THE NEW ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS pt 1

[Illyrian]

THE NEW ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS pt 1 / 4

HOW ARE THEY CONNECTED ?
Glorificus, Illyria, Baaliitus, Faith ?
The Amulet, Angel, Giles, Faith ?
Willow, Turee, The Goddess Turee, The Goddess Aradia ?
Tara, Goddess T‘ara, Goddess Diana ?
Goddess Turee, Goddess T ‘ara, The Powers That Be, Gregor ?
The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse, The Vampire Slayers ?
Goddess Turee, The First Vampire Slayer ?
The Vampire Slayers, The Armed Forces Of Byzantium ?
Spike And Darla ?
How many types of vampire are there?

THE NEW ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS PART 1
DAVID’S PLACE CHAPTER 1

“Wesley is dead, I will miss him greatly, he was good to me,” said Illyria.
Angel, Spike and Gunn looked at each other in total amazement, Illyria had just admitted that she had feelings for Wesley, for a human, even though he was dead.
“I wish to do more violence,” said Illyria.
“Well, there’s plenty of demons right in front of you love,” announced Spike.
Illyria raised her arm and tilted her head. Once again time almost froze for every-one except Illyria, she attacked the demons, just by using her evil eye she killed them. When there was only a few left she stopped, slowly but happily she went back to stand next to Dawn. Spike looked down the alley, then at Angel, then he looked down the alley again.
“Wasn’t there a few thousand demons here abouts?” asked a puzzled Spike.
“They’ve nearly all gone,” said Gunn.
“Yeah, I did notice that,” remarked Spike, “and how did Dawn get here?”
Angel span around, looked open mouthed at Dawn, who was looking very puzzled.
“I was enjoying a quiet game of chess with Buffy, then I’m in a strange alley with you guys,” said Dawn.
“I wanted her to be here, I wanted the most powerful person in the world to be with me, to help me do what I needed to do, so I brought this Dawn here, why, do you know her?” asked Illyria.
“Umm yes, Dawn is a friend to us,” replied Angel.
“Then I will return this Dawn being, to where she came from,” said Illyria.
“I hope she said hello to Buffy, for us,” said Spike.
“Illyria, where did all those demons go?” asked Angel.
“I killed them,” replied Illyria, “but I did leave a few for you to play with!”
“Excuse me guys, but, I think I’m dying here,” said Gunn. Angel answered him.
“Oh, trying to get our attention are you?” asked Angel.
“Some people, eh, tch, never happy as are they,” said Spike grinning at Angel.
Gunn looked at Angel, then at Spike. He was a bit unsure if he was being taken seriously or they realised what was going to happen to him.
“That hotel is near here, so we might as well go there for now, we’ll get Wesley and put him in my car, then we can all go back to the Hyperion. Spike take Gunn with you and check out the place when we get there,” said Angel.
at the Hotel Gunn looked around from the counter.
“There’s a bit of dust here and there, reckon some-one’s been looking after the place,” said Gunn.
Spike was leaning against the counter when Angel came up from the basement.
“How is Gunn?” asked Angel.
“He’s not doing anything, he’s dead,” replied Spike, “oh, I need a chair.”
“Why do you need a chair?” asked Angel.
“I’ve just had a thought,” replied Spike as he began to grin at Angel, “it was a good one as well. If you can get a message to Willow, find out if she has got two Orbs of Thessula. If we could make Gunn and Wesley vampires, then Willow gives them souls it would be okay.”
“Yeah, good idea Spike, I’ll do it now,” said Angel.
As Angel was about to pick up the phone, it rang. He picked it up on the second ring.
“Hello,” said Angel.
“Is that Angel Investigations?” he heard.
“Um yes,” said Angel, who was more than a bit shocked.
“It’s on speaker, that could be useful,” said Spike, “and its one way to find out if the phones connected.”
“Oh good, thanks for fixing my problem, the cheque is in the post, oh and my wife says to thank Chaser for her.”
Angel slowly put the phone down. All was quiet.
“Um, yeah, some bloke wanted to thank Angel Investigations for fixing his problem, his wife said to thank a person called Chaser,” said Angel.
“Yeah, I heard and I’ve no idea who, who is that?” asked Spike.
Angel was fixed to the spot as a woman with long black flowing hair entered the room and walked over to Gunn,
“Not much point getting a first aid kit for him, is there,” she said.
Angel recognised who was talking to him.
“Cordy, but your dead. Your a ghost,” said Angel.
She went over to Angel and pinched him.
“Ow, hey, it should be me that does that!” said Angel.
“Oops, my bad,” she said.
Angel pinched her.
“Hey, I felt you, your not a ghost,” said Angel.
“Er, hi,” said Spike.
“What?” Then turning to Angel she asked, “What is that doing here?”
“He’s a sort of friend, a good guy now,” said Angel.
“Oh, really?” questioned the young woman.
“Guess he wanted to be,” said Angel.
“Your that Chaser aren’t you?” asked Spike.
“What of it?” asked Chaser.
“No problem, there was a phone call for you, some bloke said thanks for fixing his problem, and his Mrs said hi,” said Spike,” your not alone are you?.”
“So, is that a problem?” asked Chaser.
“Just wondered who they were, that’s all,” said Spike.
“They are getting some food, didn’t think to get blood though,” said Chaser.
Two people walked into the foyer.
“Angel and Spike meet Gavun and Thomson,” said Chaser.
The main doors swung open and there stood Illyria.
“Spike, I’ll tell them about Illyria. Reckon you guys should sit down for this one,” said Angel.
Gavun, Thomson and Chaser sat down and looked at the figure of Illyria in astonishment, Illyria put Wesley’s dead body down, next to Gunn.
“So, who is she?” asked Chaser.
“Ladies and gentlemen, and you to Spike,” said Angel.
“Funny, I get that a lot,” said Spike.
“You should change your name, as Chaser told us about a really evil vampire called Spike,” said Thomson.
“Just because I’ve changed, doesn’t mean I should change my name as well,” said Spike.
“What!” said Thomson.
“I was that Spike, now I’m this Spike,” said Spike.
Thomson quickly stands up and pulls a wooden stake from his jacket. Angel pushes him back into the chair and stops a lunging Illyria.
“Look, Spike is a friend, accept it, he’s a good guy, heck he even saved your life and every human and animal on this planet,” said Angel.
“What!” said Thomson, again.
“He really likes that word, doesn’t he?” asked Spike.
“Right then, Illyria is not a human, she is not from this dimension,” said Angel.
Illyria walked up to Gavun, looked, then turning to Angel.
“Why does she dress as a boy?.”
Illyria looked at them, they could have brother and sister, they were both fit looking and slim. Thomson had short, wavy collar length blonde hair while Andrea had shoulder length Brown hair.
“What is she on about. We’ve fought the vampires for years,” said Thomson.
“This is the Goddess Illyria, she is from a Hell dimension, but, she has chosen to be our friend. She is usually right, if she says Gavun is a girl, then I would believe her,” said Spike.
Gavun stood and faced Illyria.
“Your right, I am a girl. Thanks, my name is Andrea.”
“You should be proud to be a girl, I am. Angel, Spike, I came here to your world to fight and destroy another Hell Goddess, but I could not find her,” said Illyria.
“Tell us her name, we will find her,” said Andrea.
“When I’m ready, when the time is right,” said Illyria.
“If you’d have told us about that, we would have helped you, but, when you are ready. Just ask us, if it at all possible, we’ll do it,” said Angel.
“This could be a good time for me to ring Giles and Willow,” said Angel.
“Who is this Willow?” asked Illyria.
“If Angel and I can make Wesley and Gunn vampires, and Willow can give them back their souls, then they would be ok-ish,” said Spike.
Angel was talking on the phone, to Giles.
“Hello can I help you,” said Giles.
“I want an Oak tree,” said Angel.
“What, I‘m sorry we don‘t have any Oak trees here,”
“Oh, so how about an Elm?” asked Angel.
“I‘m sorry, no Elms either, we don’t have any trees,”
“What about Willow?” asked Angel.
“No trees,” said Giles.
“Okay,” said Angel in his normal voice, “Wesley will need Willow’s help.”
“Who? Where are you?” asked Giles.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. It’s Angel, we killed to many of Wolfram and Harts friends and customers, so they kicked us all out, What is left of us are at the hotel again, Spike and I have had a chat and we’ll make Wesley and Gunn vampires, but only if Willow can give them they’re souls back,” said Angel.
“Willow should be able to do that, she is near here, so we’ll be there tomorrow morning, about ten,” said Giles.
“Hey, Spikey, Willow will be here about midday tomorrow, with two Orbs,” said Angel.
“Just a minute,” said Spike, “if we make these two vampires, as we’re doing it for their good, it won’t give us bad memories will it.”
“Hmm, yes your right,” then smiling, “so lets bite them,” said Angel.
“Do we need to put them somewhere safe, and as they are dead can we bring them back to life?” asked Spike.
“As they are dead already, and as we will be making them part of the undead, and as we’ve never been told that we can’t do it, and who is there to say that it isn’t possible?” asked Angel.
“So let’s put them in the cage in the basement and bite them,” said Spike, trying not to smile. The next day as Angel was walking out the back into the garden he saw Spike standing in the sunlight, and he was smiling, arms out stretched.
“What are you? How are you doing that sunbathing thing?” asked Angel.
“Well let me see, oh, I found this box in the basement when I went to check on our boys, there was some clothes that might fit our little miss bluey, then I found a dented ring, the ring of Amara none the less,” said a very happy Spike, “not as important to me now though.”
*2 “Umm, I thought that I had smashed the ring ages ago,” added Angel.
“You only bent the bit that goes around your finger, the ring itself is meant to be indestructible,” said Spike.
“That’s good for the ring then. Oh, hey I’ve had a really good idea, if we hold hands,” said Angel.
“ ‘Ere hang on a bit,” interrupted a shocked Spike.
“If we hold hands then neither of us will be affected by the sun. Oh, it feels like we’ve become friends,” said Angel.
“Yeah, I noticed that earlier, it seemed to happen after we bit those two yesterday,” said Spike.
“Hmm strange, anyhow, if we wait till Willow gets here then we go outside the front, holding hands skipping and singing it will really freak Willow out,” said Angel.
“That’s just plain nasty,” said Spike, “bloody good idea though, I can’t wait till she gets here oh, ooh, hang on, the First used to have a trigger for me it made me go evil, mm, yes, if we sing it, it will really pop her mind!”
Willow got out of the car, with Giles. As they looked at the hotel, the front doors swung open violently and they saw the vampires of Angel and Spike skipping into the sunlight singing
“Early one morning, just as the sun was shining, I heard a maid sing in the valley below, Oh don’t deceive me, Oh never leave me, how could you hurt a poor maiden so.”
“That song,” said Giles, “that’s the one that the First used, to trigger Spike.”
As Spike and Angel opened the doors to go back in to the hotel they collapsed in fits of laughter. Angel faced Giles,
“Sorry ’bout that, we just couldn’t resist it,” he said.
“We? When did you become friends?” asked Giles.
“Oh come on, it was fun, wasn’t it? it made you laugh a bit, I know it did, I saw you smile,” said Spike.
“How come you and Angel are friends now?” asked Giles, again.
“It was just after we gave, er, close to life, to Wes and Gunn,” said Spike.
“I’ve got the stuff you asked about Angel, how about I give them their souls back,” said Willow as she fought off the feeling of impending laughter.
As Willow went into the hotel she stopped and looked around, “so where is Fred?.”
“I was her,” said Illyria.
“Nope, I think that I’d remember what Fred looked like, not that big in person, but big in personality,” said Willow.
“You do not believe me, is she Willow?” asked Illyria.
“Illyria, Willow, is here to help Wesley,” said Spike.
“Then I will allow the comment about Fred and I will not kill her,” said Illyria.
“Nah, you wouldn’t really kill me,” said Willow.
“INSOLENCE!!” Shouted Illyria, “if you were not here to help my friend you would now be dead.”
Illyria stormed off.
“Say, Willow, you reckon you could have killed that HellGod Glorificus?” asked Spike.
“Not really, why?” asked Willow.
“The Goddess Illyria stripped Glory of most of her powers, then came here to finish the job off. She could kill you with a look, do yourself a favour make Wesley well again. Illyria sees Wesley as a valued friend, you help her friend, Illyria will see you as a friend,” said Spike.
“I’d better go and help out old Wesley and Gunn, Giles and Xander are here to help me, oh Cordelia can you help us, sorry I didn’t see you there?” asked Willow.
“I’ll help you, just that. I use the name Chaser now,”
“Chaser, hmm, I like that name,” remarked Willow.
Angel took Willow and Chaser down to the basement,
Spike stayed with Illyria, he told her that Wesley would soon be alright, that Willow would do what-ever needed to be done. Once again the doors swung open, Xander quickly looked around and saw Spike.
*3 “Oh it’s you, have I ever said that I don’t like you.”
Illyria looked at Xander then at Spike.
“If you want I can kill him before his next muscle moves,” she said.
“Its okay, I think it’s the way the he says hello to me, we are as friends, not quite on hugging terms yet though,” said Spike.
Illyria faces Xander, then walks off.
“You keep the warmest of friends Spike, could she really have killed me?”
