Running through the cemetery, I was trying to find Spike after he had run off to catch a vampire that had escaped while we were exterminating a nest on patrol. Leaping over a tombstone like it was a hurdle rather than going around it saved me some time, and I was finding a little relief in the chase. The potentials had tonight off from training, so Buffy, Spike, and I were out on patrol while the girls were having a much-needed break.
Hearing the distinct sound of punching, I jumped onto a cross and propelled myself off of it to get more air. Looking down, I saw some brunette knocking Spike to the ground.
"My turn!" I crashed right into the female, sending us both to the ground while trying to get the upper hand on the other. In the end, I had the advantage and got her in a headlock while still on the ground and trapped one of her hands with my tail while pinning her legs down with my own hooked over her thighs.
"Aud! Wrong bird!" Spike called out while getting to his feet before checking his busted lip.
"Wha- You're a human." I let the confusion show on my face as I finally paid attention to the woman's scent.
"Aud, let Faith go." Buffy came walking up, seeming amused by what she saw.
"Faith?" Looking down at the grunting and struggling brunette, my face then lit up with recognition. "Oh! Faith!" Quickly letting her go, she scrambled to her feet and eyed us.
"You're fighting with demons? Are you the bad Slayer now? Am I the good Slayer now?" Faith pointed at herself while furrowing her brows.
"They're with me. He has a soul and Aud's....Aud."
"Wait, like Angel?" The other Slayer pointed at Spike.
"No." The vampire said quickly.
"Sort of."
"I'm nothing like Angel."
"He fights on my side. Which is more than I can say for some of us." Buffy crossed her arms.
"Yeah, well, if he's so good, what's he doing chasing down defenseless-" Faith was cut off as she was tackled by a vampire.
"That's one of the bad guys."
"Should make 'em wear a sign." The brunette jumped to her feet and kicked the blonde undead in the face. Standing on the other side of Buffy, we just watched Faith and the female vampire fight it out until the brunette took the stake from Buffy's holster to finish the job.
"Angel's dull as a table lamp, and we have very different coloring." Spike shifted on his feet.
"Okay. Catching up. And who exactly are you and how do you fit in?" Faith turned to me, and I pointed.
"We met once before briefly. I'm Giles's daughter."
"....You got to be shittin' me, Giles got it on with a demon? I guess he's not so-"
"I'm adopted. Still half human though, just....not actually his."
"And what the Hell are you? I gotta say, took me by surprise with how fast you had me pinned." Faith waved her hands while raising her eyebrows as she looked me up and down.
"Ustrina Augendae- different dimension, yada-yada-ya, don't touch her food, and watch out for the fire breath, and you'll be fine." Buffy tilted her head.
"Anything else I need to know?"
"Nice to have you back."
~
"Woah, memory lane. Same old house." The brunette said as we walked into the house.
"Yeah, well, every piece of furniture in this house has been destroyed and replaced since you left, so new house." Buffy explained.
"Buffy?" I glanced over to see Dawn and Pops in the dining room.
"We got a new house guest."
"Hey. Got a spare bed for a wanted fugitive?" Faith questioned as Pops looked at me. I gave an aggressive huff, letting him know I still wasn't over what he had done, and his gaze drifted to the other Slayer as I walked right past.
"Hello, Faith." Pops crossed his arms.
"I guess 'wanted' wasn't really accurate."
"That wasn't for you." Spike muttered, watching me go down the hall toward the kitchen.
~
"I'll take you not killing me as a good sign." Robin mumbled as he stood by my desk, and the bell rang. He was mostly healed from his encounter with Spike, and I continued to scribble some notes down in a file.
"We need you in this fight." I replied lowly, not speaking loud enough for the other workers to hear. "Buffy wants you on our side."
"I can understand how you don't."
"Well, if there's at least an understanding, there's no room for a misconception. I'm not your friend, and probably never will be. However, I will keep my personal feelings separate from my professional life since you are still technically my boss."
"You're fired."
