Nine

TERRITORY

The wind began to pick up again. Somewhere, a car horn blared.

The breeze had grown cold. Willow hugged herself, and waited. Buffy and Faith watched each other.

Faith finally broke the silence.

“Came out to give you a heads up,” she said. “There’s a vamp named Kakistos, I tangled with him in Boston. He kills Slayers, he killed Madeleine Lambert, the Slayer before you. Now he’s after me. And he said after he gets me you’re next on his list.”

“Never heard of him,” Buffy said. “So what happened?”

“He’s one tough son of a bitch is what happened,” Faith said. “Guy hit me once and my whole arm went numb. He runs with this black vamp named Trick. Trick dresses snazzy and talks real good, and he doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. But Kakistos has a posse with him to handle that. Besides Trick, he had eighteen vamps with him when he came after me.”

“Eighteen?” Buffy said.

“Yeah. They’d been tracking me for awhile and they finally came at me in a restaurant. Killed everyone there. I managed to get through his goons but Kakistos is on a whole other level of bad. Then the next day his guys were back at it, tailing me through the streets. They use cars with blacked-out windows during the day, and they’ve got guns. They shot the hell out of a pizza place I was in, and that was a bunch more dead people. Worst part is, not only is Kakistos the strongest vamp I’ve ever seen but I staked him and nothing happened. Plus he tossed me out a frigging skyscraper and I fell about fifty stories.”

“Oh, Goddess!” Willow said, and ran up to her. “Are you...are you okay?”

“Been awhile since I’ve seen okay,” Faith said. “I’ll be okay once I dust the bastard.”

“Wait a minute,” Buffy said. “You staked him and nothing happened? Sure you didn’t miss the heart?”

“I know my way around a stake, B,” Faith said. “I stuck him good. All it did was piss him off.”

“I can’t believe you fell fifty stories,” Willow said, and touched Faith’s shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Buffy watched Faith, as Willow touched her shoulder. Buffy thought Faith’s scent was pretty: fruity, with a hint of muskiness underneath.

Willow was covered with it.

“Body’s five by five now,” Faith said. “But I’m still trying to wrap my head around how I’m alive. Slayer or not, I can’t figure how I survived that fall. Got lucky, I guess.”

“Maybe someone was watching over you,” Willow said, and smiled. “The way someone was watching over me tonight.”

The moon peeked out from behind the trees, illuminating the clearing with soft, silver light. Buffy suddenly noticed a big bruise on Willow’s cheek.

“Will...your face is bruised,” Buffy said. She ran to Willow, and stood between her and Faith. She took Willow’s hand. “Did something happen to you?”

“I ran into some vampires near the Magic Box,” Willow said. “I was lucky Faith was there. Actually, it wasn’t luck. The Goddess was watching over me.”

“Faith saved you?” Buffy said.

“The Goddess?” Faith said.

“Witch. Remember?” Willow said to Faith. “I prayed to Holy Mother to save me, and then a few seconds later, you were there.”

“Cool,” Faith said. “Never been an answer to someone’s prayer before.”
“You’re a Slayer, Faith,” Willow said. “You’ve been the answer to a lot of people’s prayers.”

“The Magic Box?!” Buffy shouted. “What did I tell you about going to that neighborhood alone at night? You could have been killed! Why didn’t you call me?!”

“I was...in the middle of a spell, and, um, I needed stuff,” Willow said. “Okay, yup, one of my dumber moves. Guess I went blonde for a second there.”

Faith smiled despite her mood. Buffy raised her eyebrows.

“I mean...not that you’re not smart! You’re the smartest blonde I know!” Willow added hastily.

Faith chuckled. Buffy felt her cheeks becoming red. She tried to hide it. She turned away.

“I mean...um...I’m gonna stop talking now,” Willow said.

“Hey Will, why did the blonde stare at the orange juice?” Faith said.

“Why?” Willow said.

“Because it said ‘concentrate’ on the carton,” Faith said.

Willow giggled.

“Great. Make fun of me now. Whatever,” Buffy said, looking away from them.

“Hey...Buffy...” Willow said, and took her hand. “We’re not making fun of you. I’m sorry, okay? I’m just being goofy.” Willow had no idea why Buffy was so prickly, why she seemed so angry and embarrassed at the same time. It wasn’t like her.

She didn’t think it was just Faith. She thought it must be something else. She just didn’t know what...

Buffy nodded, still not looking at Willow. She knew her face was still red and she couldn’t let Willow see it. She walked away from them, further back into the shadows, before she turned and looked at them again. Buffy knew Willow and Faith must have been in close physical contact for a good long time for Faith’s scent to be so strong on Willow. Willow must have let Faith touch her.

As Buffy let her senses reach out and concentrated on her nose, she realized that Willow’s scent was even stronger on Faith than Faith’s scent was on Willow. And she knew then that Willow must have touched Faith too. An image came into her mind, of Willow letting Faith kiss her. She felt tense again. Faith was looking at her. Willow and Faith were standing close to each other. Buffy dismissed the image, and tried to relax. “So I believe you were telling us how you got kicked off a skyscraper?” Buffy said. “And how, lucky us, you miraculously survived.”

