Nineteen

HOOFBEATS

“That light?” Buffy said, opening her eyes and yawning, and wincing toward the bedroom window. The sun was shining in. “Make it stop.”

Faith opened her eyes. She was curled up behind Buffy, holding her with her arms around her waist. Her nose was in Buffy’s hair. She inhaled Buffy’s scent, and kissed her neck.

“Hell time is it?” Faith said. “Christ. Fucking champagne headache.”

“No clock,” Buffy said, and buried her head in the pillow, and rubbed her feet against Faith’s under the covers. “Someone completely broke it yesterday. This is a hangover, isn’t it? It sucks.”

“We need aspirin. Wait, screw that, we got morphine.”

“Can’t use morphine.”

“Why?”

“Alcohol.”

“Fuck.”

“You feel like, nauseous?”

“Kinda. I mean, I’m not not nauseous.”

“‘Not not nauseous’?”

“Okay, how’s this?” Faith said. “Know how we’re Slayers and we’re all tactical? We need aspirin, figure a hot shower helps too. You got aspirin?”

“I think the best tactic is for us to cuddle, and for you to kiss my neck some more,” Buffy said, and continued rubbing her feet against Faith’s under the covers.

“You’re my lazy girl, huh honey?” Faith said.

Buffy nodded. Faith kissed her neck.

“Okay, let momma handle everything,” Faith said, and tried to get up. But Buffy yanked her back under the covers and shook her head.

“Bad girl,” Faith said. Buffy nodded again. Faith kissed her neck. “But I know how to handle bad girls.”

Faith started tickling Buffy under the covers. Buffy screamed and laughed and wriggled around like a Mexican jumping bean, and Faith escaped from her clutches, leaped out of the bed, threw on her nightgown and ran to the bathroom.

“Score,” Faith said, coming back into the room with a bottle of Excedrin and a glass of water a moment later. “This stuff kicks headaches’ asses. Used to use it when I got hung over in the bad old days.”

Buffy sat up on the side of the bed. “Ow. Fuck. Fuck!” she said, and giggled. “This headache’s completely kicking my ass. And here comes the pukeyness.”

Faith sat beside her and popped open the Excedrin bottle. “Take two,” she said. “Then a hot shower.”

“Bad tactics,” Buffy said, as they both took the aspirin. “That’s like, totally incorrect tactically. The best tactic is more cuddling and sleepiness until these frigging headaches go away. Plus more neck kisses.”

“Lazy bad girl,” Faith said, taking off her nightgown and getting back under the covers. Then she put her arms around Buffy, and drew her close to her, and began kissing her neck again.

“So like, are you guys all done being, y’know, totally drunk and naked and dancing yet?” Willow said, knocking on their door.

Buffy and Faith opened their eyes. They were looking directly at each other from an inch away. Their legs were tangled together. Their feet were touching.

They kissed.

“Hey, beautiful,” Faith whispered.

“Hi baby,” Buffy whispered.

“Are we what and what and who?” Faith said, to the door.

“Drunk and naked and dancing,” Willow said, from the other side of it.

“We’re hung over and naked and lying down,” Buffy said.

“How’d you know we were drunk and naked and dancing?” Faith said, and kissed Buffy again.

“You’re my girl,” Faith whispered in Buffy’s ear. Buffy nodded.

“Um, you guys kinda left the door open for awhile there while you were dancing naked on the bed for like four hours,” Willow said. “Um...I shut it.”

“Please tell me Xander didn’t see us naked and then let us never speak of this again,” Buffy said, and turned Faith over on her side, and kissed the back of Faith’s neck, just below her ear, where her scent was always strong. She ran her fingers up and down Faith’s stomach, and started rubbing her belly.

“Love you,” Buffy whispered in her ear.

“Love you too,” Faith whispered back.

“Xander didn’t see you naked,” Willow said. “And you guys better have saved me some of that champagne.”

“We weren’t gonna, but then lightning bolts,” Buffy said, and rubbed her feet against Faith’s, and kissed her neck.

“Aw, I’d never shoot you guys with lightning bolts, sweetie,” Willow said, and giggled. “But seriously, you better have saved me some of that champagne. Doing the scowly face out here.”

“Gotcha covered auntie,” Faith said. “You got a spell for hangovers?”

“Tummy nauseous, baby?” Buffy whispered, as she rubbed Faith’s belly.

“Yeah,” Faith whispered. “You?”

“Yeah,” Buffy whispered. “All yucky pukey.”

“Xander keeps on asking me to come up with one too, so I’m looking into it,” Willow said. “No luck yet though. Want me to bring you up some aspirin, or ginger ale or something? Want me to be all, Nurse Willow? Um...but I’m not wearing a nurse outfit. Xander would get too excited.”

Buffy and Faith started giggling.

“Can it be a French maid outfit?” Faith said.

“If we filmed it Xander would give us a million dollars,” Willow said. “Put Buffy in her cheerleader outfit and have the three of us pillow fighting? Two million.”

“What outfit do I get?” Faith said.

“We haven’t like, discussed it?” Willow said. “But I think he’d like you in leather.”

“See, I’m feeling all like, typecast now,” Faith said. “And here I was hoping for a nice dress.”

“Xander’s imagination can be strangely limited sometimes,” Willow said. “I’ll see if I can put in a word.”

Buffy whispered something in Faith’s ear. Faith giggled.

“We’re good with aspirin, Will,” Buffy said. “Excedrin nuked our headaches. We just need something for the not not nauseous.”

“Um...well there’s ginger ale, plus Xander’s making us some yummy vittles,” Willow said. “Food will help. Wanna, y’know, come down for breakfast? Um, wait. Brunch. No. Better call it lunch. Um...maybe dinner actually.”

“We’ve decided to just stay in this bed for the rest of our lives,” Buffy said. “My Mom will bring us food and you can like, bring me my homework from school. What time is it?”

“It’s three o’clock,” Willow said. “I’ve been knocking on your door like every hour.”

“Shit,” Buffy said.

“Shit,” Buffy said again, as she and Faith dragged their sorry asses into the kitchen twenty minutes later. They were showered and dressed and they felt as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as two skinned rabbits. Their headaches were gone but the nausea was worse, and as Xander stood at the stove cooking meatloaf and bacon and mashed potatoes, the smell sent seismic tremors through their stomachs. They managed to reach the table.

“Aw, my poor sweeties,” Willow said, and came over to them with a big smile and a glass of ginger ale in each hand. “Drink up.”

“Hung over, huh?” Xander said, and giggled. “Sucks. But you know what they say about champagne. Especially when you drink like, two bottles. And I will never, ever forgive either of you for not filming yourselves last night. I mean, Buffy’s Mom’s got a camcorder here. Geez. Did you guys think about me at all last night? Did you even consider my needs?”

“Kickin’ your butt,” Faith said, drinking her ginger ale and looking down at the floor. “Gettin’ that D.O.R.”

“You’re a walking, talking D.O.R.,” Xander said.

“I thought he didn’t know?” Buffy said, frowning at Willow and chugging down her ginger ale. “Is he gonna give us crap about this forever?”

“I didn’t see it,” Xander said. “To my eternal and everlasting regret. Doesn’t mean I don’t know about it. I’m the one who heard the music and the giggling first and heard the jumping on the bed and saw the bedroom door open. But because I’m such a wonderful awesome boyfriend I didn’t peek. Also because Willow was a few feet behind me. And, giving you crap about this forever? Do you really have to ask?” He giggled again.

Buffy and Faith thought the whole kitchen smelled like meatloaf and bacon. The smell was everywhere. Buffy was pretty sure it was going to end up ingrained in the wallpaper, and maybe the pores of her skin. She and Faith finished their ginger ales and tried to think about all the different things in the world that weren’t bacon or meatloaf.

“So Xander, didn’t you say you’re doing something different with all that leftover meatloaf?” Willow said. “Something really cool and greasy and tasty? Why don’t you tell us about it?”

“Please don’t,” Faith said.

“Please?” Buffy said.

“Well it’s something I’ve wanted to try for awhile, Will,” Xander said. “Bacon and meatloaf work good together, but most people just put the bacon on top of the meatloaf and just like bake it that way. And y’know, meatloaf, it goes real well with bacon. So I’m doing something different. I left the meatloaf on the table for awhile, let it hit room temp, then I took it apart, you know, got it down to its core components of gooey greasy meat...

“Kick...” Faith said, and held her hand over her stomach. “...Your butt.”

“Aw sweetie, it’s better when you’re nauseous if, y’know, you puke,” Willow said, with a cheery little smile, and patted Faith’s hand. “Listen to your auntie Willow.”

“Yeah, so I cooked up a whole bunch of bacon and poured the bacon grease into the meatloaf stuff,” Xander said, and looked back at Buffy and Faith and grinned. “Plus I threw in a whole bunch of melted cheese too. Stirred it up, cooked it for just a few minutes to get the whole mix all good and gooey. Then I cut the bacon up into like just a little bigger than bacon bits, and crumbled all the bacon in there too, and then I put it all together and now I’m cooking it up. It’s the greasiest, fatteningest, cheesiest, gooiest, baconest, awesomest thing ever. Plus mashed pihdaydiz.”

“Oh...” Buffy said, and held her stomach, and looked sad.

“Fuck,” Faith said, and held her stomach, and looked annoyed.

