Authors Acknowledgment

I'd like to thank my amazing beta, AmyB and co-beta Always_jbj for all their wonderful suggestions and brilliant work on this story. You guys are the best.

Love you both

**Hugs**

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Buffy was alone in her dorm room, having one of those rare moments where she was actually studying, when she was interrupted by a knock at the door. Letting out a frustrated sigh at being disturbed, she threw her textbook down and answered the door.

“Wesley?” she asked, surprised to discover her ex-Watcher standing in the hallway. He looked the same as the last time she saw him, wearing a dark tweed suit and glasses, his hair as neatly styled as always, giving him the ever-present look of an English gentleman.

“Hello, Miss Summers. May I come in? I have something of the utmost importance to discuss with you,” he said by way of greeting.

Buffy looked at the man in front of her in complete bewilderment. “Huh?” What could Wesley possibly want to talk to her about?

Wesley shook his head in dismay; what hope did the world have with this girl protecting it? “May I come in?”

“Oh yeah, sure, come in,” she said, stepping aside to allow her former Watcher to enter her room.

“I must say, I’m quite disappointed in you, Buffy. I would have thought that Mr Giles would have trained you better than to invite someone into your home without first conducting adequate tests,” Wesley lectured, stepping over the threshold into the Slayer’s room.

A sudden chill ran down Buffy’s spine when she heard Wesley’s comment; something in his voice was different, as though he was more confident, more in control or something. “Yeah, well, you know me; I never do anything by the book… which is probably due to the fact that I’ve never even seen the book,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders in disinterest. “So, what did you want to talk about that was so important?”

“I need your assistance. It seems we have a situation that requires the skills of a Slayer,” Wesley explained.

“Well, then, I guess you’re out of luck. I quit, remember?” Buffy quipped.

“How could I ever forget?” Wesley replied in a tight voice. “However, be that as it may, I still require your cooperation. It appears that a very powerful and knowledgeable vampire has set up residence in Los Angeles, and your assistance is needed to fight this foe. We must leave at once.”

“Whoa-whoa-whoa, I don’t remember saying anything about following you to L.A. I am halfway through my freshman year of college, and I can’t just up and leave in the middle of a semester to fight some vampire in L.A.!” Buffy objected.

“You are making this much more difficult than necessary,” Wesley replied with an exasperated sigh. “I promise that you won’t have to worry about your school work; the Council has ways of ensuring that your grades will not suffer. Moreover, innocent lives are at stake, and you can’t simply turn your back on them.”

Buffy looked at Wesley in surprise. “They can do that? I mean, the Council can fix my grades? Why didn’t they do that while I was working for them? Because it sure would have made my life a whole lot easier; at the very least, it would have gotten Principle Snider off my case!”

Wesley raised his eyebrows at Buffy’s question. “I’m sure I don’t know, but I can assure you that we will do everything within our power to ensure that you are not disadvantaged by helping us.” Clearing his throat, Wesley took a stepped closer to the tiny blonde. “At this very instant, lives are at stake; we must depart immediately.”

“Wesley, what am I getting into? What’s the emergency?”

Wesley responded with his usual annoying British mannerisms, the same gestures that had always driven Buffy crazy. Straightening his shoulders, he stuck out his chin in that ‘why are you being so difficult’ way before finally addressing her question. “As I previously stated, a very powerful vampire has surfaced in Los Angeles. The Council believes that he may attempt to raise an ancient Warha’arr demon. The ritual is said to require at least one hundred human sacrifices, and we have information leading us to believe that sacrifices are already being collected. As I am in no doubt you can understand, time is of the essence, so let’s not dally any longer.”

“Okay already, I get it; must hurry. I just need to call Giles and let him…”

“I have already spoken with Mr Giles informing him of the situation. He was very accommodating and assured me that you would do your best to assist us. Now do you mind? Time is of the essence, people’s lives are at stake.”

Closing the door behind her Buffy sighed and reluctantly followed her former Watcher down the hall.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“So who is this all powerful vampire, and why does he want to raise a Walrus demon?” Buffy asked as she followed Wesley out to his car.

“Warha’arr demon,” Wesley corrected, rolling his eyes in frustration. How this girl had ever managed to survive this long, he would never know. It was a wonder that she could remember that the pointy end of the stake goes into the vampire; she had absolutely no discipline or restraint, let alone the good sense to conduct proper screening of guests before inviting them into her home. It was a wonder that half of Sunnydale’s vampire population could not just enter her dorm room willy-nilly. It was no surprise that his counterpart, Mr Giles, had obviously given up on his futile attempts to properly train the girl; she was positively beyond help.

