Part Twenty-Three Buffy sat at the table later on that afternoon, reading the days headlines as Wesley and Giles were fencing. The front page article was about a local professor being murdered. "The Mayor," Buffy said. "You sure?" Giles asked, not once faltering in his fluid movements against the young Watcher. "He was drained, but vamps don't usually go to all the trouble of entering a person's house unless there was a specific reason. That, and given the fact that nearly every vamp in a ten mile radius works for the guy..." Buffy reasoned. Giles took the paper from Buffy's hand, still finding it rather easy to counter Wesley's attacks with the foil. "He was also brutally stabbed," Giles acknowledged. "Mr. Worth, visiting professor of geology. There's nothing in here that bellows motive." Wesley spoke up. "Perhaps Faith was in on the kill." Buffy shook her head. "Faith works alone." Plus, my guess is that my dear sister Slayer is six feet under... "Random killing, perhaps? Fit of rage? Everybody does seem to be going a bit mad, lately. Vampires have something of a head start," Wesley suggested. "Still doesn't read. I think it's homework," Buffy admitted. Giles paused. "The Mayor wanted the good professor out of the way..." Buffy nodded once. "Which leads to the question, how come? I'm gonna destroy the entire city, but I take the time to kill harmless Lester first?" "Tying up loose ends?" Giles suggested thoughtfully. "Lester had something or knew something." "Then I wanna know too. The Mayor's trying to hide. I say we go seek..." "Ah. By attempting to keep a valuable clue from us, the Mayor may have inadvertently led us right to it..." Wesley concluded needlessly. "What page are you on, Wes?" Buffy grinned at his apparent lack of smarts. "Cause we already got there." "Yes, well...you will go tonight. Look over his apartment. Anything of note, report back here," the Watcher instructed. "I just love it when you take charge, you man, you," his Slayer mocked. "Uh, we...was that a yes? I have trouble keeping track..." Wesley blushed. "I'll go." "Be careful. If the Mayor's goons should show up...not to mention Faith" Giles began. "I don't think they'll show. Been there, killed that. They're not much for follow-up," Buffy told him. "Nonetheless, keep watch. They have you at a disadvantage, Buffy." "Cause I'm not crazy or cause I don't kill people? You'd have to be crazy to work for a human that wants to ascend..." "Both, actually," he admitted. "I hear you. I can't kill her, fun as it may sound, but I can kill the vamps..." "Don't let your feelings about Faith interfere with your work," Wesley instructed needlessly. "Stopping Faith is my work. Take a beat to love the synergy..." Been there, killed that, I believe was the term. Well, not me, anyway...Buffy thought to herself. "Faith is a footnote. Our priority is stopping the Ascension." The group lost focus on the topic when Xander arrived in the library, dragging an obviously scared Anya along behind him. "Easier said than done, malarkey boy." "Xander, if you don't have something constructive to add...?" the Watcher paused. Xander ignored him. "You guys want to know about the Ascension? Well meet the only living person who's ever been to one..." *~*~* The group sat quietly around the table as Anya began her tale. "About eight hundred years ago in the Koskov Valley above the Urals, there was a sorcerer there who achieved Ascension. Became the embodiment of the demon Lohesh. I was there cursing a shepherd who had been unfaithful. His wife had wished that all his sheep would lie with..." she wistfully drifted off topic. "Can we get back to the chase?" Buffy interrupted. "Sorry. Lohesh was...It-it decimated the village within hours. Maybe three people got out. I've seen some horrible things in my time. I've been the cause of most of them, actually, but this..." the former demon shook her head. "Ahem, I'm sorry, but Lohesh was a four-winged soul killer, am I right?" he turned to Giles for confirmation and received it. "I was given to understand that they're not that fierce. Of all the demons that we've faced..." "You've never seen a demon..." told him. Buffy raised her hand, looking at Anya as if she were stupid. "Uh, excuse me? Killing them professionally, four years running. "All the demons that walk the earth are tainted, are human hybrids like vampires. The Ascension means that a human becomes pure demon. They're different..." Anya explained. "Different?" Giles questioned. "How?" Buffy asked. "Well, for one thing, they're bigger..." They continue their discussion as Willow and Oz enter the library. "It doesn't sound like Lohesh. The rituals are all different," Anya told them. "I wish that was a relief." Giles was seated on the table listening intently. "What's going on?" Oz asked, noticing the now complete group of Scoobies. "How come evil girl's in the mix?" Willow frowned. "Anya witnessed an Ascension," the former Watcher explained. "Oh, okay then," Willow conceded. "What about the spiders? The Mayor had a box of spiders that he had to eat. The Box of...I