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Becca (cowritten by Allison)
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Date Posted: 19:16:29 01/13/02 Sun
In reply to:
Becca (cowritten by Allison)
's message, "TCO Episode1:Everything Changes Chapter 3" on 18:45:00 01/13/02 Sun
Chapter 4
Liz stumbled to the door, her hand grasping for the handle. She was dead tired; nobody warned her that being a slayer meant long nights and little sleep. As she made her way into Kelly's she spotted Xander sitting down to a large breakfast and decided to join, maybe even grill him about what went down in Sunnydale.
"Hey rookie, how's it going?" he asked, piling a fork full of eggs into his open mouth. "Want some?"
"Thanks, I think I'll get my own," Liz sighed. Xander shrugged his shoulders.
Liz quickly placed an order of two eggs and toast with Tammy and returned to the table. "So how was your first night-did the undead play nice?"
"Are you always like this?" she asked with a laugh.
"Only when I get free food," Xander winked, leaning closer to her. "So, did Buff show you the ropes? Did you get any?"
"Where's your neighbor-Cordelia?"
"Are you kidding? It's eleven, she's still in the first stages of primping," Xander explained
"I see," Liz shook her head. "To answer your first question last night was . . . interesting."
"Interesting, as in you, Buffy, and mud wrestling interesting? If so, why wasn't I invited?" Xander quipped, obviously in a good mood.
"You are certainly a character," Liz laughed.
"Ah, I try."
"In truth, I dusted my first . . ." she paused and leaned in, lowering her voice " . . . vampire."
"Congratulations!" he exclaimed, holding up his glass of orange juice, prompting Liz to do the same. After clinking their glasses together, Liz leaned back in her chair and smiled.
"So tell me, what kind of stuff went down in Sunnydale. From what I gather the place was a bit . . ."
"Hellmouthy?"
"I was going to say active, but that term will do. So, any juicy stories you can tell me about?" she asked curiously.
"Where to start?" Xander rubbed his hands together and smiled. "There was the Halloween when we all turned into our costumes--that was fun."
"Please elaborate," Liz requested, realizing that it took too much energy to even begin to think imagine what actually happened.
"Well there was this old dude from Giles's wild early years, Ethan something, well he released this curse on our costumes. I turned into army guy, Buffy into a sniveling eighteenth century noblewoman, and Willow amazingly a ghost, though she looked more like a . . . hooker," he explained, an amused look on Liz's face.
"So I'm guessing Halloween is the big night for vampires and the undead?"
"Ironically it isn't supposed to be that way-though really, this is the Hellmouth we are talking about. It's as if the rules were made to be broken," Xander paused as he ate a piece of toast. "There was another time when I tried to make Cordelia want me just so I could reject her . . ."
"Excuse me?" Liz asked, surprised at the allusion of Xander and Cordelia in any sort of romantic entanglement.
"Oh, Cordy and I, we . . . let's call it a lack of judgement and leave it at that." Xander liked to say he felt nothing but disdain for Cordelia, but the truth was, deep down he almost, sort of, loved her. "Anyway I went to Amy, the witch, to cast a spell. Well, the dim bulb got it wrong and it backfired. Every woman in Sunnydale wanted me-save for Queen C."
"I don't get it-isn't it every guys wish to have girls clamoring for him?" Liz mused, picking at her own breakfast.
"In theory . . . but when you've got a mob chasing you with weapons, wanting you to be their love thang . . . it's not so much fun," Xander grumbled.
"Not that it isn't fascinating, but what else happened back in Sunnydale? Didn't you guys avert the end of the world a few times?" Liz pushed, amused by Xander yet wanting to know exactly what she was dealing with.
"Oh, that little problem . . . we had to deal with the end of the world just about every other week," Xander said dryly. "Especially when Angel went bad."
"Angel . . ." Liz sighed. "I've heard so much yet so little about him, all I know about him is that he’s a vampire, with a soul, and he has a past with Buffy.
Yeah, and if it were up to me, he'd have been in the big coffin in the sky by now," he grinned.
"I gather you don't like Angel much?"
