Disclaimer: These characters belong to the crazy, but lovable Joss Whedon. The characters belongs to Joss. The character of Conner, and the story belong solely to me. ME! Please ask my permission before posting it.
My comment: I don't know how long this fanfic is gonna be so please be patient. Also forgive any grammar problems. My grammar stinks, and my grammar check is so screwed up. Sigh...
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The creature stood staring over the lights of Sunnydale. From this bluff, it could see the lights in the town glittered brightly. Almost as brightly as star's do in the night's sky. I will grow powerful here, it thought to himself. I will destroy. Finally, I will have power...
* * *
As Buffy Summers walked down the hallway reluctantly. Joy beyond belief, she thought to herself. The first day of school. Oh, why couldn't summer be a couple months longer. Why couldn't it be year long? As she sighed to herself, she heard someone yell her name. She turned around and saw Willow rushing towards her.
"Hey Will, what's up?" Buffy asked casually.
"Have you seen Xander? He said he would meet us this morning, but I haven't seen him." Willow asked.
Buffy shifted her feet Ever since Xander had told her how he felt about her, it has been... uncomfortable for her to talking about him, or even be around him. Sure they hung out this summer, but never alone with each other. They always hung out with Willow. And even then it had been awkward.
"Ummm, no. I haven't seen Xander yet." Buffy replied, trying to hide her discomfort.
Willow, oblivious to Buffy's discomfort, sighed and walked with Buffy towards the library at the end of the hall.
"So anything happen last night?" Willow asked.
"Nope." Buffy replied. "The weirdness factor is still at an all time low."
Buffy frowned. Ever since the Hellmouth closed and the Master died, the supernatural stuff in Sunnydale dropped. There had been no vampires, witches, or any other weird stuff happening.
Buffy and Willow walked into the Library and looked around. It had been repaired over the vacation, and was looking all nice and new. And it didn't take much to convince the school board that the brakes in Cordelia's car had broken by "accident". And luckily the car had "crashed" into the school without resulting in extremely heavy damage or injuries. Cordelia herself had kept the secret of the vampires to herself, probably because it would have made her look crazy. Luckily, Cordelia had not seen Buffy fight the Master, so she did not know anything about the Slayer thing. Buffy turned as Giles and Xander walked out of Giles' office.
"Girls. Together again like old times." Xander commented with a grin.
"Am I glad to see you." Giles said. "As I have been trying to explain to Xander, a dangerous prophecy is about to take place."
"A prophecy," Buffy cried. "That is so seriously something that I don't want to hear again! Why is it that almost every time I see you there is "A violent and dangerous prophecy" about to take place?"
"Well, I am sorry." Giles said sarcastically. "I guess I feel that you need something to do during your study halls."
"Okay, what is it this time?" Buffy asked. "Zombies? Werewolves? Disgruntled north pole elves?"
"Hardly." Giles replied dryly.
Buffy, Willow, and Xander sat at the table and watched Giles pull a book from the shelves. He was flipping the pages when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Buffy whirled around and saw a very cute boy. He was around six feet tall and very muscular. He had short brown hair and his eyes were a light gray. Very beautiful eyes, Buffy thought. He was wearing a black shirt with a white T-shirt underneath. He was also wearing slightly baggy black jeans with white and black hi-tops. She then realized that he was staring at them. Why is he staring at us? Buffy then realized that they were all standing there with their mouths wide open.
"What do you want?" Giles asked sharply, being the first one to recover.
The boy smiled and responded with a slight, unidentifiable accent, "I came here to get books, you know for class. Those things that you read. To learn. Principal Snyder told me to go to the library to get them from a Mr. Giles. And I was guessing that this was the library, you know because of the vast supply of books in the immediate area. Not to mention the sign over the door that says library."
"Oh, quite." Giles replied, flustered. Giles walked over to the counter and asked, "What is your year?"
"I'm a Junior," The boy replied. "Here is my schedule."
Giles took the schedule and disappeared into the back. The boy turned back to them and smiled at them again. God what a great smile, Buffy thought. And he had such a cool accent. Sexy. She smiled in return and asked him, "So you're new?"
"Yes." He responded.
"Welcome to Sunnydale." Xander said cheerfully. "We are the unofficial welcoming committee. So, have any secrets you want to share with us. Come on. Don't be shy. Share. If you don't, all sorts of rumors start, and I promise that we'll promise we'll keep the rumors close to the truth."
At that point, both Buffy and Willow took it upon themselves to kicked Xander on both of his shins.
