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Whose Shanshu?	By : QueenB Category: AtS/BtVS Crossovers > Het - Male/Female > Angel(us)/Buffy > Angel(us)/Buffy Views: 3387 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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The first thing Buffy noticed when she awoke was the odd silence. She stared around in confusion. She was in a comfortable but rather impersonally decorated room and she was assailed with the momentary disorientation that always hit when you woke up in a strange place.
Then she remembered. Sunnydale. Everything she’d ever known, her home for the last seven years, was reduced to a meaningless sinkhole. She sucked in her breath and thought that she might break out bawling. The next moment, the feeling passed as she forcibly struggled to relax.
She tried to assess her next move. No money. No credit cards. No possessions except a few weapons, the school bus and the clothes on your back. What are you gonna do now?
They were going to Cleveland. That was the plan, anyway. Without money, they might not get far but she was sure they could figure out something. Her little band of Scoobies had faced worse than unemployment and homelessness in the past; they’d get through this.
The inner pep talk wasn’t entirely convincing but it was enough to propel her out of bed. She went to the window and pulled back the curtain.
Daytime. Damn, had she slept the whole night away? She rubbed her eyes and grimaced. She had never been a morning person…and there was no food in the house. She shucked on her clothes and shuddered again. She needed new things. They all did and there was no way they could afford it.
She opened the door to be met with other girls stumbling around in various states of dress and undress. Then Dominique tilted up her head and sniffed like a hound on the scent. “Does anybody else smell…bacon?”
The others stopped and began sniffing, too. Then somebody looked over the balcony. “Oh my god!”
There were men coming into the lobby. They were bearing bags of food and one man was pushing what was clearly a dessert cart loaded with breakfast stuffs. He smiled cheerily at the females hanging over the balcony. “Morning, ladies. Somebody order breakfast?”
There was a breathless hush. Then twenty-odd females charged down the stairs. Buffy gaped and then ran after them. “Hold on! Wait a minute! Who are you guys and who sent you?”
The man with the breakfast cart waved out the other men after they set down the bags of groceries. He held up his hand. “Is there a woman named Faith here?”
“That would be me. Whacha got for me, stud?” The brunette Slayer leaned against the bottom of the banister and smiled appraisingly at him.
The young man, a shy-looking blond, blushed and stammered, “T-This order came from W&H and they’ve been paid for. I was told to tell you from someone called Angel.”
Giles came out in clothes rumpled from sleep and peered blearily over the balcony. “What’s all the blasted racket? It’s too early in the morning--” He put on his glasses and stared wide-eyed at the cart. “Goodness. Are those scones?”
“What’s up, G-man? I hear the chatter of little birds only it ain’t coming from outside.” Xander scratched at his wrinkled pants and yawned mightily. He followed Giles’ stare. “All right! Who ordered in?” Without another word he pelted downstairs and made a beeline for the food.
The Slayers were lifting the trays from the cart, crying out in joy at the stacks of pancakes, waffles, eggs, cereal and various other breakfast stuffs. Faith grinned and snatched up a hot, covered bowl of waffles before it could be taken. Juggling the plate from one hand to the other, she said, “Angel sent this? Good for him. There was barely anything left in the fridge last night. This should tide us over for awhile.”
“I’m thinking a long while,” Buffy muttered. There were no less than fifteen bags of goods lying on the floor ready to be put away. Dammit, she’d told Angel they were only here for a few days! This much food looked like it had been bought for a siege.
Andrew dug into a bowl of cereal and munched between pawing through the bags. “Oh, look! They brought Twinkies!” The other Slayers clambered around him and b sor sorting through the bag’s contents. Faith lingered a moment to chat with the delivery boy whose fascinated gaze told just how pleased he was with the brunette cutie talking to him.
“Faith,” Buffy hissed. When the other woman ignored her, she grabbed her arm pulling her back from the hunky blond.
“Thanks, sweetie, but I’m taken.” Faith waved goodbye to the boy before turning to the irritated blonde Slayer. “What’s up, B? You hungry ‘cause I think there’s still plenty of food left.” She leaned over the cart and snatched up a strawberry, popping it into her mouth and emitting an “mmmm” of pleasure.
“We can’t accept this stuff, Faith.”
The other woman stared at her in surprise and then her eyes narrowed. “What? Why the hell not?”
“It’s--we didn’t ask for this. It puts us under an obligation. We don’t need anything from Angel.”
The brunette looked her up and down. “B, we need a ton of stuff. We need a place to stay while we get our feet under us. We need food, clothes and a way to get Dawn back into school. If Angel wants to be generous with the handouts, I ain’t saying no. I’ve taken a hell of a lot more from him than that.”
She paused and then said with quiet emphasis. “Besides, that message from Angel was for me not you. You want to stand here and go hungry, that’s your deal.”
She turned away from her and picked up two more containers. Balancing them precariously, she plopped down on the gray circular seat in the lobby. Giles was busily loading English breakfast morsels onto a paper plate. He’d witnessed the confrontation between the two women but wisely held his peace. He began to edge towards the stairs when Buffy cornered him.
“Giles, you know I’m right.”
He sighed; he felt that breakfast was going to be delayed. “No, actually, I don’t know any such thing.”
“Only yesterday you said there’s a Hellmouth in Cleveland. We should be making tracks not playing Susie Homemaker in the Bates Motel!”
