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Part 4
As Cordelia had said, the underground sewers were enormous and in fact ran underneath the entire town of Sunnydale. There were access points located all over, but Buffy chose the school because it was the safest above ground area she knew.
She descended the stairs into the passageway with caution, eyes alert for any hidden attack. When she was certain none was forthcoming, Buffy began to make her way through the maze.
It wasn't long before she stepped into the large cavernous chamber located directly beneath Giles' library. She felt a hint of anxiety as she entered, remembering how her life had very nearly ended in this room years ago. This was her first time coming back here since that day.
"Relax," Buffy told herself, hurrying to the passageway mounted in the far wall. "It's empty now. No vampires here." She had almost convinced herself of that, had almost reached the desired exit, when someone stepped out into her path, making her yell out.
Angel looked down at her in shock, holding her at arm's length. "Buffy?" he asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?" But he cut her off before she could answer, saying, "Never mind! There's two leeches hot on my tail that need taking care of." He hurriedly took the crossbow she had brought and told her to get back.
It didn't take Angel long to knock off the two who were after him. Pursuit over, he settled onto the granite floor to calm himself, then looked at her.
"What do you think you were doing, coming here after me?" Angel asked after a moment. "You shouldn't have put yourself at risk like this... What if I had been one of them?"
Buffy crossed her arms over her stomach, as if to protect the baby inside her. "I thought I knew what I was doing," she answered simply. "I was scared for you, Angel, once I heard what happened." She paused, walking closer and sitting beside him. "Why don't you tell me? What occurred after Stefanie and I left?"
"Someone came looking for Stefanie, is my guess," Angel said. "I didn't stick around to find out. Just grabbed what I could and got out of there."
Buffy took his hand. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know how much you liked that apartment."
He shook his head, then moved to place the crossbow in her backpack. "At least it ends that argument we had about which one of us should move in with the other," he replied at a feeble attempt at humor.
Buffy didn't laugh though, instead helping him to his feet. "I'm just glad you're okay," she said, touching the side of his face lovingly. "We should get going, Angel. Just in case there are some more bad guys lurking down here."
He looked at her as if she had gone mad. "I can't... Sun's still out, remember?"
Buffy merely smiled. "Willow and I have got it covered. Don't worry," she said, leading him out of the cavern. It wasn't too long before they met Willow outside the library.
"Thanks for coming to pick us up," Buffy said, as casually as if Willow had just rescued her from a very long walk home.
"Oh, it's no problem," Willow replied quietly, beginning to unfold a black cotton blanket in her hands. "Always happy to help."
It didn't take long for Angel to figure out Buffy's plan on how to avoid the rays, especially when Willow handed him the blanket. He had to laugh at his girlfriend's cleverness though when she had him climb into the trunk of Willow's car.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Willow asked worriedly after Buffy had closed the lid. "I mean, don't we have to worry about him suffocating?"
Buffy cracked a smile, green eyes twinkling behind her sunglasses. "Vampire, remember?" she said. "They don't need oxygen like we do... Think I would have suggested this scheme if that were true?"
Willow moved to get in the car, her friend right behind her. "You are the resident expert, not me," she replied, having never heard that fact before.
Buffy, ever the mind reader, quickly picked up on this. "Actually, Angel did mention it once in your presence, but I guess you were still unconcious at the time," Buffy said, recalling what Giles had told her about the occasion Angel had saved him, Xander, and Willow from a gas leak.
Willow started the car, growing somewhat wistful as she pulled from the parking lot. "So who was that girl at the Bronze last night?" she asked after a few moments. "You and Angel seemed to be in such a hurry to get her out of there." As an afterthought, Willow added, "Did she cause the fire?"
Buffy started by answering both questions in sequence. "Stefanie, and no, she did not do the arson act." Buffy removed her sunglasses, fixing Willow with her most serious look. "Don't freak out on me, but Stefanie's a vampire, and she's as nice as the one in your trunk."
Willow nearly ran off the road at Buffy's use of words, but quickly regained her composure. She listened to the rest of what Buffy had to say in silence, then whistled. "Well, maybe this is what you need," Willow said cheerfully. "You have been complaining the past two weeks that you need a break from slaying."
The complaints had been Buffy's subtle way of leading up to the news of her pregnancy, but there was no use telling Willow that just yet. "I suppose you're right... Can you drive us to Giles' place? I can't wait to tell him," Buffy said without thinking.
Willow lost her smile. "I would, but he and Miss Calender left for their honeymoon last night," she reminded. "They won't be back until next week."
"Right," Buffy said with a nod, missing her Watcher already. "Well... To my house it is, then..."
Buffy had Willow park in the garage, where the two of them, joined by Cordelia, proceeded to cover the windows with newspaper. Once that was done, Willow opened up the trunk to let Angel out. Within moments, he was safely in the basement with Stefanie.
"Just call me 'Efficiency Girl'," Buffy joked, watching as Willow dialed Xander's number to invite him over. Cordelia, on the other hand, announced she was going to spend the day with whichever boy she was dating and left.
If anything, Willow's brief conversation with Xander had him over in less than five minutes, and Buffy left it to her girlfriend to explain things this time around.
If Xander was less than thrilled with Angel, he was even more so about Stefanie. "You have two bloodsuckers staying here now!" Xander protested, completely ignoring the fact that Buffy favored both of her new houseguests. "How are you going to be able to sleep at night?"
Buffy threw a glance at Willow that said, why do I put up with him? "I think staying calm and relaxed will have something to do with it, Xander," she stated pointedly. "Of course, if you want to sleep over to protect me..."
Xander's eyes lit up, despite what he had just said. "Can I?" he asked eagerly.
Buffy gave him a strange look, silently admitting that he never ceased to amaze her. "Xander, I was kidding!" she said before this conversation went any further. "Besides which, Stefanie's a slayer like me. I'm sure she's not a threat."
"Can you be sure of that?" Xander asked. "We've never encountered a slayer who's truly become a vampire before. How can you have any idea she's telling the truth?"
Buffy crossed her arms, leaning against the kitchen counter. "It's all a matter of trust. Try it with someone other than Willow and I for once," she said frivolously.
"I'm sorry," Xander said. "But trust does not work for me, especially when it comes to vampires." He got his jacket from the table and put it on. "I'm going to Giles' library. Maybe one of his volumes could offer information on this... Until then, make sure you keep your stakes handy."
Buffy rolled her eyes as Xander walked out, then turned to Willow. "Go after him," she told her wide-eyed friend. "And please, try to keep him occupied as long as possible."
Willow, too, was gone seconds later, partly guessing why Buffy wanted to be alone. After a minute, Buffy called the florist to have him prepare a simple bouquet of black-eyed Susans, her mother's favorite flower.
Luckily, the flower arrangement didn't take long and was ready when Buffy got there. Afterwards, she drove to the cemetary, placing the bouquet on top of her mother's grave.
Strange, Buffy mused, that mourning could last so long, but this case was special. Once again, Buffy vowed to the unanswering headstone bearing her mother's name that, until the vampire who did this was gone, her sorrow would never begin to heal. And when she finally turned to leave, she wondered if, with Stefanie's arrival, the hunt would soon come to a close...