“Hmm, yep, it’s like this Xander, Illyria was once a God from a hell dimension, but now she is with us, if she says she could have killed you, believe it,” said Spike.
“Glad she’s on our side then,” said Xander.
“I was going to ask her why she was here, but then I thought she might be a bit unhappy with me, ” said Spike.
“I could say something, but I won’t,” remarked Giles.
“You did say something,“ quipped Spike.
“No I didn’t,” said Giles.
“Did ‘say something’, didn’t he Xander,” suggested Spike.
Xander being quick to pick up on what was going on.
“Yes, I did hear him ‘say something’,”
“I even asked to come here, why?” Giles asked himself, as he turned away. Spike grinned at Xander, Xander slowly shook his head.
Spike moved closer to Xander and quietly spoke to him.
“Reckon you could teach me the snoopy dance, ‘cos if we did it at the most inappropriate time it would be bound to make people laugh.” said Spike.
Willow came back from the basement.
“Well, that’s done, anything else you want, while I’m here?” asked Willow.
Spike grinned, stretched out his arms, “Thanks Willow, I could kiss you now.”
“Oh! lucky me. Good job I prefer girls,” said a visually stunned Willow.
“That’s game, set, match to the girl with the red hair,” said a very happy Giles.
The doors of the hotel were savagely pushed open,
*4 “SPIKE,” called Dana, “I want you!.”
Spike saw Dana and froze, he tried to hide his hands behind his back. He looked at her, she wore red leather jeans and a ‘T’-shirt, and three red lines down her face.
“Does he remember me, Dawn?” asked Dana.
“Think so, he did move both his arms, but I felt sure that he’d be a bit more pleased to see you,” said Dawn.
“You two know each other?” asked Spike.
“She is a Slayer, I’m her Watcher,” said Dawn, “I’m sorry Dana, I’d have that there would have been more of a reaction from Spike, maybe he didn’t realise that you cutting his hands off was just your way of saying hello, he did use to have a thing for slayers.”
“Niblet!” said Spike.
“I thought it was a bit much how you kept on about fancying this person that wore a long black leather coat and had blonde hair,” said Dawn.
“Dawn!” shouted Dana, “wait, I do seem to remember your sister telling me, you used to have a crush on him.”
“Oh, really,” said Spike, he smells Dawns hair, “apple scented shampoo, my favourite. Mm, you do smell good.”
“Get off me Spike,” said Dawn, pushing him off.
“Didn’t push very hard did she?” asked Dana.
“Must still like me,” said Spike.
“Stop it you two!” exclaimed Dawn.
Spike and Dana laughed.
“I felt sure that you would be stuck in cloud cuckoo land, how did you get out ?” asked Spike.
“I did have a lot of problems, but then Dawn and Willow got to me, I don’t know what it was, but that Willow has definitely got it,” said Dana.
Giles looked at Angel, “Are you going to be staying here, for a while at least?”
“Don’t know, at the moment we are just squatters here,” replied Angel.
“I hope we don’t go back ‘there‘,” said Spike, “it was a bleedin’ horrible place, and well, I did get lost several times, it was more like a flaming rabbit warren.”
“Hey, I’m going to say hello to my old car again, that Viper was nice, but I did miss my car,” said Angel as he began to run out to the back.
“He'll be back in a second, I think he’ll find that it reflects quite well, so it might be a bit to bright out there for him,” joked Spike.
Sure enough, Angel came back smelling like over done bacon, “I might leave it until a bit later.”
“Hello every-one,” said Wesley.
“Hello Wesley,” said Willow, “how does it feel.
“How does what feel?” asked Wesley.
“How does it feel to be on a liquid diet?” asked Spike.
“Ay,” said Wesley.
“Your a vampire now,” said Angel.
“Oh, that’s right, I nearly forgot. Good thing I’m not a watcher anymore.
“Why is that a good thing?” asked Giles indignantly.
“A Vampire Slayer who’s Watcher is a vampire, it may take the fun out of it.
“Your a vampire?” asked Gunn.
Wesley spun around, “Yes I am, and so are you, and you are a bald one,” then turning to Angel he asked, “has there ever been a bald vampire?.”
“That’s a good question,” said Spike, “and every good question deserves a good answer, so I’ll shut up and let Giles answer this one.”
“Oh, err, yes, um, ah, err, oh, oh, yes the master was bald,” said Giles suddenly feeling very pleased with himself and smiling like a Cheshire cat.
“You may have got that one, but, well I think the smile may have given it away,” said Xander.
“Willow,” said Angel, “have you got a computer with you, ’cos if you have, then hop on the ’net and see if there are any old commercial properties in town?”
Willow went into the old office to start looking for places for Angel, after five or ten minutes she announced that the best one was on the out-skirts, it was an old disused transport warehouse, and that it was near to an abattoir!
Just after the sun went down a happy Angel was driving his car with Spike, Illyria, Wesley and Gunn with him, to look at the transport warehouse.
The warehouse had been organised with twelve large offices at the front and a storage area with a stores at the back and a few security cameras around the whole place, the real estate agent was a bit pushy, trying to get the place of her books, so Angel took it at a good price saying that as soon as the phone lines were connected they would move in. Xander helped out with converting the offices to rooms though the front room was done as a ‘lunch bar’.
Angel asked Giles, Spike, Willow and Illyria to his office
“I’ve got this money problem, I can get the warehouse no problem, but I’ve grown attached to this hotel, I’m having difficulty with letting go,” said Angel.
“At some point you will have to let go,” said Giles.
“I heard Wesley and Gunn talking about this place once, Wesley said something about some bloke that gave you some financial advice about this place a long time ago, he was rich and he liked weird stuff, any possibility of him helping you out,” said Spike.
“What do you mean by weird stuff?” asked Illyria.
“A game called Dungeons and Dragons, anyway, so how about we show him a thing or two about us if he’ll buy this hotel, run a restaurant and we rent the rooms,” said Spike.
“His name is David Nabit, lonely bloke, he just wanted a friend, he’s very rich, if Xander was to do work on the rooms it could work,” said Angel.
“If he’ll help, invite him here, I’ll help out,” said Illyria.
Angel rang David Nabit and invited him to the hotel, as it was he was glad to get the invite, so glad in fact that thirty minutes later he walked into the foyer.
“I’ve come to fight the demons, is Angel here?.”
“Who are you?” asked Spike.
“I’m David Nabit, Angel asked me to come here.”
“Oi!, captain forehead, David Nabit is here,” shouted Spike.
Angel called a few people down top the office,
David had a smile for every-one, Chaser, Wesley, Spike, Illyria, Angel, Giles, Willow, Dawn and Dana.
“David, we’ve called you in to see if you’ll help us out, we’d like you to buy this hotel, Spike suggested that it could be run as a restaurant and we would rent the rooms from you. Now I remember that you like the demon thing so how about meeting more than what’s in that game you used to play,” said Angel.
“If I can help you guys out, I will. You showed me some friendship, that meant a lot to me,” said David, “but I’m really interested in demons, what do you know?.”
“The question is who don’t we know,” said Angel, “and we’ll try to get more people to tell you about themselves, but we won’t put you in any danger.”
“Out of all of us in this room, apart from you, there is only two normal humans here,” said Spike.
“That’s how many, er who?” asked Willow.
“Well Giles is normal, and you,” said Angel.
“Giles is a Chosen Watcher,” said Illyria, “there are three here who aren’t human, Vampires have a human base, you know who two of the non-humans are, you can only guess who the other one is,” said Illyria.
After two weeks Angel Investigations moved in to there new home, Angel had rung Nina and she was going to be coming back and she would be working for them. It was agreed that ‘Angel Investigations’ should be properly reformed They had organised for deliveries to be made from the abattoir and as Willow was a human, it was agreed that she be the owner of A. I., Giles and Xander were almost becoming permanent fixtures.
At a recent meeting of A I, Spike had suggested that one of the ex-swat vans be bought so that they could have a proper business van, Angel said that that he had been in touch with Kate who now had her own investigations business, but she had given Angel few contact numbers for the main police station. Giles said that he and Xander were improving the security system but the front entrance from the road needed more work to be done.
Wesley remarked that there would be a problem with them going out during the day, but as Angel pointed out the ring of Amara would be kept in the office for their use. Giles stated that he had looked at the place over the road as he was thinking about setting up a museum there and having a training area for any Slayers that may visit and an area at the back for a new Watchers Council place, as there were only a few Watchers left in the world and none of them had set up a council head-quarters.
The other problem being that there was more slayers now, he said that he should be seeing some-one the next day to discuss terms.
There was much discussion about the placing of the counter, fridges, food cooking areas and food preparation areas for the lunch bar at A.I., one thing that got well received was the erecting of a roof over the car parking area. Spike suggested that there be a door bell for the main doors, this seemed like a good idea until Spike said that it should play, ‘Early one morning, just as the sun was rising’, Giles for some reason or other didn’t appreciate Spikes choice of tunes. There much hilarity and argument when it came to choosing a design for the Angel Investigations van, after twenty minutes or so it was agreed that with ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS curved over the top of a full moon and a winged dragon below the moon and to the left with a rampant winged unicorn below the moon and to the right, with fluorescent colouring around the outside of each item, this last thing would help make it stand out at night.
Giles came into the warehouse at noon the next day feeling rather pleased with himself, unfortunately there was only Xander and Spike in the main office.
“I’ve just bought the place over the road, I’m going to do as I said before but I may have a shop, a new age magic shop as part of the museum which I will call ‘The Museum Of Ancient Religious Artefacts’.” said Giles.
Xander and Spike visually agreed with each other.
“I also decided to sell Tarot cards, rune stones and crystals and maybe some new age books and some other trinkets,”
“You can’t beat a good trinket,” acknowledged Spike.
“So if you two would come over with me I can try and figure out where to put stuff and what colour to paint the place. trying to ignore Spike’s comment.
Once inside the main doors Spike stopped, and looked around.
“It’s a bit like a crypt in here,” said Spike.
“A crypt?, why does it remind you of a crypt?” asked Xander.
“ ’Cos there’s bugger all in here,” said Spike.
“Oh, yeh, ha-ha,” said Xander.
“I did it on purpose, just to make you feel at home,” said Giles sarcastically.
“So Xander give me some ideas, what do you think, where could I put display items.”
“If you have a few partitions you could have separate areas for different subjects, just keep the partitions low,” said Xander.
“By putting a bench along there you could have a new age section in full view of everyone and have your counter by the door,” added Spike.
“And with some cameras, with screens under the counter you could watch all that goes on.”
“Uh Giles, have you got that Shadow Caster thingy here?” asked Spike.
“I have, why?” asked Giles.
“Well, if you put it on a ledge near your counter you could make it activate every hour or so, it would create a mystic feel to the place, it’d be bloody good advertising as well, just don’t put all the stuff on it.”
“Yeh, just put the earth, the men and the girl with the chains,” said Xander.
“Na, leave off the chains, it may upset a lot of Giles’ customers,” said Spike.
“Oh dear,” said Giles, “I may have to agree with Spike.”
“Oh really, ‘cos I was thinking it would save a few embarrassed looks, ooh Giles, it’s time for a horrible visual. Did Xander like using chains with a certain ex-demon?” asked Spike, grinning happily to himself.
“Oh no, what a horrid visual,” exclaimed Giles.
Meanwhile back across the road at Angel Investigations.
“We have just had a very nice phone call, we’ve got a case that doesn’t appear to involve any demonic activity,” said a happy Willow.
“Why does that make you happy?” asked Angel.
“Well, if we are successful we’d get several brownie points for it, plus we can advertise it,” said Willow.
“That’s the way to go Will, if we use the van, the name, the phone number, it will all work for us,” added Gunn.
“I’m beginning to see what you mean, what’s the case all about?” asked Angel.
“A few days ago a young girl was abducted, the police and the FBI have no new leads to go on, we have been called in by the girls father,” said Willow.
“How did he know about us?” asked Wesley.
“He didn’t say, but I’ll find out later,” said Angel.
“You don’t need to, it appears that there a connection to the president from the girls mother, as she was the presidents campaign manager when he was trying to be the governor of that state,” said Willow.
“Friends in high places is a good thing,” said Wesley.
“The FBI was brought in because the president has a soft spot for the girl, but it’s the resources only that are being used, not the man power,” added Willow, “we will be going there tomorrow, a nice area, Silmento, the road is, Canterbury Avenue.”

