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Caught Unaware by Fia
 
7. A woman scorned.
 
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A/N: A big thankyou to my lovely Beta BTL.

Thank you all so much for reading and your great reviews - they really make me smile! Big hugs to DreamsOfSpike, Shanna, Verda, Vladt, Elizabeth Anne Summers, and Jess2357. You've all been so kind.



Bouncing on her toes, Buffy wiped the sweat from her forehead, and circled her opponent once more, feeling the delicious threads of adrenaline pulsate through her body. As her enemy barrelled forward with the intent to knock her off her feet, she kicked her right leg out. Sheer Slayer power hit the chubby figure with brutal force, causing it to double over with pain.

“Hummmph!”

A muffled cry came from the fallen opponent, and Buffy laughed, her light tones tinkling through the heavy silence. She crouched over the prone figure lying on the floor, and began to undo the body suit she insisted Elise wear.

After many lonely days of solitary training, Buffy and Elise had formed a tentative bond, which had surprised them both. Since Spike had decided once again to abandon Buffy to her prison, she began relishing her time with the vampire, who also seemed to enjoy herself.

“That’s it!” Elise huffed, as she finally rid her self of the comical protective suit.

Buffy grinned, and turned her big green eyes onto the irate vampire with a mischievous gleam in them. “Oh, come on Elise! I wasn’t so bad, was I?”

Elise’s growling suggested otherwise.

“Okay, okay, I apologise. Any chance I could have some water in a bit?” Buffy asked contritely.

“Sure,” Elise relented, her eyes softening on the petite girl in front of her. “Just give me an hour to clear up and report back to the Master.”

Buffy nodded appreciatively, and waved goodbye as Elise left, listening for the slide of the dead-bolt and her retreating footsteps. Buffy turned towards the closet, rummaging around until she found what she was looking for, a silver Zippo lighter.

Since that night, when the ceiling had collapsed on her, Buffy’s mind had been on nothing else.

Except a pesky, hot vampire. A very hot vampire. Mmm…

Shaking her naughty thoughts away, Buffy concentrated on the lighter before her. Elise had granted her plastic axes and swords, as Spike had adamantly refused to give the Slayer any weaponry.

Buffy had felt like a fool when she first wielded the child’s sword, but she quickly reasoned that honing her slaying skills were more important than looking like an idiot.

Elise had also managed to procure the last thing on Buffy’s list, with the promise that she wouldn’t burn the mansion down.

Buffy could feel the changes in her body, changes that had resulted in her power manifesting in strength and intensity. She had begun practising on harnessing her unique power, racking her brains to remember what Giles had taught her in training.

“Remember Buffy,” Giles instructed. “Use your strengths as a Slayer. Close your eyes and feel what you have been destined for your whole life. Great power.”

Buffy did just that, closing her eyes and holding the lighter in front of her. She cleared her mind, thinking only of the one command that she desperately wanted.

Fire.

The word resonated in her head until she felt a sudden heat in her hands. Opening her eyes a crack, she smiled with glee as she watched a blue flame flicker from the lighter.

Oh yeah. Spike is in trouble now.


* * * * * * * * * * * * *


Giles sank his head in his hands, a small sob escaping from his hunched form.

It had been four days since Buffy had been kidnapped, four days since that fatal night where twenty-two lives had been lost, ripped from the world by the evil that continued to roam the streets.

Four days where his heart continued to bleed.

Glasses abandoned on the desk, Giles lifted blurry eyes to reach for another book when figures huddled by the library doors caught his attention.

Sighing, he brushed his tears away from his weary face. He had to be strong, for Buffy’s sake. If there was any chance she was still alive, he would do everything possible to get her back. His dreams were haunted by her image, her smile, her laugh.

She’s just a child, for God’s sake! Please say she can’t be dead…

Straightening his back, Giles wiped his glasses clean and saw Willow, Xander, and Oz at the doors, and beckoned them over to the table with a weak smile.

“Hello all,” he began, awkwardly hugging the young red-headed girl, who flew into his arms.

“Any news G-man?” a subdued Xander asked.

The silence was palpable. The sorrow in the older man’s eyes revealed all.

“None.”

And with that single word, his heart broke all over again.

Willow slowly disengaged herself from Giles’s arms, which had suddenly gripped her in his sorrow. She knew that they couldn’t give up, and began to sift through the books scattered on the oak desk.

“Well,” she began timidly, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes, “We should keep researching William the Bloody. His weaknesses, his tactics, what he likes…” she trailed off.

“Yes. Quite,” Giles replied, his focus once more on the task at hand. He began to hand out multiple books with a grateful smile.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


An hour had passed, and nothing new had been gleamed from the hordes of books abandoned around the floor. Empty pizza boxes scattered the desk, alongside polystyrene cups with the last dregs of coffee stuck at the bottom. Giles had just succumbed to sleep when suddenly Xander stood up, his chair screeching on the tiled floor.

EUREKA!” he yelled a wide grin on his boyish face.

Giles woke up to a start, hurriedly straightening his glasses before peering into the book thrust at his face.

“Look G-Man! It says the Slayer who has – and I quote ‘defeated the Master will be captured by another, one who is famed for his fascination with her fallen sisters’ – that’s gotta be the one and only Dead Boy Junior!” He waved the book with a flourish.

Giles frowned, trying to grab the book that danced before his eyes. “Yes, it sounds like our Buffy, but if you… will just… let me… SEE!” He snatched the book from a jubilant Xander and began to read.

Willow and Xander began chattering excitedly, high on the prospect of saving their friend, while Oz watched Giles whiten in shock, until with trembling fingers he lay the book down. Glassy eyes stared out of the window until a quiet voice cut into his dazed mind.

“What is it, Giles?” Oz asked.

The Watcher turned towards the teenagers, who had now quietened, their curiosity piqued.

“A prophecy.” He visibly gulped, and ran a hand through his rumpled hair. “It tells of a Slayer growing powers, far beyond the realms of an average Chosen One, once captured by the ‘new’ Master.”

Xander hooted with laughter. “All right! Go Buffster! She’s gonna whoop Bleach Boy’s ass! High five!”

Yet Willow and Oz did not reciprocate. Troubled by Giles sombre mood, they awaited his response.

“No,” he whispered, his face pale. “It warns that if the two may fall in love, they would create the most powerful couple in existence.” His eyes turned back to the window, watching the sunset as it filled the room with a warm glow.

“The Slayer will fall to darkness. Her goodness shall be no more.”

 
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