"What?!" My head jerked up as I looked at Robin.
"Effective immediately."
"Why in the Hell are you firing me?" Placing my hands on my desk, I stood up so fast that the backs of my knees sent my chair back into the wall.
"Aud, there's nothing here for you. I mean, people are already leaving town, and half the kids don't even bother showing up anymore. You've got things to deal with that are worse than anything here- Look at the big picture." He explained. "It's nothing personal, I've already had this conversation with Buffy. Most of those girls have never been in a real fight and are unprepared for the war that's coming. They need you there, training, sparring, fighting- giving these girls the skills you possess as much as you can."
My shoulders slumped as I took in a deep breath and let it go.
"I can't really get angry when you make a valid point. Effective immediately, though?" I gave the principal a look, and he closed his eyes while nodding.
"I didn't think you'd honestly do as well as you did here when I hired you, but....those girls need you more than the kids that aren't even here."
~
The house was rather rowdy with the girls all over the place when I got home, but I completely ignored them while making a beeline for the basement. Going down the stairs, I pulled my hair out of its braid and sighed while taking my jacket off when my feet hit the concrete floor. I barely acknowledged Faith leaning on the table while smoking as I tossed my jacket onto the back of a chair and kicked my shoes off.
Spike just raised his eyebrow at me as I crawled onto the cot and dropped my head into his lap. His hair was messy and he was shirtless, so I assumed he had been asleep not too long ago.
"What's the matter, pet? Aren't you home a bit early?"
"Principal Wood fired me." I sighed.
"Oh, well, you don't need to be workin' for that ponce anyhow." Spike ran his right hand through my hair while his left held a cigarette that he no doubt got from Faith.
"I think I'm seeing the real reason Giles wanted you dead." The brunette popped off while chuckling. "So, you two, huh? Guess the old man ain't too happy about that."
"Not really." The vampire replied as I lowly growled. There was a crash upstairs, and I just closed my eyes.
"No more Starbucks for the wannabes, man. They've been spazzing for hours." Faith gestured while looking at the stairs.
"Yeah." Spike sighed. "Does get a bit much up there."
"They're good girls. Just green is all."
"So why aren't you up there....imparting?" The blond brought the cigarette to his lips to take a drag.
"That's Buffy's thing. Anyway, I just spent a good stretch locked away with a mess of female types. Kinda had my fill." Faith made a face.
"Hm. But you waited until Angel needed your help to bust out of jail."
"Three squares, nice weight room, a movie every third Sunday. Could've been worse." She half shrugged.
"What movie?"
"Last one was....Glitter." Faith replied, and I snorted. "I guess it couldn't have been worse." She cringed.
"You had the power to walk away at any time. Nothing to stop you."
"I stopped me. I got....dangerous for a while."
"You over it?" Spike asked while still petting my hair, and the brunette pulled off her jacket.
"More or less." She smiled while stretching out her arms. "I pull for the good guys now."
"What's the less?"
"The usual stuff."
"Such as?"
"I was thinking of looking up the guy with the bullwhip."
"Indiana Jones?" I furrowed my brows, and Faith just laughed.
"Oh, please don't tell me you two still haven't done anything." She chuckled.
"....What?"
"Love, she's talking about a kink thing."
"....Oh!"
"Yeah, it was a lo~ong incarceration."
"You could do better. The schoolgirl thing's old hat."
"It's all old hat, man. Every guy's got some whack fantasy. Scratch the surface of any granola-type dude- naughty nurses and horny cheerleaders." Faith waved her hand. "I figure, if you can't beat 'em-"
"Join 'em."
"Just don't forget who's on top." The brunette smiled.
"That, I would suspect, would be you."
"You got that right." She nodded. "....I've met you before, you know."
"Yeah, you made a great impression on my chin." Spike popped off.
"Not in the graveyard. Before that. I was kinda....wearing a different body." The Slayer gestured to herself while grinning.
"Pity."
"You seemed okay with it." She retorted, and I deadpanned.
