Mexico: Part 1
Sunnydale
Francine had been picking through the detritus of the last known residence of one Jonathan Levinson when she was attacked. The first thing she had noticed was a handsome man standing there, staring at her. She'd flashed him her world famous smile, the one that almost always got her noticed by a man, and then, before she could say a word, his face had changed, he had moved like a blur, and he'd latched onto her neck with a painful bite and she knew she was going to die.
All her expertise in hand to hand combat seemed useless against her attacker. Her own fear and disbelief at what was happening had further debilitated her.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was as pale as she'd ever seen it. Francine knew she probably needed a blood transfusion. But that would mean she'd have to admit that she had actually been attacked by a vampire and she wasn't ready to do that. It terrified her too much.
Turning her head she looked at the puncture wounds. She let out a hiss of displeasure. "Shit, those are going to leave a scar." Realizing that she was extraordinarily lucky to be alive, complaining about a potential scar seemed petty, but Francine liked looking beautiful, and a large scar on her neck was bothersome to the extreme.
She had no idea why her attacker had suddenly left, unless it had been the earthquake. Through the haze of her impending death and the pain of the teeth in her neck, Francine had still felt the tremor in the ground underneath their feet. Then she'd been dumped on her ass, and she'd watched in astonishment as the man, or whatever he was, ran away.
Francine snorted. Despite her fears, she wasn't sure that she was that impressed with a supposed creature of the night if a little earthquake scared it away. After all, this was California. Living in California and being afraid of a little earthquake would be as ridiculous as living in D.C. and being afraid of a little government corruption.
Sighing at the mirror again, she picked up the small black diary she had found underneath the rubble before she'd been attacked. It was one of those old-fashioned ones with a small snap lock to secure it. Francine had rolled her eyes when she saw that. It had taken her less than a second to pick the lock with a paperclip.
She settled back on the bed in the hotel room she was staying in. It was disgustingly below her usual standards, but there hadn't been much to choose from in this one horse town. She longed for the D.C. nightlife. Francine opened the diary and picked up where she left off, shaking her head again at the infantile warning that anyone who read the diary was in BIG TROUBLE.
Her first assumption as she started to read was that this guy had used the diary to write some outlandish science fiction stories. But as she read on, and as the holes in her neck throbbed in constant reminder of her own encounter of the something kind, she started getting nervous. After a while she got up and made sure the window was closed and both locks were secured on the door.
***
Buffy didn't think the sky had ever been so blue. She sent her sister a brilliant smile which Dawn returned. The Slayer let out a happy sigh. "I think I'm happy."
Dawn let out a giggle, delighted with her sister's ebullient mood, considering how depressed and taciturn she'd been. She gestured around her. "And hey, the world's still here."
Buffy nodded firmly. "Which is a good thing."
"A very good thing."
Suddenly Buffy let out a gasp, and a pained look crossed her face, her eyes brightening with tears. "Oh, God."
Dawn looked at her with dismay, watching the good mood vanish as quickly as it had arrived. "What is it?"
"Giles. I forgot about Giles." She sent Dawn an anguished look. "How could I have forgotten about him?" Buffy remembered the pain that had shot through her when Anya had appeared and told her that Giles was dying. A few tears escaped as she let out a wounded cry. "I gotta go." Without another word she was gone, running as fast as she could.
Dawn watched her sister disappear and let out a sigh. "So much for staying by my side and showing me the world." Then, as worry for Giles consumed her as well she began quickly walking back to the Magic Box.
***
Buffy got to the shop just as Anya was assisting Giles out the door. Buffy kept running and threw herself in his arms. Only her strength kept him from falling backwards. Anya was reluctantly forced to let go. Buffy held on tight. "You're alive!"
Anya scowled. "No thanks to you."
Buffy ignored her. She pulled back and looked up at Giles. "Are you all right?" Her eyes were still bright. "Anya said…" She couldn't finish the sentence, the idea of him dying too difficult for her to speak about.
