FIC: MC 30 Sept ’00 Call To Arms (1/?)

"Fuck, fuck!" Eyes narrowed, he rose, foot shooting out to kick his desk to the ground. That accomplished, he stormed out of his office and into the esteemed corridor beyond.

His face like fury, he stalked down the dusty passageway, heedlessly barging into anyone not quick enough to scurry out of his way, turning twisting corner after twisting corner. Finally reaching his destination, he shoved the heavy wooden door open without knocking and strode into the office beyond.

"Yes, I agree but-." The thin man sat behind the office’s well-ordered desk looked up from his phone call at his interruption, eyes flooding with alarm. After a quick lick of his surprisingly fleshy lips, the man tore his eyes away from him and back to the phone. "I’m sorry, I’ll have to call you back."

The moment the man had hung up the phone, he threw a piece of paper onto the desk and leaned over it, eyes spitting fire. "Is this true you son of a bitch?"

The sat man gulped. "I’d ask you to remember where you are."

"Screw where I am," he growled, his patience shortening by the second. "I asked you a question you slimy bastard! Answer it!"

He noted with grim satisfaction the sweat forming on his victim’s forehead. "T….there is some truth to the report," the man finally admitted. "How much we haven’t been able to reliably discover."

"Four fucking days!" he raged. "Why the hell wasn’t I informed?"

The man’s Adam’s Apple jumped up and down. "It was decided that you had more important duties to carr -."

"It was decided?" He lunged across the desk to grab the man around the throat. The man’s eyes bulged as he struggled to force his hand away, but despite being almost twenty years the desk-warmer’s junior, he easily held on. Looking the choking man square in the eye, he spoke, his tone soft and low, but no less menacing. "It was decided? He’s my protégée for Christ’s sake! And you bastards thought you could keep it from me! Well," he clenched his free hand, wanting more than anything to pound his fist through the office politicker’s face, "I haven’t taken leave in three years. I’m taking a month now." He shoved the man back into his seat. "If that’s alright by you?" He smirked as the bluing man nodded. "Smart answer."

* * *

"Oh yeah, baby," Faith moaned as her man kissed his way down her body, sweat glistening in the North Carolinas mid-day heat. "Damn," Faith moaned as she heard ringing in the distance, "you’re really ringing my bell today, X."

"Ringing your-," suddenly X’s lips left her trembling body. "Oh heck it’s my phone!"

Faith’s eyes widened in outrage when X rolled off her and reached for his phone. Interrupting a booty-call with her for a phone call? Boy-toy was gonna have to pay.

"Yeah," her man sat up on the edge of the bed, phone pressed to his ear. "Oh right?" Faith heard the surprise in her man’s voice. "And what do you need? Yeah," X reached for the pad on the bedside table and hurriedly scribbled a note. "You’ll meet us there in two days? K."

The moment X had hung up, Faith was knelt up behind her man, arms wrapped around his shoulders, her naked body pressing against his broad back. "Who was that honey?" she cooed into her man’s ear. "Who’s so important that you’d interrupt a booty-call with me for?"

"It was Jack Crow," Faith swallowed a groan, oh yeah she remembered that misogynistic bastard, "one of his teams is missing. He needs our help tracking his men down."

"Oh yeah?" Faith’s nose sniffed instinctively, smelt like a trap to her. "What about his back-up?"

"Seems the Vatican kept him out of the loop about some of his men going missing, he’s taken a leave of absence to try and find them. And if he’s lying, Tar will know."

"Yeah, I guess," Faith wrapped her legs around her man’s waist and began kissing his neck. "So where were these men, anyhow?"

"Arizona," Xander replied, before reaching for his phone. "Which reminds me, I’ll have to call Gecko," Faith’s skin crawled, "and tell him we’re on the way." Her appetite either for teasing her man or sex dissipating, Faith climbed off the bed and started towards the hotel bedroom. Xander turned and looked at her. "Hey, I’ll just be a minute-."

"Really not interested!" she shouted before slamming the door behind her.

* * *

"I don’t get it, I mean I know why she’s angry, but Seth didn’t actually do anything."

Tara’s heart went out to the miserable-looking man sat opposite her in the hotel restaurant, Faith having still not joined them. Men could be so dense sometimes. "Didn’t he?" Tara shook her head. "The bank robberies were bad enough, but he knew what his brother did to women, and turned a blind eye to it. Faith was hurt by men, it’s no wonder she hates those who let such things happen."

