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Chapter 4

Faith could only thank her intuition that told her to go after Xander when she’d found him gone from the room he shared with Giles as she laid low the last of the three military goons that had attacked him. With the immediate threat seen to, she hurried to Xander’s side to see how bad the damage was. 

“Xander? Xander, wake up.” 

He was unconscious, but breathing – none too worse for wear, in her opinion. His patch had shifted off his eye, and Faith was able to see the damage that had been done by Caleb. As she cupped his face and lightly ran her thumb over the hollowed out socket, she was surprised that he’d not had Willow magic it better for him. 

Surprised… but secretly pleased. 

He acknowledged that he wasn’t perfect, wasn’t whole. He wore the patch with pride. 

Xander Harris had grown up. 

Shaking herself from her silent musings, Faith glanced over at the unconscious men. It wouldn’t be long now before their buddies showed up. She needed to get Xander out of there and back to their motel. 

She tried one more time to rouse Xander with little success. She grinned suddenly at the beating his male ego was about to take with her having to sling him over her shoulder and carry him off to safety. But then, she’d always had a warped sense of humor. 

Faith grunted as she hefted Xander up off the ground. He weighed a lot more than his slimmed down frame indicated, and it took her several tries before she was able to get enough leverage to carry him fireman style and start back to their motel. 

“My god, Faith, what the bloody hell happened?” Giles demanded when he opened the door to her repeated kicks. 

“If I had to guess, I’d say the government’s been tracking our moves. The guys that attacked Xander looked like GI Joes to me at least. I knocked them out and grabbed Xander. Came here. Damn, he’s heavy.” 

“Well, let’s get him settled on the bed.” 

Faith eased Xander down on one of the two beds in the room and Giles set about trying to wake him. He got a moan for his efforts and then Xander’s eyelid slowly fluttered open. 

“Ooohhh… my head,” Xander groaned. “Giles?” he asked as his eye slowly came into focus and he saw the watcher leaning over him. “Wha… what happened?” 

“Faith found you being dragged into an alley. She rescued you.” 

“Oh… great. Saved by a girl… again. My pride can’t take much more of this,” he whined as he tried to sit up, felt his head start to pound, and flopped back against the pillow. “Ow…” 

“Yeah… well… slayer here. Kinda in the job description,” Faith smirked. 

“Don’t remind me,” Xander grumbled, gifting her with a mock evil glare. 

Faith rolled her eyes and pinned Giles with a look. “We need to get out of here. Now. There’s no telling what kind of backup those boys have.” 

At that point, Jessi piped in. “What about me?” 

Giles started to speak but Faith cut him off. “We can’t leave her here,” she told him pointedly. 

“No… you’re right. We’ll have to travel on the ground until we can secure Jessi the appropriate papers.” 

“I have an ID,” Jessi announced. 

“Which is all very well and good,” Giles told the young slayer. “But the type of identification I’m referring to will get us out of country undetected… or relatively so,” he added. He would have to look into adding magic to their repertoire in order to improve their odds of remaining anonymous. The ease with which they’d been found was rather alarming. 

Though it didn’t explain the government’s sudden interest in them, and more specifically, Xander. Something he would have to ponder over at a later date. 

“Faith, take Jessi and gather your things. I want to be out of here in ten minutes.” He turned to Xander then and added, “Do you think you can make it to the car?” 

Xander’s gaze hardened and he ignored the pain in his head as he sat up on the edge of the bed. “Help me up.” 

Ten minutes later the door to Giles’ motel room was smashed in and a group of six men dressed in military fatigues stormed inside. 

“It’s empty, ma’am,” the leader announced into his headset a moment later. 

“Shit,” Lieutenant Molter cursed. “Tell me your men were able to plant a tracer.” 

“That’s a negative. They were ambushed and knocked out before they could complete either of their objectives. We think it was the slayer.” 

“Fine!” Molter snapped. “Return to base. I’ll get the geek squad to try and track their movements.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

~*~*~*~*~ 

When they were driving through Tennessee, Giles’ cell phone rang. He pulled it out with a bit of juggling on his part and surprise flitted over his features at seeing the caller id. 

“Hello?” 

“Giles, it’s Willow. There was an attempt on Buffy’s life.” 

“What? My god… Is she alright?” 

“She’s fine. Satsu took the dagger meant for Buffy.” 

“And Satsu? Is she—?” 