Giles smiled tightly. "I thought I was dying. I think I should be."
"But, you're okay, right. I mean, you're not going to die, are you?"
Giles shook his head. "No, I think I'm fine. I'm a bit bruised and quite tired, but other than that…" He smiled down at her. "How about you? Are you all right?" He glanced around. "Where's Dawn?"
Buffy pointed back from where she had just come from. "She's coming. I'm fine, so is she." Realizing she still had her arms around Giles she blushed and took a step back, letting her arms fall to her side. "What happened?"
Anya sent Giles a proud look. "It was Giles. He dosed Willow."
Buffy's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
"He dosed her with good magic. It let her get in touch with the goodness in her." Anya frowned. "The little tiny bit of goodness that was buried deep underneath her completely psychotic outer parts."
Giles sent her a gentle remonstrative look. "Anya." He turned to Buffy. "I can't take all the credit. It was Xander who made the real difference."
Anya's eyes darkened with a dangerous gleam. She was in no mood to give any credit to Xander. "He couldn't have done anything without what you did. And it almost killed you."
Giles frowned at the thought. "I'm still not sure why I'm not dead."
Buffy glared at him. "You sound like you're complaining."
Giles gave her a tired grin. "No, I'm not complaining, I just was told that if she took the bait and stole my magic, that I wouldn't survive."
Buffy let out a horrified gasp. "You came here expecting to die?"
"I didn't know any other way to stop her. You saw how powerful she was."
Buffy grimaced. She had seen how powerful Willow was. And felt it. Even with her Slayer healing she was sure she still was sporting a bruise or two. She'd also seen Giles completely rout Willow and bind her power. She looked at him with a new found respect. But then she grew worried again. "Is all your magic gone?"
He shook his head. "No, at least I don't think so. Until I know otherwise I have to assume that when Willow found herself again that some of that magic was released and found it's way back to me. That's the only reason I can think that I'm alive." He stumbled a little and Buffy was at his side instantly, holding him up.
"Let's get you home."
He looked at her, his eyes surprised. "Home?"
"My home, yours too. You're staying with me." Her voice brooked no disagreement. She shied away from the thought of him leaving again.
Giles smiled at her, not having the strength to argue even if he were inclined to, which he wasn't. Staying with Buffy suited him fine. The thought of lying down and sleeping sounded like heaven, but there was one more job to do. "Someone has to go find Xander and Willow."
Anya moved to Giles' side and slid her arm around his waist, appropriating him from Buffy. "Buffy can go find them." She had no intention of taking on that job.
Buffy frowned at Anya. She didn't want to let go of Giles. "Why don't you go. He's your boyfriend."
Anya hissed her response. "Ex boyfriend, ex fiancé. Ex everything." She moved even closer to Giles. "I'm not leaving Giles. I'm the one who's been with him while you've been all useless trapped underground."
Buffy sent a pointed glance in the direction of the destroyed store. "Yeah, and you've done such a good job protecting him and the shop. Remind me not to have you baby-sit."
Anya glared at her. "I did better than you did. You couldn't even get out of your hole."
Giles let out a sigh. "Perhaps it might be prudent if I go and find them."
Buffy's lips tightened as she realized she was going to have to give in. "You're in no condition to drive. I'll go." She looked at the remains of the shop. "My keys are in there."
Giles carefully turned, not wanting to stumble again. "Be careful, I'm not sure how stable the building is right now."
Anya scowled as she looked at the remains. "The insurance company's going to cancel our policy."
Giles tilted his head to the side. "You can hardly blame them. They certainly can't be making any money on the premiums we pay them, considering how often we incur damages." He watched nervously as Buffy gingerly made her way into the store to retrieve her backpack. He let out a silent sigh of relief when she returned safely.
She held up her keys with a flourish. "Do you know where they are?"