"You don’t," Xander muttered.

Tara smiled sadly. "I don’t think hating solves anything. I never want to see my dad and Donny again, but I don’t hate them, I don’t think it’s healthy. Faith though -."

"Ya finished talking ‘bout me?" Tara’s heart dropped when she looked up to see a stormy-looking Faith glaring down at them both. Xander’s mouth opened only to clamp shut when his girl-friend directed the full force of her stare solely at him. "Only we got a mission, remember? And the sooner we’ve done it, the sooner we can get out of there."

* * *

Seth stared blankly at the columns on the computer screen, the sound of his printer filling his ears. The moment it had finished, he grabbed the sheets and started looking through them, searching for anything questionable.

"It’ll be fine, Seth."

Seth started at his surrogate daughter’s voice beside him. Forcing a smile, he looked towards Kate. "You think?"

"Oh yeah," Kate nodded, as loyal as ever. "Xander will love what you’ve done. Two teams in Phoenix, two in Tucson, one in Glendale, one in Mesa, and one in Scottsdale, all combined into an army of thirty-six fighters, four medics, and three mages. He can’t help be impressed."

"Faith might worry I’m going to use the group as my own personal army," he complained.

Kate wrapped her arms around his arm. "You can’t worry about what Faith thinks, just do what you’ve been doing for the past year and she can’t complain."

Seth tousled the young woman’s hair. "Thanks, kid."

"That’s what I’m here for," Kate smiled up at him. "Shall I round-up the troops?"

"Yeah," Seth nodded. "And while you’re ringing them, I’ll check out the armoury."

"Okay," Kate smiled at him before heading out of his office.

Seth sighed as he rose, feeling the clamminess of his palms. Okay, so maybe he was worried about more than just Faith. In the past year this group and come to mean everything to him, he’d worked damn hard at putting it together, buying the ranch they now resided in, negotiating all the other groups into joining, working out tactics, and a command hierarchy. He just prayed Xander wasn’t about to be take it all away.

* * *

"Wow," Tara said. "It’s really big."

"That it is," Xander agreed as they drove up the dirt track that led to a three-storey ranch built in the wild west style, constructed entirely out of pine trees, and complete with a huge stone wall around it. "It’s actually land that once belonged to the legendary wild west law and cattleman, John Slaughter, a real hero of the old west." Xander glanced towards Faith as he spoke, but she didn’t speak, having kept silent since their confrontation in the hotel dining room. When his girl sulked, she really sulked. If it was an Olympic sport, she’d have a cupboard full of gold medals.

Shaking his head, Xander pulled up at the front gate, the sun’s reflection off the stainless steel gate causing him to squint slightly. A Stetson wearing man stepped out of the reinforced guard box by his side, a cigar hanging from his mouth, and a shotgun grasped firmly in his hands. "Your infra-red readings check out as human," the man drawled, "but you and the ladies ain’t getting in without a warrant or an id."

Xander wheeled down his window and silently passed the man his bar-coded ID, an idea introduced by the always paranoid Brill Lyle when he’d joined the organisation. The man nodded wordlessly before backing into his guard box. A second later and the man returned, his previous expression of bored indifference replaced by one of wonder. The man passed him his card back. "S…sorry about the delay, Mr. Harr-."

Xander waved the man to silence even as he used his other hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "We have these checks for a reason," he mumbled, as uncomfortable as always with the praise, conscious that with the adulation came responsibility for those who looked up to him, to those he led. "No problem at all. You’re doing a great job."

The man who must have been almost twenty years Xander’s senior beamed like a kid receiving praise off his father. "T…thank you, sir-."

"It’s Xander," Xander smiled. "Could you open the gate?"

"S..sure sir."

"Thanks," Xander nodded at the man as the gate slid open. "Be seeing you." He looked up at the house, heart catching as he wondered if he or Faith was right about Gecko.

FIC: MC 30 Sept ’00 A Call To Arms (2/?)

"Thanks." Kate looked across at Seth as she hung up the phone, worry furrowing her brow as she noticed how tense the normally laconic former bank robber looked hunched over his desk, listlessly pressing keys on his laptop. She doubted her news would help him relax. "Seth," the reformed criminal looked up, "that was the front gate, they’re here."

"Rrrright," the reformed crook exhaled a tense breath. "I best go welcome them."

Kate rose as her guardian did. "I’ll come with you."