"Owwwwwwwwwwww. I thought it was funny." Xander said softly. The boy's smile widened. "Oh, how nice..." He replied, smiling. "The new kid gets to share. Okay, the name would be Conner. Conner Matthews. I'm from Scotland originally. Moved to America a long while ago. Moved to Sunnydale recently. I'm 17. A Gemini. I'm into art, music, girls, and staying healthy. Is that enough to get some good juicy rumors started?"
Xander gave Buffy and Willow a amused look and responded, "Yeah, that's enough..."
Buffy stood up and offered her hand. Conner shook it gently. Buffy felt shivers run down her spine. This is a good sign, she thought to herself.
"Buffy... Would be me. Buffy Summers. That's Xander Harris, and Willow Rosenburg."
"Nice to meet you all," Conner replied while releasing Buffy's hand.
At that moment Giles came in with a small stack of books. Conner took them from him and swiftly shoved them in his forest green backpack. He looked up at the small group again and smiled again.
"Thanks for the books, Mr. Giles. Nice to meet you all." Conner said as he headed for the door.
And with that Conner walked out of the library. Giles cleared his throat and asked softly, "Now where were we before we were interrupted?"
Xander spoke up first. "Prophecy, ancient doom, dangerous, yadda-yadda-yadda..." Xander responded with a silly grin.
"Thank you," Giles replied dryly.
Buffy returned to her seat and watched as Giles laid a large burnt book on the table.
"I called one of my watcher friends in Britain, she, um, runs a very large library there. Anyway, I called her and told her about the, um, slump of supernatural activity in the area. And she sent me this." Giles said, while flipping through the pages.
"Oooh," Xander replied. "That would be a book. A unique thing to find in a library."
Giles gave Xander a look and continued. "It is, or rather was a large record of slayer lore. My friend recently acquired it in a small bookstore in Sicily. Most of the pages were burnt in a Nazi bonfire. But enough survived so this rough translation could be read."
"After a rest of seventy days and seventy nights, the mouth of hell shall start to heal. A black spirit shall arrive and take up a right. It shall lead an army of dark souls. After that night, chaos shall fall upon town. The slayer..."
"The slayer shall..." Buffy repeated, while shaking her head. "The slayer shall what?"
"Um, that's where the problem would hit." Giles responded with a nervous smile. "The rest of it was burned too badly."
Xander raised a hand up and asked, "You could call me simple, but what does it all mean?"
Giles sighed and replied, "Basically, it is saying that seventy days after our battle with the Master, the Hellmouth shall become active again. It will heal itself."
"Heal itself." Xander exclaimed. "No, no, no, healing would be bad. It would be a bad thing. A very bad thing. It would lead to demons and vampires and, and bad things!" Willow nodded her head vigorously, and added, "I agree with Xander. The healing part of this would be a really bad thing."
"What about this "Black Spirit" thingy?" asked Buffy.
"I, I'm not really sure." Giles replied while shaking his head. "It is all pretty vague. From what I can surmise, this "Black Spirit thingy" is a warrior. A powerful warrior. It looks like it will lead a band of demons through Sunnydale."
"What about the chaos thing?" asked Willow.
Giles sighed and sat in one of the chairs. He looked at them and shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Well seventy days after the Master's destruction, which is next Saturday, the Hellmouth will heal, and the supernatural activity in the area will return to what passes for "normal" here. The chaos part could be the next day, or it could be months to come. I'm, I'm not sure."
Buffy stood up and asked, "But whatever it is, it is going to be big?"
Giles nodded, "Yes, very big."
Buffy fell back into her seat and stated, "What a perfect way to start the first day of school..."
* * *
Later that night...
The creature stood in the alley. Darkness had overcome the day. Soon, very soon, chaos shall reign, and I will stand. Powerful. Soon...
* * *
The creature watched the young blooded walk through the street. It could have fed now if it chose to. But it could wait. When the time comes, it will become powerful. And the streets would flood with blood. Soon. Very soon...
* * *
Buffy, Xander, and Willow walked towards the Bronze. After the first day of school and a very long meeting after school with Giles, it was good to relax. It is cool tonight, Buffy thought to herself. She clutched Angel's jacket close to her. Angel. Three weeks after school had ended, Angel had came to her one night. She had been hunting, to no avail, for vampires. He told her that he had to go away for a while, and would return in a couple of weeks. Buffy sighed as the group entered the Bronze, and was welcomed by the sounds of the band. The gang sat at their usual table near the dance floor and stared at the crowd of students dancing in front of the band.
Buffy spotted the new kid, Conner at a table a couple feet from them. She also noticed that he was looked very, VERY good. He was wearing a black sports jacket over a black T-shirt and black jeans. But then, she saw that someone else had noticed him too. Cordelia walked through the crowd until she was in front of Conner. As usual, she was wearing another short, and revealing, skirt. She must really want Conner's attention, Buffy thought. Well, who can blame her. The boy was fine. Hell, if Cordelia hadn't gone up, she might have. Buffy remained cautious about dating though. After that experience with Owen, she was very careful.