THE NEW ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS pt 1
CHAPTER 2 THOUGHTS OF SALLY

Willow introduced each member of the team to the clients. Geoffrey Palmer and Catherine Palmer were in their late forties, well dressed and they gave the feeling that they had both come from influential families, Chaser would have smelt the money a mile away. Willow she said what they would be doing, she asked how and why they were chosen for the job. Geoffrey told Willow that he was glad that they had put a use to the Hyperion Hotel and that was the only reason that they had been chosen. He said that the police and the F.B.I. had not been able to find anything and had gone up against a brick wall, Catherine and he had decided that a new approach may open up their memories of their daughter. Willow asked them why the F.B.I. had been called in. Catherine explained that, a long time ago she had been the campaign manager for the person who is now the president of the USA. Catherine had asked him for some help and as a result the F.B.I. had helped.
Angel entered the room.
“We have had a quick look around the girls bedroom, these jeans appear to have a stain on the knee, is it blood ? If it is, would it be alright if we borrowed the jeans, as it would be helpful to us.”
Geoffrey had a look at the jeans, looked at Catherine, nodded then handed the jeans back to Angel.
“Susannah had tripped on the hose last week and scraped the skin off her knee, so yes, it was probably some blood on the jeans,” answered Geoffrey.
Angel told Willow that they were going outside to check the path and to get Spike and Illyria’s view. Angel called them over to get a look and a whiff of the jeans. Spike seemed puzzled by the smell.
“That smell, it’s over there by the garage, its on the steps, and on the path, but, I’d say it is stronger by the garage.”
“I cannot smell her blood but I can almost taste her body smell, the best place on the jeans will be at the back of the knees, the rubbing on her body will have a lot,” Illyria puts the material to her nose, “her smell is strong, it is by that building,” she points to the garage, “it is there, by the door of that building, some-one must have carried her,” said Illyria.
Wesley puts his hand on Angel’s shoulder.
“If the garage was used, it would have drawn attention, although if the person was a local, putting their car in the garage would be a good idea for it not to be seen, even if the door was not closed,” said Wesley.
“Lets go for a drive around here,” said Gunn, “have a chat with Willow and let her know what we’re doing.”
Angel walked into the front room of the house where Willow was still talking to Geoffrey and Catherine, he looked at them and asked.
“Did the police say how the girl was taken?.”
Catherine turned to face her husband.
“I think that they thought that she was taken from a friends house, why?” said Catherine.
“We believe that your daughter was taken from this house, and that she was carried into the garage. Oh Willow, we are going to drive around the neighbourhood, if your finished here, we’d prefer it if you came with us.”
Willow stood up.
“I will probably need to speak to you tomorrow, ok if I leave a message on your answering machine?.”
Geoffrey confirmed that she could, and that one of them would get back to her. Then he thanked both of them.
Willow sat behind the wheel and the van slowly moved off, when a car came up behind them she pulled over to let it pass, they had only gone about fifty metres or so when Wesley asked her to slow down, Angel looked over to Spike.
“He is going to be good at this,” said Angel.
“Yep,” said Spike, “does that mean that Charlie boy here is going to be the muscle again.”
Wesley interrupted by pointing to a house.
“That’s where the smell is coming from.”
“I will make a note of that number. When we get back I’ll want Willow, to get some details of who lives there.”
As the van pulled up near the ramp at the warehouse, Giles was standing by the open doors, Angel bounced over to him, closely followed by Spike and Willow,
“Our new boys are going to real good,” said Angel.
“Young Wesley here has got a very good nose for this type of work,” said an exuberant Angel, “he is going to be a real asset to us.”
“We’ve got a couple of surprises here for you all, first up Xander is here, so is Nina, plus there is something strange which you all will need to look at. The three of us were setting up the security camera’s when we saw, well, you will all need to see.”
“Where is Nina?” Angel asked Giles.
“Some of us have more important things to think of,” said Giles, “Willow, a favour please, will you please go and give Nina a big hug, if nothing else it will take that silly school boy smirk off Angel’s face,”
They all laughed (except Angel) and walked inside. Nina was curled up on the sofa watching a programme about painting flowers when they entered the room.
“You’ve returned from the back of beyond, Angel,” said Nina hugging him. Willow looked at Angel and Nina,
“Can’t remember the last time I did that,” she said.
“Nor can I,” said Gunn, “Well, anybody up for a cup?.”
“I will,” said Xander, hopefully.
Gunn smiled then continued.
“Of blood.”
Gunn looked straight at Xander and smiled whilst nodding. At last Nina came up for air after kissing Angel.
“Now that’s the thing about us vampires, we don’t breath,” said Spike.
Willow faced Xander and turned up her nose, Xander looked at Willow and nodded.
“Yes, I agree, and I just had a visual of Spike kissing Angel,” said Xander.
Everybody laughed except for Spike and Angel. Spike took a sip of his blood.
“What the sodding hell is this!” he exclaimed.
*5 “It’s a herbal infusion, it is Cinnamon and Apple flavour and before you make any comments about where it should be put, Nina bought it for us,” said Angel.
“Oh, it’s lovely,” said Spike turning to face Nina, “Yeh, well, umm, err, it is quite nice, makes a nice change,” even Spike was beginning to believe himself.
“Cinnamon and Apple flavoured, warm pigs blood, I wonder what the manufacturers would think of that combination,” said a greatly confused Giles.
As the niceties had been done, Giles put the security tape on the TV and turned it on.
“Now, I was about to tell Xander to stop looking at Sally when we all noticed that her car had been blocked in by that Yellow sports car, Xander made some comment about it may help her if we took some more footage of her predicament, when she went around to the back of the sports car and,” he pointed at the screen, “now watch this,” said Giles.
Sally looked around then she picked up the back of the car, walked it back several paces and then put it down.
“Xander, Nina and I had a few concerns, so we went to see what was going on, but as we grew near to the door Nina began to growl, she said that Sally was causing that effect on her, there was something wrong about her,” said Giles.
“If we get Sally to deliver some stuff tomorrow, then if you two oldies are here, we can get her to say what it is that makes Nina behave like that,” said Xander.
Early next day, early for vampires anyway, at about ten am Willow went to see Angel in his office.
“The woman is Amanda Wilaton,” said Willow.
Angel glanced at her, “That’s good, but what woman?, who are you on about?.”
Willow looked at Angel,
“Oh yeah!, sorry, the woman that owns the house, where Wes said the smell of the girls blood was coming from, she is a sales person for a Laboratory Supplies place, they mainly sell to the mining industry.”
Angel looked at her then said.
“You are liable to make this place seem to work like an actual investigators, I vaguely remember Cordy saying that unless there was a website, ‘we are here.com’, then we couldn’t find anything,” said Angel.
Angel thought about what Will had just said, then he said,
“See if you can find out where that woman went, a couple of days before the girl went missing, then get Spike and yourself to look around that area.”
“There is something else that we need to talk about,” said Willow, “the office where we, or should I say I do the work could do with being done up a bit, I figured that with two or three desks, decent and comfortable work chairs, an internet connection for each computer on the desks, a good printer, photocopier and scanner Some pictures on the walls, maybe a waiting room.”
“Ah, yes,” said Angel, “if its made to look good, then when everything is going well we could have an advert made of us, good thinking Willow, you’ve put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?.”
“Not finished yet, Giles has been starting to think about a separate place near here for training new slayers, more offices, his own shop and setting up a headquarters for the Watchers Council,” said Willow
“Now that is a good idea, I must admit that was thinking along those same lines myself,” said Angel.
“I’ve had a chat with the bosses of the abattoir, to see about them having a shop to sell their products, with our lunch bar, we would each get more businesses out of it, bring more people to the area, then maybe more businesses would be inclined to move out here,” said Willow.
“Ok,” said Angel, “I will get it all organised for you, might even smarten up the front a bit.”
Willow nodded then said, “I’ll get Spike and Gunn to do a bit of ‘night work’, see where the woman’s been.”
At that moment Sally came in.
“More meat and stuff for you, though I can’t think what you are doing with the pigs blood,” said Sally.
“Willow, could you let Giles and the others know that the meat has just been brought in. Sally can you stay a minute as we have a few questions?” asked Angel.
“Not a problem,” said Sally, “as long as you tell me what the pigs blood is for, I must admit I’ve tried to think of what it could be, and now I’m really puzzled.”
“Well, we put a cinnamon and apple herbal infusion in it, it tastes better that way, one of the investigators made some last night, get the door Spike,” said Angel.
“You need to warm it first,” said Spike.
“Wait a minute, this doesn’t feel right,” said Sally as she turned to leave, only to see Spike standing in front of her and the doors were closed.
“How did you do that?” asked Sally.
“I will tell you, if you tell us all how you picked up that car yesterday.”
“What, what do you mean,” said Sally, looking around nervously.
Giles looked intently at her, “I would recommend that you do remember moving that yellow sports car, you know, the one that blocked you in, of course if you have a problem, we could show you the video of it.”
Sally visibly slouched, then sat down on the floor. Spike looked at her, then gently touched her shoulder.
“You are amongst friends here, we are investigators not instigators, we are curious, that’s all.”
Sally grimaced a bit then smiled at Spike.
“Thanks, but, well, I am a vampire,” admitted Sally.
Spike shook his head, “No you’re not, if you were I would know ‘cos I am a vampire.”
Angel spoke up, “I’d like to know why Nina here growls when she is near you.”
Sally turned to face him.
“That is a bit strange, I can feel the hairs on my back stand up, when I’m near her.”
It went quiet for a while.
“Look, you are nice people, I really don’t want to upset you.”
It went quiet again.
“Ok, but you asked for it, I am a vampire, it seems that the DNA from a mosquito, a snake, a tiger and a human got all mixed up many eons ago and, well, here I am.”
“You’re the only one?” asked Angel.
“No, there are quite a lot of us, but we lead separate lives,” said Sally.
“Well, I’m impressed,” said Xander, “I don’t think I’ve heard that one before, she is sort of a natural vampire, yep, that is a good one. Hey, are you afraid of holy water or crosses, do you burn in the sun?” asked Xander.
Sally looked wryly at Xander.
“You do know that there are no such thing as those vampires don’t you, they are just something you see at the movies.”
Xander smiled, “I hate to burst your bubble, but, well, where do you think the idea first came from. Take a good long look around you, those things that you say don’t exist, Angel is one.”
Sally looked at Xander, then at Angel, “What?”
“He is telling you the truth, I’m a vampire, so is Spike Wesley and Gunn. Illyria here, is a Goddess from a hell dimension, Willow is a Wizard, Giles is a Watcher, as was Wesley. Nina here, she is a werewolf and with you having a bit of cat in you, that’s why you two have a problem with each other,” said Angel.
Sally raised her eyebrows, “You, Xander, you were missed out why? and you, Giles, what is a Watcher?.”
Giles said, “I am a personal guide and a trainer for the Vampire Slayers.”
“A trainer of Vampire Slayers? Sounds fun, I bet you’ve got some rum old stories,” said Sally.
“Yes several, lets see, Spike here had both his hands cut off, by a Vampire Slayer, Angel was sent to hell by a Vampire Slayer but he was rejected, as for Wesley and Gunn here, they were made into vampires by Spike and Angel, but Willow had been informed before then so that she was on hand to give them both souls, oh and Angel and Spike have souls.”
Nina said, “If Sally is interested in doing a second job she could join in with some investigating, as, well, if she is anything like me she will be able to see at night and her hearing will be a lot better than every-one else's.”
“Seems like a good idea every-one agree, hmm, what about you Sally, are you up for it,” Sally nodded, in agreeance.
“Excuse me,” said Xander, “I’m human, I reckon that they are all here to help make it safe for me to walk along the road at night, one thing though Sally?, are you affected by the full moon, if you are then we can make a second cage.”
“No, I’m not affected by the full moon and what do you mean a second cage?.”
“The cage is for me,” said Nina.
There was a knock at the door, Xander crossed the floor to answer it.
“Hello, come in this is... bloody hell, it’s Owen,” said Xander, “what are you doing here?.”
“Hello Xander, I got married recently and the wife and I, we have bought a catering supply business, about a mile or two down the road. I recognised the name Angel, so I came here, it’d be good for her, y’know, the keeping in touch thing, with people that she knew.”
“Ah, yes I remember now, Angela Dickinson, poems,” said Willow, “who did you marry?, and how did you remember the name Angel?, what has that got to do with your wife?.”
“Well, you’ll know her, you and her were friends, her name is Anne, and her maiden name it is Summers!”
Willows eyes nearly bulged out of her head, she turned to Giles and he nodded.
“You knew!” Willow shouted accusingly.
“Yes, I knew, but she wanted a quieter life and she wanted to settle in.”
Angel stared at Owen, then said.
“We are going to be setting up a lunch bar, Sally here is a delivery person for the abattoir. Anything to do with cooking, a heater unit, whatever, so if you don’t mind, give Bu, er, Anne a call, tell her that a lunch bar is being set up by Giles, Willow and Xander, ask her to bring some brochures and we will go round the back and set up a bit of a party for her.”
“Yes, ok, that would be good, oh, Angel, thank you,” said Owen.
Owen went outside to get better reception on his phone. Giles went over to Sally.
“Anne’s first name is Buffy, she is a Vampire Slayer, I’m her Watcher, I believe she knows every-one here except Illyria and Nina.”
When Owen came back in he was smiling.
“She’ll be here soon, she‘s just going back to our place to get some brochures.”
Giles said to Owen that he was going to be setting up a new watchers council soon, so he would be needing a complete set up, anything for the kitchen would be good. After fifteen minutes the doors opened and in walked Anne Thurman, she was carrying several brochures.
“Alright love,” said Owen, “I’ll just nip out back and get the owner.”
As Anne stood there, she was aware that several vampires were nearby, she glanced at the girl by the window, she seemed to be ok, so Anne walked up to her.
“My name is Anne, hi.”
“Yes I know, I was told by the others,” said Sally.
“The others, who are the others?” asked Anne.
“His name is, Alexander, or something similar to that and an older bloke his name is, I think it’s Giles, those people are seriously weird, there is one of them they think is a Hell Goddess, that blue hair and blue on her head and neck, it did look a bit off.”
“Ah, that sounds like Illyria, I’ve heard of her but never seen her,” said Anne.
“That older man, said that you are a Vampire Slayer, does that mean that you want to kill me?” asked Sally.
“Why, you’re not a vampire, are you?” asked Anne.
“Yes,” said Sally, with that being said she turned around to face Anne.
“You, you are a Vampire ? but, I don’t feel anything,” said Anne, “I hope I’m not losing my senses.”
“My name is Sally, funny thing is, those other two said the same thing, they said that, but they used their nicknames.”
“Hi-ya Buffy,” it was Willow.
Anne turned to face Willow, smiled and then hugged her.
“So, tell me everything. A lot has happened since I last saw you,” said Willow.
“Mmm, I will tell you about it all some time,” replied Anne, ”I feel like I’m getting my best friend back.”
“But what is happening here?” asked Anne.
“Where do I begin, Giles is here and Xander, tell you what, if you come out the back with me.” Having said that Willow took Anne by the hand and led her to the main office where everyone was waiting for her.
“S U R P R I S E !” they all shouted. Owen put his arm around Anne’s shoulders,
“I thought you might like this,” he said.
“Thanks,” said Anne, “it’s good to see the old faces again.”
Anne spoke to them all over the afternoon and evening, she had a good chat with Giles, he invited her to be a part of it, even to the extent of her being in charge of the training of the slayers. He thought that it would be good for them to meet her and also as Angel, Spike, Wesley and Gunn were all a hundred per cent behind the idea, the girls could all get to meet real vampires who would help to teach them.
As Willow gave Owen and Anne a lift home later that evening, she was invited in for a cuppa.
“So Willow, Spike told me that your a Wizard now, that’s quite a big step up for you,” said Anne.
“Well, the Wizard tag is mainly so that others have some-thing to label me as, I don’t really know what the meaning of wizard is, but I have been told that it is a person who magically does the impossible oh, and Dawn is the key to my being able to do really big things,” said Willow.
“Speaking about Dawn,” interrupted Anne, “One evening when we were playing a game she just vanished, a bit later she re-appeared with this strange story about how Illyria had wanted her, now I didn’t say anything to Dawn but, well, what is Illyria’s story, where she come from?” asked Anne.
Willow raised her eyebrows.
“Well it’s a bit like this,” said Willow, “Fred breathed in the essence of Illyria, or her spirit, or soul, or call it whatever you want to, and the thing called Illyria grew inside her until it was her. Then, well, Fred was completely gone and all that was left was Illyria. She is a Goddess from a hell dimension, which is here on earth but they are in a different time frame so that they are unknown to other dimensions, there was a gap once and that was a few millennium ago. This gap was in the old Yugoslavia, the area became known as Illyria, that is where the legendary evil eye stories are said to have come from, it’s on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The gap closed, by itself one day. Illyria the person, is very strong, very perceptive, she can alter time when and where she wants.”
Willow leant back in her chair as if to clear her head, then continued.
“Wesley had fallen in love with Fred, just before the transformation took place, he put those feelings aside, but he was attached to Illyria and helped her to find herself in this world, at one point he tried to cull Illyria’s powers as they were uncontrollable, but it seems that once Illyria gained more control of herself, she gave herself those powers back, so any-way, there is now a connection between Illyria and Wesley. The way that Illyria see’s it, is that as Spike is Wes’s friend, then if some-one tried to harm Spike she would attack that person. If you entered a room which Wesley and Illyria were in and you said hello to Illyria first, she would ignore you, until you had said hello to Wesley, the thing is until Wesley treats you as a friend, Illyria will treat you as an enemy.”
“I’d better go now, Spike, Charles and I are going to do a bit of night time investigating, were trying to find out what a persons movements were on two or three days, Owen, thanks for the drink and I’ll see you again soon, Anne.”
“It’s probably a good idea as I’ve got some things to put on the computer, Owen has been helping me it.”
At about eleven the next morning a very happy Giles walked into the front office of AI where Gunn and Xander were organising the shops layout.
“I’ve just signed a lease agreement for some more museum pieces, I did say that I was going to run it as a museum ? It‘ll make a reasonable front cover for everything else, all I have to do now is figure out what type of museum I want to do!”
Just then a man walked in with a large box on a trolley,
“More stuff for the office,” said Gunn.
“Ok, we’ll let you carry on and we will keep out of your way,” said Xander, then looking at Rupert he tells him that the office is being done up.
“Where is everyone then?” asked Giles.
“Angel, Willow and Nina have gone to follow where that woman went who they think kidnapped that little girl, Spike, Illyria and Wesley are at the back of this place doing some research or something, and Sally will be here soon to give us a hand.”
“Ah Rupert, Illyria said that you were here,” said Wesley.
“I just popped back here to tell you something that you’ll like. Spike and I were trying to find out about the Wolfram and Hart place when Illyria asked us why we wanted to know about them, so I told her that we were going to try and get rid of them. Illyria just looked at me and asked where did I want them to go, I said that I wanted them to just disappear to a dimension that has shrimps as its inhabitants, or any other dimension that’s totally empty with no inhabitants and no way out.”
Illyria looked at me, looked up, then back at me.
“It is done, you will not hear about them again.”
“So, I was hoping that you could go and see what has happened to the building itself,” said Wesley.
Angel, Nina and Willow were watching an old unused mines entry, Nina had said that there was a woman’s voice inside the tunnel and that there was the sound of a muffled child’s voice. Angel asked Willow to nip back to the car and get the picnic hamper and put the car out of sight. When Willow returned Angel asked
“The car is out of sight isn’t it?”
“Yes,” said Willow.
“There is no chance of any-one seeing it or even getting a reflection from it,” said Nina.
“The car is completely hidden, it can’t be seen from anywhere,” said Willow and giving a big, sort of knowing smile to Angel.
Angel nodded, “the magic stuff, huh.”
“Yes,” said Willow.
They all sat down and relaxed,
“I’d like to live like this,” said Angel, after a few minutes.
“Why don‘t you, Willow could look after the running of the place and if we asked Willow to teach us how to work the computers you could operate the investigations from the office while I watched the Lunch Bar.”
“That sounds good to me, what do you think Willow?”
“It would work, and if that is what you want to do, then yes, plus you could get involved if you wanted to.”
Five minutes later the woman drove out of the mine, Angel cleared everything away and put them neatly into the picnic basket.
“We will leave this here, lets go and get the girl.”
As they began to walk into the mine Willow put her hand on Nina’s shoulder, can you see or hear anything that might be a trip wire or a trap.”
Nina stopped, then turning to Willow she shook her head.
Angel then put his hand on Willow’s shoulder,
“My turn, sorry. Can you see in the dark,” he said.
“Not really,” was Willow’s reply.
They told Nina that they would wait there, but to call if she needed any help. Presently Nina came out of the darkness with a pretty young girl, she was a bit grubby, but her long fair hair on the black top stood out. Willow smiled at Susannah and explained who they were.
“If we take her to our place, get the police to arrest that woman and while Susannah here is having a shower, we can try to clean her clothes and call her parents,” said Willow.
On their way back to the warehouse Willow sat in the back, she was keeping Susannah company, brushing her hair and giving her a bit of a wash. Nina suggested that Willow should stay in the shower room while Susannah was having a shower, so that she would know that she wasn’t alone. At the warehouse, Angel rang the parents to find out the names of the police detectives who were in charge of their daughters case, he suggested that it would be a good idea if they came in to see him.
The police had rung Angel and told him that the woman had been arrested and taken in to custody and that she had admitted to taking the child, but they were a bit puzzled as to how the girl had been found.
When Geoffrey and Catherine got to the office and they had just sat down, and Angel had said about their new approach, a young girl was brought in by Willow,
“Mum, Dad!” exclaimed Sussanah.
Spike looked at Angel.
“That, is what it’s all about.”
A few of days later, Angel got a phone call from the president, he was very moved that Angel Investigations had been able to rescue the girl, to ensure that the woman who abducted the girl was arrested and that it was done in such a short time span, he also added that if the need arose he would recommend them.
He offered to do them anything that they wanted. Angel had suggested that prisoner 430019 be released on the condition that she work for Angel Investigations.

