social Goddess" facade.

"Hi, if you're a new student, I can show you to the office." Cordelia stated in her most hinting tone. She stepped a little closer. "I know just about everyone here."

"Actually, I'm not a student," came the Irish accented reply. "I'm looking for an old friend of mine. Maybe you could help me?" he asked, giving her a very charming half grin. Shouldering his knapsack, he beckoned for her to lead. Taking a split second to drag his eyes over Cordy’s softly curving bottom.

"I'd love to help you with anything. I'm Cordelia Chase," she said, offering her hand.

He took the hand with gentle grace. "Jack Covington, and I'm trying to find Elizabeth Summers. Though she probably goes by Buffy". He said with his half grin, seemingly oblivious to Cordelia's now forced smiles.

"Buffy...? Sure, I know where she is. She's in the library," she said, abruptly pulling her hand to her side. Cordelia nodded in the Library’s general direction, then turned and walked away. "Damn her! Why does she get all the hot ones?" she grumbled to herself as she headed to her locker.

Jack just grinned at the retreating angered brunette and headed directly for the library. "That was almost too easy."

Peeking through the door window, Jack spied Buffy clutching a crossbow and loading a bolt into place. Turning his head, he saw the backs of Xander and Willow. His eyes lingered on Willow's profile briefly before he covertly peeked into the room, ignoring the "Closed for Reshelving" signpost in front of the doors.

Buffy turned her head from the sight in sudden distraction. For some reason, she felt better than she had in a long time. An overwhelming sense of the warm fuzzies, comfort she hadn't felt since... Hemry.

Feigning a neck roll, she looked behind her towards the library entrance as he Watcher moved to the counter. Buffy locked eyes with Jack and winked; amused that none of her friends noticed the sharply dressed young man who was standing behind the door. Turning and refocusing her aim, she fired, reloaded, and fired again. Every shot she fired was perfectly placed on the man shaped target. Follow Giles' directive, the target soon had a star pattern dead center on the torso, with one final bolt placed exactly where the vampire's heart would be.

She handed the Crossbow to Giles and spoke out loud, crossing her arms over her chest.. "So Jack, are you going to come in or are you going to peek at my friends all day?"

Her friends turned around in shocked confusion as the sharply dressed young man entered the library. Willow's glance shot between Buffy and Jack. Something about him felt off to the young hacker, a sense of unease settled over Willow. Shaking her head from these bizarre thoughts, she turned to Xander for his thoughts and was taken back by the look of jealousy she saw there.

"Jack. God it’s good to see you! What brings you to Sunnydale?" Buffy asked, before wrapping him in a tight hug. "Not that I’m completely against it." The old connecting feeling came back in full force and she lingered in the hug. Jack welcomed the hug and squeezed slightly. In her ear he whispered, "It’s been a long time Elizabeth. You look well." Willow suppressed an incredible rush of jealousy and settled for analyzing every detail of the newcomer. "His clothing is perfect, he’s very handsome, muscular, and Buffy seems to trust him completely." she thought to herself, "I hate him already."

Releasing her to arms length, Jack eyed her closely. "You've actually gotten taller. I guess I owe Pike twenty." He said with a grin. Turning, he noticed the others' blank stares. "I think introductions are in order or they’ll think you’ve gotten a new boyfriend." He said with a wry grin.

"Right. Jack, Meet Willow "Hackmistress" Rosenberg, Xander "X-Man" Harris, and my Watcher, Rupert "Tweedy" Giles." She said gesturing to each. "Guys, this is Jack "Mystery Man" Covington." Seeing Giles’ frown at this breach of security, she and Jack shared a grin. "He's an old friend from Hemry, he helped Merrick and I."

Jack turned and shook hands with each. "B’s told me about each of you. She drops me a line every season." Setting his knapsack on the table, he hopped up next to it and crossed his arms. "So.... Any big bad evils I can help you get rid of?"

Buffy smacked him on the upper arm. "Where were you when Moloch was moonwalking around in a robocop rip off?"

Willow winced internally at the mention of her latest cock up and watched the camaraderie with barely contained jealousy. "Yet another thing I can never have. He knows things about her I could never even ask about." Her thoughts turned dark. "I wonder how Angel’s going to react to their intimacy?"