“Yeah, him. So what does this Walnut demon do anyway?”

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, Wesley chose to ignore the girl’s stupidity and answer her question. “Well, among other things, it feeds off human flesh, often choosing to skin its victim alive before consuming the internal organs,” he explained.

“So how do I kill it?”

“It’s not an easy task. First, you must destroy all seven of its hearts, and then you must remove its head,” Wesley explained.

“That doesn’t sound too hard. Just give me something sharp and pointy, and no more Waldo,” Buffy replied with a nonchalant shrug.

“I’m afraid that it isn’t that simple. The immense size of the demon not only makes it a formidable enemy but a difficult mark. In order to penetrate the hearts, you must first pierce its tough body armour, all the while avoiding the creature’s razor sharp talons. Every part of its body is toxic, including its skin, blood and saliva. Not to mention the Warha’arr’s ability to flay human flesh from the bones with just a simple glance,” Wesley explained. “I can assure you that it is of paramount importance that this demon is not allowed to pass through the gates into this world, for once it is here there is virtually no way to stop it,” he finished, coming to a stop in front of a large black van. “This is it. You can put your bags in the back; there should be plenty of room.”

Buffy nodded her head as she walked to the back of the van. “What do you know about the vampire?” she asked over her shoulder as she released the door catch.

“Nothing really, only that he is extremely knowledgeable and residing somewhere outside of Las Vegas.”

The tiny hairs on the back of the Slayer’s neck prickled in warning. Releasing her grip on the partially open door, she turned to face her former Watcher. “I thought you said that he was in L.A.”

“Did I?” he asked, casting his eyes to the ground, giving him the appearance of a man deep in thought. “How very foolish of me,” he finally said, taking a step closer to the wary Slayer.

“Yeah, foolish!” Buffy replied in a cynical tone. “So which one is it, L.A. or Vegas?”

Wesley chuckled in response to Buffy’s snide question. “Does it really matter?” he asked, taking another step closer and allowing the soft moonlight to illuminate his harsh features. Deep ridges creased his forehead, accentuating the dark hollows surrounding his golden eyes; sharp protruding cheekbones gave way to unnatural sunken flesh, emphasizing the long razor-sharp teeth jutting cruelly from his mouth.

A small shudder travelled down Buffy’s spine; she had known that something was different about her former Watcher, but she had never expected this. She could always spot a vampire from a mile away, and yet she had felt nothing to warn her of this threat, apart from a few mild tingles. How was that even possible?

“You really are incredibly stupid, aren’t you?” Wesley stated, taking another step closer to the guarded Slayer. “Not only did you invite a vampire into your home without conducting a simple test, you then follow him out to a dark deserted car park without even so much as a stake on hand for protection.”

Straightening her spine in indignation, Buffy glared at her former Watcher. “That’s where you’d be wrong,” she replied in a cold tone, pulling a well-worn stake out of the waistband of her jeans.

Wesley responded to her threat with a chuckle. “I’m afraid that that would be a case of too little too late, Miss Summers,” he retorted, watching in amusement as the doors of the van burst open, revealing half a dozen vampires.

Quickly spinning around to face the latest threat, Buffy inadvertently turned her back on the small group of vampires hiding within the shadows. They attacked without warning, easily knocking the overwhelmed Slayer to the ground.

Desperately fighting against her captors’ strong hold, Buffy watched in terror as Wesley knelt down beside her. A shiver of panic ran through the Slayer’s body when he reached out to wipe a small drop of blood from her lip. Even with his cool flesh brushing against hers, she still couldn’t feel any presence of a demon dwelling within this man. He was blank; they all were.

“How?"

Wesley grinned in delight at Buffy’s innocent question. “How, Miss Summers?” he asked, bringing his bloodstained finger up to his mouth and licking it clean of all traces of the Slayer’s powerful blood.

Buffy grimaced in disgust as she watched Wesley’s features cloud over with pleasure at the taste of her blood.

“You’d be amazed at the wealth of information one can obtain from the Council’s library,” he said with an evil grin, pulling a large needle out of his pocket for the Slayer to see.

A small whimper ripped past Buffy’s lips at the sight of the syringe; she had never been more terrified in her life. Her heart pounded in terror as she madly struggled to break free, only to be pushed down by more hands; they were everywhere, holding her down like lead weights, bruising her flesh as she fought for freedom. Tears prickled her eyes when she felt the harsh sting of the needle entering her veins, followed by the burn of the unknown liquid coursing through her system, plunging her into darkness…