[Illyrian]

THE NEW ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS pt 1
CHAPTER 3 I AM US

“There is nothing like a new dawn to make everything seem better, as long as we don‘t try and look at the sun,” said Gunn.
“Huh, what? don’t like that saying,” said Spike.
“Not to sure that I’m in favour of it,” said Wesley.

“You guys take the fun out of a warm sunny Sunday morning,” said Xander.
“A day off, relaxing in a nice hotel,” said Giles.
“So, where had you been staying, Giles?” asked Gunn.
“I had a small apartment in one of the suburbs, even then others came and visited,” said Giles.

“Hello Giles, this place is way better than that little place you had before, handy as well ‘cos there are some more slayers coming here soon,” said Willow.
“Oh hi! phew, this place goes on forever!” said Dawn.
“You’ve looked around the whole place, man!. Nobody else has ever done that,” said Gunn.

“Well, I didn’t do it on purpose, I sort of got lost, thought I was at Giles’ old place, so I was going to have a shower early, like really early, even before the sun came up. I’ve been trying to find my way around here since then ! Do you have a guide book for this place, because that would be a really good idea,” said an exhausted Dawn.
“Any plans for today?” Gunn asked Dawn.

“Not really, why?” Dawn replied.
“Guess who just got the job of making a guide book for this place.”
“Guess who my assistant will be,” said Dawn, looking directly at Gunn.
“If he was going to smile, I think Dawn just put a stop to it,” said Willow.
“Hi there,” said Andrea.

“Oh, my, my, you do look very nice,” said Giles.
“Thanks, Dana let me use some of her make-up,” said Andrea.
“She’s only just started to look like a girl and she’s getting a name for herself already,” said Willow.
“Gives a new meaning for ‘coming out’,” said Xander.

“Better say what it was that you meant,” said Andrea.
“Giles says she is pretty, then she sucks up to him,” said Willow.
“Willow! I do hope that you are not going to repeat that,” said Giles.
“What were you going to tell us?” asked Xander.
“Thank you Xander, I think. Anyway I’m off to get some books for the new place,” said Giles.

After he had just left, Willow and Xander ran out of the doors to call him back.
“Hey Giles, you aren‘t going to be too long are you?” asked Willow.
Giles looked at Willow who was in the doorway,
“Want me to come back, do you?” asked Giles.

Harmony had gone out in one of their cars, “I took the Plymouth out for a drive and while I was out, I went to see the offices of Wolfram & Hart, only the whole building was gone, being as it was near I went to see what had become of the Hyperion Hotel for you. I parked up over the road for a while, so that I could have a good look at it and make a video of it, then guess who I saw there,” said Harm.

“Who was there?” asked Angelus, faking interest.
“Giles, Willow and Spike,” said Harm.
“Hmm, what to do, to let them know if we are here, or not,” said Angelus.
“Well, I think we need to know what they are doing,” asked Harm.

“We need a plant with a listening device.”
“Send in Desy and Andro, after that Spike has gone out,” said Harm.
“That could work,” said Angelus.
The girls had hired a car, got some suitcases each, then after Spike had gone out, they walked into the hotel.

“Hello is anybody there?” called out Desdemona.
“Yeah, can I help you two,” said Chaser.
“Oh hi, what’s your name, we’re trying to find somewhere to stay and we were told that this place was taking people in again,” said Andromeda.

“I am miss Chaser, sorry but you had a wasted trip, we’re setting up a restaurant here,” said Chaser.
“Okay it was worth a try though,” they said.
“Mind how you go,” said Chaser.

After they had gone Spike and Wesley came in and walked up to Chaser who was having a conversation with Gunn and Xander.
“What did those two want?” asked Spike.
“Oh they just wanted to find a hotel,” said Chaser.

“What did you tell them?” asked Spike.
“I said that this was going to be a restaurant only, why, what’s with all the questions ?” asked Chaser.
“Those two were vampires, that’s why,“ said Spike.

“They were vampires, what makes you think that?” asked Chaser.
“They have a sister who’s name you might recognise, Xander better get Giles here and everyone else that you can find,” said Spike.
Once every-one that Xander could find was in the foyer, Spike began to tell them.

“We have recently had a visit by two young women, they even look just like their sister, looks, height, weight the lot. They all do it on purpose, all three of them have long black hair, their tall slim and attractive. Which means that we could have a much bigger problem,” said Spike.

“Just how big a problem, what exactly do you mean Spike?” asked Willow.
“I reckon a few more slayers would be good, then an army or two,” said Spike.
“You are joking, right?” asked Dawn.

