Chapter 7: Brushfire Training Camp - Aftermath

[Black Eye Guy]

The next morning was a late one for the occupants of the Training camp, after the battle the gang retired to Bed, having tended to the dead and the injured. They had been dealt a serious blow and had no leads on what exactly had happened last night.

The next morning they gathered in the conference room of the compound. Buffy and Angel were still absent.

Giles had left early in the morning, apparently to follow up a lead. The rest of the gang, Gwen, Gunn, Xander, Dawn, Amy, Illyria, Spike (Who had managed ro miss last night events) and Faith were all in attendance, joined by the two Finns

Willow walked into the room, a little late, she was the last to arrive, everyone else was already here and waiting, they had been chatting amongst themselves. She sat down at the top of the table next to Xander.

"Ok, we have a couple to things to go over, Firstly and most importantly. Last night we came under serious attack, and I don't mean the fight. that was a distraction, they managed to get into our records room and download a copy of... Well, everything. They took a complete list of all the slayers we have found so far, along with their profile workups, this means they have their current addresses, known relatives and just about anything we thought we would need a record of.

We'll be spreading word around that any slayer currently active with us can return their family if they feel they would be in danger, we are also offering protection for any families who will leave their homes and come stay in the camps. We have no idea what they wanted with that list, but it could severely compromise any of our active slayers.

We'll also have to contact all the slayers we approached but opted to not join us, they won't know about this and since aren’t on active duty won't be expecting a fight if it comes out of nowhere.

Probably worst of all, they took a list a slayers we have out on missions, what missions they are on and why their there, we can pull back as many missions as we can, others we'll have problems with, such as any of our girls deep undercover." She looked around the room, she really wished she had more good news for them.

"Also you may have noted the absence of our fearless leaded" She looked at gunn and Gwen "and yours. they left yesterday to gather some Intel for us, the mission was pretty dangerous so they choose to go themselves instead of sending one of our operatives.

I think we can assume last nights attack was on behalf of Ansara, for the second time now they have managed to get into our camp, easily, and cause serious damage." She was being particularly vague on the absence of Buffy and Angel, the idea their could be a traitor among them was not a pleasant one, but one they had to conceder.

"Giles left early this morning to look into a further lead on our big baddie, but we have very little, in fact almost no, Intel on Ansara, which leave us pretty much waiting."

Again she looked around the room, as crappy as this was to say it was probably just as crappy to hear, since everyone wanted answers and were looking to her for them. "We do have a couple of matters that we have to deal with at the moment though, firstly..." She looked over at Riley and Sam, "We have guests, and Im guessing this wasn't a social call?"

[palabravampiress]

[Present -- Scooby Meeting]

:: Xander sipped at his coffee as Willow announced to the team what she had told him last night: Ansara had made the scoobies her butt monkeys – again. That feeling was nothing new for Xander, but it still stung to hear it out loud. ::

:: It wasn’t boredom or lack of caring that made Xander’s head keep lolling forward like he was short one spine; it was exhaustion. He hadn’t slept much – okay, at all – the night before. ::



[The night before – Brushfire Camp]
:: After making sure Gunn made it to the infirmary, Xander volunteered to help bury those who had not survived. He didn’t like that job, but he always took it. It was important to him. Sometimes, people didn’t get graves. Xander wanted to make sure that those who could be buried were buried. ::

:: By the time he made it back inside, he was a mess of caked on mud and blood and gore. He knew he should shower and then go to sleep, but he just couldn’t. That would require entering his bedroom. ::

:: So he had done what anyone else what do, except he hadn’t seen anyone else doing it: he stood outside his room and stared. In his hurry to join the fight, he had left the door ajar. Everything was just as he had left it: one of Anya’s knives was sticking out of the center of the mattress; another knife was on the floor; blood and puss were everywhere; and the bunny picture was on the ground with its frame shattered all around it. ::

It must have fallen when I fought with… Anya, he thought. As always, he hesitated before even so much as thinking her name.

:: Xander sighed and leaned against the opposite wall, sliding downward until he was sitting on the floor and staring into the room. ::

It’s just a room. Just a room. And that was just a smoke demon, not her. Don’t let it give you wiggins, he told himself.

:: He repeated it and repeated it, but he still couldn’t make himself man up and go in. It was dumb. He knew it was dumb. But he really wanted to sleep somewhere else – just for one night. ::

:: Knees cracking, Xander stood slowly and walked stiffly to the bathroom. The slayerettes had all cleared out by then. He ran the water extra hot, set out a towel from the linen closet, and then stepped inside. ::

:: The near-scalding water caused his cuts to flare with pain. The soap, which he scrubbed vigorously all over his body, burned each time it touched it a wound. He even got shampoo in his good eye. But Xander didn’t care. The shower was warm and closed-in. It was safe. It smelled comforting – like Zest soap and T-Gel. There was also just a hint of lavender or some other girly scent because, after all, the chicks outnumbered the guys at Slayer Central. But that wasn’t what was important. It wasn’t his room; that was what mattered. ::

:: Xander stayed in the shower until long after his fingers began to prune. ::

:: Finally, when the water got cold, Xander got out of the shower. He dried off, wrapped the towel around his waist, and walked resolutely to his room. While he changed into sweat pants and a T-shirt, Xander tried not to focus on any particular object – like the knife that stuck out of the bed or the bloodstain that was smeared against the wall. He didn’t have much luck. Bits and pieces kept coming back to him. ::

You can’t help me, Xander.

I wish it had been you! I wish you to Hell!

I wish your intestines were twisted into knots and ripped apart inside your lousy gut!

:: Xander changed and left the room in a hurry. He headed to the living room, where he eventually dozed off while watching infomercials. He spent the entire night in front of the TV. So did Anya. She was there the whole time. Even when he dreamed, she was there – all black-eyed and bloody – to demonstrate the incredible scrubbing bubble power of BAM! bathroom cleaner.

I, Anya Stupid-Made-Up-Name not Harris, endorse this product. It does what it claims to do and the name is fun to say. BAM! Best of all, my bathroom is moderately cleaner now than it was before I used BAM! But that might be because I no longer live with a houseful of unhygienic teen aged children. We don’t get many children in Hell. It’s one of its nicer qualities.



[Present – Scooby Meeting]

:: Xander shook himself awake, downed his cup of coffee, and turned his attention back to the meeting. ::

:: Willow was talking about the Finns. Or maybe to the Finns. Xander couldn’t tell. He only caught the last part: ::

"We have guests, and Im guessing this wasn't a social call?"

:: Xander stared across the table at Riley and Sam and tried to focus. ::

The Finns: “Yeah. Call me curious. What’s the what on that?”

[GATEGOD]

Faith sat idly by with her feet stretched out and back against her chair. Willow was going on about what had happened the night before, still not clearly telling any of them why they decided to attack the moment Angel and Buffy weren't around. She wasn't bent about it though she was barely listening. The night before she hadn't slept, not because she wasn't exhausted, she was. But she couldn't will herself to sleep. She had been up only a few hours before the attack and that was little more then 8 hours ago.

She was just now feeling her eyes glaze over, she closed them for barely a second when she heard Willow say something, she didn't know what but she popped her eyes back open and pretended she was fine. She kept thinking about Laura and how she came so close to killing her. How Laura was now lying in the infirmary because of her and how she had just woke up only twenty minutes ago.

Faith had apologized to her several times, but Laura said it wasn't her fault. 'That she was doing her job' She knew she was right, but that didn't make her feel the slightest bit better. Before any long, more heartfelt discussion could take place Willow called for the meeting and here she was, sitting down listening to the stand ins giving her orders.

'Blah blah' this 'Blah blah' that. She wanted to say something but decided she'd rather just listen. She could barely do that, how could she actually form coherent sentences. Xander spoke and Faith yawned. At least with Buffy around she didn't yawn, Buffy always gave her a run for her money and would probably already be devising a plan to get back the information. This slayer problem was a terrible loss, and angered her deeply. More so angry with what they made her do, not what they took. But still she tried to contain herself, but boredom set in and she let out the brilliance that was Faith.

"Can we hurry the hell up already." she added lifting herself up in her chair. "What's the deal?"

[Lyri]

::Gwen looked at the sea of faces in the room, and smiled a sad smile. Everyone looked exhausted, like they hadn't slept in weeks.::

Last night was certaintly no picnic.

::After the fight, when Gwen had met up with Willow and was told there was nothing for her to do but sleep, she had returned to the infirmery, checking on the girls she had put there. She was surprised to find the Latina girl at the bedside of a still unconscious Lexie, still following Gwen's instructions to watch over the girl.

::After making sure the rest of the Slayers from her 'army' were okay, Gwen had returned to her room, and stood in the threshold, staring at the corner where the apperition had appeared, at the scorched bedclothes and the marks on the walls where her power had missed the target. She felt a chill run down her spine. She had thought that she'd gotten over the boy's death. It had been so long ago, an accident by an innocent child who didn't know any better. But last night proved that the boy's death was still just below te surface of her mind, and could apparently be used against her.

::Gwen had grabbed the pillow and blanket from her bed and left the room. She'd slept in the common room, on the uncomfortable sofa that had more than a few loose springs. Sheer exhaustion was the only reason she had managed to fall asleep eventually, only to be woken four hours later by girls who appeared to be restless following the events of the 'invasion'.

::She had been in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal when she had been called to the meeting. She had been surprised to be summoned, to be included in something that seemed as though it should only include the higher ups. She still didn't know if Amy classed as a 'higher up' or not.

::Gwen listened quietly as Willow explained what had happened the night before, silently wondering what mission could be so important that it would take both Buffy and Angel away from their main base of operations.::

Wait a second, did Willow just call Angel my leader?

::She glanced at Gunn, who took the comment without batting an eyelind. She shrugged.::

Okay, I'm an L.A. girl. Guess he is my leader.

::Willow finished by addressing the two new comers Gwen had first spotted in the kitchen the day before. She could sense, now, a slight military prescene from the couple and she stifened slightly, very aware of the stolen military equipment she was wearing.

::Faith spoke up sharply and Gwen knew that there was something going on with the newly arrived man and the tough ass Slayer.

::She snorted.::

"Something tells me this can't be hurried up, Faith. I'm thinking last night's attack was a pretty major deal. I know I'm knew to the whole demon/Slaying world, but correct me if I'm wrong, but the personal details of a couple of thousand super strong teenage girls falling into the wrong hands has got to be of the bad. If this is some sort of game of Ansara's, then she's got to have more than Drusilla on her team. If her intention is to go after these girls, then she's gonna need a lotta back up."

[palabravampiress]

[Scooby Meeting]

:: Faith yawned and spoke out of turn, asking – in that oh-so-pleasant way of hers – to cut to the chase. Xander raised his brow, surprised, as the girl with the zappy thing loudly and publicly opposed her. ::

Zap Girligan over there really doesn’t know who she’s dealing with, he thought to himself. But he didn’t say that to her.

Gwen: “Hey – cool your jets there, lightning rod. Faith’s got a point. No use beating around the bush when we’re all so… umm “bushed.”

Thief girl needs to show some respect. Xander couldn’t put his finger on it, exactly, but something about Gwen calling out Faith really grated on his last nerve.

:: Xander tipped his head at Faith, but then he turned back to Gwen. ::

Gwen: “What you said gave me a major wiggins. Stop me if I need more coffee, but what if the slayers are the army? I mean, I’ve seen armies – vampires, uber vampires, dudes in chain mail, lunatics, blind guys without tongues, even our very own commandoes (:: here, he nodded toward Riley and Sam. ::)… they come in all colors and flavors. But I’ve never seen an army that could take on two thousand slayers.”