"The body swap. With Buffy." Spike shook his head while Faith inhaled from her cancer stick.
"She fill you in on that whole deal?"
"She told me it went down. Failed to mention who was drivin' her skin around."
"I may have said a few things."
"You could ride me at a gallop till my knees buckled, squeeze me till I pop like warm champagne. It's not the kind of thing a man forgets." The vampire seemed to be quoting her, and my chest vibrated with a deep, low growl.
"Guess you shouldn't have mentioned that. Made Aud jealous. Should I be worried?" Faith asked while raising her eyebrows.
"Why should I be jealous over words?" I questioned.
"The growling says otherwise."
"No, she's serious." Spike brought his cigarette to his lips again. "That growl is just a warning. Believe me, Aud's got no reason to be jealous of you when the things she does could kill a man. Well, if he were human, anyway." The vampire smirked, and the brunette quirked up a brow.
"Are you serious? Now I'm intrigued." She blew some smoke from her mouth, and I looked right at her.
"First time we had sex, we brought a building to its foundation. Albeit, it was abandoned, but....didn't need a demolishing crew by the morning." I replied.
"Mad impressive." She nodded with a grin. "Oh, hey, B!" Faith turned when she heard boots on the floor.
"Well, it's nice to see you three getting along so well." Buffy crossed her arms while looking at us.
"Yeah. You just know all the cool demons."
"Yeah."
"Buffy, is that you?" Dawn yelled from upstairs.
"Down here." The blonde shouted back.
"Buffy, Willow just called from the hospital. The girl's awake." Buffy glanced at us, and I sat up.
"I'll watch the girls, don't worry." I told her before sighing. "They could use a training session to get out all of that extra energy."
"Thanks, Aud." The blonde nodded to me before going back up the stairs.
"Good luck." Spike popped off.
"If it wasn't still daylight, I'd make you the punching dummy."
"And yet, the sun is what saves me." He chuckled as I grabbed my shoes.
~
"We've got a new player in town. Dresses like a preacher. Calls himself Caleb. Looks like he's working for The First." Buffy was explaining to all of us as we were crowded in the living room. "He's taunting us. Calling us out. Says he's got something of mine. Could be another girl- could be something else. Don't know, don't care. I'm tired of talking. I'm tired of training. He's got something of mine? Fine. I'm getting it back. And you guys are coming with me."
~
"We need to start arming the girls." Buffy told us as we were upstairs in her room to talk privately from the potentials. "I want them to be ready to move if we find him."
"We don't even know where we're going." Willow spoke up while furrowing her brows.
"That's why I figured we do a little recon first. You up for it?" Buffy turned to Faith.
"Put me where you want me."
"And you are certain this is the best course of action?" Pops asked. "You-You don't even know what this man has of yours if he in fact has anything."
"It could be a girl. A potential trying to get to us."
"Could be a stapler."
"I'm going in anyway." Buffy shifted on her feet.
"With the girls? Most of whom have yet to be in the field, let alone a life-or-death situation."
"Then it's time we test them. I'll just take the ones that have been here the longest. The rest can stay behind."
"Could be that's just what he wants you to do. The old bait-and-switch." Spike stated.
"He lures us away and then kills the girls we leave behind." Willow added.
"I know." Buffy said lowly. "That's why I need you to stay here with them. You're my most powerful weapon, Will. I know you can keep them safe if anything happens."
"An old man breezes into town and says he has something of yours.... Buffy, this thing has gotten trap written all over it." Xander waved his hand.
"He won't be expecting a full attack, not this soon. That's why we have to move."
"We know nothing about this man. We cannot go into battle unprepared. We have to have more time." Pops rose his voice.
"Time is running out. The First is back to putting its plans into motion, and we don't even know how much time is left." I crossed my arms while leaning on the wall behind me.
"And you're not going into battle. I need you to stay behind with the others." Buffy told Giles. "Help the girls who still need a teacher."
