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Becca (cowritten by Allison)
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Date Posted: 19:32:39 01/13/02 Sun
In reply to:
Becca (cowritten by Allison)
's message, "TCO Episode1:Everything Changes Chapter 4" on 19:16:29 01/13/02 Sun
Chapter 5
"Well?" Lucky shouted, stumbling a few steps closer to Liz.
"Oh my God, Lucky," Liz muttered, her mouth gaping in shock. "You're bleeding."
"Obviously . . .why did Carly try to bite me?" he asked, somewhat angry, but more confused.
"It looks more like she succeeded," Alexis quipped.
"Here you go," Giles noted, handing Lucky his handkerchief.
"Thanks," Lucky put the hankie to his neck and looked around. "Oh please, there's something to be said for keeping the suspense, but this isn't the time."
Liz turned to face Alexis and shrugged her shoulders. "He's not . .."
"No, Carly didn't drink enough or allow him to drink from her, he's alright," Buffy reassured Liz.
"You may as well tell him, Liz, he has been bit," Alexis told the young slayer.
"Lucky, this is going to be difficult for you to grasp, heck I still have trouble grasping it," Liz muttered as she moved closer to her friend.
"Just tell me Elizabeth, you can be honest with me," Lucky said genuinely, taking her hand with his free hand.
"I know," she smiled and took a deep breath. "Buffy isn't just your average college student, and neither am I."
"You've never been average or normal Elizabeth," Lucky smiled, helping to ease her nerves.
"You see we are vampire slayers," she said bluntly, looking him directly in the eye.
"What? Vampire . . . slayers? Like Dracula? Elizabeth, are you out of your mind? As a friend, as your best friend I have to tell you, there are no such thing as vampires," Lucky chuckled. He looked around at the faces of the others, the reality hitting him.
"She's serious Lucky--what do you think Carly is?" Buffy added.
"Oh man, this is . . ." Lucky shook his head and sat down on the top of the tombstone behind him. "So, ghosts and goblins, all that Halloween stuff isn't make believe--it's real? What next--Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny are real too?"
"Not to the best of our knowledge, son, but there are forces of darkness at work in this world. Buffy was called and now Liz--it is their duty to fight the evil," Giles explained.
Lucky stared up at Liz, a bit dazed, then motioned to Alexis. "And her, who is she?"
"It's Alexis, Lucky."
Lucky rolled his eyes and frowned. "I know that, what is she in all this. . . the British guy too?"
"Oh, he's Rupert Giles, Buffy's former watcher. As for Alexis, she's our watcher now," she looked at Lucky, knowing he was still having trouble understanding. "You see, Giles and Alexis are like our coaches, they help us in our training and basically watch over us."
"So let me get this straight, you two," he motioned to Liz and Buffy. "You kill vampires and other bad things, Alexis and the British guy are your bosses, and my cousin just tried to drink my blood?"
"Other than a few details, yeah, that was the night in a nutshell," Liz nodded and sat down next to him.
"What are you two--superheroes?" he asked with a smile.
"We can't fly and we don't have x-ray vision, but we are great with witty puns when fighting," Buffy told him proudly.
"Then that Angel guy that was asking about you isn't some freak looking to go out with you?"
"No, he's a friend of Buffy's, a vampire," Liz explained.
"Ok, back up--why would a vampire slayer be friends with a vampire?" he pointedly looked to Buffy this time.
"Fate my boy, fate," Giles added softly from his spot with Alexis by a tree.
"From my spot of near delirium on the ground I heard another British voice--another friend?" Lucky asked, looking around the group.
"No, that was Spike, resident bad guy," Buffy said with a smirk. "He has a knack for not dying and being a pain my ass."
"I have one more question," Lucky said as he stood up, the bleeding finally stopping. "Why, all of a sudden, is Port Charles a Mecca for vampires and slayers and their entourage?"
"It's Willow's fault," Buffy said with a laugh. "She tried to close the Hellmouth in Sunnydale . . ."
"Hellmouth?"
"The center, or concentration of all evil in the world," Giles uttered rapidly.
"Anyway, Willow tried to close it and it seems she moved it instead, we don't know why it chose Port Charles though."
"It just packed its bags and moved--and it chose Port Charles? And I'm not going to even begin to pretend I understand any of this, but it sounds to me that something attracted this thing here. There has to be a reason--there is always a reason," Lucky suggested with a slight grin.