want to say Gravlocks?" she looked to Giles uncertainly. "Gavrock," he corrected. Anya shook her head. "It doesn't ring a bell." "Well, there must be something that you can remember that would be helpful." Buffy was grateful for anything additional thing that Anya could tell them. Angelus already had a way to kill the demon, but they needed extra details to make sure that there was enough... The group turned as they heard the library doors open. The Mayor entered. Buffy discreetly hid the newspaper... "So, this is the inner sanctum. Faith told me this is where you folks like to hang out, concoct your little schemes. I tell you, it's just nice to see that some young people are still interested in reading in this modern era. So, what are kids reading nowadays?" He walked over to the table and picked up an open book and read from it aloud. "'The beast will walk upon the earth and darkness will follow. The several races of man will be as one in their terror and destruction.' Aww, that's kind of sweet. Different races coming together." He motioned with his hands. "You never get even a little tired of hearing yourself speak, do you?" Buffy quipped. "That's one spunky little girl you've raised. I'm gonna eat her," he chuckled to Giles. Giles moved with anger speeding his actions, grabbing the foil on the table and thrusting it into the Mayor's chest. "Whoa!" The Mayor staggered, but quickly regained his balance. "Well now, that was a little thoughtless." He pulled the foil from his chest. "Violent outbursts like that, in front of the children? You know, Mr. Giles, they look to you to see how to behave." "Get out..." Buffy told him. He considered the group as he withdrew a handkerchief from his coat and wiped the foil clean. "I smell fear. That's smart. Some of your deaths will be quick, if that's worth anything. Well, see you all at graduation. You don't want to miss my commencement address. It's going to be one heck of a speech." He tossed the foil back to Giles. Feeling brave, not to mention angry at the Mayor's words, Xander tossed at him, "And where might your precious Faith be? Has she gotten tired of you already?" Buffy sucked in a breath, but fortunately, no one noticed. He stiffened. "Well, your little Slayer would know the answer to that one, since she killed her..." Let them play with that one...the Mayor thought. It will keep them occupied for a little longer... *~*~* Anya ran from the room. Xander was quick to follow. "Anya, wait! Where you going?" She whirled around. "Anywhere. If there's a lunar shuttle going up anytime soon, I'm on it." "We need you here. You might be able to help," Xander told her. "Or I might be able to live. You can't stop the Ascension, Xander. You were right the first time. The only thing any sane person can do now is run." She turned away and left quickly. On her way through, she passed Cordelia. "What's her saga?" "She's freaking," Xander said, still watching Anya's escaping form. "About what?" "The Mayor is going to kill us all during graduation..." Xander stated. He was suddenly getting used to the idea. "Oh. Are you going to go to fifth period?" "I'm thinking I might skip it." "Me too," Cordelia agreed. *~*~* Back in the library, Wesley was staring at Buffy. Giles just stared into space. "So, Faith is dead." "You killed her?" Wesley asked his Slayer incredulously. "No!" Buffy denied. "Buffy would never do that!" Willow told the Watcher. "You should be ashamed of yourself for believing the evil guy!" Giles turned to Willow. "We don't believe that, Willow." She pointed to Wesley. "He does! And anyway, why should we believe the Mayor that Faith's even dead? He could just be saying that so that we turn on Buffy." The group conceded Willow's point, while Buffy sat thinking. She had finally gotten the confirmation of Faith's death. Oh, well... Part Twenty-Four Joyce walked in on her daughter packing up clothing and toiletries. "Buffy, I'm home. Do you wanna go to...uh...? What are you doing? You're running away again? And you're taking my clothes..."she trailed off. "Mom, I need you to leave town. Tonight." "Buffy, I'd miss your graduation..." her mother argued. "Yeah, that's sort of the idea..." Well, if you're working the psychology bit... "There's no way. I wouldn't dream..." Buffy stopped packing and turned to her mother. "Mom, graduation is a pointless ceremony where you sit around and listen to a bunch of boring speeches until someone hands you a piece of paper that says you graduated which you already know and maroon does nothing for my complexion, so don't argue, okay?" "What, is some terrible demon going to attack the school?" Joyce asks sarcastically. Buffy just stares at her in answer. "Oh, I see. Oh, you know, Buffy, looking back on everything that's happened, maybe I should have sent you to a different school." "Just promise me that you'll be far away from here..." Buffy attempted the 'concerned daughter' look. "I'm not leaving you to face an awful monster. If I go anywhere, you're going with me." "You know that I can't," Buffy explained. "Well then I can't