“On an empty stomach?” He realized how petulant this sounded and motioned her towards the vacated office. He sensed she wanted a private conversation and Giles wanted someplace to sit down and consume his breakfast.
“Buffy, I have to agree with Faith. We do require a great deal in the way of supplies. Plus, we’d be showing up at Cleveland blind and unknowing of the circumstances.”
“We’d manage. We can make our own way. We always have,” Buffy argued.
“Really? On what money? In Sunnydale, I was paid by the Council. I was thoroughly briefed on you and your circumstances. We had resources, you had a home…all your friends did. Now we are essentially homeless and adrift. When we get to Cleveland, what do you expect us to do? Walk up to the nearest stranger and say, ‘Hullo, we’re new in town. Could you point us to the Hellmouth, please? Thanks ever so for your assistance.’ “ He sniffed at the absurdity and dug into his plate.
“No need to be snarky, Giles. It’s way too early for that kind of ‘tude,” she grumbled as she perched on the edge of the desk. “It’s…I don’t want to take anything from Angel. I’m trying to keep my distance from him. That’s a whole can of worms and other assorted fishbait I don’t want to open. Taking stuff like this makes me feel like I have to pay him back somehow.”
Giles polished off a scone and reached for another, smearing it with butter before taking a nibble. “I don’t think Angel is that petty, Buffy. Although I’m beginning to have my doubts about you,” he said with a pointed look. “At any rate, he’s keeping his distance. I noticed that he barely had two words for you yesterday. So what makes you think this is some sort of ploy to put you under an obligation?”
Buffy bit her lip. That was the problem; she didn’t really feel as if Angel was trying to get to her. It was just the opposite. It was more like he was trying to buy her off: talking only to Faith, giving Faith the message about the food, buying them things instead of giving her attention. That’s it--Angel was ignoring her and Buffy had to admit it was a little upsetting.
She made a visible effort to get her temper under control. With a tight smile at Giles, she said, “You’re right. I’m being Sensitive Buffy and there’s no need for that because Angel obviously doesn’t care. I mean, he cares but in a totally distant giving-to-the-poor kind of way. I’m surprised he doesn’t simply write us a check.”
Giles patted his lips with a napkin and burped genteelly. “I wouldn’t say no to some hard cash right now. And, as I recall, you had no qualms in accepting money from me to pay your household expenses.”
“That was different! You were trying to help…and you’re my Watcher. It was okay.”
“And it’s not with Angel because he’s your ex-lover and this business of purchasing things seems cold and formal compared to the warmth of your previous relationship.”
“Yes! No! I’m not even thinking about getting warm and cozy with him again. That’s not what I’m saying here.”
“I understand.” He picked up the empty plates. “I felt the exchange of monies kept us at a distance, too. You relied on me for services and yet pushed me and your friends aside when you truly needed help. It’s why I left. So I suppose we’ll be leaving here soon as well.”
Buffy cringed at the reminder of her cold behavior towards her Watcher and friends after she was resurrected. “I’m not sure how that proves my point.”
“Or if you have one.”
She glared at him. “Ha ha, Giles. Fine. We’ll accept Angel’s help while he’s being Distancy Guy which is okay by me. Just as long as everybody remembers this is not permanent. We’re not staying.”
Faith opened the door without knocking. “Hey, B. Me and the girls were wondering what we should be doing today. I gotta admit, I thought I’d be sleeping the sleep of the dead. But now I’m rested, I’m charged up from my carbo intake and I’m raring to go. What say we take the girls out and hit the streets?”
Buffy opened her mouth to protest and then reconsidered. Why not? They had steam to burn off and a few hours on the town might do the trick. “Sure. I’m liking that plan.” She called out to the women still milling around in the lobby. “Just make sure you throw your stuff in the garbage before you leave!” Then something occurred to her. “Hey, Faith. Do you know when the garbage gets picked up here?”
The brunette was clueless. “No idea. I wasn’t here long enough to get involved in garbage detail. I’ll pick up the phone and call Angel.”
“Wait a sec, we don’t have to call Angel. This is a hotel. Maybe there’s a garbage chute or big dumpster we can put our trash in.” Now that she knew Angel was trying to avoid her, Buffy was determined to keep as far away from him as possible. Two could play at that game.
“B, don’t sweat it. I’ll do the Q&A with Angel. There’s no need for you to get into things.” Faith waved her hand casually in Buffy’s direction and dialed up information. “Hello. I need the number for Wolfram & Hart…” She paused and snatched up a discarded pen, scribbling the number on her hand. “Uh huh. 555-8457. Got it.”
Buffy looked at Faith’s back. The other Slayer talked as if she felt no awkwardness in having Buffy there while holding a conversation. Well, why should she? Faith was only asking about garbage day. “Right. Maybe I should see if there’s gas in the school bus.”
Faith nodded absently in reply and then her face lit up. “Hey, Angel! Yeah, we got the food. Thanks a bunch for the eats. You’ve got no idea what Slayers eat like. These girls pack it away like truck drivers, I’m telling ya. Course, I remember how B used to get after slaying.” She winked at Buffy and then proceeded with the conversation. “You settling in alright? How’s the cheerleader? Just the same, huh? Any chance the others could see her? I would but we were never close.”
