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''OK,'' she said, slinging her
backpack on the floor and dropping into
a chair. ''Spill.''
'''Spill'?'' Giles tried for an innocent look and failed miserably.
''Yes, 'spill.' What is it now?
An obscure vampire saint's day? Missing
body parts from corpses? Missing body parts from living people? Am
I close?''
''Well, uh, no. Um, according to
a, a source in New York - Port Charles
to be exact - there has been a, uh, veritable explosion of vampiric
activity.''
''Oh, and let me guess - I gotta
go down there and slay me some
vamps.''
''Well, sort of. Um, we,'' Giles ''clarified.''
'''We'?''
''Yes, I - as your Watcher, I cannot
allow you to go into a potentially
dangerous town alone.''
''Fine. Your source, your town. When do we leave?''
''As soon as possible. I've, uh,
cleared things up with your mother,
she thinks it's a school, um, thing, and she should arrive any moment
now with
your luggage.''
''Cool. So, vacation but with Slayage.''
''Uh, no, not - not really. We
must avoid alerting the vampires as to
your . . . presence. I've, um, procured some false identification for
us.'' He
handed Buffy a long, white envelope. ''We will be posing as, as father
and
daughter. You will be attending Port Charles High School.'' Buffy
made a
face, opening the envelope. She looked at the several pieces
of
identification inside.
''Wow, Giles, you really got every
angle covered. Driver's license,
student ID, birth certificate - even a library card. How did you learn
all
this stuff?''
''A Watcher must be prepared for
everything.'' He paused. ''Also, my
source took care of it.'' Buffy smiled. At that moment, Joyce
Summers walked
into the library, lugging a couple of suitcases and a carry-on bag.
Buffy
hastily stuffed the fakes ID's back into the envelope, saying,
''Hi, Mom.''
''Hi, honey.'' Joyce walked over
and gave her daughter a hug. "Enjoy
your trip, Buffy.''
''I will, Mom.''
Giles checked his watch.
''Just in time, Mrs. Summers. The
plane is leaving shortly.'' Joyce and
Buffy said quick good byes, then the Slayer and the Watcher headed
out.
**********
Travelling put Spike in a bad mood
as a rule, but travelling all the
way across the country in a truck took that and squared it. And, travelling
all the way across the country in a truck with no one else but Angelus
squared
*that.* So, by the time they had finally arrived, Spike was in a worse
mood
than he'd ever been in before.
Angelus, on the other hand, was
so chipper - for a vampire, that is -
that Spike would've cheerfully staked him.
''All right, we're here,'' he announced,
as if it weren't perfectly
obvious, as he jumped out of the back of the truck. Spike ignored the
hand
Angelus extended to help him down. He'd finally managed to get rid
of that
damned wheelchair and upgrade himself to a cane without arousing any
suspicions, but Angelus insisted on treating him like he was still
in the
stupid thing. He got out of the truck with far less grace than he was
capable
of.
"So," he said, "why did we travel all the way across the country again?
Why
couldn't they come to us?''
''Because she called us here,''
Angelus answered, dropping the jovial
demeanor. ''You know we have to listen.
''Now let's get going. Sunrise
is in a couple of hours and I'm
hungry.''
Buffy slid the inflight magazine back into its pocket. The plane
telephone caught her eye.
''Hey, Giles, can I borrow a credit
card?'' she asked, gesturing toward
the card-operated phone.
''What?'' Giles looked up from
his own magazine. ''Oh. Certainly.'' He
reached for his wallet. ''No, wait.'' He picked up his carry-on bag
and pulled
out a white envelope identical to the one holding Buffy's fake IDs.
He took
out a credit card and handed it to her. ''Who are you calling?''
''Willow. I don't want everyone
to freak 'cause we're missing.'' She
looked at the card. ''William Marsters. Hmm . . . you don't look like
a Bill
to me.''
''Well, actually, I was thinking
of just using William . . . anyway,
you'll be calling me Dad. Or something. Remember?''
''Right. Father daughter. Got it. Thanks, *Dad.*''
Giles smirked, then asked, ''By the way, what's your name?''
''Angela . . . Hello? Is Willow there? . . . Thanks.''
''Hello? Buffy, is that you?'' Willow sounded frantic.
''Will, calm down. Yeah, it's me.''
''It's Buffy!'' Willow said. Buffy
faintly heard Xander ask, ''Is she
OK?'' Willow relayed the question, adding, ''Is Giles with you?''
''Yeah. He's here, and we're fine.''
''They're together and they're fine . . . Um, where's 'here?'''
''A plane.''
''A plane? Just a plane? Why are you in a plane?''
''Y'know, I'm getting a feeling
that there's a plane involved somehow.
Ow!'' Xander yelped.
''Cordelia must be there,'' Buffy, observed, evading Willow's question.
''Yep . . . oh, I get it. Slayer security?''
''You got it.'' Buffy glanced at
her Watcher, who was looking pointedly
at his watch. ''I gotta go. These plane phones cost a fortune.''
''OK. Bye.''
''I'll call you later if I can.
Bye.'' Buffy handed Giles's credit card
back to him, saying,
''Angela and William, huh? Your
source must have quite the sense of
humor.''
**********
''An isolated island, an ancient
mansion, fog all over the place . . .
what do they think this is, a B movie?'' Angelus muttered under
his breath as
he and Spike made their way through the passages behind their guide.