“Plus the pihdaydiz got bacon and cheese in them too,” Xander said, and giggled. “So whaddaya think? Think I’m gonna call this ‘Xander LaVelle Harris’ Super-Baconized Meatloaf and Pihdaydiz’. Catchy, huh?”

Willow rubbed Buffy and Faith’s shoulders, and smiled.

“Your middle name sucks,” Faith said, looking at the floor like she was considering staking it. Buffy giggled, then said, “Oh...” again, and looked sad again and held her hand over her stomach.

Xander giggled again, grabbed a couple of plates from the table and brought them to the stove as Buffy and Faith looked down at the floor.

“Dinner’s served,” he said, a minute later, and walked back to them holding two plates of Super-Baconized Meatloaf and Pihdaydiz. Faith noticed that he had garnished their plates with sprigs of parsley too, for no good reason.

“Smell that Baconized Meatloaf,” Xander whispered, holding the plates directly under their noses.

Buffy and Faith jumped up and ran out of the room.

“I never, ever get tired of doing that to people,” Xander said.

“Okay, so how much is my ass getting kicked?” Xander said, fifteen minutes later, when Buffy and Faith came back into the kitchen. They looked a little pale, but they were standing up straight and smiling. Xander and Willow sat at the table eating baconized meatloaf and drinking ginger ale. Willow grinned.

“Think I can do an energy shield before they reach you?” Willow said.

“Doubtful,” Buffy said.

“Tell you what Xan Man,” Faith said, raising her eyebrow at Xander. “You load me up with some of that meatloaf, I’ll leave your butt intact. I know auntie Willow digs it.”

“Feeling better, sweetie?” Willow said.

“Nothing like puking to make you stop wanting to puke,” Faith said, and sat down as Xander loaded up the plate in front of her with meatloaf and potatoes.

“Especially puking three times,” Buffy said, and sat next to her. “How greasy and fattening is this stuff?” she added, as Xander set up her plate next.

“I think it’s a new frontier of unhealthiness,” Xander said. “I think I gained weight cooking it and just inhaling the bacon fumes. So am I forgiven?” he said, grinning at Faith.

“All’s forgiven, Xan Man,” Faith said, as she and Buffy started eating. “This is some good meat. Bust me out some of that Worcestershire sauce?”

“Yeah, my arteries are very scared right now, but there’s a party in my... um...I mean, this is really good,” Buffy said.

“There’s a party in her mouth,” Faith said, as Xander went to the cabinet and came back with a bottle of Worcestershire sauce for her. “Trust me.”

“Ow,” she added, as Buffy giggled and did something to her under the table.

“It’s not just good. It’s baconized,” Xander said.

“This is some damn tasty meatloaf whatever you wanna call it,” Faith said, sprinkling Worcestershire sauce on it. “When I get my money and buy a house around here, you can come stay and be my cook if you want.”

“You’re buying a house around here?” Willow said.

“Yeah,” Faith said. She looked at Buffy. “You wanna move in with me?”

“Seriously?” Buffy said. “You’re really planning on doing this?”

“Yeah,” Faith said. “Figure the Hellmouth is where I oughta be living anyway. I want you to move in with me. Will you move in with me?”

“Yeah, baby,” Buffy said, and kissed her. “But...my Mom will freak if I move out before I graduate. How about just a lot of sleepovers first, then when I graduate in May I’ll move in.”

“Cool,” Faith said. “And Xan Man can be our cook. And Will can be the naughty French maid.”

“Do you need a time-out? Don’t make auntie give you a time-out,” Willow said, and giggled. “Stop wanting to sex me up.”

“Faith’s such a lesbian,” Buffy said. “Where’s Angel?”

“Haven’t seen him,” Willow said. “But since it’s daytime and he’s not anywhere else in the house, process of elimination says the cellar.”

“He drank all my damn beers last night,” Xander said.

“He was drinking? Last night when?” Buffy said.

“Like real late,” Faith said. “I talked with him down here just before I woke you up. He was playing solitaire.”

“You talked to him? What about?”

“About how I’ll kill him if I ever get the chance, if you and Will ever say it’s okay. About how I hate him for the stuff he did. About the Rat Pack, and the Powers That Be, and those girls, and some other stuff. Crazy thing is? And I don’t mean to piss you guys off, okay? But...I don’t know...I guess I can see why you liked him, B. I’m not talkin’ like, how he’s hot or anything. I mean...just him. I know he did bad stuff. That’s why I told him if I ever get the chance, soul or not? I’m gonna kill him. That I can’t ever forgive him for what he did to you guys. But...I went down there to kinda get a bead on him, y’know? Figure out what you saw in him, maybe. And I did. I can see what you saw in him. Told him not to drink your beers too, Xan Man. He only had the one when I was there.”

“I saw him around four or so,” Xander said. “He had like half the damn case by then. Still playing solitaire.”

“But what’s he doing in the cellar?” Buffy said.

“It’s quiet down here,” Angel said, when Buffy went down into the cellar to find him. He was lying on an old cot, looking up at the ceiling. “No windows down here either. Got a cot.”

Buffy leaned against the furnace, and looked at him.

“Quiet,” she said. “You heard us.”

“Didn’t mean to,” Angel said. “Vampire hearing.”

“How much did you hear?” she said, and walked away from him, and looked at a pile of old odds and ends in a shadowy corner. Her cheerleading outfit and pom poms were gathering dust in an old box. There were two sets...two outfits. One from Sunnydale. And one from Los Angeles...from before the Slayer.

“Pretty much all of it,” he said. “Sorry.”

“I’m the one who should be sorry. I...forgot about your hearing. I’m sorry if it was...hard for you to hear all that stuff. I’m not sorry I said the stuff. I love her. But...I’m sorry you had to listen to it.”

“Forget it.”

“You hurt me and I hurt you. Is that what we do? All we ever did?”

He didn’t answer her. She shook her head.

“You never told me about what you did to Willow,” Buffy said. “You kept it from me. You took me to that restaurant last month and we walked on the beach and kissed and you braided flowers in my hair and just sort of forgot to mention that you forced Willow to remember living in a fucking closet and being raped.”

“I...didn’t know if...she’d want me to tell you. I thought it was her place to tell you that stuff.”

“I was gonna kill you Saturday night.”

“I know. Maybe you should’ve.”

“Maybe. I can’t forgive you. I know you didn’t have your soul then. I know that. But...”

Buffy moved to Angel’s cot, and sat down on the edge of it.

“Y’know it’s funny,” she said. “When I first started dating you...when you told me about how you were when you didn’t have your soul. I mean, you just said it. You said, ‘I killed people. Thousands of people.’ But those were just words. And then whenever Giles would go through all the different Watchers diaries from those days, all the histories...he told me too, but...it was just...stories. Giles told me you killed people. That you raped women. That you ate babies. But, somehow...it was still just...stories. It didn’t seem real. I couldn’t connect to it. I remember one day at school Giles told me how you raped and killed some woman in Paris, and you made her kids watch. And that night, you took me to a movie, and we kissed. And I remember...getting home, and looking in the mirror, and thinking there must be something wrong with me.”

She looked down at the floor.

“That’s when I started to hate myself,” Buffy said, softly. “That was the exact moment. And I never stopped, after that. I never stopped hating myself. I still hate myself. I think...I think I always will, now.”

He wanted to take her hand. He didn’t. He knew he couldn’t do that anymore.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said. “It was mine. Hate me, not you.”

“You know, don’t you?” Buffy said. “A couple of months ago, when we were at your place doing the tai chi exercises...you saw. You saw my wrists.”

“Yeah,” he said.

They were quiet. The furnace made the old grinding noise it sometimes made. The air was dusty. But Angel didn’t breathe.

“You kill us, Angel,” Buffy whispered. “Girls fall for you...we fall for you and you kill us. We give you our hearts...and then we die.”

“You’re not gonna die,” Angel said. “You’re gonna get past this. You’re strong. You’re gonna make it past this. Past me.”

“The night you killed Darla...she told me, I remember her words exactly... she told me the saddest thing in the world is to love someone who used to love you. She loved you. I didn’t really believe she did, then...but now I do. She fell for you too. And you killed her. You kill us all.”

He sat up, and took her hand.

“You’re not gonna die,” he said, and held her hand hard, and looked her in the eyes. “You’re strong. You’re not always gonna hate yourself. You’re gonna live and you’re gonna be happy.”

She pulled her hand away from him.

“Remember our first date?” Buffy said. “What was the movie we saw that night? Was it Good Will Hunting or Titanic? I forget.”

“Titanic,” Angel said. “How can you not remember? You made me take you to see it five times.”

“It’s a Leonardo DiCaprio thing. You wouldn’t understand. And that first night...our first date...I wasn’t really paying attention to the movie. I only had eyes for you.”

Angel remembered the night. He saw it in his mind...remembered all the sounds, and the smells. It was a good night.

He remembered sitting in the dark, hushed theatre with her, watching the strange, flickering images on the huge screen...he had never been to a movie theatre before.

The people on the screen were giants. Their voices were thunderous. The room was dark, and quiet and reverent as a church, and it smelled like popcorn.

He remembered how warm Buffy’s hand felt in his...

“We can never be together again,” Buffy said. “We’re over.”

“I know,” Angel said.

“I still want you gone when this thing with the wolf vamps is finished.”

“I know.”