Buffy edged out of the room and closed the door--not that Faith seemed to notice. Hey, why don’t I just take the girls and run? Faith seems all caught up with my ex-boyfriend. She wouldn’t exactly miss me. That was a mean-spirited thought and Buffy squelched it immediately. They were here for the duration. She would just have to make the best of things.
“Why should we go anywhere? I want to explore the hotel,” Dawn said to a round of agreement from the others.
“What’s to explore? There’s rooms, rooms and more rooms. There is an overabundance of roominess.” Sometimes Buffy thought her sister argued just for the sake of arguing. She ignored the fact that she’d done a little exploring herself.
“Angel said there was a pool…”
“A pool in serious need of cleaning. Unless you want to get covered in algae,” Buffy pointed out.
“So we call a cleaner!”
“And how do we pay for it?” Buffy crossed her arms and dared Dawn to answer that one.
The teenage girl fidgeted as she rapidly went through their options. “Well…we can call Angel. If he’s willing to pay for food, he can pay for pool cleaning.”
That was precisely what Buffy was trying to avoid. “No, we won’t. Otherwise we’ll be calling on Angel for every little thing. We don’t need to use the pool, Dawn, and Angel’s all caught up in his shiny new career so let’s save the phone calls for emergencies. So who’s up for that tour?”
Molly sighed in exaggerated pique. “What’s the point of touring L.A. when you can’t buy anything? We’d just be driving around all day.”
Faith leaned out of the office just then. “Hey, Xander. Angel wants to talk to you. It’s about something you and Red might be interested in.”
“Me and Willow? Why not the Buffster? Doesn’t he want to talk to her?”
“Nah. He doesn’t think she’ll be interested. It’s about your old squeeze.”
“My old--?” A look of comprehension spread over Xander’s features. “Sure, I’ll take it. Coming, Wills?”
Willow got up and followed him into the office and they shut the door behind them. The other females and Giles turned to look at Buffy who smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. “So where does
everybody want to go?”
__________
Buffy strode through the streets of Los Angeles in a complete funk. None of the Slayers or Dawn had wanted to go with her and she wasn’t interest in going anywhere with Andrew. Even though Giles had expressed a faint interest, he had refused to let her drive the bus. He evidently hadn’t grown any more confident of her driving skills. It was a moot point, anyway. The school bus was practically out of gas.
So she decided a walk in the sunshine, maybe along the beach, would clear her head. That’s what I need. A good long walk to plan the rest of my life.
What to do with her time, that was the problem. It was like Faith said--she wasn’t the Chosen One any longer. She could lead an ordinary life if she wanted. But an ordinary life as what? She hadn’t exactly demonstrated a talent for any job skill. The idea of being a police officer had been presented to her in the old Sunnydale high but after being attacked by a female cop the idea had zero appeal.
And what about Angel? He had been distant and standoffish with her ever since she showed and that was fine by her. The less contact she had with her ex-boyfriend, the better. It wasn’t as if she was staying in L.A. for long. She was hitting the road, going to Cleveland and all points beyond.
Yeah, that’s right. Road trip! Xander took one and now it’s my turn. I’m gonna show Dawnie the world just like I promised last year.
But won’t Dawn need to go back to school? She started skipping her classes when the new Sunnydale High closed up shop. She can’t just make do on the little she’s learned.
How are we gonna afford classes? In case you didn’t notice, all our possessions and stuff went south when Sunnydale did. What do we use as collateral for a loan--the school bus?
So talk to your father. He’s in L.A.--well, he might be. Find him and make him start paying for his little girl. Goodness knows you haven’t been doing such a good job of it, Miss Doublemeat loser. We’re still on square one, do not pass Go, do not collect $200 or any dollars. We’re broke, broker than broke and, unless we get jobs, we’re stuck, stranded and homeless just like Giles said.
Well, we can’t get jobs. Most of the girls are underage.
And once again at square one. Maybe Angel could give us jobs.
No! We’re not going to go knocking on Angel’s door for employment. Angel can’t even be bothered to talk to me. He’s more interested in dealing with Faith. I’m not hanging around to witness their drama. We’re leaving and that’s it!
Fine. You got any money ‘cause all this walking’s making me hungry.
Forget it. Let’s head back to the hotel. We’ve got food there, remember? She concentrated on the beach. It was so lovely here: the sun glinting on the waves, the happy smiling people who hadn’t a care in the world. Buffy unconsciously rubbed her arms as the wind picked up. Passing by an open archway, she swayed, suddenly dizzy. She swung towards the flowered arch as if expecting to see--what?
That was majorly weird. She had had half expected to see Angel come striding out from under the arch. She shut her eyes, trying to dispel the sensation. That was stupid. It’s broad daylight. There was no way Angel could be here. What am I thinking?
Yet the image had been so strong. She had experienced the distinct feeling that it was about to happen--or had happened before. But she had never seen Angel in daylight except in her dreams. Shrugging off the odd moment, she turned and continued strolling faster down the walkway.
__________
Night had fallen by the time she made her way back. She’d taken her stakes with her on the off chance she’d meet a vampire but there hadn’t been a single flash of pointy fangs. Everywhere she looked were cheerful people who had no idea of the monsters lying in wait out there. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. She was in Los Angeles, after all, the home of the deal. But she’d never appreciated what a human deal it could be.
She’d lived in this place before being hastily removed to Sunnydale and Buffy had forgotten how bustling this town could be in terms of sheer ordinary humanity. Burning down the school gym at Hemery had meant more than the loss of social standing. Well, as far as being Destructo Girl goes, I’ve definitely topped myself.
