The first vampire went out of the window with a crash
of broken glass, hitting the sidewalk hard enough to
stun even an inhuman creature like himself. Realizing
he wanted nothing to do with the mayhem going on
inside he scurried away, putting as much room between
them and him as possible. Others soon followed.
Willow Rosenburg stopped punching her latest captive,
noting that he was unconscious. Letting him drop to
the floor with a thump she looked around coldly while
getting a feel for the emotions in the room, the
terror the monsters felt nearly pleasurable to her.
The reddish haired woman smiled grimly, "What do you
think, partner?"
Buffy Summers grinned from where she stood nearby,
her own stunned vamp laying at her feet. "I don't
think they know anything," she said with a casual sort
of dangerousness, "why don't I just stake them all
anyway?"
"I'm sorry," Willow addressed the group of clearly
terrified vampires, "she's the Slayer, and it’s kind
of hard to hold her back." She paused a moment to let
them think about it, "But if you can tell me who
attacked the Mayor...?"
With an eagerness driven by pure fear the vamps in
the room squealed, revealing that there was a new
master vampire in the city, though surprisingly it was
a woman. She and her partner had arrived a little more
than three weeks ago, rising to the top of the city's
pecking order via pure ruthlessness and more than a
bit of insanity.
"So what is her name?" Buffy purred threateningly.
He started to say, "I think it's...."
With a furious cry another vamp staked him before he
could speak, the face frozen in surprise before he
simply crumbled to ash. With a curse Willow went for
him but he reversed his stake and stabbed himself, his
body dissolving to ash right in front of both
surprised women.
"I'll be damned," Willow muttered as the remaining
vamps fled as quietly as they could, "whoever runs
things has them so scared they'd rather die than
reveal information."
"So what now?" Buffy asked, her dirty blonde hair
falling into her eyes.
"First we'll go shake down Willie the snitch," Willow
said as she lead the way outside, her leather coat
fluttering around her legs, "then we'll start breaking
up more bars."
"Sounds fun," Buffy said with a faint smile.
"Here's hoping that Giles and Jenny can get some
results in their research," Willow said wryly,
"because I think we're going to come up dry."
That had Buffy looking at Willow in surprise, "Why?"
Willow smiled grimly, "This new master vamp has the
regular types scared, so much so that they'll die to
protect her. It doesn't give us much leverage."
"Let's hope you're wrong," Buffy sighed.
Sadly, it looked like Willow was going to be right.
Willie couldn't give them much more than background,
and after thrashing two more bars they weren't much
more ahead. All the vamps knew someone new had taken
over, but no one would say exactly who.
"I hate it when you're right," Buffy sighed as they
walked down the sidewalk.
Willow reached out to pat her arm comfortingly.
"Don't worry, I figure next time is your turn to be
right," she offered.
"Gee, thanks," Buffy chuckled. She smiled, "I wonder
if Tara and Faith are doing any better than we are?"
CRASH!
The window of the bar they were walking towards
exploded outward in a shower of glass, a vampire
hitting the ground and laying there stunned. Hurrying
forward both young women heard Faith ask from inside,
"Who is the new Master?"
"I'd tell her," Tara said gently, clearly playing the
good cop, "I don't know how much longer I can hold her
back."
Faith actually growled, glaring down at him
menacingly.
Buffy and Willow looked at each other then ducked
into a nearby alley before breaking out in a case of
giggles. "Guess we had the same sort of idea," a
grinning Willow said, working hard to regain her self
control.
"God," Buffy snickered, "I wonder if it was Faith or
Tara who came up with that?"
"Well, Giles did say to lean on people," Willow said
cheerfully as they finally composed themselves, "I
guess we all got the same idea."
Buffy lead the way into the bar, the two stepping
over a mess of unconscious or dead monsters of one
type or another. Faith looked up as the black haired
woman let her victim go, "Well that was a spectacular
waste of my time."
"No luck either?" Willow asked crisply.
Tara's face seemed to shut down as Willow entered,
her body tensing slightly. "No progress," the brown
haired woman conceded, "whoever the master is, he
commands great loyalty."
"Or they're more scared of the master than us," Faith
pointed out calmly.
Buffy quietly filled them in on the vampire who
killed his comrade then offed himself. "Yeah," she
sighed, "they're scared."
"Damn," Tara murmured softly. She frowned, "There's
been rumors of two powerful vamps, but nothing firm."
The four women stepped out of the wrecked bar,
standing under a streetlamp as they exchanged what
little they had picked up. "It's getting near to
dawn," Willow noted, "we'd better give up for the
night."
Buffy chuckled, "Besides, I need to go rescue Giles
from Dawnie."
"You're little sister is that bad?" Faith asked as
they walked.
Buffy wasn't offended, she just laughed. "No, but I
don't think Giles has ever had to deal with a younger
girl before," she explained, "he looked badly out of
his depth."
"Maybe I should suggest that Jenny help him out,"
Tara offered with a slight smile, "she's got a
motherly touch."
"And it would give her and the G-man more time
together," Faith laughed.
"I think I cut it a bit too fine," Willow frowned as
the sky began to lighten. She quickly crossed to the
middle of the street and pulled off a manhole cover
and said to Buffy, "I'll take the underground, do you
want to meet me at home?"
"I'd rather go with you," Buffy trotted over to her
side. Making their farewells to Tara and Faith they
disappeared into the maze of tunnels beneath the city.
"That must take some getting used to," Faith said as
she and Tara headed out again.
"Hmm," Tara nodded slightly. She hesitated a moment
then softly asked, "What do you think of Willow?"
Faith looked at her thoughtfully, "To be honest, I'm
beginning to like her. The vamp thing still makes me
nervous, but so far she doesn't show any signs of
reverting to the dark side."
"I'm torn," Tara conceded, "on one hand, like you I'm
starting to like her. She's kind, generous and deeply
in love with Buffy." Her expression hardened, "And on
the other hand I can't forget that she slaughtered my
coven and killed my lover, Amy."
Faith looked at her in shock, "I'm sorry."
"It's been a few years," Tara said, "and while I'm
not over it I have put it behind me." She took Faith's
hand and squeezed it, "And I'm moving forward again at
last."
"I was pretty sure you two disliked each other but I
didn't realize it was so serious," Faith said softly.
She smiled grimly, "To be honest, I'm surprised you
can even work with her."
"Jenny asked me to," Tara said. She frowned as she
had to admit, "And even I know that what Willow is now
is not what she was then."
"Still, it can't be easy." Faith gave Tara's hand a
comforting squeeze as she said, "If there's any way I
can help, ask."
"You're already helping," Tara gently kissed her.
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