A/N: Sorry it's taken forever to post this. School and all that, you know. Anyways, kinda short, but hopefully you guys'll like it and it'll advance the "season" storyline arc.
Chapter Ten: Blasts From The Past
Anna and Paige bolted down the street, back towards Sunnydale High. Of course there would be a demon or some other creature attacking the school. Anna briefly wondered what the record was for the longest period of time Sunnydale had gone without demonic activity. She was betting five minutes.
"So, what do you think it is this time?" Anna asked Paige.
"Maybe Polgara demon. I've read that they're not particularly bright. You?"
"Fyarl? They're like demon mercenaries, so they might be after Slayer blood. Plus they're not exactly of the smart, either."
But when the Slayers reached the Sunnydale High campus, they found out that the scream wasn't from a terrified teenager running from a Polgara or a Fyarl demon. It had come from Harmony Kendall.
"Harmony, what's wrong?" Paige asked kindly.
Who cares? Anna thought. On her first day at Sunnydale High, Harmony had caught her looking at Mark Jeffries and had accidentally-on-purpose tripped her, thus forever earning her a spot in Sunnydale High's Geek Club. Xander told her she could be treasurer. He and Willow were already president and vice-president. Needless to say, she didn't give a damn about Harmony. But if she'd seen some sort of ooglie-booglie, then it fell into Slayer territory, and Anna had to care. Which was a pity, really.
"I saw...omigod..." Harmony trailed off, pointing vaguely to a cluster of shrubbery some feet away. "It was so...omigod...it was so gross..."
Paige turned from Harmony, and nodding to Anna, led the way to the bushes, discreetly pulling a stake out of the waistband of her jeans.
"One," Anna mouthed, reaching for the bush. "Two...three." They slipped into the small alcove, stakes raised.
"Oops."
"What the hell-?"
Wide-eyed, Paige and Anna backed out of the alcove, shuddering. Harmony was right, for once. The sight of Cordelia and Xander making out really was a disturbing thing to see.
"So...G-man. Any news on the creepy-crawly that made an appearance this morning? 'Cause if not, then we gotta call an exterminator. No way am I going back to that apartment if more of those things are around."
Giles slowly looked up from his books and regarded the newer Slayer. "Never again call me 'G-man'."
Anna gave him a salute. "Aye-aye, Captain. But seriously...did you find out what those monster thingies were?"
Giles sighed wearily. "Not as of yet. I...why aren't you in class?"
"Spare period."
Giles gave her a Look.
"Oh, alright. I ditched Chemistry. But I figured that Slayer business was more important right now than the reaction between magnesium phosphate and lithium oxide."
Another Look.
"Okay, that and I was bored out of my freakin' mind. C'mon, Giles. Gimme something to kill. Or something to research, at the very least. Ooh! I could help you find our mystery bug!"
"Or you could go back to class and come back here after you've finished your classes," Giles replied, gently steering her out the door.
"C'mon, Giles. The first day I was here, you and Ms. French told me and Paige how we'd have to train harder, work harder. I'm taking a little initiative in the matter, here, that's all. ...Oh, um, do you know when she's coming back? Ms. French, I mean?"
Giles blinked for a few seconds. Anna was like Cordelia in the way that he sometimes had trouble following her, she switched topics so suddenly. "Ah, yes. I spoke with your Watcher a couple of hours ago, as a matter of fact. Holly has told me to tell you that she will try to come back as soon as she can. Also that she highly disapproves of you and Paige sharing the apartment with Angel. And I must say, I'm not exactly happy about the idea, either."
"Giles, it's Angel. He's like the most gentlemanly gentleman there ever was. Well, you know, except for when he's being driven insane by evil spirits in the form of his dead girlfriend, or when he's soulless. Uh...point is," she rushed on, "he's harmless."
"Anna, as a Slayer, you must take precautions to-"
"We keep him shackled in his room and padlock the door when we sleep," she offered. "Giles, look. I don't know what Angelus is like, and I sure as hell don't wanna find out. But I do know that there's some weird spirit thingy that's haunting Angel. And if it succeeds, Angel will become evil again. No one wants that. If he stays with Paige and myself, we can keep an eye on him, help him."