"We are currently working on that. But Port Charles has had a very quiet history when speaking about undead, and demons, and basically anything non-mob related," Alexis explained.
"Well, no offense, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with the Cassadines. They are always at the root of the problems in this town," Lucky added.
"Anything is possible," she shrugged, thinking that maybe Lucky was on to something.
"Oh my!" Buffy shouted.
"What is it Buffy?" Giles asked.
"A thought?" Liz quipped. "They aren't so shocking after a while."
Alexis smiled at the easy rapport and friendship that was developing between the two young women.
"Somebody has to tell the gang about Spike being here."
"The gang--meaning Xander, Cordelia, Willow, and Oz? They all know?" Lucky asked Liz angrily.
"They've known about it for years Lucky," she said softly.
"They knew and you didn't tell me? Why, didn't you trust me? Elizabeth .. ." Lucky huffed and walked away.
"Are you going to go after him?" Alexis asked. "He shouldn't be alone."
"I better follow him . . .I knew I shouldn't have kept it from him," Liz groaned as she followed after him, keeping a distance as to let him cool down.
"Let her talk to him and I'll go finish patrolling--you two go tell the others about our friend," Buffy ordered.
"Where are they?" Alexis asked.
"Xander said that they were going to check out some blues club."
"Luke's," Alexis moaned. "Hopefully he won't be there tonight."
"Be careful Buffy, with Spike around this isn't going to be a walk in the park," Giles warned.
"Technically it will be a walk in the park," Buffy added with a smile as Alexis and Giles walked off. "Now, if I were a vampire where would I be?"
~*~
"So, how are you liking Port Charles so far?" Emily asked, taking a sip of her soda. She and Nikolas had invited Buffy's friends to Luke's for the night while Liz and Buffy worked on their art, or whatever it was they were doing.
"It's very...quaint," Cordelia noted, gazing around the club. "But I do like this place. Reminds me of the Bronze."
"That was the big hang-out back home," Willow explained quickly. "I like it here, it's very different from Sunnydale. . . but in a good way."
"Much less sunny, though," Xander joked.
"It's cold," Oz added bluntly, pulling his jacket around him.
Nikolas chuckled and shook his head. "It's only early September, wait until winter, then tell me if this is cold!"
Cordelia laughed a little too loudly, trying to do everything she could to endear herself to the two of them. Starting over in a new city, where no one knew who you were was difficult, especially when your only goal in life was to be at the top of the social ladder.
Luke came out from his office and heard laughter from the nearby table. He recognized Nikolas and Emily and decided to go over and have a little fun.
"Well, what do we have here?" he asked, walking up behind them. He nodded in greeting to Emily. "Emily."
"Mr. Spencer," she responded, smiling.
Luke then turned his attention to his stepson. "So, Nikky, Does Count Vlad know where you are?"
"Count Vlad?" Xander whispered to Willow. She just shrugged, figuring they'd ask Nikolas later what he meant.
Nikolas turned to glare at him, his hopes of having a Luke-free evening suddenly dashed. "My father doesn't need to know where I am at all times, and even if he did, I go wherever I want to."
"And you wanted to come here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.
"Not especially, but Emily wanted to show our new friends the best places to hang out, and she's under the assumption that this is one of them," he responded dryly.
Luke grinned. "Well, I always knew Emily had good taste, although it's beyond me why she's so fond of you. What happened to those royal manners of yours? Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"
Seeing that Nikolas was in no mood to deal with him, Emily decided to take care of the introductions. "This is Cordelia, Oz, Willow, and Xander. They just moved here from Sunnydale, California."
Luke frowned. "Sunnydale, huh? I think I met one of your buddies the other day."
"Buffy?" Willow asked, figuring that was the only one left.
"No, you mean there are more?" he asked, smirking. "Actually, the guy I talked to was sort of a dark, brooding fellow, said his name was..."
"Angel," the four of them said, finishing his thought. He laughed, nodding.
"Yep, that's it. Strange name for a guy, don't you think?"
"Well, Angel's not exactly your normal guy," Xander noted wryly.
"You know, I got that same impression. Anyway, I have to go watch the bar. Looks like I'm going to have to fire Claude again. Welcome to our little town, just watch out for the bloodsuckers!" He slapped Nikolas on the back and laughed, then walked back over to the bar.
"Bloodsuckers?" Xander asked once he was gone.
