Another author's note: This story will be told from each of the gang's pov's. You will not find out who dies until the very end. <g>
* * * * * * *
~Buffy~
When Giles called me over to his house, I just thought he wanted me to help
him with something in the kitchen. He'd been cooking a lot lately, said that
it was a 'good hobby to have,' and that it used to be a 'passion' of his.
Or
something like that. I sometimes never know what Giles is talking about.
Anyway, I figured that something had exploded, because he sounded frantic.
But, much to my surprise, the Hellmouth was rearing its ugly, and I thought
buried, head again.
"Wait a second," I said, effectively stopping his rambling speech, "Vampires?
A group of them? I mean, sure, a vampire here and there-- they still exist
after all. But we haven't seen this much vampire activity since the
Hellmouth closed four years ago. I thought for good."
"Well, ah, yes." That was when he took his glasses off, and I got *really*
nervous. "B-But it isn't as though we've never faced anything like this
before. You've averted the apocalypse several times."
"Apocalypse?!" I shouted. "Now we're talking apocalypse?"
"Buffy, you're the longest lived Slayer in history. This isn't something
we
can't handle," he said, polishing his glasses with that handkerchief.
It wandered through my mind to ask how old that particular handkerchief was,
as I had been seeing it since I was sixteen, but I shook off the thought
and
stared at him, trying to be as intimidating as I could.
"Okay. So what *exactly* is it?" I asked, my hands on my hips.
Giles sighed. "It's... They're... A group of the Old Ones, as they call
themselves, has banned together. It's written of in the Codex. I wasn't
expecting this... Well, in our lifetimes, but, with the Hellmouth..." He
put
his glasses back on. "Perhaps I read it wrong all of those years ago. I
blame myself for not being fully prepared for this. Had I... Had I been
acting as a Watcher, even through this- this lull we've been having.."
"A four year lull?" I broke in.
He shrugged. "Had I been researching and looking for what was to come, I
would have been able to better inform you of this. I am sorry."
"Giles, don't be sorry. Be... Giles. Do the stuff you used to do." I could
already feel the muscles-- long underused stress muscles-- in my back
tightening. I sank down onto his couch. "It's been so long. Since
anything!"
"I know, Buffy," he said softly. "I know. I've been up half the night since
it was drawn to my attention. I'm so sorry."
"Stop it!" I shouted. Then I glanced at him, and slumped, feeling terrible.
He looked shocked and sad and like he had just lost his best friend. "Look,
really. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's. I mean, I haven't been
coming over here to train, have I? It's been, what, six months since I've
even slain a vamp? Nobody could have expected this."
"But I *should* have expected it," he said despondently.
Suddenly, without knowing how I was put into the role, I was the comforter,
not the comforted. It felt nice, though, to know that I could help him for
a
change, after all the years he spent helping me. I put my hand over his and
squeezed it. "It's going to be all right," I assured him. My spine
straightened, and a funny little tingle shot through my body, a tingle I
hadn't felt in a long time. I smiled. "You're right. It's nothing we
haven't faced. And I could really use a good fight."
The ghost of a smile drifted over his face, and he touched my shoulder
fondly. "Yes. The others are on their way. We'll..."
"What others?"
"The, um, Scooby Gang?" He looked at me a little hesitantly while using that
phrase, the phrase that my friends and I had been saying since high school,
and I had to stifle a laugh. I just loved Giles. "Xander and Willow,
Cordelia, Oz, and.. ah..."
"You invited Angel?" I asked, point-blank.
Giles winced. "I did, yes. I thought that it might behoove us to use him
in
battle, if there is actually a battle...."
"It's okay, Giles," I reassured him with a smile. I sort of wondered myself
what it was going to be like. I hadn't seen him since... Had it been so long
that I couldn't remember? No, when we closed the Hellmouth I remembered
suddenly. I had been twenty-three, and he had still sent shivers down my
spine. Would it be any different this time?
Would it ever?
Giles looked relieved. "Good. And, Buffy?"
"What?"
"I wasn't going to mention this, considering our new level of danger, but
I
can't turn off the oven. Someway, the knob has stuck," he said sheepishly.
"It's set at four-hundred degrees."
I laughed, getting up. "I'm on it."
* * * * * * * *
A half hour later, when everyone had arrived-- and the stove knob had been
fixed-- we assembled in Giles's living room. I looked around, appreciating
what I saw. It felt like old times. All of the sudden I was eighteen again.
Willow and Oz were holding hands, Giles was looking through books, and
Cordelia and Xander were bickering. Only Angel was missing, but I wasn't
surprised.
He always liked making a late entrance.
I was filled with warmth as I looked at them. How could anyone be as loyal
as they were? No matter what was happening, they were always there for me,
always willing to lend time and strength and power and anything I needed
to
stop the world from ending. How many times had they gone without sleep for
days, just to stay up and research the newest big bad in the dark? How many
times had I leaned on them, literally and figuratively, after fighting a
battle where I had been sure I would die?
I smiled to myself.
And then snapped back to attention, realizing that Giles had been talking
for
several minutes.
"...Means that they're connected to the Old ways of vampires."
"Oh, back when they still spelled vampire with a 'y'?" Xander cut in smoothly.
Giles let a laugh bubble up in him for a moment but then, as he always did
when the moment was serious and he had found something that Xander said
amusing, he pushed it back down and glared a little bit, clearing his throat.
"Yes. Their ways are different from the newer breeds of vampires. For
instance, the lineage that they come from. Most of them are part of a...
A
very well bred family, I suppose one might say. And those that aren't, have
the same beliefs."
"What beliefs are those?" Willow piped up nervously.
"Well, if you'll recall the first time I met you and Xander," Giles started,
taking off his glasses again, "I explained that vampires are waiting for
the
human race to die out, waiting for the Old Ones to return. However, don't
be
confused that they call themselves the Old Ones. It's perhaps in homage to
the ones that came before them. And... Their feeding patterns are different."
"Be confused?" Cordelia rolled her eyes. "How could we *possibly* be
confused?"
Xander sighed, shaking his head and glaring at the ex-cheerleader. "How are
their feeding patterns different?"
"Well, they don't simply feed," Giles explained. "More often than not-- and
by that I mean, at almost every single occasion where one of them requires
blood-- they get to know their victims. And there's a ritual that they must
perform before the final drinking of the blood. It has never been written
of, however, only alluded to, so I can't be sure of what that ritual is."
I shivered, feeling hot and cold all at once. The hair on the back of my
neck stood up.
Angel was here.
"I might be able to help with that," he broke in.
The group turned to look at him, and everyone fell silent for a moment as
they looked from me to him and then back at me again, wondering how we would
react to each other.
I guess even I was wondering, considering that I didn't even get a chance
to
speak to him before he left the last time.
"Hi, Angel."
His eyes turned to me, and when his gaze was locked on mine, I felt like
he
had been avoiding looking at me before-- Like he had to have been, or else
I
would have felt the fear and passion and heat and power like this before.
I
drank him in with my eyes, hungry for years of moments without him in them,
greedy for the taste of him and the feel of his skin under my palms.
He cleared his throat, looking shaken. "Hi, Buffy."
I let out a ragged breath, and then inhaled again, sucking at my lips.
"So..." I cleared my throat too. "So you may be able to help with this?"
He smiled slowly and I was even more rattled than before.
I looked away as he began to speak.
CONTINUES