:: Xander paused and took a deep breath. ::

To group: “I think our vampire, umm, vampire slayer master thingie’s lonely there at the top of the food chain. I think she’s lookin’ to sire some vampire vampire slayer buds.”

:: Xander turned to Willow. ::

Willow: “Of course I could be way off base. In fact, I hope I'm way off base. I'm thinking an army of vampire vampire slayers is of the holy jumping Jesus brand of bad. What do you think?”

[Slayergal]

Again she looked around the room, as crappy as this was to say it was probably just as crappy to hear, since everyone wanted answers and were looking to her for them. "We do have a couple of matters that we have to deal with at the moment though, firstly..." She looked over at Riley and Sam, "We have guests, and Im guessing this wasn't a social call?"

::Sam looked over at Riley who appearently hadn't heard Willow. She looked around the room to find that every set of eyes were at that very moment were on her and Riley. Since Riley hadn't jumped right in to inform the group of why they were here. She cleared her throat and stood up nervously before the group.::

Everyone in the room: "Yes this is definately not a social call. Riley and I came to ask for some help. While we were stationed in Nepal we came across a group of vampires causing a lot of trouble. Anyway the vampires seem to be working with what we believe to be a with a slayer."

::Sam looked around at the group before continuing on with the information that Riley and her had.::

Everyone in the room: "But we are not for sure. Only thing we do know for sure is the vampires are getting their orders from a vampire, I believe you all know. Her name is Drusilla."

::Sam looked around as heads popped up to attention at the mention of the vampire leaders name.::

[sk8rj04]

::Gunn stayed quiet in a chair near the "Xan-Man" (whom he had a great deal more respect for after the previous night's attacks) as he took in all the information that was coming to him. He had become that way since leaving L.A. He couldn't remember a time then that he didn't have something to say when he was there. Maybe it was because he never really felt in place here in "Scooby Central" (as Xander liked to call it). Maybe it's because his whole life in L.A. was completely gone at this point. He didn't know. All he knew was that he had become the silent "let-the-bad-news-sink-in-while-you-think-of-a-way-to-deal-with-it" type of guy. Not that it was a bad thing. It just wouldn't be what some would call him.

::Gunn's left arm was in a sling. He was still unable to move it and his leg wasn't only badly bruised, but he had pulled a muscle in his ankle and he had no idea how that would affect his fighting. Most likely for the worse, which definitely wasn't good now that Ansara (Gunn guessed that's what the group assumed) had gotten a hold of all the computers information on the slayers around the world. However, Gunn realized that wasn't true. He had forgotten about the one slayer they had no information on whatsoever, whom he had just found only an hour or so before the attacks began at the compound.::

[Whispers]: "Tatum."

::However, he doubted anyone had heard him as even his own thought process was interrupted by the mention of Drusilla by Sam (of which he was merely half-listening to at this point). Gunn remembered the name from way back when he had just became a member of the old Angel Investigations. (::he smirked as he thought to himself "We Help the Hopeless":: ). It was Drusilla that had re-sired Darla, and caused Angel's whole crusade against the dynamic duo of the dark, turning his back on Cordy, Wesley, and himself and sending them out in the cold to fight demons all by themselves. He knew little about Drusilla, but he knew one thing: Drusilla was a crazy psychotic.::

What was Drusilla doing in Nepal?

[GATEGOD]

Faith stared blankly at Gwen as if she was going to jump over the table and rip her throat out. But instead she took Gwen's comments in one ear and out the other. If it had been any other day or any other place Gwen would have been up against the wall begging for her life. But it wasn't any other day, it was today and she had no passion for it. Her mind still dwindled on yesterday.

When Sam took the stage and spoke Faith actually listened, not like she listened to Gwen, she 'really' listened. What was said greatly shocked her. She thought she was the bad slayer, there couldn't possibly be worse ones.

"A slayer?" Faith questioned "One of ours?"

[Wanabee-slayer]

:: Dawn sat on the other side of Xander listening intently to what everyone was saying. If something went wrong Dawn wanted to be able to help. Leaning forward in her chair, arms on the table top, Dawn looked up at Willow and then back to Sam. ::

A rogue slayer and Drusilla? Holy crap!!!

:: Jaw dropping slightly Dawn tried to gain her composure, as she looked up at Willow.::

Willow: "Do we even have any slayers in Nepal? I mean, if Drusilla's there shouldn't they have noticed by now? I mean she's kind of crazy which doesn't usually equal subtle."

[palabravampiress]

[Scooby Meeting]

Xander listened as Sam delivered the newest bunch of bad: Drusilla was in Nepal. With a slayer.

Score one for my Army of Darkness theory., he thought unhappily. Huh. Wonder if a chainsaw would help.

Group: “Nepal? What’s in Nepal? I mean, aside from Buddha and the abominable snowman? Say you’re the uber demented one. What makes you go to Nepal to make with the slayery goodness?”

:: Xander paused and scratched his head. ::

Group: “I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume she’s not looking to climb Mount Everest. (:: Petrified. ::) Oh God. We don’t have to climb Everest, do we?”

[Mesektet Ra]

Spike was fading in and out of paying attention to this little meeting of the White Hats. It seems he missed out on a bit of fun the night before - Was doing my job. Fighting the baddies. Something about smoke demons and Ansara - Raven got the gist from Isabel when they got back to the compound, in just enough time to help with the cleanup. Bit o' fun, that was. He rolled his eyes.

And to cap it all off, Captain Bloody Cardboard and Kung Fu Barbie decided to make an appearance. Spike knew they were coming, but what in the bleeding hell did they need them for? All the git was good for was having massive ego problems and skipping town.

He sunk a little lower in his chair, arms folded, as they talked. Riley's bint seemed to be going on about something, and Spike was hardly paying any attention. Until...

What in the...Drusilla?!

He shot upright in his chair, hands slapping down on the table. "Bollocks," he hissed under his breath. "I'm in." He tried to say something else, tried to think of some snappy retort about Riley and his Barbie, but nothing could come to mind. "Whatever the hell it is you and Wanker over here are doing, I'm in."

He had a feeling he was going to hate himself even more for that.

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow listened, shocked, as Sam explained why they had come to the compound. She heard what Riley’s wife had said but she couldn't process it, the idea that Drusilla was back in the game was... well crap, but the idea that they had convinced a slayer to work with them just added to the ... Well crappiness.

Willow: “Of course I could be way off base. In fact, I hope I'm way off base. I'm thinking an army of vampire vampire slayers is of the holy jumping Jesus brand of bad. What do you think?”

"I think it's safe to say we can mark that down as the worst possible scenario, Ansara is stronger then a regular Vamp, an arm as strong would crush us"


Willow: "Do we even have any slayers in Nepal? I mean, if Drusilla's there shouldn't they have noticed by now? I mean she's kind of crazy which doesn't usually equal subtle."

"Nepal... nepal" It was ringing a bell, but she couldn't figure out why, she stood up from the table and walked over to the desk at the back of the room and took the laptop from a drawer, she brought it back to the table and began going through their files.

She stopped dead as realisation hit her. A few months ago she had been sent to Nepal to recruit a slayer, but when she got there she couldn't find the girl, she had dropped out of school, hadn't seen her family in weeks and had literally seemed to drop off the face of the planet.

"A while ago I was sent to recruit a slayer, but when I got there she was no where to be found, this happened a few times, Xander you were sent after a slayer that couldn't be found in Africa, right? We hadn't noticed it, to the extent that there could be a problem but these girls had disappeared without a trace."

She looked around at the group, a little disappointed at that they hadn't caught this pretty major problem.

"If Ansara was getting to these girls before we got a chance too, who knows what they have been able to make them think."

[palabravampiress]

[Scooby Meeting]

Xander breathed a sigh of relief.

Group: “So then we don’t have to climb Mount Everest?”

Hey, there’s nothing a little well-timed levity can’t solve, he thought.

Judging by the expressions on the faces of the others, though, his attempt at levity was not exactly in the realm of the well-timed.

:: Xander sighed and adopted a semi-serious demeanor as he leaned over the table. ::

Group: “Okay, so if Ansara and Fang Boy’s little mistress of the night are beating us to the welcome mat, then I’m thinking we need to get crackin’ with the research, people. Maybe put together a map – pin-point the locations of all of our recent slayer no-shows. Oh - and profiles. See what they all have in common – you know, aside from knowing where to put the pointy end of a stake.”

:: Here, Xander paused and looked at Gunn. ::

Tatum, Xander thought, and judging by Gunn's expression, Xander guessed he was thinking along the same lines.

:: Xander nodded his head in recognition. The more he got to know Gunn, the more he liked him. He was a good fighter -- and also just a normal human, and a guy, which were both unusual and welcome. Maybe instead of always thinking "Oz would get it," Xander could make a habit of thinking, "Gunn does get it." Talk about a much needed change of pace. ::

Gunn: “And I’m thinking you and I need to have ourselves a boys’ night out – see if we can’t get lucky and pick up a slayer. Maybe we could use her to our advantage – in a non-taking-advantage-of sort of way, of course.”

:: Xander was met with blank stares. The smoke demon attack had sort of put the Tatum Cohen project on hold. Not everyone – not even Willow, as far as he knew – was on the same page with that. ::

Looks like I got some ‘splaining to do.

Group: “Gunn had a run-in with a local slayer the other night. Funny thing was, she didn’t show up in any of our records. If she’s been turned, that could explain why the locator spell didn’t pick her up. We pick her up, maybe we find out something we didn’t find out from rooting around in the straight jacket that Drusilla calls a brain. But if this Tatum girl hasn’t been turned, then I’m thinking maybe we could get her to sign on as bait… but the voluntary, with-backup, safer kind of bait.”

:: Xander looked to Willow. ::

Willow: “You got any other ideas? Maybe some mega mojo I didn’t think of? Or maybe marching orders from the Buffster?”

[Slayergal]

::Sam took another look around the room. The mention of a possible slayer and Drusilla seemed to stir things up. Now everyone was talking about everything from how physo Drusilla was to talk about slayers they hadn't been able to find, especially one that was suppose to in Nepal. Wait was that last one a slayer in Nepal that was found? Sam took paticular interest in what Willow was saying. She looked at Willow.::

Willow: "Willow, You were in Nepal looking for a slayer? But she was never found? So this slayer could be working with this lot of vampires. Interesting. Hey is there a way to find out information on the slayer you were looking for in Nepal? Something that might tell us who she is and maybe a little bit more about her? Would the Watcher's Council have anything on her?"

::Sam was hoping Willow would say yes but she knew it was a slim to nothing shot. How would they if they couldn't even find her? More importantly though was learning about Drusilla. If Drusilla was as bad as everyone was saying she knew her and Riley was going to need their help in taking her out.::

Willow: "I also need what ever information you have on Drusilla? She is the leader so we need every piece of information you got on her. We've been givin orders to find her and take her out. But Riley and I know nothing about her. I figure you guys are our best bet to get this mission accomplished. You guys have the advantage. You all have fought her before. You know how she fights. Anything useful could be a plus."

[GATEGOD]

Faith listened as the others dragged on and on getting nowhere near the point of anything. She came to the meeting in the first place because they said she was needed. What exactly was she needed for she kept trying to fathom. 'Sitting down and looking pretty?' This meeting was going bust and her patience level was tanking out.

"So... what do you need me to do?" she asked in the middle of all who were talking. If they wanted her to do something she wanted to be told already. She didn't want to be dieing of boredom in the darkest room in the building.