"Thanks," Seth smiled briefly before looking down at the cluttered desk and picking up a number of print-outs. That accomplished, he strode out of their office, through the western-style lounge, complete with gingham furniture covers and rustic fireplace, and to the front door.

The ever-present guard rose at their approach to the front, hand dropping to his holstered revolver, and an inquisitive look in his eyes. "Problem, Seth?" drawled the thick-set Mexican.

Seth smiled weakly. "Not sure yet." Her hero’s eyes widened as the man began to draw his gun. "Relax," Seth grabbed the man’s wrist. "It’s not trouble; just our founder is turning up for a spot check." Kate groaned inwardly, she’d taken the phone call from Xander herself, and he’d never mentioned a spot-check at all, just a ‘local emergency’. How that had turned into a full audit she had no idea.

"Mithras!" the man’s eyes widened then his face stiffened. "Spot check? You’re doing a great job!"

Seth smiled his first genuine smile in quite a while. "Thanks Jose." Kate rolled her eyes. Sure, she tells him he’s doing a great job, and nothing. One of his cronies does the same and he’s practically bouncing off the walls. Typical man.

"No problem, Seth," the man drew the two deadbolts back and unfastened the chain before swinging the door open.

By the time they’d done that, Xander was already parked and half-way up the porch’s steps, flanked as always by his companions. Kate felt a jealous frisson at the Latino’s sharp inhalation of breath at his first sight of Faith. She couldn’t help but feel insecure when comparing herself to Faith’s beauty or Tara’s calm wisdom. "Hey," Xander’s sincere smile confirmed that they had little to worry about, "good to see you again, Seth, Kate."

"And you," Kate interrupted before Seth had chance to put his foot in it. "Xander, Faith, Tara, why don’t you come through?"

"Nice place you have here," Faith commented as they moved into the lounge. "Good to see you’re not shy about spending X’s money." The Slayer slumped onto one of the chairs, her boots perched on the edge of one of the coffee tables, chocolate-brown orbs daring anyone to tell her to move them.

Xander shot Faith a warning look before turning back to them. "It’s an impressive building," the young man commented, his expression uncomfortable after Faith’s rudeness.

"Yeah," Seth tore his eyes away from Faith’s glowering face to talk to their leader. "It cost $2,400,000, but I sold off eighty of the hundred acres off, making enough to cover the renovations. We’re ideally placed to get to any trouble in Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, or Chandler. We’ve reinforced all the doors, got two guards permanently on the front gate, one on the front door and one on the back. We’ve also got CCTV on the outside walls and UV lights fixed to the roof blanketing the entire grounds. The ground serves as the kitchen, lounge, dining area, and library with the top two floors serving as living quarters. Beneath us," the reformed bank robber tapped his foot on the wood-panelled floor, "are our dojo and shooting range."

"What about Tucson?" Faith’s hostile voice cut through the room. "Second biggest city in the state and it seems kinda isolated. Sloppy, real sloppy."

Seth glanced at the Slayer, his eyes filling with a mixture of irritation and nervousness, although Kate suspected the nervousness was more to do with upsetting the boss’ girl-friend than the volatile beauty’s powers. "We also have a rotating unit of ten based in Tucson."

"Sounds really good," Tara spoke hurriedly even as Faith’s mouth opened. "How are operations going?"

"We split our efforts in two ways," Seth explained. "We follow up leads our contacts in the police give us about weird cases and also patrol areas where vamps might congregate, warehouses, factories etc."

Xander nodded approvingly. "What about our suppliers, are they working okay?"

"Oh yeah. Next day delivery, real smooth." Seth nodded before offering Xander the print-outs. "They’re all the purchases I’ve made, everyone’s salary, etc, etc."

Kate was pleased when Xander waved him away. "I don’t need to see them. If Tara says you’re okay, you’re okay." The young man grinned goofily. "Besides I get a headache reading them."

"I’ll have a look," Faith snatched the papers out of Seth’s hand.

Xander shot the Slayer an. angry look. "Faith, you can’t read accounts."

"I’ll work it out." Without asking the Slayer stormed out of the lounge and into the office, slamming the door behind her.

A strained silence followed the brunette beauty’s exit. After a while Seth spoke. "If you’re not here for an inspection, why are you here?"

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "Last night I got a phone call from Jack Crow, the Vatican’s hired gun-."

"You have friends in the Vatican?" Kate blurted out before she’d realised it.

