Something To Atone For. BtVS/AtS, Doyle SI.

[Flightless Man]

Something To Atone For

A Doyle self insert who at first plans to find the safest city he can move to, only for guilt to begin pilling up. Those migraine inducing visions, really make it hard to avoid the call to adventure. Taking advantage of Doyle's teaching degree, the SI ends up getting involved in season one of Buffy.

Chapter 1: Achoo
​

Groaning as I stretch myself awake, the hangover is quick to catch up with me. Only getting a few seconds of clarity to glance around the trashed apartment, I realize quickly that this is not my apartment. Definitely not my couch.

I'm not the cleanest person, but this place looks like it's been through a couple spring breaks. The stench of whisky and the faint aroma of vomit churn my stomach right as the headache strikes.

Dragging myself along the floor by instinct not my own, I spend at least an hour curled up around the toilet. When I finally manage to wipe my face and stagger to my feet, the face in the mirror is enough to send me right back to the floor. What the hell is going on?

Coughing as I pull myself up one more time, I manage to face the stranger's face. The nearly black hair hair isn't that big of a change, only cut a lot shorter than it's been in a few years. The blue-grey eyes are the big shock and get me to turn the sink in a hurry.

No matter how many times I splash the slightly brown water against my face, the reflection doesn't fix itself. Why do I look so familiar?

While I try not to devolve into gibbering panic at what seems to be a Face Off kind of situation, Ifeel a pressure building up in my nostrils. The mighty sneeze I let loose, is more than enough to answer most of my questions.

My skin is suddenly an avocado green and covered with with inch long spikes. Blood red irises almost glow back at me in the dim light, making it sink in whose body I'm in.

When I stop screaming, I take a closer look at the demonic face. Pricking my finger on one of the spines. draws both pain and blood. As I confirm this isn't just some terrible nightmare, the true danger of my situation starts sinking in.

"Impossible..." With shaking hands i reach for the bulge in my jeans and pull out an old wallet. The Irish accent is overlooked in my current shock.

I flip open the cracked brown leather and slide out the driver's licence it contains. The man is a perfect match for who I saw in the mirror before the sneeze.

"Allen Francis Doyle." The name comes out accompanied by some nervous laughter and I know I'm completely screwed.

I'm not sure how it happened and I'm almost too terrified of the answer to find out who was responsible. But I know how much danger I'm in just living in Los Angeles.

"I need to get the hell out of town." Grunting as the beginning of a plan starts to form, I leave the bathroom with a mission.

It doesn't take long to find a stack of Doyle's bills and I can only stare in disbelief at the most current date. "September seventeenth, nineteen ninety six. I think this is still before the movie..."

"I just write a few letters to the Scoobies anonymously and find some quiet little town to hide out in." It's not like every town in the world is a secret death trap. I just need to find one with a low fatality rate and keep my head down.

Having a goal, is just enough to get me moving again. But it's not the front door I go to.

While I try to control my frantic breathing, my shaking legs bring me to the answering machine. The flashing red light lets me know it has at least one message waiting and my trembling finger presses the play button.

"I can't do this anymore Francis." A woman's voice sounds like it's trying hard not to cry.

Harriet. The name flashes from the depths of my memories and groan at the reminder Doyle had a wife.

"I love you. But you just want to wallow in your misery..." Harriet pauses long enough that I think the message is over. "I can't watch you drink yourself to death anymore."

Glancing at the empty bottles on the coffee table and the spilled bottle of sleeping pills. I understand exactly why I needed to brush my teeth so many times.

At least I don't need to feel guilty about stealing someone's life. Seems like this version of Doyle... gave his up.

"I'm staying at my mothers. Don't come here unless you're ready to be happy again." Harriet starts to cry as the message ends, the next one beginning automatically.

"This is a whole lot to take in..." The words I mutter, do very little to truly encompass my situation.

"This is Hemery High, looking for an Allen Doyle." The voice of another woman fills my apartment, this one with a far more nasal tone. "We need an English teacher and you're next on the call sheet." She pauses as she checks her paperwork. "Both the nineteenth and twentieth of this month."

That's this Thursday and Friday. I confirm with a glance at the calendar on the fridge and note it's only two days away. Might be a good idea to put some more money in the bank before I go on the run.

Walking towards the whisky bottle on the coffee table, I hesitate right before wrapping my fingers around it. Good thing I was always a rum man, or this would be really tempting.

It's around eleven in the morning when I dump the bottle out in the sink and start cleaning the place up. It's only a one bedroom place and more just cluttered than actually dirty. Except for the vomit behind the couch, that was foul.

When I finally finish and drop the washcloth in the trash, it's not even three in the afternoon. Should be clean enough to get my damage deposit back.

Over the next few hours, I pay off the many bills pilled on the counter. Wincing with each check I sign, I decide it's probably fine to accept the Hemery job.

I'm pretty sure the movie takes place in October. I should be safe from getting pulled into the action... At least as long as I'm out of the city by the end of the month.

Once I call back and accept the job, I spend the rest of my evening cleaning myself. It takes four showers before I stop reeking and I curse the Brachen sense of smell.

The next day is spent filling my fridge with food that isn't rotten and washing my clothes. I even remember to grab a few things for the students.

Doyle's style wasn't too far off from my own, with only the leather jacket being a no go. I just hate how sticky they feel when I start sweating and that's going to happen a whole lot in California.

When Wednesday morning comes around and I arrive at Hemery High, I could swear I see Angel and Whistler across the street. It's just for a fraction of a second and both men vanished in the time it took me to blink. So I can't be sure if it was real or only my own paranoia.

The morning is easier than I expected and I'm relieved I was already working towards earning my own teaching degree. I might have been focusing on history. But I know exactly how much the kids are going to pay attention to a sub.

When the lunch bell rings and I get my first tenth graders, I freeze at the sight of Buffy Summers on the attendance sheet. She seems completely relaxed and that is enough for me to continue calling out names.

She's way too calm to have been Called already, which means I don't need to panic yet. Taking a deep breath, I introduce myself to the class.

"None of you want to waste the day learning something the actual teacher is just going to repeat when she gets back." I grin at the suddenly interested eyes being directed at me. "So who wants to play a game instead today?"

The bag of assorted Halloween candy I pull out from behind my desk, gets the interest turned into absolute attention. "Do I need to explain the rules of Jeopardy to anyone?"

A few hands go up, only to drop back down once their neighbours fill them in in the time it takes me to set up the projector. Even Buffy gets an answer correct by the end of the day and accepts her gum with a smirk.

Nothing terrible happens for the rest of the day and I'm able to use to library to find a few possible towns to move to. Seems like anything off the tourist path is instantly safer.

The students actually seem excited when they file into my classroom on Friday, giving me a boost of sorely needed confidence. Bribing them with candy works just as well the second time and I can't help but let my eyes drift to Buffy. Can't believe how much she changes, she really is twice as bad as Cordelia ever was.

When I arrive back at my apartment, I finish packing my suitcases. Clothes and anything that seems like it would be more expensive to replace is all I stuff into them, with the wedding ring only staying on my hand due to forgetfulness.

"Should probably call Harriet and let her know she can have the place back." Despite knowing it's the right thing to do, I put the phone down without making the call. I don't want her thinking Doyle is getting his shit together.

Too tired to drive tonight, I decide to get a fresh start in the morning. Except when I'm halfway to the bedroom, the buzzer announces someone wants to talk to me.

Dread suddenly fills me as I slowly approach the intercom and press the button to talk. "Who is it?"

"Lucas." The man who answers is frantic. "I'm a cousin on your mother's side and I really need to talk to you!"

"I'll buzz you inside." I'm careful not to give an actual invitation, suddenly very worried the vampires are here to greet me.

Opening the door to Lucas rushing into my apartment, quickly proves he's not a possessed corpse. "Thanks for not chasing me off. I have no one else I can turn to."

The words and desperation they are said with, pulls on my heartstrings. But his terror when describing the Scourge is contagious and stops me from getting involved. Could also be the fact that I know how big of an army they have and how brutal they are to people like me.

"Look Lucas..." I interrupt him with guilt dripping from my voice. "I've already got a lot on my own plate and to be honest, I really have no idea what you expect me to be able to do. I'm not champion."

"But we have no one else to turn to!" The raw terror isn't enough to make me overcome my own desire to stay out of trouble.

"Who told you I was anything more than a coward?" I cross my arms and make my position clear.

Lucas growls, his face distorting as the Brachen half of him is revealed. "They're going to come for you eventually you know." He doesn't fight, instead leaving me with some foreboding words. "I hope you get just as many rejections as my family has."

When my door slams shut, I take a seat at the kitchen table. My mind races with guilt, doubt, and a dozen other emotions that do nothing but make me feel worse.

Despite how tired I was before Lucas' visit, I find myself wide awake well past midnight. I do nothing but pick at my fingers and chew on my lips, drawing blood from both before too long.

"I couldn't have done anything by myself." Trying to reassure myself for the hundredth time, I fail once more to make the shame leave me.

Sudden pain fills my skull and at first I think someone struck me from behind. But as my sight is replaced by a vision of Lucas and his family, it takes everything in me to stay upright.

The Scourge pour onto the boat being used to hide the family I turned away, each one of the monsters in matching grey uniforms. I'm forced to witness a brutal massacre and nothing I do makes the scene stop.

Every innocent on board is killed before my sight is restored. When it finally is, I'm left sweaty and shaking in my dark kitchen.

"What have I done?" Guilt builds inside of me and sends me running to the bathroom to empty my stomach.​

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 2: Gunns Don't Kill People
​

By the time I drove down to the docks, the Scourge have cleared out. The aroma of a very nickel heavy blood reaches my nose, even over the scent of the ocean.

I know Angel said Brachens are pretty much bloodhound demons in one episode. But if a vampires enhanced senses are comparable to my own sense of smell, it makes a whole lot of sense why they aren't using guns. The smell of gunpowder would mask the human prey and the sound would leave them with a vision class headache.

Lifting the hatch reveals the carnage below deck and I end up emptying my stomach into the bay. The guilt that courses through me, wars with my common sense. I saw at least a dozen uniformed demons in my vision and I still have no idea how strong I actually am.

If the Powers That Be actually wanted me to do something, I would have needed weeks to plan something with even a chance of working.

With how fast the attack took place, I would have been one of the bodies if I came. But I could have let them stay at my place.

Would have been a lot harder for the Scourge to just march through my neighbourhood. And that reality is what gets my guilt to settle down.

"I can't just forget this kind of thing." My fists tighten around the railing as I get my churning stomach under control.

Even if I wanted to, the Scourge wants every drop of humanity gone. They would come for me eventually, or my children if I manage to hide.

Deciding to clear the scene of a multiple homicide before the cops show up, I make a beeline for the beat up Corolla. Pretty sure that Doyle has had that thing since he was in high school.

Not wanting to be alone with my grim thoughts tonight, I pull to a stop outside the first bar that doesn't look like an obvious demon den. The fact that it's a gay bar doesn't bother me. Only overpriced drinks will have me turning right around after what I witnessed.

It's hard for a show to get get across exactly what a vision is like. It wasn't like seeing it on screen, I felt the Scourge tear Lucas apart. I lived through his terror and grief as he died and it was a very painful minute.

Watching Lucas' entire family die around me and hearing the screams drown out anything else. That left me with only two simple choices. Give up on life in the face of insurmountable evil, or avenge every single person the Scourge have killed.

Knowing how they are beaten in the show, gives me enough hope that I can fool myself. Suicidal most likely. But probably not impossible.

My sour mood keeps pretty much everyone away, with only the bartender and a few brave men bothering to approach the brooding loner. I turn each invitation down as gracefully as I can, with each guy understanding once I explain. Telling them I'm just trying to get over a recent death with the sound of people talking, is enough to take any possible sting away from the rejection.

When last call comes, I've barely managed to overcome my demonic resilience. If I was still in my old body, I would have been on the floor six drinks ago.

No wonder Doyle was always coherent in the show. And that realization, impresses me more than it really should. He really was committed to keeping himself numb.

Not even bothering to pull out the keys to my beat up Toyota, I drop a couple dollars worth of quarters in the meter instead. I'll grab some breakfast and walk of the buzz. The world's already dangerous enough without me adding even more human stupidity to it.

The crowd clears the street fast enough that I pick up on the strawberry blond meat head trying to follow discreetly. Really glad this is before the days of body spray.

Though will that end up lowering the teenage male body count in a few years? I know I wouldn't want to bite into someone that reeks like Axe.

The ponytail and black leather vest are straight out of the eighties. But I'm still shocked at his lack of reflection in the store windows and have to make my shocked stumble look like a drunken stagger.

Of course this just makes my stalker feel confident enough to act. "You doing alright? I saw how much you had to drink."

If I didn't know his true intentions with me, I could very easily be convinced by the genuine sounding tone. But since I know I'm only a Slurpee to the vampire, I decide to treat him like the other kind of bear.

Stopping in front of an alley, I try to put a nonchalant look onto my face when I confront the demon. "You're really wasting both our time with this. Unless you like your blood tasting like spoiled milk of course."

"How did you know?" The vampire's face contorts into confused astonishment as he tries to process my knowledge.

"How new are you to the whole unlife thing?" Forcing myself to smirk, I can only hope the rum is masking the scent of my overwhelming terror.

Blinking a few times, the blonde eventually answers with a creased brow. "Second month last Monday."

"And do you really think it's just vampires walking around?" My eyes go blood red and my skin reverts to it's Brachen green.

The blue spines bursting out of my flesh is what really hammer the point home and I allow myself to revel in the moment. Turning my own terror back on a vampire, that is a memory I'm going to cherish until I the day I die. And sadly, it's probably not going to end up being that far away.

"What the hell are you?" The beefy vampire recoils at the sight of me.

"Just hope you never run into one of my kind again." Getting right in the bigger guy's face, I hiss up at him with all the menace I can muster.

My bluff works, with the blonde backing away carefully. "We're all good. Was just a little mix up."

"So get walking and I may let you see another sunset." I somehow manage to keep the astonishment off my face as the vampire nods fervently.

"You got it man!" He scampers off for easier prey and relief fills me.

But the sensation is brief, being replaced by horrified guilt at the sight of the ponytail vanishing around the corner. He's going to kill someone else and this time I wasn't outnumbered.

My fists clench tight enough for my palms to start bleeding and I tilt my head towards the grey sky. "Don't bother sending me one unless I lose his scent!"

The damn headache will just get my replacement killed and I really don't need any more weight on my conscience. I'll never forget the sight of what was left of Lucas' family... Or how I could have done something about it.

Being the last person I was near, makes it disturbingly easy to follow the vampire into the rougher part of town. I'm not only shocked at how good my nose really is. But completely amazed at how long I can run now.

In my old body, I was barely able to run a whole mile without collapsing in a heap. But tonight the blocks are just blurring past me, with it taking a long time for my lungs to start burning from the exertion. We really are just demonic bloodhounds.

When the scent mixes with another, I follow right into the grimy alley. The sight of two bodies pressed against the brick wall, isn't enough to disguise the smell of coppery blood.

"Changed my mind!" The punch I land on the blonde is enough to knock him away from the shocked teen.

The way he drops like his strings have been snipped, gives me enough confidence to follow through on my attack. The board I snap, isn't a very sharp one. But I'm feeling confident in my strength for the first time ever and drive the two by four through his chest.

It's a big enough piece of wood, that I manage to hit the heart enough to dust the vampire. Despite my rather poor aim, I feel a surge of pride at the cloud of ash that explodes around me.

"Why the hell did Doyle always fight as a human?" I'm pretty sure I can punch through brick like this.

A groan makes me turn back to the groaning teen, and the crimson fluid pour over his dark fingers. "Thanks for the save."

He slides down the wall and seems to have a hard time focusing on my face. Which thankfully gives me enough time to shake my face back to it's human appearance.

"You're going to be alright." I add the pressure of my own fingers to his bite and sigh with relief. It's not very deep and should stop bleeding soon. "But you should probably go to the hospital and get this looked at."

"Gunn's going to be so mad at me," The teen snorts at his condition and lets me help him to his feet. "It was just one bloodsucker and I let him get the jump on me like an amateur."

"Charles Gunn?" I should be shocked at what seems like a coincidence. But I know this is probably just the Powers at work.

I get a shocked nod from the teen who later introduces himself as Levar. "You know him?"

"Of him," I admit it's a one way connection and rush to reassure him. "All good things though."

"Good to know we're making a difference." Pride fills the teen's voice.

Inspiration strikes me as we reach my car and I pull my house key off the ring. "You probably know that vampires can't come into a place without an invitation. But an extra safe house is always useful."

Levar's bleeding has slowed down immensely and he climbs into my passenger seat with only a small groan of pain. He doesn't seem to understand what's happening when I slide into my own seat and hold out the silver key.

"That's not mine."

"It is now." Or at least as long as the crew keeps paying the bills. "I'm leaving town and can't think of anyone I'd rather sublet my place to."

"We're not exactly rolling in cash..." Trying not to offend me and my generous offer, Levar's hesitates in accepting the key. "How much are you going to charge for rent?"

"Pay the bills, kill vampires, and no parties." Dropping it into his palm with a cocky smirk, I feel an ounce of my Everest sized guilt slide off by shoulders. "Do that and you'll probably never see me again." Not like I'd come back even if you break any of those terms.

"For real?" Doubt still fills his voice.

Giving him a heavy look that says more than simple words ever could, I try to explain it as best I can. "Us champions got to look out for each other. Not like anyone else will." Even if I don't see myself that way, this body has already been drafted.

"Here's the address." I scribble it down along with the door code and apartment number.

He gets out of the car and tries to invite me in to meet the rest of the crew. But knowing a single sneeze would get me killed, I decide to speed off with only a last wave goodbye.

I almost make it out of downtown before I feel a pressure building all across my brain. Barely managing to pull over in time for another vision, at least this one lacks blood.

Suddenly in a library, my point of view starts to read from a book of strange symbols. When he finishes his chanting, crackling bolts of blue energy arc along the floor and form a portal behind a face any fan of Angel would recognize. Fred.​

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 3: Pursuit Of Knowledge
​

It's harder to find the specific library than I assumed it would be. And really explains why Angel went the private detective route.

I've gotten way to used to just googling directions and people leaving everything about themselves on social media. Actually tracking down a location is incredibly frustrating and it doesn't help that I only have a room full of books to work with.

Sixty three accredited colleges or universities are in Los Angeles. That leaves me racing back and forth across the city, my anger rising as the sun begins falling below the rooftops.

"Where are you Fred?" Grumbling under my breath, I allow my fingers to strum with the beat against the steering wheel. "Really running out of time here."

Not feeling any luckier with the seventeenth campus, I turn off the ignition with a growing scowl. I can't remember what the guy responsible looks like from memory alone and know this is my only chance to grab the book for another five years.

As the dark classrooms whip by, it becomes a struggle to keep my demon side contained. The more I strain to find a recent scent, the more the pressure builds beneath my skin. Showing up with a face full of blue barbs, really won't help convince Fred that I'm the good guy.

When I do track down the library, it's the only room with more than emergency lights on. Inside, a single head of bushy brown hair pokes up from behind the librarians desk.

"Are you all right?" Her Texan drawl is even stronger than my own accent and I instantly sag in relief. "You look like you just ran a marathon."

A quick glance at the clock is enough to place me only a few minutes before the incident and my mind races for any plausible explanation. "Something most people would call impossible is about to happen and I'm here to save you from it."

"I'm calling the police." Fred is already reaching for the phone.

"Probably a good idea." That seems to confuse her enough to hesitate with a finger over the number nine. "You aren't the first grad student to vanish mysteriously."

I may not remember how many other people have been banished from Earth. But I know it's enough to leave a paper trail.

"You know what happened to them?" Curiosity overcomes Fred's concern for her own safety. "Doctor Seidel said the police had lost the trail."

"Well of course he would say that." My tone gets her back on the defensive and I try to make her see the obvious. "How many grad students have gone missing and how many was he responsible for?"

It only takes her a couple seconds to understand and her gasp of horror is more satisfying than I would like to admit. "All four of them."

"That really didn't ring any alarm bells for you?" It's not like this is Sunnydale, with the whole magically enforced masquerade.

"The opportunity was too good to pass up." Horror fills every word. "Doctor Seidel is world renowned and studying under him would sky rocket my career."

Raising a single eyebrow, I barely manage to hold in a snort of laughter. "Straight to another dimension."

"The claim of the impossible?" Fred's nose scrunches up as she puts the pieces together. "But Seidel's research is only theoretical."

"Proof will be here in a few minutes, I'll stay over here by the door until it is." Trying to get Fred to relax, I very deliberately take a seat at the table farthest from her. "And if nothing happens by midnight, I'll admit I was wrong and leave."

"That sounds reasonable..." The university student can't seem to find anything outrageous about the request and relents.

"Aren't you a student?" Trying to make less stressful conversation, I point at the cart of books in her hands.

Nodding slowly, Fred makes sure to keep me in her view as she slides books onto the appropriate shelf. "And that costs a whole lot of money. Last year, I worked in the computer lab cleaning keyboards."

Watching the clock tick closer to the time I saw in the vision, I can feel my muscles tensing with each minute. "Three more minutes."

"And you'll leave?" Fred still only seems half convinced something strange will happen.

"Let's just hope you react like most people." A few nights of nightmares before rationalizing it as something mundane, that's far preferable to knowing the truth.

"How many people have you had to 'save'?" A snort of disbelief escapes the Texan girl and I really feel bad for at how her world view is about to be shattered.

"You're only my second vision," I admit grimly. "Let's hope you don't end up the same way."

"What happene-" Before Fred can finish her question, energy starts to crackle behind the desk she only recently vacated.

It quickly forms into a howling vortex that pulls anything loose into it. MY smugness only lasts for a moment, quickly replaced with cursing at myself.

"I didn't actually come up with a plan to close this thing." Probably should have thought past stopping Fred from getting sucked inside.

The scientifically minded student, really is far too curious with the thing that was meant to kill her. "It's a real wormhole. Do you know where it goes?"

As suddenly as it appeared, the portal dissipates as if it never existed. Only the faint smell of sulphur lingers in the air, with both of us exchanging looks of confusion.

"Or I guess that just takes care of itself." I still have to find this Doctor Seidel. But Fred should be able to point me at him now that I'm not just some loon.

"Naughty little Winnifred." A mocking voice draws my gaze to the now open door and the man glaring at us. "You aren't supposed to bring friends to work. It's so much harder to cover up those disappearances."

"But why are you doing this?" Betrayed by her mentor's actions, Fred is having a very hard time processing things quickly.

When the despicable excuse for a human begins decides not to explain his master plan and open up the spellbook in his hand, I react without further thought.

Crossing the distance between us in only a few seconds, Doctor Seidel is not ready for my tackle. Once he's under me and winded, I waste very little time with his beating.

It's only when Fred yells for me to stop, that I realize the doctor is little more than a quivering mass of flesh. His eyes are locked onto my face and filled with only terror at what he sees.

Somehow I manage to force myself off of the bloody scientist, grabbing the book of spells when I do. "Is this your only copy?"

The symbols on the cover are written in no human language I've ever heard of and I doubt it will be easy for the guy to find another copy. But that also means it's going to be just as hard for me to find a teacher.

Banishing the Scourge to Pylea, that sounds like a match made in hell.

"Yeah." His terrified mumble makes me think it's the truth.

"Good, I'm keeping it." Scowling down at him, I weigh my options. "But I still don't know what to do with you."

"Let me go?" The pitiful moan only makes my scowl deepen.

Fred is even more furious than I am and shows how viscous she can really be. "Can you send him through the portal?"

"Not until I learn how to read this mumbo jumbo." Handing Fred the book, I watch her eyebrows shoot up into her bangs.

"That might take a while." She has even less of an idea where to begin than I do. "This code looks pretty complicated."

Her eyes finally move back to my face and she notices the lack of pink skin. When Fred really takes my appearance in, palpable shock rises of her in waves.

"I'm guessing it wasn't the book that did that to you." I notice the genius does check her own hand for confirmation of the theory.

"Dear old dad passed on the genes," With a shrug, I reassure her the book isn't going to turn her into a porcupine. "You're probably safe handling that thing. It's not like Heidel here was wearing gloves."