Nikolas sighed and rolled his eyes. "Otherwise known to Luke as the Cassadines. In case he didn't make it painfully obvious, he doesn't particularly like me, or my family. It's a very long-standing feud, although Lucky and I have agreed to ignore it. Still, Luke has his little nicknames for us, and his favorite ones are the vampire references."
They all looked at him in shock, not sure what to make of his comment.
"Have you seen that big house out on the island yet? Out by the docks?" he asked. They all nodded. "Well, that's where my father lives, my aunt and I lived there once, as well. It's kind of a gothic-looking place, so Luke always makes fun of it. Calls it Spook Island, calls my father 'Count' all the time, stupid things like that. We all just ignore him, most of the time."
"Spook Island? What's the real name?" Cordelia asked flirtatiously.
"Spoon Island."
"Why Spoon? Is it shaped like one?" Xander joked. Nikolas shrugged, not quite sure. "So, why not Fork or Ladle? I know, Whisk Island!" Everyone started to laugh, happy that the vampire jokes were just that, jokes.
~*~
"Would you slow down," Liz said under her breath as she followed Lucky through the park.
"What? Am I going to fast for you to follow me? Don’t you have superpowers?" he asked, stopping dead in his tracks.
"Can we talk about it? Or are you going to brood and let your pride get in the way?" Liz asked, sitting down on a bench, waiting for him to join her.
Lucky reluctantly slid along side her and sighed. "It doesn't bother me that you have this other, secret life, I just don't get why you couldn't tell me."
"Well, not telling kind of kept up with the hole secret thing,” she joked. When he didn’t laugh, she continued.
It was for your own protection, Lucky. We aren't talking about fun and games, these are vampires and demons, they are very real and very dangerous," she paused and started laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? Vampires, demons, werewolves . .."
"Werewolves? Who?"
"Oh, Oz, he's a werewolf, but he's good," she explained.
"Good vampires, good werewolves, Cassadines out to save humanity, what is this world coming to?" Lucky joked.
"Oh Lucky, you don't know how badly I've wanted to tell you. The second Alexis told me, my first instinct was to tell you. You know I would never intentionally keep something from you," Liz said, turning serious again. "You are my one true friend, I never intended to alienate or hurt you. I'm sorry if I did."
"I thought . . .Elizabeth I thought we were growing apart. You had this new circle of friends, and you seemed distracted and preoccupied whenever I would talk to you. I thought I was . . .I thought I was losing you," as Lucky spoke he looked away, trying to avoid her intense gaze.
Liz gently placed her left hand on his thigh and smiled. "You could never lose me. Lucky, you are stuck with me, like it or not."
"And now . . . how am I supposed to not worry about you when you are out with Buffy doing whatever you do?" he asked worriedly.
"This is what I was born to do Lucky, it's my destiny, don't worry," she whispered, his hand slipping into hers.
"Don't go get killed on me, it took me a long time to find a best friend as amazing as you, I don't feel like looking for another one."
"You don't have to worry about that, I'm not going anywhere."
Their eyes were now locked on each other and their walls were slowly crumbling. Lucky couldn't take his eyes off of her. In the glow of the moonlight she looked positively radiant, irresistible. Liz had a similar feeling, his bright blue eyes were shining and his lips were curled into a sexy smile. How could she not have noticed this before; how could he possibly fight his attraction to his best friend anymore.
Lucky slowly licked his lips and leaned forward. Liz braced herself for what she sensed was about to happen. Just as Lucky was millimeters from her lips he heard the snapping of a branch behind them and jerked upright.
"What the hell," he muttered as they turned to see what the noise was.
"Sorry," Angel said sheepishly. "I was just cutting through, looking for Buffy. I didn't mean to interrupt."
"That's alright Angel," Liz lied, turning to Lucky who had a disappointed look on his face. "Lucky this is Angel, Angel this is my best friend Lucky."
"Angel," Lucky said coolly.
"Lucky."
"You're the good vampire guy, right?" Lucky asked, looking over the guy. He couldn't help but feel a bit jealous--this guy was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. But Lucky glanced over at Liz, who was staring at him with adoration and felt at ease. At least he knew where he stood in this scenario.
"Yes, I'm a vampire," Angel said bluntly, turning his attention to Liz who finally snapped out of her trance and looked up at Angel. "Have you seen Buffy in the last few minutes?"
"She's still patrolling I believe."