“I don’t know how I survived,” Faith said. “But I know why. I survived because I’m gonna dust that motherfucker.”

“Considering how he likes to travel around with a bunch of vamp groupies, we should put our heads together on this,” Buffy said.

“Forget it,” Faith said, and started to walk away. Willow, she liked. But there was no way she could work with Buffy. It would be better like this. What Kakistos had coming to him, Faith wanted to be the one to deliver. “I can handle it solo. Just wanted to give you a heads up. Take it easy.”

“Faith, wait,” Willow said. “Don’t you think it would be better if we all worked together on this? Kakistos sounds really dangerous.”

“It’s cool, Will,” Faith said. “I got it. Like I said, he wants me a lot more than he wants Buffy.”

“And what’s your plan when he finds you?” Buffy said. “Get tossed off another building?”

“Stake didn’t work, so I figure I’ll cut his head off,” Faith said. “Already cut his dick off anyway.”

“You cut his...?” Buffy said. “Okay, eewww much?”
“He pissed me off,” Faith said. “Anyway, see ya.”

“Faith, as much as it pains me to say it, we need to go after this guy together,” Buffy said.

“Told you I got it covered,” Faith said, and turned her back to her, and kept walking.

Buffy wanted to let her go.

“Buffy...” Willow said.

It would be so much easier just to let her go...

“Yeah,” Buffy said. “I know.”

Buffy ran after Faith, and blocked her path.

“Faith, I don’t like this any more than you do,” Buffy said. “But look, let’s just think about this? We’ve got a vamp who’s super-strong. And he likes traveling with a whole bunch more vamps. And he can’t be staked. And he’s cranky because you went all Lorena Bobbitt on his ass. He killed at least one Slayer already and he almost killed you.”
“I can handle him,” Faith said.

“Sure. Just like you handled him in Boston. I bet your face really made his fist sore. Faith, think! There’s more at stake here than your pride! You said he attacked you in a restaurant, that he killed people to get to you, and he’s got guns. This guy sounds like he’s way into collateral damage and killing innocent people and it’s our job to prevent that.”

“And you’re way into hearing yourself talk, huh, B? But the speeches are starting to bore me now. Said I can handle this and I’ll handle it,” Faith said, and brushed past her.

“That’s right, F,” Buffy said. “You keep running, just like you did in Boston. Way to handle it.”

“You’ve been giving me shit all night,” Faith said, marching back at her. “You got a crush on me or something? Some reason you can’t just get the hint and leave me the fuck alone?”

“Is there some reason you can’t use your frigging brain? How many people did this guy kill out in Boston while you employed your brilliant strategy of taking off? How many more people will he kill out here once he tracks you down? And you’re too arrogant and stupid to understand--”

“Buffy...!” Willow said. She grabbed Buffy’s arm. Buffy wrenched herself free of her.

“You’re too stupid to understand that this is way, way bigger than your little revenge fantasy!” Buffy shouted. She felt her anger flaring now, and a voice inside her head told her she should stop, that she should calm down. But this girl got under her skin. The image came into her mind again...Willow was letting Faith kiss her. “You think I’m gonna let some super-vamp and his pals shoot up my town and kill my friends because some new Slayer wannabe thinks she can handle it?! I cut his dick off, wow look at me, I’m so tough, I’m so cool! Do you even care about the people who died out in Boston? All because of you?!”

Faith was shaking with anger. Her hands were balled into fists. Her whole body felt hot.

She thought about Rebecca. Rebecca wouldn’t want her to fight Buffy.

“And where the hell is your Watcher during all this anyway?” Buffy said. “Or did your Watcher decide to just take off too?”

Faith looked at Buffy silently.

“Cat got your tongue, F?” Buffy said. “You do have a Watcher, right? Or is that something else you’re screwing up? Not that your Watcher’s done such a bang-up job.”

“Buffy!” Willow said. “Stop it! Now you’re just being mean!”

Faith was thinking of a number.

“Forget it, Will,” Faith said, and walked away.

“Whatever,” Buffy said, and stormed off in the opposite direction.

Willow ran after Faith. Faith moved quickly, but Willow finally caught up to her, in the shadows beneath a stand of redwood trees.

“Faith!” Willow said, and touched her shoulder. “I’m...I’m sorry. Buffy’s usually really nice.” Faith was hiding her face from her. Willow moved around in front of her. “You two just got off on the wrong...”

Faith had tears in her eyes.

The moon appeared through the branches of the tree above them, illuminating everything around them in soft, gentle silver. Faith moved away from the light, into the shadows beyond its reach.

“Tell Buffy not to forget the cars with blacked-out windows,” Faith said. “He can find us in the day too. And you be careful Will, okay? Try to stay inside.”