either." Joyce was adamant. Oh, Mom, this is just too easy... "All right, Mom, just be careful," Buffy sighed in false resignation. "Okay," Joyce agreed. What can I say? I'm the world's best actor... *~*~* "Too true, Buff!" Angelus couldn't stop laughing after she told him how she had manipulated her mother. Buffy snuggled closer to her lover on the lounger. "Well, she tried to indirectly break my heart, so I'm going to try and indirectly break her." Angelus encircled her petite frame with his arms. "So does this mean you want me to wait with the spell until your mother is gone?" He'd gladly do it. Buffy loved Angelus' 'Buffy wants, Buffy gets' attitude, but shook her head with a sigh. "No, if you wait, one of my friends might get killed. Mom will just have to take her chances." "And you might get killed, too." Angelus kissed the top of her head, not wanting to think about the possibility of his love becoming demon brunch. She shook her head with a smile. "Nope. I know that you'd protect me with your unlife, but I can take care of myself. I have a few tricks up my sleeve..." "I suppose we should tell the group that 'Angel' found the Gem. It'll give them some kind of hope..." Angelus admitted. Buffy stiffened. "Babe? What's the matter?" Angelus tightened his grip on Buffy when he felt her tense. Something was wrong. She shook her head. "Nothing, I just had a thought about how we could get the Hell off the Hellmouth..." The Slayer whispered in his ear for a minute. With each second that passed, Angelus' grin grew wider. When she had finished, he engaged her in a passionate kiss and lifted her into his arms, standing up from the lounger and carrying her up to the bedroom. "Buff, you're brilliant! You're a wonder! You are my sunshine...my only sunshine...!" the vampire began to sing, carrying her through the bedroom doors. Buffy hit him playfully on the arm, but couldn't stop giggling. "Angel! Stop being an idiot!" Angelus froze. He stared down at the girl in his arms. "That's the first time you've called me Angel in private, Buffy," he told her. The Slayer bit her lip. "I always used to associate Angel with pure happiness..." she admitted. Angelus smiled. "So, I make you happy? Well, that's okay then. Maybe I could let Angel come out and play once in a while..." He tossed Buffy onto the king-size bed. She perked up at the offhanded comment. "Really?" "Really, but not at the moment." "Okay!" Buffy grabbed the front of his shirt and jerked him down onto the bed, pouncing on him as soon as his back hit the mattress. "So, what are we going to do for the next few hours?" Buffy wondered aloud. Angelus pretended to think about it. He began unbuttoning her top. "Hmm...I don't know. There's really not much around this place to play with," the vampire murmured as he squeezed her suddenly bare breast. Buffy hissed at him in mock anger. She dragged her sharp nails down his bare chest. Angelus growled in pleasure as she drew blood. "Baby..." She then bent down to lap up the thick liquid, careful not to take in too much at a time, knowing how it could effect her physically. Buffy undid the snap of Angelus' pants and reached inside... Angelus groaned as Buffy's warm hand came into contact with his hard cock. Deciding to retaliate, the vampire reached up her skirt, inching closer to her heat, only to find that she wore no underwear. His fingers slid inside her as she pulled his shaft from the slacks and began stroking him. Their hips began to move in rhythm with each other's hand movements. Before long, they were screaming their pleasure. Without saying a word, Buffy move backwards a little, still bent over Angelus' body. She grinned when her mouth was level with her lover's flaccid cock. The Slayer licked the appendage, then blew on the wet skin lightly. She was rewarded with an immediate reaction as he started to rise and harden. But instead of letting her continue her oral exploration, Angelus thrust his hand into her hair and tugged gently, forcing her to move up his body. The vampire reached down for her skirt and tugged it up past her thighs, leaving it bunched up at her waist. Angelus took in the sight of her near-naked body, her young breasts firm for him, her eyes devouring him, the warmth between her legs leaking just for him. He continued to watch as he helped her rise up, and plunge down onto his waiting erection. Buffy whimpered in pleasure as he filled her. They didn't move for a few seconds, savoring the feel of their intimate connection. Angelus' sat up a little as Buffy bent down and the couple kissed tenderly as Buffy began a rocking motion with her pelvis, ready to tame her vampire once again, this time with tenderness. "Buffy..." he murmured against her parted lips as she pulled her mouth away, her hands caressing his hard chest. "Shh..." she whispered. "I love you..." Buffy moved her pelvis back a fraction, changing the angle of his penetration. They groaned in unison as the slight difference forced him deeper inside her body. "Angelus..." Buffy moaned as her inner muscles clenched with her