Her fear doesn't last long, replaced by intrigue at the possibilities I just opened up to her. "I should probably call the police now."

"And I should probably get out of here." It's not like I have anything official to add to the evidence.

Before I can leave though, a groan directs my gaze to where the portal had been. The green skinned demon waving at us is watching me with concern. "... Hope I'm not disturbing you and your cows. But could you point me to town?"

Lorne's a far more flamboyant shade of green than a Brachen and he only has two small horns curving up from his forehead. But it's really his charming smile that makes me lower my guard.

"Cow?" More confused than upset, Fred turns to me for answers. "What is he talking about?"​

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 4: Making Friends
​

"Of course law firms are run by demons." Fred mutters in frustration once I explain why calling the cops is pointless.

"They have ties with the police and it's going to be nearly impossible to make this stick." I get ready to broach a grim topic, only to blink in astonishment when Fred beats me to it.

"We need to kill him." Her voice is full of rage, all of it directed at her unconscious mentor. "He can't get away with what he's been doing."

While I blink at the fury contained in such a tiny woman, she flashes a feral grin at me. "What? I'm from Texas."

Even with us both in agreement, neither makes a move towards Doctor Heidel for almost a full minute. When I do start walking towards him, my hands shake the entire time.

"You might want to wait in the hall with Lorne." Giving Fred a chance to avoid being a witness, she impresses me once again with her own resolve.

"He tried to send me to a hell dimension." Her arms cross and her scowl returns. "I'm not going anywhere until this is over."

Letting out a deep breath, I steady my shaking hands around Heidel's neck. With one quick motion, I end his life with a snap.

Neither says anything until we're outside and standing outside my car and Fred holds out her hand. "How about I drive?"

"Probably a good idea." Despite knowing I made the right call earlier, it doesn't make me feel any better about doing it in cold blood.

"Where do you live?" Her question makes my fingers hesitate over the radio and I realize I have a little problem.

"Uh..." I could go introduce myself to Gunn and his crew if I really need a place to crash. "Kind of gave my place to the last guy I helped out." But Lorne is kind of a no go around that crowd.

Her giggle is some wonderful medicine after what I've done and I soak it in. "I don't have a big place. But you're more than welcome to stay as long as you like."

"Even me?" Lorne chimes in from the backseat as he looks through my suitcase for something to wear.

"Of course even you." Our driver smiles softly at me through the rear view mirror. "You're just as lost as I would have been without Allen's help."

It's the only one of Doyle's names I never heard used in the show and my attempt at keeping my future separate from his past. Same reason I haven't given Harriet a call.

"And just to make sure I got things straight..." The red horned Pylean's eyes dart between Fred and I. "You aren't Allen's pet?"

"No. I'm not anyone's pet." Clearly getting annoyed at how many times she's had to repeat herself, Fred decides to change the subject. "What kind of music do you like?"

The silence between questions is driving me crazy and I need something to fill it with. "Something classic."

"You have music here?" Lorne shoves his head between ours, his face filled with awed disbelief. "What kind of instruments do you use on Earth?"

Excitement shines in Fred's eyes as she tells me what station to switch to. "You're in for a real treat Lorne."

When Meatloaf starts to croon from my speakers, the lime green demon starts to tear up. "It's so beautiful."

"We already have more songs than a human can listen to in a lifetime," Explains Fred with a smile. "And this station only plays the best of them."

"We don't have time for frivolous things like music on Pylea." Wiping the tears from his face, Lorne shares a little more about his home. "The most you'll here is drums on a cow hunt."

When my stomach let's out a rumble, I' just glad the music covered it up. "Anyone else hungry?"

"How do you feel about tacos?" Fred is quick to suggest something the second Lorne admits his own hunger. "Because I know the best place and it's open all night."

"I think I can get you some tacos for a place to sleep." My grin gets Fred to turn away bashfully, before taking a left at the next light.

When she pulls over, I hop out of the car with my wallet in hand. "Anything special you want, or should I just grab three of everything for us?"

"That would be amazing." Once I've made the offer, Fred can't help but give me puppy dog eyes.

The second I get out and shut the door, she turns the radio up at Lorne's request. And while the pair start singing along, I pick up enough food to feed a hockey team.

I hesitate outside the car on my return, noticing the change in mood. The music is turned back down and the pair are discussing something intently, only to change the subject when I wrap on the window.

"Lorne can see the future!" Blurts out the ever excitable Winnifred Burkle.

"So now I'm not special?" My fake pout gets her to giggle again.

Despite her blush, Fred defends me firmly. "Of course you are, you're a hero!"

"Depends on who you ask." Still in the cosmic red right now.

"Do you have anything decent to wear?" Lorne has gone through all of my bags and still hasn't found anything that passes his approval.

"You're wearing burlap." A frown of confusion plasters itself across my face.

Affronted by my words, Lorne shakes his head at me. "You have a world full of colour Handsome and yet everything you have to wear is so drab. Why don't you have anything with colour?"

"I'm not a very flamboyant guy." I care a lot more about the texture of the clothing than how it looks. "And besides, I'm an autumn. Earth tones are supposed to look good on me."

"Maybe if you want to blend in with the mud." Lorne doesn't take it easy on me and even throws some of the worst offenders out the window.

"Hey!" My whining doesn't get more than laughter out of Lorne and Fred. "I'm not exactly rolling in cash right now."

But now that I'm thinking about it... I know at least a few stocks that are about to pop. And aren't the Red Wings supposed to win back to back cups pretty soon?

"So you're some kind of genius, right Fred?" I know the answer but want to here how she answers without her Pylea trauma. "That's why Heidel was trying to get rid of you."

"I don't want to toot my own horn." She blushes even brighter as she pulls to a stop outside a decent looking apartment. "But lots of schools are fighting for me."

"So you'd be able to help me track a family down?" I only have a general direction to look. But saving Fred from her fate has inspired me.

While we wait for the elevator, Fred's nose crinkles in thought. "You need to save them?"

"I'm uniquely qualified." If the men are telling them they're demons, I'm the perfect one to pick up Tara and her mother.

They aren't the only people I can help either. Sunnydale has enough threats unconnected to any of the big bads, I could keep myself busy until Buffy moves.

But when I think of Buffy with my eyes on the vibrant Fred, I realize I've already failed her. Buffy doesn't deserve months in an asylum.

If the Hemery Homecoming dance is next Friday, that gives me some time to come up with a plan. I'm so distracted with my planning, that I don't even notice when I start humming along with the elevator music.

Lorne does though and his eyes widen with each note. "And here I thought Fred had a big choice to make. But you're life is nothing but huge ones."

"Can you do me a favour?" Trying to hold in a groan, my frustration bubbles at the idea of the Powers That Be taking away my free will. "Never tell me what my future is."

"But don't you get visions?" Fred leads us to her door and slides the key into the lock.

"I'm seeing a moment in time that needs interference. It's only different if I choose to do something." Lorne's readings are a lot more personal. "I'd like to at least have the illusion of choice." I'll help out when I can. But I'm not going to be anyone's lackey.

"You look like you need some weed." Fred's off the cuff comment shocks me out of my funk, making my eyes dart towards her.

When I see she's serious and is holding up a Ziploc bag, it takes everything I have not to beg. "Yes please." Maybe that will take the edge of the headaches without me needing to drink an entire bottle.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 5: Evening The Odds
​

After Fred went to bed, I pulled myself onto the balcony wrapped in a blanket. It ends up being easier to sleep on one of her folding chair than inside on the couch.

Lorne's great interest in the music channel ends up being even louder than Fred's snoring and it's the only way I can get a few hours of shut eye. What kind of jet lag do you get crossing dimensions?

I said easier, not easy. Because I only get about an hour and a half of sleep before the sun is beating down on me. Instead of going in and joining Lorne though, I try to plan ahead for more than a single day.

Fred's going to help me find Tara and her mom. But I don't have anyway to track down Faith, since I kind of don't remember what her last name is at all. Makes it really hard to look her up in a phone book.

The more I consider the timing of everything, the more sure I become of actually seeing Angel outside of Hemery. Thoughts of Angel, inevitably lead me right to his darker half.

The Romany are supposed to want the demon to suffer. What could possible be worse than the soul being locked down forever?

I don't plan on letting the Spike situation ever get to the point her would need that cave in Africa. But if Angel really wants to have a future, this is the only way I know of for him to ever experience true happiness.

Buffy may have given Angel happiness. But Doyle is who gave him hope for a future. Let's just hope I can find a way to make him listen to me.

When Fred gets up and calls in sick for the day, she joins me on the balcony with a plate full of toast. "Up early or couldn't sleep?"

"My life's changed a whole lot in the last little while." Accepting a couple slices of peanut butter slathered toast, I can't stop the stress from entering my voice. "Still getting used to this whole saving people thing." And dealing with the ones I didn't even try to.

"You seemed pretty sure of yourself last night." The brunette genius yawns, her stretch drawing my gaze to her exposed belly. "And I'm thankful I don't have to find out how literal the whole 'cow' thing on Pylea is."

Lorne slides open the door and reveals how good his hearing is with a grimace. "Very."

"How are you doing?" Offering him the plate, Fred reveals just how sweet she is. "You're the one lost in a strange world."

"If Pylea is nightmare, Earth is a dream come true." The empathetic demon claps with glee before giving me a sidelong look. "Why don't you have any clothes as nice as the people on the TV?"

"Because they're rich." My muttered response only seems to light a fire inside of Lorne.

Taking pity on the newcomer to Earth, Fred comes to the rescue. "We can go shopping once the sun goes down. You should be able to find a few things you like and I don't mind paying."

"You are the real hero here Doll." The Pylean pulls her into a hug and shows how quickly he's picking up the lingo.

"So I should just throw nice clothes at people I'm rescuing instead?" Smiling along with the other two, I need the laughter more than I realized.

Raising a single eyebrow, Lorne stares me down with a contagious grin. "Do you have any?"

"Apparently not." Shrugging, I swallow my last bite of toast with my own grin. "Guess I'll just have to fix that when I get settled in Sunnydale."

"Why are you going to such a small town?" Fred has heard of it and crinkles her brow with a confused frown.

Tapping my temples with a pair of fingers, I give her the cliff notes version. "Got a whole lot of viewings of things that might happen in the next seven years. I'd feel terrible if the world ended just because I was a coward."

"And you want to bring me with you?" Lorne shudders at the thought.

"Only if you want to. I'm not volunteering other people." Getting drafted into the fight really does sap all your enthusiasm. "But it is one of the few towns where you can blend in."

"But I don't want to blend in," Whines Lorne, his pout on full display.

After Fred giggles her agreement and promises to make sure he stands out, I take the chance to slip out for a few hours. If I'm going to help Buffy, it's better to do it with backup.

After Fred busies herself with tracking down the Maclays, I decide it's a good time to take care of business. I know Gunn hates vampires and want to give his crew a chance to go to the dance.

When I find myself standing outside the apartment I lived in only yesterday, I have to snort at being forced to knock. It's already well past noon and it doesn't take long for voices to approach on the other side.

"Who is it?" The easily recognizable voice of Charles Gunn greets me.

"Allen Doyle. Should still have a few pictures inside with my face." Waiting confidently for the door to open, I can hear a trio of voices discussing the issue.

The door eventually swings open and reveals teens approaching twenty and a girl only a few years younger. Must be Alanna.

I forgot how much like a stereo typical thug Gunn looked back in the first season. "Levar said you gave us the place."

"I did, don't worry." Reassuring him that I'm not here to renege on the gift, I get right down to business. "Just wanted to see if you guys wanted to kill some vampires with me."

"You know it," Gunn is quick to voice his agreement, his eyes no longer watching me with distrust. "How big is the nest?"

"Big enough to attack the Hemery High homecoming dance."

The trio exchange shocked glances before Gunn finally finds his words. "Don't usually care much about rich kids. Can't let an army of them get turned though."

"They're trying to kill the most recent Slayer." I get the bright idea to introduce Buffy to her fellow champions long before she gets the wrong idea about her place in the world.

Buffy's not the World's Champion, she's the Watcher Council's. Lots of other forces have champions of their own and even regular people out number her in the fight against evil.

"Slayer?" Alanna notices the capital S and turns to me with a questioning look.

"Mystic champion against evil." Trying to keep the explanation vague, I steer the conversation towards battle plans instead. "But she's only one person, so we can't expect her to do it all by herself."

"Some valley girl is fighting vampires?" His sister is trying not to laugh in my face. "I need to see this."

Gunn is determined to keep her away from the action and makes that clear. "You aren't getting within five blocks of the action."

"Typical." She scowls at her brother and turns to me once the heat has burned out. "He always does this."

"Can't really blame a guy for wanting to keep his family safe." You look like you should still be in school.

"Why'd you just give Levar the keys to this place?" Gunn is very conflicted over accepting the apartment and I can tell he expects me to start trying to control his crew.

Shrugging at his tone, I try to give Gunn an explanation he'll like. "Because evil already outnumbers the good guys. I figure why try fighting it all by myself."

"But you don't know anything about us." Alanna counters, getting a nod of approval from her brother.

"I know enough." I know what happens when the crew doesn't have a safe house and how many of you die because of it.

"Told you our rep was growing," Brags a very smug Gunn as he misinterprets my words.

His sister rolls her eyes and lets out an annoyed huff. "More like Levar spilled the beans."

"Words still spreading," Jerome pips up before finally introducing himself. "Really doesn't matter how."

"Word of advice. Don't let the bad guys survive to gossip about you." That's how they start teaming up.

As the rest of the crew start arriving and I count at least twenty guys, I start thinking my plan may not be completely idiotic. And I'll even make sure to bring a weapon this time.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 6: Rise And Shine
​

Jerking awake suddenly, I nearly thrash out of the chair when Gunn wakes me up. The phone in his hand is confusing me at first, until Gunn nearly smacks me in the head with it.

"Dude, it's for you." His frown shifts into a more teasing smirk. "Some girl is threatening to give me a stroke if I don't let her talk to you."

"Fred?" Accepting the phone with a wary look, I'm subjected to a single breath scolding.

Her voice is tense and each word is hissed with ferocity. "You said it was only going to take a little while, but it's been hours! We thought you died!"

"Uh..." Glancing out the window at the dark sky, I realize I slept through most of the afternoon. "Sorry Fred, I guess the lack of sleep finally caught up with me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You better Buster." I can perfectly picture her only half serious scowl and crossed arms. "Lorne was really looking forward to his shopping trip."

"Well let him know I picked up a few extra shifts and we can really splurge now." Alanna gives me a smug look as I mention the messages she passed on to me. "I got to cover a grade four class tomorrow." And back to Hemery the day after, since apparently the kids liked me enough."

Waiting until I'm finished with the call, Gunn gives me a strange look that passes to his sister. "You really a teacher?"

"Just a substitute right now." But Sunnydale is always in need and I don't see it being hard to get a more permanent position.

"So you couldn't pull any strings?" The way his brow creases even deeper and his shoulders sag, make me understand this matters to him. "Can't get Alanna into that fancy school?"

Giving him a sad shake of my head, I have to let Gunn down for now. "Don't have the kind of cash needed to pay the tuition."

But I might know a place we can get it. The realization that the Hyperion Hotel is unihabited and only needs a little exorcism. That makes a smirk reveal itself to the others' confusion.

"After we deal with Lothos, how do you feel about moving the crew to a better neighbourhood?" Fifty thousand dollars is waiting for whoever deals with that demon and I'm fine splitting it.

Of course when I start thinking of haunted places in Los Angeles, Phantom Dennis is quick to make an appearance in my thoughts. That would probably be better than bringing Tara and her mom to the Hellmouth.

I'm not trying to draft the Maclays. I'm just uniquely perfect for getting them away from that specific brand of abuse.

We spend another couple of hours going over the preparations and it takes a whole lot of convincing for the crew to give my ideas a try. Jerome was quite vocal about how silly using squirt guns and water balloons sounded. Can't believe how long they lasted without knowing about holy water.

Getting back to Fred's apartment just before nine, I have to wait anxiously for her to come down and let me in. And when she does, the scowl is large enough to be a sleeping mask.

"All the thrift stores are closed now." The way her braids shake along with her furious head bobbing, is more adorable than I care to admit.

Holding up my hands to ward off the genius' anger, I try to get through it without any yelling. "I explained the situation to Gunn and his friends. They all donated something colourful to the cause."

The box at my feet is filled with second hand clothes and I'm sure at least a few of them will fit the empath. With a long look at the donations, Fred eventually loses the scowl.

Her more natural smile replaces it along with her nod of approval. "That was really nice of them."

"They wouldn't let me leave without testing out the holy water." Had to tell them clothes was the price of lessons once I realized all the good places had closed. "But they're a whole lot more excited about Homecoming now." Or more likely, the thirty grand I promised from the next job.

"Heard about your threat." Teasing the girl, I watch her flush with embarrasment. "How do you give someone a stroke?"

Her mumbled response is both filled with expletives and impossible to properly decipher. So I simply follow her into the elevator with a chuckle.

"Such a vulgar mouth. What would your parents say?" While I continue the banter, she presses the button with a huff.

"Be very disappointed with how many of them I repeated." Fred hangs her head as we climb to the third floor. "They taught me to be more creative than that."

Laughter greets us when we enter the apartment. Lorne's voice cackling along with whatever Leno said, is almost enough to make me turn around. Really not looking forward to late night television for the next decade.

"I'm never going back to Pylea!" He greets me with a hug and quick peck on each cheek. "It's going to be so much fun here!" What was he watching all day?

"Just remember what we talked about." Fred gives him an encouraging look.

Rolling his eyes, Lorne proves that he does. "Tell anyone who looks at me strange, that I'm just filming a movie a few blocks over."

"That should probably work." With a relieved smile, I hand Lorne the box of clothes. "And this should make you look better than mud. At least until you can pick something out yourself."

"You really are an angel. Brought me out of that drab hell and now your handing me such fabulous clothes." Lorne is holding up a bright red shirt and it looks like his eyes are starting to water.

Sudden and excruciating pain brings me to my knees, as I experience someone's last moments. The agony and terror is almost overwhelming, making it very hard to notice the rest of the room.

"Movie theatre and it's playing 'Humanoids from the Deep'." I would recognize those crappy costumes anywhere. "Something smelled terrible, kind of like how I imagine curdled fish would smell if it was mixed with month old coleslaw."

"I don't think fish can curdle." Fred gives me an equally amused and yet also disgusted look.

"But you know how bad the smell is now." Tapping her on the nose, we both pretend not to notice the how her cheeks take on an adorable shade of pink.

Frowning at how I'm still wobbling on my feet, Fred points out what else she noticed. "And now I know how much those visions hurt."

"They give me a chance to make things a little bit better. I can put up with some pain." As long as it's the Powers That Be giving me the warnings.

No making deals with demons to make the headaches hurt any less. That's the first step towards opening Jasmine's door and I have no intention of facing someone on that level if I can help it.

"Sounds like you've already got an answer to most of those questions." Watching me with great interest, Lorne thankfully doesn't tell me what any of those questions are.

"I'm just trying not to get noticed by the big players until I have to." My early plans in Sunnydale are all about handling the unconnected threats.

Having people like the Mayor on my case, is just going to make everything harder. The robot Ted and Cathryn Madison are top priorities, with people like Marcie and Jessie on my list of people who can possibly be saved.

But Angel is the big one. If Buffy is only going to live a year or two, I can shut up and ignore the age difference. But as long as Buffy wants to live a long life, Angel isn't right for her.

That curse needs to be locked down or he needs to be turned human. I know of a cave in Africa that can take care of the first and Mohra blood has been proven capable of the second.

Should probably try finding one anyway. That's some insane regenerative power and I can think of at least a couple people who could use some.

I know people have problems with Angel and Buffy's romance. But personally, my issue was with how unwilling to fight the good fight, Angel was in the early seasons.

I need to convince him that no matter how much Buffy inspires him. Right now, he couldn't inspire a rat. I only have six months to find the guy and convince him I know what I'm talking about.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 7: Collecting Data
​

"You sure you don't want to go to karaoke with Lorne? I did tell you how bad this thing is going to stink." I only asked her to help me find a theatre that was showing old movies. But she seems to have taken that as an invitation.

Proving just how stubborn Fred is, she walks right past me and pays for our tickets. "Did you plan this out any better than when you rescued me?"

"... Not really." I brought the brass knuckles Gunn gave me and yet I really don't think they're going to be much help.

A knowing grin links her cheeks. "That's what I figured." She hands over my own ticket to the creature feature and I follow Fred over to the concession. "If I'm going to make an informed choice, I need a larger sample size."

"A what now?" Grabbing some skittles for myself, I have the teen behind the counter add Fred's snacks to my bill.

"Don't worry about it." Avoiding the question, Fred distracts me by pointing out the old posters on the wall.

The theatre is one of the oldest in the city and walls are covered in stains I hope are only from water. Only a handful of other people are in the building and one lonely guy is storming out for a refund.

"Last chance to back out." I hold the door open and try not to gag.

The foul odour hangs in the air, making it hard to think of anything besides sweaty feet. Fred is quick to hand me her popcorn and cover her nose.

"I'm starting to consider it." It takes a few seconds before she leads us to the cleanest pair of seats, leaving me time to scan the room.

Another couple are huddled under an air vent and a trio of snickering teens have their feet on the chairs in front of them. But it's the loner in the corner who really makes me nervous.

Not sure if he's just a drunk or the demon from my vision. He's the only one who doesn't seem to notice the stench though and that's enough for me to keep glancing back at him.

"So how does this work?" Whispers Fred as the lights dim and the first trailer starts to play. "Do we just wait until someone gets attacked?" Her fingers are still pinching her nose and the words come out with a nasal echo.

Shrill giggles start to come from the loner in the oversized raincoat and the terrible aroma gets worse. The couple doesn't even stick around for all of the trailers, grumbling about the place still not being fixed.

But the three boys manage to last well past the halfway point of the movie and my tension builds the entire time. Fred notices how stiff I am and holds out the popcorn.

Her expression is masked by the dim light as she leans closer, making me finally notice the scent of her perfume. Lilac. Too bad I'm moving to Sunnydale, otherwise I'd really be tempted to make a move.

"Get ready." When the teens finally admit defeat and file out the side door, the temperature seems to drop a few degrees.

My eyes lock with the potential demon's and suddenly he's in motion. Leaping towards us with deadly intent, the putrid demon clears two aisles at a time.

Trying not to panic, I slide my hands into my pockets. "Damn, that guy is fast."

Clenching my fists, I pull them out with the brass knuckles on. And as the demon prepares to make it's final leap to close the distance, I release the building pressure behind my eyes.

Shock flashes in the eyes of the creature for just a moment, making it hesitate at the last second.Clearly not expecting a Brachen, it hisses in confusion.

Opening it's mouth wide enough to reveal two rows of jagged stone teeth, it tries to assert it's dominance. Fred isn't cowed though and I hear a click come from her hands.

A pair of wires shoot towards the demon and soon it's roaring with pain. The stun gun crackles in her steady hands as Fred gets the first shot in.

"Don't just stand their, the battery is almost dead!" Her warning stirs me out of my shock and gets me to throw myself at the demon before it recovers.

It's even weaker than the vampire I saved Levar from, letting even someone untrained take control of the fight. Each punch is delivered with enough force, my arms shake right up to the shoulder.

But even if it's not the strongest demon, it ends up being quite a clever one. After a solid uppercut it feigns defeat, 'collapsing' at my feet.

"Did we get it?" When I glance back at her, Fred is still clutching the stun gun to her chest.

"Not ye-" The second I leave myself open, the demon lunges at my arm.

It's teeth go right through the windbreaker and my skin with seemingly no effort. The searing pain doesn't last long though, with my whole arm quickly going numb.

"It's got a poison bite." I try to warn Fred but the slurred words barely sound English to my ears. "Stay back."

Instead of trying to get the creature loose, I use the bite to pull it's face in close. Even as I can feel the venom spreading and the rest of my body starts to tingle, I don't stop punching the demon in the side of the head.

It lets go after the fifth one. But I'm not falling for that again and follow the demon to the floor sticky with decades of pop stains.

I end up losing count of the blows and only stop when I feel the skull shatter. Panting from the effort, I barely manage to climb back to my wobbly feet.