Buffy noticed that Conner had finally looked up and was looking at Cordelia. Buffy smiled when she saw Conner's eyebrows arch. Buffy faintly heard Cordelia ask Conner if he wanted to dance. Conner smiled and said sure.
After she heard him say sure, Cordelia practically ripped Conner from his seat and dragged him onto the dance floor. They started dancing to a nice fast paced song, that was when a slow song came on. How convenient, thought Buffy. She had noticed Cordelia talking to the lead guitarist when they had walked in. Must have asked a small favor, Buffy mused. Cordelia was practically attaching herself to Conner. He had a look of complete surprise across his face.
Just then Xander snapped his fingers in front of her. She turned around to see her friends staring at her.
"Hellllloooo. You okay?" Xander asked.
"What?" Buffy asked.
Willow smiled slightly and responded, "You were completely zoned out there."
Buffy frowned and said, "I was just noticing something."
Willow smile broadened and responded, "I know."
Buffy felt her face flush out of embarrassment. Willow looked at Conner and Cordelia. Xander soon followed her gaze.
Xander smirked and commented out loud, "Wow I heard of clingy people, but Cordelia really pounced on this guy."
Conner kept on dancing, with a look of helplessness on his face. He was dancing awkwardly, since Cordelia was practically standing on his feet. Finally the song ended and Conner swiftly detached himself from Cordelia. Buffy heard Cordelia ask for another dance. He smiled nervously and reply, "Maybe later."
Buffy saw him head back to him table, but then noticed that it had been occupied in his absence. "This is just not my day," She heard him sigh, and watched as he headed toward them, to go to the bar.
As he passed their table, she found herself asking, "Would you like to sit with us?"
Conner turned to them in surprise and smiled. "Sure, thanks." He responded.
Conner pulled up a chair and sat down. He laid his jacket on the back of his chair and grinned at them. It was then that Xander noticed what Conner was wearing.
"Man in Black." Xander commented.
"What? Oh, I thought it looked good." He said.
"It does," Willow responded. She was still grinning from Buffy's response to seeing Conner dancing with Cordelia. "Um, so what do you think about Sunnydale?"
"Well, it is interesting. I have to say that. And everyone I've met is pretty nice. Especially Cordelia. Although she is kinda aggressive."
Xander chuckled and responded, "Yeah, Cordelia and aggressive pretty much mean the same thing around here."
"Yeah, by the way she was dancing with me, I could tell," Conner responded.
Buffy noticed that Conner's accent was gone. "Um, Conner, what's up with your accent. Before I could hear it a bit, but now not."
Conner raised his eyebrows and responded, "I haven't been back to Scotland since I was a very small kid. I sometimes lapse back into my accent, but not often. I try not to do it often, but ya know, heritage shows."
* * *
Xander watched as Buffy stared at Conner dreamily. He wasn't blind. He could see that Buffy was attracted to him. He felt his jealousy flare up. But, he slowly suppressed it. As much as he loved Buffy, she didn't feel the same way about him. He hated how they had been around each other during the summer. They had been such good friends. Best friends. But he had wanted more. He wanted to be in her heart. He wanted to love her, and feel love in return. But it didn't work out that way. She loved him. But as a friend.
When Giles had called Willow and him to tell them to come to the library, he had felt his heart leap. Giles hadn't told them why and that scared him more. A bunch of bad thoughts had come to mind. Buffy was hurt. Buffy was dead. He ran towards the school. His heart had been racing. He ran into Willow on the way. And it didn't help when she told him what had happened to her. It didn't help when Willow told him that when she had seen Buffy, she had noticed that Buffy had been distracted. Scared.
And when Xander went to help her, he had no choice but to get the help of Angel. The man... the vampire... the guy Buffy loved. He had rushed out of the library, not knowing where he was going. He just ran as fast as he could, until he ended up in front of a door. By instict, he knew it was Angel's. He needed to help Buffy. He had to stop the prophecy. It didn't matter that Buffy didn't love him romantically. All that mattered was saving her. And to save her he needed Angel's help. He was the only who knew where the Master lived. The only one that knew where Buffy was going.
When the Master had escaped. His heart had leapt. Thoughts raced furiously through his mind. Buffy's dead. No. She can't be dead. She just can't be. No. I can't lose her. Angel ran ahead of Xander. Xander tried to keep up with him, but because Angel was a vampire, he could run faster.
He stood there as Angel pulled Buffy out of the water. He held his breath. He looked at Buffy's body. She was limp. She wasn't moving. Her face was pale. She's dead, he thought to himself. That was when Angel told him what he already knew.