Giles had seen it all in his mind as it had played out. "They're on the overlook, north of Sunnydale. Or at least that's where they were. They may be on their way back."
"I'll find them." Buffy glared at Anya. "No demon funny business. Just get him home safely."
Anya let out an insulted noise but then decided Buffy's comment wasn't worthy of an additional response. Then she decided it was. "Just go and be useful." She took a hold of Giles' arm. "I'll take care of Giles."
Buffy's eyes narrowed at the fingers wrapped around Giles' arm. It made her, just for a moment, want to rip off Anya's fingers.
Giles again intervened. "Buffy, I'll be fine. I'll try very hard not to scorn any women between here and your house." His lips tightened. "I'm worried about them. They might need help."
Buffy nodded. "You're right. I'm going." She sent a warning glare toward Anya and without another word she spun around and headed for her car.
***
Buffy found them still on the overlook. Xander was sitting on the ground, Willow almost in his lap. Willow's hair was red again, and her face was blotchy from crying.
Buffy crouched down next to Xander. "Hey." Xander's eyes slowly focused on her. Then she noticed the wounds on his face and chest. "You all right?"
He nodded and then looked down at the small woman in his arms. Glancing up at Buffy again, he tightened his hold on her. "She's all right, Buffy, she's all right now."
Buffy smiled tightly at him. She remembered Giles' words and wondered if Willow would ever be all right again. It wasn't that she wouldn't be forgiven. Seeing Willow look so broken in Xander's arms made it hard for Buffy to even remember her anger. But she had known Willow a long time. And while Buffy knew most everyone would eventually forgive Willow, it was Willow who would be unforgiving of herself.
It had taken her months to stop her self flagellating behavior after the spell she'd cast that had turned Giles blind, and made her kiss Spike. And the tears and self-recriminations after she'd realized what she'd done to Buffy by bringing her back from the dead had driven Buffy to distraction. And then there had been Dawn's broken arm, and Willow's betrayal of Tara. All of which Willow had been paying for with major guilt.
And now…she'd tried to kill them all. She had killed Warren, as gruesomely as possible. Buffy didn't know if there would be any Willow left at all after this, any of the Willow she had loved so much at one time? Buffy was afraid there would only be an endlessly apologetic version of the friend she once knew.
It all felt so overwhelming. Even though they had won this particular war, the thought of trying to pick up the pieces made it feel as if the battle had just begun. Buffy thought of Giles and she knew she had to make him stay. She couldn't even begin to put it all back together without him here. The pang of unhappiness that pierced through her at the thought of him leaving again felt like a knife wound.
Silently she helped Xander get Willow in the back seat of the car, and then watched as he climbed in next to her. Buffy got in the front and chauffeured them home.
End of Part 1
Mexico: Part 2
Washington, D.C.
"Yeah, Billy." Lee stuck his head in his boss' office.
Billy Melrose looked up. "Ah, Lee, come on in. Have a seat."
"Ooh, this sounds serious."
Billy lifted his eyes heavenward in mock exasperation. "Is Amanda still around?"
Lee frowned. "No, she's out on a date."
Billy tried not to grin at the tone in Lee's voice. He wasn't sure what it was going to take for this man sitting across from him to realize what he had in Amanda and stop pussyfooting around. Biting the inside of his cheek to keep a smirk off his face, he nodded seriously. "I need to ask you for a favor. This would be strictly off the record.
Lee sat down, concerned. "What is it, Billy? I'll do anything you need."
"I appreciate that, but wait until you hear me out, then decide. I'll understand if you want to say no."
"I'm all ears. And the answer is still yes, and I'm sure Amanda will feel the same way."
Billy smiled in response, then he let loose a sigh. "I got a call a couple of weeks ago from an old friend. His son's disappeared. He didn't really give it much thought at first because he and his son haven't been that close for a while. But when he hadn't seen or heard from him for a little too long, he went to the house where he had been living with two other friends, and it had been destroyed."
