Crime and Punishment: Part 4
by Fire Girl
I don't own these characters, they're the property of Joss Whedon. The only one that I do own is Kayla.



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Part Four

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Buffy became frantic.

"What happened?" she asked someone.

"He was attacked in his home." Buffy soon realized that she was speaking to a fairly attractive paramedic.

"By who?" she asked.

"Don't know. Whoever it was, they ran off. We're taking him to the hospital now. Is he a friend of yours?"

She nodded.

"Don't worry." he said, "We'll take good care of him."

The paramedic then hopped into the back of the ambulance and shut the door. Buffy ran around the corner to the 7-11 and called Xander. He called up Willow and Cordelia, then went to pick up Buffy from the 7-11.

The four of them sat in the waiting room for only a few minutes, before a nurse came out and told them that they could go in. They eagerly entered the room. Buffy didn't stay long. After seeing the cuts and bruises that marked Giles' face, she ran from the room.

Willow followed her out. She found Buffy in the hall, looking shocked and covering her mouth with her hand.

"Buffy, what happened?"

Buffy leaned against the wall and looked at her friend.

"I should have known." was all she could say.

"How? No one expected this?"

"I should have. He saw him. He knows."

Willow was getting annoyed with her friend's obscurity.

"Knows what?"

Buffy showed her the letter.

"Oh, my God." She said when she had finished, "You think the same person attacked Giles?"

"I do. I also that think whoever it is will also come after us, now that we have proof."

"So, Giles knows about this?"

"No, all he knows is that a vampire caused the accident. I think Kubar wants to kill him before he gets too close."

"What are we gonna do?"

"What we usually do: stop him." With that, she walked into Giles room feeling much better. The first thing she did was to give Giles the letter.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Read it." She told him, then went on to question Xander about Giles' condition. His arm had been put in a cast. He'd used his damaged arm to throw a punch. Besides that and all the bruises he'd received from his attacker, he was alright. This surprised Buffy. Giles was tougher than she'd expected.

Everyone else watched Giles' expression. It started in surprise: a lot of raised eyebrows and "Hmm"s. Then as he got deeper into the letter it became cold. A scowl spread across his face.

"I don't believe it." he said, "How could her own people do this?"

"Because they're obsessed with their values of right and wrong." Said

Buffy.

"We can't just sit back and let them get away with this. We have to do something."

"I've got Angel on the case. We just need to chill until he contacts us."

"Agreed. When do you expect to hear from him?"

"Actually, I need to call him. He thinks I'm at your house."

"When do you plan to call him?"

"I'll give it a few minutes. I don't know when he'll be home."

They soon realized that no one around them had any clue of what they were talking about. Buffy read the letter to them. Their reactions were similar to that of Giles.

"I need to write a letter." She said changing the subject, "Do you know where I can get some paper?"

He pointed to a desk at the other end of the room, "Look in the drawer. There should be some paper in there."

She got out a sheet, then sat at the desk and began to write.

Dear Sheri,

It's been a long day. It's about 1:30 am and I'm exhausted. I'm at the hospital, where Giles has just been readmitted. Luckily this time, his injuries aren't as bad. They're just more visible. There are bruises all over his face and arms. Obviously, he fought back and won. You're probably very confused so let me tell you what's been going on.

I asked Angel to find out what he could about the accident and let me tell you, he went above and beyond the call of duty. He wrote to a vampire that actually lives with the Romany tribe. He asked the vampire if he had any info about Jenny's death. In the reply, the vampire, Troy, said that the accident, was no accident. When the elders heard that Jenny was marrying a friend of one of their enemies, they couldn't take it and decided to have her killed.

Apparently, there's another member of the tribe here in Sunnydale. He's the one who set up her death. Whoever killed Jenny has been after everyone else. He's already gone after Giles, who was lucky to get out alive. Right now, I'm not quite sure what to do. I have to wait for Angel to get back to me. He's trying to find out more about Kubar. I'm enclosing a copy of the letter so you can read it for yourself. Tell me what you think of it. If you have any ideas, let me know.

Love,

Buffy

Buffy folded the letter and put it in her bag.