"He's bad, not to be trusted-once a demon, always a demon," Xander grunted, getting Liz to laugh. "What's so funny?"
"You sound like Lucky before he became friends with his brother. He only saw the Cassadine in him, not the good and decent side," Liz explained, noticing that despite a few differences, Lucky and Xander were very similar.
"Yeah well, I met Nikolas, he hasn't killed anyone has he? Didn't think so . . .listen everyone has already tried to show me the virtues of Angel, but it isn't going to happen--so don't try."
"I wasn't trying, I was actually making more of a parallel to you and Lucky, not Nikolas and Angel," Liz smiled. "Forget I ever brought it up."
"Brought what up?"
"So, I heard a little bit about the Master--he killed Buffy?"
"Ah, the master, yeah he killed Buffy but I revived her--I got to play hero that day . . .for about ten minutes before Buffy, well, saved us all from being subjected to the Master's reign of terror," he said with a nervous laugh.
"Wow! Crazy . . .and I know you had an eventful graduation."
"Ah yes, graduation when the student body had to coordinate our collective student bodies to stop him from ascending and, essentially . . ."
"Subjecting you to his reign of terror?"
"No, well, he could have done that if it work . . .he claimed he would have been most powerful person in the world. But frankly they all claim that. Angel and his obsession with Acathala, the whole thing with the master, Spike and whatever the heck he is ever up to. I don't want to be around the day we get it wrong though--but we've been batting a thousand, though in our position one fumble and the world would probably have ended a while ago," Xander rambled, losing track of what he was saying.
"Ok, aside from you mixed sports metaphors this is fascinating. But I actually have to give Alexis a call," Buffy said with a laugh, digging through her purse for Alexis's cell phone number. As she rummaged through she placed her wallet on the table, which Xander snatched.
"Sorry," he muttered. "I just wanted to see your driver's license photo-do you mind?"
"I hope it doesn't scare you too much--but go ahead," Liz continued looking for the number.
"Ah!" Xander yelled, tossing the wallet at Liz, knocking her in the head.
"Is it that bad?" she asked, confused.
"The girl--the blonde, you know her?" he asked incredulously.
"Blonde?" Liz picked up the wallet, noticing he had her photos fold opened to her sister Sarah's picture. "Wow, someone who doesn't like Sarah . . .it's my sister Sarah. She's living in Europe with my parents now. Why, do you know her?"
"Sarah--you said her name was Sarah, not Heidi? She's never been to Sunnydale, under an assumed name?"
"No, the only time Sarah and I have ever been to California, in fact, was when I was seven and we went to Disneyland--but no Sunnydale," Liz explained. "Why?"
"Well you know, Sunnydale is a . . . there was this girl and a few others--we sort of, we were possessed by a demon or something, I'm not sure. Anyhow, it made us act like-hyenas," he said with a nervous laugh. "Heidi, looked just like your sister, she, um, she helped in eating our principal. Though, just for the record, I didn't eat him."
"Well, I um . . ." Liz paused and looked at the picture of Sarah. No, she never remembered Sarah going to Sunnydale and certainly didn't remember her acting like an animal. A first class snob yes, but an animal, not Sarah. "Weird coincidence I guess."
"Oh yeah, you are going to fit in really, really well with us," Xander laughed.
Lucky stood outside Kelly's, peering in the window and watching Liz and Xander. For some reason he felt his blood boil with jealousy-and he couldn't pinpoint why. He liked Xander, he was a cool guy, someone he'd be friends with. But he also always got this feeling whenever he saw Liz with another guy. But why? They were only friends, comfortable, natural, the best friends in the world. Romance would only ruin it-wouldn't it?
"Hey cowboy, do plan on going in or are you finally getting around to breaking in these cobble stones?" Luke quipped, smacking his son on the back.
"What?" Lucky asked wearily, turning his attention from Liz and Xander, to his father. "Hey dad, how's it going?"
"Oh, I'm fine-though the homestead is somewhat quiet. Your mother and Lulu miss having you around, and I kind of do too," Luke laughed. "Anyway, what are you up to?"