Xander’s jealousy was not as well concealed. "There’s gotta be something wrong with him, he can’t be perfect." he thought, "Man, Angel’s gonna kick his ass." Xander grinned darkly.

Giles, meanwhile, was fascinated with Jack’s knapsack. It looked exactly like his grandfather’s British Air Force Pack. "My father would riot over that pack, even the patches are exactly the same... Wait, that can’t possibly be right." he thought, resolving to make a few phone calls.

"When was this?" Jack said with raised eyebrows.

"Last week."

"Oh... well, I just got back to the states. Aki and I were in the catacombs of Notre Dame, We were commissioned by the Vatican to investigate rumors of a Necromancer reanimating heretics." Jack said opening the knapsack and pulling out two books and handing them to Giles. "Speaking of which, here. Buffy heard you say you needed these. Call them spoils of war."

Giles took the tomes and checked the spines. "Van Loften’s Arcane Compendium and The Shadowstone Tome. These are very, very rare, thank you, thank you very much. These will be extremely useful." Giles rambled off, while trying to simultaneously pore over both tomes.

Jack turned to Xander, "Here," he pulled a sheathed kukri and a black leather vest out and tossed them to him. "Buffy said you are pretty hard to shop for." Xander grinned and slipped the vest on over his blue palm leaf Hawaiian shirt. Jack winced. "You might want to wear that over something else."

Xander looked at the kukri and looked to Jack. "It’s not everyday someone gives me weapons."

"I think Giles can hold onto that until after school." Jack nodded to the oblivious Brit.

Willow coughed none too subtly. Jack rolled his eyes and pulled out a slim laptop. His grin widened as her eyes bugged out and her hands started to shake. Jack handed it to her and stifled laughter as she took it reverently. "It’s a customized job. That’s a Triton 5800 with 10ghrz, a Pen five chip, 184 GB Hard Drive, Multi Disc RW drive, three external pen vaults with 10 GB of memory each, needless to say, it’s a prototype. Use with caution, there’s no Tech support for it." He slowly backed away from the almost vibrating Willow. "Breathe Willow, breathe." he said and slowly backed away.

Buffy grabbed his arm in a vise and pulled him none too gently away from her severely distracted friends "Why exactly are you buying off my friends?"

"What? This way, they won’t see me as a mystery man from your past so much as a mystery man who brought them cool toys. And I didn’t hear you complaining over the bracer." He said with a disarming grin.

"Oh, right. And this had absolutely nothing to do with your insecurity over meeting my friends." She said raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing whatsoever." Came his even reply.

"Right." * * *

Buffy held Angel close, kissing him passionately. The muscles of his back rippled under her hand as he pulled her closer. A sense of shame flooded the Slayer; she broke the embrace and rested her forehead against his. "God, this is driving me crazy." she moaned as fingertips slipped slowly up her waist and under her shirt to trace the underside of her breast. Buffy froze as she felt the heat of smaller fingertips. She looked up into eyes the color of emeralds framed by deep red hair. A smile crept into those eyes and they fluttered closed before soft lips met hers. Buffy clamped her own eyes shut and reveled in the feelings.

Buffy awoke with deep shuddering breaths. "This is getting ridiculous." Buffy sat up and heard a tapping at her window. Throwing back her covers, Buffy rubbed her eyes and pulled the top of her pirate happy face pajamas on. Shambling over to her window, she lifted it open and grinned as Angel leaned in over the sill. "Hi. Did I wake you?" he asked softly.

"Would you feel guilty if I said yes?" She smiled and kissed him gently.

"Only a little." he replied after the kiss.