Faith walked away from her, and disappeared into the darkness.

Willow found Buffy waiting for her back in the clearing. It still smelled like pipe smoke.

“You and your new friend have a nice chat?” Buffy said.

Willow looked at Buffy without saying a word. Then she looked away and said, “Let’s go home.”

They walked silently back through the clearing toward the trees.

“So now you’re gonna be moody at me too?” Buffy finally said. “Maybe some of Faith is rubbing off.” Willow heard something ugly in Buffy’s voice.

“You were mean!” Willow screamed, whirling around. “Faith saved my life tonight and came all the way out here from Boston just to warn you about Kakistos and all you could do was call her stupid!”

Buffy had never seen Willow like this before. She stepped back, taken completely by surprise.

“It was mean and not nice and totally not fair and you should be ashamed of yourself!” Willow screamed.

“I should...I should be ashamed?” Buffy stuttered. “What about Faith? She just...just comes in and...and comes and kills two vampires that I--”

“A Slayer!” Willow shouted. “Killing two vampires! What on earth was she thinking? Quick, let’s get the torches and run her out of town!”

“But they were...! I mean they weren’t...! Look, she could’ve at least listened to me before she just...!” In her head, Buffy’s reasons were good ones. But when she spoke them out loud they all got jumbled...she heard the jealousy in her voice. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t keep it out of her voice.

“Buffy! You told a Slayer you didn’t want to kill two vampires because they helped you with your homework! What did you expect Faith to think? If I didn’t know you I would’ve thought you were crazy too!”

“It’s not as simple as that! They didn’t want to hurt anyone! I could tell! We could’ve just let them go and everything would’ve been...”

“Like how you let Spike go? Or like how you dated the worst serial killer in history and then wondered why he suddenly went bad and tried to murder us all?! News flash! Vampires are demons! You’re the Slayer, you know that! The three vampires Faith saved me from? They were gonna gang-rape me!”

“They...? Buffy said, and her face went white. “Oh my God...oh my God!” She hugged Willow, and Willow felt the old, familiar strength in her. “Are you okay, baby? Are you okay?”

Willow pulled away, her eyes filling with tears. “What did you expect? They were vampires! Demons! That’s what vampires do! They hurt people! That’s what Angel did too, even though it didn’t stop you from dating him!”

“And I stuck a sword though his heart! Does that meet with your approval? What the hell do you want from me? You want me to hop in a time machine and go back and kill Angel again? Would that--”

“I KNOW!” Willow screamed, crying now. “I know Angel’s alive! I know you’ve been seeing him every day before school and bringing him blood! All this time you’ve been LYING RIGHT TO MY FACE AND I KNOW!”

Buffy froze.

“Please, just...just let me explain...?” Buffy said.

“Excuse me,” a voice interrupted.

They turned.

Trick was standing at the edge of the clearing with six vampires.

“You must be Buffy Summers,” he said, smiling. He was wearing a black suit that fit him like it was custom made, with a lavender shirt and a lavender handkerchief in the suit’s breast pocket. His black shoes gleamed. “Wearing a miniskirt out slaying? Now that’s a bold fashion statement.”

Buffy didn’t know who he was, but she knew he was trouble. She put aside her guilt toward Willow, her resentment of Faith, her agonizing over Angel. It was all baggage now and it weighed her down; she needed to be light and quick and ready for fighting. She put it all aside, and let the Slayer in her take over. It was like flipping a switch. Instantly, she felt better.

She let her senses reach out. The cemetery was her territory. All of its sights and sounds and smells were as familiar to her as her own bedroom. Others had dared to invade her territory now, and she would defend it; it was as simple as that. The vampires didn’t belong. Their scents were foul.

Relieved of the burden of her humanity, Buffy smiled, and showed the vampires her teeth. In that moment, she was as happy as she had ever been.

“Everyone’s giving me crap about my skirt tonight,” Buffy said, standing in front of Willow. “Got a name?”

“Call me Mr. Trick,” Trick said, and took a cell phone from his suit pocket. Willow gasped at the mention of his name. Buffy glanced at her. Willow knew exactly what the look meant.

“Blue Hills,” Trick said into the phone, as the vampires with him watched Buffy. “Got us a Slayer here.” He paused. “Naw, the other one. But I’m sure she’ll be delighted to meet you.” He put the phone away, and grinned at Buffy.

“Never heard of you,” Buffy said. “You must not be very important.”

“I’m an East Coast kind of guy,” Trick said, chuckling. “Y’all are a sight too casual out here for my taste. I mean, guys wear shoes without socks out here. It’s mind-boggling.”

“So let me guess,” Buffy said. “That was your mom, and she’s inviting me over for dinner.”

“Cute,” Trick said. “I get it. You’re the cute Slayer. You’re the sugar, Faith’s the spice. You two should have an act. By the way, just making conversation here...you wouldn’t happen to know where Faith is, would you?”