“Yeah, well about the last bit, but it could get rough,” said Spike.
“Dana is here and I believe that there are a few more slayers on there way,” said Giles, “who were those two women?.”
“Desdemona and Andromena, that is there birth names,” said Spike.

“You don’t get names like that anymore, ooh I wonder if they mean anything,” said Dawn.
“They were born a shortly after me!” said Spike.
“Don’t be silly, that would make them,” said Giles.

“Vampires,” said Spike, “and Dawn if you think about the spelling of their names, you’ll notice that they both have demon in them,”
“Who’s their sister?” asked Willow.
“Drusilla,” said Spike.

“Not her again,” said Giles.
“Two vampires come here, they have a sister who is known to us, there is a thing in the paper about two bodies being found, both with the mark of a ring on their left cheek, what else do you need to know,” said Spike.

“Um lets not panic just yet, Spike how do you know that those two are vampires? what’s the thing about this ring mark?” asked Giles.
“The thing is, I sired those two, Drusilla said that she wanted her sisters to be with her, and that thing about the ring, who else do you know that left its victims with a mark on their left cheek,” said Spike.

“Angelus always left a crucifixion cross on his victims left cheek,” said Wesley.
“What was this mark?” asked Giles.
“It was a unicorn,” said Spike, “the only vampire who likes unicorns and would now about the left cheek thing is Harmony. Put those three and Harmony together and we have a seriously big problem.”

“We will need to make sure about that Angelus thing, so at the moment we have Drusilla, Harmony and Drusilla’s two sisters, anything else?” asked Giles.
“They probably know that we are here!” said Willow.
“We can start to panic now,” said Giles.

“No, not yet, all we know is that there are two vampires that Spike sired, this Harmony and Drusilla thing are just theories,” said Willow.
“Back to normal then,” said Dawn.
“Not quite,“ said Giles,” I’ll need you, Dawn and Xander to help me do some researching. Whilst Spike may have made a few suppositions they do deserve to be checked out and I’ll need some details about Drusilla’s sisters.”

“Sounds okay, what is it that you want us to do?” asked Nina.
“Find out details about Drusilla’s sisters,” said Giles.
“Why do you need to do that?” asked Nina.
“When we kill them it’d be handy to know if they are fighters,” said Dawn.

“That’s fair enough,” said Nina, “so, er, what’s that.
Giles gonna do in here?.”
“We only stay here, we’ve got a place at 16 Westcotes Road. Why, you got some ideas?” asked Willow.

“All that weird stuff you do, why not put some flyers out and do some ESP tests for the local unis,” said Nina.
“New idea, where did you get that from?” asked Willow.
“From what Angel told me about you and Giles and what Spike said, well, I was impressed and then I met you. I saw a message on a bulletin board at the uni when I was on my way here,” said Nina.

“With the right compliments you can get most things done,” said Giles.
“Oh sorry, I didn’t see you there,” said Nina.
“ESP rooms, that’s a thought, should be easy enough, and quick enough, more work for Xander,” said Giles.
“How long before the rooms are ready?” asked Nina.
“Should be three or four days, why?” asked Giles.
“How about I make up some flyers for you and contact the universities in the area, I could put the flyers at the new age shops,” said Nina.

“Just pick a few places first, or I’ll be spending all my time doing the tests,” said Giles.
After two days of Xander enjoying his new found destiny of being a supervisor, the areas of a couple of rooms had been changed into the cubicles for various ESP tests, a bench had been put together to form a counter for the bookshop, a few glass covered cabinets went into the museum and the plan that Giles had, was realised.

“Giles? What are you going to call the museum and what type of books are you going to sell?” asked Willow.
“What does he know most about, sorry Will, what type of books does he think will sell the most,” said Xander.
“I know, why doesn’t he set up a Watchers Council HQ there, he’d have some one to talk to,” said Chaser.

“If you do it then you’d need to access the funds of the old watchers council and put it to good use,” said Willow.
“You might just have a good idea there, it is about time that there was some where to report to and I’d find out how many other watchers there are,” said Giles.

Early the next day Giles was looking at the empty museum, well apart from the amulet. The book shop was taking form, he turned on the shadow caster, the sound of drums of the screams gently floated around the room. Willow and Anne walked into the room.

“We just had a phone call from some Gallery of the Moon shop, your flyer said that you do hypnotism,” said Willow.
“Nina was very quick with those flyers, though I didn’t expect her to do it this soon,” said Giles.
“Are the testing rooms ready?” asked Willow.

“They’re ready why?” asked Giles.
“There is a strange girl, back there,” said Willow.
“What’s strange about her Will?” asked Xander.
“I’m not sure, but there is something about her,” said Willow.

Xander went to see for himself, the girl was small, looks of a sixteen year old, dark hair almost black, just below her collar, but she was wearing a USA Baseball team jacket from the last Olympics.
“Excuse me, hi there,” said Xander, “you look a bit lost, can I help you.”

“Hello, my name is Gillian, I was told to come here for some tests, are you Mr Giles,” said Gillian.
“Me, er no, hey no, not me, he is that way, I’ll show you,” said Xander.
Xander took Gillian to meet Giles,

“This is Gillian, she’s here for some of your ESP tests,” said Xander.
“Hm ok, Willow can you help me on this,” said Giles.
Gillian did very well on the cards, the second time the cards were placed face down to avoid any mind reading, this did not change the results, though she still had a success rate of ninety nine out of one hundred.

Giles thought about testing her mind reading capabilities but opted for some background knowledge first. However when Giles suggested the hypnosis, Gillian became unsure of the outcome despite reassurances by Giles. Eventually he said that he would show her what he would be doing, he asked Willow, Xander and Spike if they would be willing to sit, although unsuccessful Xander managed to get Willow to volunteer.

So Spike, Xander, Gillian and Dawn watched as Giles began to hypnotise Willow, after a short time Willow began to stare at the paint on the wall.

In the bookshop Anne was contently listening to the shadow caster,
“You just ignore us, that’s ok,”
“Vi, where d’you come from?” exclaimed Anne.
*6 “Well I used to be in Sunnydale but ‘apparently some-one in their wisdom’ took the place off the map,” said Vi.

“Oh, you mean Spike,” replied Anne, “yeh, was a bit over the top wasn’t it.”
Anne then hugged Vi, then Vi turned to her friends and said,
“This is Buffy, she was the Chosen One, but now she is the one of many.”

“If you try to say that I’m like their mother, I won’t appreciate it, and I‘m known as Anne now,” said Anne, “but who are they?”
“Well there is Saffron, Julie, Cherry and, well there is another, but she feels a bit nervous about meeting you again,” said Vi.

“She’s met me before, but she is nervous about seeing me again? Hmm, that must be Kennedy,” said Anne.
“Yep,” said Vi.
“Oh, bring her in,” said Anne.
“Hi,” said Kennedy, a bit sheepishly.

“How’s the hot air, Kennedy?” asked Anne.
“Hot air?” asked a puzzled Kennedy.
“I think that Willow may have helped her in that regard,” said Vi.
“Speaking of Willow, Kennedy, you have any problem with seeing her again?”

“No, we parted as friends, as long as I make sure that I don’t call her a goddess again,” said Kennedy.
“That’s good, as she is about to be put under by Giles,” said Anne.
“What do you mean, put under?” asked Vi.
“Giles is only going to hypnotise her,” said Anne.

As they went to the rooms, Buffy asked Kennedy if she had been taught any magic.
“That was the main thing we had problems with, I was a bit scared by all that stuff, as I told Willow, being a slayer was enough,” said Kennedy.

“I can relate to that,” said Anne.
“We had better be quiet when we enter the room, if they’ve started,” said Anne.
As they walked into the room Giles was asking Willow to go back to her childhood, when she was eight years old.

“I am here,” said Willow.
“Where are you, what is happening?” asked Giles.
“I am with my mother in the cave, we are waiting for the men to bring back an animal, so that we can eat tonight,” said Willow.

“Tell me the name of the city or town that you live in?” asked Giles.
“Town, City, I don’t know those words,” said Willow.
“What!, what year is that, Willow?” asked Giles.
“What does the word year mean, and who is Willow ?”

“Willow lived in Sunnydale, nothing ever changed. Well apart from the accident she had just before Buffy got here,” said Xander.
“Willow had an accident, my god! she never said that,” said Kennedy.
“She was hit by a car, at least that was what I was told by everyone that saw it, but she got up and walked about,” said Xander, ”her friend that she was with said that she was walking with her, all of a sudden she was under the front of the car.”

“Ooh, that sounds bad,” said Vi.
“This friend of hers, she needed a heck of a lot of counselling as she couldn’t understand how Willow got up and walked about afterwards,” said Xander.

“Do you know where this friend is now?” Anne asked.
“Will’s other, um you know, that vampire her, it killed her in the Bronze.”
Giles was a bit perplexed,
“Where do you live and who do you live with?” Giles asked Willow.

“In the cave,” said Willow, “I live with my mother and Cat, my sister, my father died many years ago, killed by those animals.”
“I’m not getting any where yet, hmm, I know. Willow, please go to when you are fourteen years old, tell me where you are, what is the name of where you live and what is happening?” asked Giles.

“I am in the cave with my mother, the men want to kill me, as they say I am bringing them bad luck.”
“Why do they think you’re giving them bad luck?” asked Giles.
“I skinned an animal once,” said Willow.

“So, you skinned an animal once? How was that seen to be giving them bad luck?” asked Giles.
“It was the way I did it, I lifted the carcass into the air and removed its skin,” said Willow.

“Why did they have a problem with that?” asked Giles.
“Because I didn’t touch the animal when I was taking off its skin, I didn’t want to get its blood on me, also my skin changed colour and my black hair changed to red hair,” said ‘Willow’.

“Okay, that’s a bit more understandable. Um, go to just after your seventeenth birthday then,” said Giles.
‘Willow’s’ voice grew thick, and her body began to rise above the chair.
“What, how, wait, wait! what is happening, who are you?” asked Giles.

“My name is not Willow, it is Turee, the three men, from that cave, they saved me, they took me to a bigger cave, they have created a fighter of those animals, but they left her alone. I will be her friend. I, with the Powers That Be and the Goddess T ’ara, we will create the next to be ready after that girls death, we will create many of them to be ready,” said ‘Willow‘.

“Stay there, wait for me to talk to you,” said Giles, visibly shocked.
“So, I wanted to know about old Slayers,” said Anne.
“What, how is that our Willow?” asked Xander.
“I don’t think it is Willow anymore,” said Giles, “I think that we have all witnessed the memories of an immortal being!” Once again Giles asked.

“Willow, I want you to be very clear when you answer me, what will the fighter of those animals be known as?”
“She will be the Vampire Slayer,” said ‘Willow.’
“Please tell us, what will you do?” asked Giles.

“There will be a person to train her, and give her guidance, this person will be known as her Watcher, I will be a friend to every Slayer,” said ‘Willow.’
“But what will you do?” asked Giles, again.

“I will be there to help the Watcher, when I can, I will be known as the Guardian,” said ‘Willow.’
“When Buffy came to Sunnydale how did you follow her ?” asked Xander.

“When our Slayer moved towns it was deemed that I took on the persona of who you called Willow, before she was killed by the car I entered her body and repaired it, and so I was here, ready for the arrival of our Slayer.”

“Yes, mmm, that does explain a few things, but how does Kennedy fit into all this, and what about Tara?” asked Giles.
“When Buffy was brought back to life by Xander, Kendra was the Vampire Slayer, but she died. Then Faith became the Slayer, Faith will be chosen to replace me when she is ready, you will know when she is nearly ready as her trainer will be called to come back here.”

“Faith will replace you, her trainer’s been here? who?” asked Giles.
“Faith’s trainer will be Clem,” said ‘Willow.’
“But Faith is still in prison,” said Giles.
“She will be released very soon,” said ‘Willow.’
“How did I fit into all this ?” asked Kennedy.

“You were to be next after Faith, I stayed with you ‘til you were ready, then I came to Buffy,” said ‘Willow.’
“So, what about Tara then?” asked Xander, echoing Giles’ question.
“She has gone to preparing the fallen slayer for her new life,” said ‘Willow.’
“A fallen slayer? Do you mean that when a slayer dies?” asked Giles.

“Yes, I do mean when a slayer dies, Tara is what you would call a counsellor to the newly dead slayer,” said ‘Willow.’
“You said that Faith will be having some further training, Why?” asked Anne.
“She will be replacing me as a guardian,” said ‘Willow.’
“But what will happen to you?” asked Buffy.
“I became to close to Tara and then I became to close to Kennedy, and also to you, Buffy,” said ‘Willow,’ “I must be a nice person.”

“What will happen to you, will you stay here, you have so many friends, and I want you to stay,” said Anne.
“I will be allowed to stay with you and Dawn.”
“How do I fit into all this?” asked Dawn.

“When I activated the scythe, I drew on your power. The problem was that the scythe was meant to be activated only by a Goddess, so Kennedy you were right, for those few seconds I was a Goddess, but not a guardian, I knew that, and I expected my time here to end, but they have decided to let me stay,” said Willow.

The body of Willow began to lower down to the chair, she opened her eyes then stood and moved around the room.
“Stop, Turee er Willow? I haven’t stopped the hypnotism yet,” said Giles a bit shocked at the outcome.
“You do not need to Giles,” said Willow.