Fred rushes over to throw my arm around her shoulder, giggling at my slurred words. "Now we got it."

"We sure did." I can hear the worry as Fred helps me walk. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I should be fine by morning." It takes a few tries before I get the words out clearly enough for her to understand them. "But maybe call an ambulance if I stop breathing."

I barely notice the walk back to my car. The sensation of floating is far too overpowering and I don't even try to stop myself from singing.

At first I think Fred is joining in with me. But eventually I realize it's actually laughter. And yet I don't seem to care in the slightest.

I make her thumb wrestle me for the keys. Forgetting that I can barely move a muscle, it ends up turning into us just holding hands for a good thirty seconds.

"I'm going to call this one a win for me." She slides the keys out of my other hand and opens the back door with another giggle. "Now get in."

The street lights flicker above me like I just left a rave and I barely even notice when the car stops. Fred manages to dart out and return with Lorne before I realize it's only my head spinning.

"You look like you just got thrashed by the Groosalugg." Lorne pats me on the head like a dog after climbing into the passenger seat.

"I got bit." When I try to speak, it only comes out as a long humming sound.

Giving me a condescending smile, the empath seems to have gotten the gist of my meaning. "I can see that. How are you feeling big guy?"

"Like a cloud." My answer gets some breathy laughter from the Pylean, before he gives Fred an intrigued look. "How did it go?"

She considers the question for so long, I assume that I just lost my hearing. But a few blocks later, Fred finally answers with a voice barely above a whisper.

"I've made up my mind." Fred's voice grows more confident. "Allen's not going to last the year if he does this alone." She glances in the rear view mirror to find me waving like the queen at anyone we pass.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 8: The Direct Approach
​

Coming back to Hemery, I notice a shift in the mood before I even finish taking attendance. An undercurrent of anxiety fills the students as I count a few empty seats in my first class, with one girl in particular watching everyone warily.

Buffy Summers isn't the same carefree and admittedly bitchy girl I saw last week. Today she looks like the weight of the world is on on her shoulders and I use the quiz she left blank as a way to talk to her between classes.

"You seem to be taking Cassandra's death pretty hard?" I cut right to the chase and hold up the sheet with only her name on it.

Muttering her true feelings on the subject once she makes sure no one is listening in, Buffy gives me the smallest opening. "Somebody has to."

"You didn't seem to get along with her last week." I heard you and your friends teasing the bookish girl. "What changed?"

"Nothing," She tries to deflect with a grimace very out of place on such a bubbly face.

"Really?" I know Buffy likes people being mysterious about as much as I like tomatoes and decide to stop playing games. "Because I kind of think the vampires are pretty big change."

Buffy's eyes go wide and her jaw hangs in shock for more than a couple seconds. "... That's crazy talk."

"Look..." I meet her nervous stare with a confident one of my own. "I don't care what some stuffy old men in England say. You aren't alone in the fight."

"But Merrick said-" She stops herself at the last second and frowns. "Wait. How do you know who I am?"

"How did the Watcher find you?" I'm honestly asking, because it was left pretty vague.

Crossing her arms, Buffy makes sure to keep the desk between us for the conversation. "I get these skull splitting headaches that the Powers That Be like to call visions."

"Say again?" Confusion filters into her voice.

"They aren't as metaphorical as a Slayer dream. But I have to feel everything the potential victim does." Shrugging at her horrified gasp, I continue the explanation. "I was supposed to find my own champion and guide him over in Sunnydale. But I think you could use some help first."

"Champion?" No longer concerned that I'm going to attack, Buffy's curiosity takes over.

With a cocky grin, I fill her in on the truth of the situation. "It's a world with nearly six billion humans and about two billion friendly demons. It's the very epitome of self centred, to think you're the only person fighting the good fight."

"But I'm the one who was..." She trails off as I tap my temple.

"Chosen?" She nods awkwardly and I take great pleasure in hammering this point home. "Sorry, but that's actually pretty common."

Hope bubbles inside the cheerleader. "I don't have to save everyone by myself?"

"You don't have to save anyone." My voice is hard with intent as I desperately try to get through to her. "You got chosen because the Powers know how much potential you have. But you have to be the one to choose what you do."

"But I have a destiny," Buffy retorts with a scowl. "That's what Merrick says."

"Do you know how many people have died since class started this morning?" I meet her stare and refuse to budge on my point. "And I mean violent ones that could have been prevented." Before she has to guess, I throw out the ball park number. "About three thousand people."

Her eyes snap wide again with horror. "That's so many people!"

"So don't worry about saving the whole world. Just focus on saving the part of it you live in and the rest of us will do our part." I can tell it hasn't really sunk in and so I try a different approach. "Look, just don't ignore someone screaming for help and you're fine. If you want to go out and be an active hero, that's even better."

When the bell rings for the next class, Buffy leaves with a thoughtful expression on her face. An expression she has right through to the final bell and the basketball game I've been asked to help chaperone. It's not just the students who are going missing now.

The 'How funky is your chicken' dance, actually seems to inspire the Hemery players. But I think it's more because of the very obvious sexual overtones.

I'm distracted when Buffy springs into action and I nearly lose her scent in the pursuit. When I do catch up to her amid all the under construction parade floats, Buffy has been entranced by Lothos.

The master vampire struts towards her with supreme confidence, while the Watcher rushes at him with a stake in hand. Knowing how little time I have, I don't hesitate.

"Kakistos is ten times the vampire you are!" My desperate taunt works and Lothos backhands the Watcher instead of stabbing him in the chest.

"Such insolence!" Rage flows out of Lothos as he floats down towards me, the Slayer forgotten and free to check on Merrick. "You shall spend the rest of your incredibly short life begging for forgiveness!"

"I'm not the one scared of a teenage girl." I manage to keep the bravado in my voice and count it a victory when Lothos snarls.

Faster and stronger than anything I've fought so far, Lothos proves he really is a Master. My feeble attempts to defend myself, ends up with me groaning at his feet faster than I can tie my shoes.

It's enough time for Buffy to save me though and she does with a flying kick that would have snapped a normal human's spine. "You alright?"

"Was all part of the plan." Shaking off the pain as good as I can, I accept the hand up.

"Who's Khaki Toes?" Buffy hands me a spare stake as Lothos considers his the new odds carefully.

"Master Vampire in Boston who makes this guy look like a Carebear." I make sure my words are loud enough for Lothos to hear clearly.

"That cloven beast is nothing compared to true excellence such as my own!" My words struck more than a few chords and send Lothos into a frenzy.

He slashes for my face, only for Buffy to save me once again. Her instincts are better and she's pretty much my superior in every single way.

When Lothos realizes this isn't going to be the quick kill he planned, he promises to make me regret crossing him with a final mocking taunt. "Forget a quick death. You're going to scream for the next decade."

Once he flies off into the night dramatically, I finally allow myself to sag in relief. But Buffy doesn't give me more than a few seconds to catch my breath before tugging on my elbow.

"Merrick!" She pulls me over to the moaning man and the kid who looks a whole lot like Luke Perry. "Is he alright?"

Pike clearly has no medical training and can only shrug uselessly. "... He's alive."

"Help me get him into my car." I know how bad Buffy is at both driving and lying. "I'll take him to the hospital and think of something to tell the principal."

"Huh?" Frowns Buffy and I can see her think back to what she said in the gym. "... Oh."

"I'll explain it was a clingy ex who got involved with a gang." Anything to keep the heat off you specifically. "But you might want to think about either acting or writing as a career. It lets you get away with a lot of weird behaviour."

That doesn't cheer her up and she gives me a full force pout. "I don't want to be weird though."

"So go work retail in Broadview Heights, Ohio." My random suggestion throws both Buffy and Pike for a loop, making me explain with a wry chuckle. "Safest town in America. I was looking for places to hide before I chose to get involved."

"You sure I don't need to come with you?" Buffy watches me buckle Merrick into the passenger seat.

Knowing she needs some time to think, I shake my head. "I just slept for two whole days. I'll keep watch until he can check himself out."

"Go on a bender?" Pike misinterprets my meaning and gives me an impressed look. "You really aren't like any teacher I've ever had before."

"Was recovering from a demon bite," Correcting the teen, I clear my throat loudly. "You better have helmets for that thing."

Pike looks like he's going to argue at first, before he sees the steel in my eyes. "Yeah."

"Good." I don't get in my car until he follows through and pulls a pair of them out of his saddlebag.

"Wait!" Buffy remembers something from her encounter and snaps her fingers. "Lothos said he had big plans."

"And we'll be ready for him." It's clear the words don't reassure her. "But if you want to help out...." She nods fervently, her eyes locked onto the moaning Merrick. "Just make sure you bring some protection to Homecoming."

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 9: Rise And Shine
​

After a quick call to let Fred know where I am, I settle in beside Merrick's hospital bed. Thankfully, I don't have to wait until sunrise for the Watcher to open his eyes.

Shortly after two, Merrick stirs awake with a groan of pain. "Buffy?"

"Sent her home." Flicking the lights on, I smirk at his frown. "Figured it was time we talked."

"You aren't a vampire." His eyes are locked onto the silver cross hanging from my neck.

"Nope." And that's all I'm giving you.

"You're one of her teachers." Merrick is trying to put the puzzle together and I figure he'd manage it if he had the rest of the pieces.

Lifting a hand, I give the 'sort of' motion. "Substitute."

Merrick isn't happy with my lack of answer and stares me down. It's nearly a full minute before he makes up his mind and his scowl softens ever so slightly.

"One with excellent timing." I think that's the closest I'm getting to a 'thank you' from the guy.

"Would be a pretty crappy champion if I let you die right in front of me." Filling a Styrofoam cup with room temperature water, I hand it to the groggy Merrick. "Doctor said you have a concussion and a couple broken ribs. You should probably try taking it easy for a couple weeks."

"Lothos isn't going to wait for me to recover." He glances at the sun just starting to peak over the mountains. "And it would seem I owe you for standing guard as well."

That's just the opening I needed. "Since you can't get in the thick of things for a while. How about we do each other a favour."

"I don;'t need any help with my charge." Merrick grabs the clothes I left folded on the other chair and stumbles towards the bathroom.

"But I do." Letting people help you is supposed to make them like you more. Let's see if it really works. "And you Watchers are supposed to be good at the whole demon research thing."

After he finishes dressing, Merrick emerges with an intrigued look. "What kind of demon?"

"I got bit by one a few days ago and wondered if you knew what species it was." A venom capable of knocking a demon out for two days? That's something that could come in handy one day.

"Do you have a description? Or did you notice any side effects?" The Watcher fills up his cup one more time and downs it in a single gulp.

Pulling out the roll of pictures Fred developed, I hand Merrick the best one. "The thing reeked and had a bite that knocked me out for two days."

"You're incredibly lucky." His blue eyes widen just enough for me to know the Watcher is impressed. "Or the Boretz demon was a juvenile. Because the venom is supposed to leave you in a hibernating state for weeks."

"Slow eater?" I can't stop myself from asking and soon come to regret my curiosity.

Shaking his head slowly, Merrick grimaces at the mental image he's about create. "They bring prey back to the nest and let the young feed on fresh meat..." He pauses for emphasis. "It takes days."

"Must have been a young one." Realizing how bad things could have gone, I'm very glad Fred decided to tag along.

"What about the other demon?" More willing to discuss shop than his own condition, Merrick signs himself out at the front desk and follows me outside.

"Don't have a picture of this one. I just know it's been haunting a hotel for a long time and causes paranoia." And really I hope that's enough for you to go on.

"Several known species could be responsible." He doesn't seem excited by the challenge, instead grumbling as he climbs into my Corolla. "I'll need to investigate first." Giving me directions back to his apartment, Merrick watches me out of the corner of his eye the entire way.

"Well if you handle that for me..." Trying to find the right words, the pause seems more intentional than I wanted. "Me and the crew will help Buffy take care of Lothos."

The middle aged watcher considers the offer in silence, stroking his grey goatee with heavily scarred fingers. "Do you have a plan?"

"Kill all the vampires." I know what he wants to hear and deliver to the best of my ability. "At least the ones too stupid to run."

"It's not that simple," Cautions the older man when I pull over outside his place

"Nothing ever is." But why stress myself by over complicating plans that can change at the drop of a hat?

Coming up with a rough outline and rolling with the punches has worked out so far. Shrugging off Merrick's look of disappointment, I give him another one of those queenly waves from the other night.

"I'll patrol with Buffy every night until homecoming." Which should give you time to figure out what kind of demon is haunting the Hyperion. "Should be enough time for you to be up and tap dancing around."

If anything happens to her..." He growls with pointless menace.

"I'll probably be dead a few seconds later." I don't bother lying and that strangely seems to be what makes Merrick finally give me a chance. "Not even going to pretend I'm playing the same sport as Buffy."

The long stare as I drive away, makes me more than a tad uncomfortable. He'll fillet me if Buffy gets hurt.

That should do more than give me goosebumps. But I'm really just relieved that Merrick is a Watcher who cares.

When I get back to Fred's apartment, I can see from the street that her lights are still on. I'm not sure if it's because of me or Lorne still adjusting to California time and consider it the entire elevator ride.

Sliding the spare key into the lock, I'm very relieved to find her laughing with our empathetic friend. Scooby Doo proves itself to be fun for both all ages and all species. With the duo red in the face and halfway through one of Fred's tapes.

"I need to get myself one of those things," Lorne manages to stop his laughter long enough to point at the screen. "What is it called?"

"A dog collar." The answer slips out of Fred's mouth, along with a string of medicated giggles.

Joining her with some chuckles of my own, I eventually correct the genius with a grin. "I think he means the ascot."

"That would make more sense." She nods sagely, her eyes never leaving the cartoon.

"You two have fun?" They slide apart at my approach and make enough room for me to squeeze in between them.

"Fred was on the phone most of the day," Explains the demon with tinfoil in his hair. "But the sweetheart still found the time to pick me up some of this dye."

Neither seems very concerned, so I tell myself not to worry either. "Anything important?"

"Just dealing with some school stuff, nothing to worry about." Waving off the question, Fred is quick to change the subject. "I finally found the Maclays. You said two kids named Tara and Donnie, right?"

"Yeah. That would be them." Relief mixes with dread as I realize this means I need to start getting ready for the move to Sunnydale. "Where did you find them?"

Fred wipes her fingers on her Dallas Cowboy pyjamas and hands me some papers. "Louisiana. The dad works for the city dump about an hour and a half outside New Orleans."

"Don't you have school in a few hours?" Suddenly noticing the birds are chirping, I turn to Fred with a concerned look.

"Nope." Popping the P, the Texan native props her feet on the coffee table with a carefree grin.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 10: Let's Try The Truth
​

While Lorne flips through the rack of jerseys, I test the weight of a wooden bat. When Fred notices and tries to hold in her giggles, I throw on my most intimidating expression.

"I'm Batman." The growl is completely the wrong tone and the reference is about a decade early. But it gets the response I was looking for, turning Fred's snickering into full blown laughter.

"So does that make me Batgirl?" She grabs a lighter one and mocks my stance with her own pose.

"Lorne dresses bright enough to be our Robin." Glancing over at the demon with frosted tips, I'm happy to see him really coming into his own.

Tossing a few pairs of ice skates into the cart, I consider how hard it will be to fasten the blades securely. "How good are you with power tools? Last time I used a drill, I put a screw right through my thumb."

"Oh my..." Her face flushes at the idea and it takes her a couple seconds to decide between the two climbing axes on the shelf. "That must have really hurt."

"Not even half as bad as the visions." And it's really just starting to sink in that those are going to be for life.

Fred gives me a concerned hum and decides to just get both of the axes. The cute way she tilts her head and mutters under her breath to come to such a decision, give me an uncomfortable thought. What happens if I kiss someone?

Do the visions get passed on like with the single kiss Doyle and Cordelia shared? Or will it require a full on Com-Shucking ritual?

Is it my choice, or will they only pass on if I'm about to die? Grimly, I try not consider the fact that the visions might just be Jasmine's way of controlling me.

It's not like I can just ignore visions of innocent people dying though. So the best I can do is keep making long term plans with my own knowledge.

"Are you going to tell Buffy about the..." The genius gives me a wry smile and mimes sneezing. "You know?"

"After we deal with Lothos and the Hyperion." It will probably be a better idea to tell them not all demons are evil, when I'm handing over a stack of cash. "I want to stack the odds in my favour before I spill the beans." Only one chance to get them all on the plate.

"Neck braces?" Noticing the thick foam, I'm shocked at how simple the idea is. "You really are a winner Fred."

Blushing pink from the praise to the tips of her ears, Fred isn't done impressing me. "If we soak them in holy water first, it should be able to stop anyone in the crew from turning."

"Should we try washing our clothes in it?" It's not exactly expensive.

"Couldn't hurt to try." She grabs a few pool cues and cases on the way to the register. "You think these would be alright to just carry around? Sharpen them up for two sturdy stakes you could also crack a skull with."

"Uh..." The clerk blinks at Fred's comment, unsure if he should finish ringing us through or call the cops.

This is exactly why we brought Lorne with us and I point at him confidently. "We're shooting a movie a few blocks over. Group of outcast teens and a cheerleader defend the school from aliens."

Nodding along fervently, Fred helps sell the story with her enthusiasm. "It's the first time I get to be in charge of special effects. You will not believe how much of the budget had to go towards tinfoil and Vaseline."

"You did his makeup?" The red head behind the counter gets a good look at Lorne, his jaw quickly hanging in aw. "That's going win you awards."

"Awards?" That strikes a chord of intrigue in the 'actor'. "Tell me more." Lorne leans on the counter with a friendly smile.

The clerk nods eagerly and lifts up his uniform, revealing an Elvira shirt underneath it. "You could totally be a daytime version of the Dark Mistress."

"That's actually not a bad idea." Get him a local program in Sunnydale and Lorne could walk around in the middle of the day. "You do love to talk."

Just tell everyone he's a method actor and if it takes off... That would actually give Cordelia a way to get something on her resume.

"Music rights will be expensive," Warns Fred, turning Lorne's smile upside down.

"Sunnydale has plenty of local bands. It shouldn't be hard to get them to come on and play for you." Lots of empty buildings we could rent out and I know the Dingoes would love the exposure.

After paying for the gear, I drop the pair off back at Fred's place with a bag of Wendys. Lorne is too excited to even say farewell, still rambling on about his ideas to be even better than Leno. But the way Fred says my name and waves goodbye from sidewalk, makes me realize how far I've already fallen.

"You really don't need to wait up for me you know?" I do have the spare key.

"Might as well start looking into the haunted apartment." Fred rolls her eyes as Lorne impatiently waits. "You didn't really give me much to work with."

It's not like I have a photographic memory, I'm lucky I can remember as much as I have so far. I know it's only going to get harder to make informed choices, now that I'm starting to really change things.
Though I guess that's probably a good thing. Fred and Lorne aren't perfect matches for the characters I know from the show and that's only made it easier to befriend them.

"Well I appreciate it. I'm pretty hopeless with technology." She snorts at my words and finally lets Lorne drag her towards the door.

Once I see them get inside the building, I head off to patrol with Buffy. But instead of focusing on our surroundings, the petite blonde powerhouse peppers me with questions.

"What did you mean about two billion friendly demons?" That seems so contrary to what Merrick has taught her, that Buffy finds it hard to resolve the two ideas.

"I was going to wait until I had proven myself to you first." Cursing myself, I realize lying will just ruin the trust I've managed to build. "But I guess now is as good a time as any."

"What do you mean?" Wary eyes watch my every movement.

Trying to keep Buffy calm, I hold up my hands slowly. "Some of us just want to live a decent life and help out when we can."

Relaxing the muscles in my face, I shiver when the blue barbs emerge from my face. She tense up for an attack that never comes so I go back to my human appearance once she's gotten a good look.

"What are you?" She doesn't jump right into violence and I can only hope that's a good sign.

"Half Brachen." The name is followed by a quick description, with my openness doing more to convince Buffy than anything I actually say. "Ask Merrick how often we cause trouble."

"I will. Count on it." No longer carefree, Buffy has at least stopped looking at me like a potential threat.

Grinning in an attempt to ease some tension, I remind her which class I teach. "Not exactly my strong suit. I'm teaching english, not math." That gets a small giggle out of the Slayer I count as a victory and gets us patrolling again.

It doesn't take long to find some of Lothos' cronies, giving Buffy a chance to work through her frustration. She's not selfish enough to take all of them though, leaving two of her classmates for me.

"Mister Doyle?" The baseball player I can't remember the name of hesitates. "What are you doi-" Just long enough for my sharpened pool cue to slide between his ribs, turning him into a cloud of ash that blows away in the wind.

"Craig!" His friend snarls in shock, throwing himself at me with savage ferocity when I try to repeat the process.

He's fast enough to nick me with his claws, leaving a pair of angry red lines along my jaw. But instead of flinching away, I swerve to the left and swing.

The bottom half of my pool cue cracks against the vampires skull, stunning the jock for my follow up. At first smug at my success, I get ready to help Buffy with her four.

"Took you long enough." She's already finished and is leaning against a parked van with a cocky smirk.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 11: Let's Dance
​

Waving at Fred and Alonna up on the roof of the school, I'm relieved they haven't been found by the school. Really going to need the balloon brigade to cover the students' retreat.

"I wasn't expecting you to have so many friends," Admits Buffy, while Pike tries not to look uncomfortable in his tux. "Merrick really made it sound like this wasn't going to be a lonely life."

"You might be one of the chosen few." Nodding to Levar, he leads his group towards to parked busses. "But the many who chose..." I turn and point to Jerome's team currently breaking into the portable near the gym. "They outnumber us tenfold."

"But..." Buffy frowns at such a conflicting message.

Tapping my temples with a knowing grin, I try to settle her nerves. "You want to know how this was all supposed to go down?"

"Everyone dies?" Pike scowls at the people laughing at his outfit and it looks to be taking all his willpower to stay.

"If I left when I was supposed to and let you handle this..." Pausing long enough to point out Merrick sneaking in through a side door, I give Buffy a rundown of the movie. "Merrick would have died, you burn the school down, and run away to Vegas for a few months."

Her eyes go wide in shock and I don't leave anything out. "You're even supposed to end up in a psychiatric ward for while. You know, when you start telling everyone it was vampires that did it."

"What?" Anger surges across the Slayer's face.

"People want an answer. Most will stop looking once you give them one." That comment leads to me telling the pair what to tell the cops after everything goes down. "So don't run away and give a quick statement about some creepy guy stalking you. I'll handle the rest of the questions."

"People are really going to believe a vampire attack was just another school trying to prank us?" She's doubtful of the claim, her eyebrows raising with a snort.

Handing over a couple balloons to stick in her handbag, Buffy reconsiders her opinion once I explain. "We make it look like a water balloon fight gone wrong and people will convince themselves it's what happened."

Gunn saunters over and holds up a green balloon of his own. "What's the hold up Teach? Much longer and the crew is going to start chucking some of the ammo at the school."

Mixing the holy water with paint only works when incredibly diluted and more like coloured water than anything. But it makes the acidic fluid a lot harder for the vampires to just wipe away.

"Sun's still got to set." My reminder makes us all glance up at the orange sky that gives us another half an hour at best.

"I lure Lothos and his goons out into the field, so you can get everyone else out the front?" Buffy triple checks the plan, the waiting what really seems to be driving her spare.

"My team will cover the escape," The gang leader growls with more than a little frustration in his voice. "We'll thin the numbers as much as we can."

With a grunt of agreement, I make sure the modified bat will slide out of it's holster with ease. "We got enough crosses to give all the students?"

"Grandma's church was happy to provide them," Confirms Gunn with a smirk. "Holy water and crosses is a fair trade for being able to hold night services."

"How long you been doing this?" Pike is impressed by the claim, happy to see he can make a difference even with Buffy taking point.

"Few years." Is all Gunn reveals, staying vague as he eyes my skate-bat with envy. "Was getting real tired of losing people I grew up with."

As I try to consider how to answer that, I eventually settle on my bodies physical experience. "Found out about everything on my twenty first birthday. Took a couple years to get my head out of my ass."

"It must have been really stuck." Buffy smirks at me, while the two guys exchange confused looks.

