Reunions: Part 3
by JoAnne Storm
I inhaled sharply. Spike.... I had searched for him for two years before joining Dragon Team, the unknown section of the military designed to hunt demons. I had never even come close.

After the horror of the beach party, I stayed at the hospital until dawn. Then, I had broken into Giles's weaponry and stole all the supplies I could carry. I had also went to the Army base and "picked up" a few guns for daytime protection. I became a hunter, and Spike was the prey.

I roamed for two years, never finding a hint of him. I killed any vampire I could come across, but no Spike. Then, one night, while hunting, I came across the Dragon Team in New York City.

At first, I thought they were just a group of guys who didn't know better than to be out after dark. Sunnydale might be the Hellmouth, but most cities have vampires. The Big Apple had an abundance of them. The five men of the Team were surrounded by about twenty vamps, and were slowly whittling the numbers down. Neither group expected me to join in, in fact, I'm not even sure they realized I was there until I staked a vamp.

I dusted quite a few vampires by the time the team had destroyed most of them. Only three were left, and they ran off with their tails between their legs.

The team and I stared at each other for a few minutes before I decided to leave. One of them, a guy named Harry who was killed by a werewolf a few months later, tried to stop me, but after two years of fighting vamps, I had learned to take care of myself. When he went to lay a hand on my shoulder, I flipped him over and landed him on his ass. The rest didn't try to stop me after that.

Two nights later,exacty two years after graduation night, I was in a bar, well on my way to getting drunk when George found me. He came over and introduced himself and I recognized him from the fight. He sat down without asking me, which pissed me off big time. I went to punch him and ended up on the floor. I still have no idea how he did it.

I had become a antisocial punk in two years of wandering. I needed a mentor, and George became that to me. I joined the Army and quickly rose in the ranks with the Team's help and my knowledge of the Army from a Halloween gone wrong. I became the youngest member of the Team the next year, even though I had been working with them in an unofficial capacity before that. Many of the members come and go, but George and I have stayed the longest. Two official years for me, six for George. He was one of the original members of the Team, a real veteran of the war against evil.

All in all, George and I probably get along so well because we've been slaying the longest. We even trade old war stories, stuff the new Team members usually scoff at. Of course, most of the new members don't live very long, either.

George knew the most about my past among anyone in the Team. The night he found me, I told him about Jesse, the friend I was forced to kill. Willow and her werewolf boyfriend, me and bug people. The only thing I never told him about was Watchers and Slayers. That's not my secret to tell. He only knows that a group of us banded together to fight.

I even told him about Cordelia and her tragic end. And the reason I had spent two years wandering: to find the demon who destroyed the love of my life. And, in turn, to destroy him.

The other members were arriving now. They were all at least ten years older than me, and hardened warriors. They had been part of the Team for at least one year,and that told me that George believed that this mission was very dangerous. None of the newbies were going to be included on this excursion.

Bobby was the first to step into the room. He was a stocky, Italian born Marine who packed one hell of a punch. I once saw him lose his temper and break a two-by-four with his fist, then continue to hit things, even though he had broken his hand.

Steven, another Marine, was right behind Bobby, as he usually was. The two were the best of friends and a couple despite the fact that they were total opposites from one another. Steven was tall and wiry, with hair so blonde it was almost white, and no noticeable temper.

Juan, a Spaniard of medium height was the only member of the Team who wasn't part of the US Military. He had been a gorilla in South America for several years before retiring to live with his pretty young wife. The Team hadn't gotten there in time to save her, but Juan knew fighting and realized it wasn't our fault. He immigrated to America as soon as he had buried his wife, and joined the Team.

Kathryn was our demolitions expert, a hard, bitter woman with dark red hair. The Navy had refused to let her join the Seals, and almost discharged her for hitting the commanding officer who gave her the news before we stepped in. The discharge was prevented, but she had to spend some time in the Brig. She was approached by the Team the day she got out.

The last to come is was Jerry, a tall, thin, mousy Air Force Intelligence captain. For all of his bookish looks, the man was one of the deadliest I knew. He had been studying magick since he was a teenager and could do amazing things with it.

They were all standing around, looking at Angel with distrust. They didn't know him from Adam and could sense the tension betweenthe two of us. That was enough to put them all on guard.

Kathryn, with her usual bluntness, jerked her head towards Angel and asked, "Who's he?"

"I'll wait until Henri gets here before starting. I don't want to repeat myself." George answered.

"He ain't gonna make it. He was killed in a car wreck today. We tried to call you, but you couldn't be reached."

We were all silent for a moment, remembering our friend.. Henri had been a good man. To have him die in a car accident seemed wrong. He always said he wanted to be killed in battle or to die with a smile on his face.

George was the first one to break the silence.

"This is Angel Galway. He'll be joining us on this mission." No one argued. If George said the guy was to be trusted, he was to be trusted. That was the way the Team operated, on trust. I was the only one who knew Angel couldn't be trusted.

Jerry spoke up, "What IS the mission? You didn't have me research anything, so how are we supposed to know what we'll be getting ourselves into."

"We didn't need to look up anything. Angel here is an expert on our target."

I snorted at that. An expert on Spike? I guess being his sire could be considered as expertise.

"We'll be going to a small town in California." My head snapped up at this information. Surely he didn't mean...

"Sunnydale." Angel stated in a matter of fact manner.

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