“Where will you go? Los Angeles?”

“Yeah.”

“It doesn’t mean...I mean...”

“What?”

“I mean...it’s not like...you can’t ever talk to me or see me again. Just... you can’t be in Sunnydale. It’s just...Willow, she...I don’t want you around her because, she’s still scared, and...”

Buffy started to cry.

He wanted to take her in his arms, and tell her it would be okay.

He didn’t. He knew he couldn’t do that anymore.

She turned, and looked at him again...looked straight into his eyes.

“Get a good look,” she said. “It’s the last time I’m gonna cry for you. I’m done crying for you.”

He nodded.

They sat together, and Buffy cried. But they were apart...he knew they would always be apart, now.

Buffy let herself cry, for a moment.

Then she wiped her tears away.

“You brought that book,” Buffy said. “How come you’re not reading it?”

“Puritans are annoying,” Angel said.

“So you sit up all night playing solitaire? We got a TV you know. A VCR. Some movies in the entertainment center.”

“I don’t...uh...really know how to work the VCR.”

“I’ll show you. You drank all of Xander’s beer.”

“Xander’s annoying too. I’ll buy him more tonight. How’s Willow?”

“She’s been okay. I think...what happened at your place was good for her in a weird way. She needed to confront you.”

“Are you worried about her magic?”

“I’m worried for her a little. But I know she’d never hurt any of us.”

Angel nodded, and kept his thoughts to himself.

“I still love you,” Buffy said. “But I’m with Faith. I’m with Faith forever.”

“I know,” Angel said.

“I’ll always love you,” she said. “I don’t think...I’ll ever stop.”

“You should stop,” he said. “You should move on. Past me. Past those photographs.”

“Faith’s helping me with the photos. She’s...holding onto them for me.”

“Good. I like her.”

“She said she threatened to kill you.”

He nearly smiled. “She did,” he said. “A few times.”

“And you like her?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“She doesn’t bullshit. That’s part of it. She’s loyal to her friends. And she’s a little goofy. She’s got a goofy way about her. I like how she’s goofy.”

“Me too,” Buffy said, and smiled. “You realize that goofy Slayer’s a better fighter than me and might just be able to do the job and take you down if she ever decides to? That Will and I are all that’s holding her back?”

“Sure. Like her anyway.”

“She likes you too,” Buffy said. “Um...when she’s not hating you.”

“It’s a start,” Angel said.

Half an hour later, they all sat in the living room together. Buffy and Faith and Willow and Xander sat together on the couch. Giles had arrived, and he sat in a chair across from them. Angel leaned against the wall in the corner, away from the windows...away from the light. He had a glass of blood in his hand.

“How are you, Faith?” Giles said. He had a tattered old book resting in his lap and he was wiping his glasses.

“Five by five, G-Man,” Faith said. She sat very close to Buffy; their legs were touching. “Bruises are all gone, right arm feels good, ankle feels a hundred percent.”

“Excellent,” Giles said. “How’s your stomach wound?”

“The scar’s light pink now,” Buffy said. She avoided looking at Angel.

Xander drank his last beer. Willow stared down at the Key lying on the table, and was careful not to look in Angel’s direction.

Angel took a sip of blood.

The room was quiet.

“Okay,” Buffy said. “So let’s see where we are.”

“Private Harris reporting for duty, General,” Xander said, and finished his beer. “Want me to run some laps?”

“Sarge says be good, Xander,” Faith said.

“Sorry, Sarge,” Xander said.

“Okay,” Buffy said again. “We’ve got these four priests guys who want to use this Key to destroy the world. We took it away from them. We know nothing about these four priest guys, for all we know they might be priests, or maybe not. We’ve got the Vigil of Saint Vigeous who are working with them. They’re stronger and faster than regular vamps and there were more than a hundred at the cemetery. Faith took out twenty at the Bronze.”

“Wolf at the Bronze told me ‘We are hundreds’,” Faith said. “Don’t think he was just blowin’ smoke either. So we got a lot more of ’em to deal with.”

“The ceremony to release the Horsemen has to be performed at sunset on the last day of the waning moon,” Giles said. “Sunset tomorrow.”

“But then they’ve got another shot next month and every month after that forever,” Buffy said. “And if they ever manage it...”

“Game over,” Angel said. “We can’t take on the Horsemen. They’re indestructible. If they arrive we’re done.”

“You know about the Horsemen?” Buffy said.

“Heard some things,” Angel said. “Read some books. I’ve been around awhile.”

“Anything that can help us?” Giles said, and didn’t look at him.

“Not much,” Angel said. “They arrive, the world ends. But there’s a ceremony...supposedly after they arrive a penitent person can pray to God to give humanity a second chance. From what I’ve heard, that’s what happened the last time they arrived.”

“Six-thousand years ago,” Giles said. “A Sumerian priest prayed to the gods and the world was spared. Supposedly that’s where the Key comes from in the first place.”

“Never got that part,” Xander said. “So okay, priest guy prays to the gods and an angel or whoever comes down from Heaven and locks up the Horsemen in another dimension. And then this angel leaves the Key here with us? Why? Shouldn’t the angel have just kept the Key?”

“Sometimes you’re surprisingly insightful, Xander,” Giles said. “I asked myself that same question. The Council archives, luckily, just happen to have recently acquired a book that answers that question, and a few others.” He held up the book in his lap. “I asked them to send it to me; it just arrived last night.”

“Doesn’t look very impressive,” Buffy said. “Doesn’t look like human skin.”

“It’s paper,” Giles said.

“Written in blood?” Buffy said.

“Ink,” Giles said.

“What good is a book not bound in human skin or written in blood?” Buffy said. “All the cool books are totally about skin and blood. Then there was that hair book. That was just gross.”

Giles smiled.

“Yes, Buffy,” he said. “May I go on?”

Buffy smiled.

“Got my full attention,” she said.

“First, we must remember we’re dealing with events that happened six-thousand years ago, and the accounts in this book are retellings of folklore that had been transmitted orally for millennia. Details are bound to have been lost,” Giles said. “But it seems that the angel who appeared--her name was Rachel, by the way--left the Key specifically because wicked men across the centuries would seek to release the Horsemen again. And she would not interfere with that; she said it was up to humanity, to the generations unborn, to keep the Horsemen in their cages. That it would be our test. According to the accounts in this book, people have tried to release the Horsemen before; this Key changed hands many times before it was finally buried where that archaeological dig found it.”

“Bummer,” Xander said.

“I also gleaned a bit more about that Sumerian priest who averted the apocalypse back then,” Giles said. “He wasn’t just some random person. He was chosen; he was born for this task, for the task of pleading with the gods to spare the world, and somehow, he knew it. He was the only one who could have done it; the gods would not have listened to anyone else.”

“Wonder if anyone else has been chosen since then,” Faith said. “Like Slayers, kinda. There’s always a new girl on deck. With the Horsemen maybe about to get free, I wonder if there’s someone out there who’s meant to head ’em off if they come back.”

“There was apparently some sort of test to determine the identity of the individual, but it’s not in this book,” Giles said. “But Rachel did say that there would always be one person in the world who was chosen...one person in the world whose destiny was to plead on humanity’s behalf, if the Horsemen should ever be released. Who that person is now...I have no idea.”

“What about the ceremony the priest performed?” Willow said. “To talk to the gods. Do we know what it was?”

“Yes,” Giles said. “It’s here in the book. According to the introductory text it’s some sort of long, complex meditation. But neither I nor our experts at the Council could make head or tails out of the meditation, the language bears no resemblance to anything I’ve ever seen. But perhaps we’re not the ones who are meant to read it. Regardless, it’s useless to us without the right person to perform it, and we have no idea who that person is and no way to find out. It could be some little boy living in Belgium for all we know, or Jane Seymour.”

“Maybe it’s James Van Der Beek,” Willow said.

“Giles wants it to be Jane Seymour,” Buffy said. “Trust me. It’s a whole big thing.”

“Yes, be that as it may,” Giles said, and wiped his glasses. “Unfortunately this information doesn’t help us much. We’re still left with the same problem.”

“No,” Angel said. “We have a much bigger problem than that.”

Everyone looked at him.

“The night before last...I was...visited, by something calling itself the First,” he said.

“The First?” Giles said.

“Also known as the First Evil,” Angel said.

Giles became pale.

“Good Lord,” he whispered.

“Giles. You know about this thing?” Buffy said.

“It’s...there have been rumors of its existence, but...I always thought it was a legend,” Giles said. “It’s supposed to be the embodiment of evil. Not an evil creature, not a demon, but...evil itself, in living form.” He looked back at Angel. “And it visited you?”

“It appeared to me, in the forms of four different people,” Angel said. “Darla, Dru, a girl named Leah Maguire...”

“Who’s Leah Maguire?” Xander said.

Angel looked at him.

“A girl I killed in 1860,” Angel said.

Xander smiled. “A stand-up guy like you?” he said.

“Who was the fourth person?” Willow said.

“Buffy,” Angel said.

The room became quiet.

“Me?” Buffy said. “Why me? What...did she say?”

“The thing about the First is, it lies,” Angel said. “But not everything it says is a lie. It was screwing with me, trying to get under my skin, trying to throw me off my game. It appeared as Leah at the beginning, and I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know if I was hallucinating, or seeing a ghost...but she smelled like Leah, looked like her, talked like her. In every way I could sense, it was her. The same with Darla and Dru; it was exactly like them, in every way. But by the time it appeared as you, Buffy, I was able to put it together...I realized that these were imposters, and that they were all the same being. But it knows things...it knows things that only those people could have known.”

