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Author's Chapter Notes:
This is the second chapter update from today so if you just came here on autopilot, please move back one space.
Preparation

Buffy walked alongside Rashta as they strode through the cavern. The Slayer studied her surroundings and noted the lack of scent to the area. The studied the rock that served as walls and ceiling. She could hear an odd white noise from above. "Where are we going?"

"No where. I thought you enjoyed walking while you talked."

Buffy glared at the woman with gold hair, despite the truth in that statement. "Well, then what exactly are we going to be talking about?"

The demon smiled. "It is your choice."

Buffy looked ahead as they drew in deeper through the seemingly endless cavern. "What's going to happen to us?"

"That question is broad."

Buffy turned again to the woman with slight frustration. "What?” She rolled her eyes. Maybe this is why Anya has associated with the twins. Apparently being literal was a common trait among certain demons. “I mean how are Spike and I going to change?"

"You refer to your being I assume. The shell that contains the spirits you possess."

"Yeah.” buffy nodded more to herself. “I mean the hearing thing I get, that’s a definite Vamp plus, but am I going to start craving thick red liquids?"

A small chuckle was muffled by the demon. "No. You will become all of the strengths of The Pure, and your Vampire. Your eyes, ears, your nose, even those gifts you possess will be improved."

Buffy thought about her gifts. The things she had simply because she was The Slayer. Her strength was one, her healing, her speed. They were part of the deal that was her sworn duty, rather she liked it or not. But there was another thing that had been a strength only for herself.

"What about Spike?"

"Ah, yes. The Vampire." She paused as she thought of how to reveal the Vampire's fate.

"He will gain the strengths that he gave up by coming to the surface in a human's body, and the strength you have by possessing a human body."

"And what would those things be?" Buffy asked remembering Angel's description of his freedom in Pylia, along with the information Giles had found on Pure Vampire Demons.

"The Vampire will no longer be harmed by the sun, no more than a human. Crucifix, holy water and garlic will no longer be of use in harming him." She looked at the young blonde gauging her reaction.

The Slayers thoughts ran through her mind while trying to grasp everything she was being told. The demon stopped talking, but Buffy felt as though the conversation was not over.

"What else."

"You are both gaining the best of each other, and the best of your former selves." The sister answered again cryptically.

Fortunately for Buffy, she was familiar with cryptic. "Your avoiding the answer. I really hate that."

Rashta took a needed breath. "He will be alive."

Buffy stopped walking, turned and stared blankly at the demon. A moment passed and the Slayer shook her head in a short, quick motion stopping to stare down the demon. "Run that by me again?"

~~`~~

"So, what is the lesson for this visit, pet?" Spike asked while pulling out a cigarette. The one evil habit that he had kept, and bugged the hell out of his Slayer.

"The lesson?" Akor stood across from him in the cavern he assumed Peaches had been in while he remained in the other on his previous visit.

"Yea. Aren't we going through another picture show for the benefit of my... unlife?"

The demon nodded slowly in understanding. "The lesson, Vampire, is preparation."

Spike took a long drag off his lit smoke. "Wasn't that the lesson last time?" He exhaled. “Practically a soddin’ boy scout these days.”

"Education, realization, destiny. Those were the lessons. Now you need to be ready."

Spike tipped his head down and studied the sister from under his dark brow. "Be ready for what?"

"Your new place on the Earth's surface." She looked over the black clad Vampire. It was coming sooner than predicted. His connection to The Slayer had seen to that. "And your new life."

With those last words, Spike was suddenly very uncomfortable. He ached. The pain in his chest was unmanageable and his hand quickly flew over his breast. "What. The. Hell." He began breathing with rasping breaths, and fell to the ground, grasping at the dirt.

"SSSTTTTOOOPPPP!!" He cried out into the cavern.

It replied with the echoes that had not existed before. Every nuance of his voice was blasted back at him at a record volume nearly shattering his eardrums in the process. If he could concentrate enough he would see the dust and dirt that had settled on the moist walls shaking free as his timbre vibrated throughout.

The demon stood still and watched the transformation in the Vampire he crawled on the ground in pain. She could do nothing for him, but try to make sure he did not harm himself. His cries grew more frantic. He threw his hands over his ears to block out the pounding in his brain.

"Please..." The man before her cried panting. He keeled over. "Please..." Begging for any kind of mercy.

"It will be alright. I know it is painful, but you must relax. Try to control your senses." She came within a few feet of his still writhing body, trying to sooth him with words.

Slowly he took his hands from his ears, though he could hear the rushing of blood being pumped through his veins. He drew in long breaths, trying to calm his body and mind.

With a great fear engulfing his entire being he could feel his lungs filling and contracting, using the air he breathed to supply the needs his body had not required for over a hundred years.

The thug, ka-thug that had come so quickly moments ago was slowing to a regular pace. He brought his left hand to his heart. The steady rhythm was there under his hand, while the pain, though fierce, was easing already.

"What..." He turned behind him and looked at the demon menacingly. "What the bloody hell did you do to me?"

He snarled, and the demon's visage came forth. He felt the shifting of his bone and skin.

At first, he looked up trying to see his own brow, then he ran his tongue over his teeth. His elongated incisors were where they always were during a vamp out. His hands both came to his forehead for further verification.

Confusion filled him. He turned back to the demon, this time too lost to be angry. Calmly, but with a curious glint in his yellow eyes he asked, "What the hell is going on?"

~~`~~

Michelle and Anya walked down the balcony to Michelle's home. Before they reached it, the young girl’s neighbor came out of the apartment just before their destination.

"Michelle." The gray haired woman greeted her smiling. "And Mrs. Harris. What are you two up to today?"

