FIC: Lies, Secrets, and the Council (1/?)

["Shadowlander" <Shadowlander1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Lies, Secrets, and the Council (1/?)
Series: Part 2 in the Legacy Series.
Author: Shadowlander
Email: Shadowlander1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx - or - Tankesly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Disclaimer 1: I do not own any of the characters commonly associated 
with Buffy the Vampire Slayer; they are used without permission. No 
copyright infringement is intended.
Disclaimer 2: Kimber and Brother Patrick still belong to themselves 
and are used with permission. Kirby belongs to me and is also used 
with permission.
Archive: The usual places, all others ask first.
Pairing: Buffy/Willow/Drusilla - got to keep you guys on your toes 
somehow.
Rating: PG-17
Spoilers: Nothing major, Faith is still one of the good guys and still in 
Sunnydale working with Buffy and Giles. The hellmouth is still under 
the ruins of the high school library and Spike is still a diehard Billy Idol 
wannabe. Other than that, it's my own entire little universe. 

LIES, SECRETS, AND THE COUNCIL (1/?)

The large dark-haired biker walked into Willy's bar, making sure that 
the door slammed shut behind him, effectively getting the attention of 
the small crowd gathered there hiding from the sun. "Which one of 
you refugees from hell, is William the Bloody-Useless?" The giant 
asked removing his sunglasses and putting them into the inner pocket 
of his leather jacket. "Come now lads, I don't have all day," he added 
after a moment, a slow wicked grin forming on his face.

'Sod off you bleeding aristocratic wanker." Spike growled from his 
spot at the corner table in the back of the dimly lit room, where he had 
been nursing a bottle of whiskey for the past three days.

"Aristocratic?" The giant questioned arching one dark eyebrow as he 
zeroed in on his quarry. "Billy, I'm proud of you.that 'word-a-day' 
calendar is coming in handy after all. And you were worried that you 
would never be able to pronounce any of the worlds. . So tell me, did 
you actually sound the word out or have someone tell you?" He asked 
standing over the smashed vampire at the table.

Spike only growled in reply, sending the chair and table crashing to 
the floor as he suddenly stood, his eyes flashing yellow/gold as he 
stared up at the biker towering over him. 

"How the hell are you, big brother?" the giant asked mischief shining 
clear in his brown eyes as he calmly let the drunken vampire growl at 
him.

"Patrick, you worthless excuse for a demon, what are you doing in 
Sunnyhell?" Spike questioned after a moment, a wide grin spreading 
over his 'game' face as he threw his arms around the tall biker and 
tried to lift him off the ground.

"Got some business to take care of.thought I'd pay a visit to my big 
brother while I'm in town." Patrick replied, righting the table and 
pulling up a chair. "Word has gotten around about that chip in your 
head. Thought it was time for Mary's boys to have a family reunion.  
It just doesn't sit right with me, some crazy Yank putting a piece of 
metal in me favourite brother's head. Sounds too trekish." he 
explained giving himself a brief shake. He and Spike may not have 
seen each other in over a hundred years, not to mention having parted 
on less then friendly conditions, but in the end they were still brothers 
and some things were more important than who was more demon and 
who had a pesky soul or not.  

*************************

"So G-man what is the big deal about this Reinhardt guy?" Faith 
questioned the former Watcher, as she dropped onto the couch and 
made herself right at home by putting her feet up on the coffee table. 

"Mattias and I trained together, in a lot of ways he was the reason I 
even completed training at all." Giles explained recalling the soft-
spoken German from Stuttgart who liked to play chess no matter how 
bad he was at it. "If he wants to meet with us, it is important."  

"I don't like it B...G-man is worried." The dark slayer noted in a low 
voice to the blonde seated on the arm of the chair not far from her.  
Usually the former-Watcher would have given Faith and Buffy his 
patented "Watcher-look" for misusing his furniture.  

A knock at the door interrupted whatever Buffy was going to say, all 
eyes turning toward the entryway as Giles went to greet whoever was 
on the other side. A moment later Giles returned leading a man with 
graying hair and two women.  

