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"Where are they? They've been gone for four hours!" Willow asked, looking to the clock for the umpteenth time.
"Why don't you ask Dead-Boy? He looks pretty calm," Xander quipped, gesturing to a tense, pacing Angel. The vampire stopped to glare.
"Would you not call me that?"
"What are you going to do if I don't? Bite me?"
"Don't tempt me, Xander."
"Come on, I dare ya! Just because you've become the care bear with fangs again doesn't mean I'm gonna trust that you're not going to kill us like you killed Ms-"
"Xander!" Willow, Cordelia and Giles scolded the boy harshly.
"Like any of you guys trust the bastard either!" The door crashed open, ending any further comments by Xander about Angel. Sprawled out on the floor was a beaten and battered Jessie. Giles walked over quickly and helped her up slowly. On her feet, the S-I-T leaned on the pile of paper and books on the floor and panted painfully.
"That's a pretty bad eye," Cordelia noted, walking over and touching the bruise surrounding Jessie's eye. She reacted by pushing the May-Queen roughly away. "Ow! What did you do that for?!"
"Sorry, I just have reflexes when it comes to people touching any injured spots." Xander gently poked a bruise on her cheek, and Jessie instantly punched him in the nose.
"Ow damn it! I think my nose is broken!"
"I tried to worn you," Jessie replied, chuckling slightly. She clutched her chest in pain, realized how much it hurt to laugh.
"What happened? Where's Buffy?" Angel questioned, rushing over, along with Willow.
"Buffy? We were. . . " Jessie took a few seconds to clear her head of the fog that had grown inside it, and said, "We were attacked. Like. . . six vamps surrounded us. We took care of most, but Spike and. . . and. . . Oh-" she cursed under her breath, the realitization dawning on her. "This is my fault. I knew they were following me. "
"Who?" Cordelia asked.
"You don't listen, do you? Because of me, Spike and that bitch of his have the slayer and are probably torturing the crap out of her now. . . This always happens!!!" Jessie grabbed a book and hit herself over the head with it. "Ow!" She held her head in both hands as it started to cloud and throb again.
"Where are they?" Angel asked, worry in his eyes.
"I don't know. I blacked out. . . It sounded like they were heading. . . north-east from the cemetery by the park."
"Out there is all residential area," Giles pointed out, taking a pair of tweezers from the first-aid kit he'd gotten out and attempted to pull the splinters from her face.
"Unless-" Willow walked back to her laptop and typed something on to the keyboard. In a few minutes, a look of surprise and happiness crossed her face. "-The only place in the north-east part of Sunnydale that would be the ideal home for a vampire coven, or even a couple of vampires, would be . . ." Willow looked at the screen again to make sure she'd be right.
"What? Where's the ideal coven location?!" Jessie demanded.
"The mansion on Conwell Street."
"Spike ain't much for choosing new digs, is he?" Xander quipped. "Next thing you know, he and Drusilla are going to be holding up in the Master's old lair!"
"Xander, that's not funny," Cordelia told him.
"So he's in a mansion. Big whoop. I'll need someone who knows the area well and who can hold them off, along with any other freaks that may be there while I help Buffy. "
"Jessie, I don't think you're-"
"Giles, I can handle it. Freddy trusted me with slaying when I had a broken arm. "
"To our understanding, Freddy's not here," Xander said. Jessie shot him a nasty glare and had the boy against the table in no time.
"You dare disrespect my watcher like that again, Elephant Ears, and I'll beat the crap out of you so much, it'll hurt to even flare your nostrils!" The slayer hissed at him, squeezing the pressure point in his neck. Xander desperately gasped for air under her tight grip on his windpipe, unable to speak or swallow. She released him finally, spun around on her heels and looked straight at Angel. "We've got a slayer to save. Get your ass in motion and let's go. " She grabbed her bag and pulled the vampire out by the sleeve of his leather jacket.
"That girl's got a major problem!" Cordelia retorted after they'd left.
"Looks like you're gonna have your arms full, G-Man," Xander managed to get out of his opening air
passages. The watcher shot him a look similar to Jessie's, picked up the box of papers and walked
into the office, leaving the three teenagers in silence.