She's dead.
She's dead.
She's dead.
She's dead.
She's dead.
No! He can't lose her. She's not dead. He told Angel that. He ran to her side. He looked at her still form. He started breathing life into her. I will not let you die, he thought to himself. I can't lose you. He stared at her pale face. She isn't going to die. That was when she took her first gasp of air. His heart leapt with joy. He stroked her forehead and whispered her name. She looked up at him. God, I love you, he thought to himself. She whispered his name. He smiled at that. He wanted to say so much. I love you. I was so close to losing you. But, he couldn't think about that now. all that mattered was helping Buffy and stopping the Master. So he said the only thing he could think of.
"Welcome back"
Then suddenly the loud sound of the band starting again snapped Xander out of his reverie. He shook his head slightly, focusing on the here and the now. He had to. He watched as Buffy and Willow walking back from the bar with some juices and sodas.
As Buffy and Willow sat down, he turned towards Conner and said, "So what's your family like?"
Conner blinked, surprised at the question. 'Um," he said. "They're great. I have parents, two sisters, and a brother. The usual."
Conner checked his watch and frowned. He got up and took his jacket off the back of his chair. As he was putting it on his jacket he said, "Um, sorry guys. I got to be going. Curfew. Laterz." And with that he walked towards the door. Willow looked at her watch and frowned. "Whoa, strict."
Buffy looked away from the door that Conner just used and asked, "What?"
Willow looked at them and responded, "He must have extremely strict parents. To have a curfew at 10. Wow."
Xander shrugged and joked, "Maybe he has to practice the Bagpipes."
Willow looked at him and kicked him under the table.
"Owwww." He grimaced as he rubbed his shin. "Okay that would hurt. I'll stop with the Scottish jokes. Geez."
Buffy got up and sighed, "With it being 10, we have to be leaving as well. To hunt we go. Giles was all stern and thorough when he hammered it into our minds to look for vamps longer for the next couple nights."
Willow and Xander got up and followed Buffy out of the Club. As Xander walked out of the club he thought, Yippee. What a great way to end the first day of school.
* * *
Buffy, Xander and Willow walked down the path in the park. It had been an hour since they left the Bronze. Buffy adjusted the fairly large handbag by her side. It was full of the essentials for any girl. A compact, lipstick, mascara, stakes, crosses, holy water, the usual. The norm for any girl living in Sunnydale. They had gone by her house for "supplies". They walked cautiously through the park. This was the perfect hunting grounds for vampires. It was dark, secluded, and had the perfect munchies for vampires. The park has quite a few homeless people, an easy snack for vampires.
Xander ran his hand through his hair. "Creepy. You know that I could be home right now studying."
Willow and Buffy both turned to him to give him a skeptical look.
Xander saw their looks and sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, I could be home watching T.V and eating some Doritos."
Buffy chuckled. She turned around the corner in the path and abruptly stopped. In front of her was a large vampire. It was standing in the shadow of a small rockface. It was then that Buffy noticed that the vampire was holding a very scared looking guy. The vampire, who looked fiercely uglier than the usual run of the mill vampire, turned to their direction and snarled.
The vampire was around 6 feet tall. It's face was seriously scarred. In fact half of it's face looked like it was melting. It was wearing a large black coat. The vampires nails also matched their owner. They were long, brittle, ugly.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Okay, that would be ugly." Xander commented.
The vampire's eyes gleamed. Three fresh, young snack, it thought to itself. It threw the guy away, stepped towards them. The guy, being pretty smart, got up and ran as fast as he could away from them. Buffy walked up to the vampire.
"You know." Buffy said. "You need some serious beauty tips. With a facial, a manicure, I'm sure that you will look... still ugly. Damn."
The vampire snarled and leapt towards her. She launched her foot up and heard a crack as it hit the vampire's face. The vampire howled in pain and slashed at her with it's nails. She heard her jacket rip as the vampire's nails shredded the right sleeve. She retaliated with a sharp jab to the vampire's eyes. The vampire then slammed it's fist onto the side of her head sending her reeling to the ground.
Oh, that hurt. It hurt a lot. She looked up as Xander got in the way of the vampire, flashing a cross in front of it. She heard the vampire growl in pain. She shook her head and saw Willow pull a jar out of her bag. She opened the jar and threw the contents at the vampire. As the liquid splashed on the vampire she saw it's skin, as nasty as it was already, start to smoke. God, I love holy water, she thought to herself.
She quickly jumped back to her feet. The vampire was screaming in agony, it slowly looked up at her and started towards her. Buffy pulled a stake out of her back pocket and swiftly plunged it into the vampire's chest. The vampire gasped, and looked down to it's chest. Seeing the stake there shocked it. The vampire slowly fell back and erupted into a pile of dust as it hit the ground.