"A-ah Mattias Reinhardt, I would like for you to meet Faith, Buffy, 
Anya, Willow and Xander," Giles began somewhat nervously, he had 
not been expecting his old friend to arrive with two others. He 
couldn't shake the feeling that something very bad was about to 
happen. Of course, he pretty much had that feeling from day one in 
the library, when he had first met Buffy Summers, and that had never 
since gone away.  

"Nice to met all of you," Reinhardt replied, a small smile on his face. 
'So this is the infamous Scooby Gang,' he noted silently already liking 
the little group. "This is Professor Kimber Dracovich." He continued 
indicating the tall redhead in the tailored dark suit. "And this is Kirby 
Ryn....the vampire Slayer." 

The silence that followed his announcement was near deafening, as 
Kirby stood with arms crossed and observed the gathering with a 
slightly cocked head. 'Mattias HAS got to be joking! Two of these 
guys are Slayers?' She wondered to herself. 'What the hell is so 
important about this town to rate two Slayers?'  

"Fuck that!" Faith growled breaking the silence. "That is a Slayer?" 
she questioned accusingly pointing a finger at Kirby. "You have got to 
be joking me."

"Funny...I had the same reaction when I heard about you." Kirby 
replied calmly. 'So this is number one, where is number two?' she 
asked herself studying the younger Slayer with an arched eyebrow. 

"Mattias, what is going on here?" Giles suddenly spoke, snapping out 
of the state of shock he had fallen into at his old friend's words.  

With a tired sigh, "It is very simple Rupert. Kirby here has been a 
Slayer for the past eleven years." Reinhardt replied looking the 
Englishman straight in the eye.  

"But that is impossible. How could Buffy or Faith have been called if 
there was already an active Slayer?" Xander questioned, opening his 
mouth before his brain had a chance to process anything. "Shouldn't 
she be dead?"

"I got better," Kirby deadpanned. "As did one of these two from what 
I understand."

"You died," Willow said softly, her mind already working in high gear.  
"Of course, it makes sense...if Buffy could die and be brought back 
why not another Slayer as well?"

'Ah number two..' Kirby noted with a small smile, giving the blonde a 
quick once over. 

"But that doesn't explain why Kendra seemed so surprised when she 
showed up and found out Buffy was still alive," Willow continued more 
to herself then anyone else.  

"That is what we are here for. To find that out," Kimber replied 
breaking into the young hacker's one-sided conversation. "You see up 
'til three weeks ago, Kirby knew nothing of the two additional Slayers 
or of the hellmouth."

"The hell what?" Kirby looked around the room expectantly. "Come 
on, help the senior-Slayer out here? What the fuck is a 
hellmouth...and why wasn't I told another was called while I was in 
hospital?" 

"The hellmouth...is just that. It is the mouth of hell, a portal linking 
earth to the underworld." Giles explained taking his glasses off to 
polish them.

"I thought that was New Jersey?" Kirby commented only to get 
smacked on the back of the head by an un-amused Jersey native 
named Kimber. Giving her friend a smug look, before turning her 
attention back to Giles. "Ok the town is over the mouth of hell. But 
that still doesn't explain why I was never told about another being 
called."

"Because you were needed in Europe."

"Those little bastards." Kirby growled running a hand through her 
shoulder length unruly curly hair. "They do know that slavery was 
abolished about a hundred fifty years ago, right?"

"That....that's just wrong," Willow replied, her eyes widening in 
realization. 'How can they have so little regard for people's lives? Use 
people they are supposed to be helping?' she questioned herself, 
growing angry as she began to pace the living room.

"Ah hello confused guy here. You two want to let the rest of us in on 
whatever you're mad about?"  

"Think about it Xander....The Slayer has just died and come back, 
another gets called. What do you do?" Willow asked her childhood 
friend, pausing in her restless pacing to collect herself. 

"Oh fuck me. You take your new little chosen one and assign her to 
another hotspot, although you conveniently forget to tell your current 
chosen one, that she now has a twin."

"Well why bother? It's not like a Slayer ever needed a little backup 
from time to time. We're not THAT hard to replace," Kirby added 
bitterly.

"Now you know why we are here, mein freund," Mattias said to Giles.  
"It seems our Slayers have been 'screwed over', as they say, by the 
Council. What are we going to do about it?" 

End part one- because Quindo said it would be a good place to stop. 
<grin>