Lee's eyebrows rose. "Destroyed?"
"As if it had been torn apart. He did a little checking and it seems as if all three boys are gone. He called me to see if I could run his name through our system, see if his name cropped up."
"Did you find anything?"
"Not a thing. Francine happened to be in California on vacation, and I asked her to take a couple of extra days and see if she could find any leads."
"I was wondering how she was managing to take such a long vacation."
Billy rolled his eyes at his top agent. "She's spooked, Lee. She was trying to hide it, but something has her scared. I want you to go see what's going on, what she's found."
"I can't imagine anything scaring Francine. Usually it's the other way around."
A chill went down Billy's spine. "Maybe you should leave Amanda out of this one."
Lee didn't like the idea of that. He'd gotten used to working with Amanda. He felt weird when he worked on cases without her now. He found her presence soothing. He smiled to himself. He even liked it when she babbled. "She won't stand for that. Besides, she has such a different way of looking at things. Her perspective might be just what we need."
Billy's lips tightened and then he nodded. "Be careful. This whole thing makes me nervous for some reason. I wouldn't even ask you to help, but he's a good friend."
"We'll find his son. Don't worry." Lee stood up. "Where exactly are we going?"
"Sunnydale."
"Never heard of it."
Billy handed him a file. "Here's all the information the research department could pull on the place, and on Jonathan."
Lee took it and stuck it under his arm. "I guess I'll go tell Amanda."
"I thought you said she was on a date."
Lee scowled. "I'll wait for her to get home."
Billy bit back another grin. "Okay." His gaze softened. "Thanks Scarecrow."
"You've been there for me, more times than I can count. It's about time I got to even up the score."
Billy handled the emotion with his usual gruffness. "Fine, then get out of here, already. I've got work to do."
Lee grinned and with a jaunty salute he sailed out of his boss' office.
***
Lee looked at his watch again, his expression growing ever darker. Amanda should have been home a while ago. That is if this was anything like any of her other dates. Dinner, maybe a movie, and then straight home. Amanda was an old-fashioned woman, and that was fine with Lee. Especially when she was with another man.
His fingers tapped impatiently on the steering wheel of his silver Corvette. He looked at his watch again. "Damn." Lee hated these dates. He hated that Amanda wasn't around when he needed to talk to her. He hated that someone else might be touching…Lee shook his head. He didn't want to go there. His relationship with Amanda was just what it needed to be. A professional friendship. That's all.
Lee looked at his watch again. He wondered if he should go track her down. Maybe the guy was getting frisky. Maybe he needed to have his teeth knocked in. Lee was grinding his own teeth when a car pulled into Amanda's driveway. "Jesus, it's about time." He watched as the man got out of the car and walked around to open Amanda's door. He walked her up the sidewalk to the front door. Lee winced and looked away when the man leaned in to give Amanda a kiss.
Then it was over and she was in the house. Lee waited until the man drove away, making mental note of his license plate number. Then he got out of his car and made his way to the back of Amanda's house, back to where the kitchen was. That was inevitably where she ended up. He was getting to be an expert on her habits.
He smiled when he saw her and he quietly tapped on the window. He didn't want to alert Amanda's mother and he had no idea where she might be. Amanda saw him and gave him a wide smile, her brown eyes twinkling. God, he loved that smile. He smiled back.
She snuck out the back door. "Hey! What are you doing here so late?"
That reminded Lee. He scowled. "I could ask you the same thing."
Amanda shook her head at him, gently chiding him with her expression. "Did you come all this way just to scold me?"
"No, but while we're on the subject, why are you home so late?"
"That, Mr. Stetson, is none of your business." She grew concerned. "Did you need me? Is there something wrong?"
Lee scrunched his face up. "Maybe. We need to go to California."
Amanda's eyes grew wide. "Really? California?"
"We need to go meet Francine."
Amanda grimaced. "Oh."
"I know, I know. I'm not crazy about it either, but Billy needs our help."
