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Author's Chapter Notes:
A/N: Just wanted to thank everyone for the kind reviews! It is always appreciated. As for when Spike and Buffy will meet, it is coming soon!

CHAPTER FIVE

XXXXXXXXX

Buffy paced in the tiny house she and her family lived in, hoping that some news would come about their mother. Cordelia had made it home safe and sound almost two hours before, and the younger sister was getting worried. Upon hearing that Joyce had not made it home, Cordy was losing it rapidly.

"Maybe the beast got her and she's being chewed on right now," Cordy said, checking her face in a compact she pulled out of her purse. Buffy rolled her eyes but didn't stop pacing.

"So not helping, sis!" She snapped. Cordy was oblivious to what her sister had said.

The senior college student peered at her face once more. Her hand flew to the lower portion of her face.

"Look at me! I'm so wiggin' I'm getting a zit!" Cordelia wailed. "Mom's got to come home soon!" She started whipping out her cell phone, saying, "Maybe we should call the police!"

Buffy stopped pacing and gave her older sister such a look that Cordy froze, the phone open but her hand not punching the key's to Joyce's cell phone.

"And what should we tell them?" Buffy almost shrieked. "That we think some monster's got her? Didn't you see the news? They just found another body! We have to wait for more information before we call them!"

Riley, who had arrived earlier, came out of the bathroom, his face registering that he had heard every word. "She's right," he said in Buffy's direction. "We can't involve the police, at least not yet. I'll see what I can find out."

Cordelia didn't say anything more, but checked her reflection. At least one good thing came out of this: she didn't see a pimple. Riley started to leave when the trio heard the land line phone ringing.

Buffy crossed over to it and picked it up, saying, "Maybe that's some news. Cross your fingers."

Cordelia crossed her perfectly manicured nails and hoped for some good news. Riley waited patiently to see what smoke came out of the chimney.

"Hello?" Buffy asked breathlessly.

In his car, Giles spoke into the phone, asking, "Oh, hello, Miss Summers. Are you okay?"

"Actually…" Buffy started saying, but then Giles interrupted.

"I just heard from your mother," he said. "She wanted me to contact you."

Buffy clapped her hand over the receiver, whispering to the others, "It's Doctor Giles. He says he just heard from her." She turned back to the phone on the table. Behind her, Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief. Behind both girls, Riley frowned, waiting for more information.

"How is she?" Buffy asked.

"She's fine," Giles told her. "She wanted me to tell you that she will be there soon. She was confirming a prescription with me when her cell phone battery was running low. She asked me to call you." Buffy related the news to the pair.

"Thanks so much for the information," she said. Cordelia smiled. Riley still frowned, but tried mustering a small grin.

Giles said, "I'll call back in the morning, or you can ask her to contact me if she needs any more information on her prescriptions."

"We'll do that, thanks," Buffy told the doctor, hanging up.

Cordelia started going to the kitchen. "Well, that's great news, and I'm starving! Who's up for stew?" she called as she walked.

Buffy and Riley responded in the affirmative. Cordy checked on the stew in the pot, which was still warm. She also heated the broth for Joyce in the mircrowave. Buffy glanced at Riley and saw his less than pleased look.

"What's wrong?" she asked her boyfriend.

"Don't you think it's odd that your mother didn't call here first? She usually does before doing anything else." he voiced his doubt, adding, "And wouldn't she have confirmed her prescriptions BEFORE leaving the hospital?" Buffy considered that, but waved him off.

"You're not telling me you suspect Doctor Giles are you?" the nineteen-year-old said incredulously. "You're totally wiggin' when there's no reason to."

Riley could tell he had ventured onto dangerous ground. He smiled a self assured grin and pulled Buffy close. As he stroked her back, the girl found herself wishing all of a sudden that her dream boyfriend, Spike, were comforting her. When Riley let her go, however, all he saw was Buffy's relief.

"Of course not," he said. The army man didn't say anything more as Joyce suddenly unlocked her front door.

"Mom!" Buffy shouted, grabbing her. Cordy ran out of the kitchen and joined in, hugging her. "We were so worried. Giles called and said you'd be home, but…" Buffy said, trailing off.

Joyce's brows furrowed with some confusion. How did her doctor know when she would arrive? She thought she would ask him later after she had assured everyone that she was none the less for wear.

When the mother and daughters parted, Riley told Joyce, "I'm glad you're okay, Mrs. Summers."

"Thanks, Riley," she said. "Are you staying for a late supper?"

Riley shrugged, answering, "If you want me to, although I should probably check in at the base."

"Well, if you must…" Joyce said. "I think we'll be okay now."

Riley grabbed his army jacket from the front hall closet and opened the door, saying, "If you guys need anything, please call right away."