She ambled into the hotel. “Hello, I’m back!” She saw Andrew walking up the stairs, munching on a chocolate cupcake. “Hey, there.”
He peered at her, the half-eaten snack clutched in one hand. “Did you just get back? You missed the others.”
“What are you talking about?”
He took another bite from the cupcake and began talking with his mouth full. “Well, Faith got antsy and asked if any of the Pot--oops, Slayers--gotta get used to saying that. Anyway, she wanted to know if any of them wanted to go patrolling wier. er. A couple of them were too tired and just wanted to sleep and Rona’s still on the wounded list. I was watching Stargate: SG-1 but I got hungry so I nipped down to get something to eat. So Vi, Kennedy, Dawn and the others went out with Faith…”
He didn’t get any further because Buffy started yelling. “She took Dawn out slaying? Without telling me first?”
Andrew shrank back from her. “Don’t kill the messenger, okay? I told her you’d be pissed but she said Dawn’s a grown woman, she could make her own decisions. I think Dawn was happy she was being taken seriously so they just took off. But they left me behind to tell you.” He paused and eyed Buffy fearfully. “Are you gonna hit me?”
“No, but I may strangle Faith.” She stood there fuming. “Did they give any idea where they were headed?”
Andrew shrugged while he stuffed the rest of the cupcake in his mouth. “I dunno.”
Any help he’d managed to give against the First was rapidly being forgotten as Buffy found herself resisting the urge to smack him. She spoke with an exaggerated calm she was certainly far from feeling. “Fine. I’ll tell Giles I’m looking for them.”
Andrew called after her as she walked to the stairs. “Uh, Mr. Giles isn’t here either. He took that Wesley guy up on his offer and decided tonight was a good night to tour Wolfram & Hart. Xander and Willow went with him because they wanted to see that woman who’s in a coma.”
“This is crazy! One night in this town and everybody decides to go running off without one word to anybody else.”
“That’s not true. They told me. They just…didn’t tell you ‘cause you were out and all,” he finished in a barely audible mumble.
She took a deep breath and counted silently to ten. And then ten again. Finally she gazed at Andrew who was starting to look distinctly nervous. “Okay. I’ll start with what I know. You got an address for Wolfram & Hart?”
__________
Giles felt like a very small kid in a very large candy store. After getting clearance from Angel, he’d been allowed to look at the volumes stowed away by the ex-Watcher, Mr. Rutherford Sirk, who’d come to work for the law firm. Mr. Sirk was also sporting a rather prominent bruise under his jaw, a matter he absolutely refused to discuss.
The vaults had also proved fascinating as well. Here was the largest collection of fact, trivia, prophecies and magical arcana that he’d ever seen. He thought it might even rival the massive libraries of the vanished Council headquarters in London.
“And you’re saying that this is just the Los Angeles branch? Where are the other branches located?”
“There’s one in New York, Chicago, Boston, all the major cities here and abroad. We also have a few in other dimensions.”
“Other dimensions, did you say?” Giles was a little distracted. He saw a rather large book of reality-shifting Whejos demons that he was certain was an original and his hands just twitched to get hold of it.
“I’m not sure what Mr. Angel has told you. But Wolfram & Hart has long been conducting their affairs on other worlds. We do brisk business here and elsewhere.” Mr. Sirk saw his interest. “Ah, I see you’ve noted one of our most recent additions. We’re very proud of it. If you wish to look…” He held up a pair of gloves, the kind Giles had often seen antiquarians use when handling old and fragile papers. They prevented books from being soiled or ruined by the oils secreted from live human skin.
He was sorely tempted. But he’d heard tales of Wolfram & Hart from the Watchers Council and other sources. These people were dangerous and dealt with brutal creatures, both of the human and non-human variety. They were a source of great evil in the world and all the more so because most people were ignorant of what truly went on behind their gleaming doors.
But, surely with Angel in charge, their agenda had changed. Would it hurt to look? Mr. Sirk saw his hesitation. “Perhaps you would consider coming to work here with us, Mr. Giles. There are so few Watchers left in the world. As Watcher to the last guardian of the Sunnydale Hellmouth, the Slayer who came back from the dead twice, your aid would be invaluable.”
Giles watched the man carefully, torn in his decision. Mr. Sirk’s face was bland, his expression noncommittal, as he waited for his answer. There was the Hellmouth in Cleveland to worry about but, as he’d told Buffy, they had precious little to go on besides that bit of knowledge. He was sure W&H would prove a most valuable resource on that front if he took advantage of this opportunity.
Just then the man’s cellphone rang. He lifted it out and listened without speaking to the voice at the other end. A slight frown marred his countenance and then he held out the phone to Giles. “It’s for you.”
“For me?” Who could possibly be calling him? Was it Buffy? Had something happened back at the hotel? He lifted the small device to his ear. “Hello? This is Mr. Giles.”
__________
Buffy strode into the front atrium of Wolfram & Hart and hesitated, awed by the sight that confronted her. The space extended sideways and upwards, past where her eye could see, and everywhere she looked there were people rushing about, talking in low murmurs as if in a library, many clutching briefcases or sheets of paper. They all looked so busy and purposeful as if they knew where they had to go and what they had to do when they got there. She felt like a deadbeat standing in line at the Unemployment Office.