“First I’d have to know who she is,” Buffy said. “Unless you mean that new Slayer out in Boston I heard about?”

“That’s the girl. About 5’5”, dark hair. With a rather exuberant sense of style. Flashy, if you know what I mean. Maybe a little on the reckless side.” He smiled, baring his fangs. “In fact, some might even go so far as to call her rude.”

“Sorry, the annual Slayer cookout isn’t until next summer. We’re supposed to be partnering up in the three-legged sack race. As far as I know she’s in Boston somewhere.”

“Uh-huh,” Trick said, looking carefully at her. “You’re a pretty good liar, if you’re lying.”

“Yup, and I’m pretty good with a stake too, and you’ll be finding that out in a minute,” Buffy said. “But if I knew where she was, why would I tell you?”

“Because I’m asking so politely. Because you enjoy our witty badinage. Next person who asks, well...let’s just say he won’t be asking so polite.”

“Why is everyone saying big words tonight? It’s totally tortuous.”

“‘Badinage’ means banter.”

“Hey, good to know. So okay, I’m just gonna kill you all now.”

Buffy ran at the nearest vampire, knowing the other five would be right behind her. As she reached him she ducked, anticipating his move. He slashed at her, his claws slicing over her head, putting him out of position. She staked him, spun to her left, staked one of the vampires coming at her from behind and punched another one in the face, sending him flying.

She backflipped away from the others, jumped up to grab a tree branch and swung forward and kicked them as they ran at her. She held onto the branch in a chin-up and she had a second to look around. Trick was staying out of the fight, just like Faith said he would. Willow had run off into the trees. Willow had been accompanying Buffy on patrol for a long time now, and Buffy had given her some ground rules. Rule number one was, when it got bad, Willow ran.

Buffy dropped from the tree branch, spun, and kicked the closest vampire in the face. He went flying the length of the clearing, and the other three came at her. She saw Trick checking his watch.

Buffy rolled backwards to the ground, flipping one of the vampires over her head with her legs, rolled to her side, kicked another in the face, leaped up, and staked the third. The other one came at her from behind, and she spun and kicked him again. He didn’t appreciate it, and snarled as he went flying across the clearing again and collided head-first with a tree. The other two ran back at her, but instead of dodging she took them by surprise and ran straight at them. At the last second she dropped to the ground in front of them, ducking both of their attacks, staked one of them, stood up again, grabbed the other one by the hair and kneed him in the face. He went down and she staked him too. She looked around the clearing. The last vampire was lying unconscious near a tree.

“Bring any more badinage, Tricky?” Buffy said, as she walked over to the last vampire and staked him.

She turned, and saw Trick pointing a gun at her.

“Nope,” Trick said, and shot her.

When Buffy woke up, her shoulder hurt and she was lying on the grass with her head in Willow’s lap. Willow was holding her hand.

Willow looked scared. When Buffy looked around, she saw why. Trick was standing over her, holding the gun down at his side. Eight more vampires stood around him, growling. “She’s up,” Trick said.

“Hello, Slayer,” a voice said. The voice sounded like a shotgun. It also sounded rather pleased with itself. “I’m Kakistos.”

The vampire who owned the voice went well with it. He stepped into the light and sneered down at Buffy, towering over her. He was bald and very tall and very wide. He had cloven hooves for hands and feet. One of his eyes was gone; in its place was a long, jagged, horizontal scar.

He crouched down beside Buffy and grabbed her by the throat.

“Faith,” he growled. “I want her.”

“Stop it!” Willow said. “Stop!”

Buffy gasped, and black spots swam before her eyes. She punched Kakistos in the face as hard as she could. He smiled.

“She can’t breathe!” Willow screamed, grabbing Kakistos’ cloven hand and trying to pull it away from Buffy’s throat. “She can’t breathe!”

“Gonna be the least of her problems soon,” Trick said.

“Stop it!” Willow screamed, and scratched at Kakistos’ face. He smacked her away and sent her flying.

Kakistos relaxed his grip. “Since she asked so nicely,” he said. Buffy coughed, and sucked in air. The spots were still floating in front of her eyes. Shooting pain was traveling up her shoulder.

“I didn’t aim for the heart because I was hoping you’d work with us on this,” Trick said. “We got no reason to kill you. We don’t want you. We want Faith. Be smart, girl. Tell us where she is, and we’ll let you and your friend go.”

Buffy knew they had a bridge they wanted to sell her too. It was now or never.

She chopped the gun out of Trick’s hand, rolled away from Kakistos and flipped herself to her feet. She punched a vampire in the face as they came at her, and somersaulted away from the rest. She had to find that gun. Out of the corner of her eye she saw it lying in the grass. In the confusion Trick seemed to have forgotten about it. He was walking away from the fight, dusting off his suit. “For fuck’s sake, will someone please handle this girl?” he said.