"You two better get inside." Making sure my foam neck brace is securely fastened, I find nothing out of place. "And remember to keep an arm's distance apart."

Pike's eyes bug out while Buffy crosses her arms, not amused in the slightest. "Excuse me?"

"You know..." Sticking my tongue out like a very mature adult, I at least manage to not roll my eyes. "Putting some between you and the biters is probably going to keep you alive longer."

"Oh." Pike flushes in embarrassment while Buffy rolls her eyes. "That makes sense."

The well dressed duo march across the street, leaving Gunn and I to take charge of our teams. He watches me take a few swings with the four bladed bat and gives an impressed whistle.

"Where do I get myself one of those babies?" His eyes are focused on the handle and how sharp of a point it's been carved into.

"Fred made it." My comment has Gunn cough in astonishment.

He watches me for any sign of deceit. "You serious? The nerd girl makes your weapons?"

"It was my idea..." I try not to pout and fail miserably.

"Should see what she can do to trick out my ride." Gunn knocks his fist against mine as we split up.

"I'll try and keep an eye on your boys." But no promises.

Shaking his head, Gunn lets me know exactly where his priorities lay. "Just make sure we can fill more urns than caskets. They all know the cost."

His response makes me frown as I climb onto the school bus. The eight guys following my lead have already gotten every window opened and are ducked down out of sight.

"I need a couple of you to open the doors and another two to cover them." Gripping my bat tight to stop my hands from shaking, I wait for Fred's whistle.

It only comes a few minutes after sundown. Three sharp blasts let us know how many groups of vampires we have to deal with and I wait for the screaming.

Balloons start flying off the roof, splashing against the dozen minions between the bus and school. "Water!"

With a roar to action, I lead the charge off the bus. The four streams that cover us, break the vampires into more manageable groups.

Only one is even capable of fighting back when we reach the group. But that changes after my swing nearly takes his nose off.

I don't waste time working out frustration and go right for a kill shot. Feigning a swing for the vampire's head, I thrust for his chest once he covers his face.

Two more whistles from the roof are followed by a volley of balloons. With a growl of frustration, I know we can't waste the element of surprise.

"Cover us!" Roaring at the pair holding the doors open, I lead the final two inside the chaos.

It's not as many vampires as I feared, which just cements my determination to save the students. "Everybody out!"

Drawing the attention of the crowd also sends a few vampires charging to close the doors. While my group handles them, Buffy takes the chance to lead the majority away.

I'm not even at half the strength I would be with my spiky face. That makes each vampire slightly stronger than me and these ones aren't covered in holy water burns. Even if they are twice as strong as a strong man, they fight with nothing more than arrogant instinct.

It doesn't take long to clear the gluttons still in the gym and start shepherding the stunned students to safety. "Third Street is taking the school rivalry too far this year. I expect you all to be above such juvenile retaliation!"

My explanation starts to get repeated by a few teachers who recognize me and soon the kids are starting to believe it. Thankfully no one questions the weapon in my hands or why the 'pranksters' are exploding into ash.

"Keep everyone covered until you hear sirens. I'll handle the clean up." Mentioning the escape clause was unnecessary, judging from the teen's snort of 'obviously'.

When I do reach the field out back and the real fight, I can see Gunn's crew has suffered at least a couple casualties. Impossible to tell how many vamps they took with them though.

Pike is rolling around with a vampire he's calling Benny, while Merrick tangles with the one called Amylin. Looks kind of like Pee Wee Herman. Standing protectively between Gunn clutching his ribs and a snarling Lothos, Buffy notices my arrival with a growing smirk.

"I finally figured out why Lothos is hiding here in Los Angeles." My words are filled with plenty of bravado as I approach the master vampire from behind. "He's hiding from Kakistos in the Master's shadow."

Buffy mouths 'who', the moment Lothos whirls around to face me. "You again? So eager to die?"

"He probably knows the only way anyone will ever fear him..." My taunting works and Lothos gets ready to pounce. "Is if the two real master vampires take each out."

"Die for your insolence!" He shoots forward even faster than last time and collides with me like a freight train.

My back leaves a trench in the ground, as Lothos forces me away from any support. But just as he prepares to kill me, a high pitched whine interrupts.

He frowns in confusion just a half second before a ball of red light strikes him in the back. The flare explodes in a shower of sparks, igniting Lothos who screams for his final few seconds of existence.

When only his ash remains and I finally breath again, Buffy rushes over to help me up. The minions flee as soon as Lothos is dust and lets me turn to my savour.

Fred is standing in the middle of a dozen stunned crew members, a smoking flare gun in her hands. I only have time to appreciate the sight for a few moments before the sound of sirens can be heard.

"Time to spin a yarn." Buffy bumps fist with Gunn. "Thanks for the help Charles."

"It's Gunn." The protest doesn't reach his eyes as he holds up the peace sign. "With two N's."

 

[Flightless Man]

Interlude 1: Misunderstandings
​

The Sunday after the battle brings a strangely quiet morning in Winnifred Burkle's apartment. With Allen on the road to Louisiana, Lorne and Fred try to get her place packed before his return.

It's a sombre mood as Fred tries not to think of the six students who died. With her relief at the intercom buzzing, very obvious to the empath.

"Is Mister Doyle here?" Buffy's voice reveals her confusion at the name Burkle on the list downstairs. "He said I could find him here if I needed help with anything."

"Sorry Doll, he was up with the sun." Lorne takes his chance to speak to someone new and presses the intercom before Fred has a chance to even move towards it. "Should be back in a few days with his..." Frowning, the green Pylean tries to remember the lie Allen came up with. "Sister and niece."

"Oh..." The fifteen year old's voice is filled with inner turmoil. "Can you let him know I stopped by?"

Exchanging looks of concern, Lorne makes up his mind and buzzes Buffy inside. "You may as well come up, Allen's supposed to check in around dinnertime."

"Whoa..." When Buffy is let in, her eyes immediately lock onto the green demon wrapping plates in newspaper.

"Did you get in much trouble at home?" Fred distracts the Slayer from her staring by bringing up last night's battle. "Or did the cover up work?"

Glancing down at the brunette's hand, Buffy notices a distinct lack of wedding ring. "Dad bought the news report. Don't think Mom is going to let me patrol for a few weeks though, she thinks Pike is in a gang."

Hesitating for a few awkward seconds, Buffy eventually decides to work up to her question with some smaller ones first. "I know you don't have to take his name. But aren't you supposed to at least wear the ring?"

"We're not married," Fred denies it with a frown. "He hasn't actually said what happened to her. So I can only assume..." She trails off and lets Buffy figure it out for herself.

"She died?" Whispers Buffy as she puts a few of the puzzle pieces in backwards.

"It's the only reason I can think of for why he's so devoted to helping strangers." Fred shares her own evidence. "He doesn't really seem to want to stop and think about his own life. So I haven't worked up the nerve to ask him yet."

Nodding at that grim thought, Buffy changes the subject to Fred's own involvement. "What about you? You seem to be coping with the crazy just fine."

"I always knew the world was hiding stuff. I'm just glad it's something I can actually stand up to." Fred leans in a little closer to Buffy and nearly whispers. "Aliens would have been so much scarier to deal with."

"I guess..." Not fully convinced, Buffy ends up packing movies into a box while she waits for the phone to ring. "You're going to Sunnydale with him?"

"Someone needs to watch his back and Lorne is pretty much a pacifist." Fred rolls her eyes at how many times she's been forced to save the seer.

Chuckling in agreement, Buffy thinks back to Lothos' end. "That was a pretty awesome shot."

"Was nothing compared to you." Fred shakes her head, trying to work the pink from her cheeks. "You danced through those vampires. Made Gunn's friends seem like snails."

"It's going to be nice having people to patrol with," Admits the cheerleader as she tapes up her first box and starts helping Lorne wrap the cutlery. "Getting used to having someone watch my back."

"What about your Watcher?" Fred remembers the older man who took part in the fight. "Isn't that his job?"

"He's having a hard time keeping up now. Kind of worried he's not just joking about retirement." Scowling a how many painkillers Merrick took during training yesterday, Buffy tries to keep herself distracted with the packing.

It doesn't work for more than a few minutes at a time. But it gives the girl a chance to get out of her house and the drama between her parents for the afternoon at least.

Buffy explains that Merrick has narrowed down the demon at the Hyperion to a few possibilities. In exchange, Lorne shares some of the less terrible details of Pylea.

"We have a dance for pretty much everything." The claim is followed by him kicking his legs out to each side, in a quick rendition of the 'Dance of Joy'. "But only one of my cousins is any good at keeping a beat. For the most part, it just looks like a bunch of writhing pickles whenever someone gets married."

"It must be so weird without any music." Buffy tries to imagine such a celebration and shudders. "I don't know how many days I wasted listening to the Devinyls. You know, before my mom explained what the lyrics really meant."

Trying not to giggle to hard, Fred shares her own history with music. "Mine had to tell me what Nirvanna really meant by the 'Heart-Shaped Box'."

"And this is why I love music," Lorne preens at the blossoming friendship. "It brings people together."

His comment leads to someone flicking the radio on, all three soon dancing along to Elvis' crooning. When Buffy starts to sing along with him, Fred has to shoot the demon a stern look.

"What did we talk about Lorne?" She stares him down with a hand on each hip, making the empath duck his head.

"I'll take 'Buffy is confused for five hundred'." The Slayer's eyes dart between the demon and the genius, waiting for either to fill her in.

"Lorne tell you some of your fate if you sing around him," Explains Fred with her lips pursed in annoyance. "Makes it really hard to watch anything with him, I love singing the theme songs."

Nodding slowly as she takes in the information, Buffy's curiosity eventually wins out over her fear. "Well what did you get out of me?"

"You're going to have to choose between two people you love pretty soon." Lorne gives her a sympathetic smile.

"Great." Buffy knows what he means and bends a knife when she clenches her fists angrily. "So I guess Mom's not really looking for a vacation home. Things aren't getting better between them."

Fred is quick to deny the words, her voice filled with determination. "How long have they been fighting?"

"Years..." Once she admits that, Buffy looks more lost than before.

"So it's not because of you being the Slayer." Fred consoles her, giving Lorne a chance to take the rest of the utensils from the distraught teen.

Between consoling words and four episodes of Yogi Bear, the pair eventually manage to get Buffy back to a neutral state. Each time the theme song starts to play, both girls burst out in even more amused giggles than the last time.

"Lothos was really old, right?" Fred steers the conversation away from family and back to business once the tape finishes. "So shouldn't he have a bunch of stuff stashed away somewhere?"

"Merrick is going to track them down after we deal with the hotel." Buffy considers the question, her brow crinkling as she does. "Said it's going to take a while to find all the nests and this demon is a problem now."

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 13: You Said It
​

The trailer park I pull up to is one of those tacky ones with a bunch of plastic animals. I've counted at least thirty flamingos so far.

Holding up the address Fred printed off, I compare it to the one beside the mailbox. "Here goes everything."

As I slam the door of the rental truck, I notice the curtains move at the kitchen window. This leads to the front door swinging open before I'm even halfway to it, with a scrawny man about to tell me to clear out.

"Steven Maclay?" Ignoring his words, I have a hard time restraining myself to just an angry growl.

"Who wants to know?" His false civility is replaced with wariness.

"Looking for my sister..." I let my demonic side come out and am very satisfied at the sight of a wet patch forming around Steven's crotch. "Took a while but I finally tracked her down."

"But..." A dozen emotions flash across his face as his lie becomes a horrible reality.

My crimson eyes bore into him and I allow myself to revel in the bullies terror. "I'm going to make it really simple for you Steven."

"What do you mean?" I have to give him credit for having the guts to maintain eye contact. Think that puts him slightly above the worms.

"Mary's coming home with me. You get to decide if we take half your stuff or all of it." My smirk only grows even wider when it's obvious he wants to attack me. "Divorce law let you keep half your valuables and your life. Inheritance law means we get everything."

"Donnie's the only one in my will." The pathetic excuse for a father tries to deny my threat.

But that just gives me another target to direct my rage towards. "Guess I better dig two graves."

Steven Maclay's face pales as I stomp towards him, my fists clenched into shaking fists. When I'm within arms reach, he shows exactly how yellow his belly really is.

"You can take them!" He falls onto his back while trying to escape my wrath, looking up at me with terror filled eyes. "Take whatever you want!"

He devolves into sobbing and I end up having to drag him inside by the collar. The woman waiting in the immaculate kitchen, is the spitting image of Tara.

She has a lot more wrinkles and half her hair has been replaced by silver strands. But I can finally see where Tara's inner strength came from.

A rolling pin swings for the side of my head, with me barely ducking under it in time. The first attack is followed up by at least a dozen cans of soup.

Nothing I say gets the distraught wife to stop her assault. It's only when the cretin in my grip tells her to start packing, that Mary finally lets me in the house.

She doesn't give the scum any argument and is up the stairs before I have a chance to say anything else. While we can hear her shuffling around in the next room, I keep up the menacing of Steven.

"Mary told me it was just magic..." He mutters to himself while I starting grabbing the nice China I assume came from the wedding. "Said I was just talking nonsense."

He gets worried about something and gets the tiniest bit of inner fire. "What about the kids? What are you going to do with my boy?"

"I tracked my sister by scent." I lie out of my ass, telling the horrible whatever it takes to keep him out of Tara's life forever. "I'll be able to tell if the whelps are worth bringing with me."

While my 'sister' brings suitcases downstairs, I make Steven divide everything else in the trailer. It's very telling that he struggles more with the choice between the television and couch, than he does with the idea of losing his family.

"The kids will be home from school soon," Mary reminds us with a very timid voice, making me glance at the clock on the stove.

She's true to her word, Tara and Donald both getting off the school bus less than ten minutes later. Whatever Donnie says to his sister, has her head hang with shame for the entire walk to the door.

"Get them ready for inspection, I want to be on the road by four." My growl has Steven scampering to obey, while Mary wheels out the last suitcase from her daughter's room.

"What's going on with the U-Haul, Are we moving?" The cocky voice of Donald Maclay, makes me clench my hands tight enough to make my palms bleed.

"All depends on how pure your blood is Nephew." My voice gets both teens to gasp, with Donnie's eyes scanning for any kind of weapon. "Not wasting my time on a filthy human."

Donnie looks ready to argue, only to freeze in horror when I reach for one of the cans Mary threw earlier. Squeezing with less than a quarter of my strength, it bursts and covers Donnie with creamed corn.

He doesn't move beyond trembling as I make a show of inhaling Donnie's scent. Sagging in relief along with his father, when I reject his 'purity' of blood.

"At least one of you smells good, barely any of that human stench in this beauty." My comment to Tara is actually one of the few true ones out of my lips since getting here. Whatever herbs she was last using gives off a pleasant 'woodsy' aroma and I make a mental note to ask about it on the drive.

"Mom..." Turning to Mary with growing fear mixed with just a hint of relief, Tara seeks an answer from the only person she trusts with the truth. "Where are going?"

"Home." My response is firm and full of scorn being directed towards the male Maclays. "You don't belong with these people."

When Tara turns to her father for support, he refuses to even look at her. "It's better this way Tara."

"Donnie?" No matter how much she fears both men, Tara is still heartbroken to learn neither will defend her.

"You heard Pa." Her brother at least makes eye contact as he crushes Tara's hope. "You don't belong here."

"No, they really don't." Agreeing with the foul excuse for a human, I give my 'niece' a warm smile. "So once you put Tara's bed and dresser in the truck, I'll have the girls out of your lives forever."

Steven looks relieved at the news. But Donnie shows he has at least five brain cells in his head.

"What about me? Will my kids be fre-" His father stops him from finishing by slamming his heel on Donnie's toes. "... Like you?"

"Doubtful." It was made to seem like only Tara and her mother was abused. So as long as no one teaches Donnie's kids, they should manage to get a normal life.

The final ten minutes at the Maclay residence is filled with uncomfortable silence. With Tara aware of how little the men care about her, she is left to cling to her mother's arm for support.

"How much is in your accounts?" I don't bother asking Steven and direct the words to his soon to be ex wife. "Get him to sign over a check for half of it. We'll hit the bank before Steven has a chance to do something stupid like cancel it."

"And I'll never see any of you again?" The father's lack of control is driving him crazy, making him only care about getting this over with now.

Once I confirm the question, Steven practically shoes us into the packed U-Haul. Neither he nor his son stick around to say any goodbyes, finally leaving me alone with the only decent Maclays.

"Get in, banks close at five." And Steven is probably already on the phone with his.

Exchanging looks of confusion, Tara and her mom climb into the passenger side. Once Tara is buckled up in the middle, I climb into the driver's seat with a sigh of relief.

"I guess you probably want to know the truth." And I'll even tell you most of it, we're going to be on the road for a while.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 14: Making Arrangements
​

"So you just travel around helping people?" Tara is on her third helping of pancakes and is eyeing the last few between us.

"Well normally the visions are in the same city." I spear my last sausage and slide it onto her plate. "Guess that means one of you is meant for something special."

I forgot Tara had the ability to read people's auras and it really made sure they could trust my answers. After a night discussing the issue in the privacy of a separate motel room, the mother daughter combo have come to an agreement.

"You really don't want anything else from us?" Pouring a fifth sugar into her coffee, Mary can't seem to believe I just need some help reading a book. "Just some magic lessons?"

"I know it's just going to keep coming up." If I don't at least get a grasp on the basics, I'll just end up causing more problems than Xander did. "Got a pretty busy eight years ahead of me."

I can remember at least a dozen apocalypses off the top of my head. Even if Buffy and Angel stopped them without my involvement, I've already started changing to many things.

Can't really back out of the whole champion gig now. Could have already screwed with destiny enough to get the whole world killed.

"Are we really going to live with a ghost?" Realizing that I'm not going to snap like her father, Tara finally makes eye contact without instantly flinching away.

"Dennis is one of the nice ones." And he'll deal with his mother once the wall is torn down. "I'm sure you'll both love him."

Mary raises her own concerns with the plan to sign Tara up at Hemery. "I saw the news. Is the school really safe?"

"It is now." giving the mother a reassuring grin, I realize this might be a chance to head of another problem. "But you could do me one favour Tara."

"What?" The sweet girl is desperate to repay me.

"Tell Billy Fordham that a werewolf bite is better than one from a vampire." He might need to get locked up three nights a month. But I could probably convince Gunn to set aside a room at the Hyperion.

She promises to do so with a curious frown and the three of us get back on the road once Mary finishes her coffee. The last few hours back to Los Angeles are finally free of any tension, letting us actually start getting to know each other.

I tell them about what really happened at the Hemery dance and Mary seems to be getting more comfortable about the enrolment. But Tara is more interested in the teenage superhero she's been asked to befriend and the idea of a demonic nightclub.

"She fights vampires every night?" Aw fills the younger witch's voice. "All by herself?"

"Most of the time." Watchers are supposed to help. "I patrolled with her a few times." But even Giles was rarely in the field himself. "Not really sure if I was helping or slowing her down though." Kind of went back and forth each night.

Inspiration flashes in Tara's eyes. "So will she need help now that you're leaving?"

"No." Is Mary's quick response that comes out slightly before my own 'if you want to'.

"You said you used to be a nurse." Shrugging off the mother's glare, I realize how useful that could be. "Well Buffy and the crew could both use some patching up when things get rough. You could work something out with Gunn."

Her glare softens and Mary seems to reconsider her hard line stance. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"They lose around five guys a mon-" My words suddenly cut off as pain explodes inside my skull.

Tara barely manages to grab the wheel and pull us to the shoulder, while I writhe in agony through another vision. The searing pain of my organs liquefying is experienced in it's entirety before the victim mercifully dies.

"Allen!" Mary's voice is nothing but panic as her daughter struggles with the wheel.

"That's the worst one by far..." I pant as the sight of the highway returns, the sensation of dread filling me. "We need to make a stop in Vegas."

I was barely able to make out a lit up pyramid before the pain overwhelmed everything and yet that's still enough for a destination. Only one place in the state that I can find one of those.

"Are you going to be alright?" A very worried mother has noticed my shaking hands.

"You should probably drive the rest of the way." That was way too close for comfort.

Tara rummages in her purse and hands me some sappy willow bark. It's cut up into into bite sized squares and she has a paper bag half filled with them.

Taking one, I frown at the smell of sage and cinnamon. "What are they?"

"Mom makes them for my cramps." She blushes red right to her ears. "Better than any painkillers you can get over the counter."

"Well you just became my guardian angels." Ignoring the smell to the best of my ability, I pop the square of bark into my mouth.

To my astonishment, the relief is almost instant. The phantom sensation of my organs melting is replaced with a fuzzy floating feeling and the screaming in my skull becomes low rumbles.

"I'm going to need a lifetime supply of this stuff." I can actually bring this stuff onto a school campus. "Name your price."

"Let me come with you tonight." Tara shows her spine of steel underneath a lifetime of being beaten down. "So I know you aren't just faking this whole vision thing."

"You're the first person whose wanted proof..." Too impressed to be even slightly annoyed, I do remember to glance at Mary before speaking. "But I guess it's alright. Just need to grab you some hairspray first."

A few test runs with Buffy was enough to find out it works to chase off most of the bloodsuckers. The smart ones go for easier prey, while a lighter takes care of any who still decide to go in for the kill.

"You two stay on the main strip and I'll let you know when it's safe." Which means you can see the body if you really want to. "Just need to call my expert first and see if he knows any weaknesses."

I have absolutely no idea what the slug like demon really is. But I don't think this is a problem that will be solved with a box of salt.

"Don't really want to run in unprepared again." Not if Merrick could identify the Boretz with a single glance.

It's frustrating to admit the Watchers may not be completely useless as an organization, with only a few stand out members being of any real use. They may not have the numbers to go toe to toe with evil worldwide.

But the Council has enough knowledge to support the ones who are. I just need to figure out a way to convince them sharing is caring and some stock tips might be a good way to start.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 15: Noodle Incident
​

"But this place is huge!" Mary is very aware of how expensive an apartment like this should really cost.

"And haunted by a very territorial mother." I'm not exactly sure which wall needs to be opened up and figure it can be fixed later. "So start putting holes in every wall."

But Lorne has a better idea and corrects me with a confident smirk.

"Or we could save time and start with the right one." The empath ignores bloody writing on the peach walls that haven't been repainted since the seventies and strides through the storm of papers. "Either these walls are filled with bodies, or Dennis is in this one."

Lorne's hammer goes through the drywall and the change is instant. The furniture drops as a ghoulish woman appears in the middle of the room. She goes from a look of snide cruelty to terror as Dennis' spirit fog emerges from the hole.

"He's so sad..." Mutters Tara as the cloud surrounds the ghastly mother and begins dissolving her.

"Told you Dennis was a good guy." I scratch at the rash on my neck and notice Fred's curious gaze.

I've been tight lipped about how corrosive the slug demon's slime was and really don't want to share my adventure streaking across the strip. Even if it finally convinced the Maclay women my visions are real, I'm not sure being forced to run from the cops was worth it.

"Well how do we introduce ourselves?" The genius making sure I don't get myself killed tilts her head. "I'm not really sure how to say hello to someone..." She hesitates in search of the right word. "Former."

Shrugging at the words, I realize I'm not exactly sure of the rules myself. "I think he can hear us just fine. But it could be more that he's only picking up the general emotion."

"Hello Dennis." Tara holds out her hand in the general direction of the smoky cloud, introducing her and Mary to the spectral resident. "My mom and I are going to be your roommates. Is that alright with you, or would you like us to go somewhere else?"

It takes a few seconds for an answer, with Dennis trying to communicate by changing how bright the lights are. A lamp burns out and it sounds like the light in the fridge exploded.

"What does that mean?" Fred whispers quietly to me, trying not to disturb Phantom Dennis' attempt to say hello.

"Not sure." I grab one of the whiteboards I stole the night of the Lothos attack and hang it up with a couple nails. "That's why I brought these from Hemery. Black pens are for facts, Red pen is for when Dennis is angry, blue is when he's sad, and green is for happy."

As soon as I finish the explanation, the green pen is already rising to leave a message. 'It's so nice to meet you all. Thank you for finding me.' So much easier than than playing charades with a ghost.