“What...did it say when it was me?” Buffy said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Angel said. “Bottom line, is, we--”

“I want to know,” Buffy said. “Tell me.”

Angel looked at Faith.

“I’ll tell you in private later, if you want,” Angel said. “Not here.”

“What, did it say I have hairy legs or something?” Buffy said. “Why won’t you tell me now?”

“Because I won’t,” Angel said. “It lies, Buffy. And, uh...okay, so I’m gonna need everyone to touch each other now.”

“We don’t even get dinner and a movie first?” Faith said.

“The First is incorporeal,” Angel said. “It can’t affect things physically. Until I see you guys can touch stuff, for all I know any of you can be the First.”

“Already touching stuff,” Willow said. “We’re sitting down, we’re touching the furniture.”

“The First sat down at my place,” Angel said. “But when I tried to touch it, my hand always went straight through. I think it can sorta give the illusion of sitting down. But I couldn’t touch it, and it couldn’t touch me.”

Faith kissed Buffy’s cheek.

Xander put his arm around Willow. Buffy leaned forward, and reached out to Giles, and took his hand.

“Satisfied?” Buffy said.

“How do we know he’s not the First?” Faith said, and looked toward Angel.

Angel stood in the corner.

No one moved toward him. Buffy took Faith’s hand, and looked down at the coffee table.

After a moment, Xander giggled.

“Mr. Popular,” Xander said.

Angel wasn’t looking at him. His eyes were unfocused. He was looking at the wall above the couch.

“I’m not the First,” Angel said. “Anyway. We should...”

Faith got up, and walked over to him.

She held out her hand.

He took it.

“Seem solid enough to me,” Faith said.

“Told you,” Angel said.

“Next time my hand might have a stake in it,” Faith said. “Fair warning.”

“Life’s full of surprises,” Angel said.

Faith released his hand, and walked back to the couch.

She sat next to Buffy, and put her arm around her waist. Buffy moved closer to her, and held her hand, and they stayed that way.

“Why those four people?” Willow said. “Darla, Dru, Buffy--they were all important in your life. But Leah just sounds like a random victim of yours. What’s the connection? I mean...yeah, they’re all women, but you knew a lot of women. Why those four? And why Leah?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Angel said. “The choices could have been made just to screw with my head. But I killed Leah the night Darla and I first saw Dru, so that’s a connection. And they all have something in common with Buffy too. They all died. Leah died in 1860. Darla and Dru were vampires; even though Drusilla is still out there somewhere, being a vampire means she’s technically dead. And Buffy died too, last year. Could be that the First can only appear as people who have died.”

“Did the First drop any hints that could help us?” Buffy said.

“Mostly she tried to screw with my head,” Angel said. “When she was Leah she told me the only way I could atone for what I’ve done would be to kill myself...”

“Are we sure this thing’s evil?” Xander said. “Maybe we oughta invite it over, hear what it has to say.”

“But then when she was Darla she changed tactics,” Angel said. “Darla tried to tell me I should run away with her, that the world would be ending soon and that she could protect me from it. She told me I never really loved her, and that I never loved Buffy either.”

Buffy looked away from him. She looked down at her hand, in Faith’s.

“It lies,” Angel said, and looked at Buffy. But she wouldn’t look back at him. “Next came Dru; Dru told me that she was the one I really loved, and that I should kill Buffy.”

Buffy looked at him then. Everyone looked at him.

“Did she remember to mention that I’d rip your fucking head from your spine before you got within ten feet of Buffy?” Faith said, and looked Angel in the eyes, and drew Buffy closer to her. “That part’s important. Hope for your sake she didn’t leave it out.”

Angel nearly smiled.

“She forgot to mention that part,” Angel said.

“You don’t want any part of me, GQ,” Faith said. “Fightin’ me, your kickass hair would get all messy.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Angel said. “Anyway. She said I’d be happier if I lost my soul again and stayed with her.”

“That another lie?” Faith said. “Or truth? You said it wasn’t all lies. Would you be happier?”

“Yeah,” Angel said. “But I wouldn’t be me. Buffy arrived after that.”

“What did she say?” Buffy said. “Or is it all like, top secret?”

“She told me about you and Faith, even though I already knew. She said I should kill Faith.”

Faith grinned.

“You know where I am, baby,” Faith said. “Call me anytime.”

“Why would she say that?” Buffy said.

“To screw with my head,” Angel said.

“Yeah, but why would she think you’d believe that?” Buffy said. “I mean, if she wanted you to think she was me? Why would she think that you’d believe I could say that?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Angel said. “What matters is, I saw through her and told her to cut the shit and say what she had to say. And she did.”

“Which was?” Xander said.

“She said the world was going to fall,” Angel said. “She said she was going to win and we wouldn’t be able to stop it. And then she offered me a deal.”

“A deal?” Giles said. “What sort of deal?”

“She said she’d give me six-months to choose one-hundred thousand people, and we could have Illinois,” Angel said. “She’d allow humanity to live in Illinois and she’d never bother us again as long as the population was never allowed to top ten-million. The rest of the world would be hers, and the rest of humanity would be destroyed.”

“That’s...wait...Illinois?” Xander said.

“She said the state has the natural resources we’d need,” Angel said. “Lots of land for farming, livestock, fresh water, moderate climate. Plus we’d get to have Chicago.”

“Why you?” Giles said. “Why did she offer this deal to you?”

“She said she likes me,” Angel said. “She said I’m interesting to her. That I’ve been around a long time and I know how the world works. That if anyone should be allowed to make decisions for humanity, it was me.”

Angel watched Willow. She was still looking away from him.

“A great big giant evil monster likes you?” Xander said. “You could just knock me over with a feather right now, guy.”

“Why’s she offering the deal?” Faith said. “If she’s so damn evil and unstoppable and all that. Why deal?”

“She said she sometimes finds humans interesting,” Angel said. “She wanted me to pick the strongest and the smartest.”

“Um...I’m gonna assume you didn’t take the deal,” Willow said.

“No,” Angel said. “And she said it was a one-time offer. We have the Key now but the First isn’t going to stop. Those priests, and the Vigil of Saint Vigeous...I think the First is pulling their strings.”

“We have to keep the Key out of those vamps’ hands,” Buffy said. “The problem with that plan being that we have to keep it from them forever, because it can’t be destroyed.”

“And we probably can’t hide it either,” Willow said. “Even if they don’t know how to track it magically, there’s gotta be a way, it’s a magical object. If they can’t track it they can find someone who can. If I had awhile to think about it I could probably come up with a way to track it myself.”

“Is there a way to maybe banish it?” Xander said. “Send it away somewhere, like, I don’t know, out of this dimension?”

“Maybe,” Willow said. “But all that means is the vampires would have to open a portal and go there and get it. If it can be tracked magically it can be tracked to another dimension. Sending it away just means it will take the Vigil a little longer to get it. But they’ll still get it eventually.”

“And there are hundreds of them and vamps live forever,” Faith said. “They find it ten years from now, or fifty years from now, we still lose. We can’t destroy it and we can’t hide it from them forever. That leaves us one option.”

“We have to take the fight to them,” Buffy said.

“They should’ve taken the fight to you,” Angel said.

Everyone looked at him.

“What do you mean, Angel?” Buffy said.

Angel took a sip of his blood, and began pacing the room.

“Okay,” he said. “You got these Vigil guys. There are hundreds of them and they’re sure as hell not afraid of us. Not afraid to come after us in public either. They attacked Willow out in the open at the Bronze. That was two days ago. The fact they attacked her there means they can track her. Either by scent, or magically, or they just have people following her. I know a little about these guys; they’ve been around a long time and I’ve heard some things. They’re supposed to have a better sense of smell than regular vampires. However they’re doing it, they should know she’s here. They know we have the Key. Yeah, Faith took out twenty of them and let’s say for the sake of argument that they know we’ve got two Slayers here, plus me. And they’ve seen Willow throw up an energy shield and do that smoke thing. So they know we can fight. But that won’t stop them. They should’ve come at us by now. The smart play was to come at the house.”

“Vampires can’t come in uninvited,” Xander said.

“Pipe bombs can,” Angel said.

“They could burn us out at night and then run us down in the street,” Faith said. “Angel’s right. That’s their best move, if they know Will’s here. So why haven’t they made it?”

“Could be they don’t know she’s here,” Buffy said.

“Long shot,” Angel said.

“They probably know I’m here,” Willow said. “We should assume they know we’re all here. Maybe they think we might be hiding the Key somewhere. Maybe instead of fighting us again they’re concentrating on figuring out where the Key is first. If they’re trying to come up with a way to track it magically it might take them awhile.”

“Makes sense,” Buffy said. “They’ve got all the time in the world, always another last day of the waning moon coming. No reason to throw more bodies at us until they know for sure where the Key is. Especially since they know Faith can kick all their asses.” She looked at Faith and smiled. “I bet they haven’t come after us yet because they’re all scared of Faith.”

Faith kissed her. Buffy blushed a little.

“It could be Willow’s right,” Angel said, and quickly looked away. “They could be making sure of the Key before they move against us. And they know they have plenty of time. They have to know the Key can’t be destroyed. They can always perform the ceremony next month, or next year.”