"Oh, ok, if you see her tell her . . . just let her know I was looking for her," Angel said and quickly slid into the shadows and disappeared.
"Bye Angel," a flustered Liz said, glancing at an equally flustered Lucky. "I guess I should walk you home."
Lucky chuckled, trying to break the tension. "You know, up until a week ago I would have been the one walking you home."
"One of the many perks of having a slayer as . . . a friend," she said quickly, smiling up at him. "You always have a body guard walking you home."
"Well, I got to say, I'd much rather have you as a body guard than Sonny's man Johnny," Lucky quipped.
"Why?" she asked as they made their way through the park in the direction of the university.
"Because you are much more beautiful."
With that they walked the rest of the way back to the dorm in a quiet, comfortable silence. Two friends moving towards something more.
~*~
Nikolas looked at his watch and sighed. "Sorry to leave you guys here, but it's getting late, and I promised Monica I'd get Emily home on time."
"It's that late already?" she asked, grabbing his wrist, frowning as she read the watch. "Damn, I hate curfews!" She stood up and grabbed her purse, then smiled at their new friends. "It was fun, we'll have to do this again sometime."
"Yeah, it was, thanks for showing us the place," Willow said cheerfully. They all said their good-byes as Nikolas and Emily turned to leave. On their way out, they passed Hannah, who had just come inside. Emily nodded to her in greeting, not knowing her very well, except through Jason.
Hannah sighed and sat down at the bar, waiting for Luke to come out. She had one paycheck left to pick up, and was hoping to make this a quick trip. A minute later, the door opened again, and Carly hurried inside.
"There you are!"
Hannah turned around and groaned. "What are you, my shadow now?"
"Oh, like I actually want to be here with you? Sorry babe, you're not that lucky. Spike wanted me to come get you. He says he doesn't want us hunting alone yet, or something like that." She made sure to keep her voice down, in case anyone was listening to them. Before Hannah could answer, Luke came out of the back, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. He looked over at the tables first and smiled to himself when he saw that Nikolas had left, then turned his attention to the bar.
"Well, Caroline, this is a surprise. What brings you by?"
"Nothing," she answered simply, grabbing for Hannah's arm. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Hannah pulled her arm back angrily. "Excuse me, but I'm not done here." She glared at Carly for a moment before turning back to Luke and smiling sweetly. "Are the checks ready yet?"
"Of course, darlin', I'll be right back. You sure you're set on quitting?" She nodded and he sighed, then went back to his office.
"A paycheck? That's why you're here?" Carly laughed. "Don't you realize we don't need pay checks anymore? That's probably the one good thing about this whole mess..."
Hannah turned to look at her. "Same old Carly, all you care about is money."
Across the room, the four Sunnydale friends were watching the whole argument curiously. "Um, guys, is there something a little off about them?" Xander asked, getting a strange feeling.
"Yeah, I was thinking that, too. Why do I feel like Buffy should be here?" Cordelia added.
"Look, chickie, you know nothing about me!" Carly was shouting, closing the gap between her and Hannah. "It's bad enough I have to be around you all the time now, but I'm not going to listen to you trash me!"
Hannah smirked as Luke came back from the office, too engrossed in her argument to notice he was there. "Funny you should mention trash..."
That was enough to push Carly over the edge. Unable to control her rage any longer, she lunged at Hannah, her face switching to vampire form as Hannah's did the same. She grabbed her and threw her off the barstool as Luke watched in complete shock. The door opened as Hannah flew past it.
"Looks like we're just in time," Giles muttered, reaching into his bag. He pulled out two crucifixes and handed one to Alexis.
"Thanks," she said, hurrying with him over to the two women, who were now engaged in a full-blown catfight. Xander, Willow, Oz and Cordelia had jumped up from their table when they saw Giles enter and hurried over to offer their help.
"Carly! Hannah!" Alexis shouted, trying to get their attention. They stopped fighting and turned to see who was calling them.
"Not you again," Carly groaned, pushing Hannah off of her and standing up, determined to take care of Alexis's meddling. "Do you have nothing better to do than follow me around?"
"Not really," Alexis said, holding the cross out in front of her. Carly hissed at the sight of it and backed up. With a little help from Giles, they managed to herd both women out of the club. Once the door had closed, she sighed and turned around to see how many people had just witnessed that. Fortunately, the Sunnydale gang were the only remaining customers. Unfortunately, Luke was standing behind the bar, his mouth hanging open in shock.
