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Part 8
The Slayerettes researched deep into the night. Buffy fell asleep with her head in Angel’s lap, and dreamt about the mysterious vampire once again. The fight took place on a beach right before the sun rose. Faint colors had started to paint the sky, and the Slayer was putting up a much better fight than the other two had. She managed to stake the vampire, but she missed the heart. The vampire roared in pain and lunged for the Slayer once again. She punched her viciously, then slapped her hard in the face. Then the Slayer spoke, she was the first one that Buffy had heard actually speak during the fight with this vampire.
“It doesn’t matter what you do to me, Leonna. If you kill me, another will come, and another, and one day you will know the meaning of defeat,” the Slayer spat out, blood pouring down her face. Leonna just laughed and reached down, wrapping two strong hands around the girl’s neck. “What, you’re not going to disappear suddenly and then reappear somewhere else?”
Leonna stared at the Slayer, unbelieving. “How did you know I could do that? No one knows but my--”
“Yeah, well, you should really be careful of who you tell about that little secret of yours. Even family members can betray you,” the Slayer smiled. Leonna tightened her grip and lifted the Slayer off of the soft sand. She said a name in a different language that Buffy didn’t know, then smiled.
“Sorry, darling. It’s too bad you got her as your Watcher, you probably wouldn’t have even known about me if you hadn’t. Ah, well, some things are just meant to be,” Leonna said, then pulled the Slayer down so she could speak softly into her ear. “Do you have any idea what I’m going to do to her after I’m finished with you? I’m going to break every bone in her body, but I’ll keep her alive until it’s over, and then I’ll suck her dry. The fact that she’s my sister makes it even better!”
And with that thought, Leonna snapped the girl’s neck as if it was nothing but a twig. With a sickening crack, the girl fell in a heap in the sand. Leonna raised her head and smiled, closing her eyes. The sun was moments away from rising, and Leonna took a deep breath.
She ignored the salty smell of the ocean, the dew on the grass a hundred meters from where she stood, the smell of a new dawn.
What she smelled was far more delicious than that. It filled the air, pushing the pleasant smells of the morning aside.
The smell of a Slayer’s death.
There was nothing as sweet as that.
The sun’s rays rose over the horizon, but Leonna had vanished, leaving Buffy alone once again.
As soon as Buffy awoke, she realized what her dream meant and lifted her head out of Angel’s lap. Giles have covered her with a blanket when she had fallen asleep, and she hastily threw it off as she sat up and stretched. She yawned and glanced at her watch, which read 3:15. She leaned down and kissed a sound-asleep Angel, who was propped up against the wall. She covered him with the blanket, and he sighed softly in his slumber, causing Buffy to smile. She stood up and made her way slowly down the stairs. Oz and Willow were asleep at the table, and Buffy glimpsed Xander asleep on the couch in Giles’ office.
“Buffy, what are you doing up?” Giles asked as he turned in his chair when he heard her lean up against the doorframe.
“I think I know where to look to find stuff on this Leonna chick.”
“Oh? D-did you have another dream?” Giles asked, swiveling his chair completely around and giving Buffy his full attention.
“Yep, beach this time. Oldest one yet, time-frame wise, and the Slayer actually talked. She said something like ‘it doesn’t matter what you do, someone will take my place, blah, blah, blah.’ What was interesting was that the Slayer’s Watcher is--was--Leonna’s sister,” Buffy said, keeping her voice down for Xander’s benefit.
“Well...this-this is certainly something. But I thought this Leonna was dead,” Giles argued, also keeping his voice low.
“Giles, she can’t be. That vamp I dusted spoke her name, and I keep dreaming about her? This is the third night in a row. You can’t tell me she’s not still alive. Or un-alive. Well, you could, but it wouldn’t be true. Whatever. But anyway...okay, I’m done,” Buffy broke off sheepishly when Giles gave her a look.
“Well, then I suppose we should...should look through some old Watcher’s diaries and see if we find anything about Leonna,” Giles said and stood up. He walked over to a bookshelf and examined the spines of several books. “I really don’t know the time period I should look under. What were the women wearing?”
“Umm...long, flowing dresses. Leonna’s seemed much more elaborate than the Slayer’s, hers was pretty much a plain white one, nothing fancy. If I had to guess, I’d probably say it was early 1600’s, based on the pictures I’ve seen of their clothes. God, if I’d have lived back then, I would’ve died. The dresses were like miles long, and everything was so formal. Ugh!” Buffy finished when Giles gave her another look, this time sweeping his eyes up and down her body, taking in her skimpy outfit. She smiled innocently and yawned.
“Yes, I imagine you would have.”
“Don’t worry, baby, you would’ve looked gorgeous in them,” Angel said groggily in her ear as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. She smiled and leaned back, feeling at home in his arms.
“It’s a little early for compliments, don’tcha think?” Buffy grinned.
“Not if I’m complimenting you,” Angel replied as he rested his chin on the top of her head and yawned again.
“What are you doing up anyway? It’s like 3:20 in the morning. You should be sleeping,” Buffy scolded playfully.
“I missed you,” Angel said simply.