“But, how did you do that ?” asked Giles.
“Because Dawn is here,” replied Willow.
“Oh, well then, that’s done then, do you want to do this, Gillian ?” asked Giles.
“What do you want to know about Gillian?” asked Willow.

“I just want her to tell me about her background, how she can do all the, well, how did she become able to do what she does,” said Giles.
“You don’t need to hypnotise her for that, just ask me and I can explain it in one short sentence,” said Willow.

“You’d better begin the explaining then,” said Giles.
“Gillian is a Vampire Slayer,” said Willow.
“Like you said, does explain a few things,” said Giles.
“After what you said Will, it was bound to be a let down,” said Anne.

“Gillian, ever seen a vampire before?” asked Xander.
“No, why, do you have any here?” asked Gillian.
“I know a couple of them, they are our friends, they are ‘good’ vampires, we will go and meet them soon, they are Wesley and Spike,

Wesley was brought back to life by Spike and helped by Willow,” said Giles, “there two others Angel and Gunn but they aren’t here.”
“I’ve got a few questions, those animals? What were they? what’s Clems background and who came up with the name the Vampire Slayer?” asked Vi.

“Those animals were demons and vampires, I was one of those who chose the name, the Vampire Slayer. Now Clem, he has been with us for a long time, he helps us when we ask him, for instance, when Spike first began to show signs of being good I called on Clem to be ready, mind you that chip in Spikes head nearly ruined it, then Spike went to the demon trials to remove his chip, but we stepped in and gave him a soul, then we called on Clem to help Spike,” said Willow.

“So what are you?” asked Vi.
“A Wizard, a Guardian, I am one of the few who watch and help the Chosen Ones, I needed to be here and now to be a help to those that should be protected, the higher beings. I am an immortal, how-ever there is more to us. She who went into hell itself to rescue her husband will be here soon, when she arrives then will all the signs be revealed by us, then all will be explained,” said Willow.

“On a personal level, you said about preparing a fallen slayer for her new life, what did you mean?” asked Vi.
“When a Vampire Slayer dies, she becomes one of the Armed Forces of Byzantium, an immortal,” said Willow.
“The other thing is about you, your real name is Turee but you are known as Willow, which one do you prefer?” asked Vi.

“Not to sure, I’ll have to think about it, think I‘d prefer Turee,” replied Willow.
Spike was upset at Willow being hypnotised, he left and went to stand in the museum and look at the artefacts, he looked at the artefacts so long that he nearly fell asleep.

“If your going to see Spike, it’s been awhile,” said Vi.
“Why would you want to meet Spike?” asked Turee.
“He was the first vampire that I ever saw, he helped me do my training, that and the saving the world thing!” said Vi.

“Hang on, a vampire saved the world?” asked Saffron.
“That was only because of the amulet he was wearing,” said Xander.
“But he wasn’t aware of what it would do, he didn’t know that it would do anything, as it was, when everyone else had reduced the number of demons it activated and ended them and their demonic leaders,” said Turee.

“What I don’t understand is if Spike died in that fight then how, or why is he here now?” asked Giles.
“He was chosen to be,” said Turee.
“It was that Lindsey guy, he did something to me,” said Spike.
“No not Lindsey, it was Gregor’s boss,” said Turee, “Julie what do you see?”

Turee had walked behind Spike and was holding a mirror behind his head.
“I can see the back of Spike’s head, why?” asked Julie.
“WHAAT!” exclaimed Spike.
“Spike’s a vampire, there should be no reflection,” said Giles.
“So how come he has a reflection?” asked Xander.

Spike slowly turned around and looked at himself.
“Ooh, yeh, handsome bugger ain’t I?”
“Won’t hear the last of that will we,” said Xander.
“It’s Turee’s fault, what could be worse?” asked Giles.

“Bet he cuts himself shaving tomorrow,” said Xander.
“Why do you think he’ll cut himself?” asked Vi.
“For all those years he shaved without a mirror, now he’ll see a reversed copy of himself,” said Xander.

“All bets on Spike cutting himself shaving are with me,” said Giles.
“If I say that he’ll cut himself three times, then in the morning he has six cuts, if the cuts were longer, well can I join the cuts, please ?” asked Anne.
“OI, you!, sod off,” said Spike.

“And if Dawn had said that he would have said yes,” said Anne.
“He likes Dawn?” asked Dana, “oh goody.”
“He can’t take his eyes off her,” said Xander.
“Er, Turee, would you tell us why we can see Spikes reflection,” said Giles.

“It was decided that he would wear the amulet to help save many, many peoples lives, but he still had the choice not to wear it,” said Turee.
“But this Spike is still only a vampire,” said Saffron.
“No, he isn’t,” said Turee, “he is a human vampire, I don’t know if anyone has noticed it yet, but Spike is breathing, he has a heart beat and what of those lines on his forehead?” asked Turee.

“AAH,” cried out Chaser, as she fell to the floor laughing aloud, holding her stomach having hysterics.”
“What’s with her?” asked Dawn.
“Dunno, what is it Giles?” asked Anne.

“Beats me, what do you think Xander?” asked Giles.
“Oh, I get it, Chaser just had a visual of a wrinkly old Spike.”
“Yes, yes,” cried Chaser, in between bursts of laughter.
“Spike with no teeth and as an old man,” said Xander.

“Now there’s a visual for you,” said Dawn, as she began to laugh.
“What would he say at the dentist,” said Xander who was beginning to laugh.
“He, he, he’d have to go to the joke shop for his front teeth,” said Anne.

Spike was thankful when the phone began to ring, he answered it and heard how a person had paid for a group restaurant meal but the monies had been refused by the bank, it was thought that the person was a local as he had been seen several times by the staff of the restaurant. Spike said that they had some people who specialised in that type of work, how-ever because they had no description to work with it may take a while longer than normal.

Spike went out into the small garden at the back of the hotel, he took off the Ring of Amara and cautiously he put his hand into the sunlight, even after a minute all he could feel was the warmth of the sun.
“Take it easy,” said Turee, “the sun can be a beautiful thing as long as you don’t abuse it’s power.”

“Thanks, you might as well take this thing and give it to Wesley, I don’t need it anymore,” said Spike.
“What is this?” asked Turee.
“It’s the Ring of Amara,” said Spike.

“Okay, so tell me, why were you out here?” asked Turee
“Just testing really, look, I’ve got to go out soon, a new case for AI where some bloke owes some money to a restaurant,” said Spike.
“I’ll come with you, we could take cherry with us, Chaser and Dawn would be good as well as they could do something different for a change,” said Turee.

“Best tell that Cherry to put her hair in a bun and put on a hat put on some old work clothes ’cos long blonde hair, model looks, not best for covert ops,” said Spike.
The five of them made their way through the city streets in Chaser’s car to near the restaurant, they parked up and began to walk the cities streets.

“Hey Spikie, put this beanie on, it’ll keep your head warm,” said Dawn.
Spike, Cherry and Turee walked behind as Chaser and Dawn were talking about the boys they had known.
Spike quietly said to Turee, “Tell those two to be ready to run, and fast.”

“Okay,” said Turee, “why?”
“Those two across the road, thankfully they were walking the other way, thing is I recognised them, I don’t think they noticed us, this beanie may have just saved us,” said Spike.
“Who were they?” asked Cherry.

“They were vampires, the woman is Drusilla, I’m reasonably sure that the guy is close to Angel.”
“Close to Angel? how close?” asked Turee.
“U S,” said Spike.
“What do you mean us?, who is he. Close to Angel, as close as us, what do you mean?” asked Turee.

“Angelus that’s who,” said Spike, “I’ll grab that guy, then we’re outta here.”
As Dawn was putting him in the boot of Chaser’s car she saw who it was.
“Clem, sorry about this, Angelus and Drusilla are near here so we’d better be quiet, but we will talk later,” said Dawn.
She removed the tape from his mouth that Spike had hurriedly put there. As they were driving back Chaser asked Spike,

“What if we picked up the wrong guy?”
“Hadn’t thought about that,” said Spike.
“It could be a bit embarrassing,” said Turee.
“If it is the wrong person and he or she wants to cause a problem, what would we do or what could we do?” asked Dawn.

“What do you mean, cause us a problem?” asked Chaser.
“Just think about it, Spike grabs this person of the streets, tapes up the guys mouth, he’s bundled into the boot of a car, what do you think the police would say, we could face the rest of our lives in prison, with

Faith as our only friend. We may have to kill the guy to stop him going to the police,” said Dawn.
“Oh no, I can’t go to jail, I’m too young, I’m too pretty, we might even get a life sentence,” said Chaser.

“Hey Turee, if we do get a life sentence won’t they get a bit suspicious after a hundred years?” asked Spike.
“Your taking this a bit to easy, Spike,” said Turee.
“That’s because Dawn was pulling your leg, I mean it’s amazing how the total stranger suddenly became a man, and then Daw ‘suddenly’ mentioned Faith’s name, and did anyone else notice how much the car shook when Dawn put him into the cars boot,” said Spike.

“There wasn’t any noise when the person was put in the boot,” said Chaser.
“Exactly, it was as though the person gently climbed in,” said Spike.
“Your not any fun are you,” said Dawn.
“So, I take it that you know who the person is Dawn?” asked Spike.

“Yeh, okay, it’s Clem,” said Dawn.
“Don’t look so depressed Dawn, you had Chaser going there, and Turee that brings me to another question, if your so knowledgeable how come you don’t even know the simplest of things, I mean you know who the Powers That Be are and who or what Gregor is?” asked Spike.

“Well I can’t know everything all the time and I usually don’t get told until afterwards,” said Turee.
“Look on the bright side then Turee, you can make out you knew all of this when you tell the others what just occurred,” said Spike.

“No, I don’t want to be in anyone’s debt.”
Back at the hotel Spike invited Clem, Chaser and Turee to stay back for a cuppa while Dawn went to fetch Giles. He was in the museum deciding where to put the latest exhibits.
“What are those things Giles,” said Dawn.

“Oh, Dawn, these were given to me by Turee, they are from Gregor’s army.”
“Don’t you mean they are from ‘his’ army not Gregor’s army? ‘cos he is only the general,” said Dawn.
“That’s exactly what I said to Turee, but she had a good come back,” said Giles, “apparently he is him.”

“So if the general is he who is the him?” asked Dawn.
“Him is he, him can appear too many as what they want him to be,” said Giles, “oh dear that sounded a bit like Tonto.”
“Tonto? who is Tonto?” asked Dawn.

“Before your time Dawn, before your time,” said Giles, “what did you come in here for Dawn, and don’t say exciting entertainment.”
“As if I‘d say that about your place, ever.”
“Oh very sartorial,” said Giles.

“Yeah, ok, right. Was that an insult?” asked Dawn.
“What do you want Dawn?”
“I don’t want anything Giles.”
“So why did you come in here?” asked Giles.

“I only came in here to tell you we’re with Clem, having a cuppa near the kitchen,” said Dawn.
“WHAT! why didn’t you tell me that before! something as important as that! what were you thinking of, how, how could you!” exclaimed Giles.

“I, I’m very sorry, I didn’t think it was that important,” said Dawn.
“Good grief! making me miss a cuppa,” said Giles, just before he grinned like the proverbial Cheshire cat at Dawn.
Giles walked to the kitchen taking delight at the delightful overcrowding of the plants in the back garden.

“I was told something of great importance is here, where is it,” said Giles.
“Something of great importance?” asked Turee.
“Dawn tells me to rush over here and you haven’t made me a cuppa.”

“Oh goody, he got you as well, I don’t feel so bad any more,” said Dawn.
“Yeah, right, you find somewhere to sit and I’ll make you a cuppa,” said Spike.

So Giles sat down and began to introduce himself to Clem. Turee and Chaser filled in the gaps about Giles, Spike brought in a cuppa especially made for Giles, then once again he greeted Clem.
“Bloody good to see you again mate.”

“You don’t know the half of it, I was a bit lonely last week-end so I went to Sunnydale but I had forgotten about the earthquake. That made me feel worse, but hey, I’m here now, so what’s been happening,” said Clem.

“Just the normal stuff,” said Spike.
“Normal stuff for a vampire,” said Chaser.
“Ah, but is he still a vampire?” asked Giles
“Technically yes and no,” replied Turee.

“That was helpful, no that wasn’t helpful at all, what do you mean technically yes and no,” said Clem.
“Aha, dragged into my trap, he is a vampire and no he isn’t a vampire.”
“And the dragged into my trap bit.”

“It’s about this line, it’s mostly filler,” said Turee.
“Yes Turee, so Giles, what’s new?” asked Clem.
“Spike has a new playmate now, she is Illyria. She was a Goddess from hell but now she is with us, thankfully. Turee is an immortal and she is on first name terms with the Powers That Be, Spike is human and we have quite a few more slayers, that and Buffy and Dawn’s mum is a resident here.”