Buffy dove for the gun and managed to snag it, but the other seven vampires piled on top of her. Buffy had never handled a gun before but she had seen plenty of movies. She rolled around and started firing off shots as the vampires tried to pin her down. She knew the bullets couldn’t do any real damage to them but they’d still hurt. And by emptying the gun she insured the bullets couldn’t do any more damage to her. She kept firing until the gun made a clicking noise, then she smashed it into the nearest vampire’s face, flung it away and got up. Trick and Kakistos stood by a tree, watching her. The other eight vampires surrounded her. The ones with bullet wounds growled in pain.

“Remember what happened last time you left a Slayer to the hired help?” Trick said. “This one’s already killed six.”

“Good point,” Kakistos said, and ran at Buffy. The other eight vampires spread out, giving him room.

Kakistos threw a punch that took Buffy by surprise: it was much too fast. She wasn’t ready and she barely ducked it in time. It connected with a tree with a crunch and knocked the tree down. Buffy had assumed Kakistos would be slow because of his size. He was much faster than he looked.

Buffy was faster. She spun and viciously kicked him in the face, a kick that would have killed any ordinary man instantly. It snapped his head back, but didn’t move him. He tried to grab her, but she dodged him again, looking for Willow. She saw her lying on the grass. She couldn’t tell if she was breathing.

Something happened inside of Buffy, when she saw Willow like that. Buffy felt it happen inside her.

Screaming, she ran at Kakistos and punched him in the face, first with one fist, then the other, punched him with every single ounce of her prodigious strength, over and over again, ignoring the pain in her shoulder that flared every time she connected with her right. The barrage of punches backed Kakistos up, but didn’t seem to be hurting him. He laughed, taking the punishment just to show her he could. Buffy was snarling and screaming and baring her teeth; she was throwing out punches that could crush bones to powder.

Her fury flooded through her, filled her up until she couldn’t contain it and then exploded out of her, exploded through her arms, and she sent it all crashing against Kakistos like cannon fire. He was trying to cover up now, but she was hitting him so hard that her hands were a blur. She smelled his blood, as his nose broke beneath her fist. The smell of it sent her into a frenzy. She roared, saliva dripping from her teeth, as she pummeled his face into meat. The Slayer was in control now and she was a lion and she meant to beat Kakistos down to nothing, to erase him. She wanted to bite his neck and feel it crack in her jaws. She wanted to see her fist come out the other side of his head. She wanted to eat his heart.

But he was laughing...

She almost tripped over something. She knew it was her stake. The lion in her didn’t care about the stake; the lion wanted to keep hitting him. But Buffy knew that wouldn’t work. The punishment she had been raining down on him could have knocked over a building by now and he was still standing. And she knew her rage couldn’t carry her forever. She knew she had to out-think him.

Buffy took control of the lion, made her drop to the grass, scoop the stake up and roll to her side before Kakistos could grab her. Then she flipped herself back up, dodged one of his thunderous punches, got in under his guard, and staked him in the heart...

Nothing happened.

Kakistos laughed and backhanded her away; it was like a bat hitting a baseball. No one Buffy had ever fought had hit her anywhere near as hard. She hurtled through the air, crashed through the trees...and everything went black.

She was awakened this time by a clap of thunder.

She sat up, and saw Willow standing in front of her, looking at Kakistos and Trick and the vampires.

“Leave her alone,” Willow said.

Buffy stood up and steadied herself against a tree. She felt lightheaded. “You gotta...get out of here,” she muttered, and touched Willow’s shoulder.

A bolt of lightning shot across the sky.

Trick looked up. The sky had been clear a moment before.

Kakistos watched Willow. She amused him.

Buffy tried to turn Willow around and push her behind her...and then she saw Willow’s eyes, and shuddered.

They were black. They were as black as outer space...they were the blackest things Buffy had ever seen.

Willow’s eyes had always been green. There was nothing left of them now.

Willow didn’t move, didn’t look at Buffy. She looked straight at Kakistos, with those black eyes...with the Devil’s eyes.

Kakistos strolled toward Willow and Buffy, chuckling. His vampires came with him. But Trick remained where he was, looking up at the sky...

A deafening peal of thunder struck again, followed by another bolt of lightning, even more powerful than the first.

For a moment, night became day...

“I SAID LEAVE HER ALONE!” Willow screamed...

And Buffy gasped, as Willow called the lightning down from the sky and redirected it straight at Kakistos and his vampires through her fingertips.

The vampires with Kakistos were vaporized instantly. Kakistos flew across the clearing and smashed into a tree, his skin charred and blackened and smoking. Trick ran to him and propped him up.

“Time to go,” Trick said, looking at Willow in amazement. But he looked away, when she looked back at him...he couldn’t face those eyes. Kakistos nodded, and Trick led him away.

Willow’s black eyes watched them go...

And then everything was in slow motion, and spinning around, and she heard Buffy scream, “No!”

Willow felt like all the energy in her body was seeping out of her, seeping into the ground...

She felt her body hit the grass, and she closed her eyes.