"Just thinking."
"Ah, I see," Luke smiled, looking over Lucky's shoulder at Liz, who was talking and laughing with someone he never saw before. "Boy, it looks like Liz has become rather popular now that she is matriculating at PCU-you better watch it before you lose her."
"I won't lose her . . ." Lucky shot out, getting a questioning and please look from Luke. "No, I didn't mean it that way. I won't lose her because I've never had her. She's just my friend . . .wait a second, what do you mean popular? Having breakfast with Xander Harris does not make her popular, he's just some townie from Sunnydale," Lucky muttered, looking back in at the diner.
"Because last night some tall, dark, and what I'm sure women would consider handsome guy stopped in Kelly's asking about the delightful Miss Webber."
"Really?" Lucky asked, feeling even more jealous now. "Did he, um, did he leave a name?"
"Yeah, it was weird . . . what did he say it was? . . . Oh yeah--Angel, just Angel," Luke said with a wink.
"Angel," Lucky whispered. "Another one, soon this town is going to be overrun with the denizens of Sunnydale-I can't win!"
"Can't win, can't win what?" Luke queried his son.
"Oh nothing, I might as well go in . . .you coming?" he asked, opening the door.
"Nah, I was just cutting through, talk to you later cowboy," Luke began to leave. "And don't lose your chance at happiness."
"Dad," Lucky rolled his eyes and walked into the diner. "Morning," he whispered, placing his hands on Liz's shoulders as he approached her table.
"Hey Lucky, morning-though it's not really morning," she laughed, looking over her shoulder at him. "Join me?"
"Looks like you already have a breakfast partner," he said coldly.
"That? Oh, it was just Xander, he went upstairs to . . .to do something," she explained.
"Ok," he smiled, sliding into Xander's chair. "I hope this doesn't sound possessive or anything, but where were you last night?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, there was this really great movie on late at night that I knew you'd like. I called to tell you about it but Nina said you weren't home. She said you left at about nine and . . . I called at about eleven thirty," Lucky explained.
"Oh, I was out, like I told you--with Buffy and Alexis, doing the . . ." Liz paused, trying to remember what she told him.
"The painting for Jax?" Lucky asked, sensing something was up. He could read Liz like a book, when you spend practically twenty-four hours a day with someone you learn to read her quite well. He decided to let it pass for the moment, knowing she'd tell him when she felt it was right. "Oh yeah, I forgot, well anyway . . ."
Lucky smiled at her, giving Liz a warm, fuzzy feeling that she only felt when he flashed his blue eyes at her. But she was still in denial-friendship was all she wanted with Lucky, it was all she could handle.
"Oh, I have to ask you, why is that guy that Buffy and the others know looking for you?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.
"What? Who?"
"Angel, my dad said he stopped by the club last night asking about you. Why is he looking for you? How does he know you? Do you know him?" Lucky questioned, noticing how his best friend was tensing up.
"I've never met him in my life, but maybe Buffy called him and mentioned my name. Port Charles isn't a big town so maybe he . . .everyone knows Luke knows everyone, I'm sure that is why . . ." Liz swallowed hard, hoping Lucky bought the excuse.
She knew it was for his own good not to tell him, but she hated keeping a secret from him, especially a secret that was so life changing. For over a year now Lucky was the one person she told everything-they complained together, laughed together, cried together, and just lived their lives together. The ideal situation, which is why she so desperately wanted to tell Lucky. She was positive all her confusion and worries would, at the very least, be softened with Lucky's help. He had a way about him that put her at ease. When she was tense he eased her nerves, when she was depressed only Lucky could make her smile. He would definitely help her now.
"Oh, cool . . . so, you and Xander seem to be hitting it off," Lucky sighed, changing the subject. "What about Buffy, she seems . . . she seems really sweet. In fact, uh, is she seeing anyone?” Lucky asked, trying to get Liz jealous.
"Well, I don't know if she's looking . . .I guess you could ask her--or do you want me to . . ."