“Hang on, didn’t Buffy’s mum die?” asked Clem.
“I forgot about that bit, Joyce is a ghost,” said Giles.
“So Clem, what’s with Faith, what are you going to do?” asked Dawn, “why does Faith get the training, my sis should get the training.”
“Agreed, but you might be slightly biased,” said Clem.

“So I’m biased, it doesn’t alter the facts,” said Dawn.
“Faith pulled herself back from a very dark place, twice. That is why she has been chosen,” declared Clem.
“Twice? there was only the once, I can only remember the once,” said Dawn.
“The first time was before she went to Sunnydale, you couldn’t have known about that, Faith wasn’t too hot on the sharing,” said Turee.

“Your right Turee, Faith had to watch her Watchers death at the hands of Kakistos, imagine her feelings, she had never seen a vampire, but she was being trained how to kill them when suddenly this vampire bursts in and tortures the Watcher, forcing Faith to watch it, that went on for hours until Faiths Watcher died. The vampire then turned on Faith, luckily Faith lashed out with a piece of wood, hit Kakistos on the head and sent him reeling,” said Clem.

“Faith escaped and went into hiding, for days and weeks she hid, the torment and the events of what had happened kept being relived in her head but somehow she managed to pull her self up and went to

Sunnydale, but she didn’t fit in with the people there, she had grown up to quickly, then the evil began to drag her down, but she unknowingly had a reprieve,” said Turee.
“The body swap with Buffy did it, she was able to be herself again, and slowly but surely she began to lift herself up again, this time the evil couldn’t get to her,” said Clem.

“But she did all of those horrible things to my mum and Buffy,” said Dawn.
“True but even when she decided to get away from Sunnydale and she had even bought herself a plane ticket, as soon as she heard of other people being in danger she went to help them,” said Turee.
“Buffy had always helped people, even when she started to think bad thoughts she didn’t learn from it as Faith had done,” said Clem.

“So Giles, you helped bring forth a demon that brought fear and death to your friends, you rose above that and became a better person for it. Now imagine some-one going to a far deeper place than you did, twice. Can you think how much belief that person must have had in themself?” asked Turee.

“A Watcher must be able to depart that knowledge,” said Giles.
“When the trainings done, she will be able to get her slayer to use her belief in herself and Faith will be able to draw on her experiences of fighting demons and vampires, a good Watchers Watcher,” said Clem.

“I agree she would make a good Watcher and be really good to any slayer, that girl would be very lucky,” said Giles.
Just then the phone begins to ring, so Giles answers it,
“Hello can I help...Oh hello Angel, what is it?”
“Give Turee a message.........oh..........yes..........sure, I’ll see you later,” said Giles.
“Turee, Angel wants you and Nina to go tomorrow morning and do a special pick-up.”

[Illyrian]

THE NEW ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS pt 1
CHAPTER 4 SLAYER'S 16, VAMPIRE'S 3.

Turee and Nina were sat in the van in a lonely car park waiting for a girl to come into sight. A coach came into sight and stopped in front of them, a woman stepped of the coach, looked around then walked up to the van, Turee and Nina went to meet her.
“Hello Faith. We’ve been sent to meet you and give you a bit of a heads up before you meet every-one,” said Nina, “Angel’s told me a lot about you, he said to tell you, welcome back.”
Turee stopped the van just along Westcotes from AI, turning to Faith she told her.
“Take a good look, on the right at no: 3 is the offices of Angel Investigations and opposite that at number 16 is the ‘Museum of Ancient Religious Artefacts’.”
“Anyway at AI there is Angel, Spike, Nina, Wesley, Gunn, me, Illyria and Sally.”
“Okay, that’s three vampires,” said Faith.
“Umm no, that’s five vampires, Wesley and Gunn are vampires now.”
“What, Wes and Gunn, no way,” said Faith.
“The story is that Wesley was killed in a battle with a wizard and Gunn, he was badly injured in a battle with a group of vampires, Illyria went to be with Wesley after killing four others, she saw Wesley, comforted him then killed the wizard, she then went to another fight where she killed about thirty thousand demons by herself!.”
“Wow, what is she?” asked Faith.
“As far as we can agree,” said Turee, “she a Goddess, Fred breathed in some stuff from Illyria’s stone coffin and then Illyria began to be reborn within Fred, in less than a day Fred died and Illyria was reborn. Wesley helped Illyria to be tolerant to her life on this planet and as such Illyria sees Wesley as her friend, if you want to be seen as a friend to her then Wesley must treat you as a friend,” said Turee.
“I must remember to say hello nicely, to her,” commented Faith.
“No, you say hello to Wes first. Angel rang me to make
sure that I could give them each a soul and when I agreed, Angel and Spike they made them vampires,” continued Turee.
“Gotcha, Spike and Angel are treated as friends by Illyria because they saved Wes,” said Faith.
“Over the road is the Watchers Council.”
“No way, who’s idea was that,” said Faith.
“Well it was Spike’s and the top bloke of the council’s, you might recognise the name, it’s Giles. And the girl in charge of the slayers training is Anne Thurman.”
“So Giles it the top man at last, that’s good. Do I know this Anne, I’m guessing that she is a slayer but I don’t remember anyone of that name?” asked Faith.
“You may recognise her first name, she got married to Owen Thurman recently and together they own a catering supplies place, she used to be known as Buffy!.”
“B, B’s here. WOW!, What else have you got to throw at me?” asked Faith.
“Let’s see, I think that’s all, no wait, Xander works at the museum, the museum is a front for the Watchers Council, and the vampire slayers training thing.”
“I think that is enough for you to try to take in at the moment, so lets get you to the place and you can meet every-one,” said Nina.
“That’s a good idea Nina, I will try and organise some sleeping space for Faith,” said Turee.
At the warehouse Angel was waiting for Faith, and upon seeing her he greeted her like a long lost relative.
“Have I got some news for you,” said Angel, “Giles will be here soon and there will be a place for you to sleep over at the Hyperion hotel, one of the conditions for your release is that you work for us, we’ve got some extra work for you, it’ll be to help Anne train the new vampire slayers.”
“Will Xander be coming over as well?” asked Faith.
“No, he has got some work at that plush hotel a few miles out of town, but he will be here later.”
“How did he get work at a posh place?” asked Faith.
“Well, you remember Willy? He had a bar in Sunnydale, well, he works as a barman at the place and he got in touch with Giles and together they sorted it out for Xander to get the work, that and he restores the rooms at the Hyperion,” said Angel.
“Thought I recognised the voice, how are you. I see that you and Angel have met,” Wesley leans close to Faith, “Did Angel want *7 to hug you ?”
Faith smiles and looks at Angel who states, “I didn’t hug her, I don’t hug,” looking at Nina and Turee, “I didn’t hug her, did I,” he said looking at Wesley.
“Take it easy big boy, Wes was just having a go at you,” Faith nearly laughs at Angel, but her thoughts are altered as a car pulls up to the front of the place, out got Anne, Giles and Owen.
“I was just about to say that B is here, but I remembered what Turee said, it doesn’t work the same y‘know, calling her A does it?” asked Faith.
“Hello Faith, had a nice restful holiday,” said Anne as she gave Faith a big hug.
“It really is good to see you again, now about you calling me A, it won’t be much of a problem as Giles and I have had a long chat and I’m going to do background work with the new slayers. We thought it would be good to leave you in charge of training all the up and coming new slayers,” said Anne, “your a changed person now, even from the couple of seconds from when I came in I could feel that in you.”
“Thanks, that’s, that is good to hear,” replied Faith.
“Damn girl, who painted your legs,” said Gunn.
“A ?, my legs aren’t painted.”
“What, you mean those jeans are the real thing,” said a smiling Gunn.
Faith pursed her lips and nearly smiled, then closed her eyes. She opened her eyes and looked at Gunn, then slowly shook her head and smiled.
“Hey Faith,” continued Gunn, “ Do you like fishing ?.”
“Me, do like fishing, no, why,” asked Faith.
“It’s just that you took that one hook, line, and sinker.”
“This seems like a good time,” said Giles, “would you like to come with us and see the museum and where the slayers will be doing they’re training?.”
“Like you said Giles, this does seem like a good time,” replied a thankful Faith.
As they were crossing the road Faith asked Giles what sort of museum he would be having, he said that he had decided to call it, ‘The Museum of Ancient Religious Artefacts’, and by calling it that, anything that was even slightly old could be put in the museum. Faith asked him.
“Do you have anything on display, or is it a work in progress thing.”
“It’s a work in progress thing, all ideas are good ‘cos there’s not much on display yet.” was Giles’s reply, “it’s funny, in a strange way. I’ve got the amulet in a nice glass case and one of the swords of the Knights of Byzantium, Buffy took it from him, I was told that Glory got him, that’s where it gets strange, Turee told me that Gregor had said that the owner of the sword wanted it back.”
“What’s odd about that, the owner may want it back,” said Faith, “and who is this Gregor?.”
“He’s said to be the General of the Knights of Byzantium,” said Giles, “I was told that the original owner was dead.”
“Oh,“ said Faith, “yeah, that does make it a bit odd.”
Silently they walked to the back door, upon opening the door Giles said.
“Welcome to the headquarters of the Watchers Council.”
“So, who are the Watchers?” asked Faith, “there’s you and a vampire who will be a Vampire Slayer’s Watcher, oh please let him be my Watcher!” said Faith.
“Haven’t you got enough already?” asked Giles.
“Ay, what do you mean?” asked Faith.
“Well let’s see, the only Vampire Slayer that’s been given twenty five to life for murder two, and then had a presidents pardon!.”
“Hmm, well, when it’s put in that way, it does sound good doesn’t it!” said a grinning Faith.
“I suppose so, in a weird way, except for the twenty five to life bit. Your Watcher will be me, as it is I am a watcher for another Vampire Slayer, but I think that you will get most of my attention, the other Slayer seems to be trying to build herself a new life, it’s Anne.”
“Thanks, I think.” said Faith.
“Your a much easier person to speak to, compared with what you were like when I first met you,” said Giles.
“That’s all thanks to Angel, even when you think of some of the stuff that I did to Angel, when I asked for help, he was the one who helped me and he really believed in me, and, even when he became Angelus and I was drawn into his nightmare, I fought with Angel to win over Angelus, if he ever needs help, I will help for him.”
“It is good that your here, it’s like Anne said, you’re a changed person now,” said Giles.
“I’ve changed, your more relaxed as well,” said Faith.
*8 “Well, what do you expect, I’m surrounded by you young bloody colonials most the time,” having said that Giles smiled, “Come on, I will show you the rooms here, then we will go down to the training area and we can start to design the layout and what you want to put in there.”
“One thing that I’m a bit unsure about, how many Watchers are there, and who are they?” asked Faith.
“There is a few around but they won’t answer their phones, maybe they are scared or dead,” said Giles.
Faith and Giles began to move the various bits of training equipment about, they had been working for an hour or so and had lost track of time completely.
“HEL-LO-OO!” said Anne.
“Oh, hello Anne, sorry, didn’t notice you,” said Giles.
“You did sound very English when you said that,” Anne looks at Faith as Faith bursts out laughing.
“What is that thing, and what were you doing with it anyway,” asked Anne.
“That thing,” said Giles, “is known as a horse and it needs to be big.”
*9 “There, you go B, size does matter,” says Faith in between bursts of laughter, at which point Anne collapses in laughter.
“I’m not going to speak to either of you now,” says Giles as he turned and walked away. Indignantly and purposely he went to his little office and made himself
*10 a cup of tea, while he was waiting for the kettle to boil he looked in the mirror, after a short while he said too himself, “It’s good they get along with each other,” he nodded to himself.
Then walked away, made his cuppa and went to the doorway, casually leaning against the door frame, he noticed that Faith and Anne were in hysterics. He continued to lean against the door frame, looked at them and smiled. His gaze was averted when the door opened and let in some light. Turee had come over to what Giles and Faith were up to.
“What is it with those two?” she asked, “before, if they met, if one was on fire the other would’ve smiled.”
“Some comment that Faith said, think they keep adding to it, look at them, they are behaving like long lost friends,” was his reply, “you want anything in particular,”
Turee looked then nodded, “Mmm yes, I was going to tell you, Faith and Anne, that Dawn is nearly here and she is with her slayer.”
“Oh, we will have to be very tactful then, we had a few problems with her,” said Giles, “mind you if no-one knows she’s coming here we could have some fun with Faith, maybe not.”
“Well no-one else does know, I will go out front and guide them in here first. Just tell me, what are you going to do ?” asked Turee.
“Oh,” said Giles, “you two are back with us,. Dawn and her slayer will be here soon, er very soon, according to Turee.”
“I don’t think that Faith has met Dawn’s Slayer before, well I’m sure that she has heard of her, the cutting off Spike‘s hands thing,”
The four of them moved the various training bits of equipment into the stores, all of them waiting for Dawn to arrive. They all stopped when a car door and the sound of footsteps was heard, Anne moved to the open doorway.
“Typical, lead your Slayer the wrong way,” said Faith.
Dawn span around saw Anne and shrieked, they ran to greet each other.
“Some people have to be told everything, ah Dana, let me introduce you, this is Faith and Anne, she is Dawn’s sister.” said Giles.
Dawn leant towards Dana, “Buffy.”
“Oh,” said Dana, “Dawn has told me of you, I feel I should kneel before you.”
“I think that we are going to be good friends,” said a suitably impressed Anne.
Giles spoke up, “Dana, we will take you across the road to meet some people, you may remember them,” as they walked in they heard the phone.
“Oh, lots of little girls for me to play with,” said Spike.
“SPIKE!” shouted Dawn.
“Oh, sorry Dawn, dearest,” said Spike.
“Stop it, I don’t want you talking to me like that when there’s other people around,” said Dawn, quietly.
“Yes dear,” said Spike.
“Don’t say that,” said Dawn.
“Yes love, oops!, sorry,” said Spike.
“Bugger,” exclaimed Dawn.
The phone began to ring again,
“She is even starting to sound like me,” said Spike to Dana.
“Are you two still having a go at me?” asked Dawn.
The phone was still ringing, Spike sensing his saviour went to get the phone. Spike came back, smiling.
“Hey guess what, we’ve got a new case,” he declared. He went into the main office and approached Angel.
“Some friend of yours called Kate, wants to tell you about a new case.”
Angel took Turee with him to meet with Kate,
“You know, it was because of you that I was struck off from the police force, then it was because of your kind that I was asked to come back, seems that no-one else was capable of dealing with the rash of ‘strange’ goings on that began to occur,” then Kate looks at Turee and asks Angel if she is a vampire like him.
“No, she isn’t,” then looking at Turee, “Kate knows I am a vampire,” said Angel, almost apologetically.
“I have been known to do a bit of magic, though,” Turee says to Kate.
Angel slowly shakes his head, then tells Kate,
“If Turee wanted to, she could make us be in London, what that Copperfield guy used to do as an illusion, Turee can do for real, you used to think that I was a strange person, well Turee isn’t a strange person, most people seem to like her,” then turning to Turee, “tell Kate exactly all the truth, it’s how she can help us best, also she doesn’t get any nasty little surprises half way through a case.” said Angel.
“Okay,” says Turee, “If your sure, Kate, what I am going to tell you, Angel doesn’t know all of it yet. I have a direct link to the Powers That Be, I am what you may call a Wizard, I am an immortal, I do age, but very, very slowly. My fifteenth birthday was several thousand years ago, and maybe a few more years, you wouldn’t be wrong if said that I have a multiple personality.”
Angels jaw had dropped, Kate looked at Angel in complete amazement.
“At present their are five vampires and six Vampire Slayers, one Slayer is not alive and one vampire is not real, there are five Watchers, and there is one who is not a human, a werewolf, two Goddesses, four humans and two immortals, soon there will be about one hundred thousand seven hundred and seventy immortal beings and a few hundred thousand others to help us.”
Kate, in a stunned state of shock asks.
“So who are the four humans, Turee?.”
“Our friend Xander, Thomson and Andrea and you!.”
Angel looked intently at Turee,
“Whistler once told me, soon. Is this what he meant?” asked Angel.
*11 “It is now very soon, the dusting of Doug Sanders marked the beginning of the end,” said Turee.
A puzzled Kate looked at Angel,
“Once I was sent to hell by Anne, you have already met her, I called her Buffy. That was when Faith gave herself up to you, you‘ll see her again soon as she‘s just been released,” said Angel.
“Yes, I remember her giving herself up,” said Kate, surprising herself that she could even talk, she thought that she was numb from all their weird talk.
“The second time I chose to go there, I was even taken there by a lower demon, that’s is when I found out that hell is here,” Angel continued.
“That was when the Powers That Be found out where hell is, they needed the demons to tell them,” interjected Turee, “and soon it will appear.”
“What will ?” asked Angel.
“It is already here in its first form, the user was chosen to wear it for he had taken the path that he wanted to, they were friends in a previous life and now they are friends again,” Turee replied.
“Hang on, you mean Spike do you?” asked Angel.
“He was human, then he was created a vampire, then he chose to get a soul and he began to become a good person and he spiralled into the old Sunnydale school where he grew deeper and deeper insane, then he died. But he was chosen and given the same appearance, but he was a human began, whilst still appearing as a vampire.”
“The amulet, he was chosen to be the wearer of the amulet.” said Angel.
“Yes,” replied Turee.
“I am having trouble coming to terms with all of this,” said Kate.
“I will be finished in a minute, the amulet will soon become the, well you’ll find out later.” said Turee.
“So the amulet that destroyed the forces from hell also destroyed the, what, portal to where, hell?” asked Angel.
“Yes, it was where the Wolf Ram and Hart came from, it is also where Illyria came from, there’s another dimension, which because of Cordelia it is now a good place, Pylea,” said Turee.
“So it destroyed evil before, soon it will do the same again, is he coming back?” asked Angel.
“If he wants to come back, he will. Does he need to have others want or expect him,” said Turee.
“Please, please tell me you have finished Turee,” said Kate, Turee nodded.
“The case is about a six year old boy that has gone missing in the Lake Casitas Recreation Area, he was on the first day of a two weeks holiday, that’s where the first problem came from, then we found out that all his clothes had been washed or he had new clothes,” said Kate.
“That’s a bit of a problem,” said Angel.
“The second problem is that we were called in on the second day, the searchers had met on the camping ground, there was that many sets of foot prints that we could only guess which ones to follow,” said Kate.
“This just seems to get worse,” said Turee.
“But only for them,” said Angel smiling to Turee.
“For me to call you in at such a fairly early stage as this in the search I had to tell my bosses that you have a tracker on your team, but I couldn‘t say any more about them or they‘d want proof.”
Kate was trying to explain that she couldn’t tell her bosses that vampires and werewolf's were part of the team.
“That’s not quite true, we have two trackers, one is a werewolf and one, well, she says she is a natural vampire but I regard her as a human vampire,” replied Angel.
“If she is a human vampire then we have two of those,” Turee pointed out.
“Ay?” asked Angel.
“Your forgetting about Spike,” said Turee, “If we work this out, we could have two teams on this case, a day team and a night team.”
“Has this kid got a rescue pack?” asked Angel.
Angel was about to carry on speaking when Turee held up a finger to him.
“If the child can be found, then the chances are that we will find him, we’ve got the talent,” said Turee.
“That’s true,” said Angel.
“We find the child, hopefully safe and well then there is a fairly good chance that we will be called in for any other cases like this one, that being so if we declare that we will only work with Kate here, she would benefit ‘cos she’d be in a situation where she doesn’t have to ask, she can tell others what she wants,” said Turee.
“Yes, good thinking Turee, if we say that we can be there at about ten thirty tomorrow morning, Kate if you can get access to all the search information for us and find out what accommodation is near to the area, we can get straight on to it,” said Angel.