“Willow...!” Willow heard. She opened her eyes. Buffy was kneeling over her, scared. Buffy’s shoulder was bleeding.

“Your shoulder,” Willow said.

“Don’t ever do that again!” Buffy screamed, and hugged her. “Don’t ever scare me like that again!”

Willow sat up. She felt better. Her energy had returned. She wondered if she had reabsorbed it from the ground, then realized that was a very strange thought, and dismissed it. “I need coffee,” she said. “A big mocha cappuccino with lots of sugar. And those cocoa sprinkles.”

“Okay,” Buffy said. “Your eyes are normal again.”

“My eyes?” Willow said.

“They went all weird and black for a minute.”

“They went...what? What happened?”

“You went all lightning girl and zapped all the vamps. Don’t you remember?”

“Kinda. It’s fuzzy. What about Kakistos?”

“Zapped him too, but he survived. Faith was right, he’s way, way tougher than a regular vamp. I staked him and got bupkiss.”

“We have to find Faith. We have to go after Kakistos together.”

“I asked her before, remember? She’s not much on the whole team concept.”

“She’ll do it for me,” Willow said.

“Will...I’m...I’m sorry,” Buffy said. “I’m sorry about Angel. He has his soul back. Your spell worked, it brought him back to me and it’s just...I love him.” She started to cry. “I love him so much I can’t breathe sometimes.”
“I know, Buffy. I know you love him.”

“But I love you too! You’re my best friend and...and I can’t lose you, Will. And I don’t know...what I’ll do if...”

“I love you too,” Willow said.

Buffy hugged her again.

“You’ll never lose me, Buffy,” Willow said. “Never.”

“He hits like a battering ram, he can’t be staked, and he has a whole bunch of vamps for backup,” Buffy said. It was one in the morning, and they were sitting in the living room in Rupert Giles’ house. Giles was Buffy’s Watcher, and a librarian, and also British, so he was used to strange new super-powerful vampires and meetings with his Slayer after midnight, he had a large collection of occult books, many of which were spread out on the coffee table in front of him, and he had made tea and set out a plate of dry little British tea cookies that you couldn’t find anywhere in the United States. Buffy sat with Willow on the couch in the tastefully frumpy room with the fireplace and the scented candles. Giles liked scented candles. Tonight the house smelled like cinnamon.

Buffy looked around the room, at the guitar Giles sometimes played, leaning next to the stack of corny old records, the hat rack in the corner even though Giles never wore hats, the expensive rug she had once spilled a vanilla milkshake on, and the television that completely didn’t get HBO, as Giles bent down in front of her in his bathrobe and slippers and bandaged her shoulder. She chewed one of the tasteless British tea cookies and washed it down with a sip of tea. She had lost count of the times she had been here, often late at night, often because she was hurt and she needed Giles to patch her up. He never complained, no matter how late it was. He was always gentle, when he treated her wounds.

She looked down at the milkshake stain on the rug. The rug cleaning people hadn’t been able to get it out. It had been a year since that day.

“You’ll be fine,” Giles said with a smile, when he was finished bandaging her shoulder. “The bullet went straight through.”

“Thanks,” Buffy said. “But what about the vamp?”

Giles wiped his glasses, which he did when he was agitated or they were fogged up, sat down in the big, squeaky leather recliner, looked through his books, and sipped his tea.

“I know Kakistos by reputation; he killed Madeleine Lambert, the Slayer before you,” Giles said. “I’m sure I have something on him somewhere. And he just showed up out of the blue?”

“No,” Willow said. “He was after Faith.”

“But I’m on his to-do list right after her,” Buffy said.

“Faith?” Giles said, looking up at her. “Faith Lehane?”

“The other part of my double feature tonight,” Buffy said. “Didn’t catch her last name but she’s definitely a Slayer.”

Giles stood up, and paced around the room. “I was wondering if she’d find her way out here,” he said. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with her all week... ever since the incident in Boston.”

“What incident in Boston?” Willow said.

“Maybe he means the getting kicked off a skyscraper thing,” Buffy said.

“Details are sketchy, a lot of what I know I’ve gleaned from the news channels,” Giles said. “The police out there are covering it up, but Faith was obviously attacked by a large group of vampires. It happened in a restaurant located on the top floor of a skyscraper in Boston.”

“It was Kakistos and his guys who attacked her,” Buffy said. “She told me she dusted the lackeys, but Kakistos got away and now he’s here. Along with his pal, a vamp named Trick. And they’ve already found more goons. They had fourteen vamps with them. If it wasn’t for Willow I’d be dead.”

“We’re going to have to talk about that, Willow,” Giles said, looking at Willow intently. “It would appear your magic has taken a rather dangerous turn.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Willow said.

“Nevertheless, you did it,” Giles said. “And the fact that you don’t know how you did it makes it even more worrying. But tonight we have more pressing matters.”