Joyce turned to her girls, who were going into the kitchen to check on dinner for their Mom. "We will," Joyce assured the man. They failed to see Riley putting his hand under the small table by the door before he left.

"Till next time, then," he said loud enough for all to hear. After he exited, Joyce collapsed into a chair. Buffy looked at her mother quizzically.

"Mom?" she asked. "What it it?"

Joyce warred with wanting to tell Buffy everything that had happened and wanting to protect her children. "Nothing," she finally said. "I'm just tired."

Cordy came in with a big bowl of broth. Although Joyce was not really hungry after having eaten soup in Spike's cellar, she managed to down half of the broth to appease her daughters.

"Thanks, 'Delia," Joyce said, using the pet name she called Cordy.

Cordelia smiled, sitting down at the dining room table and also eating a small bowl of the stew. Buffy helped herself to an equally small bowl, but she looked at Joyce as though she knew that her mother hadn't told them everything.

Buffy gave the woman she loved more than anything in the whole world a reassuring smile. Joyce relaxed a little, but knew that her youngest would not rest until she knew the truth. The mother resolved to tell Buffy some more when she felt comfortable. They settled down to eat and, as Buffy snagged the remote control that had been left on the table, watch a sitcom.

XXXXXX

In his car, Rupert Giles called Willow, who was still at hospital. "Willow?" he said into the receiver when he heard her familiar voice. "Don't talk, just listen. Can you get to my flat, pronto? I need you. It's urgent."

At the hospital, Willow said, "Sure. My shift's over anyway."

The redheaded young woman went to punch out as she saw her replacement. After donning her sweater and going into the ladies' room, she washed her hands, came out, and upon leaving the building, went to the parking lot.

Looking around to make sure no one had followed her, she whispered, "Spirits of the ages, beings who roam, take me to my teacher's home." She was instantly transported to Giles' apartment's parking lot as the middle aged British man pulled up beside where she was.

"All right," she said as he switched off his ignition and exited his Toyota. "What's this all about?"

"It seems that I might have miscalculated," Giles responded almost sheepishly.

Willow looked slightly curious, but otherwise was calm. "Well, what happened?" she asked.

"I should not have left that message about Joyce arriving home without any incident," the older man told his student. "That would raise too many eyebrows in our direction."

Willow took a small black book from her pocket, saying, "I wouldn't worry, Giles. I've been consulting the Book of Prophecy and marking down dates, and all the things going on lately point to something big."

Giles removed his glasses, saying, "Strange that there hasn't been any contact from any Covens or Councils of late."

Willow responded, "That's just it. Whatever evil energy is here in Sunnydale is keeping those who should know about what's going on in the dark, and I can't find out why!" Her frustration showed for a moment, but then she calmed down.

"The only thing I know is that the book mentions that there is a "Chosen One", whatever that means, and that, with her aides, she will face the forces of darkness on the Doorsteps of Hell and triumph," Willow said.

Giles mulled that over. He chewed on the end of his glasses, saying, "But it doesn't mention specifically who the One is?" Willow shook her head. She thought for a moment, then smiled.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I just remembered something! I saw it in a book at the University of Sunnydale's library! It says something about the Dark Forces becoming such a big…thingy that the Powers of Good would create a Slayer and a Hunter to destroy the dark ones. Together, with their helpers, they will bring in an era of peace. It's supposed to happen in the Year of Chaos!"

"I'm thinking that it is this year, Giles responded.

He went to the library in his flat and selected a thick book, flipping through the pages. After a moment, he placed his glasses on and read.

"The text is in an obscure dialect, but it is unmistakable," Giles explained. "It seems that the when the world was first brought into existence, there was the unprecedented era of peace, or at least, there was a balance between the forces of good, and the forces of evil. But, like all things, this did not last. The negative forces conspired and spat up a terrible curse on all of mankind. That is when the first vampires appeared, along with their demon co-conspirators."

Willow pulled an apple out of her purse, munching on it as Giles continued. "Now, to combat the menace, there were the White Witches…our ancestors. They used their magic to keep the demons and other evil creatures at bay. Of course, the First Evil did not like their interference. It kept chipping away, as it were, until there weren't enough left to help mortals."

"So, to even things up again, the Powers of Good infused mortals they deemed worthy to fight the forces of Evil, right?" Willow guessed. Giles nodded.

"Yes, that is correct," he said. "And, as you said, the Chosen Mortals will have special beings like you and I to aid them in their quest to destroy the forces of Evil."

"So, we have to use a locator spell to find whoever they are…" Willow said. Giles looked determined as he finished Willow's thought.