"Such nice manners." Mary is relieved to find out the phantom is even more polite than I described.

Once the admittedly brief exorcism is over, we spend the rest of the afternoon unloading the U-Haul. It goes a lot faster once Dennis scribbles down that we should just leave everything by the front door and he can sort the boxes for us.

"I'll be checking in on you once a month for lessons." I remind Mary over Chinese food after we finish. "And to see if you need anything." We even set a plate aside for Dennis, with the phantom able to pretend he's eating the fake fruit Fred picked up for him. "We might not actually be family. But I'm kind of responsible for you." At least until you get your life back in order.

"You're really going to pay for me to get re-certified?" It's easy to see the desire to control her own life on Mary's face. "I can be a nurse again?" The accounts only had a few thousand dollars and I know the mother is worried about providing for Tara in a strange city.

"May as well use my cut from the Hyperion for something worthwhile." The rest can be set aside as a nest egg for Lorne.

Wiping her eyes, Mary gives me a very grateful smile. "It's been a long time since anyone called me that."

"Well get used to it." Gunn's already drooling over having a personal nurse for his crew to come to. "You're about to be adored by a whole bunch of people."

"When are we supposed to meet up with everyone?" Fred glances at the clock with a frown at how close it is to eight.

"Merrick said to show up at ten. He wants a chance to scope the place out before the crew can cause a ruckus." I catch her phrasing and counter with a scowl of my own. "And what do you mean we?"

Crossing her arms with a stern glare, Fred makes it very clear what kind of woman she is. "I'm coming to the Hellmouth with you already. Kind of stupid of you to try keeping me locked up in a tower now."

"That' not what I meant!" It kind of is. "I just don't think the Maclays should be alone tonight."

"What am I, chopped spleen?" Lorne cuts in with a hurt look.

"You might have a death wish..." Staring me down, Fred throws me off with her claim. "But we're not going to let that happen. Buffy agrees with us, so don't even try leaving me behind tonight." When did you have a chance to discuss this with her?

What are you talking about? "I don't have a death wish."

"Oh really?" Lorne adds his own opinion to the claim. "You don't seem to want to know your own future."

Standing beside him in a show of support, I notice Fred's bottom lip is trembling. "You told Buffy that she's not alone in the fight. So why are you trying so hard to push us away?"

Because I'm an idiot. The warmth spreading through me is enough to start melting the walls I hadn't even realized I put up.

"If I just focus on the mission, I can ignore everything I've lost since getting the visions." Everyone I ever knew is just a memory and I can never get them back. "Keeping you all at arms length is really just a coping mechanism." This is my life now and I need to start living it. "I need to start processing my loss."

"And we'll be here whenever you're ready to talk about her." Fred's voice is soft enough that I think I just misheard the last word out of her mouth.

"You two go deal with this Thesulac Demon." Nodding towards Dennis' chair, Lorne volunteers to stay the night. "Dennis and I shall keep these lovely ladies safe from any harm."

Her scowl softens into a smirk and I'm grateful that Fred doesn't rub her win in my face. "I'm choosing to help. Please let me."

"Alright." Only an idiot argues with a girl that pretty. "Just remember to bring the stun gun. Merrick said electricity is one of the few things that will hurt the demon once it manifests."

"If that doesn't work?" Fred isn't letting me out the front door without a back up plan more in depth than 'extreme physical trauma'.

I consider what could possibly bring more oomph. "Can you do something to the fuse box? Rig it overload if we slam the demon into it?"

"It would fry the wiring and probably start a few fires..." She considers it carefully and her eyes narrow with determination. "But it shouldn't actually be hard to mess with a system that old."

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 16: Hotel California
​

"Ouch!" Fred gasps in shock and drops her screwdriver when the ancient fuse box gives off a crackling spark.

"Aren't you supposed to be the careful one?" Smirks Buffy as I bend down to grab the tool.

Grinning back, Fred seems to have strangely enjoyed the small amount of pain. "You want to see how steady you are with a power grid an inch away from a single screw up?"

"Not in the slightest." The petite Slayer retorts just as quick, proving the two girls indeed have formed a camaraderie somehow in my absence. "I'll leave that stuff to the smarty pants like you."

"How smart is it for you to spend time with the Slayer and these mindless grunts?" sinister words I know must be coming from the demon continue to whisper like they have since I stepped through the front door of the Hyperion.

"Stay focused." Merrick's stern voice cuts through the humour as his eyes dart around the basement for any sign of movement. "The demon will seek any opportunity to turn us against each other."

Laughter echoes in my head. "I don't need to do anything but reveal the truth."

The words almost get us to all spin around to keep watch and it's only Buffy's last second realization that stops us. "Well why did you stop manifesting it? That's supposed to be your job."

"They shall turn on you once I'm dealt with." The voice reverberates inside my head, the words trying to find any shred of doubt to latch onto. "Do not give them a chance. Strike now while you have the element of surprise, or the Slayer will prove her name!"

Trying to shake off the sudden paranoia, I notice the others are mumbling to themselves as well. "That's not what friends do."

I make sure the words are loud enough to almost be called a shout, my experience with different perspectives just enough to make the presence stand out. The sound of whispered grumbling lets me know the Thesulac has already broken through to some of the crew. We need to hurry this up before they get the bright idea to turn on us.

"Merrick!" Buffy slaps the aging Watcher hard enough to leave a red mark. "You have to finish the ritual!"

He shakes his head and agrees, pulling the glowing Orb of Ramjarin from his satchel and hands it to me. "Don't stop chanting until the Thesulac materializes. We're in it's clutches now and the only way out is through."

Merrick hands the divining powder to Pike before he starts applying the herbal paste to the floor in a strange spiral design.

"We call thee forth, Thesulac of the Netherworld." The words I was forced to memorize are Chumash and I'm really hoping my pronunciation isn't going to screw everything up.

Marrick is the first to add his own voice to the chant, his English accent slipping out for just a moment. "We command you leave our minds and join us on this, the physical plane."

The lights begin to flicker wildly and the temperature drops at least a dozen degrees. But we don't stop and Fred's the next to join her words to the ritual.

"We invoke thee by the power of the priest of Ramjarin." Pike surprises me with how confident he is with the phrasing and even more by his lack of errors.

Buffy is last to speak the words of power and it shows she's been practising. "What was once in our thoughts, be now in our midst!"

The whole building shakes for a few seconds and I can feel an insidious web of energy torn free from the building. It's followed by a frenzied bellow as the air distorts before us, the Thesulac materializing inside the circle Merrick prepared.

"Now!" The Watcher roars his own command and we all back away as fast as possible.

More than twenty wires shoot towards the furious demon, catching in his grimy brown robes. The first couple that turn on don't even seem to be noticed by desiccated demon. But by the time the final stun gun has been activated, the Thesulac is roaring in pain.

Tentacles erupt from beneath the robes and surge outwards, with more than enough to impale each of us. But when I try to react, Buffy once again proves herself my physical superior.

She seems to blur past me and deliver a kick into the Thesulac's chest that sends him into the fuse box Fred prepared. When The demon's back slams into the faulty wiring, it doesn't just crackle with electricity. It explodes with power.

The noise drowns out any screaming that may still be coming from the smoking demon. The hotel lights go out and it's only our headlamps that show the Thesulac crumble away like dust.

Silence hangs in the air for a few seconds as everyone processes the victory. But when Pike throws his fist in the air and cheers, the rest of us are quick to follow suit.

"We made that demon our bitch!" Gunn slaps the white teen's hand with his own and cements the bond between us. "After this, you can all consider yourselves a part of the crew."

I don't have time for more than a few seconds of celebration and know what's waiting upstairs. "Money's down here in one of the vents, you guys mind looking for it?"

"You got something more important than fifty grand to deal with?" Levarr snorts at what sounds impossible.

"The woman feeding the Tesulac isn't going to last much longer." My grim words cut right through the good mood and Levarr looks horrified at making light of it. "Someone should be with her. It is her money we're here to loot."

I go up alone, while the crew and Pike eagerly start searching the basement. When I find Judy's room she's already starting to fade and I guide her back to the bed.

"It's alright Judy. The nightmare is over and you can finally be at peace." She hasn't had physical nourishment in decades and with the Thesulac gone, the guilt laden woman doesn't have long.

Sitting with Judy in her final moments pulls at my heart as she begs forgiveness for something I can't actually offer. But when her face contorts in anguish, I change my mind.

"He forgives you Judy." Angel will once I tell him what happened after he left the hotel and how the demon fed on you for decades.

"Thank you." She smiles when I say her name, believing I could only know both names if the words are true. "I'd like to go see him..." Judy's heavy eyelids flicker lower and lower. "Just after I have a little rest. I'm so tired."

When I emerge from her room the lights are back on and I can hear excited voices in the lobby. But to my relief, Fred and Buffy are waiting in the hallway.

The brunette throws herself at me, wrapping me in a tight hug as the tears pour down my face. Buffy is only a few seconds slower, turning it into a group hug of joint support. That demon really did a number on all of us.

A third set of hands make an appearance, with Pike's left hand awkwardly patting me on the shoulder. "Got to say. For a teacher, you ain't half bad."

"And for a slacker, you have quite the work ethic." I'm still amazed that he was able to memorize the chant, considering Pike is flunking out of English.

It takes a few minutes to get myself together and they give me the time to do so. No judgment from any of them, not even Pike. He's probably just happy no one's brought up the tear stains on his own cheeks.

"What are your plans for this place?" Merrick looks up from his conversation with Gunn the moment we descend the stairs and rejoin everyone. "Charles doesn't seem to have any thoughts beside using it as a base of operations. But that's not going to work for very long." City will send someone to check the place out, once they notice people coming and going again.

"I don't really like killing humans unless I have too," The words throw most people for a loop, with only Fred having no visible reaction. "But it's not like we have a place to contain people who cross the line mystically."

Gunn frowns and makes it clear he doesn't like what he's hearing. "I'm not turning the my boys into prison guards for you."

"Not a prison." Magic touches the soul and it's rare to find someone not completely tainted. "I'm thinking more of a rehab centre." Being able to send people like Andrew or Amy to a place with supervision and support, that would actually make a difference without having to cause violence.

Merrick seems to agree and offers to get Council funding and resources if Gunn accepts. "The Watchers have been seeking a way to establish a base back in America since the revolution. They could have a field team here by the weekend to provide training and resources."

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 17: Welcome To Sunnydale
​

Arriving in Sunnydale about an hour after sunset, we find Ted Buchanen's house on a well lit street. Once I pull the U-haul over and Fred takes the spot behind me, the three of us meet under the street light.

"This is the killer robot's place?" Fred keeps her voice low as her eyes dart around for any of the vampires I warned her about. "Seems like such a nice, normal neighbourhood."

Raising an eyebrow at her tone, I manage not to snort at the idea of anything in this town being either nice or normal. "That's exactly how Sunnydale has been kept off the national news. Well, that and the masquerade spell Wilkins put around the city."

"The mayor?" Fred's eyes are almost popping out of her sockets at my offhand comment. "Is he a demon like the lawyers?"

"Not yet. But we got a couple years before that becomes a priority." The mayor is an evil son of a bitch. "The big bad we should focus on right now is the Master." But he's the reason no one has opened the Hellmouth in the last century and I can't really justify all that chaos.

She remembers what I yelled at Lothos and puts the pieces together. "You said Lothos was hiding in his shadow?"

"Was mostly just pissing him off so Buffy had a clear shot at his back. Really wasn't expecting the save from you." Even if it was hot as hell.

"My cousin taught me how to shoot." The way she ducks her head makes me remember she was comfortable with an assault rifle in season five. "He would never let it go if I missed a target that close."

The porch light flickers on, soon followed by the front door swinging open to reveal a smiling Ted. It doesn't reach his eyes and carries an undercurrent of menace.

Ignoring the unspoken threat, I lead the others to the 'man'. "New in town and I think we're a little lost. Could you give us directions?"

"Well of course I can. Sunnydale can't keep winning 'friendliest city in California' award, if it's citizens aren't going to lend a helping hand." Once a plausible excuse has been uttered, the android lowers his guard just enough.

Lorne hangs back in the shadows and lets me get close enough to hand Ted the map. Once his vision is obscured, Fred's stun gun delivers a shock.

It overloads the robot's fifty year old wiring and sends him tumbling backwards onto the porch. Fred hops over the smoking 'body' and finds the door unlocked.

"Get him inside!" Her hiss stirs Lorne and I to action, with each of us grabbing one pair of limbs. "We don't want anyone calling the cops."

"I highly doubt that will happen once anybody watching sees Lorne's face." That should be more than enough to make people close the blinds.

"We really need to get a work on improving my public image," The empath grunts under the weight of Buchanen. "It's torture living in California and not being able to enjoy the sun."

He gets a sympathetic look from Fred while she closes the door behind us. "I've been thinking about that and I think it's best if we start with local radio. It's really not that hard to pirate a signal."

"We start hanging some posters up around town and you should be able to walk around in a few months." Dropping the robot to the side of the rug, I kick it to the side and reveal the trap door. "We can start looking for a place for you to rent once we know you have an audience."

Property values may be dirt cheap. But I'm starting to get spread pretty thin with all these dependents I seem to be picking up.

Probably a good thing I can't remember Faith's last name or I'd have ended up adopting her. I only have two out of the ten grand left for myself and Lorne's a big eater.

The two of them combined would have had me bankrupt in only a few months. That realization reminds me I need to give the school a call and get put on the call sheet. They go through teachers fast and it shouldn't take too long to get a permanent position if I build up a good reputation.

Fred doesn't even hesitate and brings a hunting knife to the android's neck, peeling back a flap of skin once she makes the cut. "Oh wow..." When no blood pours from the wound, we all get a good look at the exposed circuit board. "This is way too advanced for me."

It's the first time Fred has admitted she couldn't do something and I blink in shock. "But aren't you a science genius?"

"I only switched majors in September. I could probably figure out how to turn him back on by myself and that's about it." Stepping away from the android, Fred explains what her first passion was. "I was actually taking history classes until I saw Seidel's physics lecture."

"... Oh." Well who am I going to get to help?

"It's nice to know you seem to think I can do anything though." Smirking at my slack jawed face, Fred decides to pull up the trap door. "What do you think is down here?"

"His last few wives are in the closet." We're going to need to do something about them.

My words have Fred drop the door with a gasp, the heavy wood banging shut. "Oh my god!"

"To be fair, I'm not actually sure if Ted murdered them." We never see the bodies in the show and Xander never described the condition he found them in. "He could have just kept them after they died of natural causes. Otherwise he'd probably have more than just a few in his collection."

"Did he just come home and power down until morning?" She tries to distract herself from the idea of several bodies in the basement and runs her finger through several year's worth of dust on the coffee table.

"Lived in the basement except when he was wooing a new bride. In my vision it was like a flashback to the fifties." At least we have room to unload everything after we dust the place out.

Lorne can even have the basement to decorate however he likes. That way he doesn't have to worry about hiding in a closet if company suddenly drops by.

"Can we please go have some fun before you work us like cows?" Lorne winces as he realizes the word choice was wrong, the moment he utters them his scarlet eyes flash with guilt. "Sorry, bad habit." He shakes his head and the faux pas from his mind. "But you told me Sunnydale has a bar I can go to with you."

"I do need to get Liam's address from Willy." Pretending to consider it, I hold in a grin when Lorne squirms. "I guess we can go check the place out."

Fred glances down at her powder blue blouse and jeans with a frown. "Should I dress up?"

"Probably better if you dress down a bit, it's really more of a dive bar." Considering the patrons, I add another warning. "And you really shouldn't wander away from us. Something will try snatching you up."

"Maybe we try pretending it's a Pylea kind of deal?" Lorne hesitates as he searches for the least offensive way to explain. "I saw a few girls wearing collars back in Los Angeles." His expression morphs into a confused frown as he whirls on me. "Didn't you say it was only pets who wore those here on Earth?"

"Ask me that again after I've had a couple drinks." I really don't want to explain sexual subcultures while I'm sober. "And Fred, you need to make sure I stop at two. Lorne's not going to scare off anyone hungry."

Disgusted at letting his patrons eat each other, Lorne shares one of the few things he seems to think Pylea got right. "They don't put up a pacifism spell? What kind of business does he run?"

"Those aren't exactly common." Actually Caritas is the only time I can remember one being used in either series.

"Well no wonder Mary was excited to learn the spell." He smiles at the memory. "I just thought she was being polite. Neither of you really seem to want to ask about Pylea."

With a face softening instantly, Fred grabs our friend's hand. "We thought it was just bad memories and you didn't want to think about it."

"I was just being a jerk," I admit with a guilty tone. "Was honestly too wrapped up in all the planning to really think about how strange this all must be for you."

"Honey, don't even worry about it. You may not want to know..." Winking at me, Lorne reminds me what his powers are. "But I've heard you sing a few times now and I know exactly how much pressure you're under."

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 18: Cheers
​

Lorne's face is filled with disappointment the moment we walk inside Willy's Place and he finds out what a dive bar really is. His eyes scan the dingy room and the booths covered in grime, a heavy sigh escaping him.

"You sure we can't go back to the place all the kids seemed to like?" At least he's keeping his voice low.

"Not until you become part of the Sunnydale Syndrome." May as well us it to our advantage.

A hairless demon with countless folds of loose skin approaches and tries to warn us off. "I know this place says it's for a mixed crowd. But you might want to find a friendlier place, the vamps wait outside for last call."

"This is the only place in town that I can bring both of my friends." Shaking my head so the Brachen half emerges, Clem is just relieved Lorne isn't going to be the muscle. "Unless you know somewhere better?"

"We got a couple demon bars you and the green guy might like. But nothing that will let you bring her in with you." The loose skin demon gives Fred an apologetic look. "... Well, not unless she's on the menu."

Pulling my borrowed leather jacket around herself, Fred takes a slightly more nervous second glance at the patrons. "But half the people here are human. Why didn't you try chasing them away?"

Clem snorts like the pig he kind of resembles and points to the arguing couple in a corner booth. "Daniel and his new squeeze are vampires."

"Oh..." Taking a closer look, Fred nods when she sees the stain of red on the Asian vampire's lips.

"Cathryn can more than take care of herself." The blonde woman on the cleanest bar stool turns and watches us with rapt attention, while her companion looks a few decades older. "She's the reason only the fledges still actively hunt witches in Sunnydale."

Giving a name to the surly man beside Cathryn, Clem tries to discretely point him out. "O'Toole is one of the best necromancers in the state. No vampire is going after him unless they want to learn what it feels like to be a puppet."

Clem lets us share his regular table, incredibly eager to talk with someone who hasn't already heard all his stories a dozen times before. "Sometimes Ken and Maureen will pop in after the full moon. But they aren't exactly regulars and I think they just needed to be reminded what the real monsters look like."

"What about him?" Fred jerks her chin towards a chubby man in the corner, still wearing his Double Meat uniform.

"Slod demon." Our over eager guide explains and doesn't stop before adding the part about the weight being part of a monthly moulting process. "Jacob really has a thing for kidneys. So if you ever talk to him, try letting it slip yours aren't in the best condition."

"Thanks for the advice." Clem grins wide enough to reveal his double row of teeth and it takes everything I have to not react visibly. "You mind keeping my friends company while I go have a talk with Willy?"

After agreeing, Clem leans in and whispers another warning. "Better not tell him anything private. The guy's not exactly tight lipped."

"Exactly what I'm looking for right now." Taking a look at his almost empty glass, I offer to grab a pitcher for the table.

"No starting a bar fight without us," Fred fires at me with a teasing grin.

Willy hears that part clearly and almost poofs into existence before me with a panicked expression. "Hey, no bar fights at all please! I just got the blood off the roof from the last time Darla stopped by."

"How often do you get beat up for information?" I easily notice the shiner on Willy's face despite the concealer liberally applied.

The weaselly man's face contorts in fear. "... Maybe a couple times a month."

"And how often do people give you anything in return?" That comment has the fear replaced with shining greed.

"What do you have in mind?" He leans in close and whispers, not willing to commit until he knows what I want to know.

"How about I just stick with proving my abilities first." Tapping my temple, I fill Willy in on my being a seer. "You go home and watch Friends this week. See how many of these things happen."

The barely five foot tall man snatches the list I spent a while working on. "This is just telling me the plot to a bunch of movies and shows. How is this going to prove anything?"

"None of them have come out yet." One benefit of going to so many theatres with Fred, is that I now know which movies are coming out over the next six months. "But each thing I wrote down is exactly what's going to happen. I'll start giving you financial advice if you can answer my questions truthfully."

"What kind of advice?" He's not subtle in his eagerness.

"Stuff like who's going to win the next couple Stanley Cups." Willy almost drools at the words. "And which new companies are going to make billions."

Giving the list a long look as he tries to decide if I'm screwing with him, Willy eventually pockets it with a smirk. "What did you want to know?"

"Looking for a new vampire in town. Handsome son of a bitch who looks like his face was carved into the brooding position." Deciding not to beat around the bush, I give Willy the name along with the complete description.

"I'll keep an eye out." Willy winks, making it clear he means in regards to both the predictions and the request. "See how things go."

"And I'll be back." I somehow restrain myself from saying that in an Austrian accent.

Rejoining the trio with a pitcher and glasses, I try to relax enough so I can answer Lorne's questions without blushing. Thankfully Fred and Clem help and spare me from having to answer all of the embarrassing ones myself.

The conversation steers my thoughts towards how everything in these shows is supposed to be a metaphor for life. I guess that makes mine about how bi people can pass as 'normal'. While I like that a whole lot better than being allegory for alcoholism, it stings how true it rings.

"You play poker for kittens?" Gasps Fred once Clem invites Lorne and I to come to the Lounge Room for a game. "That's awful..." Her expression falls into sadness at the idea.

"It's better than the babies Lurconis and his friends play for." Clem tries to shift the blame but this only serves to make the genius more determined.

Fred whirls on me with the most intense stare yet. "You better win the whole pot each week."

"Well I guess that means we're coming." My tone has Clem suddenly nervous about the offer.

"Are you sure?" He blinks a couple times as he tries to think of an excuse. "Some of the guys can really hold a grudge."

I'm supposed to start small with my hero work. Can't really get much more mundane than card games for pets.

"How about I stop by the animal shelter and adopt all the cats about to be put down because of old age?" I'm not actually sure what Clem's friends need to eat and don't want to shame the culture into starvation. "Would that work or does it have to be kittens?"

"The meat's just more tender," Admits Clem with a blush that reaches the tips of his floppy ears. "I guess we could give it a try. Grunch will probably whine though."

"How can you be alright with eating cats?" This is the first time Fred seems offended by anything out of my mouth and I'm surprised by how much the feeling hurts. "They're adorable!"

"Who am I to decide what animal is worth eating?" I really only care that the kill is made humanely and the animal doesn't suffer.

That doesn't convince the Texan girl and she stares me down. "You don't eat pets."

"I don't eat pets." That's easy to agree with. "But they aren't pets to these demons. And I'd rather every demon on Earth started using the pet store instead of the mall as a grocery store."

"That's pretty cold." Her eyes narrow and I can see the realization in her dark brown eyes, that I'm not the perfect man she created in her head. "I thought you had a reason for leaving Donnie with his dad. Didn't think it was just you being the boy's judge."

Frustration surges inside me, making my fingers clench tightly around my glass. "I have a head full of world ending threats. I'm sorry that I don't have time to focus on every little thing."

But even as I make the claim, I know I only left Donnie because I'm only looking at the big picture still. I saw how many times in both series that a shitty person got development and became a hero. Why didn't I give Tara's brother that same chance to grow?

"I don't expect you to save everyone." Fred crosses her arms and glares hot enough to melt iron. "But what about not ignoring the people you hear screaming for help? Or is this part of the whole teacher cliche?"

Her rage makes the insult just unclear enough that I need to ask for clarification. "... Huh?"

"You have all these great lessons to pass on to Buffy and the rest of us. But you don't seem to follow any of them yourself." Her glare softens into a smirk. "So do you teach because you can't do?"

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 19: First Impressions
​

When I drop Fred off at the UC Sunnydale campus, she hesitates with embarrassment turning her ears pink. "You don't actually have to play poker."

"I know." Since it seems like she's trying to apologize for her drunken state a few nights ago, I attempt to tone back on the attitude.