“Yeah, I’d say a vamp who can send me into the air like a pop fly is pressing,” Buffy said. “I’d say he’s totally pressing. I’ve fought a lot of tough vamps, Giles. This one’s in another league.”

“And what he did in Boston was tragic,” Giles said. “Sixty-three people were killed, including Faith’s Watcher. And Faith nearly died with them. She fell more than fifty stories to the street. It’s nothing short of a miracle she survived, even a Slayer shouldn’t be able to take that kind of punishment.”

“Her Watcher died...?” Buffy said.

“Yes,” Giles said. “She was one of the people killed in the restaurant. A terrible loss for the Council, and for Faith.”

Buffy thought about scented candles. She thought about Giles’ corny guitar playing and his wonderful tea...the milkshake stain on the rug, and the way he always wiped his glasses when he was agitated...and she thought about what her life would be like if she ever lost them....if she ever lost him.

She felt Willow looking at her. “Yeah, Will,” she said. “Go ahead and say it. I’m a jackass.”

“You didn’t know,” Willow said.

“Didn’t know what?” Giles said.

“Faith and I...didn’t exactly hit it off,” Buffy said. “I said some things. Some stupid, jackassy things. Who was her Watcher?”

“A woman named Rebecca Greer,” Giles said. “I met her at a Watchers Council retreat a few years ago. Absolutely brilliant woman, she specialized in training potential Slayers. She took Faith in when she was a potential and trained her. The two of them were apparently extremely close. According to the records Faith ran away from her mother years before...there was a history of physical abuse dating back to Faith’s childhood. It took Rebecca weeks to find her; she finally tracked her down last year. Rebecca eventually became something of a mother to her. Actually, I received a letter from Rebecca a little over a week ago. I was meaning to mention it to you. She was planning on bringing Faith out here for a vacation. It seems Faith was very much looking forward to meeting you.”

“Thanks, Giles, way to rub it in,” Buffy said, her face red. “I suck.”

“We’ll fix it, Buffy,” Willow said. “Let’s just find her.”

“How?” We have no idea where she is,” Buffy said.

“We could start by checking the local motels,” Giles said. “She just arrived, we can assume she’s probably staying at one of them.”

“But there’s a million motels around Sunnydale,” Buffy said. “And how do we know she’s not in L.A.? It would take us forever to call them all, and that’s assuming anyone’s gonna bother picking up the phone at this time of night.”

“And we’re also assuming she checked in under her own name,” Giles said.

“Yeah. If I was on the run and Kakistos and his never-ending supply of disposable henchmen were after me I’d be all, Hi, I’m Jane Smith,” Buffy said.

Willow took her hairbrush out of her handbag. There was a single long, brown hair embedded in it.

“There’s another way,” Willow said, and smiled.

Xander Harris had seen a lot of frightening things since becoming Buffy’s friend; vampires were just the tip of the iceberg. There had also been a giant praying mantis, bewitched Halloween costumes, mummies, assorted robots, many, many snakes, a big blue demon that was assembled a piece at a time, a living puppet, and British people. But he had taken it all in stride, and even though he wasn’t super-strong or magical and had no extraordinary abilities to speak of other than his uncanny knack for snarkiness, he always stood squarely at Buffy’s side. Even at four-thirty in the morning.

“Okay, let me see if I understand all this,” Xander said, yawning and drinking very strong coffee in the backseat of Giles’ car, a grey 1963 Citroen DS that Giles insisted was a classic French automobile and Xander insisted looked like an overturned bathtub, as he and Buffy and Willow drove to Faith’s motel before dawn. “In the eleven hours since I last saw you guys, there’s a new Slayer in town, there’s a new super scary vampire in town who can’t be staked, and Willow can shoot lightning now.”

“Yup,” Buffy said, wrestling with the car like she always did on the sad occasions when she was forced to drive it, and grabbing a donut from one of the big boxes on Willow’s lap. She took a bite, and washed it down with a sip of the latte she held between her legs because French people apparently didn’t believe in cup holders. “Welcome to Sunnydale.” She watched the street carefully, keeping an eye out for cars following them.

“You’re doing a lot better this time, Buffy,” Willow said with a hopeful smile, while eating a blueberry muffin and carefully balancing an extra-large super mocha cappuccino in her hand. Drinks had a tendency to spill when Buffy drove. “We haven’t lurched as much as usual. I don’t even feel nauseous!”

“I hate this car,” Buffy said, as she struggled with the gear shift and the car made a noise like it was belching. “I really want to make sure everyone’s totally clear on that. I think I’m gonna get it tattooed on my ankle.”

“So you really shot lightning from your hands?” Xander said, grinning at Willow. “That’s the most awesome thing ever! You’re like Emperor Palpatine!”

Willow turned around and looked at him. “I’m like who?” she said, with her mouth full.

“I have a bad feeling it’s Star Wars,” Buffy said. “And he’s gonna explain it to us.”

“Palpatine was the emperor in Return of the Jedi,” Xander said. “You know, the old guy who shot lightning at Luke?”