Xander came to her side and commented, "Ooooookay. Giles will be so very much happy. The prophecy is coming true. Yay."
Buffy sighed and responded. "Yeah. Well at least it's better then waiting."
"No, waiting isn't bad." Willow responded seriously. "Actually it's pretty good compare to hunting. I'll can confidently say, waiting is good."
Xander smiled and said, "Well at least it was only one vampire."
Then suddenly, as a response to Xander's comment, they heard some deep growling behind them. They slowly turned and saw seven vampires standing on the path.
"Oh, no." Xander said angrily. "I have got to learn to shut my big mouth. That was right up there with "At least it can't get any worse". Well anyway, this should be fun."
The group quickly pulled out their various holy weapons out of the bag. They all got as prepared as one could be when fighting bloodsucking, undead fiends. Supposedly, they were ready for the attack. They weren't. The vampires attacked with the fierceness of rabid dogs. Two of them slammed into the Buffy. Pinning her to the ground. She quickly dismissed one vampire with a stake through it's heart. But when that vampire disappeared into a pile of dust, a pretty butch looking female vampire took the dead vampire's place. Xander and Willow had problems of their own to deal with right now. The other four vampires were circling them. Xander and Willow were holding them at bay with their crosses. Then suddenly a vampire picked up a rock and threw it at Xander. The rock connected with Xander's wrist, sending the cross to the ground.
The vampires took advantage of this. Two of them slammed into Xander, while the other two tackled Willow. Buffy looked up from her fight and saw her friends were in trouble. She jabbed her elbow into one vampire's stomach. She then used her free hand to punch the other vampire in the jaw. She picked up a stake from the ground and plunged it into the male vampire's heart. But, she wasn't quick enough to see the female vampire behind her grab her. The vampire wrapped her arms around Buffy, squeezing the life out of her. Buffy's vision started to blur. She saw one vampire, poised over Willow's neck. No.
Then she saw a flash of movement. The vampire jerked his head up. He then collapsed onto the ground, exploding into a pile of dust. But before it did, Buffy saw a arrow shaft embedded into it's back. In shock, the other vampires paused. Buffy decided to use this to her advantage. She slammed her head back, connecting with the butch vampire's face. As that vampire fell back, she fell to the ground. She then looked up, seeing someone standing on the top of the rock face. All eyes were on the newcomer. In the shadows of the trees, none of them could make out his face. And it was definatly a he, from the looks of his figure.
They then heard the stranger comment harshly, "Is this a private party or can anyone join?"
The newcomer jumped down from the ledge into the light. It was Conner! He tilted his head in acknowledgment to Buffy and her friends. What the hell was he doing here? But, before Buffy could think anymore about her own question, one of the vampires holding a now unconsious Xander, jumped up and rushed towards Conner. Before Buffy could yell out a warning Conner sidestepped. He snapped his hand out, holding a stake. The vampire tried to stop, but it's momentum carried it into the stake. The vampire exploded into dust.
Conner looked back to them calmly and asked, "Next?"
* * *
Conner watched as the three remaining vampires launched themselves at Buffy and him. Xander was dazed from the blows he had taken from the vampires. Willow crawled to Xander and tried to wake him up.
Two vampires tackled Buffy. The remaining vampire slammed into Conner. Conner swung his fist into the vampire's gut, causing the vampire to wheeze in pain. The vampire retaliated with a blow to his chest. As Conner staggered backwards, he stole a glance to Buffy.
Buffy was having a hard time of her own. She swung her foot into one vampire's face, sending the dazed vampire flying a few feet away. She then punched the other with her fist. The vampire got up, and swung it's arm, raking it's nails against her arm. She cried out painfully as they cut into her.
Conner turned around and saw the vampire swinging at him again. Conner grabbed his arm instinctively and flipped the vampire. The vampire fell to the ground and looked up at him. It jumped up and stalked towards him. Conner asked himself, God, doesn't this guy ever give up? Okay, time to wrap this up. The vampire was two or three feet away from him now, Conner then decided to take a risk. He jumped up, pivoting both his feet forward. He saw as his feet connected sharply with the vampire's jaw, sending it reeling to the ground. As the vampire tried to get up, Conner thought angrily to himself, Uh uh. Not this time. He abruptly pulled out a stake from his jacket pocket and plunged it into the vampire's heart, sending it into a mound of dust.