"He’s more of an associate than a friend." Xander smiled. "I don’t actually think Jack Crow has friends. Anyhow, it seems his protégée’s gone missing in the local area, and would like my help to track him down."

"Why won’t the Vatican help?" Seth asked.

"Internal politics," Xander shrugged before looking behind, "you mind if I sit?"

"Sure," Seth nodded. "I assume Crow’s coming to town to help?"

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "I’ve arranged to go pick him up at the airport in the morning. I’ll get the details then and we’ll start the search tomorrow night."

"Right," Kate was relieved when Seth’s face relaxed slightly. "In that case, we’ll be eating in a couple of hours. Kate’s famous grill."

Xander smiled. "Can’t wait."

Tara raised a tentative hand. "Uh, is there a vegetarian option?"

Kate laughed. "We’ll work something out," she promised.

* * *

Xander glanced around the room that served as the Arizona chapter’s dining room, the succulent smells from the plate before him wafting up enticingly. Its timbered walls were adorned with all sorts of wild west artefacts – crossed cavalry sabres, a careworn Winchester ’73, and a saddle, while the sight of a longhorn’s head mounted over the dining room’s door had almost sent Tara into a fit when she’d first noticed it. A chandelier hung down from the beamed ceiling, bathing the table seating fourteen in a comfortable yellow light.

Well it would have been a comfortable light but for the presence of the curvy beauty to his right. After an hour stuck in the office, a still glowering Faith had wordlessly exited the office, her only comment a scorching glance at both him and Gecko. Once the dinner gong had been sounded, Faith had sat beside him, jaw munching on her food. His usually garrulous girl-friend had ignored every attempt by other Brotherhood members to engage her in conversation, answering every question with a dark look and a grunt.

Xander grimaced. He’d tried to give her time to get her bitterness out of her system, hoped that she would be able to at least act professionally, but now his patience was about run out.

* * *

After the meal, Kate guided them to their second floor room, a cosy room with a window overlooking the west grounds, a double bed, and a couch. "The bathroom is through here," Kate opened a door. "If you need anything-."

"We’re fine Kate," Xander forced a smile. "Thanks."

"No problem," he noticed Kate barely looked at Faith. "See you in the morning."

"See you," the moment the door shut behind Kate, Xander spun to face Faith, his forced smile still in place. "Look sweetheart, can’t you pull in your horns just a little?"

"Yeah, wouldn’t wanna offend your new best bud, would I?" Faith’s rosebud lips parted in a sneer. The Slayer shook her head before turning away. "Jesus, I need a wash after sitting with that prick all that time."

"Wait a minute," Xander grabbed Faith’s arm, "I hadn’t finished."

"You gonna knock me about, X?" Faith looked down at his hand on her arm and then back up at him. "Is he that much of an influence? ‘Cause I gotta warn ya, I hit back these days."

Xander released his grip as if scalded. "For crying out loud, Faith, I’m not going to hit you," he tried to keep his voice calm. "Seth’s on our team."

"Yeah," the Slayer nodded. "And that fact’s making me kinda wonder if I’m on the right side after all."

"Jesus, Faith!" Xander erupted, the famous Harris temper close to exploding, no longer caring about anyone in the other rooms hearing their argument. "Seth didn’t do anything wrong-."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Faith screamed in his face, eyes glistening with nearly shed tears. "DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG? DID MY MOM NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG WHEN SHE LET HER PIMP HURT ME?" Xander opened his mouth to say that was different but Faith continued over him. "WHEN I SEE YOU IN THERE, TALKING TO THAT SCUMBAG IT’S LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO ME IS UNIMPORTANT! THAT YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT ME! Well," Faith crossed her arms, her face colour returning to something approaching normal, "I value myself too much to screw a guy who doesn’t care about me. Guess," the Slayer tossed her lustrous black hair back and looked over her shoulder, "you’re on the couch."

FIC: MC 30 Sept ’00 A Call To Arms (3/?)

Xander rolled over to give Faith her customary early-morning treat. "Gahh," he hit the floor with a thud and looked up dazedly. He grimaced as he saw the couch and felt the ache in his neck. Oh yeah, him and Faith had had one of their bust-ups and it had been a doozy.