“Aww, that’s so sweet. I was gone for two minutes and you missed me?” Buffy said as Angel began to place butterfly kisses along her collarbone. She turned her head to one side and was about to kiss him when she faced forward again.
“Ew, I can’t kiss you because I haven’t brushed my teeth since before I left to come here, and I was sleeping and that’s just really gross--” Buffy was interrupted by Angel’s fingertips pressing against her cheek, causing her to meet his lips that were hovering above her neck.
Giles cleared his throat, and they reluctantly broke off, but not without lingering an extra moment or two longer than necessary. “Right,” Buffy said. “We were just talking about my latest dream. The vamp’s Leonna, that’s her name, the Slayer actually learned how to use her vocal cords this time. She couldn’t have died, Angel, that’s just too strange that the vamp I kill would say her name as she died. Plus, we’ve got a new research idea. They’re--”
“I’ll take it from here, thank you,” Giles said. “Begin looking in here fo- for any information on Leonna. The Slayer’s Watcher was her sister, so she must’ve said something about her in the records she kept.”
Giles tossed both Buffy and Angel a book each, and they took them back up into the stacks and began to read. They didn’t speak, but they did keep physical contact. Angel’s right arm was around Buffy’s shoulder and her right hand was loosely intertwined with his. She rested her head on his shoulder, yawning occasionally, and read.
“Buffy?” Giles questioned, shaking her gently. Shaking her head, Buffy woke with a start.
“Huh? Oh, Giles, did I fall asleep again?” Buffy asked and sat up slowly. She rubbed her eyes. “God, what time is it?”
“It’s 4:17, to be exact. I’ve sent the others home, and I think you and Angel should go home as well. I can drive you, if you’d like.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Let me just wake Angel,” Buffy said. Giles nodded, and stood up, heading back down the stairs.
“Sweetie? Time to wake up, we’re going home,” Buffy said. When Angel didn’t respond, she shrugged and leaned forward, kissing him lightly on the lips. He woke up with a smile, and Buffy repeated herself.
Nodding groggily, Angel climbed to his feet and helped Buffy. She smoothed her skirt and hair, and together they walked out of the library with Giles and to his car. They rode in silence to Buffy’s house, and Giles told them to go to the library the next morning when they could. Nodding, they said good night and walked up the steps to the house. Buffy paused and reached up, finding the spare key hidden in the rafters of the porch, and opened the door. They trudged quietly up the stairs and walked exhaustedly into Buffy’s room.
Buffy changed into a pair of cloud pajama pants and a simple white tank top, and Angel pulled on a pair of old sweatpants, and the two of them crawled under the covers of Buffy’s bed, cuddling together and falling asleep instantly.
By the time Buffy and Angel got to the library on Sunday, it was already three o’clock. They had slept until one, and returned having showered and changed. Joyce had been surprisingly okay with the idea of Buffy and Angel in the same bed, which thrilled Buffy to no end. She kind of wished Angel never found a new place to live. She loved falling asleep and waking up in his arms, having her body pressed against his, just enjoying his company. But she doubted her mother would love that idea.
“Hey Giles, anything yet?” Buffy asked as they walked through the swinging doors and towards the table where Willow and Oz were seated. They lifted their heads and smiled at the sound of Buffy’s voice. Cordelia and Xander were nowhere to be found, even though Buffy knew they were there, Cordelia’s car was in the parking lot. She could only guess what those two were doing.
“Nothing yet. Here,” he said, handing Buffy two old books. “These are from 1607. The Slayers didn’t live long back then, you know. Many died before their sixteenth birthday.”
“Wow, that sucks. Are we looking for anything interesting?” she asked as she settled herself down on Angel’s lap in one of the oak chairs. She wasn’t ready to not have physical contact with him. She shook her head in amazement. Less than a month ago, she was trying to be strong so she could kill Angelus. Now, she couldn’t go for two minutes without touching Angel.
“Just any mention of Leonna or a vampire with extraordinary powers.”
“Okie dokie,” Buffy replied as Angel slipped an arm around her waist and they all grew silent, concentrating on their reading.
“Spike! No. I will not wait one more night! The Slayer needs to die. Tonight,” Leonna cried, her voice ringing clear through the large room, her anger and animosity pouring out of her. Spike just stood where he was, unfazed.
“Leonna, listen to me, luv. Dru says something else has to happen first, and that’s going to happen tonight. She says it must happen, or everything will go out of wack and there goes our bloody plan. What’s one more night?” Spike asked, getting tired of this conversation. They had been going at it all day.
“What are you talking about?”
“Dru says--”
“One final preparation must be made on the Slayer’s team before they come out to play. The stars have told me that we must wait for them to figure out the last clue before we close in. If we don’t, they will become very angry and punish us all,” Drusilla said, floating lightly on her feet as she came out of her room.
“What’s left to figure out, darling? Besides me, that is. But they don’t know I exist, let alone am here right now. So I don’t understand,” Leonna sighed.
“We wait. Period, end of discussion. Be patient, luv,” Spike said as he walked cockily up to her, a smirk on his face. “Everything will happen tomorrow.”
Leonna sighed again, signifying defeat. “All right,” she grumbled, then
brightened. “Tomorrow we shall have our fun.”