He turned around to see Buffy herself slam a stake into the heart of one of the vampires she was dealing with. But, that wasn't what got his attention. It was the vampire behind Buffy he was concerned about. This vampire was the one that she had kicked away earlier. It had got up and picked up a large jagged rock. The same one it was holding over Buffy's head. Conner's mind raced. She wouldn't be able to react in time to save herself. He did the only thing he could. He yelled.
"Buffy!!!"
He jumped forward slamming Buffy out of the way. But he couldn't move out of the way before the rock fell onto his back. He heard a loud crack as the rock connected to his back. He cried out in pain and then the darkness enveloped him...
* * *
Buffy heard Conner yell her name. But before she could turn around she felt someone slam into her, pushing her forward. As she landed on the ground, she abruptly turned around. She saw as a vampire brought down a large rock onto Conner's back. She heard him cry out, and then fall down onto a heap on the ground.
She saw as the vampire raised the rock again, to finish Conner off. She jumped up and leapt at it. She shoved at the vampire, causing it to drop the rock onto it's feet. It howled in pain. She then noticed her bag on the ground close by. She ran to it and pulled out a stake. She turned around and saw that the vampire was on it's feet. She rushed it, slammed her fist into the vampire's face. She then swung her body around, shooting her leg up. She felt her foot connect with the vampire's jaw. The vampire fell back onto the ground.
She then saw Xander and Willow walking towards her. She looked back down onto the vampire and swiftly plunged the stake into it's heart. After the vampire erupted into a shower of dust, she turned around to her friends. They were standing over Conner. Xander was clutching his arm where the rock had hit him earlier.
"Ha ha. This would not be good, is it?" Xander asked while looking at Conner's still form.
"Who is he?" Willow asked. "How could he do all that?"
"What do I look like? Answer girl?" Buffy responded. "All I know is that he took down those vampires faster that a normal guy can."
"Okay. I'm worried now. Yes, worrying is good. Could this guy be our black spirit guy?" Xander said slowly. "Oh, great. We've got a new resident in monster island. Yippee."
Buffy sighed and responded, "Okay, we can't jump to conclusions here."
"Um, I'd like to point something out here." Willow commented. "He saved our lives. And the usual thank you gift would not be letting him bleed to death."
Buffy nodded. "Right. Let's get him to the library. Time to see if Giles got his watcher's merit badge for healing."
Buffy and Xander picked up Conner. They put each of Conner's arms on the other's shoulder, and set off towards the library.
* * *
The creature watched as the young blooded picked up their friend and dragged him away. It couldn't face them now. The girl is too strong. As is the injured one. But soon. Soon, it shall feed. It shall grow strong. And they shall die...
* * *
The creature stalked the young blooded couple as they left the Bronze. It followed them quickly, hungrily, but abruptly stopped itself. It was not time yet, and it must have patience. Yes, patience...
* * *
Rupert Giles turned around as the doors to the library slammed open. He had been researching this bloody new prophecy and had been making very little headway. But, he immediately forgot all that, as he now focused on Buffy, Xander, Willow, and the unconscious form they dragged in.
"Who is this?" Giles asked as he got up from his chair.
But as Buffy and Xander laid the unconscious boy into a chair, Giles saw who it was. It was the young boy, Conner, who had come in earlier for books.
"What happened to him?" Giles asked, concerned.
Buffy shook her head and leaned Conner over so Giles could see his back. She looked up at him and replied, "It is a long story. One that I will gladly share with you later since we seriously don't have time for now. Right now, you have to pull a George Clooney and fix him up."
Giles' eyes widened at the sight of Conner's back. The black jacket he was wearing was shredded, as was the T-shirt underneath. He slid Conner's jacket off to look at the cuts. He had three large gashes down his back, as well as multiple small cuts. They didn't look life threatening, but they should be treated. Giles ran into his office, and grabbed the emergency medical kit under his desk. He walked up to Conner and took off his T-shirt. Giles was happy to see that the bleeding had already stopped. He opened the medical kit and started to clean the boy's cuts.
Giles paused momentarily and looked up at the three teens questionably. "Who is George Clooney?" He asked.
Xander shook his head in mock sadness and responded, "Giles, Giles, Giles. Join us in the 20th century and get a TV. It's called E.R my friend."
"Emergency room?" Giles guessed.
"Exactly." Xander replied seriously. "George plays a character on the show. Although I always preferred Sherry Stringfield over him. It's too bad she left the show. What a shame."
Giles frowned at Xander and decided to concentrate on the task at hand. That boy needs to read a book, thought Giles.
* * *
Giles finished patching Conner up and closed the medical kit. He slid Conner's T-shirt back on then looked up at the three teens standing in front of him. Buffy had already cleaned and bandaged her cuts and had given Xander an icepack for his wrist. He walked up to Buffy and asked, "I think it is time for an explanation, don't you?"