"But what if his presence in your home is causing this spirit or whatever it is to manifest to you and Paige, to haunt the two of you as well? You told me about the appearance of Faith-"
"Then that's a risk we're gonna have to take. Angel can be good, Giles. I know it, Paige knows it, and Buffy knew it, too." She took a deep breath and rushed on before Giles could say anything. "I won't stand by and let this thing destroy what Buffy worked so hard to make happen. She showed Angel the way, pointed him in the right direction. It's up to us to lead him down the yellow brick road. And if you don't like it, then...tough cookies," she finished, taking the back entrance out of the library. She needed to kill something. Preferably now.
"Yes?"
"Mr. Mayor? There's, ah, someone here to see you."
"My one 'o clock? Thanks, Allan. Send him right in." Mayor Richard Wilkins the Third put a few errant pages into one of his desk drawers and waited patiently for his appointment to walk into his office. Or scuttle. Or creep. With the kinds of things his often meeted with, he never could tell. At precisely one o' clock, a short blonde sauntered into his office. She was pretty, perky, and looked as though she ought to still be in high school, on the cheerleading team, no less.
"Hmmm, right on time, right on time. I like punctuality," Mayor Wilkins spoke up, not looking up. "Makes a statement. Says you're serious about what you do."
"Damn straight I am," the girl replied, smiling pleasantly.
"Ah ah ah. We'll have none of that language."
"Of course. Forgive the slip of my tongue." She smiled at her own private joke.
"Yes, well, how about we get down to business. Won't you have a seat, Ms...?"
"Summers," she supplied slyly. "And I'd prefer to stand, Wilkins."
Mayor Wilkins looked up at the sound of her name. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but there was a funeral for you a few months back, Ms. Summers."
"That's right."
"You were killed by the vampire Angelus."
"Yep."
"And yet here you are in my office."
"Pretty much."
"You're not a vampire," he told her. "You were a Slayer. The Slayer. The last Chosen One. See, nothing happens in my town without my knowing," he informed her. "So what I'd like to know is exactly what you are, Ms. Summers."
The thing that posed as Buffy smiled. "If what I'm wearing is making you uncomfortable, I can change." She shifted into the form of another slightly taller, darker-haired, leather clad Slayer. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Still a Slayer. But I'm much more laid-back than B." She raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"Very intriguing," Mayor Wilkins commented, studying Faith. "The little morphing trick? Really nifty. But my time is valuable, Ms. Lehane. Don't waste it with parlour tricks." He stood.
Faith laughed, then shifted into the more intimidating form of Angelus. "At the risk of sounding all Godfather... I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse."
"There you are!" Paige cried out, staggering through the front door, arms piled high with books.
"Uh...where else would I be?" Anna asked, closing her Calculus textbook.
"Giles said you and he had a discussion, which I take to mean you fought about something."
"Angel," Anna mouthed, discreetly pointing to the vampire in the kitchen.
Paige frowned. "What was Giles saying?" She mouthed back. Angel had super-sensitive hearing, and this was a conversation he shouldn't know about.
"Angel's gonna go evil, kill us all, blah blah blah." Anna noisily stacked the books, flipping through the occassional one.
"We can handle him," Paige mouthed back confidently.
Anna nodded in agreement. "What are all these books for, anyway?" She asked out loud.
"Some of them are homework from the classes you missed." Anna blushed. "And the others are from Giles. He said you wanted to help with research, so he asked me to bring these books over for you."
"Great. And the homework pile just keeps growing."
"Did you see any more mutant bug thingies?" Paige asked, settling down on the couch with Demonology for Dummies. Anna sat down opposite from her with her Chemistry homework.
"Nah...not since I've been home, anyway. I don't think our champion brooder over there saw anything, either. At least, he didn't tell me anything."
"I see. ...I wanna find out what those things are. I don't particularly like the idea of waking up and having one of those things hanging over me," Paige shuddered.
"Yeah, that's why I asked Giles if I could help with the reasearch and...hey!" Anna exclaimed, now noticing the title of the book Paige was reading. "Demonology for Dummies? What the...?" She looked through the stack of books. "The Idiot's Guide to Demonology ... Demons and You: Peaceful Negotiations Between Species ... "A" is for "Anchron", "B" is for "Berthearil", "C" is for "Clarnmsof" - Demon ABCs?!"
"We're supposed to research using these books?" Paige asked, aghast. "What does Giles think we are, five?"
"He thinks we're incompetent! Just because we resort to fisticuffs, he thinks we're incompetent! Oh my lord..."
"Anna, calm down!" Angel shouted, hearing the yelling, and coming into the room.
"'Calm down'? How can I calm down?!" She shrieked. "Giles thinks we're bad Slayers!"