Willow picked up the Key, and held it in her hand. Something about it kept nagging at her.

“You don’t think it’s because they’re all scared of me?” Faith said.

Angel looked at her out of the corner of his eye, and nearly smiled.

“No,” he said.

“Damn, that’s harsh, GQ,” Faith said. “Bad for my Slayer ego.”

“I’m scared of you,” Angel said. “Feel better now?”

“Little bit,” Faith said.

The sun was setting. The room grew dark.

“Okay, we don’t know what these guys are up to and we need to find out,” Buffy said. “And this sounds lame? But we can’t all stay out of school forever. At some point we need to go back to living our lives. We can’t just stay holed up in the house here. We have one lead. Those vamps who delivered the Key, I know where one of them squats. We should check him out, see what he knows.”

“Only one of us should go,” Angel said. “Until this is over you and Faith and I need to stick close to Willow. Just because they haven’t come at the house yet doesn’t mean they won’t. At least two of us should be with Willow at all times after dark. The sun’s down. Give me this guy’s address, I’ll track him, see what I can shake out of him. He probably won’t be home at night but I’ll pick up his scent there, that’ll start me off.”

“He’s at an abandoned warehouse by the docks,” Buffy said. “Willy said it was an old building with a sign on it that says ‘Pacific Fisheries’. The vamp’s name is Bobby.”

“Okay,” Angel said, and moved to the coffee table, and pulled his duffel bag out from underneath it. He opened it up and took a double-bladed battle axe out of it. “Got my axe. My axe and I will have a talk with him.”

“Nice axe,” Faith said. It was the biggest, meanest axe Faith had ever seen. The blades looked razor sharp and they were so bright and polished she could see her reflection in them.

“I’m fond of it,” Angel said.

“Okay,” Buffy said. “Anyone got anything else? Is there anything I’m overlooking here?”

“Couple little things I wanted to bring up,” Xander said. “First, we should have a car here, gassed up and ready to go at all times. If they come at the house and chase us out a car is what saves our asses. I know your Mom took hers out of town; we need another one.”

“I’ll keep mine here,” Giles said with a sigh. “Lord knows you all drive it more than me anyway.”

“It’s because we love it so damn much,” Xander said.

“It’s cool, G. Gettin’ you that Porsche,” Faith said.

Giles smiled while trying not to smile, and wiped his glasses.

“Giles wants that Porsche,” Buffy said. “I think he’s having a mid-life--”

Giles frowned at her.

“An early life...he’s having like, a totally early life crisis,” Buffy said.

“Got my car here too,” Angel said. “It’s, uh, a little faster than Giles’.”

“Okay, and the second thing is, weapons,” Xander said. “Our stockpile is low; other than our swords we’re down to the two flamethrowers, and I think I might have one grenade somewhere. Maybe we should do another smash and grab at the army base.”

“That’s definitely an idea,” Buffy said. “But this is a different kind of fight; we’ll be taking on lots of guys all at once and they’re all super fast. Unless they’re all like, lined up together somewhere in an enclosed space a rocket launcher won’t help us.”

“Flamethrowers will though,” Faith said. “We form a line and hold it and fire away. If we had flamethrowers and plenty of fuel for ’em at the cemetery Friday night we might have gotten by those guys without Will.”

“Flamethrowers are a tall order,” Xander said. “It’s just not something the base tends to have a lot of. But I can look. Grenades might be good too. What about guns? Want me to bring back guns?”

“No,” Giles said. “Gunfire can injure a vampire but Buffy and Faith would be using their time far more efficiently beheading them with a sword.”

“Yeah, guns are never really helpful,” Buffy said. “Fun though. Just not helpful. Concentrate on flamethrowers, or at least fuel for the ones we have. Grenades sound good too.”

“I can go tonight,” Xander said.

“No,” Buffy said. “With those Vigil guys out there Faith or I would have to go with you and we can’t spare anyone; Angel’s already gonna be tracking that vamp. The only way we could hit that base tonight is if all of us go together, me, you, Faith, Willow, and Giles. Angel’s right; out of him, me, and Faith, I want two of us with Will at all times when the sun’s down and I’m not letting you and Giles out of my sight for a second at night either.”

“Five of us doesn’t work,” Xander said. “Hard to be all cloak and dagger. Doing it during the day, same problem. The base is really busy during the day.”

“We all drive out there tonight, three wait in the car, two hit the base?” Faith said. “Say, you and Xan Man go in, I watch Will and G-Man in the car.”

“The base is huge and they have sentries,” Buffy said. “We can’t just park outside. Last time we hit the place we had to park like a quarter mile away. That puts us too far from each other. If those vamps showed up they could take a run at you guys in the car while I was in the base and I wouldn’t even know.”

“It’s a two-man job,” Xander said. “Preferably one of the men is a Slayer who can carry lots of heavy stuff.”

“Info on those Vigil guys is more important to us than extra weapons right now anyway,” Buffy said. “You can go be military guy tomorrow night and I’ll send Faith with you while Angel and I guard the house.”

Xander looked at Angel. Then he looked back at Buffy.

“Or I could send Angel out with you instead of keeping him here,” Buffy said. “You guys could be like Starsky and Hutch.”

“Faith’s good, I never feel like killing her,” Xander said. “And the Lakers beat the Celtics last week. I still haven’t gotten a chance to gloat at her about it.”

“I’m gonna make you do so many pushups when this thing’s done with,” Faith said.

“Anybody got anything else?” Buffy said.

Buffy looked around the room.

“Okay,” Buffy said. “So we’ve got a plan.”

Angel finished his blood, shouldered his axe, and walked to the door.

“See you guys later,” he said, and walked out.

“Giles. Thanks for...making this go smooth,” Buffy said. “I had no right to ask you and you had every right to just explode at him.”

“It’s about the mission, Buffy,” Giles said. “I packed a bag, in case you want me to stay here?”

“Yeah, I do,” Buffy said. “I want you here where I can protect you. And I don’t think the books at your house are gonna help anymore anyway; we have all the magic info we need. With any luck Angel will bring us something we can use from that vamp, maybe exactly how many of these Vigil guys we’re dealing with, or the layout of their place. We know what we need to do; we’ve got one option. We have to take them down. Right now it’s not about books, it’s about making battle plans. I want my Watcher here helping me make those battle plans.”

“Is there a room I can use?” Giles said.

“You know the spare room, that my Mom made up for Faith?” Buffy said. “You can take that room.”

“Sure G, you can sleep in my room anytime,” Faith said, and winked at him. He wiped his glasses, and frowned at her.

“But then where will Faith...oh,” Giles said. “Yes. Well then. I’ll just...” he said, and picked up his leather satchel, and cleared his throat. “Yes. I’ll just... go get settled in then.”

He walked out of the room, furiously wiping his glasses.

“Okay, I’m gonna go upstairs with the Key and get all trancey, talk to the Goddess, try to figure some stuff out,” Willow said.

“I’ll start on supper,” Xander said.

“What you got up your sleeve, Xan Man?” Faith said.

“Thinking Italian,” Xander said. “I can do some good meatballs, and Joyce has lasagna stuff. You like lasagna and meatballs?”

“Yeah,” Faith said. “You’re so movin’ in with me and being my cook.”

“If I cook real good for you can I do less pushups when you start training me?” Xander said.

“Nope,” Faith said. “But I’ll feel a little bad maybe when I kick your butt though.”

“Good to know. And that frigging vampire better get me more beer,” Xander said, and went into the kitchen.

Willow picked up the Key.

“You keep staring at the Key,” Buffy said.
“Yeah,” Willow said. “There’s something about it. I guess it’s just all the, y’know, magicness of it.”

“You okay with Angel?” Buffy said.

“Yeah,” Willow said. “I can go like half an hour now without being tempted to kill him.”

“Longer than me,” Faith said.

“Okay, I’ll see you guys for lasagna,” Willow said, and walked up the stairs, still staring at the Key.

Buffy and Faith were alone.

“You did good, B,” Faith said. “Leading. Told you. You were good.”

“Yeah?” Buffy said. “Didn’t feel good. I felt like...I don’t know. Like it should’ve been you. Like...I don’t deserve it.”

“No one else was feeling that,” Faith said, and put her arm around her. Buffy laid her head in her lap.

“Xander was,” Buffy said.

“Nah. Just for like a second,” Faith said. “Once he settled down he was okay. By the end he was onboard with you. Fallin’ in line.”

“I never should have said that,” Buffy said. “‘Fall in line’. It was bitchy. But you were hurt and I was freaked out and I got all bitchy. Are you sure I can do this? Are you really sure or are you just saying it because you love me?”

“Everything I do is because I love you,” Faith said. “But yeah, I’m sure. You let us all chime in, but you still kept things on track. We came up with a plan and now we’re all on the same page. You did what a leader does. You rallied the troops. No one feels left out, like you didn’t consider them. Everyone feels like they’re part of this. I’m proud of you, Buffy.”

“It was tough on Angel, when you kissed me.”

“Yeah. Didn’t even think about that ’til after I did it. He handled it good though. He’s being classy about it. He loves you. Last night...he told me he wants me to take care of you.”

“Me too,” Buffy said.

Faith kissed her hair.

“I always will, Buffy,” Faith said. “I’ll always take care of my girl.”