Buffy sighed softly and answered, "We were hunting vampires earlier, as you adamantly suggested, and we were set upon by a large, and might I add, ugly group of fang faced fiends. They were giving us a serious beat down, when our scottish friend here appeared."
She looked Giles in the eye and continued, "Giles, he nailed these guys faster than any normal guy could. Then one of our ugly fiends decides to try and bash my brains in with a rather large rock. Conner here pushes me out of the way and is smashed in the back with the rock. A pounding that would have killed anyone else. After I dispatched with that vampire , we dragged Conner here to get the help of Dr. Giles."
Then they heard a moan behind them.
* * *
The group turned and saw that Conner was stirring. He looked up at the the four people staring at him and smiled weakly.
Conner set his hands three feet apart and said, "I have a headache, this big. I don't suppose that any of you have a aspirin the size of a baseball, do you?"
Buffy walked up and sat down next to him. "How do you feel?" She asked.
Conner rubbed his head and replied, "Like a vampire hit me in the back with a rock the size of a basketball."
"Vampire?" Willow asked, trying to hide what had happened earlier.
Conner looked at Willow and responded, "Yes, vampire. You know, the things that suck blood. The things you guys were hunting tonight."
"Hunting?" Xander echoed, still trying to hide what had happened.
"Yeah, hunting." replied Conner. "What is it with you guys? Do you like repeating what I say?"
Ignoring Conner's last comment, Xander continued. "We weren't *hunting* vampires. We... We, we were jumped by... gangbangers... while trying to take a pleasant walk in the park."
"Gangbangers." Conner repeated skeptically. "Here? In Sunnydale? Okay. Sure. Whatever you say. Sunnydale does attract weirdness, and I suppose it has it's sad little version of a gang. But I'm sure Buffy knows what I'm talking about. Vampires and all."
"Why, why would I know that?" Buffy stammered nervously.
"Because," Conner said coolly. "You are the slayer."
Conner watched as the four people in front of him looked at each other in amazement.
"Okay." Buffy said slowly. "He knows. God! Not even Superman could have a secret identity in Sunnydale."
Xander shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well look on the bright side. At least we don't have to explain it all to him. Be an optimist."
Conner smiled at them. Giles, who had been quiet through all of this, asked, "Okay, with that settled, who and what are you?" Conner paused and responded, "Like I say before, I'm Conner and... I'm a friend."
Buffy shook her head and said, "Uh uh. Oh no. That one has been used already. Besides I already have enough vagueness in my life. What with cryptic prophecies and a mystery man, I have enough to deal with. A real answer please?"
Conner grinned and nodded, "Okay. Fair enough. I know about you, so you might as well know about me. I am a hunter."
Xander raised his eyebrows and asked, "Like Elmer Fudd?"
"Yeah, like Elmer Fudd." Conner repeated sarcastically. "No, I mean like a demon hunter."
Giles looked at Conner and asked, "Buffy told me what occurred earlier. I didn't think demon hunters had the power that you seem to possess."
"Wow. For a watcher, you don't know much about demon hunters do you?" Conner said.
Giles smiled slightly and stammered, "Actually, actually I tried to look up more information on demon hunters before, but there just isn't much information available on them."
Conner nodded and stated, "Okay. There are two types of demon hunters. Plain, ordinary people who have learned to fight demons, the ones that you seem to know about, and then there are my kind. I belong to a category of demon hunter that are unique. We are stronger, wiser, and more skilled to fight demons. I mean, a slayer can't be everywhere. So we travel, we fight, we hunt, and we teach."
"Teach?" Willow asked.
"Yeah. My type of demon hunters have an instinct, a drive. It enables us to hunt demons and identify other hunters. That's how I knew that Buffy was the slayer. I felt the good in her, but it was a different feeling of good that I never felt in other demon hunters. So I figured that she was a slayer. I figured out the rest from there. Anyway, it's the same way I recognize other demon hunters, or people with the potential to become a demon hunter like me. Then I would teach them. The same happened to me."
Conner got up slowly and winced. "Ah, that stings." He picked up his jacket and put it on. "I gotta be going."
"Now?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah. It's late. And I am assuming that you guys don't have a curfew beyond 1 A.M"
Xander looked at his watch and managed to stammer out, "Yaaaaahhh. I'm gonna be late. We all are."
The large group quickly filed out of the library. As Giles locked the doors, Buffy asked Conner, "You sure you're gonna be alright? I could help you home."
Conner shook his head and smiled. "Demon hunters have healing powers like a slayer. Like your power, I heal faster than most humans. I should be fine in a couple hours."
Without another word, Conner walked away from the group, and into the darkness of the night.