At first she had wanted to go out slaying. She had cherished the absurd idea that she might run into Faith and the other girls. Of course, that was unlikely, L.A. being such a huge city. Then she had thought that maybe she could go out slaying just for the hell of it.
But that idea hadn’t really appealed either. Slaying had become all she knew, pretty much the whole reason for existing back in Sunnydale, and something inside rebelled at the thought that now she was finally free she couldn’t think of anything else to do with her spare moments. There was more to Buffy Summers than Slayer skills.
Then what was she doing here, tracking down her Watcher? Was she going to make demands of him? He wasn’t a child who needed to account to her for every bit of his time. So what did she want from him? From any of them? That was the trouble with living in peacetime. You had to figure out what to do with yourself.
“Can I help you, miss?” A burly security guard had approached to stand in front of her. A watchful gaze was fixed on her and his hands hovered casually over the baton at his side.
“Uh, I’m looking for a Mr. Giles, Rupert Giles. Could you tell me where he is?”
“I don’t know any Rupert Giles, miss. If you’ll kindly go to the information desk, they can check and see if he’s on the premises.”
“Oh, right.” She shuffled over and saw a small brunette woman sitting behind the desk talking animatedly over the phone.
The woman ignored her to place a few more calls before hanging up. “May I help you?”
“I was told Mr. Giles was here. It’s Buffy Summers. He’s my… I was hoping to talk to him.”
The other woman straightened when she gave her name. “Buffy Summers? You’re Buffy Summers?” The brunette looked her up and down. “You’re a lot smaller than I thought you’d be.” Then she became flustered. “I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect.”
“That’s okay. I get that a lot.” That was different. She’d never encountered anything like the reverence this woman was giving her. The receptionist snatched up the phone and dialed a number, never taking her eyes off the small blond.
“I have a Ms. Buffy Summers here. She’s looking for Mr. Rupert Giles.” There was a short pause while she smiled ingratiatingly in Buffy’s direction. “Oh, he’s already on his way down? That’s good. She’s here in the front lobby.” She hung up and folded her hands. “He’ll be here shortly.”
Buffy shuffled while trying to avoid the woman’s gaze. The lady acted as if she was in the presence of a celebrity and Buffy didn’t know how to handle that. She noted absently that the receptionist was wearing gold jewelry and what looked like a very costly blouse with matching jacket and skirt. Silk. She’s wearing silk and she’s only a receptionist. Geez, these people must be swimming in dough.
Angel had hit the jackpot and she was the poor ex washing up on his doorstep. She hadn’t felt this pathetic since Riley had blown into town with his perfect life and perfect wife. She was relieved when Giles came off the elevator.
“Buffy! Am I glad to see you! We’ve got terrible problems on our hands.”
“I know. And I want to know what you’re doing about it…and why you’re doing it here.” She folded her arms in the face of her Watcher’s baffled stare.
“How do you know already? I didn’t mention it on the phone.” He glanced at the receptionist who shrugged helplessly.
“I didn’t tell her anything, Mr. Giles. Ms. Summers arrived only a few minutes ago. I can’t imagine what you two have to say to each other.”
“Let’s keep it that way,” Buffy muttered. “Giles, could we talk outside?”
“Very well. But we should get Willow down here and Xander. I’m afraid the problem is rather urgent and it concerns her.”
“You got that right.” Buffy shuffled away from the receptionist and lowered her voice. “They’re out there on the streets all by themselves and I don’t know where they are.”
Giles unconsciously began to whisper as well. “Yes, that’s it exactly though I still don’t know how you found out. I only received the message a few minutes ago.”
She frowned. “You did? I thought you’d been here for a while. That’s the impression I got from the Lord of the Ring Dings.”
“From whom?” Even after years of interaction with her, Buffy’s speech was still sometimes hard to follow and Giles wondered if they were talking about the same thing.
“Andrew. I come back to the hotel and everybody’s done a Copperfield. Then he tells me you’re here and Faith took Dawn out slaying only he doesn’t know where and I’m thinking ‘What, nobody could leave a message?’ only you did leave a message, except it was with Andrew of all people, and I have to get new cellphones so we can all keep in touch. We’ve just got to keep each other in the loop here!”
“Is that what you’re talking about? Faith and Dawn are patrolling?”
“Yeah. What were you talking about?”
“I was referring to the other Slayers.”
“That was kinda where I was going. They’ve got the other Slayers with them. I thought they’d want to wave bye bye to the whole Slayer gig for awhile but one day away from Sunnydale and they all get a joneses for the stakeage.”
“Ah, you meant Vi and the other girls. I’m not worried about them. They have proven more than adequate to the challenge. No, they aren’t the ones I’m concerned about.” He paused as Willow and Xander came out of the elevator.
The redhead was waving her hands, her face animated and aglow as she talked a blue streak. “…so then he showed me these cool amulets that can cause any vampire within a distance of one mile to glow like a streetlight and I’m trying to play it cool but inside I’m thinking ‘Awesome!’ and then I tell him about a spell to create artificial daylight and he goes ‘Fantastic! Is it applicable on a wide radius?’ and I say ‘Totally’ and then…” She stopped when she saw Buffy and Giles waiting. “Oh, hey. What’s up, guys?”
“Problems, I’m afraid. Perhaps we should discuss this in private. It seems the spell to activate all the Slayers all around the world has had unforeseen consequences.”