Even as he remembered the previous night’s bust-up, his panty-clad girl-friend stalked past, her ass wriggle suspiciously seductive this morning, almost as she was trying to jog his memory about what he’d missed the previous night. Like he needed a reminder. "Hey, X," Faith grunted. "I’ll be using the bathroom first. Um," the raven-tressed warrior looked over a bare shoulder at him, tongue dancing across her cupid-shaped lips, "a nice hot shower. And for once it’ll be alone!"

Xander winced as the bathroom door slammed shut behind the brunette. "Yep," he muttered, "looks like I’m still in the doghouse."

* * *

Phoenix Airport

Jack Crow looked left and right, eyes occasionally flicking to his watch as he tried to find his host in the busy terminal. "Hey, Jack."

He started slightly at the voice to his left, surprised that the youth could manage to sneak up on him even in the hectic airport, turning he nodded at the boy, noting the bags under his eyes and his worn expression. "Thanks for answering my call."

"No problem," the boy nodded, a wan smile tugging at his lips. "We’re on the same side, right?" The teen looked down at the hold-all in his left hand, Vatican diplomatic immunity meaning he’d had no problem bringing his weaponry into the country. "Once we’re out of here I’ll put that in The Always Pocket if you want."

"Works for me," he agreed. "You look kinda wasted kid," Crow commented as he followed the kid outside of the airport and to a tinted-window, 4 * 4, "didn’t sleep well?" he leered.

His host winced. "Jack, you have no idea." The kid stared intently at him. "What happened to that priest who threatened Tara?"

"Richeur? Church kicked his ass out."

"Good," the youth’s face relaxed slightly. "Looks like we might be able to work together after all."

The thirty minute car journey was completed in near silence, the rental’s country radio station thankfully only loud enough to be background noise. Once they’d arrived at the large ranch, they got out of the car. "Nice place," Jack nodded approvingly.

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "Seth bought it with the money I gave him to run Arizona. Three stories above ground, a gym and a shooting range below. He now runs a team of almost forty."

"Yeah?" Jack hid a smile, as a sales pitch for him to join the Brotherhood it wasn’t subtle, but he had to admit he was impressed by the set-up. Entering the house, he saw the Slayer slouched on one of the chairs, a stormy look in her eyes. Jack glanced at the boy, noting his drawn expression. Ah, trouble in paradise. "Hey, Slayer," he winked at the sultry Bostonian, "miss me?" His only response was a grunt. "Okay," he turned back to the young man, "how about we get the ball rolling?"

"If you want," a tall man maybe ten years his year entered from a door to the lounge’s right, "I can convene a meeting downstairs in the gym. There’s only about a dozen of us here right now, but I can contact the others."

Jack nodded. "Sounds good."

"Jack, meet Seth, Jack, Seth," Xander introduced. Seth nodded at him even as he spoke into an intercom. "Seth runs Arizona for me. Jack’s the Vatican’s premiere vampire hunter." The teen looked over his shoulder. "Are you coming down with us, Faith?"

"Sure," the Slayer rose gracefully, a sneer parting her full lips. "Sooner we find this guy, sooner we can get the hell out of here."

Jack raised an eyebrow at the dark-haired temptress’ surly reply. Beautiful she might be, but Faith was certainly no-one’s idea of an ideal house-guest.

* * *

Seth led his guests down into the gym. Even with his Slayer-induced dark mood, he couldn’t help but feel pride as he walked down the winding stairwell to see the free-weights gym and dojo, and the twelve people congregated there. They were both sexes and ranged in age from early twenties to a few years older than him, but they all had two things in common. They were all experienced demon hunters and they were all his people. "Hey, everyone," he greeted. "This is Jack Crow," he nodded towards the leathery-faced old-timer. The guy had to be zeroing down on fifty but he looked to be all lean muscle and cougar meanness for all of that. "He’s the Vatican hired gun," he looked around at the sound of someone on the stairwell behind him, "hey Kate, Tara," he greeted the two young women before turning back to the others. "And he’s the reason we’re all here."

"Thanks," Crow nodded at him before directing his gaze towards the others. "Derek Bliss was a friend of mine, sort of a protégée. A month ago he was sent here with three other hunters to track down a vamp by the name of El Dolor."

"The Pain," Jose translated for the non-Spanish speaking amongst the group.

"Yeah," Crow nodded. Seth couldn’t help but notice just how hard the man’s eyes were. "Seems El Dolor was a 1820s slave who escaped his Georgia owners, fled across the country and was caught and turned some ten years later. Since then he’s moved around the southern states, from Utah to Georgia, not staying anywhere long."