"Then yeah, you did... Meanie." She smirked and pulled him close for another kiss, "But I forgive you." Throughout the kissing session that night, Buffy kept flashing back to her dream, and guiltily wished that it were Willow in her arms. * * *

Jack stepped out from behind the tree in front of Buffy’s house, having watched Angel leap to her windowsill. He grinned and walked to his car, lighting a cigarette in mid stride. Jack put the hood down and felt in the mood to cruise beneath the moonlight. A thought crossed his mind and he laughed. "Cadillac indeed." he turned the radio to a classic rock station and Pink Floyd’s "Comfortably Numb" playing off the speakers. Jack grinned and headed outwards on a random direction. * * *

The Sun’s dying rays caressed slowly moving skin as it sank into the Caribbean horizon. Green eyes sparkled and sweet lips curled as she inhaled and exhaled in near sync with the body in her arms. A slight tropical breeze blew across her arms, cooling the sweat produced by a very recent bout of passionate lovemaking. Looking down, Willow smiled in love as she gently brushed a wisp of blonde hair back behind a cutely curved ear from its soft tickling of a closed eye. The eye opened, revealing a ring of deep blue. The eye locked onto her own and a little lower, lips curled slightly in a pleased grin.

Willow leaned down and kisses the temple adjacent to the crystal clear eye. Puling back, the blonde in her arms shifted slightly, pulling the normally shy redhead down for a tender loving kiss. "I love you Mrs. Summers," the blonde whispered, her hand gliding down goosebumped skin to nudge the sparkling diamond ring on Willow’s left hand.

Green eyes welled with tears as she smiled. "I love you too Mrs. Rosenberg." she whispered before leaning down for a kiss of a different flavor. A passionate, soul-scorching kiss meant to instill a feeling of eternity.

Willow reluctantly released the lips that felt nearly painfully perfect. "When do I have to go?" she asked with a pout, dragging her fingers over soft skin.

"Soon I think, love. But remember, no matter what happens out there, I love you." Buffy said. Then all conscious thought became impossible as hands began roaming across nude skin in an ancient dance as the sky changed inevitably from orange and red to deep indigo and violet. Willow tossed and turned on her bed, Her brow was beaded with sweat as she sat up, panting. A devilish grin crept across her features. She lay there, her skin covered in a light sheen of sweat. Turning her head to the left, she picked up her new laptop with shaky hands and booted it up. A wave of giddy excitement coursed through her at how fast it ran through its start up program. Hitting the web browser on the Keyboard, she logged into her E-mail address. "Ooh. I’ve got Mail." she opened the letter and grinned at the sender. She opened the letter and began to read.

Hey,

Vasha Here. I clicked on and thought I’d send you a line. I did some digging, that Moloch Demon is one tough hombre’. Be Careful. He’s known as "The Corruptor". Just from the name alone you should keep an eye on any and all virgins. I’m guessing that would include your friend X.

Oh, thanks for that website you sent me; it had a software decryption program that helped a great deal. And speaking of secrets best revealed... Have you told her yet? The longer you put it off the more likely this Angel bloke will bring her even closer, and you’ll lose any chance you may have with her.

Give me a yell when you can. Vasha_NYC

Willow grinned and clicked on the compose option.



Hi,

Red here. Read your note. Thanks for the info on Moloch... it’s about a day late. It’s not your fault. He was scanned into the computer and had servants build a robotic body. Otherwise it was just another Tuesday night in Sunnydale. (I believe you’re right about X)

A friend of B’s arrived today; I’ve got an odd feeling about him. Like not everything’s completely kosher with him. He just feels off to me. Know what I mean? Maybe I’m just imagining it. Or maybe I’m just jealous. I mean c’mon, He shows up and she just brightens up. GRRR.... :(

Sad, depressing thoughts aside, Happy to hear about the mystery program. I should warn you, don’t call for tech support with it on your HD. It doesn’t look right and they’ll report you.

Write me. Red_One * * * Manhattan, New York

Aki leaned back from her laptop and smiled. "Odd Feeling... That’s our boy." Turning her head slightly, she yelled across the living room in the kitchen’s direction "Jack’s in the Dale!"

Pike walked out of the kitchen and tossed his apron back over his shoulder into the face of the tall black man standing over a cutting board. "Here." he said casually, coming over to read over Aki’s shoulder.

"Thank you..." Lucius answered sarcastically before turning back to the prosciutto and rye he was slicing for lunch. Leaning against the stainless steel refrigerator, a tall raven tressed woman smirked in amusement. Lucius turned to the woman in annoyance. "Don’t you start, Elvira. I can reach a wooden cooking spoon very quickly." he said a mock warning tone.

Deanna Covington snorted and shifted into her vampiric visage. "Oh I’m shaking..." she mock-trembled. Opening the cooler, she pulled out a donor bag of O+ and bit in, drinking deeply. Lucius Carter watched in morbid fascination for a brief moment before turning away.