Michelle looked to Anya, then back to the older woman. "Anya has agreed to help me with my studies. She is a specialist on demons."

"Demonology." Her neighbor corrected her. Then looked to Anya. "I suppose having been one yourself, you would be a good tutor." Her statement was laced lightly with the bigotry engrained on The Council's members.

Anya, however couldn't agree more. "Thank you. I thought so too." She smiled as the teen lead her past the woman and to her apartment.

The old woman walked towards the lift shaking her head and sending a silent prayer upwards for the poor girl’s tragic choice of friends.

Once inside, the young women joined the others gathered in Michelle's home. "Mrs. Weatherby is getting nosy again. This might have to be our last meeting here." Michelle said to the room filled with classmates and friends.

Richard looked over the room. "Well it is getting harder to find excuses for coming over here all the time." A murmur of agreement went through the room.

"Fine." Anya stood in front of the children. "We can't meet. So we better get assignments done today, and everyone better stick to the plan." She took a breath and looked around the full living room. "Christian, is your friend willing to switch the disks?"

"Yes. But he said it will have to wait until halfway through the show."

Anya thought about it. "It should be ok." Again she scanned the faces until she came upon a slim, muscular young man that almost reminded her if Spike with is light blonde hair.

"Joel, has your team figured out a way in to Mr. Travers office?"

"Getting in isn't the problem. It's getting him out. We can't put the equipment in place while he's in his office."

"So we need a distraction? Something to get the ol' man out of his office." She sighed.

"Where's Spike and his stories when you need them?"

A few girls giggled from behind the group.

"We'll have to work on that one." Anya said continuing her list of things to be done before the next five days passed. "What about the locks?" She asked a boy sitting in front of his lap top eating an apple.

He looked up. "No problem. Once Willow gave me a few crack codes I was able to break into the mainframe. It's old, and doesn't have much protection."

"Good." Anya turned back to Michelle. "That just leaves the power."

The same young man in front of his computer raised his hand. "Audrey's covering that end. She's not here, has to study for an exam. But she found a weakness in their system, and can time a calculated power loss to the entire building, excluding the Rugby room with a blueprint of the living quarters, commons, and the Rugby room."

Joel turned in his seat to the boy at the table. "I have those. I'll get them to her tonight."

Christian raised his hand, and Anya nodded her head at him. "What if we shut off the power as a distraction?"

"Not a good idea." Richard answered. "They might figure out the weakness before we really need it."

Christian nodded in agreement.

Michelle looked around the room. She saw the faces of her friends. She took another glance at Joel. "Would it take all three of you to set up the equipment in Mr. Travers's office?"

The young man with almost white hair looked back at the girl. "No. I don't suppose so. Why?"

~~`~~

Randall stood in the hall waiting for the guard to report in. They had been searching for the Vampire now for 38 hours. As of yet, there had not been a single sighting of him. The young Watcher was baffled.

The Council's office building was large, he was quite aware of this, but at some point they should have at least laid eyes on The Vampire during the sweeps of the building.

He looked down the hallway, hoping to see the guard. He still hadn't returned.
Randall began pacing while visions of The blonde Vampire ran through his head. In his mind he was torturing members of The Council in a small dark room. He could hear the imagined screams of pain echo in his head.

When Randall turned to continue his pacing, he nearly ran over the guard behind him. He jumped back, then composed himself. "Your report?"

"I'm afraid we still can not locate the feind, Sir."

"Well then, keep looking. He is here somewhere."

"Yes, Sir." The guard turned, and jogged down the hallway.

Randall headed for Quinton's office. He was to report to him every hour regardless.

The secretary simply nodded from her desk as Randall knocked on the door, and entered.
Quinton looked up from the book he was reading. "Yes Randall. Have they located him yet?"

"No, Sir. I'm afraid not." He walked to the desk of his mentor. "I don't understand it. Someone should have seen him by now."

Quinton leaned forward in his seat. He contemplated the situation all around. Nothing had been going as planned, not since The Slayer died. The children were all acting strangely, even for children. A Vampire was running loose in The Council's home, and he was going to have trouble coming up with an excuse as to why he couldn't find the body of the Slayer.

He had thought that last night, after making a few inquiries, the party responsible for her death would step up and receive their freedom with gratitude. Instead, no one would admit who had killed The Slayer.

No. Things were not going well at all.

~~`~~

Willow set up the lap top just before the last bell of the day. The end of the second day her best friend had been missing. "Ok Tara. It's ready." She called from the kitchen table to the bedroom.

"Kay.."

Willow watched the glow from the hallway, and listened to the familiar sound of magic. The spell ended with a crackle. A few moments later the spell began again, and the glow filled the hall. Once again it ended with a crackle. Tara emerged with a pile of black clothing. "Does Anya really think this will work?"

Willow stopped the lap top's feed of an empty bedroom once she saw Tara in the hall. The redhead shrugged her shoulders at her lovers question. "She said the kid could pass for him, as long as no one actually got a clear look at him."

Tara set the clothes inside the paper bag she had used to pack her magic herbs in for the trip to England. "I'll give this to Dawn in the morning, she'll be able to get it to Joel easier than I will."

"Yea. From what I've seen, some of the adults are wondering why the kids are all mixxy with us now. Especially with Buffy... gone." Willow sighed at the thought of what the Council believed was the truth behind Buffy's sudden disappearance. "But Dawn, well, she's their age and her friendship with the other kids here the adults can understand."

"At least with them too distracted with finding Spike, we have a chance to pull this off." Tara said as she folded the top down on the bag.


Chapter End Notes:
Seriously, I have this really huge poster of Edward staring at me and 2 pics of Spike as well. I'm thinkin' I need one of Jasper as well.



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