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Double Trouble by Sandy
 
Chapter 9
 
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The two girls were chanting, incense burned, and Spike was surrounded by a warm blue glow when Joyce and Xander walked into the apartment. Joyce's eyes opened wide at the sight. Although she was aware of Willow's powers, this was the first time she had ever seen her in action. Spike's head was thrown back and he was breathing in short, shallow gasps. After a few more minutes, the two witches stopped chanting, the glow faded and Spike slowly sat back up, eyes blinking rapidly.

"Well," the vampire panted, "That wasn't too bad. Thanks, ladies."

Willow and Tara grinned at him and then Tara leaned forward pulling back the bandage on his chest. The wound was almost completely healed. Spike stared at it in amazement. He really hadn't believed it would work, but, by damn, they really had done it. A couple more mugs of blood, and there would be no sign that he had been staked this night.

"Spike, what happened?" Joyce asked.

Spike looked down, then at the girls, then down again. How could he tell Joyce that Buffy had tried to dust him? How could he tell Joyce that Buffy was possessed? Taking a deep breath, he began to fill Joyce in on the night's strange happenings.

***

Giles' face was a mask of cold fury as he left the police station. He had spoken with Detective Clark and had learned about Faith's abduction by masked men driving a large van. He had a suspicion who had taken her, and as he jumped into his car, he had to forcibly restrain himself from speeding off in a cloud of burnt rubber.

Reaching his home far quicker than the law would have approved, he threw open the door and marched directly to the phone. All conversation stopped as everyone stared at the furious look on his face. Punching a string of numbers into the phone's keypad, he ground out, "There was an accident on the way to the police station. According to witnesses, the cruiser hit a lorry, three masked men jumped out, knocked out the police officers, and dragged Faith out of the back of the police car taking her with them."

"What!" Spike yelled jumping up. "You telling me she had help escaping? We need to find her, Giles. We need to find her now!"

Giles gave Spike a cold look and said, "I'm well aware of that, Spike. Hello? This is Rupert Giles. I need to speak to Quentin Travers. I don't care if he's in a meeting. This is of the utmost importance. It concerns Buffy Summers."

"Quentin Travers?" Willow exclaimed. "Isn't he the head of the Watcher's Council? The one who hates you and Buffy?"

Giles ignored her as he spoke once more into the phone. "Quentin, what the hell are you doing now? Did you send your goon squad to Sunnydale to kidnap Faith?"

Giles listened with growing impatience. "Do not try to fob me off, Quentin. This stinks of the Wetworks Squad. Did you have her kidnapped?"

Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth he ground out, "I'll tell you why I'm concerned about it, you daft old bugger! She's done something to Buffy, caused a demon to possess her or something of the sort. We need to talk to Faith to find out exactly what she's done. Now where the fuck is she?"

Willow and Tara gasped slightly at hearing Giles use such profanity. Spike only became more agitated. If the Watcher was resorting to foul language, things were really in a cock-up.

As they watched, Giles suddenly deflated, his face turning a frightening gray. "Dear God, Quentin. How could you order that? Call them back immediately and call if off. Yes, yes. I'll be right here." Hanging up, he looked at the anxious faces with shell-shocked eyes. "Quentin ordered Faith terminated."

"Terminated?" Spike growled, "You mean killed? That bastard ordered his own Slayer killed?"

Running his hands through his hair, Giles sighed, "She's rogue, Spike. It's...it's not unknown for the Council to terminate an unsatisfactory Slayer in order for a new one to be called."

Spike just stared at Giles and then said coldly, "And you people call me evil."

***

Buffy walked down the street totally lost; she had no idea where she was. When she had left the garage where the van was parked, she found herself in a warehouse district far from any houses or stores. There didn't even seem to be newspaper vending machines around so that she could find out what city she was in. She had to rest often, her body nearing the end of its resources, but she didn't want to sleep until she felt safer than she did now. At long last the area began to change. Warehouses and old abandoned factories gave way to closed-up shops and boarded up buildings. A few more blocks and signs of life finally came into view. It was a flyer tacked up on a telephone pole that told her where she was. It also told her where she was going to go.

***

The redheaded vampire ran her thumb along the corner of her mouth catching the blood that pooled there. Sticking out her tongue, she carefully lapped at the few droplets, licking the thumb clean.