"We know of him," Seth admitted. "We’ve tried to catch him a couple of times but no luck."

"Gee," sneered the Slayer, "what the hell do you do ‘round here, put your feet up and watch the TV?"

"Faith," Xander’s voice was chilly. "Behave."

Crow continued on as if there hadn’t been an interruption. "Vatican protocol insists that field operatives send a report in every 48 hours, he’s missed the last two check-ins, I tried to get my superiors," the man scowled, "to investigate, but they weren’t interested. I knew from intel that Harris had a team in Arizona so I asked him for help."

"Xander?" Seth looked towards the youth.

The young man stood. "You’ve got a general idea about Dolor’s whereabouts, right?" Seth nodded. "Okay." The youth pursed his lips together before looking towards Crow. "You’ve got a photo of Bliss, right?"

"Yeah," Crow replied.

"Okay, in that case I’ll take a team after him, see if I can find him. If Bliss went after him and lost he might be turned. Seth, I want you to take Tara and a group-."

"No way!" Faith sat blot upright, eyes glittering. "My sis is going nowhere with him!"

Tara reddened. "Faith it’s-."

"No way, sis!" Faith shook her head.

Seth grimaced, torn between wanting to telling the kid to shut the hell up, and respect for both her pain and her boyfriend. "Fine," Xander shot Faith an uncomfortable glance. The Slayer stared back relentlessly, either unaware or uncaring about the looks his men were shooting her. "You with Seth then. You’ll cover all the demon hang-outs in the north, looking for any clue of Bliss passing by. Jack, you take a team and head to the west, see if there’s anything out there. Seth, I want you to concentrate your Tucson team and make finding Bliss their priority. Tara," Xander looked towards the witch, "you and Kate ring around morgues and hospitals for any john does answering Bliss’ descriptions. Jack," the young man looked towards the veteran demon hunter, "you said you had some photos of Bliss to hand out?"

* * *

Jack watched from the porch as Gecko’s men loaded up the SUVs. He had to admit that the efficiency of Harris’ operation impressed him. Sensing someone beside him, he turned and nodded. "Hey."

"Hey," Gecko smiled wryly. "Come out to escape the atmosphere?"

"Something like," Crow admitted candidly. "The babe has a real problem with you don’t she?"

"Yeah," Seth took a breath. "Before I worked for Harris, before I even knew about vamps I was a bank robber with my younger brother."

Crow’s brow furrowed, something didn’t add up here. "I wouldn’t have thought the Slayer would have a problem with crims," he commented. "I know from intel the girl’s got a colourful past."

"Maybe not normal ones," Seth looked down at the sandy ground. "My brother had women issues, raped and killed a few. She blames me for not turning him in or stopping him."

"You ever think maybe the girl has a point?" Jack never had any problem calling a spade a spade.

"That’s the problem," Seth shrugged. "I know she has," the man admitted. "But Xander and Tara accept I’ve changed, she won’t."

"Bug you doesn’t it?"

"Oh yeah. The hell of it is she’s a great kid, loyal, brave, strong, anyone would be lucky to have her as a friend. But me," Seth shook his head, "she looks at me like I’m the shit off her shoe."

"Only you can do something about that, man."

FIC: MC 30 Sept A Call To Arms (4/?)

Petrified Forest National Park

"Wow," Xander crouched down beside the wood, keenly inspecting the petrified tree stump. He gasped as he ran his hand over its surface; despite night having fallen over two hours ago it was still warm. "This is amazing."

"Yes, sir."

Xander shook his head as he looked up at the tall, powerfully-built African-American who’d spoken. He could tell him it was Xander not ‘sir’ but he hadn’t listened the first three times so why bother? Sighing slightly, he rose. "So where are these caves again, Jacob?"

The black man pointed to the west, over the sun-blistered wasteland. "Twenty miles that direction, sir."

Xander nodded. When you thought about it El Dolor had made a masterstroke when choosing the Petrified Forest National Park as his base. Miles from anywhere and guarded by laws that ensured hiking and camping was only allowed by permit, it made for the perfect hideaway. Add to the fact that the interstate was only twelve miles away from his hideout and you had the perfect hideout. "Okay," he looked around at the eight men with him. "Why hasn’t Seth taken Dolor down himself?"

His companion grimaced, bristling slightly at some perceived insult or other. "Dolor isn’t always here, sir. If we camped out and waited, we’d only get picked up by the Park Rangers, and Seth didn’t want to risk that happening. Besides, a couple of dozen of us moving across the park would draw notice."