"No, that would be awkward. Thanks, I appreciate the help," he said softly, avoiding her gaze. "Anyway, what are you doing tonight? Maybe we can go see that new independent film they are showing on campus, it looks great. Besides we haven't had too much time to just hang out since your Sunnydale friends arrived."
"Oh, I don't know . . .I was just about to call Alexis to see if she wanted me to . . .work on the painting . . .is there a late showing?" she asked, not wanting to turn Lucky down a second night in a row.
"In fact there is a twelve showing, I'm game if you are. Just pump some good old-fashioned Morgan/Corinthos Coffee in my veins and I'll make it," Lucky said with a wink.
"Let's do it, I'm sure they won't need me to all night," she quickly caught herself. "Meet me in the park at about midnight."
"In the park? Do you think you should be out by yourself that late? I mean, I wouldn't be out there that late myself, I don't want you in any, well, danger," Lucky sighed.
"I can take care of myself . . ."
"Elizabeth, we all think that but . . ."
"Trust me Lucky, I can take care of myself. I'm becoming more adept each day," Liz blurted out quickly.
"I didn't doubt that. You always could handle yourself, sorry if I offended you," he apologized, staring at her adoringly.
"No, you didn't offend me," she smiled, totally confused by the way he was looking at her. One minute he was insinuating that he was interested in Buffy, the next he was looking at her in such a loving, adoring way. She was certainly confused, and getting a headache.
"So, we're on for the late movie tonight? Two friends, catching a flick--I can't wait!"
"Me neither. What's the movie about anyway?"
"Oh, it's pretty cool-about this woman who fights vampires, it's like her destiny or something. Supposedly it is based on a true story or something. Like vampires exist," Lucky laughed.
"Yeah, like they exist," Liz laughed ironically, shaking her head.
~*~
Alexis was relaxing in her living room, munching on some microwave popcorn, when there was a knock at the door. She glanced at her watch and smiled.
"Right on time," she muttered in amusement as she stood up and walked over to answer the door.
"Ms. Davis," Giles greeted formally, standing in the doorway with his arms full of books.
"Please, call me Alexis. Can I help you with those?" she asked, stepping aside so he could come in.
"No, I think I've got them," he answered as he hurried to the table, dumping them next to her popcorn. He glanced around the room appreciatively. "Lovely home you have."
Smiling, Alexis returned to the couch and picked up one of the books. "Thanks, Jax likes to live in style. It sure beats the hotel room I used to live in, although after living in Wyndemere, this doesn't really seem like anything very grand."
"Wyndemere?" Giles asked, sitting on the couch across from her flipping through a book. She had asked him to come over so they could start researching the Hellmouth, to try to find out why it chose Port Charles as its new home. Jax was supposed to be gone all day, so she had the penthouse to herself.
"Have you seen that big, spooky island over by the docks yet?"
"Um, yes, I believe I have. I intended on asking you about it at some point. It's the perfect sort of place for vampires to hide out. We may want to investigate."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that. My brother lives there, and he's as mortal as you and I."
"I wasn't aware that you had a brother," Giles commented. For some reason, he had this desire to know everything there was to know about Alexis Davis.
"For most of my life, we thought we were cousins, but it turned out I was actually an illegitimate daughter of his father's. Since then, we've had some differences, and we don't really speak to each other any longer. It's fine, though, because the Cassadines are not exactly a family one would want to be a part of. I'm much happier being a Jacks." She sighed and looked down at the book in front of her, trying to make sense of it. "So, what exactly are we looking for here again?"
"Anything about the Hellmouth that will give us some insight as to why it came here. There has to be something in Port Charles that attracted it."
She nodded, flipping to the index. "Hellmouth, got it."
After a few minutes of silent reading, Giles cleared his throat and looked up at Alexis. "How was Liz's first patrol?"
"Pretty good, I think. I'm kind of new at this myself, but she did manage to kill a vampire. Buffy had to help, but she still did it. She seemed pretty excited about it, actually, almost like she was having fun."
"I just hope she doesn't take this too lightly. Just because she killed one vampire, doesn't mean the next one won't kill her," Giles said gravely.