Amanda stood a little taller. "Then I'm in."
Lee grinned. "I knew you would be." He gestured into the house. "Can you make arrangements to get away? I'm not sure how long we'll need."
"Sure. I'll tell my mom we're going on a last minute location scout for IFF. She'll be glad to watch the boys."
"Great. I've got us tickets for tomorrow morning, 10 am."
Her eyebrows rose. "You aren't giving me much time."
Lee shrugged. "I know, but Billy thinks it's important."
Amanda gave him her lopsided smile. He bit back a sigh. He loved that smile too. He realized she was talking and paid attention. "I'll be ready. You'll pick me up?"
"Of course."
"Okay, then." She turned to go back in the house when their eyes caught. Amanda thought her stomach would turn inside out with all the butterflies she had. These moments kept happening, moments when she was sure Lee would kiss her, but then he didn't. It was making her crazy. When the moment had grown into something uncomfortable and Amanda couldn't take it anymore she took a step toward the house. "Well, good night Lee."
Lee let out a breath. "Good night, Amanda." He took a couple of steps back until he blended into the darkness but he stood there for a long time until the kitchen light went out.
End of Part 2
Mexico: Part 3
Sunnydale
Francine's head hurt. She hated Sunnydale with a vengeance and hated this kid Jonathan because he'd brought her here. She hoped he was as miserable as she was, the little snot. Hearing a sound she looked for a weapon, recoiling only slightly when she saw all her choices. The multitude of deadly implements made her hesitate and she hadn't yet picked one up when she heard Lee's call. "Francine?"
Letting out the breath she'd unconsciously been holding she moved to the doorway of the back room. "In here."
Amanda and Lee cautiously made their way through the debris until they reached her. Lee grinned as he brushed some dust off of Francine. "Your sartorial splendor is slipping, Francine."
Francine shivered at the thought. "I hate this town, I hate everything about it, and I hate everyone who lives here."
Amanda looked at Francine in surprise. While the woman was never unduly pleasant, this vitriolic outburst was a bit excessive. "What happened?" Then she noticed the bandage on Francine's neck. She reached out a hand toward it. "Are you all right? Did you get hurt?"
Lee was looking dubiously around the store. "Is it safe here?" Francine had left them a note at the hotel to join her here when they arrived.
Francine was shooing off Amanda. "Yes, it's fine. The owners were here earlier and got everything braced up so they could start removing inventory."
Amanda pursed her lips, thinking that Francine looked pale and shaken. She wished, not for the first time, that the woman wasn't quite so prickly. "Why did you want us to meet you here?"
"Because for some reason everything I've found out about the little shit seems to center around this store and the people in it."
Lee's eyebrows rose. "The little shit?"
"Jonathan. The miscreant who brought us to the misbegotten town."
Lee let out a breath and considered Francine. "Let's start over and maybe you can try making some sense this time."
Francine shot him a look of annoyance and then crossed the room and sat on a faded couch. "Fine. I found the home where Jonathan used to live with these two other guys, Andrew and Warren. It's been destroyed. Cut into pieces." She shook her head. "Why is no one noticing this stuff? Why can a house be ripped apart, this store mangled, monsters roaming around at night and no one cares? There is something seriously wrong with this place and everyone here."
Amanda sat next to Francine, starting to really worry about her. "Monsters?"
Francine ripped the bandage off her neck, revealing the puncture wounds. "Monsters. I'm at the house, going through the wreckage when I see this guy standing there. Then, the next thing I know, he turns into this monster thing and bites me." She jabbed her chest with a finger. "Me! Francine Desmond." She sent Amanda and Lee a glare. "No one bites me without my permission."
Lee bounced back on his heels, not quite sure how to respond to that statement. Amanda courageously kept at it. She looked at the wound. "Francine, it looks like someone attacked you with a barbecue fork. You could have been killed."