“She’s fine too. I was here, thankfully,” Willow told him. “Giles, it was Renee.” 

“Renee?” Giles asked, not understanding. 

“Yes. We were betrayed, Giles. By one of our own. We’ve got her locked up in detention and I’m going to try and probe her mind to see who she’s working with. I wanted to call you first.” 

“Good. That’s… good. It… uh… sounds like you have everything in hand there. Keep me posted as to what you find out…” Giles’ cell phone beeped once indicating a second caller. “Listen, Willow, I have to run. Someone else is trying to ring through. Give my best to Buffy. Goodbye.” 

“But, Giles…” Willow began, but she was talking to a dead line. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Xander asked from the front passenger seat. 

Giles eyed his phone message. His security system at his home in London was linked to his cell phone and was set to alert him with any type of activity… and it had just gone off. 

“Nothing… maybe something. Hang on, I need to pull over.” 

Giles steered the car to the curb and parked, then began typing on keys to see what was going on at his home. There was a brief glimpse of a huge brownish-black blob that was captured by one of the cameras.

“Well?” Xander prompted. 

“We need to get back to London. There’s someone I need to see.” 

“Who?” 

Giles didn’t answer Xander’s question as he checked his mirror and pulled back on the road. “Look inside the glove compartment,” he told him instead. “I need directions to the nearest airport.” 

“Airport? Giles, you said…” 

“I know, Faith,” Giles replied, glancing at the Slayer in the rearview mirror. “I wouldn’t have mentioned it if I didn’t think the situation was urgent.” 

“Urgent? Giles…” Xander began again. “Tell us what’s going on.” 

“Very well. Just… just look at the map. I’ll explain along the way.” 

~*~*~*~*~ 

“So you’re in cahoots with demons? The same demons that we… that Buffy killed? Those demons?” 

“We were set up,” Giles sighed wearily. “Both of us. Someone is pitting us against each other.” 

“Aren’t we already against each other?” Faith called out from the back seat. 

“Of course. But you’re missing the point. Someone is manipulating us.” 

“And you’re just gonna believe whatever this demon tells you?” Xander asked. “I mean, these guys aren’t exactly known for their honesty, if you know what I mean.” 

“We’ve called a temporary truce.” 

“Truce?” Xander snorted. “Yeah… cuz that’s worked out so well for us in the past.” 

“Xander…” 

“What? I’m just saying…” 

“I’m very well aware of the questionable motives of demons, Xander. I have been doing this for quite some time. But, as a wise man once said, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ We both have something to gain by finding this Twilight character. So for now… yes, we have a truce, and we’ll honor it until such time as—” 

“It bites us in the ass?” Faith concluded. 

“Yes. Thank you, Faith.” 

“Hey, I’m with Xander on this one,” she volunteered, but added when Giles appeared ready to launch into another diatribe, “but, if it’s what you think is best… I’m with you. We’re in this together. We’re a team, right?” 

“Yes. A team,” Giles agreed. 

“A team,” Xander echoed. “But I get to be the person that tells you ‘I told you so’.” 

~*~*~*~*~ 

“I’m gonna kick his ass!” Xander yelled as he paced Giles’ library. “All this time… and he… Argh! He is so dead!” 

“Weren’t you the one that said that demons couldn’t be trusted?” Giles deadpanned. “They could have been lying.” 

“Well, there’s just one way to find out,” Faith interjected. “I say we load up and confront the little shit.” 

“If what they say is true, we can’t just go barging in there. Amy is sure to have some type of wards surrounding the place.” 

“Then it’s a good thing you’re still dabbling in the magic, isn’t it?” Xander commented. “What about Jessi?” 

“I say bring her. She needs the experience and it’ll be good having another slayer at my back. Who knows how many of them Andrew has managed to convert to his way of thinking.” 

“I’ll just gather a few things I might need,” Giles told them. “Xander, Faith, there are weapons in the chest over there. We’re taking the company jet, so there’ll be no problems with customs. I’ll send Jessi down to you.” 

Giles walked out of the library and headed upstairs. On the way to his room, he stopped in front of the room he’d given Jessi to use and knocked. 

“Hey,” she greeted as she opened the door. 

“Hello. We’re taking a trip to Italy. There’s a possible situation brewing there. Faith requested you come along. Do you feel up to it?” 

“Hell yeah!” 