She was confused; nothing was right here. Too many humans, not enough vampires. Not that she was really complaining about the too many humans part. She hadn't eaten this well in months. Rubbing her belly, she stepped over the bodies of the two teenagers she had just drained. Stupid girls. Even if The Master hadn't taken over this Sunnydale yet, there were still vampires. You'd think the people here would be smart enough to stay in after dark.

Shrugging, Willow continued her explorations. This was definitely Sunnydale. She had gone past a now destroyed Sunnydale High where she had been a student before The Master had turned her. Her and Xander. Xander. She had seen him tonight, but he was human again. That wasn't good. She wanted her Xander back; they had so much fun together. He'd run off after he'd realized she was a vampire and Willow, who'd been busy feeding, hadn't bothered chasing him. She'd find him eventually.

She entered The Bronze, but as with everything else, it wasn't the same. It was filled with human boys and girls dancing, laughing and partying. A couple vampires were in the crowd but Willow ignored them. They were weak; she could tell that right away. Definitely not made by The Master. The vampires in The Master's line were strong. Especially the puppy. Willow smiled coldly at the thought of the puppy. He was so much fun to play with. She hoped he was still around. She loved to hear him scream.

***

Faith took the keycard from the registration clerk. "Your room is 615," the girl told her. Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Faith sauntered over to the bank of elevators to the right of the lobby. A long hot shower and then bed. She was grateful to The Mayor for providing her with funds and a passport. He had really cared for her; something on one else had ever done, especially not Buffy or her precious Watcher. And they had killed the closest thing Faith had ever had to a father. Payback was really going to be a bitch.

***

Willow, Tara and Giles were examining the pieces of the apparatus that Joyce had brought with her, discussing it quietly between them. Joyce sat looking frightened and confused and Xander watched as the vampire paced back and forth and back and forth, growls intermittently rumbling from his chest.

When the phone rang, everyone jumped and stared at the instrument as if it had turned into a demon.

Taking in a deep steadying breath, Giles reached for the receiver placing it to his ear. "Giles here," he said softly. Silence as he listened. "Where did they call you from? Do you have anyone nearby who can check? Good. And, Quentin, you'd better hope that they haven't disposed of Faith yet. Yes, that was a threat." Replacing the receiver he looked up and said, "Quentin called the team but there was no answer. He's sending someone from the LA office to check."

Willow looked at Giles. "There's an LA office of the Watcher's Council? How come we never knew about it?"

Giles looked uncomfortable, "Because it wasn't necessary that you know, Willow." Sighing he
continued, "The Watcher's Council has people in place in every major city of the world. Sometimes it's a whole office, sometimes just one person."

Spike started heading for the front door. "Spike! Where do you think you're going?" Giles snapped.

"I'm going to LA, Watcher. That bitch is there and I'm bringing her back."

"And just where exactly in LA are you going to find her? Quentin didn't tell me where the Wetworks Squad had her, so I couldn't tell you where she is even if I wanted to."

Spike looked at him in frustration. "Maybe I should go out lookin' for Buffy then. Bring her here so that we can fix whatever's wrong with her."

Giles shook his head. "And I think it best that we wait until we know for sure exactly what's wrong with her. You said you don't want to hurt her, but she certainly won't come willingly with you, so you'd have no choice but hurt her. That is if she didn't just dust you first."

Spike growled again and then flung himself down into his chair. "I hate this just sittin' around waitin' and doin' nothing."

"Yes, well I'm not happy myself, but going off half-cocked is not the answer, Spike." Turning away from the vampire, he returned to the two witches and their examination of the mysterious smashed device.

***

Buffy stepped out of the cab and paid the driver. She had felt a little bit guilty stealing the money from Collins, but not too guilty. Entering the building, she looked for the office number printed on the flyer. Finding it, she took a deep breath and then entered.

***

The vampire started drifting back to the old factory. She had grown bored walking around Sunnydale, her belly was full, she couldn't find The Master or any others of her family, and Xander was nowhere to be seen. She'd look for him again tomorrow night. Things would be better once she had Xander with her again.

***

Faith stretched comfortably on the bed enjoying the feel of the crisp linen sheets against her naked body. Sighing deeply, she snuggled up to the spare pillow and drifted off to sleep. Morning was soon enough to start killing off Scoobies.
 
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