"And I'm sorry for talking to you like that." Her accent is a lot stronger when she's stressed out and right now the Texan twang is full bore. "I don't really drink much and kind of got emotional." Her hands start to tremble.

Ignoring my own frustration, I reach over and place a hand on her knee. "You alright Fred?"

"Clem sure had a lot to tell us about Sunnydale." I guess she means while I was talking to Willy. "It's really just sinking in what I signed up for."

"You don-" Right as I start telling her she can still back out, Fred gives me a firm stare.

"Don't even think about giving me an out. I'm just trying to process everything" Her veracity just makes me smile silently. "You heard what Clem said about the really serious games, they play for babies. I'm just so mad that's even a thing and I know you can't do anything about it."

Oh. "So the urgency over the kittens..."

"Kittens are still babies." Noticing her watery eyes, I lean over to pop open the glove compartment.

"Here." Handing her some of the napkins Doyle collected for some reason, I realize I can't really be mad anymore. "Don't worry about last night. You've had a pretty eventful month. I'm kind of impressed you held it together for so long."

Once her eyes are dry, Fred tells me she's going to take the bus home instead of waiting for me. With a goodbye almost back to our normal casualness, I head off to my first day at the high school.

Only a week on the sheet and I'm already getting called in by Principal Flutie. Something that would have taken at least six months in a normal city this size.

The drive from across town barely takes fifteen minutes and I'm forced to admit that Mayor Wilkins did an excellent job designing the place. Almost wish he'd have spent some time doing the same to the rest of California's highways.

Getting out of my Corolla, I hear some students comment on the new substitute, with a few of the smokers even making bets on how long I'll last. Scanning the crowd in front of the school, I'm still amazed at what passes for fashion in the nineties.

Not like I have much better to look forward to though. The denim fad is coming up pretty soon and that's really not something I want to relive.

When I finally get directions to the office and not a random closet, the secretary waves me right through to Flutie's open door. With the grinning principal getting up to greet me the second I step through it.

"Allen, thank you so much for coming in on such short notice." He pumps my hand up and down with enthusiasm, smiling at the navy suit Lorne insisted looked best on me.

"I'm just happy to be getting back to work." Releasing the handshake, it takes everything I have not to wipe the sweat on my pant leg. "Do you want me to stick to the lesson plan or should I just go with one of my back up assignments?"

The man gets flustered at the question and tries to deflect. "Probably best if you go with what you know. We're not sure when Miss Simmons will be coming back."

"So you just need me until she does?" Keeping my expression casual, Flutie starts to relax when he realizes I'm not going to pry for details.

"If that works for you." He explains I'll be taking over the freshman and sophomore English classes. "And as long as the students don't have too many complaints about you, we can always talk about making the position a permanent one." That's really not how it's supposed to work.

"That would be incredible Sir." It's easy to butter up such an easy going man.

The bell rings and Flutie gives me a wide grin. "Guess it's showtime. Good luck, those kids will try to eat you alive."

"Thanks for the warning." Giving the principal a respectful nod, I head off to find my classroom.

When I do reach it, almost every seat is already filled. "Good morning everyone, I'm Mister Doyle."

The sophomores give an unenthusiastic hello back, with only a couple teens putting any energy into it. Willow is of course the one with the bushiest eyes, with most students only getting interested when I get to the attendance sheet.

"Heidi Barrie?" I only have a vague memory of what she looks like and so it takes me a second to figure out what's going on when Harmony is the one to raise her hand.

As soon as I do catch on though, I decide to have my own fun with the students prank. "Well I guess that means Miss Kendall is absent today?"

"And Mister Harris too." I pretend to mark Xander absent as well, when he pretends to be Larry Blaisdell.

I get through a few more names before the teens lose the nerve to keep up the prank. With the one who was supposed to inherit my visions the one to break.

"Told you it was a stupid idea." Cordelia snaps at Xander when I make it clear I know she's not Michelle Blake. "We aren't in junior high anymore."

The pair trade a few quick witted barbs and I just enjoy the show up until the name calling comes out. "Silence!"

My gruff tone is enough to make Cordelia whirl on me with a charming smile. "But Mister Doyle. This was the cretin's idea."

"I have my own ears." Shocked at being called out by a substitute, Cordellia looks to her friends for support. "You want to insult each other, put it in writing so I can grade it."

"And the what now?" Xander blinks in shock.

"You and Miss Chase can give me a fifteen hundred word essay about how terrible the other one is." Before both pairs of eyes can get too carried away with cruel ideas, I lay down the ground rules. "No cursing or name calling. I want you to show how creative you can be."

Aghast at what looks like casual cruelty from a teacher, Willow's hand shoots into the air. "Isn't that kind of mean?"

"It would be if I wasn't also going to make them write a second essay about each other's best traits." I finally allow myself to smirk when I reveal the assignment I had planned for everyone. "I was going to pair everyone up randomly. But it looks like these two volunteered for an extra essay."

"But he doesn't have enough of those to fill a paragraph," Whines Cordelia when I don't relent to her pout.

"Well I'm averaging your mark between the two essays. So you better start thinking of some." The class realizes I'm not one of those teachers who just pops in a movie and exchange annoyed looks.

Looking back down at the attendance sheet, I use it to start calling out pairs. Amy and Willow are an easy duo to match, with Jesse getting stuck with Andrew's older brother. Maybe some friends will stop him from summoning any hellhounds.

Even though I'm looking for her name specifically, my eyes slip over it four times. When I do finally call out her name, Marcie Ross almost falls out of her seat in shock.

"You and Mister Levinson can pair up." Going to be hard for Jonathon to ignore her, if I'm making them spend a week interviewing each other.

The rest of the class I actually do pair up randomly, with only a couple names standing out as ones I kind of remember. But to my annoyance, Vice Principal Snyder saw the whole thing from the door.

His smirk of approval as he saunters off, is enough for me to know he's going to be a reoccurring problem. Of course the troll wants to be friends with me.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 20: Which Half Are You?
​

Clutching the brown paper bag to my chest so the pig's blood doesn't slosh around, I wait for the ensouled vampire to answer the door. Though now that Willy is a believer, I may need to change Ted's number if he keeps calling for sports tips.

It's still an hour before sunset. Frowning at the lack of a response, I bang my fist on the cheap wood one more time. I know he's inside.

I'm already having a bad enough day, really not in the mood to wait the vampire out. Finding out Snyder had saved me a spot at his table in the teacher's lounge, was enough to make me rethink my attitude in class tomorrow.

My frown deepens as I realize what it means that Snyder told me to call him by name. Russell even complimented my handling of the hooligans and warned me not to stay out too late. Does Snyder think we're friends!

I finally hear footsteps and try to control my shuddering. Angel's incredibly recognizable face glares at when the door swings open.

Trying to stand up a little straighter, I introduce myself with a smirk. "How do you pay for this place? Did Whistler hook you up with some cash?"

"You know him?" His eyes widen just enough for me to know Angel is actually surprised.

"We work for the same bosses." Taking the opportunity, I push past the confused vampire. "Going to need to have a talk with him. Because Whistler did a pretty shit job getting my charge ready."

While his brow creases in frustration, Angel accepts the bag of blood. "What do you mean?"

"You know how the Slayer has a Watcher?" I wait for the broody vampire to nod before continuing. "Well you get me." He frowns and I pretend to pout. "Hello by the way, I'm Allen."

"Why do I need you?" Angel pulls out the Burba weed and raises an eyebrow at me knowing it's used for spice.

"Because I really don't think you want to lose your soul next year." It takes all my willpower not to flinch at Angel's game face and his sudden menacing stance.

"Is that a threat?" The words come out as a snarl that promises pain if the answer isn't the right one.

Shaking my head, I explain about my visions and I'm a little surprised at how quick to trust a stranger Angel is. Guess he's just that desperate for any kind of hope.

"Just figured you should know what will happen if you don't get that soul secured." Now it's time for some fibbing. "Because I'm not turning a soulless vampire back into a human."

"What are you talking about?" He stalks towards me with desperation leaking out of every pore.

"Little something called the Shanshu prophecy." Letting myself smirk as the champion grabs me, I fill him in on how hectic the next eight years are going to be. "But Liam, the prophecy doesn't mention you by name. It's a reward that goes to the vampire who earns it." Gives me a few years to get my hands on Mohra blood and gives Angel a something of his own to fight for.

Growling at the name from his past, Angel stares me down with all of his intensity. "That's not my name."

"Are you half of Angelus, or is he just you without a soul?" My words make him hesitate and give me the opening to really make my point. "Because the way I see it, you aren't atoning for the things the demon did. We're atoning for the things we let happen."

When he catches the word 'us', he gives me a curious look that's just a tad softer. "I let Angelus happen."

"Letting Darla bite you?" He steps back as I lay bare his worst mistakes. "Or being a drunken waste of a son?" I don't stop with the errors of his life and really spook the vampire with my knowledge. "What about the Hyperion or the gunshot victim you fed on?"

"Uh..." Unsure what to defend first, Liam's expression has lost any edge it once had.

"Don't worry about the hotel, we took care of the Thesulac a couple weeks ago." Deciding I've earned the right to the lone leather recliner, I plop myself down in it with a sad smile. "Judy's at peace now."

He starts to pace anxiously at the news, his fists continually clenching. "She told them I was a monster. I was lynched by a mob for trying to help."

"Liam, how old are you?" Before he answers, I clarify my meaning. "Not Angelus, not Angel. I want to know how old was Liam when he died?"

"Twenty six." It takes him a while to mutter the words and I can see he knows how wrong his interest is in current times.

That's all I need to stay committed to my choice of intervention and I remind him how old the Slayer is. "Of course if you want to hide away from life, the Powers will need another vampire with a soul. Want to take a guess at who they choose?"

"... Anyone but him!" Liam's mind instantly goes to Spike and how much it would burn to lose the reward of humanity to.

"I'm working on my own back up plan." Already got a few Orb's of Thessulah, now I just need to wait for Jenny to get into town. "Figured the Kalderash would want vengeance on Darla and we both know she's here in Sunnydale."

When I tell him about the cave of trials in Africa, I also let him know Buffy is still a few months away from moving. "You help me get fighting fit and I'll keep Buffy alive until you get that soul secure."

"Why do you care so much?" He finally picks up on my own personal interest in the topic.

"Because my job gets a whole lot harder if I let you blunder around with just Whistler's vague directions for the next three years." And as Buffy's teacher, I am supposed to keep her safe from creepy older guys.

A couple years and she's almost eighteen. If it took a year and a half for the relationship to reach the naked stage, that should put Buffy a legal adult by the time anything can happen between the two of them.

Good news is, that should leave next year a lot less personal. Drusilla may be a seer in her own right. But Buffy isn't going to be facing nearly as many personal attacks without a lover's vendetta.

"Of course if you don't want to step up and claim the reward for stopping a few measly apocalypses, I guess I can always go look for that solider you sired on the submarine." Shrugging as if it doesn't really matter much to me either way, internally I'm sweating over the risky gambit to make Liam choose.

"I think his name was Lawson?" It took me a few days to remember his name and I made sure to write it down. "He might have enough of your soul to qualify for the Shanshu."

Before answering, the good looking vampire has some of his own questions. "What made you care?"

"Let people die because I was a coward." Knowing he isn't going to take advice from some goody two-shoes, I reveal the things that give me nightmares each time I sleep. "We all have something to atone for Liam." I can still hear Seidel's neck snapping whenever someone cracks open a can.

"You make it sound so easy." Hope shimmers in his eyes.

Everything sounds easy before you start working at it. "This world will give us plenty of chances to be better than the guy we had been yesterday. We just need to have to guts to take them."

"But-" He wants to take my words for fact and yet his century of guilt holds him back.

"The world isn't going to get any better with you hiding away from it." Winking, I try to jump start the development he underwent in his own show. "So I'm going to ask one more time before I figure out which back up plan to go with."

Liam stares me down warily as I rise back to my feet with a grim expression. "Are you only half of Angelus and an ever lingering threat to the girl you claim to be devoted to. Or are you going to be Liam again and work towards making a life for yourself?"

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 21: Hustle
​

"You didn't say he was going to be so..." Glancing across the pool table at Liam's awkward stance, Fred searches for a word that isn't going to destroy my confidence.

"Good looking?" Her cheeks dust with pink and Fred ducks her head while the vampire pretends not to have heard. "I have eyes you know."

"So does every woman in here." She takes the shot and sends the four ball bouncing around the table without connecting and I glance around to confirm what she said.

Sunday's made her choice, finally got her gang to notice us. The vampire and her friends have stopped harassing randoms, now focused on our corner of the college bar.

"Time to start acting drunk," Keeping my voice low, I make my own incredibly terrible shot.

"Whose acting." Fred snorts to herself as I go after the cue ball I 'accidentally' sent off the table.

The plan tonight was just to make sure the college bar wasn't already the serving caveman beer. But as soon as Liam pointed out his fellow cold blooded patrons, we decided to chase off the nerds being eyed thirstily.

Putting some extra wobble in my step, I saunter over to the vampires' table. One of her minions has the white ball in his fingers and he keeps it just out of my reach.

"Stop teasing him Travis," Sunday smiles at me, with none of the warmth reaching her predatory eyes. "You must be new in town. Haven't seen you or your friends in here before." She takes the ball and holds it out for me with her eyes shifting into a leer. "You should let us show you around."

"Really?" I feel naked under the hungry gazes and try not to visibly shudder. "That would be really nice of you. Liam said he would..." I point out our own vampire and Sunday seems even happier. "But he doesn't seem to have any friends."

"Well we have more than enough to share," Sunday gloats as her three minions nod along eagerly. "Why don't you come back to our place once you finish up the game?"

Nodding dumbly, I return to Fred and make a show of 'convincing' her. While I do, Sunday takes the chance to work out a deal with Liam.

Thanks to my improved hearing, I'm just able to make out the words over the music. "We let my minions have one of them and we can share the one you really want."

"What if I want them both?" The sudden challenge in Liam's voice is reassuring. He's fast on the pick up.

I barely had time to give him and Fred a few hissed instructions when Sunday's gang arrived. Knowing all three of us are on the same page, gives me the reassurance to follow through.

"Well I guess the boys will just have to pick up something on the way home." She giggles at the growls of frustration that come out of her trio of waiting minions.

"That sounds fun." Agreeing with a hopefully fake smirk, Liam joins the other vampires.

While Fred and I finish up the game with increasingly bad aim, I explain the gist of the plan. "You have the bear mace?"

We bought a few different varieties of spray and I found the mace was by far the most aggravating. The worst smelling perfumes are a close second. But are also a lot harder to weaponize.

"Of course I did. This is 'bear' country." Fred rolls her eyes while I'm blocking her face from the vampires' view.

"You get the other victim outside. Liam and I will make sure you aren't followed." Grabbing my case, I exchange the normal cue for the sharpened one.

While I make sure to keep the tip covered with one hand, Fred nods her confirmation with a nervous grin. "I can do that."

"I know you can, that's why I asked." And because I have no idea how many friends Sunday has waiting at her nest.

We've both been getting some training in with Liam after school this week and I'm a little annoyed at being the slowest at picking up the proper moves. Of course I can physically overpower her techniques if it comes down to it, it just grates that Fred can so easily flip me onto my ass.

But I guess she has a more pressing need to learn fast. Fred doesn't have anything supernatural to fall back on in an emergency.

Sometimes I forget she's only had a little more than a month to wrap her head around everything. Guess

Passing one of Lorne's posters, I'm happy to have heard people sound interested in the radio show all night. I'm not sure how easy it would have been for a normal person. But Fred somehow got the empath on the airwaves with just the stuff in Ted's basement.

Liam brings up the rear as our merged group leaves the bar, giving me a discrete wink when I spin around feigning drunkenness. While Sunday's minions are not looking happy at Liam's presence, she just hisses some instructions that I can't quite make out.

Once the minions give some grunts of acknowledgement, the blonde vampire gives a louder 'explanation' to keep the 'prey' calm. "How about you boys go and invite some other people back to the house, we can turn it into a party."

"I've never gone to a party before," Giggles Fred and I'm not sure if she's slipping some truth into the act. "College is awesome!"

The trio of minions wander off with Sunday's final reminder to not stop for fast food. Once we're alone, Sunday's words takes on a more sensual tone.

"I hope you don't mind if we have something to drink before they get back." Sunday's predatory gaze darts back and forth between the two of us with a pulse and it makes me very glad the sharpened cue is now in my jacket sleeve. "No reason for us to wait for the fun."

"I guess it's the time to experiment." Making a show of suddenly 'understanding' the double entendre, I give Fred an intrigued look. "What do you think Winnie?"

Giving me a pleased look at the unexpected nickname, Fred's under the breath response is a bit more enthusiastic than I expected. "Well that would be interesting."

We swap 'partners' on the walk to Sunday's run down house, with Liam keeping himself between Fred and the other vampire. We pretend to believe her excuse about renting the place as is and follow our prey into the nest.

Sunday squeezes my hand a final time before opening the door, the whole house only lit by candles. "Power should be reconnected on Monday. Hope you don't mind the mood lighting."

"Just makes things easier." Suddenly dropping the act of inebriation, I let my Brachen side emerge along with the increased strength.

Sunday barely has time to gasp in shock as I impale her through the chest, exploding into a cloud of ash in the time it takes Liam to shut the door. The smell of old blood hangs so thick in the air, I can't tell if we're alone or not.

"We should check the place before the others get back. Make sure they don't have any friends who are going to jump out at us." Three on three is doable, I just don't think we're ready for a swarm of fang faces yet.

"Please don't use that in here." Noticing the can in Fred's hand, our friendly vampire reveals it's at least a deterrent on his species. "Not unless you really have to."

Apologizing with a stiff chuckle, she replaces the mace for her own pool cue. She follows me upstairs as Liam checks the main floor for any threat, with each door we open making our tension skyrocket.

"They really should have turned a maid." The first two bedrooms we check are complete dumps and don't seem to have anything worthwhile. But the bathroom has a medicine cabinet full of prescriptions and only half of them seem to be expired.

"Think Willy would buy these?" Fred frowns at my question and the sealed bottle in my hand. "Or should we start stocking a first aid kit at the house?"

"We aren't selling drugs to Willy." Crossing her arms, Fred spends a few minutes listing every single way that will go wrong. "... And you know some of these will end up in your students' hands."

My idle curiosity sated long before now, I give the fuming girl a look of concession. "That's why I asked. Hadn't given the idea any thought. "I did say I was going to start planning things with you and Lorne."

It looks like Sunday has claimed the entire attic for herself and it's the room we find the stuff of actual value. A box of of wallets give a rough estimate of how many victims have been brought back before us and it's soon clear why they're here.

She finds a dresser and bends down to pull open the bottom drawer. It's almost overflowing with assorted coins and I let out a long whistle.

"Looks like we don't have to worry about the laundry mat for a while." Or having change for a parking meter.

Fred pulls open the middle drawer, revealing at least a few thousand dollars in a loose pile. "That's a lot of money."

"We can split it up four ways at the house." Trying to stop myself from counting it all out now, I slide open the top drawer to find it full of jewelry.

"Well we can sell this stuff." Picking out a few choice pieces, Fred gives me a sideways glance. "I don't think Willy can hurt anyone with some rings and necklaces."

"Get down here!" Liam's warning from downstairs has us both grab our sharpened cues and dart towards him.

Broody pants is waiting by the door, his own stake in hand. "Two of them are back with company, no sign of the skinny one yet though."

"Play dead and try to surprise them, or should we just go right for the heart?" We have numbers and the vampires have hostages. Not really sure who has the advantage right now.

"Scare the girls with them and we'll deal with the vampires." Fred makes a growling face to remind me I haven't reverted to my own human one yet.

"Should shock the idiots long enough to stake them without a fight," Agrees Liam before he adds that we can repeat the process when the final minion returns.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 22: Spice Of Unlife
​

"Last one's on his way back." Peeking out the curtain, I make out the red headed vampire.

The blonde surfer dude being brought back to the nest looks completely strung out and is being lead by a firm arm around his waist. Need to separate them first.

"How do you want to handle this?" Liam takes his own glance out the window and notices the same problem.

"Go game face and start chasing us, I'll red rover my way between them while Fred tries to make the vamp grab her." Leaving him open for you.

Nodding in agreement, Liam's face blurs into ugliness. I'm first one out the front door, screaming about the monster as I charge straight towards the staggering couple.

Fred is only a few steps behind me, with a snarling vampire right on her heels. But she swerves to the left right when I tackle the surfer away.

"What the he-" The red head starts to snarl, only for his words to vanish in a cloud of ash.

"Dude, not cool." The shirtless surfer rejects my hand up, slowly clambering to his feet with more than a few grunts. "Hey..." He looks around in confusion once he manages the monumental task. "What happened to Travis?"

Showing he had social skills at one point in his unlife, Liam has already reverted to his human face. "The guy with you who was screaming about monsters? I think he was having a bad trip.

"Yeah, he just threw you at me and took off." Playing along with Liam's lie, I have a little bit more to add. "You need to pick better friends. I think he was using you as bait."

"You think?" Still unidentified, the surfer is at least starting to realize he was in some kind of danger. "Man that sucks. He seemed like a chill guy and said I could crash."

Taking enough pity on the guy to give him some advice, we start walking him towards the car. "My advice. Get on the first bus in the morning and don't look back."

Liam tries to sneak off once it's clear the patrol is over. But Fred is very insistent on her invitation.

"You have to sit in the scratchy chair so you aren't too happy." She's pulled out her serious voice. "But it's a tradition, you're going to come over and watch something every time we fight evil."

"Waves here suck anyway..." The guy mumbles a few more unintelligible words before going silent for the rest of the walk.

Liam still hasn't been convinced to come home with us and is trying to find an excuse that Fred will accept. "The suns going to come up soon. You'll be stuck with me all day."

"Allen has some blood in the fridge for you and this way you can keep Lorne company during the day." She even lets the frowning vampire know we have a spare room he can use.

"Either you're coming with us, or I'm following you home once I drop this guy off at the hospital." Unlocking my Corolla, I help Liam get the surfer into the backseat.

He glowers at me for a good ten seconds. "... Fine."

It doesn't take long to get the surfer admitted and we spend the ride back to Ted's now clean house listening to Lorne's pirated radio show. The fact that he gets two callers before we get home is a good sign and gives me confidence in my our plan to acclimatize Sunnydale to the empath.

Coughing awkwardly as the second caller finishes singing 'A Big Hunk O' Love', Liam can't help but brag. "I was at his and Priscilla's wedding you know. Elvis liked my hair."

"Really?" Fred is amazed at that bit of his history and very easily gets the whole story out of Liam. "How did you get invited?"

"Got one of the cooks hammered the night before and stole his uniform." Not even slightly ashamed, he explains his 'brilliant' plan.

He starts to get really into the retelling of it. But my mind wanders the entire drive.

I can finally upgrade the Corolla. Once the idea forms, I can't help but fantasize about the possibilities.

By the time I pull up outside the house, Lorne's show is starting to wrap up. Seems like Fred's run out of questions for Liam too.

"So I got to ask, one Irish half demon to another..." I wait until Liam is giving me his full attention. "What kind of car do you think I should get?"

He laughs once it's clear it's nothing serious and launches into a description of his favourite muscle cars. With Fred reminding me to grab the loot out of the trunk.

"Can you put the jewellery in my room, so I can spend a few days picking out what I like?" Trying not to seem to eager, Fred grabs the lighter box of cash instead.

"If Liam can bring the clothes in for Lorne." I jerk my chin at the most colourful clothes from Sunday's collection. "I really don't want to make more than one trip."

While waiting for Fred to unlock the door, our guest gives me an uneasy half smile. "Tonight has been..." He searches for the right word only to give up and settle for something vague. "Interesting."

"You're allowed to say that it was fun." Rolling my eyes at his need to be aloof, I'm second one inside. "I really don't think you're a big enough ass to ever ignore what perfect happiness means. You'd need someone a lot prettier than me to make you forget."

"And that's why we're here." Agrees Fred as as she starts giving Angel the tour, leaving me to run the trinkets upstairs. "I avoided one hell, really don't want you're bad side bringing another to us."