"I'm sure she's aware of that. Buffy took her to the gym this afternoon to start some of the physical training. She got knocked around a little last night, so we thought it was best to start teaching her the hand-to-hand stuff as soon as possible," Alexis continued, frowning at one of the books. "You know, being a lawyer, I've done more than my share of research in the past, but this stuff is like Greek to me. Well, actually, I know Greek, so I guess it's more like, I don't know....Swahili."
Giles smiled slightly and looked up at her. "Some of these books are in Latin or one of the other ancient languages, but most are translated into English. Just keep in mind they were mostly written centuries ago, so the vernacular is somewhat different."
"Thanks, I'll try to remember that. I still haven't seen anything about a Hellmouth yet. A lot of really nasty-looking demons, but no Hellmouth."
Giles looked up at the spine of the book and chuckled. "That's because you're reading the Encyclopedia of Demons. Here, try this one." He picked up a large, ornately bound book and passed it to her. She shut the one she had been reading and shoved it aside, then took the other.
"You mean they actually have an encyclopedia for that?!" she smirked, flipping open the cover of the book Giles gave her. "This is going to take forever," she groaned.
"Try the index first, sometimes that works," he suggested, leafing through another book.
"Oh, right. I guess I didn't think they had those back when these were written," she said, feeling slightly embarrassed. As she scanned the index, the penthouse door opened.
"Hi honey, I'm--" Jax started, cutting himself off when he saw that Alexis had company. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt a meeting?"
Alexis slammed her book shut and stood up. "Jax! Um, what are you doing home so early? I thought you went to an ELQ board meeting?"
"I did, but then Corinthos showed up and pretty much cleared the room, so I came home early," he explained, looking curiously at Giles, who had also closed his book and stood up.
"Oh, okay, um, this is Rupert Giles. He just moved here from California, and I was giving him some legal counseling on . . .um . . . well, I guess I shouldn't say. Client/lawyer privilege, you know. Anyway, this is my husband, Jasper Jacks," she stammered, trying to keep Jax from getting suspicious.
Jax smiled and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Rupert, is it?"
"Actually, most people just call me Giles," he answered, shaking Jax's hand.
"Really? Well, everyone calls me Jax, so I can understand that. Good to meet you, Giles."
"Same to you," Giles said cordially, letting go of his hand as the three stood there awkwardly.
"Well, I guess I'll leave you to your meeting. Sorry to interrupt," Jax said, giving Alexis a quick kiss, then heading for the bedroom. She watched him go, breathing a sigh of relief once he was out of sight.
"I have a feeling I'm going to have to tell him about this whole thing soon," she whispered.
"Whatever you feel is best. Just remember that by telling someone the truth, you're essentially putting them in great danger."
"I know, but Jax can take care of himself. He's survived a lot of things in his life so far," she said proudly.
"I'm sure he has, but vampires and demons are a bit different than the usual dangers in life."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he knows that. I guess we can't really continue this now, with him here. Have you found a place to live yet?"
"Actually, I just did this morning. I'm moving into, I believe it's called the 'Brownstone'?" Alexis nodded. "Well, I'm moving in this afternoon. Would you mind if I joined you on patrol tonight? I'd like to see how Liz is coming along with her training."
"Of course," she said quickly, relieved to have an experienced Watcher along. "That would be great. I think they're meeting up around nine. If you want to try to do some more research, I can meet you somewhere at seven. I'll just tell Jax I have a dinner meeting "
Giles nodded. "Yes, I think we should keep looking. I should be somewhat settled in by then, we could meet at my new apartment. It's number three."
"I'll be there," she said, helping him to the door with his books. "See you later, Rupert."
Once he was out of the penthouse, Alexis shut the door and sighed. She was going to have to tell Jax about her secret life sooner than she thought, or else he was going to start thinking that she was cheating on him!
~*~
"I can't believe how sore I am!" Liz groaned, massaging her shoulder as she and Buffy made their way through the cemetery later that night.
Buffy chuckled. "Physical training will do that to you. Don't worry, it goes away." She pulled two stakes out of her bag and handed one to Liz.
"Thanks," Liz said, taking it from her. "It's funny, but I already feel much stronger."