"Yeah," Xander nodded. That made a sort of sense and according to the reports, vampire deaths were down considerably in the main population areas so it wasn’t like Gecko was sitting on his butt. "Well, lead the way."

"Yes, sir," Jacob hesitated.

"What is it, Jacob?" the man didn’t speak. Xander shook his head. "Jacob, contrary to what rumours you might have heard, I don’t eat babies," he paused, "well, except Jelly Babies."

His attempt at humour didn’t get so much as a smile, but then that often happened. "Yes, sir," the black man coughed. "Dolor usually has five – seven lesser vamps with him. He’s got groups all around the state, but he keeps that many with him for protection, there’s only eight of us -."

"And Brotherhood doctrine says that it is inadvisable to engage vampires unless outnumbering them 2 to 1 and should only be considered when team members or innocents are in danger?" Xander completed. The black man nodded. "Yeah, but don’t worry about that. I’m not exactly normal."

"Sir?"

Xander grinned. "Warrior god, remember?" He sobered. "Just keep every one tight and don’t lose your heads, we’ll be fine."

* * *

"Yes, sir." Jacob hid his doubt behind a non-committal expression. An ex Us. Ranger, he’d been working with Gecko for six months, ever since one of the man’s patrols had rescued him from a female vampire. And throughout that time he’d heard plenty about the legendary Harris and his beautiful companions. Having now met the Brotherhood’s founder, he had to admit to being unimpressed, but bearing in mind the deference the tough Seth Gecko showed him, he’d decided to keep his counsel.

"Great!" the teen enthused. "Then let’s get to the way."

* * *

Seth had decided that this had to be his worst night ever. And considering how many he’d spent in maximum security prisons that was saying something. Stuck bar-trawling with a curvy beauty who never missed an opportunity to glare dismissively at him and had the power to snap him in half with her little finger just wasn’t fun at all.

But at least at this moment, she was too busy beating up a demon to pay any attention to him or his men spread out throughout the bar, ensuring that no demon interfered with her ‘discussion’. Although especially given her feelings towards him, the scene was more than a little unsettling.

"I don’t know anything!" wailed the demon Faith had bent face up over the bar.

"See," Seth winced when the Slayer smashed a Jack Daniels bottle and then shoved the jagged end in the demon’s crotch and twitched, "you’re just not listening." Okay torture the demon by all means, but destroying an expensive scotch? Where were the girl’s priorities?

"Ahhhhhh!" the demon’s head snapped back, green skin turning grey, gills, and all three eyes bulging.

"Stop complaining," the Slayer yanked the bottle out. Blood spilled out onto the sawdusted floor. "You’re a Gisha, you can grow another one." The beautiful brunette tilted her head to one side, a thoughtful look in her soft brown eyes. "Or is that a Gizza? I suck at remembering." The raven-haired warrior shrugged. "Anyhow, less you wanna lose an eye," Faith raised the bottle to face-level. "Talk? Where are El Dolor or Derek Bliss?"

The country-music playing jukebox suddenly went quiet in mid-song. "I enjoy a piece of quality torture as much as the next vampire," Seth’s blood chilled at the rich, deep baritone behind him, recognising the voice instantly. "And you’ve brought such a feisty, juicy morsel, Seth. Remind me to thank you. Before I rip your heart out."

"Yeah?" Faith flexed her arm and threw the demon into the far wall and turned to face the towering vampire. "And how the fuck do you think you’re gonna do that?"

* * *

"Here we are, boss." Jacob said as he pulled the car up, the journey having been completed in a taut silence.

"Right," Xander stared at the cave. It rose out of the ground like a dome and was beautiful in the night, the moon shone off it, giving its surface a silvery gleam. Shaking himself, he looked towards Jacob. "One entrance right?"

The African-American shrugged. "One we’ve found, there might be another or an underground passage actually in the canyon."

"Right," Xander opened his door and climbed out, eyes still fixed on the cave. "And where’s the entrance?"

"See the two big cacti left and centre?" Xander nodded. "You can’t see until you’re past them, but behind them there’s a narrow opening. It’s dark, and you’ll have to take it side-on, but it leads to a wider passageway."

Xander grimaced. It sounded like a dream. "Great." He looked towards the other men. "Two of you stay with the cars, radio us if there’s trouble. The rest, with me."