impending orgasm. "Love..." Buffy's oncoming orgasm bringing on his own. *~*~* Meanwhile, in another part of Sunnydale, another couple was soon to be engaged in similar activities... Willow and Oz sat in the redhead's room. Willow was laying on her bed researching as Oz sat on the bed with the laptop on his lap. "Oh, this is so frustrating," Willow complained as she slammed the book shut. "Nothing useful?" Oz asked, looking up from the computer. "No, it's great. If we want to make ferns invisible, or communicate with shrimp, I've got the goods right here." "Our lives are different than other peoples'," the werewolf stated with his usual blank expression. "Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not going to find a spell to stop the Ascension. I'm no witch. I can't even change poor Amy back to a person." Willow was feeling sorry for herself. "But you got the swinging Habitrail going. I think Amy is in a good place emotionally," he tried to comfort his girlfriend. "Oz..." "What?" "Could you just pretend to care about what's happening? Please?" "You think I don't care?" he asked, moving closer to her. "I think we could be dead in two days time and you're being ironic detachment guy." "Would it help if I panic?" he asked, standing beside the bed now. "Yes, it would be swell. Panic is a thing people can share in times of crisis. And everything's really scary now, you know, and I don't know what's gonna happen. And there's all sorts of things that you're supposed to get to do after high school, and I was really looking forward to doing them, and now we're probably just gonna die and I would like to feel that maybe you would..." Willow paused as her boyfriend leaned forward and kissed her. "What are you doing?" "Panicking," he told her before kissing her again. *~*~* Later that night, Buffy and Angelus exited the dead professor's home carrying a box of papers concerning an excavation that they were taking back to Giles. The couple had paused in the middle of the quiet street for a quick kiss... Buffy panicked as Angelus fell against her. She looked at the arrow penetrating his chest with absolute horror. She quickly checked to see if he was wearing the Gem Of Amara as she held him close. "Angel!" Behind them, on the top of the building that the professor had lived in, stood two vampires. One was holding a bow. "Missed the heart," the first one said. "Meant to..." Part Twenty-Five "Buffy!" Giles gasped as the Slayer entered the library with Angel, an arrow protruding from his shoulder. "There," Giles pointed to a chair. "Sit him down." Buffy led Angelus to the chair and sat him down. Giles broke off the end of the arrow while Buffy spoke to the vampire. "Okay, ready?" she asked as she gripped the tip of the arrow. "Yeah." "On three. One..." She pulled the arrow out without continuing. "I knew you were going to do that..." he moaned in pain. Giles removed his glasses in shock as he examined the wound. "It's almost fully healed..." "There's a reason for that..." Angelus murmured. "I'm just glad that that vampire was such a suck shot, not that it would have mattered," Buffy muttered. Giles continued to watch the wound fully heal while Wesley read the documents that the couple had brought with them. "Fascinating..." "What?" The Watcher had pulled Giles' attention away from Angelus' rapid healing. "It seems our Mr. Worth headed an expedition in Hawaii, digging in old lava beds near a dormant volcano..." Wesley related. "I'm not fascinated yet," Buffy told him. She was still pissed that her lover could have died, had he not been wearing the ring. "He found something underneath. A carcass, buried by an eruption," Wesley told them. "A carcass?" Interesting...Giles thought. "A very large one. Mr. Worth posits that it might be some heretofore undiscovered dinosaur." "A demon?" Angelus questioned. Giles nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that would be something that the Mayor would want to keep a secret. If it's the same kind of demon he's turning into and it's dead, it means that, well, he's only impervious to harm until the Ascension. In his demon form, he can be killed." "Great. So all we need is a million tons of burning lava. We're saved," Buffy replied sarcastically. "Well, it's a start, anyway..." Angelus admitted. He sat up in the chair. His would was fully healed. His throat constricted as he felt something in his body change... "Okay, you've been a real klutz today. You need... "Damn...poison," he stated as he clutched at Buffy's hand. *~*~* "We'll have to run some tests," Giles said as he sniffed the tip of the arrow. "It doesn't really matter," Angelus admitted, unconcerned. "No matter what it is, it won't effect me, not now." "What?" Wesley asked, suspicious. Angelus put his hand on the table. "This." Giles and Wesley looked closely at the ring on his finger. "It looks familiar," Giles murmured to himself. "Not to me," Wesley admitted. "It's the Gem Of Amara..." Buffy whispered. Both Giles' and Wesley's heads snapped up as the name broke through. "Dear lord!" Wesley muttered. "How