"That's normal. Slayers have a power that allows us to learn things like that much faster than normal people. What you learned today is probably something that would have taken anyone else months."
"Really? Wow!" She grinned and looked around the dark graveyard. "So, what's on the agenda for tonight?"
"Same old, same old," Buffy answered dryly. "See vampire, stake vampire, dust vampire off new Prada boots. Gets kind of old real fast, but it has to be done."
"Hmm, I always thought saving the world would be more exciting," Liz joked, tensing up as she spotted someone staggering along in the distance. "Vampire?" she asked softly.
"Yup, go get him," Buffy responded, shrinking back into the shadows. Liz nodded and took a deep breath, then stepped forward.
"Hey, fangface, over here!" she shouted, eliciting a small chuckle from Buffy. The vampire looked over and growled, then started towards her.
~*~
Lucky walked up to the grave and kneeled down, placing a rose against the tombstone. "Hi, Aunt Ruby. I know it's been a while since I've visited, but with school and everything...well, you know how it is."
He smiled and looked up at the sky, then back at the grave. "I wish you were still here, because I could really use some of your advice right now. You remember Elizabeth, don't you? Well, we're best friends, and we've always said that's the way we want it to stay, that dating would only make things too complicated, and we might ruin what we have. I don't want to lose her, but lately I've been wanting to take that next step anyway.
"See, there are these people that just moved here from California, and Liz is suddenly really close with them. It's not that I don't want her to have other friends, it's just that she seems to spend all her time with them now, and every time I see her with one of the guys, Xander, I get this huge stab of jealousy. I know, it's silly, but I can't help it. And now I just found out that there's this other guy, Angel, who's been asking my dad about her."
He sighs and sits back, his knees starting to hurt. "I just don't know what to do. Should I tell her how I feel, that I like her as more than just a friend, and hope it doesn't scare her away? Or should I keep my mouth shut and just let things progress naturally..." He trailed off as he heard a loud noise from the other end of the cemetery. He stood up and dusted off his jeans, then hurried closer, wondering what was going on. As it got louder, he crouched down, not wanting to be seen. It sounded like someone was being beaten up, and he didn't want to take any chances.
Hiding behind a large tombstone, he peered around the side, gasping when he saw Liz fighting a guy twice her size off in the distance. He was about to run over to help her when he realized she was doing just fine on her own, so he sat back and watched in awe as she punched him, then swung her leg around and kicked him, sending him flying a few feet away. She rushed over to him and raised her arm, turning slightly. Lucky ducked back behind the stone, not wanting her to see him. When he looked back at her, the guy was gone, so he rushed over to make sure she was okay.
~*~
"Didn't your mother ever tell you it's not nice to hit girls?" Liz hissed, bringing her stake down into the vampire's chest, turning him to dust. She stood back and smiled proudly, then turned to see if Buffy was still there. Instead of Buffy, she came face-to-face with Lucky.
"Oh! Lucky, um, what are you doing here?" she asked, quickly hiding the stake behind her back.
"I was visiting my Aunt Ruby's grave, and I heard a noise, so I came over to check it out. Why were you fighting with that guy? Where did he go?" he asked, trying to make sense of everything.
"Oh, him, um, he tried to hit on me. Wouldn't take no for an answer," she responded, smiling so he wouldn't think there was any more to it. "He finally gave up and ran away."
Not really buying her story, he nodded slowly. "Okay, but why are you here? I thought you were working on that painting tonight?"
"I was, I just thought I'd cut through here on the way, say hi to, um," she racked her brain, trying to think of someone who was buried there that she would visit, "Ruby, I was going to visit her, too."
"Elizabeth, what's going on?" he asked, tired of watching her lie to him. "You know you can tell me anything, don't you?"
Liz sighed, wondering if maybe she should just tell him everything. Before she could, a voice called out from behind her, startling both of them.
"Lucky!"
They both turned to look, and Liz relaxed when she saw that it was just Carly.
"Hey, Carly," Lucky greeted, glancing over at Liz to let her know that they weren't finished yet. "What are you doing here?"