"Don’t do that in here! It’s disgusting..." the Tall black man shuddered and resumed constructing sandwiches as Deanna Intentionally bumped against him on her way to the library. "Oops... sorry."

"Twit." came his reply before piling the sandwiches onto a platter and grabbing a pitcher of lemonade.

Aki frowned in annoyance as Pike leaned over her shoulder to read Willow’s E-mail. "Ok... I still have absolutely no idea what Jack’s plan is."

Aki rolled her eyes and shooed him away from her computer. "Jack’s had this plan for a LONG time. He’s been planning this, fishboy. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll let us know what we’re to do when we’re supposed to know. We each owe him that. I owe him more," she said, feeling very, very old.

Pike set a hand on her shoulder. "You’re in love with him," he stated with a sympathetic grin.

Aki turned to look at him like she was addressing a newly discovered idiot. "That’s not exactly a big secret Pike."

Pike rolled his eyes. "He DOES know, right? I mean, you have told him, correct?" he asked, as Deanna slid up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist and nuzzled his neck.

Aki smacked him on the stomach below the joined hands. "I said it wasn’t that big of a secret."

"What he did to keep you around is what I’d like to know," he said with a devilish grin.

"That, Pike, is not for me to tell." Aki said, in a voice that sent a chill down his spine.

"Sandwiches?" Lucius asked, holding out the platter of prosciutto and rye sandwiches, intentionally interrupting a potentially disturbing conversation.

"Uh Lucius? You’re not a House Boy, you know." Pike said as he bit into the sandwich * * *

The Master reclined on his throne and looked down at the Anointed one who sat perched above the Hellmouth entrance. "Tell me Anointed. How long until your power is restored?"

The young boy turned normally chilling eyes to his master and grinned. "Soon, my master. Soon."

A voice sounded from the shadows to the Master’s right. "You had better wait on that while I am here, Hienrich."

The Master nearly fell from his seat in surprise. "Who are you to enter my Lair uninvited!" he demanded, reclaiming his dignity from the hidden speaker.

As the intruder stepped into the candlelight provided by the multitude of lit candelabra, the Master felt something he hadn’t felt in over four centuries. Pure terror. "You... You’re dead..." the Stranger turned his mantled head at a sudden movement all around him as the Master’s servants closed off all the exits.

"If you value your servants, call them off. Now." he said, almost bored.

The Master nodded and his vampire minions fled the chamber. The anointed One’s eyes narrowed and he stood before the older vampire. "Who is he Master? That he frightens you so?"

"His name is Graile, he’s an Elder," the Master said, with a hint of reverence and fear. "What brings you to Sunnydale?" He asked, turning his attention back to Graile.

"That is my business. However, There is a Hunter here, a friend of the Slayer’s, and he’s Mine. Steer clear of him, the Slayer, and her people until I return here." He commanded, pointing a jet black finger tipped with a needle sharp talon at the Master. "Disobey me, Youngling; and I will make your torment legendary in even the deepest pits of Cartoth." he stated before turning and walking back into the shadows.

A few minutes passed in silence until the Master and his Chosen were certain the Elder Vampire had left. The vampire turned to the little boy before him, "I honestly thought he was dead." He sighed heavily, "I guess my plans will have to wait. * * * Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England. January 1st, 1887, 12:01 am



A verdant spark erupted from the center of the ancient stone circle. It expanded slowly to form a green column of fire, a five hundred foot pillar that could be seen for miles in the twilight. A bright flash burst from the fire and a battered duffle flew from the inferno and tumbled to the ground. Another flash and a rapier flew out to land point first in a plinth; a third flash, and a black leather sword belt and scabbard tumbled down beside the duffle. The column flared one final time as a human shape took form and tumbled to the ground.