“See what you did?” Buffy said. “He’s explaining.”

“It’s worse when he explains,” Willow said.

“You guys just have no appreciation for high art,” Xander said.

“And yeah, okay, lightning, but I don’t know how I did it and I don’t know how to do it again,” Willow said. “It wasn’t a spell. It just...kinda happened. And then, not really liking the fainting.”

“Yeah, that part wasn’t so awesome,” Xander said.

“No, it wasn’t,” Buffy said. “So let’s hope Lightning Girl is officially retired.”

“So what’s this new Slayer like?” Xander said.

“Faith,” Willow said. “Faith Lehane.”

“She’s from Boston,” Buffy said. “She’s...” she searched for the right words. “We’re different.”

“Don’t be so sure, Buffy,” Willow said with a smile. “Anyway, I like her. She’s nice.”

“And she saved your life,” Xander said. “Saving one of my best buds? That’s serious brownie points in my book.”

Willow nodded, and didn’t pursue the subject. Buffy glanced at her. When Willow told Xander about the three vampires after they’d gone to his house and dragged him out of bed, she hadn’t mentioned what the vampires had planned to do to her.

They were a few blocks away from the Magic Box now, and officially on the Wrong Side of the Tracks in Sunnydale. Xander looked around at the boarded-up buildings, thankful Buffy was with him. “And you’re sure Faith’s here, huh?” he said.

“Yup,” Willow said. “The locator spell never lies.”

“Not a great neighborhood,” Xander said.

Buffy thought of her house, on her sunny, tree-lined street. She wondered what would have happened to her if she had run away like Faith did; on her own for years with no one to support her. Buffy had left Sunnydale and lived in a cheap little room in Los Angeles the previous summer, when her mother, sick with worry and unable to cope with the knowledge that her daughter was the Slayer, went a little crazy for awhile and kicked her out of the house. But her mother was frantically apologizing and begging her to come back the first time Buffy called her. Buffy stayed away for the summer anyway to get her head together after what happened with Angel, but she knew she had a home waiting for her. She knew her mother loved her.

What would have happened to her if it were all taken away? If her mother had beat her all her life, the way Faith’s mother had? If Giles had been killed in front of her eyes?

Faith had saved her best friend’s life. She had saved her best friend from being raped and killed.

Buffy knew she should have been there. But she wasn’t...because she had screwed up. She’d screwed up and Willow almost died because of it. She remembered the photographs in a shoebox in her closet. She’d screwed up then, too. Maybe all she’d ever done was screw up.

Buffy was thinking of a number.

“Yup, whenever people give me that crap about how there aren’t any vampires and it’s all just gangs on PCP, I always say take a stroll on down to the Magic Box,” Xander said. “And make sure to bring a Slayer. Or the National Guard.” He looked at Willow. “Kind of a bonehead play, coming out here yourself last night, Will. You could at least have brought me along. Sure, I’m not a Slayer, but...well, actually, I’ve got nothing to finish that sentence. But I wish you had brought me anyway.”

Willow looked back at him and smiled. “Thanks,” she said.

“Will? Seriously?” Xander said. “Don’t do anything like that again. Please.”

Willow nodded, and looked out the window.

Willow had told Buffy where the three vampires attacked her the night before. It was the alley down the block from the Magic Box. Buffy knew they were getting close to it now. As she stopped at a red light, she flicked the turn signal on.

“What are you doing?” Xander said. “You’re turning onto Ocean Street?”

“Shortcut,” Buffy said. “We can shave a few minutes.”

“What are you talking about? That would be longer,” Xander said.

“He’s right,” Willow said. “Let’s keep going straight.”

“Are you sure?” Buffy said.

Willow smiled at her. “Yeah, Buffy. I am. But thanks,” she said.

“Thanks for what?” Xander said.

“Oh, hey,” Buffy said. “Do you have Friday’s trig homework? I sorta lost track of time getting my ass kicked last night and I totally spaced on it.”

“You really want to risk cheating off my homework?” Xander said. “You Slayers sure are brave.” Something happened to Willow in that alley. Xander suspected it, when she first told him about how she had met Faith, and he heard something wrong in her voice; he knew it for a fact now.

“Your wrong answers can’t be any lamer than mine,” Buffy said. “Why can’t Willow be in our trig class? And do either of you guys have your Western Civ notes? I was looking through my notes yesterday for the test on Constantinople and it turns out I’m missing the stuff on the Spartans and the Battle of Monopoly. I think I was fighting a robot that day.”

“Robots suck,” Xander said, watching Willow.

The light changed, and Buffy stepped on the gas.

“It’s the Battle of Thermopylae,” Willow said with a smile. “I’ve got the notes. And I’ll help you with the trig if we have a chance.” They passed the alley where the three vampires attacked her. Willow looked at it.

Buffy put her arm around her.

“C’mere, Lightning Girl,” Buffy said. “Gimme a hug.”