The dismay in Amanda's voice mollified Francine a little. "It wasn't a fork. It was teeth." She bared her own teeth. "Fangs."
Lee pursed his lips. "Tell us about Jonathan."
Amanda looked up at him. "Lee, she's been hurt." Amanda couldn't stand for anyone to get hurt.
Lee almost got lost in the large chocolate colored eyes staring imploringly up at him. With an effort he pulled his eyes away and looked at Francine. "Are you all right? Do you need to see a doctor?" He was willing to focus on the wound. He was not willing to talk about monsters who bit people.
Francine shook her head in disgust and slapped the bandage back on, wincing slightly. "No, I'm fine. Just don't expect me to go out at night while I'm here."
Lee shot her an incredulous look. Francine, afraid of the dark? He shook his head. "Okay, now can we get back to Jonathan?"
Francine pulled out the small black notebook. "He was obsessed with these people. Obsessed with magic, and demons, and taking over the world. It's like reading the diary of Pinky and the Brain." Then she gestured around her. "Look at this place. Look at this stuff."
Lee took a good look around, seeing the knives and other assorted weapons lying around. "There are perfectly reasonable explanations for this stuff, Francine. Lots of people collect weapons." He motioned towards the punching bag. "This looks like a training room. They probably practice some kind of martial arts."
Francine sent the back of her hand waving at him in a dismissing gesture. "You didn't meet them. You didn't see the books they had hanging around before they could get them all in boxes and take them away. Books on demons, and creatures of the night. Books on magic, and mayhem." Her voice was rising.
Amanda smiled gently at Francine, hoping to calm her down. "It's a magic shop, Francine. The merchandise is bound to be a bit odd."
Francine blew out an exasperated breath. "Fine. Whatever. But these people know about Jonathan, and they know what happened to him. I'd bet my last paycheck on that, as paltry as it is." She stood and started pacing. "First, there's Rupert Giles, part owner. Good looking man, in his forties. Full of secrets, and a very bad liar. He has a shadow, a young blond, one Buffy Summers, who wouldn't let him out of her sight. They kept making eyes at each other." Francine had to admit that she was annoyed she hadn't been able to charm Rupert. He'd been too distracted, too focused on Buffy.
"Who did you tell him you were?" Lee wanted to be able to corroborate her story.
"Insurance investigator." Realizing the pacing was making her tired, she flopped back down on the couch. "Then there's the other owner. Anya. She's a piece of work, let me tell you. The only person she was half way pleasant to was Rupert, and even then it was borderline. How they ran a business together was beyond me. They were all lying. They hadn't taken the time to come up with a good lie, so they all told me different stories about what happened to the store."
Lee leaned back on the vault horse. "How did you work Jonathan into the conversation?"
"I mentioned I was investigating the other house as well, and mentioned their names, saying I was looking for the three of them so I could ask them some questions. You should have seen the looks on their faces." She moved to the edge of the couch and nailed Lee with a glare. "They know something, and whatever it is, it's not good."
Lee scowled. He didn't want to bring bad news back to Billy without some further proof. "Maybe Amanda and I can go talk to this Rupert Giles fellow and you can go talk to Anya. Maybe separately we'll get more information out of them." He looked at his watch and couldn't help grinning at Francine. "Although it's almost dark. It's almost your bedtime."
Amanda sent him a disapproving look. "Lee."
Lee relented. "All right, I'm sorry. Obviously something attacked you, Francine. It's just not like you to get so rattled. You've been attacked as often as I have on the job, and been hurt far worse."
Francine touched her neck and stood. "I know." She hated letting anyone see any weakness and she was determined that these two had seen enough. "I'll go see Anya. I have her address." She fished for a piece of paper out of her purse. "Here's where Rupert Giles is staying. It's with that Buffy girl and her younger sister, Dawn."
Amanda took the paper and held it while she considered Francine. Her voice was soft when she spoke. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Francine flipped her hair back and squared her shoulders. "Sure, I'm fine. We can meet back at the hotel later." Without another word she headed out of the room, through the main body of the shop, and was out the door.
