"I...Are you sure? It didn't just..."
"Giles, come on. I know what a vampire looks like, and Buffy was it," Xander spat angrily, seating himself in one of the comfy chairs in Giles' small office in the library. He immediately apologised for his outburst, and sighed sadly. This just wasn't happening. The rest of the group remained silent, and a quiet sob escaped Giles' throat, a sound that the gang was not used to hearing.
"What are we gonna do, Giles?" Willow whispered, grabbing another tissue and dabbing her swollen, red eyes. Giles looked up blankly, and sighed.
"I...I don't know. The fact that Angel is still alive without his soul is bad enough, but now, Buffy being a vampire...with her strength, skills and knowledge, she is extremely dangerous."
"I don't understand why...why that curse didn't work..." Willow noted in a soft voice, "...the orb didn't glow or anything, and I think it was supposed to...I must've said it wrong. If only..."
"There's no point thinking "if only", Willow. What's done is done. Nothing will ever bring Buffy back now!" said Giles in an uncharacteristically hoarse, angry tone, as he jumped up out of his chair and began pacing the room. Willow broke down into sobs again as a blank-faced Oz sat beside her, an arm placed comfortingly over her shoulders. Cordy remained pale and silent, but Xander wasn't about to take it. Not today. Not from anyone. He stormed over to where Giles walked, and was about to express his feelings when his attention was caught by a young female walking into the library. Chewing gum and wearing a short black skirt, white tank top, snazzy black leather jacket and tall boots, she smiled and walked briskly over to Giles, holding out her hand as a greeting.
"Mr Giles, right? Hi, I'm Faith!" Giles' thoughts were very much elsewhere, and the hand was ignored.
"Uhh.... Mr Giles? I'm Faith, the new Slayer. My Watcher sent me here to take over for the last one until the other new Slayer gets here," she said, her eyes roaming freely around the room, and lighting up as they caught sight of the weapons locker. Glancing at the rest of the members in the room, Faith picked up on the mood. "Ahh.... Buffy's lot, right? I'm really sorry...I didn't realise...I've heard all about her. She's a legend, you know. Being the longest living Slayer, B is quite...well...she's quite a gal." Xander threw her a mixed look of contempt and reproach before storming back to his chair.
"Hmmm..." mumbled Faith, frowning, "Tough crowd."
Willow burst into tears again, and Oz smiled sarcastically.
"Good one!" he retorted unkindly, losing the smile, and reached over to Willow, pulling her to him. Faith just stood in amazement at the tension and despair she so strongly felt in the room, and quietly cursed herself for saying something so stupid at such a time.
Buffy sat impatiently on the edge of the bed, drumming her sharp nails on a steel post.
"Angel, baby, can we go? The sun has set, it's time to do some damage!" she called, slightly annoyed at the current lack of activity. Angel entered the room, pulling a clean shirt up on to his arms, and began buttoning it as he walked towards Buffy. The former Slayer stood as he approached, and placed her cool hands on his chest, running them teasingly over it, before pulling back and doing the buttons up for him. Angel smiled, almost lovingly, as he watched Buffy. He knew her heart was as evil and devious as his own, and with the power and skill she had gained as the Slayer, the damage they could inflict together on Sunnydale and the rest of the world....the possibilities were endless!
Buffy did the final button of his shirt up and, using Angel for balance stood high in her toes as she pulled his mouth to hers for a hungry kiss.
"We're set to go, master."
Angel and Buffy pulled apart slowly, and Angel turned to face the intruder, growling slightly and narrowing his eyes contemptuously. The vampire responsible for the interruption took a few steps back.
"Uh...sorr...uhhh..." he mumbled, stepped swiftly sideways out the door, and disappeared. Annoyed, Buffy sighed.
"Typical. It's always the same. Well, we can always celebrate fully after we've had our fun, love," she said slyly, shooting him one of her sly, dangerous smiles she reserved just for him. Angel grinned, placed a swift kiss on Buffy's cheeky lips, grabbed her hand and headed for the door.
"Let's go have us some fun."
"So what's the plan?" asked Faith, as she aimed and fired a crossbow at the target Giles had set up on a wall of the library, hitting direct centre. Giles emerged from his office carrying some Watcher journals.
"Well, the worst thing we can do is...is to separate them at the moment. Taking Angel away from Buffy, or...or Buffy away from Angel would be... suicidal. It...it would make either of them dangerously angry, which wouldn't fare well for us. On the other hand, taking one away may be the...the best solution. It could somehow be used as bait, or...or a trap of some kind." he replied, thinking as he sorted through his collection of journals.
"It seems to be a lose-lose situation. Separating them will get one - or both - so fired up that they would be a formidable force to stop, while leaving them together is just as bad! The power they would have together...hey, what if we just cursed them both?" said Willow, suddenly awake to the idea. Giles thought for a moment, before shaking his head.
"It's a possibility, Willow, but two rituals would need to be performed, and you are not strong enough to do them both yourself, nor do we have time. A lapse of at least a week needs to occur between curses, allowing the Orb of Thesulah to re-energize. If all else fails, though, it may be our only hope."
"Son of a..." muttered Faith, rolling her eyes, "We don't have time for flash little rituals and other witchcraft," Faith informed them impatiently, standing with her arms crossed and leaning against a wall facing the gang, "A week is too long to wait, and if we just let 'em both run wild, a lot of people are gonna die. Including you guys. You'll be first on their list, and they've got nothin' to lose. To them, you'd be potentially dangerous enemies - you know Buffy too well, and with the knowledge Giles has... it's just too much of threat. You guys are toast if you don't get your butts into gear!"
"What a comforting pep talk that turned out to be," mumbled Xander, shaking his head. But he knew she was right. Together, Buffy and Angel were extremely powerful and dangerous, and it would only be a matter of time before they came to kill them all. He took a deep breath, and sighed. They were all tired, and sad, and the fact that Buffy was indeed a member of the undead was still slowly sinking in. Xander moaned quietly at the thought, and after taking a deep breath, he stood up, facing Faith. "Ok, so final death appears to be our most probable course of action...but how do we do it? Do we separate them and somehow kill them separately? ... God, I can't believe I'm talking about killing Buffy. It's Buffy!! I mean, Angel...hey, get Angel in a room and I'll be first in line to dust him, but Buffy!! How can we possibly kill her??" A silky, evil laugh echoed across the room with a devilishness that made everyone shudder.
"You don't."