~*~
Buffy scuffled through park, her eyes scanning for a vampire to slay or at least an animal to scare away. But nothing, it was all quiet, almost too quiet, like something was going to happen.
"And I thought Sunnydale was boring," she muttered, kicking at a stone.
"Come on, how often was it actually boring," a smooth voice said from behind.
"I thought you made your appearance for the night?" she quipped, turning to face him.
"I just wanted to check up, make sure Spike didn't come back," Angel said softly. "I already ran into Liz, she was . . ."
"What? Was something wrong?"
"I think, and I can be wrong, it was my timing," Angel said with a grin.
"Why?"
"Are Lucky and Liz a couple by any chance?"
"I'm not sure, why?" Buffy asked curiously.
"I think I interrupted a kiss," he smiled as they sat down on a nearby bench.
"Angel, why are you here?" she questioned him, rapidly changing subjects.
He sighed and looked at her. She looked beautiful in the moonlight, he almost forgot how beautiful. Not like he could ever forget, everything about her was etched on his mind.
"Well? Was LA too eventful for you, playing Batman not your style?" Buffy quipped.
"This town, for how weird it is on the surface, is just too normal to be able to handle what can happen. Sunnydale had plenty of years to learn how to repress what was really happening. But I have a feeling that blaming everything on gangs won't work here," Angel explained.
"Ok, thanks for that little tidbit, but it does not explain why you are here," Buffy stressed.
"Oh, I'm here to help," he said quickly, “I know we can’t be together, and I left Sunnydale for a reason, but Port Charles needs our help. We worked well together in the past. I think we can do it again, don't you?"
She swallowed hard, feeling her heart break again. It didn't matter how many times he said it, or did it, it still hurt. "I don't need another partner, I've got Liz now."
Buffy stood up and began to walk away, Angel impulsively followed after her. "Buffy, she's going to be a great slayer one day, she actually reminds me a lot of you. But Liz is still a rookie, and she's never dealt with someone like Spike before. You need my help, Buffy take it."
She stood with her back to him, wiping away a tear. "Do you know how hard it is?"
"What is?" he asked as she slowly turned to face him.
"Everything, Angel everything with us is hard, whether it is fighting evil or falling in love, nothing is easy. And I had finally put you behind me, or at least the idea of us behind me. But now, you come here, the place where I thought I'd get a fresh start, and what . . . you want us to have a working relationship? Excuse me when I say, screw it."
"Buffy, you know we can't be together, it is just too complicated. You need someone who can love you fully, someone alive."
"I've never met anymore more alive than you," Buffy declared passionately.
Angel stepped closer, touching her cheek with his hand. "We can't do this . . .Buffy we can't, but we can work together, we do our best to stop Spike, and it will all be over. I'll go back to LA, you can stay here or go back to Sunnydale or whatever. Just let me help you this one time, please Buffy, I want to," he pleaded, looking into her eyes.
"It is going to be very hard," she choked out.
"But at least it won't be boring," he chuckled, getting her to smile.
~*~
Xander motioned to Alexis, looking over at Giles. "Watcher's night out?"
Giles sighed, returning his crucifix to his bag with a sigh as he walked over to them, leaving Alexis to deal with Luke. "We came to warn you that Spike is in town."
"Spike?" Willow asked in shock. "You mean nasty, British, looks-kind-of-like-an-evil-Billy Idol-with-fangs, Spike?"
"Um, I suppose you could put it that way."
"And the two she-vamps?" Oz asked, motioning to the door.
"Spike sired them. He's building up an army, so those won't be the last."
"Darn. I was kind of hoping they would be. It was starting to look like they were going to kill each other, make our jobs much easier," Xander quipped.
Giles shrugged, turning to see how Alexis was doing. "Who knows, they still might."
"Okay, Natasha, what the hell's going on? I know Caroline ain't no saint, but last I checked, she never recoiled in horror from a puny little cross," Luke was saying, staring down Alexis.
She sighed and slid onto a barstool, trying to figure out how to do this. Luke had seen too much, lying to him was out of the question. She had just hoped that Jax would be the first person she told, not Luke.
"Carly is a vampire. So is Hannah."
"Whoa, back that truck up a minute. Vampire? Last I checked we were living in twentieth-century New York, not Transylvania. Caroline's a Spencer, not a vampire. That particular distinction belongs to your family, not mine."