On the way home Turee suggested that Angel call Sally and ask if she can take a few days off, also if he can see about getting another van and start organising the sleeping and living accommodations.
When they got back Turee went across the road to speak with Giles about getting a few people to help with the search, namely Faith, Dawn and Dana, Angel was going to sort out who would be doing what and when, but Xander was waiting for him,
“I’ve had an idea, how about me putting up a fake castle rampart look at the front of this place, there could also be a small flag pole with a flag of Angel Investigations new logo. If we all start referring to here as the palace then eventually the name will catch on, it’ll be better than saying we’re going back to the warehouse, it would make this plus it would be a good name for the lunch bar and the building if the front is painted to look like it’s built from big stone blocks.”
Angel stared at Xander for a while.
“I like that idea, if the blocks are done to look like big old weathered stone blocks and some yellow security lights, AI has got a new case and we should be leaving tomorrow morning and maybe coming back Sunday night or Monday morning, any chance you could have it done by then?” asked Angel.
“If I get another person to help me with the painting and the brickwork, we could get the flag pole put up, get some one else to do the electrical work, yes it’s feasible, all I need is the money to do it, but yeah,” said Xander
“Okay,” said Angel, “go for it, I reckon every-one will appreciate it and hopefully a few will even notice it.”

It was lovely and cold the next morning, Spike had gone out to the vans to get the engines warmed up, but mainly to have the heaters working, just in case some of them want to be nice and warm ready for when they set off. They were all waiting for Sally to arrive with the basic necessities of life, pigs blood, sausages, and various cuts of meat with coleslaw, Angel and Nina had also been up early making a warm breakfast for every-one, a nutritious chips and pies, various flavours of course.

It was almost nine thirty when the two vans of AI entered the camp site, they had stopped at a nearby hotel leaving Angel, Nina, Wesley, Gunn and Faith to get some sleep ready for the night shift, Turee, Dawn and Dana, as they worked together well. Sally, Illyria and Spike were going to do the first shift, Turee would be operating the radio in their base camp, liaising with the parents and the police. An old four person tent was erected and the van reversed up to the front entry, the other van was reversed to the other end of the tent by the time that Kate came to speak to Turee. They were ready to set off and start looking, after a quick briefing the team was on their way, Faith had the two-way radio, it would have gone to Spike but Turee thought that he might be a bit sarcastic in his choice of words.

Once out of sight of the camp they formed a line leaving about three meters apart, Sally was near the centre. After three hours Sally stopped and called the others over, she had found a child’s footprints and there was a dogs prints nearby, with Sally leading the way they followed the foot marks which led to the shore, there was evidence of a small boat having been there it could have been a small rowing boat or a canoe. The group made a fire and sat down to have a bite to eat and a hot drink while Faith called up Turee to see if any small boats or canoe had gone missing or if one had been found. After a short while Turee called back saying that a canoe had been found on the shoreline opposite them and that a local was on his way out to them in a rowing boat and he
would take them to the place that the canoe had been found. Dana said to Dawn.
“Is it just me or is Spike behaving more and more like a sensible human.”
“I noticed that, but don’t let him know that you’ve seen that or he’ll change without realising it,” said Dawn, “so its not just you, a couple of the others have remarked about it,” replied Dawn.
“How has this human thing affected him, I mean, if he is as a normal human then why does he need the ring ?.”
“Well it would need a great leap of faith for him to let some-one stick a piece of wood in him or let someone throw holy water on him, I think he has put his hand in the sun but the ring would give him a sense of security,” said Dawn.
“You could be right about the security thing,” said Dana.
“Also as the sun has an adverse effect on the skin, think what it’ll do to a person who hasn’t been in the sun for over a hundred years, and if you notice when he walks he tends to walk in the shadows,” said Dawn.
“I hadn’t thought about that, oh look, here’s the boat,” said Dana.
After a short trip in the boat Spike and Sally were on the opposite shore, near to where the canoe had been found. Sally looked around for the tracks, after ten minutes of looking she went up to Spike.
“I don’t think this is the right place to look, this little boat may have come from somewhere else. There are no dog tracks near here and there are none in the boat, there are a few children’s prints in the boat but they are wet ones not dirty wet ones!”
“So, what’s that mean?” asked Spike.
“Who-ever got into this boat did so from hard solid ground,” said Sally, “I think we should go back to where we were.”
When they got back Sally said.
“I think that that was a false lead, no animal tracks, the footprints in the boat were just a coincidence.”
Sally set about finding the foot marks again, but she found the dogs prints first, then after another minute she found the boys prints, Sally thought for a moment then called Dawn over,
“We will need to get these tracks identified, I reckon they are a type of dog but it’d be handy to know what type of dog,” said Sally.
Dawn spoke to Steve, the man who had brought out the boat,
“We’ll need a caste made of the dogs prints, can you organize it?”
“I’ll go back and get the stuff to do it.”
“I’ll put a marker near a print, we’ll carry on can you get someone out here at four thirty, we’ll make a bee-line for the shore about then,” said Sally.

The group spent the next two hours slowly following the trail, Spike left a marker around every fifteenth tree so that they could be followed. At nearly four thirty they moved back to the shore. When Dawn sat down Dana gave her a puzzled look.
“What is the difference between a vampire and a human vampire?”
“A vampire is a demonic creature, unless it has a soul of course, whereas a human vampire is a, well it’s a, oh look here’s Sally we’ll ask her,” said Dawn.
“Excuse me, Sally can you come over here, Dana wants to know what a human vampire is.”
“I did ask my Watcher but just between you and me, I don’t think she knew the answer,” said Dana.
“It’s easy really, I was born like this,” said a smiling Sally, “that’s why it’s called a human thing, I do drink blood and it’s only the women that do that, it is how we feed our young, a bit like the mosquito does, as I’ve got a tigress in me, I can track at night even. Mind you there is one big disadvantage, I need to wear clothing that isn’t to tight, or it might be embarrassing when I need to change.”
“So when you change to a tigress you actually become one?” asked Dana.
“So I’m told.”
“That’s weird, mind you I’ve always liked the look of tigers.”
“As you’ve got the radio, can you call up Turee and ask her if any of the night team are there, if so I can show them where we are up to.”
Dana called up Turee and repeated Sally’s request. Turee said that Nina was there and that she would be out in the boat. Spike and Dana crept off together and began playing in the trees.

When the boat arrived, Nina asked Sally if she was okay with them being alone together even though she was still having trouble controlling her growler. Sally said that she would make allowances, she told Nina to look in the trees at Spike and Dana’s antic’s.
“Where are they?”
“They are doing an impersonation of Tarza