They didn't seem to grasp the question or didn't care to listen so she asked again. "Do you need me for anything or can I go, some of us have things to do." She got out of her chair and waited for a response. Either they would get to the point of why she needed to be there, or she was going to leave.

[Mesektet Ra]

Spike listen to Riley's bint as she prattled on to Willow about Drusilla. It seemed no heard heard him. Bloody idiots. He rolled his eyes, vaguely listening to Sam as he folded his arms like a petulant child and slid down further in his chair.

When Sam was done talking, Spike's hand shot in the air. "I can...help," God, he was going to hate himself. But if it had to do with Dru, he was there, Cardboard and Barbie or not. "She, um...turned me." He gaze drifted down to the table, along with his hand. He shifted in his chair uncomfortably. "Spent a hundred and twenty years with 'er. Might've learned a thing or two."

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow sat in her chair listening as the group spoke. After Spike was done talking she stood up, placing both her hands on the table and looked around at everyone. Her eyes had fallen on Faith, who was bored and seemed to want to leave.

"Sit down" she said it quite stern, but the slayer was acting like a bit of a prat. They were in the middle of something huge and she wanted to leave cuz she was bored?

"Ok..." She spoke slowly and clearly, working things through as she thought it over. "... Well firstly we will need to send a team to help out Riley and Sam, Spike you've already volunteered" She looked at Sam. "And he's correct he would be our best source of info on Drusilla" She looked at Faith next, "I think you should go to, Slayers gone bad you have a little experience in that area?

"And, Buffy’s gonna kick my ass, but I think we should send Dawn as well. If they need someone to do research, I think you would be the greatest resource, the other two are not so much for the thinking," She smiled at Spike and Faith. "Xander too, I'm not sending Dawn out there without you?" And then she turned her attention back to Sam. "No we don't have anything on this slayer, The coven got her location, I was sent out there and then couldn't locate her so we really don't have much to go on, I try and pull up anything we do have though.”

"The other thing is, I have a second mission that needs to be dealt with. And I would greatly appreciate it if Gwen could take up this mission, the rest of you will be going with her, but I'll fill you in on that later..." She stopped for a moment to let all the info sink in.

"So any questions...?"

[palabravampiress]

:: Xander raised his hand. ::

Group: "Yeah. Do we have to climb Mount Everest?"

:: He waited for a reaction, but he was coming up crickets. ::

Xander thought Willow's plan was a good one. He was more than happy to do his part. But there was this one nagging little detail...

Group: (Seriously, this time) "What about Tatum Cohen? She could be an issue -- or possibly really good bait."

[Lyri]

::Gwen glanced at Willow sharply when the red head told Faith to sit back down. The wicth's voice was cold, tipped with anger, like shre really didn't have the energy to listen to anyone's drama when there was bigger things going on.::

Man, that girl must be aweosme when she's got a mad on.

::Gwen listened absently as Willow explained that Spike, Faith, Dawn and Xander would be accompanying the new comers, Riley and Sam apparently, to locate Drusilla and the Slayer that appeared to be working with her.

::Her attention picked up when Willow mentioned another mission, one that she apparently wanted her to deal with. And the fact that 'the rest of them', those not going to Nepal, Gwen figured, would be going with her.

::Gwen glanced at Gunn and Illyria, before settling on Amy. She smiled.::

Does this mean I get to tell Little Miss Magic what to do?

::Her attention focused again on the fact that she would be heading up her own mission and she slowly raised her hand, ignoring Xander who was asking about Everest and someone called Tatum Cohen::

Willow: "Uh, yeah, I have a question. Probably more than one, in fact. What is this mission? What has it got to do with me? And why the hell am I suddenly in charge?"

[GATEGOD]

"Ok..." She spoke slowly and clearly, working things through as she thought it over. "... Well firstly we will need to send a team to help out Riley and Sam, Spike you've already volunteered" She looked at Sam. "And he's correct he would be our best source of info on Drusilla" She looked at Faith next, "I think you should go to, Slayers gone bad you have a little experience in that area?


Faith cracked a smile at Willow's torrid insinuation. She did have experience in that area, and that was a fact Willow always loved to bring up. She did not need to add it to the conversation and yet she did so anyway. Faith keeped her cool though and nodded her head. "Alright, now we're talking. Me and Blondie will hit Nepal." she was about to sit back down but Willow continued on.

"And, Buffy’s gonna kick my ass, but I think we should send Dawn as well. If they need someone to do research, I think you would be the greatest resource, the other two are not so much for the thinking," She smiled at Spike and Faith. "Xander too, I'm not sending Dawn out there without you?" And then she turned her attention back to Sam. "No we don't have anything on this slayer, The coven got her location, I was sent out there and then couldn't locate her so we really don't have much to go on, I try and pull up anything we do have though.”

Willow's remarks were ill placed and unwanted. Faith was not happy. The witch actually believed she had power over her. "No offense but Dawn and Xander.." She tried not to sound too mean but she did anyway. "Are we trying to hurt the mission??" she stared back from Dawn and Xander and focused on Willow "Why put them in unneeded danger. We need the big guns on this little op not the cap guns." she added as she looked back over at the two of them. They weren't going to need them, unless they needed a hostage, which they didn't. Buffy would have realized that, sadly she wasn't here.


Willow responded and Faith quickly shook her head. "Fine, fine, but if they get in our way..." she tried to continue but as she turned to look around the room she saw mo one was going to tell Willow she was wrong, 'why bother' she thought. Sighing she slowly gave in. The faces around her all looked cold and opposed. 'Why continue if they fail to listen' raced through her mind.

"When we leaving?"

[palabravampiress]

[Scooby Meeting]

:: Xander’s jaw twitched as Faith called him a “cap gun” and wondered aloud – in front of everyone – why he was included in the mission. ::

Insubordination! his inner G.I. Joe screamed.

Faith: “You wanna talk caps, Faith? Let’s talk.”

:: He glared at her. ::

Fear my awesome tongue lashing… lashing thing! For lo, like the Romans before me, I am a formidable cat-o’nine tails-bearing opponent – and the passion of Mel Gibson taught me the fine art of the regrettably verbal ass-handing I’m about to deliver unto you...

Faith: “Last I checked, mine was white all the way through. Your cap is looking a nice dark shade of gray.”

:: Xander swallowed his anger and did his best to remain calm, but he couldn’t help it if soldier boy and hyena boy may have made a little guest appearance in his tone or in the way he carried himself. ::

::Without hesitation, he locked his good eye with one of Faith’s. ::

Xander: “Last I checked, I outranked you and everybody else on this mission. I was beating the oogly booleys before some mega mojo went all Xena with your butt – and I kept doing it after you joined the oogley booglies. We’ve got thousands of slayers, now. You don’t like the pecking order? Get on board or get replaced.”

[Spirit_Of_Fred]

:: Amy pretty much sat through the whole conversation silently. Being that she'd missed so much with Drusilla and Ansara due to her not-being-here-yet and then the evil hand, her curiousity was a tad peaked. However, beyond that, she didn't see why she would have much to say. Sure, she outranked more than half the people here in the way of stength of power, but she outranked few of them in, well, rank. She had no questions about what Willow, or anyone else, was saying. It was pretty straightforward...except that last vague part about some sort of mission? For Gwen and "the rest"? ::

:: She'd do the mission, no problem. She was pretty much up for anything, and confident she could handle it, as always since she got here. ...But she did have two very large bones to pick. One was being called "the rest". Willow barely knew, say, Gunn, being that he was from Team L.A., and it would make sense that he'd be part of "the rest" to her. She, however, had been quite involved in Willow's life, from their "friend" years in high school, to the not-so-pleasant encounter the year that Sunnydale got destroyed. In no way was she just part of "the rest". ::

:: Bone two came from the fact that the only name that Willow did mention in reference to this mission...was Gwen's. Amy was far from thrilled to be involved in another scenario of any sort with Gwen. That was just the road to more verbal banter, and possibly a big magic vs. electricity showdown. Hm...well, the showdown didn't sound terrible. Kicking Gwen's ass again, and showing her she could, would be just fine with her. But again, just the idea of being on the mission with her only hindered her enthusiasm. Still, after seeing the way Willow shot down Faith, who was probably more in with Willow than she was, she wasn't the least bit tempted to say a word. ::

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow's remarks were ill placed and unwanted. Faith was not happy. The witch actually believed she had power over her. "No offense but Dawn and Xander.." She tried not to sound too mean but she did anyway. "Are we trying to hurt the mission??" she stared back from Dawn and Xander and focused on Willow "Why put them in unneeded danger. We need the big guns on this little op not the cap guns." she added as she looked back over at the two of them. They weren't going to need them, unless they needed a hostage, which they didn't. Buffy would have realized that, sadly she wasn't here.

Willow stared at Faith, anger was bubbling below the surface, she knew Faith wouldn't jump at the opportunity to take orders from her, but still her and Xander were the main authority left in the camp. "Well are big guns are out at the moment..." She was being petty, she was referring to Buffy and Angel and knew it would annoy Faith, which is why she said it. And she only half regretted it.

"Faith when you get there are you going to do the nesecery research to find out all you can about our missing girl, or jump right on the patrolling bandwagon? Cuz if you don't mind sitting there for a few hours doing research, then I'll gladly keep Xander and Dawn here. If I’m not mistaken did I not here Xander saved your ass last night?

She took a moment, and then calmed down a bit. "We work better as a team, always have, always will." She looked around the group. "It's kinda like our thing."

Willow responded and Faith quickly shook her head. "Fine, fine, but if they get in our way..." she tried to continue but as she turned to look around the room she saw mo one was going to tell Willow she was wrong, 'why bother' she thought. Sighing she slowly gave in. The faces around her all looked cold and opposed. 'Why continue if they fail to listen' raced through her mind.

"When we leaving?"

ASAP?, why was she letting Faith get to her so much? "You guys will leave as soon as your ready, theres a few thing to go over first though."

Xander: “Last I checked, I outranked you and everybody else on this mission. I was beating the oogly booleys before some mega mojo went all Xena with your butt – and I kept doing it after you joined the oogley booglies. We’ve got thousands of slayers, now. You don’t like the pecking order? Get on board or get replaced.”

Willow smiled at Xander, as a feeling of pride grew within her, she loved that he had no problem saying that to Faith even though Faith could practically rip him apart at any moment.

Willow: "Uh, yeah, I have a question. Probably more than one, in fact. What is this mission? What has it got to do with me? And why the hell am I suddenly in charge?"

Willow looked at the young women, strong and confident. "I was watching you last night you had no problem leading a team, and you stayed cool and collected in the face of danger, and you'll be best for the job from what I've heard. Im asking you to do it though, not telling, so feel free to say no, but I need something. Something that won't be the easiest to get, and may involve some of you other skills Angel mentioned..." She trailed off, it wasn't something she wanted to discuss in front of the group as a whole just yet, it wasn't the most important issue, but it did need to be done. "We'll go over the mission after the others leave, we should get them on there way first."

She smiled at the women, and looked back at the others, hoping they wouldn't ask about it. She hadn't discussed this with anyone yet, and she really didn't want to at the moment. "About this Cohen girl, I'll try and find out whatever I can first before we do anything, when the teams get back we can look into retrieving her, but if she's already been compromised we can't jump right into letting her in, give me a while to look into it."

[GATEGOD]

"Faith when you get there are you going to do the nesecery research to find out all you can about our missing girl, or jump right on the patrolling bandwagon? Cuz if you don't mind sitting there for a few hours doing research, then I'll gladly keep Xander and Dawn here. If I’m not mistaken did I not here Xander saved your ass last night?

"Hahahaha." Faith burst out laughing. "Is that we he told you?" she continued to laugh and Willow carried on.