Amanda and Lee locked gazes for a moment. When Lee saw how worried Amanda looked he moved over to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "She'll be fine, Amanda. She's a trained agent."
Amanda sighed and nodded. "I know. She just wasn't acting normal, even for Francine."
Lee had to agree. "Well, then I suggest we find what we came here to find and get the hell out of dodge. What do you say?"
Amanda smiled at her partner. "I couldn't agree more." Then the smile faded. "I hope he's okay."
"Jonathan?"
She nodded.
"Me too."
***
At the fourth truck stop, Jonathan had decided he'd had enough. Even dealing with Buffy was better than dealing with the looks being shot his way by too many swarthy looking truckers. He didn't know what was on their minds, but it was totally creeping him out. Totally.
Then he remembered Willow and that she was trying to kill him, and that that had been pretty creepy too. Jonathan sighed and moved a couple of inches away from the man who was standing just a little too close.
He closed his eyes thinking about what a mess he'd made of everything. Warren dead, Andrew becoming less and less the friend he'd thought he was with every passing hour. Nothing made sense. And the guilt was tearing him up inside. So many bad things had happened because the three of them had wanted to take over the world, and get laid.
Jonathan sighed again. Maybe he should just go back and take what was coming to him. At least then it would be over. Mexico seemed far away but all the ghosts, and guilt, and fear were just going to be crossing over the border with him. And that made Mexico as bad as Sunnydale. Well, except for Willow.
He just needed to find Buffy first. She'd protect him. She probably wouldn't be too happy about it, but she'd protect him. She sort of had to. Jonathan was pretty sure it was kind of in her contract, being the Slayer and all.
The truck driver who had picked he and Andrew up sauntered over to him and put his hand on Jonathan's shoulder, giving a baleful glare toward the other man. Jonathan felt like a piece of raw meat between two pit bulls. He smiled weakly at the driver. He held up his finger. "I'm just going to use the bathroom." He oozed out from under the meaty paw and followed the signs to the restroom. Then he was out the backdoor and running.
***
Francine knocked on the apartment door. The pressure from the knocking opened the door and she realized it hadn't been latched shut. "Hello? Anya?"
No one answered her but she could hear muttering coming from the bedroom. Angry muttering. Francine followed the noises until she found the woman she was looking for, packing a suitcase, and being none too gentle with the items she wasn't taking. "I hate men."
Francine couldn't help but agree. "I hear you."
Anya spun around. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Francine pointed back the way she had come. "I knocked, but you didn't hear me. The door was open."
Anya started muttering again. She picked up a bottle of men's cologne and threw it against the wall. Rather than breaking, the plastic bottle just ricocheted off the wall and almost hit her. "I hate men. They are scum, they are worse than scum. They are the parasites that live on scum."
Francine nodded. "I've been there." She sat on the edge of the bed. "What'd the bastard do to you?"
"First, he made me fall in love with him with his wooing eyes. Then he weakened me with his kisses. Then he asked me to marry him and wouldn't let me tell anyone. Then when we were finally getting married he left me at the altar."
Francine whistled. "Sounds like a man."
Anya wasn't done. "And do you know where he is now?"
Francine was familiar with most of these plots. "Let me guess. With an old girlfriend, right?"
Anya gaped at her. "Yes, yes, that's exactly where he is. His best friend girlfriend. The one that's supposed to be gay. And right now, he's in bed with her." Anya didn't mention that they were only sleeping. She didn't care. It was the principle of the thing.
Francine tightened her lips and nodded her head. "Ah, the old 'she's only a friend' trick. I've heard that one before."
Anya sat down on the bed next to the woman. "You have been scorned too?"
"Oh yeah, more times that I care to remember."
Anya's voice began to change, grow deeper and more formal. "Do you wish revenge?"