"Just passing through," she said cheerfully. "It's good though, because I wanted to talk to you about something." She looked over at Liz. "It's family stuff."
"Oh, of course, I'll just go over there," she said, quickly retreating to Buffy's hiding place, happy to be saved from telling Lucky the truth. She wanted to tell him, just not right then, not in the middle of the graveyard.
"Hey, that was a close one," Buffy whispered, moving over so Liz could join her. "Does he suspect anything?"
"Well, he knows something's up, but I don't think he has a clue what it is. He didn't see me actually stake the guy, so I told him he ran away. Still, he's not going to buy my lies much longer."
"Yeah, I know. Hey, who is that, anyway?" she asked, nodding towards Carly.
"Carly, she's his cousin. I'm not really sure what she's doing here. You don't have to worry, though. There are a lot of people in this town that would say she's evil, but I've met her a few times, and I'm pretty sure she's harmless. Besides, she's a Spencer, so she can't be all bad!"
Buffy nodded, and they watched quietly as Lucky and Carly talked. Suddenly, she tensed up, getting a strange vibe from the woman. "Um, Liz, are you sure she's okay?"
"Yeah, why?" Liz asked, her voice somewhat distant. She had been watching Lucky so closely, she hadn't even noticed that Carly was closing in on him. She sat forward, at full attention again. "Wait a minute, what's she....uh-oh!" She jumped up and rushed over, praying she would get there in time.
"Carly, are you okay?" Lucky asked hesitantly, wondering why she was looking at him so intently.
"I'm fine, just a little hungry," she said softly, lunging for him as her face switched to vampire form. Lucky gasped and backed away, but Carly was fast, and caught him before he could get very far. She sank her teeth into his neck, preparing to satisfy her insatiable thirst.
"Hey!" Liz yelled, running up to them. "Isn't there a rule somewhere about not feeding on family?"
Carly let go of Lucky, tossing him aside, and whipped around to study her. "Fine, I'll just have to settle for you, then," she growled, advancing on her. Liz raised her arm, but Carly slapped at it, knocking the stake out of her hand.
"Note to self: keep a better grip on the stake next time," Liz muttered, kicking Carly and knocking her to the ground. She jumped back to her feet and punched at Liz, but she raised her arm to block it.
"Hey, Carly," Liz called out. "You've got a little blood..." she motioned to her upper lip, indicating where it was, and Carly immediately stopped to wipe it off.
"Thanks," she mumbled as she looked at the blood on her finger, momentarily distracted by her need to look perfect. Liz took advantage of the break in action and lunged for her stake, but Carly saw her move and jumped in front of her. After a few more minutes of fighting, Carly managed to knock Liz away, throwing her against a tree.
Seeing that her partner was in danger, Buffy emerged from her hiding place and punched Carly in the back. She spun around and glared at her as Buffy pulled out her stake
"What is it with you two and those sticks?" Carly asked sarcastically, backing away. Something was telling her to run, but her pride wouldn't let her be chased away by two girls.
"Oh, you must be new," Buffy commented.
“What are you doing?” Spike barked at Carly as he came charging into the cemetery. “Disobeying me to feed is one thing, fighting the slayer . . . you bleedin’ nit!”
“I knew it,” Buffy hissed as she charged toward Spike. “Couldn’t you stay in Sunnydale?”
“We had a deal, Buffy! Remember, I left when I helped you with that Angel thing.”
“But you came back, remember? You wanted Willow to do a love spell on Dru?” Buffy challenged. Liz watched the duo, wondering why they weren’t fighting. They were just arguing, bickering even. If this was the famous, evil Spike, Liz was seriously underwhelmed.
“Yeah, and I left after that, didn’t I? I didn’t come back. Not even to participated in the carnage that Mayor dude could have caused. No ma’am, I stayed away, I relocated to the East Coast,” he paused and smirked. “To the home state of the second slayer I offed. You’re the one who followed me.” Spike stepped closer to Buffy, staring at her intently.