"We work better as a team, always have, always will." She looked around the group. "It's kinda like our thing."

Willow responded and Faith quickly shook her head. "Fine, fine, but if they get in our way..." she tried to continue but as she turned to look around the room she saw mo one was going to tell Willow she was wrong, 'why bother' she thought. Sighing she slowly gave in. The faces around her all looked cold and opposed. 'Why continue if they fail to listen' raced through her mind.

"When we leaving?"
"You guys will leave as soon as your ready, theres a few thing to go over first though."

Willow trailed off and began to inform the others of their mission when Xander decided to put in his one cent.

“Last I checked, I outranked you and everybody else on this mission. I was beating the oogly booleys before some mega mojo went all Xena with your butt – and I kept doing it after you joined the oogley booglies. We’ve got thousands of slayers, now. You don’t like the pecking order? Get on board or get replaced.”

"The day you outrank me is the day I end you. So lets all pray for that day, shall we?" Faith was happy for some reason, Xander was beginning to make her smile, and Willow did have a point Faith sure as hell didn't want to do research or baby sit B's little sis. So I guess she would allow them to come, as long as they didn't decide to run after a slayer themselves and get themselves killed. She thought for a second 'Well if Xander was to run after a...and ...' She smiled again. "Alright, you can come, but next time you need my help you better hope I'm feeling charitable."

[palabravampiress]

[Scooby Meeting]

:: Xander rolled his eyes. ::

Okay. So Faith's still a loose cannon. No surprise there.

:: Xander stood and walked toward the door. ::

Faith: "Laugh all you want Faith. Doesn't change a thing. You're on my team. I'm the watcher-man here. And it's not like you can even say "screw that" this time. Cuz hey! You already did."

:: He turned to face her. ::

Faith: "We leave as soon as the jet's prepped. Should take about an hour. I'm gonna go pack. Unless you're lookin' to advertise slayer stench to every vamp in Nepal, I suggest you do the same."

:: Xander looked at Willow. ::

Willow: "Will, anything you wanna say to my team before we head out?"

[GATEGOD]

Faith: "Laugh all you want Faith. Doesn't change a thing. You're on my team. I'm the watcher-man here. And it's not like you can even say "screw that" this time. Cuz hey! You already did."

:: He turned to face her. ::

Faith: "We leave as soon as the jet's prepped. Should take about an hour. I'm gonna go pack. Unless you're lookin' to advertise slayer stench to every vamp in Nepal, I suggest you do the same."

:: Xander looked at Willow. ::

Willow: "Will, anything you wanna say to my team before we head out?"

"Wait one second. Maybe you should tell Xander he isn't running the operation. Then you can tell us 'anything else before we head out.'"

She smiled at Xander, then back towards Willow.

"So? Is Xander the great noble watcher leading us to battle or what?" She joked awaiting Willow's response.

[Wanabee-slayer]

:: Dawn sat in her place quietly as Xander and Faith continued to exchange verbal assualt. Deciding it was best to leave herself out of any major disagreement, Dawn just crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair. As the argument continued to escalate Dawn just took deep breaths and sighed. ::

Geez, they think I'm a kid.

:: As the argument moved on to new levels Dawn decided to focus her attention on Willow. Deciding to find out anything that could help them on their mission while the 'children' continued to argue. ::

Willow: " Umm... seeing as those two are more interested in arguing right now,"

:: Dawn rolled her eyes as she felt the force of both Faith and Xander's harsh glares. ::

Willow: "What exactly is the mission? And what kind of research do you need?"

[wiccianslayer]

Riley who had been in his own world snapped out of it

he looked at faith

"well we were hoping you'd help us get in to there lair make plans that sort of thing research could help but probablyt best if we conciontrate on the action sorta thing"

[Lyri]

::Gwen narrowed her eyes at the red headed witch. She had never seen Willow and Angel having an in depth discussion, she didn't know they knew each other that well. Thoughts of what her fellow freak had spilled to Willow made Gwen feel nervous.

::Although, the woman obviously knew the whole story, if her refraining from continuing was any indication.::

But why does she wants THOSE skills? And why isn't she reproting me to the cops? I made a lotta money fencing stolen goods on the black market. I'll bet the cops in LA would just LOVE to talk to me.

::Gwen tried to put a positive spin on the situation. Willow thught she was capable of leading a team, which she had apparently proved last with her 'army' of Slayers.She wondered just what kind of mission would require the skills of a cat burgler, allbeit a high tech cat burgler.

::Gwen raised her chin and looked around at her 'team'. Her eyes flashed with something resembling amusment when she glanced at Amy and saw the look of shocked disapproval on the young witch's face. Gwen smiled.::

"Alright, Willow. I'm in. Whatever this mission is, I'll do it. But I think we might have somethings to discuss first."

[Mesektet Ra]

Spike listened. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Things kept coming, they were in and out of meetings, a lot of listening ensued.

He rolled his eyes when Faith balked at the mention of Dawn and Xander coming along on the mission. After a moment, though...Like I don't have enough to deal with. Don't need the Slayer staking my arse because Captain Sparrow and the Bit are in danger.

Spike raised his hand again. "Hate to say it, but I kinda agree with Leather here." He said, throwing a thumb in Faith's direction. He looked over at Xander, the desire to punch him and maybe protect him the same. He then looked to Dawn - he expected a huge homecoming when they arrived. They seemed to be in different places all the time - he barely had a minute to give the girl a proper hug.

God, what was he thinking? I should just stake m'self.

He folded his arms and settled back in his chair. "Jus' don't want the Bit in the line of fire, is all." He said, by way of explanation. He shrugged it off.

It's not like Dawn was completely incapable, and he knew that. He still felt affection for her, and that thought of Buffy's sis getting hurt tore him up more that he cared to think of.

And there was...this energy between Dawn and Xander that had his hackles all risen. Something wanted to make him rip out One-Eyed Alex's throat, and he wasn't sure what it was. And that's different from how I feel about 'im always?

[palabravampiress]

[Scooby Meeting]

Xander was... well, he was pissed off. Spike had latched onto Faith's argument. Both of them were using Dawn's safety like some sort of bargaining chip. Not that Dawn or anybody else was ever safe. "Protect Dawn" was sort of like "Support our Troops." It didn't really mean anything in practice, but it was a slogan people could get behind. Xander decided to use that appeal to his advantage.

Spike: “Does anybody see any pigs flying around up above Old Blightey? Cuz I think we might actually agree on something for once. Nobody wants Dawnie to get hurt.”

:: He looked to Willow for reassurance. Finding it just like always, he gave her a little smile and then turned and faced the group. ::

Picture them naked, Xander. Of course, that just made him feel inadequate by comparison. No wonder girls hate fashion ads… look at all these pretty two-eyed, well-muscled, super hero type folks.

Group: “Feel free to tune out, now, cuz I feel a speech coming on.”

:: He leaned against the doorframe and fixed a steady glare first on Faith and then on Spike. ::

Group: “In case you didn’t notice, we’re all in the line of fire, here, people. It’s a regular barbecue and the Scoobies are the main course. Willow and the Commandos Finn are right; we need to take the fight to Ansara. We’re sort of running out of compounds for her to trash.”

:: Xander rolled his eye. ::

Where’s Buffy when you need her? She’s all about the speechy goodness.

Group: “You wanna save the princess? That’s Mario’s mission; last time I checked, ours is to save the world from hell dimensions and uber vamps and trampy gods with bad hair. Dawn was in the line of fire back when our American camp went all kerplooey. She was in the line of fire again last night when the smoke demons attacked. She was in the line of fire when Miss God of the Bitch dimension… do I really need to go on?”

:: Xander sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. ::

Group: “Is anyone else noticing a pattern, here, or do I need to put up one of those “Slow Children at Play” signs? She’s in. We’re all in. It’s kinda like the mafia, but with a benefits package that includes the occasional resurrection.””

:: He shrugged. ::

I’m the half-blind one here, people! Why can’t you see what’s right in front of your face?

Spike: “The best way to protect Dawn – the best way to protect all of us – and also the world, if we get around to it – is to use her skills against the big bad. Me, I’m on that mission. You can go bop goombahs if you want to.”

:: Xander paused and shot a reassuring grin at Dawn. ::

Dawn: “Besides, she’s not a little girl anymore.”

:: Before the others could protest, Xander raised his hands palm forward in a “back off” kind of gesture. ::

Group: “Don’t get me wrong; protecting Dawnie is of the good. Always. Nobody wants a dead Dawn. But that’s what we’re gonna get if we’re so wrapped up in saving her that we forget to save the rest of the world. Anybody who can translate umm… Nepalianese or any other language we might come across, raise your hand.”

Of course, no one else could do that, so no one raised a hand.

:: Xander nodded. ::

Group: “My point exactly. A slayer who doesn’t play nice with others can – and will – be replaced. We’ve got about one thousand nine hundred ninety nine other takers. A vampire with a soul can be replaced with the older, broodier model. But an expert translator – researcher combo with some basic combat skills to boot?”

:: He smiled. ::

Group: “That’s a Mastercard commercial.”

:: Xander’s tummy rumbled again. ::

Group: “Dawn’s in. Any arguments? Follow me to the kitchen. I don’t know about you guys, but I could really use a donut.”

:: Xander didn’t wait for a response. Heading for the kitchen, he turned and left the room. No more of this public insubordination who-ha. If Miss Slayer Bitchtastico and soul boy wanted to debate tactics – with their fists, he assumed – he’d damn well do it on a full stomach. ::

[GATEGOD]

"See Willow... no leadership skills at all. I'll take charge of this one. As you said Xander is coming along to 'watch' Dawn nothing more. Me and Spike can handle the heavy lifting." Willow still didn't answer her, as if she was actually thinking about giving Xander control of the mission even though he was going only because Dawn was. Faith was almost speechless... almost.

"You're killing me here red. Make up your mind and lets get this mission started already. I'll break the news to Xander." Faith smiled and awaited Willow's answer. If she decided Xander was in charge she'd laugh. 'Xander trying to give Spike and herself orders. Ah, the hilariousness that is red.' The mission would fail for sure.

(30 minutes later)

Faith just finished cleaning herself up. Grabbing a shirt from her draw she thought about what Laura was up to. She definitely needed to see her before she left on the mission. She threw the shirt onto her bed and pulled the one she had on up over her head then tossed it on the floor. She opened a few more draws and found a pair of ripped up, low cut jeans. 'Nice' She pulled off her pants and tossed them next to the dirty shirt and pulled on the jeans she had in her hands.

While zipping them up she looked around for one of her rings. She sifted through her top draw and finally found one that she liked and placed it on next to the other one. She sighed in relief.Lifting it to her face she kissed it and looked up at the clock. She still had some time before they were scheduled to leave for the mission and she knew what she wanted to do before hand. Several, things one being to see Laura, the other...

She walked back over to the bed and threw on the shirt, then she walked over to a closet and pulled out her leather jacket. She slipped into it as she walked out of her room leaving her clothes lying on the floor, draws open, and bed unmade."Oh the good life" she smiled as she walked over to the elevator and headed a couple floors away.

She landed on Buffy's. Right where she wanted to be. Slowly walking down the hall, not to make herself look to conspicuous she twisted the door to Buffy's room and walked in. 'Damn B you should really lock up... Who knows what kind of people might just wander in.'

"Now where would I be if I was a...Ah!! there you are." she smiled as she grabbed the Scythe lying in Buffy's open weapons chest.