Turning his head to the fire, he watched through blurry eyes as the column dwindled to the light of a match head ember, then vanish completely. Rolling over, the young man stared up at the stars in shock. Eventually, he stood, gazed up into the stars, and brushed the dirt from his white silk shirt, scorched black leather duster, and black suede vest. He then leaned down to pick up the battered leather duffle bag, and looked back once more to watch a tiny wisp of smoke fade in the night breeze. Buckling on the silver chased scabbard, he gripped the bone-handled rapier and pulled the slim blade from the standing stone. The blade made a hissing sound as it slid into the black leather scabbard

Clutching the dufflebag, the devastated man stepped through the upright stones and leaned against one, a tear glinting darkly on his cheek in the moonlight. He looked back over his shoulders at the scorch mark on the ground, as eventually, pain and despair were usurped by a fiery rage burning in his eyes that made the column pale in comparison. The Moon rose another quarter before he turned sharply towards the nearby town, eyes hard as the sapphire they were often compared to. Using the stars to gain his bearings, he headed for the nearest town, looking for evil to kill and a bottle to crawl into. * * * Manhattan, 1996 3:19 a.m.

The shadow atop Newlander's nightclub watched an outlandishly dressed young man as he sauntered across the street towards an alleyway. He watched as the man held a conversation with a street bum, and stood unmoving as they walked towards a hot dog vendor. "So it begins..." he whispered to the wind before he dropped silently down to follow them, grinning a half grin. "This is gonna be good..." * * * Sunnydale, California 9:35 p.m.

Buffy and Jack walked along a moonlit Revello Drive in a companionable silence. Buffy finally couldn’t help herself. "So what really brings you here from "The City"?" she asked mimicking parenthesis with her hands.

Jack smiled. "There’s a steel sarcophagus entombed in a Mausoleum in one of the cemeteries. I’m here to find it, bring it back to New York, and have the remains within sanctified," he said with nearly tangible sincerity.

Buffy shook her head softly. "So you came here to find a large heavy metal object and carry it back to New York in your convertible? Try again."

"I wanted to see this hot little redhead you wrote me about? Any, by the way, It’s an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme." he said, nudging her with his elbow.

"Cute. But no." she said holding up two fingers. "Strike two."

Jack sighed as they reached Buffy’s porch. "Alright. I’m hunting a vampire. A specific vampire whom I have reason to believe is here in Sunnydale, and there is no way in Hell that you’re going to help." he stated and leaned against the porch railing.

Buffy stepped right up to Jack and looked him dead in the eye. "You helped me with Ord. You’ve served as my sounding board and helped with some of my serious inner battles." she grabbed the lapels of his black silk shirt and pulled him down close. "I owe you. So what makes you think you can stop me from helping?" She finished, daring him to argue.

The front door opened suddenly and Joyce immediately glared at her daughter. Buffy practically jumped back from Jack. "Most teenagers usually make out in private and out of sight of their parents. Not on the front porch in full view of neighbors." Joyce stated before moving out of the doorway and gesturing them both in. "Please come in young man, so I can embarrass my daughter even more. Mr....?"

Jack smiled his half grin. "Jack. Jack Covington. I’m an old friend of Buffy’s from Hemry. I was in town to pick up an antique for my store in New York City. So I figured I would stop and rehash old times."

Buffy mouthed the word "rehash" questioningly which Jack ignored. Joyce perked up slightly. "Your store? You work in an antique store?" she moved the two into the living room and sat in a chair as Jack settled on the couch opposite the young Slayer.

"No, I own it. It’s called Time and Again. I travel everywhere searching for antiques and relics to stock my shelves. I caught wind of a painting by Moshain and I heard a gallery here possessed it." he answered her casually.

Buffy yawned obnoxiously, dropped onto the couch and stretched. Joyce’s eyes bugged slightly. "My gallery has that painting. I spoke on the phone with someone over it. A very polite man, he said his name was Lucas?"

Buffy’s eyebrows narrowed with a sudden thought then shook her head in dismissal. She looked up into Jack’s eyes as he subtly nodded. "That was Lucius. He’s in charge of the paper work. I just find the goodies and bring them back." Buffy gave him the "We need to talk" look and headed to the kitchen for a coke.

Over the next two hours, Joyce gave Jack a tour of their house, with a scathing narration by Buffy during the first half until her Mother glared and banished her to the kitchen. Jack gave Joyce a great deal of information on many pieces of her antique collection. Eventually, they slipped back into the living room after flipping through Joyce’s record collection to find Buffy in a very deep sleep on the sofa. "I guess we left her alone too long." Joyce whispered to the charming young man. "Come on. We can talk in the kitchen." they moved quietly into the kitchen and Joyce prepped a pot of tea on the stove. Jack leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "How long have you and Buffy been dating?" she asked completely calmly.