By the time I return from dropping the trinkets off in her bedroom straight out of the fifties, Fred has already shown a very confused Liam the body of Ted. Of course judging by his concerned expression, she's neglected to tell him of the mechanical origin.

"Fred, did you tell him it's just a robot with incredibly realistic skin?" My words make her snort and glance up at a very concerned vampire.

"See, no blood." The android's shirt gets lifted up to reveal a torso filled with wires and not a single organ.

Amazed, Liam gets closer and has no problem using his fingers to feel the fake skin. "It feels so real."

"Which is why I haven't asked her what it's made of yet." Probably some kind of magically transplanted skin from the original scientist, so the android could slip right into his life like nothing had changed.

Because I refuse to believe that Ted is a hundred percent technical, not when the only working models I know of are all designed on the Hellmouth. Maybe it's the ambient energies powering the robots?

The trap door squeaks and is followed by Lorne's glowing face emerging. "Tonight was a new record, I had six callers!"

"At this rate, we're going to need to get you a separate line." It could start getting difficult in my personal life, if the school knows I live with such an... eccentric personality.

Clem comes up next, the tech support for the show assuring me that's not going to be a problem. "I got a cousin with the phone company. I'll make sure to get Lorne a great deal."

While Fred is putting 'Happy Gilmore' in, Lorne and Clem make a bowl of popcorn for everyone but the vampire. Liam is stuck with just a mug of sheep blood and blinks at the strawberry syrup I slide across the counter.

"Trying to use me as a lab rat for some kind of vampire cafe?" He doesn't push it away and eventually decides to try stirring some in.

"You said you liked the Burba weed." It was such a strange idea, I was easily able to remember that Spike sometimes added it to his blood for spice. "And I know chocolate milk was originally just to cover up the blood. So I figure we can try hot chocolate next time and try giving you some variety."

Liam starts to answer with what I assume is a heavy dose of snark, only for my senses to be overwhelmed by a searing headache. The vampire barely catches me under the shoulder's before I collapse to the floor, his worried voice barely audible as the vision replaces everything.

"A church...." When I do recover enough to speak, everyone is crowded around me with different levels of concern.

"Doesn't really narrowing it down very much." Fred snorts. "Forty three in Sunnydale. It's going to take days to check them all."

"One of the condemned ones?" It looked almost as big of a mess as Sunday's nest, so I really doubt the church is in business still.

Checking her notes, Fred's frown softens quite a bit. "Only eleven of those."

 

[Flightless Man]

Interlude 2: The Replacements
​

Buffy hesitates outside the Hyperion and turns to her Watcher with a pout. "But I trust you, why do you have to retire?"

"Because after Lothos, I can barely walk with a cane." The English man explains patiently, knowing this isn't exactly standard procedure.

"It's not like you have to come out on patrol with me." Trying to find anything to change his mind, she brings out the big guns. "And besides, it's not like I'm supposed to be around much longer. Let your replacements fight over mine."

Touched by her trust, Merrick doesn't get mad at having to go over the plan yet again. "I'm not quitting today and I promise I will let you choose."

"Three black sheep and a couple fresh faced suck ups?" Shaking her blonde locks along with the tension, Buffy can only sigh at the choices. "Not like I really have great options."

"Rupert has come a long way since his troubled youth. I haven't heard of a single black mark since he came back to the fold." Even as he is able to reassure her one of the four Watchers on the way is capable, Merrick can't say the same about his peers. "Personally I recommend him or the Wyndam-Pryce boy."

"You want to stick me with the rookie?" Buffy can only scoff at that idea. "Maybe I should just retire with you."

Not willing to make that topic a discussion, he firmly puts his foot down. "That's not possible. You have a calling Buffy."

"Well what if I want to let it ring?" Confronted with Merrick's old motto of facing evil alone, Buffy can't help but think about the seer's words. 'You're special, not unique.'

"It will make a house call." He reminds her about how the Slayer essence will draw evil to her.

Knowing she can't change his mind right now, Buffy tries to reel in her frustration. "And what about the three I don't pick, what happens to them?"

"They take over instruction and evaluation of Charles and his friends." Leaving the task of rehabilitating any future captives unsaid, Merrick explains how thin the Council has been stretched. "I believe at least five of them will be accepted as candidates to the academy. Once we make sure they've caught up on the basics of course."

Once inside the hotel, both are impressed at how much more livable the place already looks. With a very proud Gunn sauntering over, his sister rolling her eyes only a few paces behind him.

"What do you think?" Running a hand along the new wallpaper, Charles Gunn can barely contain his nerves. "This good enough for you secret society folks?"

"You did all this in just three weeks?" Merrick peers down at the new carpet before noticing the lights aren't flickering anymore. "Even the wiring?"

"Got an electrician in the first week and a plumber the second." Before her brother can brag, Alonna gives the duo a more concise answer. "Spent the last few days making the main floor look decent. Upstairs still looks like crap though."

Knowing one of those rooms is going to be needed pretty soon, Buffy broaches the topic of werewolves. "So Tara told my friend Billy about werewolves and now I kind of need some help tracking one down."

Can't believe he was never going to tell me about his cancer and just let himself get turned into a vampire. He knows how many of our friends got killed by them.

"Plus a room he can spend the full moons in." The current restoration of the hotel is just enough to make Buffy remember to ask.

"First month we haven't lost anyone and that's because of you." Gunn gives her a look of respect. "You can ask us for anything."

Before Buffy can do more than say thanks, her Watcher interrupts with a smirk. "Better make sure that room is on reserve for three nights. Werewolves come out the night before and after the full moon."

"This bite will heal Billy?" Alonna reveals her own curiosity.

"It will, though the strain of transforming will shorten his lifespan by a decade or two," Admits a concerned Merrick, fully aware of what the girl's next question will be.

"Stronger and faster." Frowning as if she's the first person to discover the obvious, Alonna starts listing the pros of a werewolf bite. "Healing that can handle the big C and no more fear of getting turned into a vampire. Why aren't we all getting bit?"

Her brother and the members of the crew close enough to hear the words, all start to mutter words of agreement. But Merrik is quite to put a stop to this or so he hopes.

"Because it's something that should only be considered as a last resort." The Watcher starts countering with his own reasons. "It is a curse and the victims of it must battle the wolf for control until the day they die. At least a third of the victims fail to do so and eventually need to be dealt with."

"Dealt with?" Buffy catches the tone and is really hoping she's wrong.

Gunn doesn't have any such qualms though and gives the cold truth. "Same way you do with a rabid dog. Put it down."

"But they're people!" She's not even slightly convinced.

"Which is why the Council doesn't send the Slayer after them," Agrees Merrick with a sympathetic look reserved for his charge alone. "We have a task force that handles the greyer aspects of the fight. It's one of the few things we can make easier for you."

Relieved that she isn't going to be sent after any humans, Buffy's lips shift into a playful smirk. "Paying for college would sure help a whole lot."

"That hasn't really been a concern before." It stuns her when Merrick doesn't bother deflecting.

"Because none of us have lived that long." Buffy winces in realization, her words in no way a question.

The same reason Pike skipped town last week. No explanation except for a postcard that showed up on Monday.

"Damn..." Empathy fills Gunn's voice as her sees Buffy in a new light. "And I thought I had it bad."

Mister Doyle told me the other Slayer's died because they all fought alone. But everyone in this room has been fighting vampires longer than I have. How alone can I really be?

The double doors of the Hyperion swing open suddenly, five tweed clad people entering with varying expressions of intrigue at the decor. Rupert Giles and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce bracket the rest.

"Who are they?" Buffy still doesn't have names for and she hisses at Merrick to provide them.

"Rutherford Sirk." He gives a name to the middle aged man with the pinched expression in the middle of the group. "He's spent most of his time in the research division."

Buffy is curious by the prim Watcher in the skirt and the nervous blonde one who seems closer to her own age. "And the women?"

Pointing at the woman in her thirties first, Merrick gives a quick description of both. "Gwendolyn Post is recently off probation for dabbling in some restricted tomes. And Lydia Crowley was top of her class last year. She did her thesis on William the Bloody if I recall."

"So I give them all a test drive and you give the Council my recommendation?" Glad he's giving her at least some input, Buffy is still worried about going to Sunnydale with her mom in a January.

"And claim it is my own." Merrick winks at his charge, truly believing the Council would send any dangerous candidates.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 24: Truth Comes Out
​

"Do you actually sleep or should I just leave this on for you?" I give Liam a curious look and point at the TV with my elbow. "Ted only had basic cable. But we finally got an actual package a few days ago, you should be able to find something."

Clem left a while ago and Lorne went downstairs for his beauty sleep once the movie was over. With even Fred falling asleep halfway through the second one, her ponytail being used as a cushion on my incredibly bony shoulder.

"I sleep." Smirking at the drooling college student, Liam eventually climbs out of the orange armchair. "Just been a while since anyone else was in the same building."

The sun is high enough in the sky that the increasingly less broody vampire is stuck with us for the day. He stops me from waking Fred, a frown creasing his brow.

"You said everyone has something to atone for." Nodding slowly at his question, I can feel guilt pour into me. "Normally I wouldn't ask, it's kind of a personal thing."

"I found out I was a half demon and my wife left me." No point wasting time with playing dumb. "I was busy looking for the safest town in America to start over in and my cousin Lucas came looking for help in the middle of my nervous breakdown."

Not realizing the conversation was loud enough to wake Fred, I'm nearly shocked out of my skin when she interrupts with a quiet question. "What happened?"

"I told him to deal with it himself and slammed the door in his face." Both exchange looks of surprise as the guilt boils over. "Had my first vision a few hours later."

Hanging my head in shame, I can't help but remember the child's shoe. "But it was already too late. The Scourge killed everybody before I found the place."

"I spent the next week getting hammered because I was getting a vision at least once an hour." A lie but the only way I'm going to be able to explain such long term knowledge. "Saw how much shit the world was going to throw at you and Buffy. Figured I may as well get off my ass instead of waiting four more years to be useful."

"Was that how long it took for me to get rescued?" Fred is starting to understand why I've been giving her so many outs and her face pales. "I was going to be in hell for four years!"

"Five and a half." No point in playing things close to my chest now. "But Liam is supposed to have that beat by a few centuries when Acathla swallows him. A few seconds after Buffy runs you through with a blessed sword."

His dark eyes widen at that news, Liam's jaw clenching as he realizes the urgency of going to Africa. "When I lose my soul."

"Which is why I decided to tell you about the cave before that happens." I'm pretty sure Angelus would come straight for me now. "I already got one Scourge to deal with. Don't want you and the European variety after me until I'm ready."

"Want to share with the rest of the class?" Picking up that I have a plan, Fred starts poking me in the ribs with her index finger.

"Curse was cast once already, just need to ask the creators for a translation." Shoving a soul in Darla should be all the motivation they need. "They're sending someone to watch over you. But since you'll be in Africa, Janna will need something to keep her busy."

The conversation doesn't last much longer, with both of us who have a pulse letting out yawns. W point Liam toward the guest room and head up the stairs, Fred hesitating outside her door.

"When do you want to start checking out the churches? Should we wait for the sun to go down?"

"Probably a good idea." I seem to have a habit of getting hurt when I just charge in without a plan.

A few giggles escape her lips and I can only hope Fred doesn't catch me staring at them. "Are you finally learning to wait for back up?"

"You're the one who told me to start doing."My comment doesn't get the expected smirk, instead making Fred blush with embarrassment.

"I already apologized for that."

She's about to duck into her room and I realize I have absolutely no reason to stop myself. I told myself I'd make a move if I was staying in Los Angeles.

"Hey Fred." Well she came to Sunnydale with me and hasn't run away screaming yet.

Blinking at my suddenly intense stare, she stops outside her door with growing curiosity. "Yeah?"

"Once we take care of this vision..." I'm just an idiot if I keep ignoring how I feel about her. "You want to go out for dinner?"

"With everyone?" Suddenly wary, Fred's eyes dart down to my now bare hand.

"//i guess we should probably do that once Lorne can come with us. But I was thinking just the two of us." Can't start getting over you unless I actually get rejected.

She doesn't answer right away. But after a few tense moments, Fred's lips curl into a smile. "About time you asked. I was starting to think Lorne would have a better chance."

It's my turn to have a mouth gaping in giddy shock. But of course it shoots out a stupid quip before I manage to close it. "Not really my type, Lorne's a little to talkative for me. I like my guys with more of a quiet confidence."

Intrigue fills her chestnut eyes at my off the cuff comment. "Interesting."

"I know I am. That's why the Powers decided to give me the migraines after all." Trying to ease myself out of the heat I can feel building up along my collar, I almost smack myself at the mention of the visions. Shit! "I should probably give you full disclosure about my condition before you give me an answer."

"Like what, are you going to get all spiky while we're kissing?" Dammit, I didn't even think about that.

Deciding to worry about whether I'll poke her eye out later, I shake my head with a scowl. "The aforementioned visions. They have the potential to pass to someone I kiss."

Still haven't been able to remember what made them transfer to Cordelia in the show and I'm not willing to just experiment with everyone I know.

"Oh..." Suddenly not as sure of the yes that was about to come out of her mouth only a few seconds earlier, Fred hesitates in front of her yellow door.

"How about you sleep on it and let me know after we save the girls at the church. No hard feelings if you decide the splitting headaches aren't worth it." The sooner you say no, the sooner I can start picking myself back up again.

"Do you know what kind of demon has them?" Fred tries to put aside the sudden awkwardness between us and stay focused on the vision.

I could recognize his voice, that's about it. "He was in the shadows sharpening something. The whole time just muttering to himself about apples."

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 25: What's In A Name?
​

I'm left with my anxiety growing through the day, Fred still not having made up her mind by the time the sun is low enough for us to drive around. Not that I blame her, it's a pretty big side effect I just dumped on her.​

The first eight churches are nothing more than overgrown messes and the next one is little more than some burnt timber. But when we only have a couple more addresses to check, Fred's eyes light up behind her square frames.

"It's weird for a motor home to be here, right?" My brilliant friend points out the mud covered vehicle in front of the least run down church we've found so far.

"It could just be people trying to save a few bucks...." But even as I make the suggestion, I know it's not right. They would have been gone first thing in the morning.

While Fred and the melancholy vampire discuss the odds of it being trouble, my eyes scan the dead lawn for any kind of clue. Why is the lawn dead?

All the other ones we saw had been completely overgrown. But the only thing clinging to life here is a single crab apple tree.

"Something's going on here." Liam points at the disturbingly perfect star of dead plants that takes up most of the churches property.

"I'm kind of disappointed." We still had two more churches to check. "It's supposed to be the first or last place we check. This just feels wrong."

Chuckling at the comment, Fred reminds me that we did get lost for a while. "This was supposed to be the last one we checked. But you didn't make the left turn on Burch."

Getting out of the car, both of us with an enhanced sense of smell start sniffing. Liam only picks up the general scent of people and I realize how much better my nose is.

I can pick out a few different kinds of soap and while my team gets ready to go into the church, I stop them with a shake of my head. "Wait. One of them didn't go inside with the rest."

It's faint and even another hour would have left me without a trail to follow. But getting earlier lost pays off and we find a blonde girl sitting in a park only a couple blocks from the church.

She looks up when I purposefully snap a stick under my foot. Looks about the same age as my students.

Her plain white sundress gives her a sort of juvenile appearance and she looks ready to bolt. Wild eyes watch us and so I let Fred take charge of the situation.

"Are you alright?" I hang back with Liam as she makes a slow approach, eventually reaching the wooden picnic table.

"Did he send you to find me?" Terror is intermingled with resignation in the girl's voice.

"We don't know who you are, let alone this 'he'." Confused at the pronoun, Fred keeps her words soft as she presses for more information.

Frantic fingers start drumming on the table as the worried girl tries to decide if we can be trusted. "My name is Sister Sunshine and I thought you wanted to take me back."

"Back to?" I can only assume she means the church but need to make sure.

"Father Caleb and his lies." Sunshine has tears in her eyes as she explains. "He promised we would be forgiven and could have a new start here in Sunnydale. But I don't like the way he looks at us."

We learn about the four girls who apparently decided to go home in the week since the Daughter's of Eve arrived. How Sunshine believes the creepy preacher did something to them and covered it up.

"I found Dewdrop's stuff in the dumpster and knew the Father was lying. But none of the other girls believed me." As she wipes away the tears, I finally know why I recognize her. Anne!

"We'll handle the creep, don't you worry about that." Only one Caleb I know of and that name is sending off all kinds of alarms.

Though if the First doesn't have the power to touch the world until a champion is brought back... Considering the conversation, my growing smirk is kind of out of place. Caleb should be nothing more than psychotic human.

I know the plan was to try avoiding any big names noticing me. But if the Powers are going to head this threat off at the pass, I'm not going to argue. Not like I can really make many more changes just dealing with filler.

"Who are you people?" Sister Sunshine picks up on us being here on purpose and glances between us.

"The real Ghostbusters." The words are out of my mouth before I even consider the bad timing.

It gets a few relieved giggles out of Sunshine and I decide the name could have been worse. Better than being called the Pin Pals or something even worse that makes reference to my Brachen half.

Though maybe I should have gone with the Bloodhound Gang? I don't think it's in use yet and it makes sense for a seer to use a future band name.

"If we aren't back out in thirty minutes, start a fire and call it in." Fred gives a stiff nod and escorts Sunshine to the Corolla. The whispered good luck feels like it's just for me and I can feel my cheeks heating up.

"Angel and Allen will take care of it, don't wor-" She tries consoling the distraught teen.

"You need to make up your mind about who you want to be." Once the girls are out of earshot, I lead Liam towards the back door of the church. "I'm not wasting my time if you just want to be half a man."

So far I'm the only one he tolerates the name Liam from, with both of my roommates stuck calling him Angel. It might be easier for the guy. But it's not going to help his social readjustment at all.

"It's just not something I ever considered." He watches for onlookers as I snap the lock with a quick flick of my wrist. "Being treated like a man is something I thought I didn't deserve anymore."

"You fight against your urges every second you exist." I can feel my own instincts telling me to chase after random smells sometimes and can't imagine how much worse it must be for someone cursed. "Apparently that's the bar for being a decent guy."

Liam's nose picks up the same scent of blood and his eyes narrow as we approach the stairs to the basement. "The girls aren't scared. Why?"

"Cult indoctrination is a terrifying thing." He doesn't argue, his face grimacing with more understanding than I want to imagine.

"What's the plan?" Waiting for me to open the door, Liam has his fists clenched with determination to make a positive difference.

"I want this guy alive." If it's really the same Caleb, I'm bring him to Los Angeles tonight. Let the Watcher's pull every damn secret they can out of the monster.

Blinking at the sudden command, Liam understands I'm not saying everything. "You know something about this guy."

"The thing he worships..." Fear boils inside me and coats my rage with it's toxic essence. "I have no idea how to even approach stopping it."

"That bad?" It seems Liam is better able to handle a hopeless situation.

We follow the smell of blood and it gets strong enough to overpower everything else. When we find the source, the sight has me retching.

The bodies of each girl have been arranged like runes. The blood used to trace symbols on every spare inch of wall.

I'm disgusted with myself for being able to tell it's fresh and Liam takes over the search for clues. "Each apple has a single bite. It must have put them in a trance for the sacrifice."

"But Caleb's not here." I hate stating the obvious and yet I have no idea where the preacher could have gone.

He doesn't move into the vineyard until everyone is fleeing Sunnydale in droves. I highly doubt we'll find him digging.

"Are you sure about that?"

I have no idea how he did it without being noticed. But Caleb is blocking the doorway with a devilish smirk on his face and a bloody knife in one hand.

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 26: That Bites
​

I know the knife dripping with crimson is the least dangerous part of the scene and yet it's where my eyes are instinctively drawn to. Not the blood splattered black Geneva gown or Caleb's manic sneer beneath a mop of brown hair that wouldn't be out of place on one of the Beatles.

"Now what are two fine lads like yourselves doing here in our master's home?" Caleb's smug words are punctuated with each step towards us. "A vampire and a half breed should begging me for a chance at salvation."

Keeping my eyes locked on on of the most dangerous people I know of in both series, I don't see the bodies begin to writhe behind me. All I can focus on is how completely unprepared for this I really am.

"You did all of this?" Noticing my own hesitation, Liam takes charge with a growl full of of deadly intent.

"From such an exquisite artist as you Angelus. I'm touched, really." Mock gratitude flashes across the preacher's face. "But I'm afraid I can't take all the credit. I only showed my brothers how to perform the sacrifice."

Brothers? Does he mean the blind guys? "The Harbringers?"

Caleb's eyes snap onto my own, his eyes shining with curiosity at such knowledge. "Well aren't you well informed."

"And aren't you a psychotic creep." Getting a hold of my panic before it completely takes over, I reach for the bladed bat on my back.

"So quick to reach for violence..." His eyes follow my hands and his tongue clucks with disappointment. "Just remember you brought this upon yourself."

Hissing from every direction follows his mocking words and I turn around just in time to see the horror. Slithering out of the mouth of each body, is a variety of venomous snakes.

I recognize only a few, the king cobra and diamond back in particular. But I'm pretty sure the red, yellow, and black one is called a coral snake and the bright green one a boomslang.

"First to bring sin is first to feel the sting." Mocks Caleb as the snakes lunge forward and I'm forced to throw myself across the room.

"Don't let him get away!" Roaring at Liam to catch the preacher, I smash my bat into the black mamba's snapping fangs. "I've got this!"

Giving me a final glance to make sure, the vampire charges through the snakes after Caleb. With his temperature being the same as the room, only a couple of the snakes even bother going after him.

Roaring over the sound of rattling, I force my demon half to the surface for the added strength. It's not a second too soon as I feel my leg burn with the bite of a bright blue serpent.

It's almost instant pain that floods my entire body. The sensation of lava pouring through my veins is almost enough to drop me to my knees in agony.

But instead of giving in like I would have only a few months ago, I force myself through the searing pain. Swinging at everything that hisses, I lose count of how many bites I receive by the time I fight my way to the stairs.

The bodies haven't stopped vomiting new ones since Caleb worked his horrible magic. But somehow I manage to close the door behind me, panting as my lungs burn more and more with every movement.

My entire body feels like it's simultaneously on fire and coursing with electricity. Every beat of my heart just pumps the cocktail of venom through my body and brings me closer to the end.

Somehow I find the strength to force my legs to keep moving. With my vision already blurry like I'm swimming with my eyes open, I can only hope I'm stumbling towards an exit.

It's kind of funny because I'm not scared of dying. This is a world where I know some form of heaven actually exists.

I'm not sure what it takes to qualify for a good afterlife. But I'd like to think I've managed it.

Even as that realization strikes me, I'm still not satisfied. If I die today, how much did I really change?

Stumbling past the pews, my sight fades until everything is just blobby shadows. Only the glow of the moon leads me forward and toward the crack in the door it filters through like a beacon towards life.

No! Gasping with panic, I stumble to the floor and find my legs unresponsive. I'm so close.

Refusing to just lay here and die, I use my shaking arms to pull myself the last few feet to the door. But no matter how hard I try, I can't quite reach the handle.

It's only a few inches out of reach and yet every attempt leaves me even weaker. I don't feel peaceful as the coughing begins to wrack my body, only overwhelming anguish at my failure to do more than rock the boat of fate.

"How arrogant was I?" My vision has gone dark and soon my hearing begins to follow it. "Thinking I could make the world a better place all by myself."

To my surprise, I feel a pressure wrap around my chest only a few seconds after I mutter to myself. "You aren't by yourself."


The voice is faint and sounds miles away. But I recognize it instantly as Fred's and feel her start to pull.

Swimming with delirium, I can barely comprehend the two pairs of arms dragging me to safety. "Angel?"

"He took off after some guy." Fred explains, her voice ringing with a thousand bells. "I'd call him a preacher. But all that blood doesn't really make me believe it."

"My hair hurts." For some reason, that's all I can focus on right now.

Fred doesn't answer right away, her voice finally coming out with a stilted wince. "Don't worry about that right now. We need to get you to the hospital."

"Shouldn't we call him an ambulance?" Confused at why I'm being stuffed into the passenger seat, Sister Sunshine thankfully doesn't raise a concern over my face full of blue barbs.