"Luke, will you just listen to me and quit joking around?" she asked, raising her voice in frustration. He stopped, surprised at her outburst, and raised his hands in surrender, waiting for her to go on. "Thank you. As I was saying, Carly and Hannah are vampires. They haven't always been, it's something that happened recently. Yes, vampires do exist, as do demons, werewolves, and other evil beings. Most people don't know about them because they're good at keeping to themselves, hiding out in dark places, living their lives while the rest of mankind is usually asleep."
He nodded. "Okay, so you're saying monsters are real. Fine, but what does that have to do with you and the stuffy Brit that came in here with you?" He glanced over at Giles, who was deep in conversation with the group Nikolas and Emily had been sitting with. "And what does this sudden influx of Sunnydale kids have to do with the whole mess?"
"I'm getting to that." Alexis took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. "The man who came in with me is Rupert Giles. He's a Watcher, and so am I..."
"Watcher? Of what?"
"Luke, please don't interrupt me again," she warned. "As long as there have been demons, there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen one, born with the strength and skill to hunt vampires and other deadly creatures, to find them where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. When one Slayer dies, the next is called and trained by the Watcher. That's what Giles and I do."
"Nice speech."
"Thanks, I've been practicing." She looked up at him for a moment, then continued. "We were trained in special schools in Europe for this, it is our destiny just as much as it is the destiny of the slayers..."
"Hang on, slayers? I thought you said there was only one in every generation?"
"There is. Buffy is the original slayer, and she drowned once and technically died, but she came back," Alexis explained.
"Oh, well, she'll fit in nicely here, then. So, I take it there's a loophole in that whole theory now. By dying, the next one was called, and now there are two?" he asked, starting to get her drift.
Alexis smiled. "Exactly. The next slayer was Kendra, but she was killed by a vampire, then there was Faith, who fell into a coma fighting Buffy, and died a few weeks ago..."
"Buffy? I thought she was a good guy?"
"She is, but Faith wasn't. She went kind of evil, tried to help the Mayor's Ascension during their graduation ceremony."
"Ascension? Is that some kind of election?"
"No, he was a demon. He wanted to eat the entire senior class so he could become the most powerful demon to walk the Earth. Anyway, Buffy stopped it. When Faith died, the next slayer was called. At the same time, one of Buffy's friends cast a spell to banish the Hellmouth, but instead only moved it..."
Luke cut her off again. "Spell? Hellmouth? You're losing me again, Natasha."
She took another deep breath, reminding herself that this stuff wasn't normal to him. "Sorry, one of Buffy's friends is a witch. Well, she dabbles in witchcraft, but essentially, it's the same thing. Anyway, Sunnydale was situated over the Hellmouth, a portal to the netherworld, a place where evil concentrates. The spell only moved it...to Port Charles."
"So, you're telling me we're sitting on top of a Hellmouth now?"
"Pretty much," she answered, studying his face to determine if he believed her or not. “We just have to find the opening, try and close, move it again.”
Luke shook his head, trying to process everything. "You mean we haven't been all along?"
She chuckled at his ability to make light of any situation. "No, we haven't. Up until recently, the only evil in Port Charles was Helena, and some might say, the mob. Now, we're going to be overrun by creatures of darkness, mostly vampires, but there's always the occasional demon or warlock, too."
"Okay, so Buffy and her Watcher-guy come here with their little band of Merry Men to fight this big evil, but where do you fit in to the equation?"
"Well, like I said, when Faith died, the next Slayer was called. She lives here, so I was appointed as her Watcher." Luke stared at her, waiting for her to reveal this girl's identity. "It's Liz, she's the other Slayer. She's the Chosen One. Well, one of them."
Luke leaned against the bar, not expecting that answer. "Elizabeth? My cowboy's Elizabeth? But, she's so little..."
"Size isn't the issue. It's something she was born to do. She has a strength and skill normal people don't. She's good, Luke, I've seen her in action. She helped fight off Carly tonight when she.." she trailed off, not wanting to scare Luke by telling him what happened to Lucky. "Um, when she attacked them in the graveyard."
Giles walked up with the rest of the group, curious to see how things were going. "So, did you, um, fill him in?"
Luke looked up at them. "And what's the deal with you four? You just her sidekicks?"
"Something like that," Oz noted.
“We’re the Scooby Gang,” Willow declared happily.