“Erm… good. They’re in the library. You’d better hurry if you want a choice of weapons.” 

~*~*~*~*~ 

Getting into the slayer stronghold in southern Italy wasn’t as difficult as Giles had expected. Willow and Buffy must have done a number on the witch if the weakness of her protection wards was anything to go by. 

The four slipped inside the side entrance and debated whether they should go up or down. 

“I vote down,” Xander whispered. “If Amy and Warren are here, they’re not gonna risk being seen by the slayers.” 

“Unless the slayers have gone rogue too,” Faith commented. “Then it wouldn’t matter.” 

“We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt… for now,” Giles told them. “Faith, take the lead. Head downstairs. Everyone… stay close together.” 

It took them a few minutes to reach the bottom since Faith stopped several times to listen. Her heightened senses lay relatively dormant; either no one was there, or they were really good at masking their presence. 

“Hold up,” she hissed as she reached the bottom. 

“What is it?” Xander whispered in her ear. 

“Look.” She pointed to one of the doors that had a green glow spilling out onto the floor beneath it. 

“G-man, what do you make of that?” 

“I’m not sure.” 

They crept forward in a single line, weapons at the ready. 

“It’s unlocked,” Faith whispered, when she tried the knob. 

“It’s a trap,” Xander told her. 

“Maybe. Maybe not,” Giles interjected. “There’s a lot of magic emanating in and around the room. It could be any number of things.” 

“Well, we won’t know unless we try it.” 

“Faith! Wait!” Xander hissed. 

But Faith had already opened the door. 

“Oh my god,” Xander gasped. “That’s—” 

“Ethan,” Giles whispered. 

Giles hurried forward even as he incanted the necessary words to break the magical bonds holding Ethan in place, so was there to catch the mage when he fell. 

“’ello, Ripper. Fancy seeing you here.” 

“Ethan. What? How?” 

“Now’s not the time, old friend. We… we have to get… away from here. Before she taps into my magic again.” 

Giles nodded and slung one of Ethan’s arms around his shoulder. Xander stepped forward and grabbed the other. 

“Faith…” 

“On it. Jessi, you’re with me.” 

The five retreated the way they’d come, their steps hurried as they sought the side exit. Near the top of the steps Ethan began chanting. 

“Ethan—” Giles began. 

Ethan wasn’t listening however. A moment later, Giles felt his energy sapped when the mage grabbed his hand. He gasped and stumbled a step before catching himself, drawing Faith’s notice. 

“No. It’s alright,” he managed to get out at seeing her murderous expression. “He needs strength. He’s protecting us. Just… just go. Hurry.” 

“I hope you’re right, Giles,” Faith muttered, but turned around and led them up and out of the stone fortress. 

~*~*~*~*~ 

He had to admit, his “brother” had been right – he’d needed to forget his old life in order to fulfill his destiny. He had power beyond his wildest imagination now, and like Adam promised, he did like it. 

He liked it a lot. 

Too much to let it all slip away with the emergence of a slew of slayers inhabiting the planet – his ex-girlfriend at the helm. He’d felt the spell when it had occurred even though he’d been on the opposite side of the globe at the time, and had frowned at the possible implications. 

With his plan so close to fruition, now was not the time to match wits with a constantly growing number of slayers. But they were an unknown factor and couldn’t be left to monopolize his playing field; they had to be dealt with. Which was why he was pitting the girls against the reorganized branch of the Initiative, with an odd demon species thrown in here and there to keep the Slayer and her band of friends from guessing his game. 

He’d evolved so much the past year, outgrowing the secondary behavioral modification chip Maggie Walsh had implanted in his brain. He’d studied tactics and counter-tactics, had assimilated every known military stratagem into his cerebral cortex; he could hypothesize his opponents’ next move with a 99% confidence rate. 

The military thought he would be the tool to wipe away the slayer population and he’d let them think that. Secretly though, he’d been twisting things around, making puppets of the organization that had enabled him to reach his full potential – all without them being aware. 

Twilight indeed. 

It was laughable, their gullibility… and their fanatical behavior. Zealots with a cause, ready and willing to martyr themselves if necessary. 

A purge was definitely in order; when he was finished, he could begin anew. He was close now, so close that one small mistake on his part would result in the failure of his objective. 

“I won’t let that happen,” he promised himself. “I will fulfill my destiny and take my place as the natural ruler of the new world I will create.” 

tbc...

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