"I'm sure you won't mind B. It's too protect Dawn and all that noble crap." she laughed and walked out of the room back towards the elevator. 'Now to see Laura'

[Slayergal]

::Sam took in a deep breath. She was worried about Riley. He seemed to be off in his own little world. Not even remotely paying attention to anyone in the meeting. When he did speak the only person he seemed to acknowledge was Faith. Sam knew outside of the one night stand while Faith was in Buffy's body was all that came between the two of them. But the way he was acting was just too weird. She didn't want to seem the jealous type but still Riley just didn't seem to be able to be himself when Faith was around. Right now she'd give anything for Willow to give Faith another assignment other than working with them. Even as akward as working with Buffy was she'd almost prefer it over Faith right now. She had to remain calm. She if she showed an sign that she was a smidgen jealous Faith might play it up to make it worse. Right now though she needed Riley to come to and take charge and give out the orders. He was way better with giving orders than she was especially when he knew the scoobie gang better than her. She let out the deep breath.::

Spike: "First thing we need to locate Drusilla. We don't even know where to find her at the moment. No one has been able to track the vampires back to her lair yet. Anything you might be able to tell us about the kind of places she likes will help in trying find her lair. We gotta couple places in mind but something tells me she's not our average run of the mill vampire so I'm guessing we may be wrong."

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow nodded in agreement to Gwen, The girl was right they had a couple of things to discuss about the up coming mission, but she wanted to get the others settled first. She rolled her eyes as Spike gave his two cents on the topic.

She listened as Xander spoke, beaming with pride, and smiling at Dawn. After Xander left the room, she looked around at the other who were all sitting there in silence for a brief moment before Faith threw her bit in.

"Shut up! No ones in charge, ok. If you think that’s what most important about this mission maybe you should stay behind." Faith didn't look happy as she got up from her chair and left the room after that.

She nodded at Sam, "You guys can go through this on the plane, but you'll need to go get ready now."

She ushered Dawn, Spike, Riley and Sam out of the room, and closed the doors behind them, turning back to the others left at the table she smiled.

"Ok so I guess I should fill you in on your mission. I just want to restate that I'm only asking people to go on this mission, not forcing, as it's not totally legal..." She smiled again, coyly, "I'll be sending you to New York, There's a museum there, and I need you guys to steal something from it..."

She walked back over to her laptop and pulled a picture of the Building and of an Urn, "It's The Urn of Renovatio, or restoration. All I could find out about it's location is that it's on the top floor of the building, and with no roof access or windows on the upper floors, you'll have to start from the bottom and work your way up."

"What gonna make this job a little harder, is that you'll have to scope out the place yourself, The owner of the museum has been kinda stingy on leaving building schematics lying about. also there no official word on the security measures, What we do know is he has hired demon guards to double up on security, he's also hired people for magikal protection, as well as standard security measures. Now the reason we don't know anything about his defences, after he hired these people to do what they did, he had them killed, leaving only him to know exactly what protocols are in place."

"So if you all agree I'd like to send you on a tour of the museum, I'll arrive in a few days to go over any Magikal details if im needed, but Gwen is heading up this mission" She looked at Gwen, dead in the eyes, "So this one is all on you, I would like you to go to New York see what’s needed and then come up with a plan from there?"

[GATEGOD]

The infirmary was cold and bleak as Faith walked in, axe in hand. She looked through the mess of bodies lying on the tables and slowly passed each one by trying not to look for too long. She saw the pain and hurt some of the girls were feeling and she felt for them. Her arm was still sore and hard to maneuver after the ordeal they all went through the previous night. She spotted Laura a few beds down and enclosed the curtains around them when she got there.

"Hey" Taking a seat next to her on the bed she placed the axe down and looked at her. "How you feeling? Still a little sore?"

Laura looked up and a smile came across her face when Faith took a seat beside her. "Nah, nah. I'm five by five" she got out before she let out several coughs. "Doc's say I'll be right as rain in a few days."

"Haha, didn't think people recovered so fast after I was done with em." she joked looking into Laura's eyes as they both started to laugh.

"So what's with the axe? Going all axe murderer on us??" Laura asked looking down at it under Faith's hand.

Faith started to laugh again. "Not today, maybe tomorrow though, I haven't decided yet." Laura smiled and looked back down towards the axe. "So then what ya up to?"

"Willow's making me go off on some mission with Spike to retrieve some rogue slayer in Nepal. That would be fine, but no Dawn, Xander, Sa.. Let's just say too many people are going." She sighed, "Anyway, It shouldn't take long, I should be back before you're better, hopefully..."

"I look forward to hearing all about it." Laura said as Faith got back to her feet.

"Yea, I'll be sure not to leave a thing out." Faith lpulled around the curtains to reveal them to the rest of the world and smiled goodbye. "Catch ya when I get back, maybe we could try another one of my training sessions."

Laura smiled back and gave a two finger wave. "Yea, I'd like that, see ya." she got out and Faith turned around and walked through the Infirmary feeling better then she had all day. 'Now, if only more people were like Laura.' she thought to herself, getting back into the elevator.

[Mesektet Ra]

Spike looked up as Sam spoke. He opened his mouth to reply, but was quickly cut short by Faith and Willow, who ushered them out of the room quickly.

Spike stumbled out into the hallway and straightened out his jacket. He turned around and looked back at the doors as if they were the affronting object, not Willow. "Idiots," he murmured under his breath. Jus' trying to protect the Bit, is all. So sue me, Red.

He rolled his eyes as Faith marched off, leaving him standing in the hallway with Sam and Riley. He turned around slowly, eying Sam first, then Riley. He rolled his eyes again. "Sod this," he said, throwing his hands in the air. "We'll pow-wow later, yea? Not much in the mood at present."

He turned around and marched off down the opposite end of the hallway Faith went down. Well, that was a whole lot of fun. He needed to find Raven and beat the shit out of her. That always made him feel better.

[Lyri]

::Gwen nodded her head slowly as Willow spoke.::

So, Angel really was forth coming with all those details. Figures he wouldn't keep his mouth shut.

::She listened as Willow explained the details of her operation, the problems of scoping out the building herself.::

Shouldn't be too hard. I managed to steal that Axis thing. That was pretty high end security.

::She nodded her head again and looked at Willow.::

Willow: "Alright, I'll go to New York, canvas the place, and see what we've got. But one thing I know I'm gonna need is the buildings security measures. Cameras, lasers, electronic doors, it's all gonna need to be bypassed in some way for us to get in and out."

::Gwen looked at the other three people, Gunn, Illyria and Amy. She chewed on her lower lip.::

Willow: "You're telling me that this guy, the buildings owner, has some sort of demons on retainer. Like bouncers? A security team? If that's true, then, no offence to these guys, but I'm gonna need somebody more capable with the hand to hand."

::She took a deep breath and looked at the witch.::

"Where's Connor?"

[Angels baby101]

:: Illyria had stayed quiet through the whole thing, now that they were being filled in on what Willow wanted them to do she actually was excited she guessed thats what the humans called it.... Finally something to do other than fighting low life vampires and other tiny little bumps on her radar...::

"I'll Go."

:: she sat back once more and continued to listen, when she heard Gwen say that she needed someone more capable with hand to hand combat, Illyria eyes glared intensely at Gwen how dare she underestimate her power she was stronger then most of the people here.::

" You think that the Offspring of Angel has more power and Attributes then us? He is but a child and human all the same"

::Illyria shifted her eyes away from Gwen landing them on Willow instead, While Gwen was naive... she was also a little right.::

"The boy could be useful."

[palabravampiress]

[Kitchen]

:: Xander sat in the kitchen and chowed down on some dough-ey goodness. ::

Glazed or filled? Why must life be so hard? he wondered as he stared into the box. Two were left. Both looked appetizing. Only one would… What the hell? Why not both?

:: Xander put both donuts on a paper towel, grabbed some coffee, and went to work on his sugar high. ::

:: He expected either Faith or Spike to come after him and argue about Dawn, but no one did. They must have gotten the point, he figured. ::

The extra caffeinated and sugary breakfast wasn’t doing much to quell his temper. He got madder with every bite. Faith and Spike were all fight now; plan later. It was fun for them, this beating up the bad guys business. He was pretty convinced that they were both only in it so they had an excuse to kill stuff. Who were they to knock the efforts of people like he and Dawnie? He’d given his adolescence and his eye and not a few broken bones over the years – and not because he enjoyed it. He hated snot monsters and vampires and every other thing that went bump in the night. Well, maybe everything but Anya, who it seemed crossed his mind every other second these days. And she had been one of those night bumpy things, after all. Yeah – there had been a lot of bumping in the night with her, and not all of it was the bad kind. Nah, except for the Anya parts, he wasn’t so much a fan of the Scooby life. He only did it because night after night, he was given a ringside seat for the possible destruction of humankind. Who in his – or her – right mind could sit by just watch it happen? Well, Faith and Spike, apparently. Even with super powers, they weren’t always even on the right side, let alone in it to help. If they weren’t all super-powered, he bet they’d just sit around and watch.

:: Xander shrugged. ::

Okay, so I guess that technically, I’m the guy who sits and watches. Or maybe Giles. But it’s an active sort of watching – there’s lots of audience participation. Like Rocky Horror.

:: He bit off half the glazed donut and washed it down with several gulps of coffee. ::

Besides, wasn’t he the one who went all Witchfinder General on that demon’s ass when Faith was in trouble the other night? Not that she chose to see it that way. Sure, when she saved his butt, she expected – well, he wasn’t sure what she expected. Not a parade, exactly, but some sort of acknowledgement of the Faith-is-so-awesome variety. But when he did it? Somehow, he was in the way even when he helped. Maybe she just resented him for being you know, good.

:: Xander switched to the jelly-filled donut. ::

And hey! Wasn’t he also the one who got Dawnie out of there and all patched up?

He recalled his speech to Dawn before they fought the first. He’d told her that he got it. He knew what it was like to be all un-super and un-special while everyone else went around saying, “Look at m! Look at me! I’m all chosen and stuff.” Okay, so maybe he’d worded it a little better, but still. That was the gist of things.

:: More coffee. Xander needed more coffee. He drank the rest of it while he mulled things over. ::

What was with the Dawn thing, anyway? She was always saying she wasn’t a kid anymore. It was kind of annoying, how she’d say that one minute and then the next she’d stomp her feet or roll her eyes or just emit teenage attitude like radiation. But then there were sometimes when he saw she was right – like when she just gave up the slayerness to Amanda no-questions-asked. Or when she actually listened to Buffy about anything. Or when – well, what had happened in the training room was a pretty clear indication that her adult… umm, drives and urges… were perfectly intact. And the monks hadn’t done so bad with her adult body, either. Apparently, they moonlit as key craftsman. Couldn’t just make any old key; oh no, it had to be all Dawn-shaped and pretty.[/i]

:: Xander polished off his meal and threw away the paper towel and the disposable cup. He went to his room, which was still all wrecked from the battle with the Anya demon. He stopped and stared. ::

Remember the mission, man. The mission is what matters. Go on – be mission guy.

:: Xander only hesitated for a moment before he shoved off from the wall and entered the room. He packed light: just his clothes, a stake, an axe, and his laptop. His passport, the necessary power cords and his cell phone also put in an appearance. ::

:: He was ready and waiting on the jet before anyone else showed up. He used the extra time to call their contacts in Nepal and make arrangements for when they landed. They’d need an off-the-radar sort of place to stay. Fortunately, the newly formed watcher’s council still had connections. Xander, as usual, was the unsung hero who made with the practical arrangements that no one else cared about.