“I wanted to be the race car,” Willow said.

They were crowded around the coffee table in the living room that night, drinking cocoa and eating Faith’s leftover birthday cake and playing Monopoly. Buffy and Faith were on the couch together in their nightgowns. Faith had her arms around Buffy, and Buffy was curled up against her. Xander was in one of the chairs across from them, in his sweatpants and a Lakers tee-shirt. The two chairs were pushed together; Willow sat next to Xander in the other chair, in her cow pajamas, and held his hand. She picked up her game piece, the iron, and frowned.

“Sorry, hon,” Xander said, and stifled a yawn. “My board, my rules. I’m always the race car. So who’s turn is it?”

“Mine,” Buffy said. “Behold my awesome Monopoly skills and tremble.” Buffy rolled the dice, moved her piece, the battleship, and landed on Park Place.

“How the hell does she do that?” Faith said.

“I wonder if I should buy it?” Buffy said, and giggled. “Hmm.”

“It’s true,” Xander said. “The rich just get richer.”

“You guys can come hang in my fabulous Park Place mansion whenever you want,” Buffy said, and bought Park Place with a very small portion of her very large stack of money. “I am so completely winning. You should all work for me. I can give you jobs sorting all my properties and my giant money stack.”

“Who’s next?” Willow said. “Wait, are we going clockwise or counter-clockwise?”

“You’re up Will,” Faith said. “Good luck not landing on B’s evil fabulous empire.”

“It’s not that bad,” Buffy said. “There’s like a fifty percent chance she won’t land on anything I own. “Wait, forty percent.”

“I think I’m gonna just become a communist,” Faith said.

“You know, I’ve refrained from setting up hotels just because I’m really nice,” Buffy said. “I’m a kinder, gentler evil tycoon.”

Willow rolled the dice, moved her piece, and landed on Park Place. She looked very sad, when she landed on Park Place.

“I’m gonna be a communist with Faith,” Willow said.

“We’ll wear berets,” Faith said. “Be all like in cafes in Paris smoking clove cigarettes and looking hot.”

“You wanna sex Willow up, don’t you?” Buffy said.

“Those cow pajamas are gettin’ me all hot and bothered,” Faith said.

“It’s because you’re such a total lesbian,” Buffy said.

“She’s a naughty niece,” Willow said, and grudgingly handed Buffy lots of money.

“I hope you enjoy your stay at fabulous Park Place,” Buffy said.

“Yup. And you can, y’know, completely just bite me,” Willow said, with a cheery smile, causing Faith to laugh so hard she dribbled cocoa all over her chin.

“Are you gonna shoot me with lightning now?” Buffy said.

“No,” Willow said. “But I’m definitely joining Faith’s revolution.”

“Gonna nationalize the hell out of everything. Starting with Park Place,” Faith said. “Okay, I’m up.” She rolled the dice and moved her piece (the top hat). She landed on Chance, and picked a card.

“Go to jail,” she said. “God damn it.”

“You’re such a revolutionary, baby,” Buffy said. “You’re in jail half the time.”

“Menace to society,” Faith said.

“I’ll rehabilitate you,” Buffy said.

“The other half of the time she’s on one of your properties rent-free,” Xander said. “I think she just poses as a revolutionary. The beret, the clove cigarettes, it’s all a front. I think she’s a pawn of The Man. She’s in The Man’s pocket.”

“Yup. And I’m The Man,” Buffy said.

“Completely not fair that Faith doesn’t have to pay you rent, y’know,” Xander said.

“She pays me in services,” Buffy said.

Giles came into the room in his pajamas and his bathrobe and his leather slippers and stared down at them all and frowned.

“Is there any cake left?” Giles said.

“Sure,” Buffy said, and leaned over and opened the pastry box. She cut Giles a slice of birthday cake, making sure to get the little red frosting flowers on top, and made Giles up a plate. “Um, hold on a sec,” she said, and got up. “You need a fork.”

She ran into the kitchen and came back a moment later with a fork, and handed it to him, along with the cake.

“Thank you,” Giles said.

“Sure. Anything for my Watcher,” Buffy said. “Want some cocoa? I could make you some cocoa.”

Giles smiled. “That’s quite all right, Buffy,” he said. “I have tea upstairs.”

Wanna play? Tell me you wanna play. I’m so totally winning. You can contribute to my growing evil fabulous empire. Plus I’m thinking of like, putting in fields? Big fields for like, workers to toil in. You could toil in my fields.”

“Actually I’m researching in the Watchers database,” Giles said. “Willow got me started in her laptop. I’m trying to see if there’s a wrinkle I missed.” He smiled again. “But playing Monopoly is also vitally important to our efforts to save the world, I’m sure.”

“You’re just afraid of my awesome Monopoly skills,” Buffy said, and sat down again beside Faith.

“Girl does have skills,” Faith said.

“Yes, well...” Giles said, and wiped his glasses, as Faith’s smile got bigger. “Yes. I believe I’ll be going now.”

“Sure you don’t wanna play, Giles?” Willow said. “Someone has to topple Buffy’s evil fabulous empire.”

“The race car’s already taken,” Giles said, and walked away with his cake.

“You wanna sex Giles up too, don’t you?” Buffy said to Faith, once Giles was safely out of earshot.

“G-Man’s pretty slick in that bathrobe,” Faith said. “Once I get his butt in that Porsche he’s gonna have to beat the babes off with a stick.”

“Okay, so like, are you guys lesbians or bi or what?” Xander said. “Seriously, ’cuz I got no idea.”

“Me neither,” Faith said.

“We’ve decided we’re Slayersexual,” Buffy said.

“Y’know, it’s gettin’ pretty late,” Faith said, and looked out the window. “Almost midnight. Angel‘s been out there what, like six or seven hours now?”

“Yeah,” Buffy said.

“Not a good sign,” Faith said.

“I know,” Buffy said.

“Um, why isn’t it? A good sign, I mean?” Willow said.

“Angel’s a vamp,” Faith said. “Means he’s like a Slayer in one big way, his nose knows. Vamps got a better sense of smell than even Slayers. He’s a tracker. He started at that guy’s place, he woulda got his scent and taken it from there. If he’s been out this long it means the trail’s cold. He shoulda had the guy a long time before now.”

“Could be he’s just being thorough,” Buffy said. “Maybe the guy gave him something and he’s taking it from there. Angel likes tracking. He likes detective work and stuff, y’know, like following leads and putting pieces together and questioning people, beating information out of bad guys. He’s better at it than me. He’s scarier than me.”

“Yeah,” Xander said. “We all know that.”

“No you don’t,” Buffy said. “You’ve seen Angelus. And yeah, he’s scary when he’s Angelus. But Angelus is predictable. He’s like a dog. He acts on instinct and tries to have fun. He’s not as disciplined when he’s Angelus, he can’t control his impulses. It’s how I beat him. But Angel is disciplined. He’s patient. If it was Angel I was up against last spring? I’d be dead. Not a doubt in my mind I’d be dead. Get on Angel’s bad side? He’s scarier than Angelus ever was.”

The Whiskey Creek Saloon was a dive, but the demon who ran it, a small, scrawny, blue-eyed, red-haired demon with huge ears and a face like a rat who happened to be tending bar that night and was cowering behind it at that particular moment, had his pride and so the place upheld a certain standard: it was a spacious room, with only a few questionable stains on the floor, and it had oak-paneled walls that made it look charmingly rustic if the lights were turned down low, a couple of pool tables, and a sign over the bar advertising eighteen different kinds of blood. It was a biker bar, but the bikers in question, a gang called “The Hellions” according to their jackets, were demons. Assorted biker paraphernalia decorated the room: pennants, leather coats, and here and there a motorcycle tire or and old photo of Marlon Brando from The Wild Bunch or Peter Fonda from Easy Rider hung on the walls by the signs that said “Ladies Night Every Tuesday” and advertised their new, less fattening pig’s blood cocktail. A classic Harley Davidson cycle was displayed on a pedestal in one corner next to the big juke box that featured the complete catalogue of The Rolling Stones, and before today, there hadn’t been any unfortunate incidents in more than a week.

But then Angel had walked in...

The leader of the Hellions, a demon named Razor who had made sure to explain that his name came from the razor-sharp talons that extended from his hands just before he attacked Angel with them and got Angel’s battle axe through the top of his head for his trouble, was lying dead on the floor.

That had put a damper on everyone’s evening at the Whiskey Creek Saloon, and Angel smiled now at the motley group of scruffy, gray-skinned, tattooed Hellions who were looking up at him in terror. Their most distinguishing physical characteristic was their lack of noses, but they still knew trouble when they smelled it.

“Nice place,” Angel said. He walked around the room, carrying his bloody battle axe.

“Cool Harley,” he said. “Had one for awhile. But then I fell in love with a sweet Corvette and never looked back. I’m a car guy.” A Hellion ran at him from behind. Without turning around Angel grabbed the Hellion’s right arm and broke it so quickly that no one even saw his hand move. As the Hellion screamed, Angel spun and kicked him in the face. The Hellion went flying across the room, hit the floor, and didn’t get up.

“Brando,” Angel said, looking up at the black and white photograph of Marlon Brando on the wall above the Harley. “Brando was pretty cool. I drank with him once. He went a little crazy toward the end. But back then he was a pretty cool guy. So yeah, someone’s gonna tell me about a vampire named Bobby who delivered a package to King’s Park Cemetery three nights ago. Sooner or later. Later’s fine. I’ve got time.”