Willow was surprised and then fearful. “What? Goddess, I knew it. I screwed up. I didn’t have a lot of time to research this and I wasn’t sure what the consequences would be but I just knew there would be a snag somewhere. What is it?”
“Buffy thinks we should discuss this in private and I concur.” When they walked outside, he turned to Xander and Willow and asked, “By the way, how was Cordelia?”
“Sleepy,” Xander quipped. At everybody’s looks, his smile faltered. “She was…she was in this room with all this equipment hooked up to her. She was breathing and she was alive. Other than that…” He looked at the floor for a moment as if seeking answers from his shoes before glancing up again. “They don’t know when she’ll wake up. Deadboy gave us this weird story about how she became part demon and Higher Being, if you can believe it.”
“Wow. Guess your record for demon girlfriends remains unbroken, then,” Buffy smirked.
“Hey, she wasn’t a demon when I was going out with her!”
Willow muttered, “There are some who might disagree. Just ask Marcy.”
Xander thought he could say a few things about destroying the world but he let it slide. “Past grievances aside, she was a Higher Being. Only she got sent back from whatever trip she took over the rainbow and, when she did, she was pregnant.”
“Goodness. Cordelia Chase was pregnant?” Giles had been expecting an off-kilter explanation about Cordelia’s condition but he hadn’t thought it would involve that condition.
Willow took up the story. “Yep. You could have knocked us over with an industrial-strength feather when Angel told us. He doesn’t know who the dad was but the thing that came out of Cordelia was this full-grown woman and the birth was so hard, Cordelia wound up in a coma.”
Buffy was equally thrown by the news and she wondered if there was more behind this story than Angel was telling. Remembering what Angel was like, that was probably the case. “I knew birth could have complications like Siamese twins or webby feet. Not seeing coma or oversized babies anywhere on the list.”
Willow explained, “Her offspring only looked like a woman. It was actually a demon from another dimension who tried to take over the world with love.”
“Who knew that was the secret to world domination? Demon tries to take over the world--not with magic or statues or demony weapons but with love! Guess the Beatles were right on the money about this one,” Xander added.
The redhead mused out loud about her conversation with Angel. “I was thinking I could help. Since this coma is magical in origin, the people here asked for my wiccan wonder. But they’ve already got lots of people working on this so I told them I’d give it some thought.”
Buffy got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “ ‘Give it some thought?’ As in working-for-these-people give it some thought?”
“Only to help Cordelia,” Willow replied, her tone defensive.
“How about you, Giles? They make you a job offer you couldn’t refuse?” Buffy demanded.
The ex-Watcher made a show of cleaning his glasses. “Pardon? Ah, well. Not exactly. There were some polite murmurs made about wanting Watchers but they’ve got two on board now. I hardly see the need for my services. Could we push off now?”
Buffy refused to budge. “Xander? Do they want you on board, too?”
The brown-eyed man shrugged. “No. Guess they have don’t much use for a one-eyed construction worker.”
There was something off about his manner and he sounded way too casual. “But…they did offer you something, didn’t they?”
“Not exactly.” Seeing the skepticism in her hazel eyes, he muttered, “They said they can give me a new eye.”
She was stunned in the face of such an announcement. “They…really? They can do that?”
He shrugged again as if it were of no importance. “So they say. But I asked Santa once for a set of Daredevil pajamas and I never got those so I’m not holding my breath.”
This was not good. Willow, Xander and Giles were looking shifty and Buffy couldn’t help but feel that this town, this firm, was slyly sucking them all in. They had to get away from this place--the quicker the better.
They stepped outside and waited at the bus stop. Buffy dug in her pockets. “Giles? Do you have any money? I’m kinda tapped out here.”
“Don’t worry about that, Mr. Giles. We have it all covered.” Another guard was standing behind them and pulled out his cell. He murmured a few short words and then closed the cover. “A limo should be here shortly to convey you to the hotel.”
“No thanks. We can take the bus. It’s not like we didn’t come here on one.” Buffy grabbed Giles and began pulling him away.
“Buffy!” He struggled out of her grip and rubbed his arm. “I see no reason why we can’t take the limo. It’s roomy and extremely comfy.”
“Yeah and it’s got a TV, one of those gizmos that’s installed in the roof of the car.” Xander spread his hands to indicate the size of the thing.
Willow sighed in contentment. “And these lovely little chocolate mints in silver paper.”
“You’ve all been in the limo? Hello, didn’t anybody hear what Faith said yesterday? These people are evil! They tried to kill Angel!”
“And this makes them evil how?”
She glared at Xander. “Will you grow up, Xander? These people can’t be trusted and you’re getting dazzled by TVs, comfy chairs and minty chocolates. It’s the old ‘Hey, kid, get in my car and I’ll give you candy’ routine and you guys are falling for it!”
Giles did his best to placate her. “Buffy, would you please control yourself? It was simply a limo ride.”
“Besides, Angel trusts them. And they made him leader. Gotta think that’s a really big carrot,” Willow pointed out.
“It’s the size of the stick that’s worrying me. Before you decide to work for the American version of the Watchers Council, think for a minute. You’ll never have any privacy with those people breathing down your necks.”
“Yes and I’m certain we’ll get plenty of privacy on a public conveyance,” Giles answered dryly. Just then the bus pulled up. He sighed and fished in his pockets for the fare.