Fixing windows? Crafting a quality weapons chest? Making sure everyone’s got beds? All courtesy of the Xan-man. ::

:: Briefly, he considered a daytime landing just so that Spike would have to smolder under a blanket for a while. He also considered conveniently forgetting to secure a bed for Faith. But as usual, it was the mission that mattered. He was sure he’d find some perfectly natural and accidental way of pissing them off, anyway. ::

:: Phase I – the planning the whole getting-there thing phase – accomplished, Xander took the comfiest seat on the plane and waited for the others to show up. They could discuss – or argue about – strategy on the flight. ::

[Spirit_Of_Fred]

:: One thing Amy didn't quite get was why no one in this room seemed hesitant to steal something. They were all about the good. You do one little bad thing and you should be riddled with guilt; you do a worse thing, and you add the flogging and punishment. And yet, stealing seemed to be on the okay list. Maybe it just had to be for the right reasons. And speaking of which, she even more so didn't understand why no one was questioning what it was Willow needed that had to be stolen. There was the obvious possibility that they didn't want to piss her off after all of the pissing-people-off that had already occured, as well as Willow's response to it. But she still wondered if they were even thinking about that, though they didn't say it. ::

:: Their biggest issue seemed to be the fact that an ex-god, Electro-Freak, a smooth street fighter, and a very powerful witch couldn't accomplish this mission without Connor on their side. Gunn, she thought, might be especially insulted, since the hand-to-hand seemed like his thing. She had nothing against Connor joining the mission, but it baffled her why Gwen, or even Illyria, thought he was necessary. But since she had no reason to mind his coming, she had no interest in protesting it. ::

:: Another thought was etching its way into her mind. Clearly, based on this meeting and the other day's Gwen-encounter, Gwen had some sort of penchant and skill for thievery. She seemed quite in her niche with the whole ordeal, taking charge quite quickly and easily. If she didn't dislike Gwen so much, she might ask her what was up with that...but she did. Maybe she'd ask someone else later. Willow knew about it, so one of the others might too. ::

Group: "I'll go too".

:: She added this just to make it clear. She'd never stolen anything before, or at least nothing nearly so high-scale, and she was still annoyed that Gwen would be heading up the whole event...but she'd go none the less. If she wanted to be part of the gang, she supposed she had to work her way up. ::

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow was a little taken aback by Gwen’s request to take Connor, the kid hadn't been in action since LA, as he'd opted to stay behind.

"He stayed behind in LA, he had return to his family, if you feel that you need him, you could swing by LA and pick up him up. OK well if everyone is in then we can get going, you guys go get ready, I'll contact Connor..."

She nodded at the group, closed the laptop and left the room, before anyone could ask questions on why she needed the Urn, she would tell them as soon as the group was back together, but she just had to do a little more research and just confirm everything could be done.

She made her way back to Giles library, which was still a mess from the night before and picked up the phone to call Connor in LA.

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow sat in her bed room, the silence that had fell on the camp the last few days was deafening, since they had sent out the teams to Nepal and New York, the camp had emptied. There was a small group of Slayers and Andrew, who had stayed to help train them.

She stood up from her bed and left the room, she made her way to the kitchen. Pushing threw the door she found herself in the company of Andrew and one of the New Slayers, Satsu. She was a young slayer, 18 years old, Willow had gone to Japan herself to recruit the girl and found her already semi aware of her calling, she had been going out and slaying vamps without knowing really what she was, but the slayer dreams had opened a whole new world to her and she hadn't waited to jump right in.

"Ladies..." She smiled at Andrew, "What you guys up to? We should be ready to go soon" While the majority of the gang was away they were going to make their move up to their new main base of operations. They had acquired a huge castle like building on Scotland, with more then enough room to house an army and train them.

But before they got a chance to answer, the Door to the kitchen swung open again and in walked Buffy.

[Keanoite]

[Outside Compound House]

::Buffy stood on the grounds of the training camp for the first time in what felt like forever.::

Home Sweet kinda Home

::She crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the helicopter pull out once more. It really is the only way to travel she thought with the closest thing to a smile to grace her face in months. That little victory was short lived however, as she turned her back and headed towards their latest HQ. The whole musical homes thing was really getting old. As a kid she had always dreamed of being rich and famous and having a home EVERYWHERE.::

Well it was kinda true, I mean I am famous (technically) and I do have some cash (in theory) and I do have more than one place to hang my hat (expect they keep getting attacked or blown up or you know swallowed into the mouth of Hell). Shut up brain! Who asked you anyway!! Her now almost semi-permanent scowl settled back into position as she trudged her way up to the house::

:: She remembered her Mom warning her about scowling too much as a child. All that sulking will only give you wrinkles honey. She could still recall how she had ran to the mirror to check for those early onset crows feet…at 5! It made her smile to think of her Mom. Hey Two smiles in one day! Somebody needs to tell the guys at Guinness about this! Has to be a record! She couldn’t help but check for those wrinkles again as she came upon the front door. One palm pressed to the door handle and the other hand continuing in its hunt for the dreaded wrinkles Buffy let herself into the house::

Mmm, not locked? Strange.

:: Buffy stepped in a looked around. Nothing seems apocolyptic yet. Score 1 for the Slayer. She continued to make her way deeper into the building she suddenly became aware of some seriously funky smell. It was only after a couple of seconds that she realised it was herself. Niiice. Au de Buffy aint all its cracked up to be. No wonder Angel insisted I head back…Oh God! I totally replulsed him! Being all hey I’m Buffy wanta sniff! I’m like the Big Stink Monster from Hell! Ok me and bathing need to get reacquainted like stat!::

:: Finally she reached the corridor leading to the kitchen and she stopped dead in her tracks. There was blood stain on the wall beside the kitchen door. It was faint and obviously someone had tried to clean it up but she had seen a lot of those in her day, caused most if them and no amount of elbow grease was gonna hide it from her. Damn she thought and immediately after her next thought was Dawn…Oh God Dawnie. Buffy’s pace picked up the closer she got to the door, she could hear voices on the other side and prayed to whatever God was listening that her sister and the gang were ok. She barrelled through the door and was met with the shocked faces o the other side::

Willow: “ Will what the hell happened here? And where’s Dawn?”

[Black Eye Guy]

"Buffy!" She was a little surprised to see the slayer, she had left so suddenly with no instructions on when she would be back. And now she was gonna have to explain that she had sent the youngest summers to Nepal, with Faith and Spike as her best form of protection...

"...Well, em. We were attacked" She moved towards her, twiddling her thumbs, nervously, "A portal opened up in the basement and some kinda weird smoke demon got in, kinda kicked our ass - we're really gonna have to work on our protection, cuz the bad guys keep finding a way in, it's kinda getting annoying..."

She meant that, there was something odd with how the bad guys kept finding a way in and kicking their ass.

"...There was some loss, but we eventually won out. Then... Oh Riley’s here, or he was, with Sam. They came for our help, remember that mission to pick up a Slayer in Nepal but she wasn't there and she'd just disappeared. Well Riley and Sam had some Intel that Drusilla was in Nepal, and it was possible that she was working with them.

We thought it would be best to get on this as soon as possible, so we sent a team with Spike, Faith, Xander, 3 new slayers and, em... Dawn.. to check it out."

Quickly she tried to cover over the fact that she had sent Dawn right into the face of Danger.

"Then we sent Gwen and the others to New York to look into something for me. So we were thinking this would be the best time to make the move up to the other camp? And wheres Angel?

[Keanoite]

And wheres Angel?

Wheres Angel? Screw Angel!! Where the hell was Dawn!!

:: Buffy began to pace up and down the kitchen floor. Pretty much everyone in the room had taken a couple a steps back from her, unsure of how she would react::

I'm gona kill 'em!!

::Turns out stepping back was the smart move::

The more distance between me and people right now the better! One murdering cold blooded jelly donought Slayer in the line was enough. Faith had that role down, Buffy so did not need to fight her on that one.

:: Willow continued to wring her hands together, which strangely annoyed Buffy at this place in time. It was such a tell tell sign of Will nervousity that Buffy should be used to it but right now all she could think about was that Dawn was in NE-friggin-PAL, doing God knows what with SPIKE and FAITH of all people (technically) as protection and here was Willow back at camp twiddling her thumbs!::

Willow:'' What do you mean she is in Nepal? I mean how long have they been gone? Have you been in contact! How could you let her go Will! I trusted you!' and hello DRUSILLA''

::The nervousness seemed to drain out of Willow and was replaced by indignation. Buffy could see her getting ready to defend herself but cut her off again as she continud to pace, only now her arms had become incorporated into her actions. She felt like the emotions within her were too huge for her body to hold and were trying to break free, hence the interprative dance like gestures::

Willow:'' And smoke monsters? What? we don't have enough of our own demons so were stealing the ones from LOST too! Why the hell am I only hearing about this now! You could have gotten in contact with me if you need to and OH MY GOD DID YOU NEED TOO!!!"

[Black Eye Guy]

The nervousness left Willow, and was replaced by a little rage. Buffy was the one who had left the camp in the dead of night, only leaveing a message to say they were going. She rolled her eyes, as Buffy cut her off before she could speak, continueing her rant.

"Seriously? Buff, you left the base camp on some secret mission with Angel. A camp full of very well equipped people to defend it. As soon as the demons attacked our first thoughts weren't to call your cell to see if you could drop by and help, it was more 'attack'.

And Dawn can handle herself, oure only other option was to send Faith and Spike alone, can those two even read? What if they need to do research, sending Dawn was the smartest option, and Xander is with her. It's not like she will be in fights!"

Even as she said it she knew it wasn't true, If there was gonna be a fight, Dawn was not one to sit back and look in her books while the others raged into battle. But Willow was also certain she was safe.

"And yes, Xander checked in when they landed. And I can check in with Dawn at any time I want, I can literally talk into her head if I need to! If you really want to I can, pop you there with a wave of my hand. But why not let her try and do this by herself, beside we could use you here.

Sources up in Scotland have indicated that the place we're planning to move to is being watched by some demons, and I don't think their going to roll out the welcome wagon when we got there, so im guessing we're gonna have a little bit of trouble?"

[The Chosen]

:: Satsu sat and listened, paying attention to near every detail.

She got bored by the middle of Buffy and Willow's conversation and plucked out a small tube of lip gloss. She studied the label. ::

Mmm...cinnamon.

[FaithyFivebyFive]

:: Kennedy was pacing up and down her room, biting her nails, looking at them, biting them again... ::

"That's it. I've had enough of this".

Kennedy had heard that a lot was going on, not that she could over-hear any of the conversations going on in the building, she could just hear commotion, hear the urgency and other such emotions in the tones of all the voices. She wanted apart of this. She knew there was something big going on.

Kennedy walked down the long hallway until she came close to a room which withheld most of the talking. She burst through.

[Keanoite]

::Buffy could feel her blood to continue to boil. How wrong would it be to Slayer Slap my best friend into next week? She still could not believe Will had let Dawn go like that. Buffy knew Dawn could hold her own, heck she had scene it with her own eyes but this was Drusilla we are talking about. Eight years on and Buffy still hadn't had the divine pleasure of dusting the Luney Tune! Oh but I will and soon::

"Seriously? Buff, you left the base camp on some secret mission with Angel. A camp full of very well equipped people to defend it. As soon as the demons attacked our first thoughts weren't to call your cell to see if you could drop by and help, it was more 'attack'

Willow:' If my leaving wasn't absolutely necessary I never would have went. I know Dawn was surrouned by well abled bodygaurds...HERE! buts she's not here anymore is she? She is f&*$*%£ TIBET!! with the Wack Job of the last TWO centuries floating around liable to attack at any moment! You should have run it past me first Will and you know it. They have been gone what? a couple of days now? you had time to give me the whats what, instead you stayed here twiddling your thumbs and drinking tea with Andrew! Am I the only one seeing the fly in that plan?"