Two more Hellions ran at Angel. Angel picked up the Harley, spun around, and swung it at them by the handlebars like a baseball bat. The Hellions went flying the length of the room, crashed into the ceiling, ricocheted off a wall like pinballs and slammed into the floor with a loud, wet thud.

They didn’t get up either.

“Yup. Cool Harley,” Angel said.

He tossed the Harley away. It bounced off a pool table and fell to the floor, and it looked a lot less shiny than it had a minute ago.

“I’ve had a rough couple days,” Angel said. Angel walked to the bar, hopped over it and poured himself a tall glass of blood from the tap as the scrawny rat-faced demon scurried away from him.

“I’m pretty pissed off,” Angel said. “Just between us, I’m kinda hoping none of you Hellion guys are willing to talk to me, because that way I get to kill you all slow instead of fast.”

He looked up at all the Hellions, and smiled. “You do know I’m gonna kill every one of you, right?” he said. “I mean, it’s not talk or I’ll kill you. That was never the deal. You’re not talking to save your lives. You’re talking to save yourselves pain. You guys get that, right?”

He drank some blood.

“Tasty,” Angel said, turning to the rat-faced demon. “Got a little zing to it. What’s in this besides pig’s blood?”

“Otter,” the demon said. “We mix a little otter blood in.”

“Otter,” Angel said. “I’ll be damned. What’s your least favorite finger?”

“What?” the demon said.

“Bet it’s your left pinky,” Angel said. “You’re a righty, I saw you pouring with your right.” Angel grabbed the demon’s left pinky finger, bent it all the way back, and broke it with a snap that echoed through the room.

The demon screamed. The assembled Hellions gasped, appalled at this display of senseless violence. Angel smiled.

“Definitely your least favorite finger now,” Angel said.

“Please, man,” the demon squealed, “I don’t know anything! I swear!”

“Okay,” Angel said. “So what’s your next least favorite finger?”

“But I don’t know anything!” the demon pleaded, tears running down his face now.

“Said I believe you,” Angel said, and bent the demon’s left thumb all the way back, and broke it. The demon screamed again. The Hellions looked on in horror. Angel’s smile got bigger. He looked around the room at the Hellions. None of them could meet his eyes. Angel could smell their fear. He liked it.

“Yeah, so anyway, rough couple days,” Angel said, and finished his glass of blood. “My girl left me. Can you believe that? I mean, look at me. I don’t wanna blow my own horn here, but come on. Okay, I did do that thing where I went all evil and tried to kill her and all her friends,” he said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. “Okay, I admit it. I was kind of a prick to her. But what about all the good times we had? I mean, I go evil for awhile and try to kill her and everyone she loves, plus a whole bunch of innocent little kids and she has to get all emotional on me? I lost my soul. Not like I asked to lose my soul. Said I was sorry. Women.”

He looked at the rat-faced demon.

“You got Guinness, Rat Boy?” Angel said. “The answer that makes me not kill you right this second is ‘Yes’.”

“Yes,” the demon said.

“Set me up and keep it coming,” Angel said.

The demon found Angel a bottle of Guinness, poured him a tall glass, winced in pain a lot, and sat down on a stool.

Angel chugged half the Guinness down, and smiled.

“You’re an okay guy, Rat Boy,” Angel said. “What’s your name?”

“Gary,” the demon said.

“I’m gonna call you Rat Boy,” Angel said. “Since you’ve got Guinness and I need you to pour for me, I’m gonna stop breaking your fingers after I’m done with your left hand.”

“Thanks,” Gary said.

“Want me to do them all at once?” Angel said, and threw his axe across the room at one of the Hellions, who was sneaking toward the front door. The axe sliced straight through the Hellion’s leg, hacking it off. The Hellion fell to the floor, screaming.

“I’m gonna want that axe back,” Angel said, looking around the room at the assembled Hellions as he quickly broke the remaining three fingers of Gary’s left hand in succession. Gary screamed and fell to the floor and crawled away. “Any of you Hellion guys wanna bring it to me?”

“I’ll bring it to you, you fucking freak!” one of the Hellions screamed, and picked up Angel’s axe and ran at him with it. Angel finished his Guinness, ducked the Hellion’s swing as he tried to behead him with his axe, smashed the top of the empty Guinness bottle over the bar and shoved the jagged end all the way through the Hellion’s face and out the other side.

“Thanks,” Angel said, and grabbed his axe from the Hellion’s hand as the Hellion fell to the floor, dead.

“Rat Boy,” Angel said. “Another round.”

Gary got up from the floor, got Angel another bottle of Guinness, and refilled his glass.

The Hellion whose leg Angel had cut off was still screaming. He had managed to tie his belt around the stump of his thigh in an attempt not to bleed to death. Angel didn’t think his chances were good. Partly because the Hellion had done a lot of bleeding already. But also because Angel was planning on killing him soon. Angel drank his Guinness.

“So, still waiting to hear about that vamp,” he said, and hopped back over the bar and found himself a table. He sat down, finished his Guinness, and shook his empty glass at Gary. Gary brought him another bottle, and refilled his glass.

“Are you part Irish?” Angel said to Gary. “You look Irish.”

“On my mother’s side,” Gary said. “She was half human. Am I gonna survive this?”

“Why doesn’t this place have barmaids?” Angel said, and started in on his Guinness. “A bar should have pretty barmaids. They always did in the eighteenth century.”

“Doreen’s off tonight,” Gary said.

“Guess Doreen’s gonna survive,” Angel said. “You got any Rolling Rock? I need a case.”

In her dream, Faith was little and she and her sister were on the swings at the playground under a bright sun and a clear blue sky that went on forever. They had just finished their picnic lunch, and Rebecca sat smiling on a blanket and watched them.

“Faith, mind your sister,” Rebecca said. She was suddenly farther away.

Faith looked around for Buffy, but the swing next to hers was empty.

“I wanna explore!” Buffy said in her dream, as she stood peering into the dark forest. Buffy was a little girl, and she felt strange; it didn’t seem correct, somehow. She looked down at her white dress and shoes. They weren’t right for exploring in the forest. She looked down at herself again, and saw that she was wearing jeans and a tee-shirt and her old Nike sneakers with a red swoosh now, and she smiled. Then she remembered she had wanted the sneakers with the blue swoosh, but the store was all out. How long ago was that? It felt like years, but it couldn’t be, because she was still a little girl. It was all very confusing...

“Blue swoosh,” Buffy said, and the red swoosh changed to blue. She giggled, and wondered if maybe she should wish for a million dollars, or a diamond necklace, or a handsome prince. She looked back at the park. The tall, pretty, blonde-haired woman she didn’t recognize was very far away now, sitting on the grass, saying something to Faith.

Buffy looked up at the black, menacing forest before her. The line of trees created a boundary between light and dark, between safety and possibility, like a line on a map. The forest hadn’t been here a moment ago, when she and Faith were on the swings and the pretty blonde-haired woman was watching them from only a few feet away. Now the blonde-haired woman was much farther away, receding into the distance, melting into the sunlight, and the forest was here, looming up in front of her so deep and vast, like it went on forever and ever...

Buffy was afraid of the forest. She was afraid of the darkness under the trees. But it thrilled her, too...there was a nervous, tingly feeling in her stomach, like that time in the third grade spelling bee when she had to stand up on stage in the auditorium in front of her parents and the whole school and spell “sacrifice”.

Buffy took a tentative step into the shadows under the trees, twigs crunching beneath her feet. She looked down at them, and thought it would be better if they were stakes, and then, suddenly, they were stakes. She picked one up, and put it in her pocket.

Faith saw her little sister about to walk into the forest, and she leaped off the swing and sprinted to catch up to her. She made it there in seconds; she was amazed at how fast she could run. Then she remembered she was the Slayer. But it was strange, that she was so young...she looked down at her scrawny little body, and wondered how monsters could ever be afraid of a little girl like her.

“Hey,” she said, putting her hand on Buffy’s shoulder. “Mom says we shouldn’t go in there.” Faith had one foot in the park and one foot under the trees; one foot in sunlight, the other in shadow.

“You need to learn to find the fun, big sis,” Buffy said. “Isn’t that what you’re always telling me? Besides...it’s always darkest before...”

“Dawn?” Faith said.

Faith was still thinking about the difficulty of being the Slayer when she was really only a little girl, when suddenly she was eighteen again, and Buffy had grown up too. But even though Faith wasn’t little anymore, the forest scared her...

“Six eighty-two,” Buffy said, and turned away from Faith and walked deeper into the forest. Faith looked for Rebecca, but she couldn’t see her now...the sun was setting, and the park was immersed in a shimmering, golden haze. She looked into the forest again, as Buffy walked away from her, fading into shadow.

Faith could hear hoofbeats echoing beneath the black trees, far away, but coming closer.

“They’ll get you in there!” Faith shouted. “Can’t you hear them? They’ll take you away with them! The one on the black horse will take you away!”

“Been there,” Buffy said, her face almost wholly obscured in shadow. “Done that.”

Behind Faith, the sun had nearly set. Faith knew once the sun went down, it would take Rebecca with it...she would melt into the light, and never come back. In front of her, the shadow had almost completely engulfed Buffy.