~
"Now, remember, we're looking for killing blows only, people." Xander stated while handing a bludgeon to Rona that had some spikes on the end. "So chest, and throat if it's a vampire." He demonstrated on Molly while I was unlacing my shoes. "Stomach, chest, and face if it's a Bringer."
"What if it's something else?" Rona questioned.
"Could happen. Something otherworldly. And here's a handy rule: don't go for the flashy tentacles just because they're waving them about and trying to get attention. Go for the center. Brain, heart, eyes." Xander pointed to those spots on himself. "Everything's got eyes."
"Except the Bringers." Dawn popped off.
"Except the Bringers." He nodded.
"I don't want there to be tentacles. I'm not good with squishy." Molly partly cringed while clutching a knife in her hands.
"I don't care if it's Godzilla. I want to get in this thing." Kennedy raised a polished sword.
"Godzilla is mostly Tokyo-based, so he's probably a no-show." Andrew popped off.
"Besides, if Matthew Broderick can kill Godzilla, how tough is he?" Amanda asked while holding a mace.
"Xander!" The scrawny male whined.
"Matthew Broderick did not kill Godzilla. He killed a big, dumb lizard that was not the real Godzilla." Xander waved his hand.
"You people are even crazier than her." Rona said while I was stuffing my socks into my shoes.
"Than who?"
"Buffy, man. I mean, taking us right into the bad guy's lair."
"Well, that's where, customarily speaking, you go to find the bad guy." I raised my brows.
"And I don't think you came here to fight plaque." Xander shifted on his feet while putting his hands into his pockets.
"No, I came here for protection." Rona tilted her head.
"Well, you signed on to fight with-"
"Look, I know, but....this plan is trouble. 'Kay, Buffy doesn't care how many of us she puts in danger-"
"Let me tell you something about Buffy." Xander waved his hand. "In fact, you should all listen to this."
"Uh, we kinda were." Kennedy made a face.
"I've been through more battles with Buffy than you all can ever imagine. She's stopped everything that's ever come up against her. She's laid down her life literally to protect the people around her. This girl has died two times, and she's still standing. You're scared? That's smart. You got questions? You should. But you doubt her motives, you think Buffy is all about the kill? Then you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart, and this time not literally. And I'm telling you right now, she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her." Xander glanced around the room. "She's earned it."
"....Damn. I never knew you were that cool." We all glanced over to see Faith and Buffy back from recon.
"Well, you always were a little slow." Buffy smirked.
"I get that now."
"All right, saddle up. Aud, you good on food?" The blonde asked me.
"I've got enough energy to take out an army."
"Perfect. Let's go."
~
"Okay. Set up a perimeter, guard the door." Buffy turned to face us as we stood outside a vineyard. "I don't want anything getting in behind us. My team goes in first, we check it out. You guys are our safety net. If it's a trap, we give the signal, you guys come in guns a-blazing."
"So, what's the signal?" Xander questioned.
"I'm thinking lots and lots of yelling."
"Got it."
"Shall we?" Buffy turned, and half of the girls followed her. Spike and I were also with her, and we all went down some stairs into the brick building. Down below were barrels upon barrels of what could be safely assumed as wine.
"What is this place?" Molly asked.
"Looks like an old vineyard." Buffy replied.
"An evil vineyard, huh?" Kennedy had her sword at the ready while looking around.
"Like Falcon Crest." Spike popped off.
"Stay alert, you guys. The Bringers are here somewhere." The Slayer stated. "Just need to find out where. Aud?"
"All over." I sighed, my claws clicking on the hard floor just before the Bringers I smelled came flooding from where they were hiding. We all spread out to fight, and I had blood on my hands in a matter of seconds after clawing out a Bringer's throat. With speed and accuracy, I killed a few more until they all suddenly backed off.