"We help out, do research, gather equipment, kick a little undead butt every now and then," Xander added with a smirk.
"Or, in your case, run away like a little girl," Cordelia tossed in, unable to help herself.
"Hey, I only did that once. Can't a guy have a bad day? Does everyone keep forgetting who saved Buffy when the Master killed her? Not Angel, me! I'm the one who pulled out the good old CPR card, not Dead Boy!"
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Here we go again..."
"There's that Angel guy again, what's his deal?" Luke asked, looking over at Xander. "Tall, doesn't smile much..."
"Everyone's favorite 200-year-old teddy bear," Xander sighed.
"200....?" Luke asked, confused.
"He's a vampire," Giles explained dryly.
"But he's a good one. Usually, at least as long has he and Buffy don't..." Willow started, quickly shutting her mouth guiltily. Luke looked at her a moment, then shook his head, figuring whatever it was, he didn't need to know yet. He had heard more than enough for one night. He was starting to get a headache, and he hadn't even had a drink yet.
"So, you're telling me my niece is a vampire, but Count Vlad...?"
Alexis smiled, patting his hand. "Sorry, he's just a regular guy."
~*~
Spike paced the docks restlessly, staring out at Wyndemere as he formulated his plan. He now realized he had gone about things in entirely the wrong way when forming his band of minions. Carly and Hannah were quickly grating on his last nerve with their constant bickering. In an effort to save his sanity, he had left them alone for the night, sending Carly off to find Hannah, who had somehow slipped away earlier. Now that the two were gone, he could finally think.
"Might as well get this show on the road," he muttered, striding over to the launch. The pilot looked up at him curiously.
"May I help you, sir?"
"As a matter of fact, you just might," Spike responded cockily, jumping down into the boat and grabbing the man with lightening-speed. He covered his mouth before his first scream could escape and sunk his teeth into the man's neck. In less than a minute, he was dead. Spike wiped his mouth with the man's sleeve, then tossed him overboard.
"Thanks for the boat," he mumbled, steering it away from the docks, straight for Spoon Island.
~*~
"Well, where is she?" Stefan asked angrily into the phone, pacing erratically around his office. He was too distracted by his conversation to notice that he was no longer alone in the small room. "I don't care what you have to do! Find her and neutralize her at once! I refuse to allow my mother to stand in my way any longer!" He slammed down the phone and sunk into his chair, silently cursing the incompetent people that were working for him.
"Where have you been all my life?" Spike asked in amusement, stepping out of the shadows. Stefan looked up at him, startled to discover that someone had found their way into his home.
"Who are you? And how did you get in here? I have guards all over this island!"
"Not any longer," Spike muttered, walking up to the desk. "You know, I only came here for the house, but now I'm starting to think that you are exactly what I've been needing."
"I beg your pardon?" Stefan asked. The man's presence was making him very nervous.
"I just came to town a few days ago, and I'm in desperate need of a tour guide. Someone to show me the ropes of Port Charles, a link so to speak."
Stefan shook his head in annoyance. "You will have to go elsewhere for that, I have no inclination towards being your link to anything. Now, if you don't leave at once, I will be forced to have you escorted out."
"Oh, I think you'll change your mind soon enough. We're kindred spirits, you and I. Pure evil, even, I can see that already. I mean, anyone who's ordering someone to have their own mother killed, well, some would say they're not quite playing with a full deck," Spike noted with a malicious grin.
"You don't know my mother," Stefan responded sarcastically. "If anyone is evil, it's Helena."
"Then you'll have to introduce me sometime. I don't usually go for older women, but then again, when you're centuries-old, pretty much everyone is younger."
"I don't know who you are, or what you are doing in my office, but if you don't remove yourself from my property immediately, I will have no choice but to phone the authorities!" Stefan bellowed, tired of listening to his mindless banter. He reached for the phone, but Spike was too quick, and swatted it off the desk before he could get there.
Spike stepped in front of Stefan, their faces only inches apart. He could smell the fear on him, which only intensified his thirst. Stefan tried backing away, but found that he was already against the wall, that there was nowhere else to go.
"Look, this is very simple. I want your house. The easiest way I can think to get it would be to kill you. But, now that I've met you, I think you could be a highly valuable asset to me, so instead of just killing you, I'm going to give you a brand new life, one that I'm sure you'll have a bloody good time living." Before Stefan could respond, Spike descended on him, biting into his neck and quickly draining him.
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