“Yeah, I had Willow move the Hellmouth because I knew you were in Port Charles, I just can’t resist you Spike,” Buffy hissed, not moving away from her nemesis. Liz and Carly exchanged confused looks, wondering why their respective partners weren’t fighting.
"Spike!" Giles said with disdain as he and Alexis entered the cemetery.
"Giles," Spike returned, rolling his eyes.
"Carly?" Alexis asked, seeing her standing next to Spike.
"Alexis," Carly greeted, baring her fangs.
"Liz," Buffy called out, tossing her the stake that she had dropped earlier, which had been laying at her feet. She caught it and smiled gratefully.
"Okay, enough!" Spike shouted, clearly annoyed. "Now that everyone knows each other's name, can we just get on with this?" When everyone became silent, he turned to Carly and frowned. "Now, what did I tell you about hunting by yourself?"
She sighed and rolled her eyes, her face turning back to normal. "Not to do it until you said I was ready, I know. But, I was hungry, and you weren't around. What's the big deal anyway?"
"The big deal is, you almost got killed," Spike answered. He then looked over at Buffy and Liz. "Let me guess, this is the new Slayer?"
"Good job, Spike," Buffy said condescendingly. "What gave it away? The stake, or the fact that she almost killed your new groupie?"
Spike walked back over to Buffy and everyone else backed away. She stood her ground, challenging him with her stare and he stopped in front of her. "I saw Loverboy yesterday," he said with a grin, knowing that she and Angel were no longer together.
"He's in town, I know," she replied stoically. Liz had told her that afternoon about Angel asking Luke about her, so Spike's revelation came as no surprise.
He frowned, so sure that would have shaken her up. "You're going to regret coming here. You should have just stayed in Sunnydale and played with your little friends."
"Buf-!" Liz started to call out, seeing a vampire creeping up behind Buffy, but her instincts were good enough to sense him there, and she flung her arm to the side, catching him square in the chest with her stake. As the vampire exploded in a cloud of dust, she continued her argument with Spike, never missing a beat, while everyone but Giles gawked in amazement. He was used to watching Buffy in action.
"I'm not the one who's going to regret this, Spike, you are. Haven't you learned by now that you can't take on two Slayers? Hell, you can't even take on one!"
"She's got a point," Angel said, stepping out of the shadows.
"Angel!" Buffy whispered in surprise. Sure, she knew he was in town, but she hadn't expected to see him so soon.
"Buffy," Angel replied, his face softening as he looked over at her.
"Angel?" Liz asked, intrigued. When they said he was handsome, they weren't kidding!
"Angel," Giles stated suspiciously, trying to figure out if he was still good.
"Giles," Angel deadpanned, nodding slightly in his direction.
"Argh!" Spike groaned, grabbing Carly by the shoulders. "Not this again! Come on, we're out of here!" He drug her out of the cemetery, ignoring her complaints.
"You must be Elizabeth," Angel said, turning to Liz.
"Liz," she corrected, tensing up slightly as she reminded herself that gorgeous or not, he was still a vampire.
Buffy noticed her hesitation and smiled. "It's okay, he's good. He has a soul, remember?"
Liz nodded, then smiled and reached out to shake his hand, not sure what else to do. This time it was Angel's turn to hesitate. Buffy chuckled and shook her head.
"She's good, too, don't worry," she reassured him. He relaxed and shook Liz's hand, meeting her eyes in an intense gaze. Buffy turned to Liz to explain. "He's a little leery of slayers ever since Faith tried to kill him a few times."
"She did?" Liz asked, letting go of his hand and turning to look at her. "Why?"
Buffy shrugged. "Let's just say she was an equal-opportunity slayer. She didn't feel it was fair to give Angel special treatment just because he had a soul."
Liz chuckled and looked back to Angel. "Well, as long as you don't try to kill me, I won't try to kill you."
Angel smiled and nodded, backing away from them. "All right, then. I'll see you around, I better go keep an eye on Spike." He quickly disappeared into the shadows, leaving them alone again.
Lucky stumbled away from where he had been watching the entire scene, pulling his hand away from his bleeding neck in shock. "What the hell was that?" he asked loudly, startling them all.
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