"Well, now!" I heard a man shout just before I cracked a Bringer's neck. "You girls are just burnin' with the righteousness, aren't you? Problem is, you think you're blazing like suns, but really you're burnin' like matchsticks in the face of the darkness." A tall, brunette male walked into view, having a southern accent while dressed in a priest's garb while smiling. "You havin' fun? I hope my boys haven't worn you out. I need you fit for when I purify you."
"Save the sermon, padre. I heard you have something of mine." Buffy spoke up.
"Well, I do now." Caleb chuckled while waving his hand in a wide motion, gesturing to everyone there. "You like my little message, did you? You know, I ruined a perfectly good knife on that girl. Got her soiled blood all over the place. I may need to get a new truck. So you're the Slayer. The Slayer." He stood right in front of Buffy now. "The strongest, the fastest, the most aflame with that most precious invention of all mankind- the notion of goodness. Well....the Slayer must indeed be powerful."
He suddenly punched Buffy clear across the room until she hit a wall and fell to the ground.
"So, what else you got?" Caleb questioned, and Spike ran at him only to get pushed down. The vampire jumped to his feet, kicking the pseudo-priest in the face before getting punched himself and thrown right into one of the giant barrels embedded into the wall. The smell of alcohol filled my nostrils as wine flooded out, and the Bringers were back to fighting the girls in an instant.
Growling, I bolted toward Caleb, and he simply grinned when he saw me. Pouncing with my teeth and claws bared like a tiger, my eyes went wide with shock when he just shot out his hand and caught me by the throat.
"Hello, Aud. Someone wants to see you pretty badly, so I'm not allowed to kill you. But that don't mean we can't have some quality time, now does it?" The man tightened his grip around my neck, and I bared my teeth as my hair burst into flames. "Well, ain't that interestin'?" I was trying to pull myself free while kicking at him, but I found myself in a similar situation as I did with Glory. However, Caleb was very much human, so I had no clue where this strength was coming from.
I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to burn him, but he was faster and used his free hand to make me choke on my own flames. My eyes watered as smoke rose up from between his fingers, and he clicked his tongue.
"We won't be havin' none of that now. How about you just sit this out for a while until you're needed?" My head was suddenly jerked in an unnatural direction, and I could hear something crack as everything went black.
~
Coming to my senses, it felt like I was laying on my back, and I could hear sniffling. The scents I was picking up were rather familiar but they smelled nothing like the vineyard.
"Spike, we have to do it. We can't let The First get ahold of her. It got too close tonight, and if it gets any part of her, we're all dead."
"I know." There was a growl in reply.
"Why did no one stop her?"
"We were all fighting, Giles. She knew the risks and took them." Forcing my eyes open, my vision was a little hazy and it was dark where I was.
"How are we even supposed to do it?" There was more sniffling, and my brows furrowed with discomfort.
"Do what?" I grunted while sitting up. "Ugh, I feel like I slept on a rock." Putting my hand on the back of my neck, I tilted my head to pop it.
"Oh, my God! Aud!" I was suddenly enveloped in a hug, and I was totally confused.
"....Am I missing something? Wait, what happened with Caleb? Did we win?"
"....Aud, do you not remember?"
"Why are you guys crying? Pops, what the Hell is going on?" I pulled the man off of me, and they all seemed relieved yet baffled with tears staining their cheeks.
"Caleb...." Buffy began, and I quirked up a brow to urge her to continue. "He broke your neck, Aud. We thought you were dead." I deadpanned.
"Did no one bother to check my pulse? I mean, I once had my brains on the concrete and then walked home, and you think a broken neck is what's gonna off me?"
"Well, that wasn't our main thought with your head twisted around, love." Spike sniffed, wiping the tears from his face with his palms.
"Well, at least now I know what that line means." I shrugged.
"What line?" Pops questioned.
"From the journal. It's repeated quite a lot throughout it, it's apparently something the Ustrina often say. I thought it was like....a prayer or something, like- Jesus Christ, Amen, or whatever. Now I guess it was more of a warning."
"What is it?" Buffy stepped closer while furrowing her brows.
"'Our blood is our strength, our heart our weakness.'"