Buffy’s jaw dropped as she saw a thick wad of bills in his wallet. “Giles, where did you get all that money?”
He was obviously embarrassed but waited until they were seated before answering. “Angel was kind enough to give me a little pin money. He’s aware of our impoverished status and he had quite a bit of money left from his defunct business at Angel Investigations.”
Great. Angel was giving them a hotel, food and now money. They were sinking deeper in debt to him with every passing hour and Buffy was getting fed up with it. But there seemed little she could do. “Whatever. Let’s just get back to the hotel. We’ve obviously got things to talk about.”
__________
They walked into the Hyperion to see Andrew cradling the phone. He looked up at their entrance and signaled frantically for them to come over. “Hi? Look, I’m telling you, this isn’t Angel Investigations! Yes, this was their headquarters. Yes, this is the right number but they’re not here any more. No, we don’t handle the strange and unusual. Well, actually we do but we’re not the ones you’re looking for!”
He hung up the phone only to have it screech again. He dashed out from behind the counter. “Guys, you gotta help. The phone’s been ringing off the hook and they’re all asking for this Angel Investigations and I don’t know what to tell ‘em. Nobody ever trained me to be secretary boy.” He rolled his eyes as the phone continued to ring.
“Oh, they must be calling for Angel’s assistance. Perhaps we should answer them?” Giles looked uncertainly at the others.
Buffy thought for a moment before a slow grin formed on her face. “I’ve got a better idea.” She reached around on the desk until she found the answering machine. Pressing the button for recording messages, she cleared her throat. “Hello. You have reached the former offices of Angel Investigations. We are no longer here but we can be reached at our new place of business, Wolfram & Hart. Our number is 555-8457. Bye!” She set the machine down and beamed at the others. “Tada! Problem solved. Now speaking of real problems, let’s talk about a wandering sister.”
“Somebody call for the Junior Watcher?” Dawn strolled in with Faith, Kennedy and the other AWOL Slayers. They were splattered in pinkish-blue goo.
“Dawn! Where were you? I was worried. I thought something might have happened to you.” Buffy didn’t want to start off a conversation by yelling at her sister but the feeling that the situation was spiraling out of control was wearing on her nerves.
“Chill, B. Dawnie and me were okay. We had the other girls with us and we could handle ourselves if things got sticky. Except that they kinda did.” She grimaced and held up one of the few swords they were able to retrieve.
A bit of the demon glop fell to the lobby floor and Andrew yelped. “Hey, be careful! You’ll get that stuff on the rug and you know it’s gonna be hell to get out.”
What was with these people? Was Buffy the only one to remember the temporary nature of their situation? “What do you care, Andrew? We’re not going to be here long enough for it to matter.”
“Oh. Right.” The thought seemed to depress him and he retreated to slouch behind the counter.
Buffy said, “Guys, Giles says we’ve got a problem…”
“Can it wait?” Kennedy said plaintively. “Faith wasn’t the only one hit with demon bilge and I want to clean this stuff off before it hardens.”
Buffy looked at the other girls, all of them covered with ugly drippings, and relented. “Okay. But be down here in half an hour.”
Buffy had pushed Giles to tell her the news but the Englishman had been adamant about waiting for the others. Once all the women were gathered he settled down on the lobby couches and began. “As you all know, Willow cast a spell to activate all the Slayers in the world. That means that all over the world young girls, very young girls, have received the power of the Slayer.”
“That was a good thing, right?” Vi looked uncertain and the next words by Giles confirmed Willow’s earlier misgivings.
“Not entirely. They have also acquired the Slayer’s unique magical energy signature. All demonic creatures can sense a Slayer. They may not know what it means but it does mark the girl as being different from others, a creature of magic and power.”
Dawn was the first one to get it. “You mean there are six year olds out there who have demons coming after them?”
“That’s correct. These girls have power but neither knowledge, Watchers to instill discipline, training, idea of what they’re up against nor even that such monsters exist.”
“But they have power. They have strength beyond that of other girls…and they can run really fast, too!” Buffy realized she was clutching at straws as the other people in the room stared at her.
Giles spoke with severity; surely Buffy of all people should realize that brute strength was not enough. “There are creatures who hunt in packs, Buffy. They may attack the girl in her home, while she’s sleeping. They will tear through anyone who seeks to protect her. And superior strength means nothing when you’re dealing with a creature that can be killed only with a certain kind of sword.”
“Or by screaming really loud like you did with the Gentlemen,” Willow murmured. Then she sighed, “It looks like I messed up big time.”
“No, Willow. You didn’t mess up. It was a brilliant plan, the best. We all got super strength when we needed it.” Kennedy patted her on the back.
“Yeah. Go girl power! You gave the world girls stuffed chock full of sugar, spice and everything nice and a big heaping spoonful of Chemical X. None of us saw the bad here,” Xander told her.
Willow wasn’t comforted. “I’ve got to take it back, don’t I?”
There was stunned silence. Then a chorus of protests rang around the lobby. All the girls were still riding on a Slayer high. Even though they could all go back to normal lives, none of them wanted to give up the magical force that bound them together.
Giles raised his voice to be heard over the commotion. “There’s no need for Willow to deprive all of you of your newfound strengths. There may be a way simply for her to take the powers from the other girls out there, the ones who have had this burden unexpectedly dropped upon them.”