"Huh? I think you're overreacting-"
"No, no, she's right!" Paige interrupted. "Giles wants us replaced! He thinks we're bad Slayers!"
Anna's eyes widened. "You can't just trade in Slayers...there's only one way to get a new one..."
"Omigod! He's gonna kill us!" Paige shrieked, eyes darting around the room in fear. "He's gonna send assassins after us! Omigod...we have to take him out before he takes us out!"
Angel looked back and forth between the two of them, incredulous. "I think you're both being a little-"
"Go after Giles? Are you crazy?! We have to hide!" Anna said, oblivious to Angel.
"How about you hide in that nice room right over there," Angel spoke quietly, pointing to his own room. "We can hide you there until Giles goes away." In truth, Angel was hoping to chain the two of them up until he could figure out what was wrong with them."
"No! I see what you're trying to do! You're on Giles' side, aren't you?!"
"No, no, I'm not. Listen to me, Anna, Paige. Calm down, please. Something very weird is going on here, and I think those bug demons might be connected somehow. The only way we can figure out what's going on is if we go to Giles," he said gently.
Paige eyed him, then glanced at Anna, who gave the tiniest of nods. Angel knew what was coming. When Paige, who was closest to him, struck out, he easily dodged her blow. Anna came at him next, stake in hand.
"Guess we're not gonna settle this rationally," he muttered. "And they call me crazy." He grabbed her arm and twisted in behind her back. She dropped the stake and cried out in pain. Angel blinked, dazed, as Paige dropped the stack of books on his head. Anna, now free, punched him square in the chest with her good hand and followed through with a roundhouse. She went for another punch, but this time when Angel caught her hand and twisted it, the sound of bone breaking could be heard. Angel gritted his teeth. He'd only meant to knock them unconscious for a while, long enough to chain them up so Giles could figure out what was wrong.
Angel's eyes widened suddenly, fireworks exploding behind his eyelids. He slumped to the ground and Paige stood over him, holding a mace. The crimson blood that was on it shone in the setting sun.
"Oh God, Angel," Paige breathed, snapping back to reality for a moment.
Anna blinked, disoriented. "What-? ...Omigod..." She instinctively rolled him onto his back and checked for a pulse, before she remembered that he didn't have one. "He's not human, he'll be okay," she said shakily, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of his face with her good hand.
"I could have killed him," Paige murmured. "Y'know, if he wasn't already dead..."
Anna blinked, her breathing becoming rapid and panicky once more. "We've got to get out of here, before he wakes up! He'll take us to Giles..."
Paige nodded, also on the verge of hysterics. "Yes, yes, you're right...let's go!"
Anna grabbed a crossbow as she left the apartment and together, the two armed and slightly unbalanced Slayers fled into the growing darkness.
Paige gripped the mace tightly, making her way slowly but surely to Sunnydale High. She wished Anna were with her, but the other Slayer had been as adamant about hiding from Giles as Paige had been about going to Sunnydale High and settling this. Thus, they had separated. Paige entertained the vague notion that maybe they shouldn't have. But it was quickly gone. In fact, all thoughts were quickly gone. Her mind was now alert and focused on one thing and one thing only. That thing being the person in front of her. But the person in front of her couldn't possibly be in front of her.
"You really think you'll be Called?"
Paige took a break from beating the crap out of the punching bag to regard her brother. The same brown hair as her own, the same dark eyes. No doubt that they were related. Wasn't much of a shock, either, to find out that they were twins. Daniel was the elder one, though, by three minutes. He usually made a big deal out of those three minutes. Even more so since Paige had been recently informed of her possible Calling.
"I don't know. You heard what Frederick said. For one Slayer to be called, the next one has to die. Word is, the current Slayer in Sunnydale's pretty good."
Daniel took a seat on the bench and watched her practice her moves. Paige wondered what was going on with her brother. He was a quiet person, granted, but he was a chatterbox with her. She felt a sudden pang of sadness. She had correctly assumed that the life of the Slayer was one of loneliness and sacrifice. She had no idea that the loneliness part came so quickly. She was still only a Potential, and she was already disconnected from her brother.
"Well...do you want to be the next Slayer?" He asked the question out of curiosity, not to challenge her liked he used to.
"Me saying that I want to be the next Slayer is like saying I want that girl in Sunnydale to die. If I end of being Chosen, then I'll do the world-saving thing, I'll deal. I'll kill the vampires-"
"You already do that," he pointed out.