''Bloody likely,'' Spike replied, inclined to agree with him for once.
The guide led them into a room
with two other male vampires, both
seated. The guide sat as well, indicating to Spike and Angelus that
they
should follow suit, but they both remained standing; Angelus tense
and wary,
Spike leaning forward on his cane and studying the other vampires intently.
Suddenly, the three seated vampires
stood quickly, alerting Spike and
Angelus that she had arrived. They turned to face her, Spike moving
a little
slower, but not by much.
She smiled.
''William. Angelus. Welcome to our happy little family.''
''It's Spike now.'' He could afford
showing a bit less respect than the
others - killing two Slayers gave him a bit of leeway. This showed
in her
response - she didn't order him killed.
''Of course, Spike.'' She gestured
to the other vampires. ''They are
Bennett Devlin, Pierce Dorman, and Damian Smith.'' - the last name
belonged to
the guide. Angelus and Spike exchanged looks, and each knew what the
other was
thinking: <Both names? How juvenile.>
After dropping off their luggage at the brownstone apartment Giles had
rented, he and Buffy headed out to the source's workplace. It was already
dark
out, much to Buffy's surprise; her watch said it was only 3:45.
When she
mentioned that to Giles, he reminded her of the time difference: three
hours.
''You're going to feel it in the
morning,'' he remarked, ''when you get
up at, at seven and telling you that it's only, uh, four.''
''You'd be surprised at how little
sleep I can go on,'' Buffy said,
lightly touching the stake hidden on her arm.
''In - indeed.''
They arrived at the workplace without
any incident, supernatural or
otherwise. Buffy looked at the flashy sign.
'''Luke's Club,''' she read. ''Is this like the Bronze?''
''Not - not really. I - it's an
over-21 club a, actually. But,'' Giles
added, ''you will be an exception.''
They walked into the club. Instantly,
a man with very short, blond hair
made a beeline for them.
''Hey, Rupe!'' he exclaimed, smacking
Giles on the shoulder. Giles
winced. ''How've you been?'' the man asked. He looked at Buffy. ''You
must be
the Slayer.''
''Could you say that a little louder?''
Buffy asked. ''I don't think
all the vampires heard you.'' Giles hastily interrupted, saying,
''Int- introductions. Buffy, this
is Luke Spencer. Luke, Buffy
Summers.''
''Nice to meet you,'' Luke said,
shaking Buffy's hand. ''No vamps in
here,'' he added. ''All the door and window frames are painted with
paint
mixed with bits of Holy Wafer."
Buffy nodded approvingly. ''Good thinking.''
''Thanks. Let's step into my office.''
Inside, Luke sat at his desk and
gestured to two other chairs. ''Have
a seat.''
Buffy sat, saying, ''OK. Let's have the details here.''
''The vamp activity,'' Luke began.
''became apparent in mid-'96. That
was when the Cassadines came to town. Now, these guys have got it in
for
humanity; about twenty years ago, Mikkos Cassadine tried to freeze
the world,
and last year, Stefan Cassadine tried to take over with a computer
virus. He
and his nephew, Nikolas - about your age, Buffy - came to town first,
followed
by Count Vlad's cousin, Alexis Davis-''
'''Count Vlad?''' Giles interrupted. ''As in Vladimir the Impaler?''
''Oh, that's just a friendly little
nickname I gave Stefan,'' Luke said
dismissively. ''Anyway, a few months back, Mama Cassadine, Helena,
Stefan's
mother, turned up, miraculously recovered from a near-death illness.
So these
are all the Cassadines in town that we know of. There's also Victor,
who
supposedly died in jail, and Mikkos and Tony are both popsicles. Stavros
I
killed myself.''
''So you think it's the Cassadines,'' Buffy summarized.
''Not all of them. Stefan, Nikky,
Alexis, and Helena have all been seen
in broad daylight.''
''But this Victor person's a maybe.''
''H - hold on a second here,''
protested Giles, who knew all about the
Spencer/Cassadine feud. ''W - we can't automatically rule out ev -
everybody
who isn't, uh, a - a Cassadine.''
''OK.'' Luke folded his arms across
his chest and leaned back in his
chair. ''So who *can* we rule out?''
''We - well,'' Giles absently removed
his glasses and polished them on
his shirt. ''Everyone one who doesn't spontaneously combust in the
sunlight,
for starters.''
Buffy pretended to take notes.
''Spontaneous combustion bad. Got it.
What else?''
The trio spent the next half hour
brainstorming and eliminating
suspects.
''Great,'' Buffy muttered. ''Look
at the long list of names we *don't*
have.''
''D - don't be discouraged, Buffy,''
answered Giles. He looked at his
watch. ''We - we should be leaving. Buffy, you need to make a, uh,
pre -
preliminary patrol to, uh, f - familiarize yourself with the, uh .
. . area.''
''Good idea. I guess that's why
you're the Watcher,'' Buffy said,
standing up. She and Giles said their goodbyes and left.
''Buffy,'' said Giles as they walked
out of the club, ''there is, uh,
something you should know. About the Spencers and - and the Cassadines.
There
is a, uh, long-standing feud between th - the families. So you
should take
everything Luke has to say about them with a grain of salt.''
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