Jack snapped his head to the left to look at Joyce in bewilderment. "I assure you Mrs. Summers. Buffy and I are NOT intimate. If we were I would have stated so earlier this evening." he said with a sincere smile. "I’m just someone B trusts." they drank their tea in companionable silence.

Joyce accepted his answer with a nod after a moment of thought. "I’m sorry. I’m a parent, I’m supposed to be overprotective." She looked up at the clock on the wall. "It’s just that it’s a little uncommon for someone your age to be hanging out with a fifteen year old."

Jack nodded. "She’s the same age as a friend of mine in New York. I practically raised her so I feel protective of children uh, teens."

Joyce grinned and sipped her coffee. "I must confess that knowing that someone is keeping an eye on Buffy is a little comforting given her past troubles." She finished her coffee and glanced at the clock on the wall "Is it that late already? I’m sorry if I’ve kept you here later than you expected Jack."

Jack grinned and set his tea mug in the sin after washing it out. "On the contrary. I enjoyed tonight. Buffy never told me about your collection. It’s rather...esoteric. I don’t have half of your Clapton records." Joyce blushed slightly.

"Thank you. Um, do you have a place to stay in town?" Joyce asked as they made their way back to the front door.

"I’m staying at something that vaguely resembles a motel by the interstate. It’s... habitable. Barely." he said with a shrug. "I’ve lived in a lot worse for a lot longer."

Joyce started shaking her head halfway through his answer. "I know the place. You’re going to go back, get your things, and camp out here. The couch is comfier and don’t bother arguing. I’m a Mom."

Jack slumped his shoulders in defeat. "There’s no arguing with a protective Mother."

"Words to live by." Joyce grinned. * * *

Willow sat cross-legged on the floor with her back against her bedroom door, a framed picture resting on her knees. Her eyes were red from hours of crying, her life had gone from comfortable anonymity, to dangerous chaos. In such a short time Buffy had changed her life. Opening her eyes to the real world, the defining characteristics of life, and a deep fact about herself. She’s in love.

"God?" she asked in a moment of emotional delirium. "Why her?" she dropped her head and wiped tears from her cheeks. "What happened to Xander? I wanted to be with him! Why do I NEED Buffy? The one person I can’t have. She has Angel." She spoke his name with a powerful acid in her tone. "God Willow get a hold of yourself," she moaned to herself. Dropping her head, her long red hair fell over her eyes obscuring her view. Unnoticed, a book slid from her bookshelf, floated smoothly across the room, and settled gently atop her desk. More objects began to float as the red head’s emotions raged out of control.

The sheer despair of her situation hit her in crystal clarity. ‘She’ll never love me.’ Simultaneously, the junction box set on a power pole near the Rosenberg’s driveway erupted in a fountain of sparks, plunging the house and the surrounding three blocks into darkness. Willow never looked up as her room was cloaked in night. The distraught girl sniffled as she felt fatigue creep up on her, dreading sleep and the eventual dreaming.

Every dream she had was of the Slayer, dreams of such bliss and contentment, that dawn brought with it a renewed sense of loss that cut deeper each day. "What is wrong with me?" she whimpered in a tiny voice.

Willow pulled her knees tighter against her chest as fresh tears started to well in her already red eyes. She awoke thus eight hours later, her neck a dull throbbing pain that added to the deep pain in her temples and the dead lump in her chest. * * *

Jack lay relatively stretched out on Joyce’s couch, his feet draped on the arm of the sofa after having carried the nearly comatose Slayer upstairs. Before leaving the young blonde’s room, he unlatched the window and packed her slaying bag and set it atop the windowsill. Standing in the doorway, he had looked down at the slumbering Slayer and grinned before closing the door. Now, in black silk boxers and bare-chested, he lay comfortable for the first time in a long while. Jack smiled a calm smile and, in a short moment, did something he rarely did outside of his building in Manhattan, he relaxed.

Upstairs in her bed, Buffy was deep in Morpheus’ grasp, a dream she couldn’t distinguish from reality.