"I'll be back." she said, then went down the hall to find a pay phone. She called Angel, but didn't get an answer. When she returned to the room, she found that Kayla had appeared from nowhere, again. She was trying to use her magic to heal him, but wasn't getting too far.

"Did you get a hold of him?" asked Giles.

"No. He's not back yet. I'll have to try again later. In the mean time, tell us what happened."

"I went out for a walk and when I returned the door was unlocked. I thought I'd just forgotten to lock it, but when I got inside, I was attacked. He wasn't very big. I was able to knock him over quite easily, but he was quick. I knocked two things out of his hand. The first was a knife. At first, I thought the other object was another weapon, but I found out later that it was my address book. Though, I don't know what he would want with it."

"He's looking for something."

The voice had come from the doorway. Everyone turned towards it and saw Angel. He entered the room and shut the door then continued, "He's trying to track down all of us. He's looking for Buffy and me in particular."

"Why?" asked Buffy.

"Because we're the only ones who can stop him."

"Did you find out anything about Kubar?"

"Nothing new. Short man, annoying voice. That's all he told me. What I do know is that he knows all of our secrets. He knows that you're the slayer and that we've all been helping her. He went after Giles, and he'll come for the rest of us. We're all involved, now. What are you doing here?"

The question was directed towards Kayla. She gave him an annoyed look.

"I'm involved too, remember?"

"You shouldn't be."

"And why not? I know just as much you do. Besides, I can help."

Angel sighed. He was sick of arguing with her. It seems that's all they'd done for the past couple months.

"Alright." He said, then addressing everyone, "So now what?"

"Same problem as before," said Buffy, "We have to figure out who

Kubar is."

"Uh, is there anyway we can do that tomorrow." Said Cordelia, "Sorry, but I have work in five hours."

Everyone looked at their watches. 4 am. It was agreed that they would meet at his room the next night to discuss plans. Before leaving, they fixed a watch schedule for Giles' room. One person, would be either in the room or right outside it at all times. Willow took the first watch.

Upon leaving the hospital, everyone headed home. Kayla did her disappearing trick and was instantly back in her and Amy's apartment. Xander gave Cordelia a ride and Buffy walked with Angel until their paths split.

On the way to her house, Buffy dropped the letter she'd written to Sheri in a local mailbox. She looked at the road ahead of her. It was about a mile to her house. Before continuing, she let out a long yawn.

The sky was just beginning to get light, telling Buffy that she had to get home soon, before her mom woke up. She began to run. As she turned a corner, she ran right into someone, knocking both her and the person over. Before she could even look up to see who she'd hit, she heard a familiar voice say, "Damn kids, never looking where they're going."

She stood up and found herself facing Principal Snyder.

"Summers!" he said sharply.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked. Had this been any other day, she would have been much more polite. Instead, she continued,

"I all the thought monsters went back to their caves at first light."

"And the hoodlums to their beds." He said just as rudely.

Realizing, the disrespectful tone in her voice, she said, "Sorry, but really, why are you out here so early?"

"That's none of your business."

"Did you hear about Ms. Calendar?"

"Of course." He said, his tone remaining sharp.

This annoyed Buffy. After the night she'd just had, this was the last thing that she needed. She quickly changed the subject by saying, "Look, you don't need to be so mean to me. I don't know why you think I'm some kind of criminal especially when I've been trying to be good. At the end of the school year, I was getting a B average and I stayed out of trouble. Why do you continue to hate me?"

"Because, I know from experience that thugs like you don't change. By next year, you'll be back to cutting class and destroying property. Don't think I haven't seen your kind before."

"Believe me, I doubt you have." Buffy said, then walked away. She didn't get far, when she heard him mutter "Damn Slayers." She stopped.

"What!" she walked back to him, "What did you say?"

"Nothing." He said innocently.

"I heard you. If you knew about me, why didn't you cut me a little slack? Why the hell did you insist on being so... so bitter to me." A sudden realization came to her. The word "bitter" had sparked a memory. She tried to say something, but found herself speechless. It all made sense.

Finally, she said, "It's you. You did it."

Without a word, Snyder took off. Buffy ran after him, but halfway down the block, he turned and pointed toward her. Force shot from his finger, knocking her against a tree. She hit her head and soon passed out.


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