:: Buffy looked Willow in the eye as she said all this. She needed her to know that she meant what she said and that the fire in Buffy's eyes was real. So real that she could feel steam coming out her ears. Buffy looked at Willow to gage her reaction but her witchy friend was giving nothing away::

Willow:' I want you to check in with Dawn, I need confirmation that she is alright. That goes for everyone else on mission too. I want an update on their whereabouts and the current status of their mission. I need to know all our people are still of the good.'

::All the pacing was starting to make Buffy dizzy, not eating in days really didin't help the situation. Finally she leaned up against the kitchen counter, her arms crossed over her chest like a protctive shield and her right leg hooked over her left at the ankle, again she turned to Willow::

Willow: 'Aswell as that I need to be debriefed on what exactly happened here. and I mean EXACTLY what happened not the cliff notes version. I'm talking rough work, footnotes, full bodied text the whole shebang. Got it? Then we can deal with all the Scottish stuff...you said Scotland right?''


:: At that instant something, or rather someone crashed to the door. Kennedy, great! I love how my day just keeps getting better and maybe next I'll get a surprise labotomy just for the fun! Buffy's patience were pretty much non-existant at this stage, she met Kennedy's gaze. It held as much contempt for Buffy as Buffy felt for her. Well that works out just fine then doesn't it. Buffy brushed past Kennedy on her way out of the room, when she go to the door she stopped and turned back to look at the group::

Group:' I'm gona go upstairs for a little while and freshen up. This distinctive Stink Monster odour I seem to be giving off needs to slayed in the worst possible way. When I come back down its all hands on deck'.

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow listened to Buffy’s rant, and that’s what it was at this point, She had left them, She had left Willow in charge, and Willow had made the right decision. But before Willow had gotten to throw back her side of the argument before the Slayer had left the room, brushing past Kennedy who had burst into the room moments, before.

She smiled at her, and looked back at the other two. "I'll handle debriefing her, I already had a brief of exactly what happened put together, But we are gonna have to get a move on soon. oh..."

Willow remembered that she had to contact Dawn, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the littlest summers...

Dawn, big sis wants me to check in on you, she's not to happy with your leaving, please tell me no ones dead?

[Keanoite]

::Buffy slowly ambled her way up to her bedroom. Was it always this far from the kitchen? Really it seems like an almost map worthy distance!. Her legs and arms were starting to do that wobbily thing, sort of like a spaggetti string dancing on top of a bowl of jello, which really isn't all that good when your trying to conquer Mt. Stair Case. Note to self, install elevator in our soon to be castle. Historical significance be damned!. The more she climbed the more exhausted she became and this is the reason she will blame for the Rocky tune popping into her head as she rounded the last stretch. Doodoo doooo doodoo doooo..... Oh thank God! the top!!. The Slayer mounted the last step and if she physically had had the energy she very well may have erupted into a celebratory Happy Dance...Next time kids...this little slayer is all danced out::

"One small step for a Slayer, one giant leap for Slayerkind''

::Buffy approached her door a little like a child would the living room on Christmas morning. There is running water on the other side! HOT running water may I add!!. She turned the knob on the door and stepped in. As she quickly glanced around the room everything seemed to be in place. Her bed was even still unmade. Hell! Lets go crazy and splurge! I think some new sheets are in order later. She kicked off her boots. Eww squelchy!. The 'squelch squelch' noise followed her into the bathroom as she turned the hot water on in the tub. The steam began to rise around her in the small room, almost like a blanket of heat an she couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips::

:: Buffy began to look around the bathroom in search of the lavendar bath oils Willow had given her, the bubble bath had already been thrown in the mix but she remembered Will telling her that lavendar was good for de-stressing and well I guess you could say Buffy was in need of that right now::

"Gotcha! thought ya could hide didn't ya! Not from me buddy!''

OH MY GOD! I'm talking to toiletries! I've officially lost it!

::Finally Buffy peeled off what she used to call clothes, now she just called it mulsh. Egads! thats revolting. Just as she was about to slide into the tub she remembered her ipod! This de-stress thing just ain't going to to work without Mr. Singy...WHAT?!?!...Mr.Pointy needed a friend!. After her quick dash into her room in the buff..The buff...hehehe. Buffy finally lowered herself into the tub. Sweet Bubbily Goodness this is Divine. If I didn't know better I would say I have died and gone to Heaven...uh..again. Who ever thought up this act of God is sooooo getting a fruit basket from me!...Who DID invent the bubble bath? Mmm And finally for the piste de resistance...Mr. Singy. Buffy checked to make sure she had picked the right song, Yes! Success and before she new it the hyponotising words and trancy beat were floating into her subconscious...The velocity of time turns her voice into sugar water... (http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=dJm1jaFCzxo&feature=related). Buffy was taken back to when she had actually seen Cibo Matto in The Bronze. A slight blush met her cheeks...'Danced with' is a pretty loose term, 'Mated with' might be a little closer. God that was a million years ago...literally. How innocent we were, sure as hell couldn't call us that now. And this thought brought Buffy back down to her earth with an almight 'thud!'.::

Heaven will have to wait...again

::Buffy turned Mr. Singy off and inspected her hands. Suitably pruny me thinks. After quickly washing her hair she grabbed on to both sides of the tub and hauled herself out. Cccold!!!Yikes!. Soon she found herself snuggling into the fluffiest towel known to man. As she moved around her room trying to get herself ready to face the troops her thoughts found there way back to their current situation. Well the vacation form my brain was nice while it lasted. Alot of her anger towards Will had disapated, not all of it, she was still mighty pissed but she was pretty sure she could put it aside once she knew all was ok with Dawnie and the gang. The sooner everyone was back in the same place the better. Angel...God I hope I did the right thing leaving him there. He had insisted and well someone had to collect the Scythe, kinda pivitol to this hootananee...oh that reminds me I better check it out, haven't seen it since I left. Once Buffy had buttoned up her shirt she moved in front of the mirror and pulled back her hair and added a little make-up, nothin too heavy...It takes too long to get off!. Then she moved to her bureau and pulled open the draw where she would find the...nothing! Oh *&%$...Where is it!!! I Left it right here!!! Buffy tore around her room like a mini tornado searching for the Scythe, it was gone...like gone gone. Suddenly Buffy was remembering Willow's nervous ramblings!!!::

...Well, em. We were attacked...There was some loss...

Losses! What losses!!

::Panic was beginning to well up in Buffy, ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod . This is all that went through Buffy's mind as she sprinted down the stairs to find Willow::

''Willow''

''WILLOW''

WILLOW!!!

[FaithyFivebyFive]

:: As Kennedy enters the room, she finds it's Willow, Buffy and a group of others, and things look intense between Willow and Buffy. ::

When are things not intense when Buffy is involved?

Kennedy's eyes meet with Buffy's... If looks could kill... Kennedy amazes herself at how one look can say a thousand different things. Before Kennedy could remark, Buffy pushes past her and leaves the room.

Kennedy: "Can't keep a good Slayer down!"

"I'll handle debriefing her, I already had a brief of exactly what happened put together, But we are gonna have to get a move on soon. oh..."

:: Kennedy smiles and nods to the group, in agreement. ::

Kennedy whispers: "Finally!"

Willow then looks as if she was about to say something to her, but then gazes into nothing in particular, but looks like she's concentrating on something. After a few moments, when Kennedy assumes she's finished,

"I'm going to be briefed? Look, lately I've -"

They were interupted by someone shouting Willow's name...

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow broke her conversation with Dawn, as she heard her name bellowing from what seemed like everywhere. She turned on her heals to face Buffy who looked a little unnerved.

She decided this was time to debrief her, she lead her to Giles's study pulled up the files on the latest attack, including surveillance of the event and a work up of the injured and killed.

[FaithyFivebyFive]

:: Kennedy sighs as she watches Willow and Buffy retreat. ::

"I guess she didn't mean she'll be briefing me."

[Keanoite]

Oh, You have GOT to be kidding me

:: Buffy sat in Giles's study with Willow doing her very best to absorb the information her friend was giving her but all that was running through her head was...Willow has lost her mind. It was that simple. How else could you explain Willow letting Dawn off to play Brad Pitt in Nepal? Wait, wasn't that movies set in Tibet? whatever, same diff, lets not forget leaving Buffy out of the loop all willy nilly? and letting Faith take the Scythe? that was the real shocker. Willow trusted Faith about as much as... as...ANDREW could throw her! and yet she just let Little Miss likes to stab off with the big honking axe all juiced up with super slayer mojo. Sane people just don't do that!::

This is bad, no scratch that this is SUNNYDALE BAD. Which, really, is catastrophic...God forbid my life be boring for once

:: Buffy had gotten up and was doing the pacing thing again, I'm gona wear a path in the floor if I keep this up she thought idlily. Buffy needed that Scythe and she needed it now. Something about this whole mission seemed off to Buffy, it had her spidey sense tingling all over the place. Damn it! We're screwed! That anger that Buffy had tried so hard to quell earlier was working its way back on up. What I would give for something to pummel right now. Where's a damn demon when ya need one?. With all the pacing and the inner monologueyness Buffy hadn't noticed that Willow had finished her debriefing. The Slayer turned to who she would now secretly call Willow the Wacko and stood in front of her, arms taking their customary position on her hips::

Willow:'' Let me get this straight, You let Faith run off to Nepal with the Scythe. Oh and lets not forget leaving Dawn tag along for the ride! cuz I mean all the kids are road tripping it to Nepal these days! I hear it's those crazy monks! Man do they throw a good toga party!...as well as THAT the base was attacked. Not only did we lose Slayers but our files on the newly Chosen have been swiped by one of the biggest Nut Jobs in the history of nut jobs and we have no idea what they plan to do with them. Thats not all folks!, the entire team has been all Yoko Ono'ed and are split all over the planet!! and when we finally do get everyone back on the same playing field we will have a demon welcoming party? Is there anything I'm missing here?''

:: Buffy looked at Willow half hoping for an answer so she could freak out some more and half hoping for silence cuz she really couldn't handle something else going wrong. Willow looked indignant and ashamed at the same time... how is that even possible?::

Willow:'' Ok this is what is gona happen, I need you to get in touch with both missions and see if they are any closer to wrapping up, we need everyone back here ASAP, especially Faith and the Scythe. I cannot stress that enough. We're gonna need to get ourselves together and ready to make our way up to Bonny Scotland, the faster and easier the move the better.''

:: Buffy turned and began to head out the door, already Willow was doing the Brain Talky thing with the other groups::

Now if I was something that needed a good pummeling where would I be?

:: Just as Buffy was stepping out of Giles's office Kennedy was coming out of the kitchen::

Perfect! my luck must be changing

Kennedy:''Hey, Kennedy, feel up to sparring?

[palabravampiress]

[Sewer]

The Commando team was taking a while to report. Maybe they’d been held up. Maybe they were out of range.

Sewers aren’t exactly ideal for making with the talky talky. Silly telecommunications companies putting their cell phone towers all above ground. No forethought, those guys. Sewers, those are the wave of the future. Well, those or subways. Underground communication is essential to both modes of travel.

:: Xander twiddled his thumbs. He was bored. ::

:: So he went over to the manhole to catch a signal and made another cell phone call to pass the time. ::

Buffy was probably all busy with Angel… doing God only knows what, but I really hope it isn’t anything that might lead to peticide and creepy sketching. She probably wouldn’t answer her phone, but she deserved an update. Her vampire… the other one… was missing. She might want in on that kind of intel.