The Horse’s panting was getting more and more labored as its rider urged the mount onto greater speeds. The rider looked back to see if the posse was still on her trail. The rider tossed long red hair back over a slender, leather clad shoulder and reined in the mount. Lifting the brim of her Stetson, The outlaw wiped sweat from her brow with a bandanna and regained her breath. "Damned Marshal. I can add San Diego to my "Towns I Can’t Go Back Too." list."

Spying a road sign up ahead, she moved her mount into a slow trot and looked back again to make sure she wasn’t followed. Pulling the collar of her shirt under the strap holding the holstered Winchester strapped to her back to prevent chafing, she cast a weary eye towards the mile marker. The road sign showed two possibilities, Los Angeles to the southeast, and some dirthole by the name of Sunnydale to the west. The rider turned her mount North and hoped the bar served decent whiskey.

Shortly after noon, Alexandrea Ravencroft, or "Red Rea" as the wanted posters and dime novels called her, rode into town. She directed her horse to a hitch post in front of the bar and slid out of the saddle with ease. Dropping her hand casually to the Colt Peacemaker slung low on her hip, she flicked the leather knot off the gun’s hammer with her thumb and strode to the tavern’s door.



Annabelle Cooper wrung her soiled bar rag into a water bucket and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. Feeling a burning sensation on the back of her neck, she shook her head softly and looked through her fallen honey bangs in the direction of the stairs. She knew who’d she see and sighed heavily. Lilly was leaning against the railing above twirling a lock of her dark hair and openly staring at her bottom. Being the most popular of the Tavern’s "Dancing Girls", Lillian Dufrane had free run of the bar, the clientele, and of the other girls. Ever since her Uncle had died and left her the deed to the Wild Horse Saloon, Lilly had been trying to get into her bedchambers. "You don’t have a chance DuFrane." Annie whispered to herself.

Peeking over the bartop, she spied the current clientele. Ben Harris, the Gunsmith, that snake oil salesman Vincent Pryce; and bizarrely enough, the newly elected Mayor of Sunnydale, Richard Wilkins. The Mayor noticed her perusal of the room and motioned with grateful eyes to his glass. Annabelle grinned and nodded, reaching into the icebox for a frosty bottle of sarsaparilla. Walking over to the Mayor’s table, she ignored the lecherous grin of the whore upstairs. "Afternoon Mayor." She said as she popped the bottle open and filled his glass. "I’ve been meaning to ask you, where in this hot, hot, region do you manage to find ice?" she asked with a sincere grin.

Richard thought briefly of the Kryos demon he had conjured and bound to a small cave outside of town; whose sub zero temperature turned the cave’s mineral spring into a nearly endless supply of ice. "Just a deep cave up in the hills. It was a lucky find, really." He grinned and looked around the bar. "I’m very pleased with how you’ve turned this place around Ms. Cooper. This was a very disreputable place."

"Why thank you, Mr. Mayor," she said as she made her way back behind the bar. "My Aunt Beatrice said, before I came out here, that I’d never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." She said, not noticing the Mayor’s suddenly suspicious glance. "I’d like to say Mayor Wilkins, that my Aunt must have confused this town with another. I love Sunnydale." she finished with a grin as she leaned against the bartop and waited for a new client.

The doors swung open and a slim figure in a riding duster, leather chaps, and range hat strode in, with a small feminine hand resting on a holstered and apparently well-loved Colt Peacemaker. The stranger lifted the brim of her hat and cast her emerald eyes over the room’s occupants before landing on the bartending blonde. Just as their eyes met, everything faded to darkness.



Buffy’s eyes snapped open and she almost expected to see the stranger in her vision instead of seeing her ceiling. "Great, now I’m dreaming in Western. Wait a minute... a name. Cooper. Annabelle Cooper. Oh man, if this is real I’m never going to sleep again." she sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "This is just too fucking weird." Feeling a breeze, she looked to the open window and her Slaying kit sitting before it. "Good idea, Thanks Jack." she whispered to the quiet house before throwing back the covers. "Maybe when I get back I’ll be tired enough to have one of those Caribbean Willow dreams." She prayed out loud as she reached for a pair of jeans.

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