* * *
The next day, Buffy ran out of school when the last bell rang. She watched the crowd of students as they eagerly left the school. She had searched for Conner all day, but hadn't seen him. She then spotted him walking across the street and ran after him.
"Conner!" Buffy called out.
Conner turned around and stopped. He waited as she caught up to him. "Where's Xander and Willow?" He asked.
Buffy smiled and responded, "Oh, they're with Giles, researching something. Thankfully they got home in time so they wouldn't break curfew. How's your back?"
Conner grinned, "It's fine. Giles is quite knowledgeable in first aid."
Buffy ran her hands through her hair and asked, "So, where are we going?"
"We're going to the park," Conner answered. "I left my crossbow and supplies there last night."
As they approached the spot where the fight had occurred last night, Buffy watched Conner jumped up ten feet in the air and landed on the small precipice that they had fought in front of the night before. He disappeared for a moment and then reappeared. He jumped down and landed in front of her. In his hand was a crossbow that resembled her own and a large dufflebag. He leaned against the rockface and slid the crossbow into the dufflebag. She spotted a lot of things in his dufflebag that she had in hers as well. Stakes, holy water, rope, crosses. The usual.
Conner looked at Buffy and said, "Giles told me about the prophecy this morning. I want to help."
Buffy smiled and replied, "I'd like that. This black spirit guy sounds like major trouble, and we can use all the help we can get."
Conner and Buffy walked through the park slowly. "So, what does your family think about your job?" Buffy asked curiously. Conner stopped walking. He had a sad, pained expression on his face. "What I said before, in the Bronze, was not the truth." He answered. "I was abandoned when I was a small child. My parents left me on the doorsteps of a monastery when I was only a year old."
"I'm sorry," Buffy said quietly, regreting her question.
Conner gave her a reassuring smile and replied, "It's okay. I was adopted by a demon hunter a couple weeks later. His name was Ian. He sensed the potential I had, and trained me. He taught me about science, art, music, literature. He gave me his last name, since I don't know my own. He came from a rich family and set up a trust fund for me. That's why I can afford to travel and hunt."
"So you live alone?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah. I live in a boarding house near the school." Conner responded.
As they drew near to the school, Conner turned to her and asked, "So where and when do you want to go hunting tonight?"
Buffy thought for a second and replied, "Um, we can meet in the park, near the monkey bars. At 9:30, okay?"
"Sure. See you later." Conner responded. He waved goodbye and walked away from her.
Buffy stood a moment longer and headed into the school to talk to Giles. They needed to prepare for this prophecy.
* * *
That night, Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles headed into the park. Giles had firmly insisted in joining them tonight. As they neared the monkey bars, they saw Conner already waiting for them. He notice them nearing and picked up his bag.
Then Buffy felt it. She stopped abruptly as she felt a tingling in the back of her mind. It felt the same as when she got near vampires, but felt different. Worse. Xander, Willow, and Giles stopped and looked at her.
"What is it? Spider sense tingling?" Xander asked.
Buffy looked at Conner who had also stopped in his tracks. He feels it too, she realized. She saw Conner drop his bag and look around him. Buffy then noticed something in the corner of her eye. She saw something moving in the trees, but she couldn't make out it's shape.
Then suddenly a large blue ball of energy shot out off the trees and slammed into the ground in front of Conner. With a yell she saw the ground split apart and swallow Conner up. No!
Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles ran to the large crack in the ground. It was already ten feet wide, and had stopped growing. God, please don't let him be dead, thought Buffy. Buffy dropped on her knees, looking over the edge. It looked like a bottomless pit.
"There he is!" Willow shouted. She was pointing below them and to the side. There was Conner, holding onto the root of some plant. He was looking up to them, with a frantic expression on his face.
"Help here please!" He yelled.
"Hold on!" Giles shouted.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I will." Conner very seriously shouted back.
Buffy turned and spotted Conner's bag a couple feet away. She ran to it and opened it quickly. She pulled out the rope and tied one end around her waist. She took the other end and tied it around the monkeybars. She ran back to the crack, and yelled down to Conner, "Hold on!"
"I, I think we've been through this already!" Conner yelled back.
But before Buffy could start to climb down, another ball of energy shot out of the trees and slammed near them. The group were blasted off their feet and landed near the edge. They saw another ball of energy fly out of the trees and smash into the ground again, causing Conner to yell below them.
She looked over the edge and saw that the root that Conner had been holding onto for dear life snapped. Buffy Summers watched in helplessness as Conner Matthews plummeted down the large crack and was swallowed up by the darkness.
* * *
The creature watched in satisfaction as the girl watched the boy fell to his death. This was better than fighting them in battle. It slowly walked away from the group. As it disappeared into the night, it had one final thought, One down, one to go...
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