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“Pike, you’re staring,” Buffy stated.
“Sorry,” Pike said, moving to sit down on open air. Willow giggled and abandoned her seat, which she slid to Pike. She continued to smile as she sat down on the other side of Oz. Pike sat down in the chair and looked up at the skylight above the library and back down at Angel. He studied him for a moment before staring back up at the skylight. Buffy couldn’t help, but start laughing and even Angel looked amused. Willow laughed and looked up at the skylight herself.
“It’s just a skylight. There’s nothing strange about it,” Buffy said. Pike just nodded, as he looked back down again.
“Why’d they put the skylight back in anyway?” Willow asked.
“What do you mean?” Pike asked.
“Well people keep breaking it and it’s a way vamps can surprise us, so why did we put it back in?” Willow asked.
“She’s got a point,” Oz said, looking up at the skylight.
“The school wants to keep the library seeming airy, although why they care I wouldn’t know,” Giles said.
“The school got the point though. This time they used glass with heavy-duty wire in it. Usually it’s only used for office doors,” Buffy said.
“That’s still glass though. Won’t the vamps be able to get through anyway?” Xander asked.
“Probably. But this will be harder, and they’ll have to break the glass and then the wire. It should give us a warning at least.”
“Great! Now falling shards of glass is a warning,” Cordelia said sarcastically.
“When was the glass broken before?” Pike asked.
“The first time was when Buffy threw the Master down, when the Hellmouth was opening up,” Xander said excitedly.
“Hellmouth?” Pike asked confusedly.
Xander didn’t hear him and continued on, “The second time was when Angel took the bait and jumped down to attack Harmony. That was right before we cast the spell.”
“Bait? Hellmouth? What are you talking about?” Pike asked, totally bewildered.
“The Hellmouth is an opening between this universe and one inhabited by demons. If the Hellmouth was ever opened, the demons would come pouring through to destroy this world. At the moment it’s closed,” Giles explained.
“Is that what it is? I thought it was just that big monster. Wait a minute, does that mean there could be more of those things?” Cordelia asked.
“Only if the Hellmouth opened. The Hellmouth’s not due to open is it?” Willow asked, shifting uncomfortable and looking down at the floor beneath her.
“No. It’s quite safe at the moment,” Giles said.
“Which is a really good thing considering you’re sitting right on top of it,” Xander quipped. Pike’s eyes widen and he looked down at the floor beneath him. Slowly he got up and walked to the uninhabited set of stairs behind him.
“Glad that was cleared up,” he said, leaning on the rail casually. “What did you mean by taking the bait though?”
“Well, we had to get Angel here somehow didn’t we? Setting up a trap was the perfect way,” Cordelia said.
“Cordelia, I don’t think this -“ Buffy started.
“Wait a minute. Why would you need to set Angel up. I thought he was a good guy?” Buffy let out an exasperated sigh and Angel took her hand comfortingly.
“Well that was during the soul-less period. We needed to set him up to perform the spell that put him on our side again,” Oz explained.
“Right. He’s on our side now,” Buffy broke in, “So let’s move on to another subject, like why exactly you were trying to kill Angel.”
“I’m a vampire hunter,” Pike replied, taking a glance Angel and Buffy’s hands.
“Yes, you mentioned that last night. What exactly is a vampire hunter? I’ve heard several references to them in text and prophecy, but I’ve never heard a very good description,” Giles said.
“We hunt vampires and sometimes other small demons. Sometimes for money, sometimes just to hunt them. There’s not much else to it,” Pike said.
“Is there any type of organization?” Giles questioned
“Well there’s a community and we’ve got a few rules. No real organization though. Most hunt vampires for money, getting paid either by those who know about vampires, or rival vampires.”
“Did someone hire you to kill Angel?” Willow asked.
“No. When I’m in between gigs I track some of the worst vamps in history and kill ‘em off. Angelus is pretty high on the list. Pretty hard to find too.”
“So this a revenge gig for you,” Buffy stated.
“Basically. Besides, I’ve got to make a living.”
“Worst vampires in history. Hmmm. I seem to remember …” Giles wandered off into his office. Pike looked a little confused, but the others didn’t even notice.
“Are there any other vampires you’re looking for?” Angel asked.
“There’s a couple I’ve been keeping an eye out for. Darla, Luke, William the Bloody, Kakistos, and Arestor.”
“Well you don’t have to worry about Darla and Luke. We took care of them,” Buffy said.
“William goes by Spike now,” Angel said.
“Yeah. He’s been around here for awhile, but last we saw he was running away,” Xander said.
“I’ve never heard of Kakistos or Arestor though,” Willow said.
“Kakistos sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. Arestor is a very old vampire. I think he dates back to sometime around the Greeks and the Romans. He’s very vengeful and very powerful. He was once the Masters favorite, until he killed a Slayer that the Master had wanted brought to him. To go stalking Arestor is foolish,” Angel said.
“Well I’ve defeated a few in my time that had a pretty bad reputation. You’re lucky I’m not after you anymore,” Pike replied.
“You’re lucky it was me and not Angelus,” Angel returned levelly. Silence descended upon the room.
“So you gonna stick around a while or go back to hunting?” Oz said, trying to relieve the tension in the room.
“I’ll stick around for awhile. Especially if William’s here.”
“I think it’s time I get going,” Angel said, standing up, “I’ve got to start work soon.”
“I’ll come with you. I like getting out now that I don’t have to be in school. Summer’s a wonderful thing,” Buffy said standing up as well, “If Giles resurfaces tell him I’ll be back later.” Buffy took Angel’s proffered hand and walked out with him, with Pike watching them as they went.
“They look awful friendly,” Pike muttered.
“Forget it man,” Xander said. Pike looked up startled. “They’re quite happy together. You haven’t got a chance with her.”
“We used to be pretty close,” Pike said.
“That was back in LA though right?” Willow asked. Pike nodded. “Then it was also before she met Angel. Xander’s right, leave them be,” Willow said.
“I’m right?! Yeah! I mean, of course I’m right,” Xander said.
Willow giggled and Cordelia just rolled her eyes. Pike looked at the library doors before mumbling something about seeing if Giles needed help and going into Giles office.
“Of course, why didn’t I see this before?” Giles asked exasperatedly some hours later. Giles emerged from his office into the library proper, his nose still buried in a book. “I knew that I had seen the term hunter recently. Any imbecile could see that Kenstod’s commentary on how those who hunt the worst sometimes become the hunted has meaning to the vampire hunters. Kenstod was always rambling on about the hunter and those who hunt the vampires and telling prophecies about them. It was always just assumed that these hunters must be the Slayer,” Giles cried triumphantly, looking up from the book.
He looked around at the empty library, before sheepishly returning to his office.