"And soon," he said. "We have to find them before the Evil Powers do, or everyone will suffer untold horrors for all eternity!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

In a subterranean hideaway, near one of the two cemetaries in Sunnydale, a dark haired woman screamed. She grasped her long, dark tresses in abject terror and might have pulled her hair out had she not been grabbed from behind.

"What is it, Dru?" a tall, handsome, man with short dark hair asked.

Behind him, lounging on a settee, the blonde who had been in the parking lot at the hospital stroked an unconscious man beside her.

"She probably saw something stupid again," the petite fair haired woman said tiredly.

"C'mon, Darla," the man purred, looking at Dru. "She must have seen something significant to be carrying on like this." The dark haired female was grabbing a headless doll and rocking quickly back and forth.

"The wind howls," she said in a Cockney accented monotone. "The darkness speaks. My prince goes further away, closer to the light."

"Oh, please," Darla said. "Give me a break!" She turned annoyed eyes on Dru, saying, "You've been talking about 'your prince' ever since you turned William Pratt into one of us over a hundred years ago. He's gone, and I say, good riddance!"

Dru wailed, shaking her head. "No! He is embracing the light!" she cried, near to tears now. "He dances with the One Chosen to End it all! No time for tea! No time for crumpets! It all ends when my poor prince aligns with her."

At that, Darla bolted from her settee. The young man started to stir. Darla gestured, sending a black wave of magic to her captive to knock him out again. "You mean…the Slayer? She's here, now?" she said, blanching. Behind her, the tall, dark haired man laughed.

"Oh, come on, now!" he chided. "Who cares? We can take her, and anyone who is stupid enough to oppose us!"

Darla turned angry golden eyes on the younger man, her suddenly bumpy face showing her displeasure. "You don't get it, my dear Angelus!" she snapped. "By herself, she will be formidable according to recent prophecy. But if she somehow does what she is fated to do, and aligns herself with that idiot William…"

"All will be undone!" Dru cried. "All our efforts will come to naught!" She turned dark, huge, sad eyes in the man's direction. "An' our Dark Angel will not get to fly."

Angel was serious as he spoke his next words. "Then, we'll find them both and send them to their deaths before that happens," he said in a low voice consumed with fury. "Hell, I'm gonna enjoy this!"

"Destroy them, Brother!" Dru cried, clutching her doll. "Destroy them for me!"

Angel grunted his assent. He kissed Dru on the forehead and Darla on the lips in a silent promise. "Anything for my girls," he told the pair of evil vampires. His bumpy visage appeared as he turned yellow eyes on the man on Darla's small sofa. "But first…"

The evil male vampire grabbed the young man and buried his fangs into his neck. He drank with reckless abandon then tossed the carcass to the floor.

"Nothing like a snack to get me goin', eh, Dru?" he questioned, turning back into his handsome, twenty-something-looking young self.

"Except that young boy there was supposed to be my dinner," Darla protested. Angel snorted.

His superior hearing made out a rooster's announcement that morning was breaking soon. "Well, another morning's a comin'," he joked.

His dark eyes twinkled with the headiness of the hunt he anticipated. "We'll feast tonight like never before with the blood of a Slayer, oh, and any other human bodies we find, of course, like, say, her family and friends?" he said gleefully. Darla grinned an evil smile.

"I knew there was a good reason why I turned you both when I did," she said. "Makes up for your one failure, eh, Drusilla?" Darla asked Dru. Dru nodded, looking hopefully at Darla and Angel.

"When the Bad Ones die, may Prince William come back to play?" She asked.

Darla said, "Why not? The Slayer'sdeath to say nothing of his friends, will drive him insane, especially when he won't be able to undo your Curse, right, Dru?" She asked Drusilla.

The raven haired beauty became the vampire she adored becoming and hummed a wordless tune.

"My Prince will become my Night again, an' we'll all be together, oohhhh!" Drusilla sang, rolling her insane, yellow eyes.

Darla said, "Or he'll die horribly, and you'll get another! Either way, I'd call it a win-win situation." The trio smiled again as Darla began chanting.

"Evil Circle of Santannus," she commanded. "Reveal the Slayer!" The image of Buffy showed up just then for all to see.

Angel studied the blonde haired, green eyed beauty. "That little slip of a girl's gonna be our Chief Nemesis?" he asked disdainfully. His dark eyes memorized every curve; every gesture he saw. "Well, then, I'll pay little Miss Barbie Doll a visit. Once I'm done with her, the police will have body number Six, won't they?" The youngest member of their trio guffawed.

His eyes lighted his collection of weapons he prized above all else for just such an occasion. "I've yearned to break in my katana. Seems like slicing her entrails is just the way to do it."

Darla purred; Dru sang something akin to the song the humans chortled about happy days being here again. Angelus grabbed his sword and sliced through the image of Buffy as it faded slowly from view.





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