"Let me count the ways."
"The men you wish to have revenge on are here?"
"No, in Washington, D.C."
"There are many men to scorn there?"
Francine snorted. "D.C. is the leave 'em weeping capitol of the world."
"What would you wish on these men?"
Francine had given it a lot of thought. "Well, for Brian I would wish that he'd suddenly find himself screwing a goat the next time he's addressing Congress. Tom needs to have his dick fall off. I'd like Eddie to marry some real shrew who'd make his life a living hell. Lee…" She thought for a moment. "Let's leave Lee out of it for the time being."
"Why would you not wish vengeance on this Lee? Did he break your heart?"
"Yes he did. But to be fair, he told me not to fall for him, so at least he didn't play games with me." She grinned. "Besides, I think he's falling for Amanda and that seems a fitting sort of punishment. God, that woman can talk the leaves right off a tree."
Anya stared at the attractive blond woman sitting on her bed. "Have you ever considered becoming a vengeance demon? I think you might be a natural."
Francine's eyebrows rose. "A what?"
Anya let her face change. "A vengeance demon. A protector of scorned woman."
Francine rolled her eyes. "Jeez, is everyone in this town a mutant?" She pulled off the bandage on her neck. "What did this?"
Anya shifted back to her human face, and looked. "A vampire."
Francine let out a long breath. "A vampire. Shit." She looked at Anya. "A vengeance demon. Of course." She tapped her fingers on her thighs and then she pursed her lips. "Are there good benefits?"
"You'll be immortal. You'll never age. You'll never want for money. You will never fear again."
Francine stared at her, incredulous. "I was thinking insurance, vacation time, retirement fund." She thought about what Anya had said. "Those are good benefits." She stood and moved to the bathroom staring in the mirror. "I'll never age?"
Anya moved to stand next to her. "I am over 1200 years old."
Francine's jaw dropped. "Get out." She looked more closely. "Your complexion looks great."
Despite the fact that Xander, before he'd broken her heart, had almost made up for the inconveniences of being human, Anya had to admit that being immortal was pretty great. "Just don't make the mistake I made and fall in love with a human."
Francine snorted. "Fall in love? I'll never do that again. As far as I am concerned, you just play for a while, and then you move on." She pointed at Anya's face in the mirror. "That thing that happened to your face. Would that happen to me too?"
"Yes, when you are using your power. Otherwise you will look the same as you do now."
"So I could keep my job, and get to sneer at all the women I work with as they get older and I don't?"
Anya moved back into the bedroom to finish packing up the few things she had left behind. "You can do anything you want." She threw some shoes into the suitcase. "Except trust men."
Francine rolled her eyes. "That's a given." Then she remembered why she was there. "Oh, and do you mind telling me where Jonathan is?"
Anya shrugged. "Last I heard, he was on his way to Mexico. I mean, after all, he's a man too, so naturally, after helping create a catastrophe, he ran away. He didn't even stay to make sure that the people who were helping him were okay. The people who were out of his mind to help him, because he's scum too. Lower than scum." She sat again. "All men. Except maybe Giles." Her eyes grew dark. "He might not be scum but he's almost as bad. Because he left Buffy. He left us all. He didn't even come for the wedding and if he'd been here, Xander wouldn't have run away." Anya fingered the pendant between her breasts. "I hate men."
Francine was feeling a deep kinship with this woman. "They're scum all right."
Anya stood and stared down at the belongings she had gathered. "Let's go. I don't want any of this stuff. It will just remind me of him."
Francine stood too. "Where are we going?"
"To see D'Hoffryn. He's the vengeance demon boss. You're lucky. He's kind of on a recruiting jag right now."
Francine suddenly felt nervous. "Suppose I don't want to become one of these vengeance demons?"
"Then you just tell him no. He doesn't want anyone who won't give a hundred percent to the job."
"Oh, okay." With that, she followed Anya out of the apartment.
End of Part 3