"They don't go out after sundown. We need to bring Allen in ourselves." The adorable brunette fills Sunshine in on the oddities of Sunnydale and I realize this may be the last chance I ever get to tell her this.

Reaching over once Fred buckles herself into the driver's seat, I tap her on the cheek with a wobbly finger. "Did you know you're as cute as two buttons?" I lean in a little bit closer so Fred isn't so blurry and realize how wrong I am. "Maybe even three."

"You really are making it hard to say no." Her muttered response is low enough that I'm not even sure I heard it properly.

"Should I wait for your friend and let him know what happened?" Realizing we're leaving without Liam, Sunshine is the one to mention it with a worried voice.

"He'll put things together and meet us at the hospital." Fred's explanation is vague as she speeds towards away faster than I've ever pushed the Corolla before. "He's got a nose for these kind of things."

Once we arrive, Fred has to talk me through reverting back to my human appearance. I'm not able to do it all at once like usual and so she gets me to take it in stages.

"Let's take it slow. Just one thing at a time, alright." Fred grabs my hand and squeezes in support. "Can you pull the barbs in first for me?"

Anything for you. "I'll try."



Notes: It's a shorter one, because I'm also going to do an interlude today (I'm going to start spacing them between episodes, so every 2-4 chapters.).​

 

[Flightless Man]

Interlude 3: Get Well Soon
​

Two awkward teens roll up to one of the tables outside the mall, hopping off to join the pair of girls already waiting with open books. Xander and Jesse pass the orders and grumble at having to miss out on such a nice afternoon.

"I just spent all week on those essays." Scowling at the time already nearing noon, Xander reminds everyone he's not supposed to be seen studying. "People are going to start thinking we're brainiacs like you two."

"Well you might not have to hand them in." Jesse McNally tries to make light of the news his father shared at breakfast. "Seems like Larry may have won the bet. Doyle's came into emergency last night with over a dozen snake bites."

While Willow Rosenberg and Amy Madison wince, Xander slams his fist on the table with a frustrated growl. "That's not fair! I actually did the assignment this time."

"You've never cared this much before." His oldest friend wrinkles her brow in concern and reaches over to check for a fever.

Shrugging in an attempt to play off his concern, Xander mumbles just loud enough for Willow to hear him. "Mister Doyle told me I reminded him of himself. If I don't pick up my grades, I'll end up in high school for the rest of my life!"

The last part is yelped loud enough to get chuckles out of Amy and Jesse. Even Willow has to hold in a few giggles at the idea of Xander teaching.

"How hard was it to write an essay praising Cordelia?" Prods Amy with a glint of something unspoken in her eyes.

"Way easier after I wore myself out on the mean one," Xander admits, shaking the untamed mat he calls hair along with his head. "Even decided to go back and soften up a few of the insults once I was done."

Giving Jesse a curious look of her own, Willow asks about his own week with Tucker Wells. "You still haven't let me look at yours. Did you finish it yet?"

"Yes Mom." Reaching into his bag, Jesse pulls out a binder containing the essay with an unreadable expression. "Got it finished last night."

"He do something weird again?" Xander catches the look and pries like any 'good' friend would. "Cause the only thing I can remember about Tucker, is when he thought it would be funny to bark like a dog."

"It was second grade." Reminds Willow, her lips curling in barely concealed amusement.

Forced to side with Xander, Amy points out how bad it was. "Tucker did it for a whole month and half the class must have caught him trying to 'mark' his territory."

"Hey, take a look." Jesse catches sight of two fellow students with trays from the food court and waves them over when they see no other empty spots. "Can you believe Jonathon got a date before any of us?"

"She said it was a really nice essay," Explains a grinning Amy as she sees the mentioned boy walking over with Marcie Ross. "No one had ever said such nice things about her."

"Doyle confuses me. He's nice I guess and yet he seems to be the Troll's only friend." Adds Amy as she slide over to make room. "Doesn't that make him evil by default?"

"Snyder only gave three detentions this week." Thinking back on the normally cruel vice principal's behaviour, Willow is forced to admit he wasn't quite so bad. "Maybe he was just lonely?"

"Hey, thanks for letting us sit down." Greeting the table, Jonathon Levinson lets his date sit down first.
"The place is packed today."

Once the return hellos have been handed out, Marcie nervously tries to start a conversation with the teens who ignored her last week. "Have any of you been listening to the new radio show?"

"Lorning all about Music?" Surprising Marcie with his enthusiasm, Jesse spins to face her eagerly. "It's awesome! I'm going have every girl in school loving me after the talent show."

"Wait..." Amy smirks at Jesse, thinking back to last night's show. "Did you call in and request 'I've had the time of my life' last night?"

Blushing right to the tips of his ears at being found out, Jesse is forced to admit the truth. "It's been Willow's favourite movie since forever. I thought a girl would know what other girls like better than me."

"My dad came home complaining about it on Tuesday," Admits a slightly uncomfortable Xander. "So I knew it was something I had to listen to. Jesse's the one who got hooked."

The teens tease the blushing McNally for a few more minutes and only stop when Jonathon mentions the stranger parts of the show. "What about the other stuff? You know, the magic and demons he talks about?"

"Jon, it's just showmanship." Confident in his words, Xander tries to ease the shorter boy's nerves with a joke. "He's like Elvira. But you know, without the boobs bigger than my head."

Amy watches her friends for any sign of being in the know and sighs when she fails to find any. But with the growing tension at home, she doesn't have anywhere else to turn to.

"What if it was real?" With trepidation soaking every word, Amy clenches her fists to stop them shaking.

"I'd probably pee my pants a few times a day," Jesse chuckles uncomfortably.

"Amy?" Noticing Amy's expression of torment, Willow realizes something wrong is being left unsaid. "Do you need to talk about something?"

The blonde shakes her head and refuses to let her tears start to fall. "You aren't going to believe me." It's completely crazy to even think about it.
"People call me stupid all the time." Xander raises a hand and smirks at the worried girl his friends have been spending more time with lately. "You can probably get me to believe anything you want. Like the time Willow made me think the pet store was shaving the naked mole rats every night."

"They don't?" Between him and Willow, Jesse's eyes bug out in betrayal. "But that's what I've been telling my sister for years."

Reaching around him to smack Xander on the arm, Willow glares at him furiously. "You said you told him!"

"I uh..." Xander tries to hold in a grin. "Forgot?" But he can't even keep a straight face for the length of his sentence, breaking into a smirk at his several year con.

"If anyone laughs, I'm leaving." Preparing herself for ridicule, Amy starts to explain what her home life is like. "You know how strict my mom is, right Willow?"

The redheaded computer nerd bobs her head in quick agreement. "Yeah."

"Well now she's getting even worse. Mom has been reading Grandma's old books and they really freak me out." When the worst reaction is Jesse's muttered 'really, Amy almost sobs in relief.

"Worse than making you live on chicken broth and carrots?" Remember many afternoons of baking brownies with her, Willow is worried it's approaching Xander levels of bad parenting.

"I think my mom is trying to steal my body." The raw terror in Amy's voice is enough to stop anyone from laughing.​

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 27: Slow And Steady
​

Waking up to the steady beeping of machines all around me, I'm fully aware the bed isn't the one I claimed for myself at Ted's. How many times has Fred saved my life now?

My head is still too hazy to actually count the times. But I'm pretty sure we're even at this point.

Ignoring the voices of nurses on shift as they filter through the hallway outside my room, my aching eyes are very grateful the lights are off.

Catching sight of someone curled up in one of the green chairs that I know from personal experience are uncomfortable as all hell, I'm disappointed when she rolls over. Fred doesn't have blonde hair.

Liam at least gets to kiss. What did I do to deserve this kind of isolation?

The grunt that sneaks out of me as I try readjusting, wakes an ecstatic Sister Sunshine up. Her sudden shout over me has me whole body filling with warmth.

"Fred, he's awake!" The girl I know best as Chantarelle rushes to my side and pours me some water. Get out here!"

Sunshine's wearing some of my spare clothes and she catches me staring at my signed KISS shirt being stretched. At least Gene seems happy about it.

Muffled curses come out of the bathroom and are followed by a flush. "He was in a coma for three days, Allen couldn't wait two more minutes?"

Emerging from the bathroom is a completely exhausted Fred. The dark rings under her eyes are thicker than a raccoons and I can't believe she's still up and about.

"Hey..." My croaking voice makes me blink in surprise and has Sunshine pouring me a refill.

"The doctors said it's a miracle you survived so many bites," Explains the genius glaring at me. "They just had a few doses of the right anti venom on hand and only got two more from the zoo."

"I was the only thing warmer than the room. Wasn't getting out without at least a few piercings." Another groan escapes as my aching bones try to distract me.

Just relieved I avoided getting a Prince Albert. That really would have been agony.

"What happened with Caleb?" I was expecting him to beat the shit out of us, not the whole serpent summoning thing.

"Liam chased him a few blocks." Fred gives me a worried look, biting her bottom lip nervously. "But the creep vanished near Restfield Cemetery."

Well so much for staying unnoticed. "That's not good."

Neither girl is aware of how big an understatement I just made and Fred tries getting me to look at the silver lining instead. "The two of you stopped the ritual from being completed and Liam called the cops."

"Hey..." It took a couple times for me to notice and I stare at Fred with bemusement. "You're calling him Liam now."

"Said he didn't need the name Angel anymore." Smirking down at me, her chestnut eyes twinkle with relief.

"He told me that I could have it if I wanted." Sunshine lets out a light giggle and rejoins the conversation.

"Huh?" Shocked into a stupor, I barely manage to vocalize a question.

Ducking her head when I glance over with surprise, 'Angel' takes a few seconds to regain her voice. "You're the bravest people I've ever met and I really just needed to borrow some of it for a while."

"What are you going to do?" Positive the runaway is still in her early teens, I find myself relieved when Fred answers for the shy girl.

"She's staying in our spare room until Liam leaves town," Explains Fred with an intent look I can't quite decipher. "And I'm going to need you to get her enrolled when you go back to work."

It wasn't a question and that makes me raise an eyebrow in response. "What happened to not telling me what to do?"

"That was before you asked me out." Staring me down, Fred makes it clear this is one of the conditions.

"What grade?" Not actually bothered by the 'command', I roll over and give Angel my warmest smile.

Shock fills her face at first and is slowly replaced with a grin as my acceptance sinks in. "Eleven."

After a few more questions about when she ran away from home, I have to let her know she's probably better off repeating the grade. It doesn't seem to bother her much though and she instead directs her questions towards how she can repay us.

"Do your own dishes?" When I glance to Fred for any further direction, I get nothing but a shrug. You said it's just until Liam leaves and that time table just got moved up.

"That's it?" Disbelief is pouring out of the girl with too many names for me to count.

"I'm a teacher. It's kind of my job to make sure you get an education." But if that's the case, I probably shouldn't just let you go live by yourself in a city like Sunnydale. "But don't worry about moving into Liam's creepy apartment. We have a room and you can stay as long as you like."

Coughing to draw attention her way, Fred makes sure the newly named Angel understands. "He's already given away his apartment and a whole hotel in Los Angeles. Lorne's getting the whole basement rent free and I haven't actually paid mine yet, so don't even think about worrying."

"Thanks..." When she finally accepts the offer, Angel climbs to her feet awkwardly. "I'm going to go find the nurse and let him know they need to call Guinness."

While the runaway teen heads out into the hallway, I stare at Fred with wide eyes. "Is she serious?"

"No. The doctor is already convincing himself you only got bit a couple times." Shaking her head, Fred has to hold in a yawn.

That just makes me snort at. "Probably be recorded as nothing more than a bee sting by the time I check out."

"If this is going to work out..." She walks over and stares down at me with concern. "You have to stop charging into danger like an idiot."

"Brain melting headaches aren't going to scare you off?" Trying to keep things light, I'm surprised at her sudden scowl.

"Not in the slightest." Fred's arms cross and her brow furrows intensely. "But having you maybe die every time you get a vision? That's not something I can handle."

Missing the point, I fail at easing her worries. "I'm getting better at fighting."

"But you don't care if you get hurt..." Squinting at me through watery eyes, Fred starts listing all my close calls. "You got bit by the Boretz, nearly killed by Lothos, and now this? It's only been two months since I met you and you've almost died three times already!"

"So if I promise to start being more careful?" Hope is rising inside me as I feel my cheeks heating up to match Fred's own scarlet blush.

"We can start taking things slow." Uncrossing her arms, Fred reaches down to grab my hand. "If you can find a solution to Liam's curse, we can figure out a way to lock down the visions."

The memory of two golden siblings flashes in my mind and I can feel a smile begin to grow. "I think I know where to start."

Next week when I go for my magic lessons with the Maclays, I just need to make a stop at the Oracles. Find out what will actually transfer my visions and if I have any kind of control over it.

"Liam needs to start packing." If the First is aware of me, I can't risk it sinking hooks into the vampire.​

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 28: Waste Not, Want Not
​

Turning to Angel and her new clothes courtesy of a shopping trip with Fred, I give her the most supportive smile I can. "You want to wait for a few more minutes?"

"Liam said I could only have his name if I was brave." Grabbing her jean clad knees to stop her hands from shaking, she takes a few deep breaths to calm herself. "It's just high school. I can do this."

"Just come and find me right away if you see anything weird going on." Reminding her about what I said last night, I get out of the car once she braves the student body by opening the passenger door.

Nodding to herself, I can just barely her some mumbled words of self encouragement. When she's ready, I lead her through the crowd very astonished by my return.

"I'll talk to my smartest student after class and see if she's free to help catch you up." Which also gives me a perfectly reasonable excuse to get the tech genius around the robot. "Just remember what we talked about."

It's none of the students business what happened to the girl and I know Flutie isn't the greatest at keeping secrets. So I'm just going to use his and Snyder's expectations against them.

"Witness protection." Her lips curl in bemusement.

"But only after we pretend to mess up the 'public excuse' first." Even Flutie will notice something is up if I just blurt it out.

"I'm Ted..." Angel frowns as she tries to remember the last name. "Buchanen's daughter?"

Nodding in relief, I remind her what the 'connection' to me is. "And I'm the son from his first marriage, here in Sunnydale to look after my little half sister. You know, since dad mysteriously disappeared." Should cover any casual questions about why we look so different.

A very happy secretary waves us right on to Flutie's office and his morning meeting with Snyder. Both look visibly pleased at my presence and Flutie jumps to his feet to pump my hand eagerly.

"Allen!" The relief on his face is encouraging until I realize he's probably just happy to not need a replacement already. "Hope you bought us all some lottery tickets with that luck of yours."

"Found a troublemaker already? I don't recognize this one." Snyder peers at my ward with curiosity and seems to holding back a sneer.

"Angel's my uh..." Making a show of looking up, I pretend to mouth something. "Half sister."

The normally affable principal narrows his eyes. "Really?"

I put up a token attempt to convince the pair. But once Snyder mentions seeing her face in the news, I let out 'frustrated' growl.

"That was a mistake." Now 'forced' to explain the 'truth', Snyder's expression actually softens a fraction when I explain about the serial killer Caleb.

"I was close enough to do something. But you can't talk about this with anybody else." My eyes lock onto Snyder's and he definitely notices who I care about convincing. "The Mayor wants things orderly and I intend to keep them that way." His back straightens in what I assume to be pride as I lie my ass off.

"Well I can finish filling her application out and bring Angel to class." Flutie points to one of the chairs in front of his desk. "You have a class to teach Mister Doyle."

Following me out into the hall with a half grin, Snyder wastes no time filling me in on what happened during my five day weekend. "We lost another four students and a bus driver. But no one important."

"Hey!" Suddenly stopping as I notice a commotion, Snyder has to go onto his tiptoes to see what drew my ire.

The crowd parts as I stomp towards the water fountain and the bullying taking place. "Mister Blaisdell. You do know we live in California, correct?"

"Yeah?" He let's go of Jesse's neck and allows the soaked teen to escape to his friends.

"And you know we're under a constant water conservation notice?" I'm not sure if it's a difference between my old life and this one. But signs are all over the state and I saw plenty more on the way to Louisiana.

"Um..." Larry stammers uncomfortably as my glare drills through him to Snyder's glee.

Nodding as if he gave an actual answer, I start pacing before the nervous jock. "Correct. So why are you wasting precious water on pranks, when you know expensive each litre is?"

"But the water fountain is free." Deciding he has some kind of a spine, Larry finally starts speaking up for himself with his usual swagger returning.

"Is that so Vice Principal Snyder?" Turning to my coworker for support, I'm a little perturbed by his eagerness to punish. "How much does it cost the school to keep them all running for the students?"

"I have a better idea Mister Doyle. Why don't we let our waster of water figure it out himself during detention this afternoon."

I know it's mostly misdirected frustration at Caleb escaping. But I let my pettiness take over and I return my scowl to Larry.

"What a splendid idea. Only..." With a show of grimacing, I give a slightly kinder alternative. "I don't think it's fair for either of us to be forced to stay after school with him. So how about we give Larry here a choice, like the responsible adult we're supposed to be turning him into.

"What do you have in mind?" Watching me closely for any sign of sympathy, Snyder hover like an angry wasp.

Grinning at the closeted bully, I wink as discreetly as I can. "Well Larry can do the assignment tonight and I'll check it tomorrow or Larry can repay the school for the money he wasted."

"We aren't allowed to bill the students, I already tried that." Shaking his head, Snyder misinterprets my intent.

"But we can make them do manual labour." I point to the nearby library and allow my grin to grow the slightest amount. "You can spend lunch time helping the librarian or you can have some extra homework tonight."

"Ooh. I need to remember that." The cackles inside Snyder's head can practically be heard by everyone and I'm already fearing how this will go wrong.

"I'll help in the library!" Quick to make his choice, Larry scampers away with his friends.

Snyder promises to save my 'usual' spot at lunch and stalks off to patrol the halls. But while he fulfills his strange obsession with enforcing the rules, I enter my classroom to the sound of groaning.

"Fine, I guess he really didn't die." One of smoker kids pulls out a pair of crinkled twenties and hands them to his friends. "First time for everything."

Ignoring the blatant gambling, I point to the tray on my desk with a tired sigh. "Hand in the essays and we can get started."

I have to check the paper on my desk more than a few times to make sure I get all the boxes lined up properly on the chalkboard. But when I have the crossword transferred as neatly as I'm going to, I tell the class they have until the bell to solve the puzzle.

When Willow gets the first four answers right with no one else putting up a hand, I pull her out of the game and give her the chalk. Once she's out of the way, the rest of the class is forced to start thinking for themselves.

While the students try to win the box of Oreos before the class ends, I go mark every essay with quickly raising eyebrows. Everyone always said the cast of Buffy was using dialogue to advanced for high school.

But damn... these kids all have extensive vocabularies. I couldn't justify giving a single kid a failing grade, even if I wanted to.​

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 29: Perceptions Shape Us
​

The bell rings and the students start hustling into the hall, making me call out to one in particular. "Miss Rosenberg, a moment please."

"Yes Sir?" Oh god does that make me feel old.

Her gaggle of friends is loitering around the door, with Amy shooting me frustrated glances every few seconds. Even though I'm intrigued to notice both Marcie and Jonathon included, I give my full attention to the eager red head.

"My sister is starting school again and I was really hoping my brightest student would be able to show her around. Maybe help her get caught up on some of her other subjects?" It's not like I can really bribe her with extra credit and so I lean on Willow's kind heart.

Like the amazing person she is, Willow even promises her friends will help. "I don't want her to know I asked. So since even Snyder says you're a good egg, I think I can trust you with this."

Opening the envelope I hand her, Willow is shocked to find five hundred dollars worth of gift cards. Each one is for something at the mall and is in a wide enough variety to keep all seven entertained for an afternoon.

"I have to say, you all impressed me." Locking eyes with a surprised Xander, I hand him back his already marked essays. "Especially you Mister Harris. I was expecting all the creative insults, but the praise was positively poetic."

"Really?" Shocked at being openly praised, Xander shows off his pair of A's with a growing smile.

Nodding at the joker, I remind him they are being averaged so he and Cordelia don't have an unfair advantage over anyone. "You should really be using some of those lines at the Bronze. You might actually get a few dances out of it."

"... I got an A." Smug as can be, Xander doesn't seem to be listening anymore.

"But now I know what you're all capable of." Grinning at the other teens still paying attention enough to grow wary, I notice Jesse is the one who looks ready to bolt. "I better not be handed any assignment I have to mark lower than sixty eight percent." It's the lowest test I've graded so far and that's the standard I'm holding everyone to.

"Dude." Jesse shakes his head in confusion. "I can't tell if you're a cool teacher or scarier than Snyder."

"Why can't I have layers?" Shrek isn't out yet, so why not steal the most recognizable line in it. "I'm like an onion."

"Well thanks for, you know..." Suddenly awkward, Jesse motions toward his still damp shirt.

Before he can say something that will get Xander to laugh, I cut him off with a wink. "Stopping you from wailing on Larry? I saw that look in your eyes and I wasn't in the mood to call another ambulance."

"You almost got in a fight with Larry?" The shortest among the teens claps excitedly at the idea.

"Hitting him in the throat may have dropped the jerk." Playing along to save his ego, I start feeding Jesse the answers. "But that probably would have gotten you sent to the big boy jail."

Suddenly aware this favour might take more than a few days, Amy speaks up from the back of the crowd. "I don't want to be rude. But how long do you want us to show Angel around?"

"Until she makes some friends of her own." Considering they just doubled the size of the group and you're a recent member yourself, why is one more girl a problem? Trying to keep the gender ration even or something?

The only people I really know anything about in her own grade are Devon and Oz. But I don't really want to turn Angel into a groupie, so this is my best option for friends I know aren't going to sacrifice her.

Once they agree, I spend the rest of my day just enjoying the lack of urgency. Not even a strangely pleasant lunch with Snyder is enough to shake off the good mood dating Fred has brought me.

It's only when he mentions the two new staff members starting next week, that I really start to pay attention. "New coach is supposed to be a Russian champion. He's going to make sure we win at least one medal next year."

Turning over his shoulder to point at the other 'athletes' in the room, Snyder's glare could cut diamonds. They must think my resting bitch face is agreement with the insults and the three coaches try to out sneer us.

Instead of thinking the situation through like I know a responsible adult should, I retaliate instantly by turning the heat of my sneer up to blue sun levels. Used to being able to group up on the vice principal, the trio are taken aback when I back up the troll.

"What are you staring at?" Annoyed at my good day's disruption, I don't wait for Snyder to say anything. "You coach extra curricular, we teach required subjects. Who's replaceable?"

Snyder's amused guffaw is more than enough to let me know I crossed a line. But instead of apologizing, I give the triad my most intense stare.

The one in the middle who coaches football is about to lift his massive gut off the couch. Only to drop back down when I point at his mug and tap at my nose. I can smell the tequila from here you idiot.

"Thanks." Giving me a grateful look, Snyder keeps his voice low enough to be unheard. "No one here seems to give me any respect except when I get angry. It's nice to know someone else understands how hard it is to keep order around here, Flutie just lets them walk all over him."

"I think you might need to tone it back a little." Shrugging at the scowls I know are being directed at my back, I decide this is probably my best chance to make some headway with the guy. "Right now the students have no reason to be good except for fear. But that only works until they hate you more."

He pretends to gag at the idea. "I'm not trying to be friends with my students. I'm just supposed to make sure as many graduate as I can and the mayor will make me transfer me out of this hellhole after the centennial."

"Well if you set expectations and students actually manage to meet them..." Staring at the balding man, I hope he sees my point. "That should be rewarded and it gives the less pig headed an easier path. We both know how lazy people are."

"True." Snyder seems to finally be considering the idea. "That would give me more time to focus on the ring leaders."

Since you've as much as admitted to being an agent of the mayor, aware of the true evils or not, I can use that to my advantage. You aren't going to waste Wilkins' time with this.

"I'm just glad I'm not assigned to this place by myself." Matching Snyder's whisper, I lean in across the table. "You keep things calm and I'll keep them safe. That way the big guy gets what he wants."

Hopefully that keeps the mayor from sticking his nose in my business until after the Master is dealt with. Caleb and the First are already on the loose and I really don't like the idea of rushing ahead any more big bads.​