"Yeah, with Frederick watching my back. ...Anyway, my point is, I'll take it if it comes, but I'm hoping it will. I like my life right now."
Daniel seemed satisfied with her answer, which prompted Paige to ask him a question. "Do you want me to be the next Slayer?"
Daniel considered his answer carefully. "I don't want you to die," he said finally, before getting up to leave.
"Danny?" Paige murmured affectionately.
"Hey, sis. Long time no see. ...Did ya miss me?"
Anna stumbled into the mansion on Crawford Street. She had no idea why she'd come here. This was Angel's old place. They'd come here to find her, they would. But still, she stayed. Partly because this was where she'd truly seen what being a Slayer was about for the first time, and partly because she thought it was a pretty good place. Angel had good taste, for a dead guy. Or undead guy. Whatever he was.
They wouldn't come here to look for her. At least, she hoped they wouldn't. Maybe she should have gone somewhere more crowded like The Bronze. But Willow and the others were probably there, and odds were Giles had already gotten them to come after her. Maybe she should just get out of Sunnydale altogether.
This is the crappiest hiding place ever. Why did I think to come here?
"Same old self-doubting Anna. You would think, that being a Slayer, you'd have a little more confidence in yourself," the figure in the shadows chuckled. "Guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks."
This was getting to be pitiful. Sighing, Anna called out without turning around or breaking her stride. "Brian, stop following me and go home before you get your ass killed."
A moment's pause, then: "When did you realize I was following you?"
"'Bout three blocks back," Anna grinned, allowing him to catch up to her, which, with his long legs, didn't take long.
"So how come you didn't say anything?"
"You were safer that way. But I'm going by Redford Park, so go home, okay?
"You can't go to Redford Park by yourself," he argued. "It's too dangerous. Way too many bad things happen there."
Anna sighed and turned to face him. "I know, but I have to go. I'm the Slayer, remember?" She winked. "I can take care of myself. Don't worry. I'm the thing the monsters fear."
"What? They're scared of leather pants and lollipops? Which, by the way, make you look sexy."
"The lollipop?" Anna asked, confused, twirling the strawberry sucker between her fingers.
"No. The pants."
"Ah," she blushed.
"Cat got your tongue?"
"Just trying to think of the best way to send you home without brusing your oh-so-manly ego."
"Anything good come to mind?"
"Well, knocking you senseless and dragging you back to your place is looking to be the best one. But then I'm looking at losing about an hour of patrol time, and I do have a nifty little lab report I haven't even started yet, and I kinda don't wanna fail Chem class."
"So I'm coming with?" Brian looked so hopeful, all Anna could do was sigh. She reached into her jacket and pulled out a large cross and a bottle of Holy Water, then gave them to Brian.
"This isn't a game or an adventure, okay? Just remember that."
"It's life-or-death. I know, Ans, I've been vampire hunting with you before."
"Not in Redford Park, you haven't. ...You got a stake?"
"I got five."
"Good," she said as they neared the gates. "Hopefully you won't need to use them. You're gonna be lookout only. You see a vampire, yell really really loud so I can come and stake it, okay?"
"And then, if I'm good, can I have a cookie?" He rolled his eyes and gave her a small kiss on the lips. "I know what I'm doing, okay?"
"No," Anna murmured. "No, you died. In Redford Park that night, you died."
"Yeah, I did, didn't I?"
"But you're here."
Brian grinned. "And wait until I tell you why."
Angel groaned, clutching his head. He smelled the coppery scent of his own blood, and felt his hair matted to his head. Rising unsteadily to his feet, he surveyed the apartment in the darkness, but could see no sign of either Slayer.
"Of course. Like they were really gonna stick around after they knocked me unconscious." Angel walked slowly to the telephone and punched in the numbers, his movements as slow as molasses. "Giles, it's...no, please, listen. It's Paige and Anna, they've...no, it's not the bug demon that attacked us...well, actually, I think it might be, but...Giles, listen! They've gone all schizo, and I'm pretty sure that Paige at least is coming to kill you...no, not the others, just you...no, I haven't done anything to them! Giles, for the love of God, listen to me! I think those bug demons were paranoia demons, and both Slayers are all panicking, and I got maced in the head, and-"
Angel stared at the phone, dumbfounded, as the line went dead. "Oh...this isn't good." He made a break for the door, but stopped short at the sight of the figure in the doorway. Her blonde hair gleamed even in the darkness, and her expression was both solemn and happy.
"Hello, lover."
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