“Buffy!” Faith screamed.

“Five by five,” Buffy said, and walked deeper into the forest, her voice trailing back to Faith, thin and hollow; a ghost’s voice.

Faith looked back at the park again. She saw the sun, a sliver of red now like a bloody scythe, about to set. She knew she just had time to make it back to Rebecca before it took her...

She looked into the forest, and caught a glimpse of golden blonde hair, melting into shadow. Once the shadows took her, Buffy would be gone...

Faith heard a voice. It was a whisper on the wind, but it felt like it was right next to her. Then Rebecca’s scent came to her, and Faith knew the voice was hers, even though she couldn’t see her.

“Mind your sister,” Rebecca whispered.

And Faith entered the dark forest, as the sun set behind her, and night covered the world.

Bon Jovi flew across the old warehouse and crashed into a pile of crates.

He looked up, dazed. Angel was standing above him. He looked annoyed.

And Angel had a very large battle axe in his hand. Bon Jovi thought the battle axe looked annoyed too.

“You’re a hard man to find, Bobby,” Angel said. “That’s a really stupid tee-shirt.”

Angel picked him up by the neck and slammed him against the crates again. Bobby saw stars, and winced in pain.

“Dude, take a chill pill!” Bobby screamed.

“I killed a whole bunch of demons and severely injured a quarter-Irish bartender to find you,” Angel said. “So that was fun. But now I’m all out of demons. So, not much fun anymore. How do you get in touch with those priests?”

“I don’t...know what...” Bobby started to say. Angel smacked him across the face, dislodging a tooth. Bobby spit out blood.

“Okay, so I did the whole cool thing where I walk into the bar and torture everyone really slowly and inventively,” Angel said. “But it took awhile and I’m on a schedule here, Bobby.” He raised his axe.

“Last chance,” Angel said. “And who is that on that tee-shirt?”

“Bon Jovi,” Bobby said. “He’s a...it’s a rock band,” he added, as Angel’s eyes narrowed.

“No one listens to Chopin anymore,” Angel said. “I hate this century. This is the part where I cut your head off with this axe unless you start talking about those priests. No inventive torture. Just you being dust. Now.”

“M-my Boss handles that...handles...the contacts,” Bobby said, shaking.

“Who’s your boss?” Angel said, lowering his axe.

“I...I don’t know,” Bobby whimpered.

“I kinda like ‘Mandy’,” Angel said. “But that’s pretty much it for modern stuff. Nice talking to you.” He raised his axe again.

“Wait, wait!” Bobby shrieked. “Please! We only talk on the phone, I don’t know his name! He’s just this guy with an English accent, I don’t know anything else, I never even seen him! All I got’s a phone number, I swear!”

“An English accent?” Angel said, his eyes narrowing again.

“Yeah. Please...I’ll give you his number? But don’t tell him it came from me,” Bobby whimpered. “The guy’s a psycho. They say he killed two Slayers...”

Bobby noticed that Angel suddenly looked a lot more annoyed.

The trees were thick and deformed, twisted into strange, sinister shapes. It was dark and hot beneath them. The air felt heavy. Buffy stopped and waited for Faith to catch up to her.

“Me and you,” Faith said. “The Chosen two.”

As they walked further into the forest, they heard the sound of hoofbeats coming closer.

“I heard there was a witch living in this forest,” Buffy said.

“I thought she lived in the park,” Faith said.

“I think she goes back and forth,” Buffy said.

Buffy marched through the forest. Faith plodded beside her. Buffy could tell she was afraid; she could smell it on her.

“I love you, baby,” Buffy said. “I’ll always protect you. Always.”

“But what do we do when the man on the black horse gets here?” Faith said. “How do we breathe?”

“White always moves first,” Buffy said. “White has the advantage.”

“Priest takes pawn,” Faith said, and pointed to a dead body lying in the shadows under a tree.

Buffy stopped, and started shaking. Faith started to walk toward the body, but Buffy pulled her back.

“I don’t want to see it,” Buffy said.

“It’s a male,” Faith said. “Late teens. Dark hair, medium height, medium build. We need to preserve the crime scene, check for fingerprints, and get statements from witnesses.”

“Please don’t make me look,” Buffy said, reverting to a little girl again. “Please don’t make me! Please don’t make me!” Buffy screamed, and started to cry, and hugged Faith with her eyes squeezed shut.

The hoofbeats stopped. Buffy looked up...

Four Horsemen surrounded them.

They were skeletons in black, hooded robes. They sat astride their horses, jet black, sickly yellow, ashen gray, pure white, and looked down at Buffy and Faith with eyes like stars.

The forest grew deathly cold. Faith could see her breath in the air, white on black, each breath floating up into the sky, making its mark on the world, and then slowly fading away to nothing in the cold, until only the black remained.

She held Buffy close, and tried to protect her.

But how could she protect her against this?

The one on the black horse held out his hand. Buffy walked toward him.

“Buffy!” Faith screamed. “Stop!”

Buffy walked away from her. Faith tried to pull her back, but her hands went right through her, as if Buffy were already a ghost...

“Seventeen,” Buffy said, and she was seventeen again now. “Seventeen is the average life-expectancy of a Slayer.”

“It’s nineteen,” Faith said, helplessly, as Buffy reached out to the rider on the black horse...

The rider on the white horse held up his sword.

“Faith,” the rider said.

And then his sword was in Faith’s hand, filling the forest with light...and Faith leaped, screaming, at the rider on the black horse...

There was a bolt of lightning, and a crack of thunder.

The forest was gone. The Horsemen had disappeared with it. Buffy looked around, and saw that they were back in the park, and the sun was rising. She could see Faith, and the blonde-haired woman. The woman was lying on the grass, covered with blood. Faith was crying beside her, holding her in her arms...

The blonde-haired woman whispered something in Faith’s ear.

Buffy knelt beside Faith, and they looked down at the blonde-haired woman together. Buffy looked into the woman’s blue eyes...deep, dark blue, like the ocean on a summer day. The woman looked back at her, and smiled.

Buffy heard Faith whisper, “I love you, Becca.”

The woman whispered again, in Faith’s ear...

And then the woman smiled, and closed her eyes, and faded into the sunlight.

Faith held Rebecca in her arms on the grass, as the sun rose and vanquished the night.

“She isn’t me,” Rebecca whispered in her ear. “When she comes...don’t believe her.”

“I love you, Becca,” Faith whispered.

“My girl,” Rebecca whispered in her ear.

And Rebecca smiled, and closed her eyes, and faded into the sunlight.

Faith broke down in tears, crying hysterically, and fell on the grass. Buffy hugged her.

“It’s okay,” Buffy whispered, and started crying. “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay...I’m here now, baby. I’m here. I’m here...”

Buffy closed her eyes...

...And woke up.

She woke up, in the dark, in her bed with Faith...Faith was holding her in her arms. And looking right at her, with tears in her eyes.

“Buffy...I just had the strangest dream,” Faith said.

They sat in the kitchen and ate leftover lasagna and meatballs. The sky outside the window was gray. The sun would be coming up soon.

“Shit,” Faith said.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Buffy said.

“We had the same dream. But how? How the hell does that happen?”

“Because being a Slayer is like winning a trip to Crazytown.”

“What do we do? Tell everyone? Tell them what? That we both had some weird-ass Alice in Wonderland dream?”

“Well, what have we got? We were sisters. Your Watcher was our mother. I have no idea what that means, except that I love you and you love me, and we’re both Slayers. Maybe that’s what it means. Then there was a big dark forest...”

“There was supposed to be a witch in the forest. You said you heard there was a witch, and sometimes she’s in the forest and sometimes she’s in the park.”

“Well, Willow’s a witch, but I don’t know what it means that she’s in a forest and a park. And there are lots of other people in the world doing magic.”

“There was a dead body in the forest too, but you were afraid to go near it. You wouldn’t let me go look at it.”

“And then there were the Four Horsemen,” Buffy said, not wanting to think about the dead body for some reason. “That part’s easy enough.”

“There was this one weird thing,” Faith said. “You mentioned a number, remember? Six eighty-two?”

“I remember,” Buffy said. “It was after I said it’s always darkest before...”

“Dawn,” Faith said.

“Always darkest before the dawn. Six eighty-two. Sure, that makes perfect sense to me. Kinda like how trigonometry makes perfect sense to me too.”

“No idea?”

“Nope.

“Okay, well, looking at the parts of the dream that do make sense...sort of, anyway...okay, so we know Slayer dreams can come true. Becca told me they can, plus I’ve had a couple weird dreams here and there and they sorta like came true in weird ways.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“So you think maybe we haven’t stopped the Four Horsemen from coming after all?” Faith said.

“Fuck,” Buffy said.

The doorbell rang. Buffy and Faith both knew it was Angel.

“About time,” Buffy said, as they both got up from the table and went to answer the door. “Here’s hoping he found something we can use.”

“Took long enough,” Faith said. “Had to come back with something.”

They opened the door. Angel was standing there holding his axe, a case of Rolling Rock beer and a case of Guinness.

“See?” Faith said. “Told you he’d come back with something. He came back with beer.”

“We have a problem,” Angel said.

They sat in the kitchen together. Buffy and Faith ate meatballs. Angel drank Guinness.

“Spike?” Faith said.

“Spike,” Angel said.

“Fuck,” Buffy said.