“But what if we do it while they’re in the middle of a fight? Let’s not do anything without thinking, okay?”
“That can’t be helped, Buffy. The people at Wolfram & Hart have already targeted many girls in the world and I’m rather anxious to keep these children from becoming unwitting pawns in their hands.”
Buffy’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the law firm. “How do the people of Wolfram & Hart know anything about this?”
“They have ancient magicks at their beck and call. They have known about Slayers for centuries, almost as long as the Watchers Council. Like the demons, they have only ever been able to find Slayers after they’ve been activated. Now they’re aware of them all. I was informed that there are two in Sri Lanka who will doubtless be attacked by Mungen demons by the next nightfall.”
This was bad news. “So what do we do?”
He stood, a determined expression on his face. “Willow must start working on a spell to remove this power from these girls. Since some of them may already have been targeted, we have to travel and get to them before they are assaulted.”
“We’re going to Sri Lanka? That’s so cool!” Andrew enthused. Then he paused. “Where’s Sri Lanka exactly?”
“You’re not going anywhere, Andrew,” Giles replied in a stern voice. “Buffy and I will be going. I speak a smattering of Ceylonese and Buffy can handle the demons.”
Xander was quick to point out the flaw in this idea. “How are you going to get there? I’m thinking this is gonna cost more than bus fare, G-man.”
“A simple teleportation spell will take us any place in the world we want to go.”
“Uh, Giles. I don’t think that’s such a good plan. It’s really hard on the spellcaster and even harder on anybody traveling with them. The last time I did that Buffy and Dawn kinda fainted. That was during my wanna-wreck-the-world phase,” Willow whispered to Kennedy.
“You won’t be casting that spell. I have one given to me by Wolfram & Hart. It’s something they use when in dire need of instantaneous travel.”
“Again with Wolfram & Hart! Those people are seriously getting on my nerves, Giles. We’re here one day and we’re taking food, limo rides, info and now magic flying carpets from them! They’re not giving this stuff away for free. They want something from us, count on it.”
Faith had filled all of the Slayers in on her previous association with Wolfram & Hart. But Kennedy was having a hard time reconciling that image with the generosity they’d been shown. “So what do they want from us? I haven’t heard them ask for anything.”
Willow was reluctant to tell her girlfriend the tempting offer she’d been given. Giles merely commented, “Well, there have been offers. But nothing’s settled yet.”
“That’s right, Buffster. We can all just leave tomorrow and go back to our new lives of raging poverty.” Xander scanned the downcast faces of the others and shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
Buffy decided to counter the pessimism before it got out of hand. “We’re not going to be poor, Xander. We’ll figure a way out of this.”
Dawn hated to add to Xander’s negative outlook but facts were facts. “How, Buffy? Most of us are too young to work and you can’t support us all. You had trouble keeping the house going when it was just the wo of us.”
“My family has money,” Kennedy offered. Buffy inwardly shuddered at the offhand comment. The woman was just trying to be helpful but she didn’t know which was worse: getting money from Angel, taking favors from Wolfram & Hart or accepting charity from Kennedy.
“Uh, honey? Do they know you’re gay? ‘Cause I’m thinking showing up with your girlfriend and a lot of needy teenagers in tow--not the best way to come out,” Willow murmured.
This was apparently a subject that hadn’t come up between the two women before now. “They--well, they don’t know exactly. I mean, I’ve never told them. But I never hit it off with any of the boys I was introduced to at the parties so I don’t think it’ll come as a complete shock.”
“As riveting as this story of money, orientation and parental issues is, we still have small Slayers out there to rescue. Willow, start with the reversal spell. As soon as you’re done, Buffy and I are headed to Sri Lanka.”
Giles stood up slowly and Buffy noted how tiredly he seemed to move these days. [Giles is getting old. I guess the Watcher gig is finally taking its toll.] She was oddly guilty about that. Being her Watcher meant that Giles had had to take more onto himself than other Watchers did. However, she seemed to recall a young Wesley panting hard after one of Faith’s workouts. She smirked at the memory and went to retrieve her scythe.
Willow laid it down on the floor and created a large circle, one big enough to hold all the Sunnydale Slayers. “Okay, this may feel a little funny--like bugs-crawling-over-the-skin funny--but you’ve all got to stay in the circle no matter what. You step outside it, you lose the Slayer juice like all the other girls out there.”
Buffy stood crowded shoulder to shoulder with Molly. Willow was right; the spell did create a weird tingle all over her skin. However, it was the way the redhead sagged to floor and giggled like a loon afterwards that really worried her. But Kennedy assured her it was to be expected and Buffy reluctantly let it go.
“So how does this transporty deal go? You’re not gonna shake a gourd and dance again, are you?”
Giles held up the piece of paper with the spell written on it and frowned at her tone. She smiled, as impervious to his Watcher glare as ever. “We don’t do anything. We stand in a circle poured from green sand and I chant the spell.”
Dawn watched the two of them and called out, “Good luck!”
Buffy held up the scythe. By unspoken consent, the weapon was considered to be hers. No one else even thought of using it in battle. She raised an eyebrow as if to say, “Luck? Who needs luck?” Moments later there was a brief flash of light and both Watcher and Slayer disappeared.
Dawn turned to the others and said, “Hey, what say we call Angel and see about getting that pool cleaned?”

TBC
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