did you find it, Angel?" Giles asked in fascination. Vampires had been searching for the item for countless centuries, but a souled vampire had found it... "I had a dream and it led me to it..." he stated. Buffy diverted their line of questioning. "It doesn't matter at the moment. The Mayor and his mob of goons think that we're going to be too busy worrying over Angel to do anything else. So I suggest that we call the gang together and form a plan of action..." Giles and Wesley both agreed and went off to call the others... *~*~* Buffy, Angelus, Giles and Cordelia were all researching the demon while the others had gone off to test the poison. Wesley was on the phone to the council about the poison. Wesley exited the inner office of the library and halted beside the table where the group was researching. "Did you reach the council?" Giles asked, looking up from the book he was reading. "Yes. They, they couldn't help." "Couldn't?" Buffy asked suspiciously. "Wouldn't. It's not Council policy to cure vampires. I, umm...I hadn't gotten around to telling them that Angel didn't actually need curing...but that's not the point." "Did you explain that these were special circumstances?" Giles was outraged that they could do this to an ally. "Not under any circumstances, and yes, I did try to convince them." "I still want to know what it was they tried to do to Angel..." Buffy told them. "The Council's orders are to concentrate on..." Wesley began before Buffy interrupted. "Orders? I don't think I'm gonna be taking any more orders. Not from you, not from them," Buffy stated. "You can't turn your back on the Council." "They're in England. I don't think they can tell which way my back is facing," the Slayer told Wesley. "Giles, talk to her." "I've nothing to say right now..." Giles said, taking Buffy's side. "Wesley, go back to your Council and tell them, until the next Slayer comes along, they can close up shop. I'm not working for them anymore." "Don't you see what's happening? They tried to poison Angel to distract you, to keep you out of the Mayor's way, and it's working. You need a strategy," the Watcher argued. "I have a strategy. You're not in it." "This is mutiny." Buffy thought for a second. "I like to think of it as graduation." "Buffy, you don't know what you're doing..." Wesley tried once more. "Get a job." *~*~* "Buffy! You have to see this!" Willow called as she, Oz and Xander entered the library in a rush. Buffy, Angelus and Giles turned to the witch-in-training as she handed a book over to her best friend. "It was relatively easy to find..." she pointed to a passage in the book. Buffy read her interpretation of the passage aloud. "Killer of the dead. There have been a few reported cases. All but one vampire perishing..." She read through the passage. "Wait...here's the vamp who walked away from it. It's...holy crap! Man, I'm glad that Angel didn't get done by this thing!" Giles put his glasses on and pulled the book over his way. He sucked in a breath as he got to where the cure was described, then silently handed it over to Angel. The vampire looked it over. "Drinking the blood of the Slayer is the cure..." he read aloud. "Interesting..." He knew that he didn't have anything to worry about. And even if he had been injured by the poison, he knew that Buffy would offer herself to save his existence. Buffy turned to Giles. "So, what's our plan of attack? Do we pretend that Angel's fine and I'm pretty much dead? Or do we act like we can't find a cure, and Angel's still dying, or is already dead?" Giles removed his glasses and sighed. "I really don't know, Buffy." "Wait, I read something else. It said that the poison was slow working when it came to the fatal part, so wouldn't Angel still just be really sick, now? I mean, we could use that. Make them think that we're running around, desperate to find a cure, when really, we're setting up a way to destroy the Mayor..." Willow suggested. "Yeah, but how do we go about destroying the Mayor, Wills? We don't even know what kind of demon he's going to turn into," Xander said. The group slowly took their seats around the table. No one saw the look Angelus gave Buffy, or the small nod she sent back to him. Angelus spoke up. "I have a way to take care of the Mayor after he becomes a demon..." he started cautiously. The gang sat up in attention. Giles began to stutter. "W-what? W-why didn't y-you say something, earlier?" For her plan to work, Buffy couldn't speak up. She couldn't be tied to him in an way at the moment... Angelus continued. "Well, for one thing, I need to know the type of demon the Mayor will become. As well as a few physical details. I have a spell and a potion at the mansion for it..." Giles stood and began gathering his books from the shelves in the stacks. Angelus continued. "Now, because I have the Gem Of Amara to protect me, I'll be the one doing the spell, so..." Xander cut in. "The Gem Of What? Guys, what is he talking about?" Willow and Oz were looking just as stumped. Buffy sighed. Here we go again with the explanations... Continue 