:: Xander dialed her number. The phone rang. That was new. Usually, Buffy’s phone was all out-of-batteries and in straight-to-voicemail mode. ::

Hey! I might actually get to talk to my friend. For the first time in, like, weeks. Look at us, being all friendly and phone-talky.

Of course, he wished he’d have better news to tell her.

On second thought, silence is good. Let’s keep playing phone tag. You can be it.

[Keanoite]

:: Buffy lay on the training room mat still a little out of breath. Kennedy had gone off to the infirmary, her wrist had gotten a little broken during their session. Buffy had offered to go with her but Kennedy had balked at the idea. Guess she's not as tough as she thinks Buffy thought smugly. Out of nowhere her phone began to sing it's merry little tune... Macho Macho Maan.... Ugh! next thing they should invent for phones is itty bitty little legs, that way it can come to you instead of the other way around. Buffy got up and grabbed her phone and looked at the caller I.D. Xander. 'Bout time::

Xander: " Hello, Buffy speaking, one extremely pissed off Slayer at your service''.

:: Buffy hopped up on the horse as Xander graced her with pleasentries. She was in the middle of executing a killer somersault when he asked her how everything was. Wrong move Xand::


Xander:'' Honestly? things suck! although wailing on Kennedy did make me feel better!..Seriously Xand whats the what? Willow is all wacko! Faith's off with the Scythe, I mean we know how much she likes to stick them in people!! it will never end well! and Dawn is gone too, She's ok right?!''

:: At the mention of Dawn Xander cut in and gave Buffy the low down on her sister, a very hyper, very rambly low down but a low down non the less. However, Buffy was knee deep in her rant, she really had passed the point of no return so they both continued with what they were saying::

Xander:''...and then all the other crap with the files and Scottish Castles!! Please tell me you call with news that is of the happy kind?''

:: Buffy hopped off the horse as Xander continued to fill her in. Eww sewers...poor guy. At least I got to the hot water in the nick of time...although certain sewer 'water' can be hot...yikes! best not go there. As she rambled around the room Buffy spotted a sword in the far left hand corner Oooh...shiny!. Buffy grasped the sword and began to run through some moves Giles had taught her::

Xander:''Believe me I feel your pain, very recently I happened to smell like a third world sewer, so I get it...and did you say Yeti as in Yeti? thats so cool! and Dawn isn't broken? she's physically fine? I can breathe a little easier now...so seriously where do you stand mission wise 007?''

:: God there is something so good about having a sword in your hand that just makes you feel like a Slayer!. Buffy continued to walk through the moves, the blade glided through the air as her arm came down in a sweeping motion. Xander's tone seemed to have gotten a little more somber. That's never good. Buffy was bringing the sword up in from her left hip diagonally, arcing it over her right shoulder just when Xander told her he lost Spike::

HE WHAT!!

:: The sword went flying through the air like an arrow sprang forth and was last scene embedded in the training room wall::

Xander: 'What do you mean lost Spike? You can't lose Spike! It's like proven fact! He's unlosable!!''.

:: Buffy fell back into her new favourite past-time...pacing. For the first time in her life she was speechless. How do you lose Spike! of all people! Xander's voice brought her back in, he wanted to know if she was still there. Oh I'm here alright! Here plotting your murder!::

Xander:' Yes I'm here but what your saying is that not only is Spike missing but DRUSILLA is suspected of vampknaping him!!! You have no idea how much I'm gona hurt you when you get back!! I'm talking DEAD dead here, and there will be no Buffy type resurrection either!!!

:: Buffy was just gettin' goin' when the line went dead. Damn it! Just when I thought it couldn't suck anymore...I learn of suckyness on WHOLE new levels! I need to talk to Willow, see if there's anything we can do.::

Man, I really Really REALLY hate sewer talks!

[FaithyFivebyFive]

Kennedy sits on the edge of her 'bed', she doesn't really want to be there. Though, her wrist hurts pretty bad. She holds it with the 'uninjured hand. As annoyed as she is, she's smirking recalling the 'sparring session'.

"Next time 'Chosen one'!"

[Keanoite]

:: Buffy had searched for Willow all over the compound but hadn't been able to find her. Sometimes she liked to go off on her own when she did the brain talky thing, it allowed her to centre herself more and plus Will never much liked being around Buffy after a slayer rant. Can't really blame ya Will but you soo needed it. So with little else to do Buffy decided to head up to the infirmary to check on Kennedy::

It will probaly piss her off even more which is always fun



:: When Buffy hit the sick bay she found Kennedy sitting on a cot sulking. [i] Aw, poor baby::

Kennedy:' So how's the wrist? Is it really broken? I thougt you were tougher than that'

:: Buffy knew she shouldn't take so much enjoyment out of pushing this girls buttons but so few things in her life gave her a happy and well she would make the most out of the things that do! This is what I get for spending so much time with Spike...it makes you all sadistic!. Spike. Thoughts of him had to be pushed aside right now, not being able to help was killing her but dwelling on it would drive her crazy so she was throwing all her attentions on the mission. And right now that meant being the proverbial thorn in Kenndey's side::

::Kennedy's face went puse after Buffy asked her about her wrist. Bingo Buffy smirked, this is almost too easy. However, Buffy's victory was short lived when she saw a sole tear stain mark its way down Kennedy's cheek. oh Man I so cannot handle an emotional Slayer moment right now. Buffy moved over to the bed awkwardly. What do I do?!?! Panic stations was beginning to rise in the Slayer. She raised her hand and patted Kennedy on the shoulder::

Kennedy:'uh..there there'

I am so out of my league here

:: As Buffy continued her sporadic 'there there' tap on Kennedy's shoulder, the younger slayer let Buffy in on what was bothering her. ALL OF IT!! Oh God, what have I started here!

HELP!!!

[FaithyFivebyFive]

"So how's the wrist? Is it really broken? I thought you were tougher than that!"

:: Kennedy glared at Buffy, she wasn't sure if it was because of the comment she threw at her, or if it was just apart of the emotions threatening to arise inside of her. Then much to her own dismay, she couldn't hold back anymore. A tear escaped and rolled down her cheek. Though on a upside, this seemed to make Buffy feel uncomfortable... ::

"There there" Buffy murmurs, patting Kennedy on the back.

:: Kennedy turned and looked at Buffy, wondering whether she should spill or not... ::

Buffy: "I miss Willow. I've barely been able to speak to her lately. I'm not even sure why I miss her, we haven't been close for ages! I think I just miss human contact all together..."

:: Buffy looks away for a second, looking even more uncomfortable. Kennedy snickers for a second. ::

Buffy: "No, don't worry, I'm not going to hit on you or anything. You're not my type."

:: Buffy nods. ::

Buffy: "Anyway, and usually when I'm having so many girly emotions getting me down I do other things to get my mind off of it, well lately I've been sulking in my room more than anything, and it gets so lonely up there... Brooding about not being in the 'action' doesn't exactly make anything better, either. You know -"

:: Kennedy wipes the tears from her face and sniffs. ::

Buffy: "Am I boring you, Chosen one?"

[Keanoite]

"I miss Willow. I've barely been able to speak to her lately. I'm not even sure why I miss her, we haven't been close for ages!

:: Buffy set on the edge of the bed still mindlessly tapping Kennedy's shoulder. She awed at how much she was not in control of this situation. Comforting emotional drama-teens in distress was not her area of expertise. Dawn immediately jumped into her mind::

Get Out...Get Out...Get Oouuuutttt!!!!

:: Ok so maybe 'not the area of my expertise' was an understatement. But despite her own better judgement Buffy felt bad for the girl. I must be getting soft in my old age. Buffy knew what it was like to miss someone you cared about, heck Buffy knew what it was like to miss alot of someone's that you care about. It was hard, scratch that it was hell::

I think I just miss human contact all together..."

:: Buffy's hand froze mid-tap. Oh Dear God. Buffy was pretty sure her eyes had almost bulged right out of her sockets. With the discreation of an elephant in an antique store Buffy removed her hand from Kennedy's shoulder and moved up one spot on the bed. BED...Damn it!..Ok I need to move away...faaaar away from any horizontal like surfaces. While Buffy was caught up in her little crisis Kennedy sat back and enjoyed the show::

"No, don't worry, I'm not going to hit on you or anything. You're not my type

::Phew. Buffy let out a relieved sigh she didn't even know she was holding. Once Buffy had herself together again shame began to settle in. Nicely played Summers...very smooth. Buffy looked up to find Kennedy smirking at her like the cat that had got the cream. Ugh! The little bi-... wait what does she mean not her type!?!::

:: Buffy listened as Kennedy continued to share her feelings with her. Look's like I'm not just Dr. Laura for the deceased. If this slaying gig ever ends I should look into it...then again maybe not. Despite how Buffy felt about Kennedy she understood how the girl felt...crappy with a side of pissed off. Lost in her reverie Buffy was brought back by Kennedy asking if she was boring her. Well...hey I'm joking.!!::

Kennedy:' Believe it or not I understand. I know we haven't exactly hit it off Kennedy but I know what it feels like to be lost and feel alone a-and to need the person you love and not be able to have them. It hurts.'

Focus Buffy...this isn't your deal here.


::Buffy shook her head trying to clear it of all the cobwebs that were shdowing her mind. She took a deep breath to centre herself back to the task at hand. Nip Kennedy's breakdown in the bud and then you can go back to ignoring your own in blissfull delusion again::

Kennedy:' How bout I talk to Will? Maybe she is feeling lonely too? I could ask her if she wanted a roomie? and if she isn't cool with that well I'll see about inding you someone else to bunk with?'

:: Kennedy seemed to visibly brighten at this. Buffy couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. It is so much more enjoyable to be nice to people...pity nice doesn't stop apocolypses...apocoli? Buffy patted Kennedy on the knee and rose from the bed::

Kennedy:' Come on we have to get this place together for the move and I don't think you've met Satsu yet have you?'

::Buffy tossed her hair over her shoulder as she looked back at Kennedy. The younger slayer got up and followed Buffy out the door::

[FaithyFivebyFive]

Come on we have to get this place together for the move and I don't think you've met Satsu yet have you?

:: Kennedy shrugs ::

"Satsu? No, I haven't. Well you know, there's so many new faces around here, I could've..."

:: Before they left the room, Kennedy grabbed Buffy by the shoulder. Not forcefully, ofcourse. ::

Buffy: "Thanks, for listening. You're not as... Never mind. And thanks, for the... You know... The Willow thing. I hope it helps, both of us. Has she said anything about me, lately?"

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow looked at her friend straight in the eyes as she talked at her. She was annoyed, Willow understood that but this was beyond a joke. Willow had made the right calls in Buffy’s absence.

Any attempt to explain that she hadn't given Faith permission to take the Scythe had fallen on deaf ears. She didn't even notice it was gone until she had contacted Xander and he asked mentioned it.

Although Willow wasn't Faith's boss, it was common knowledge that the Scythe was Buffy's, but Faith had that 'want, take, have attitude that she liked to use.

Willow had left Buffy to find out about the others, after finding out that they were ok, kind of, she didn't rush to find Buffy to get yelled at. She was now down in the computer labs, sitting on one of the chairs. She was tired and the teams were fine, they were a fully trained team that had fought bigger battles before. They had bigger fish to fry, Well demons, but there may be fish demons?, like she had tried to bell The boss, Giles's sources had informed them that Demons had been made aware of their plans to move and were watching over their new base of operations.

They had to move now and they were going to have to fight there way in, suddenly filled with confidence she stood up from her chair and marched out of the room, after a brief look around she could hear voices coming from the infirm