Taking a breath, he stepped around the towering cacti, they had to be Saguaros to judge from their height and girth, close to thrice his own. Suddenly feeling very young next to the probably centuries old cacti, Xander turned his flashlight on and pointed at the massive cave.

For a second he couldn’t see it, then he caught sight of an opening behind a shrub. Shoving the desert plant aside, he crawled into the hole, wincing slightly at the stone scratching at both his back and front. He had to bend his knees slightly to avoid banging his head on the ceiling. Xander took a breath; it was just lucky he wasn’t claustrophobic.

It took a seeming eternity to make his way through the narrow tunnel, during which he suffered a seeming multitude of banged heads and stubbed toes in addition to the barely breathable air. Not that would be a problem for the tunnels’ usual users. Finally he came out into a wider opening, although he had to drop to his knees and crawl because of the low ceiling. After that though, he came out in a normal passageway with two exits, one to the east and one to the west, and rose, stretching kinked and protesting muscles.

He waited until Jacob joined him, the African-American covered in the same dust that clung to him. Once the rest of the troops had joined them he spoke in a whisper. "Which way?"

The African-American pointed wordlessly to the west. Xander plunged into the hole after turning off the flashlight, not wanting to give any hint to any waiting demons. A few seconds later he turned a corner and came out in the main cave.

It was a vast chamber with a high ceiling, sparsely decorated with beds and chairs. And various torture instruments, all the stuff the cool vampires needed for a cosy home. But no actual vampires. "Are there alcoves?"

Jacob shrugged. "We’ve not actually explored any further than this."

"Okay," Xander nodded. "Let’s split up into two groups and look. You take one. See anything back out and shout me."

"Yes sir." Two minutes later and Jacob let out a shout. "Sir!"

Spinning around, Xander charged across the cave. "What is it?"

"No vampire, sir," Jacob reported. "But this is Dolor’s lair. And there’s a bunch of papers here, I thought you might want to look."

"Yeah, good idea," Xander peered into the cave, reluctant to enter a master’s vampire’s lair. It was a small cavern but one carpeted and furnished with a silk-sheeted, four-postered bed that had to have been brought in through another passage. Beside the bed stood an immaculately varnished antique desk. Xander sat down and started to flick through the papers. Seconds later he looked up at the men stood in the doorway, heart thumping. "We need to move now!"

* * *

Faith put her hands on her hips as she stared defiantly at the demon. The dude had to be a foot taller than her with the sort of lean physique of a basketball player beneath his leather duster. The African-American’s grey eyes had to be the coldest she’d seen in a hell of a while, and his dyed red, least she hoped it was dyed, goatee only added to his menace. And he was powerful, his demon had the hairs prickling on the back of her neck from twenty paces. "El Dolor, right? Way I heard it I thought you’d be taller."

The vampire smiled at her words. "Oh such heart." A chill ran up her spine at his purr. "Beauty and spirit, I’ll take a while to train you before I make you my childe."

"Money talks, bullshit walks," Faith drawled despite her growing trepidation.

"Ah," Faith’s heart stilled as the storeroom, toilet, and front doors opened, and around eighteen vampires strode in, surrounding her and the other Brotherhood members. Three to one against with her the only super-powered one in the room, they were so fucked. "But I never bullshit."

FIC: MC 30 Sept A Call To Arms (5/?)

"Sir!" the moment they got out of the cave, Harris charged towards their cars. "What’s wrong!"

The younger man didn’t pause as he flung the car door open and leapt in. "They’ve been set up!" the Californian exclaimed. "Some snitch called Whispers has promised to contact Dolor with Gecko’s location next time he hits Phoenix. Call Crow, tell him to get there fast!"

"Sir!" Jacob replied, own heart hammering, "we’re almost three hours away! Even Crow’s over an hour! We’ll never make it!"

His blood chilled when the young man turned towards his, eyes glaring. "If you want there to be an Arizona tomorrow, we better!"

* * *

Swallowing her fear down deep, Faith exploded into action. Leaping into the air, she executed a spin-kick that took down a trio of vamps foolish enough to advance on her even as she drew her stake. Holding it in a slightly clammy palm, she landed in a crouch and quickly staked two of the three vamps.

Even as she moved for the third, a hand grabbed her hair, yanking it hard enough to make her moan in pain, and pulled her up. "A Slayer?" boomed El Dolor as he lifted her off. "I had heard she was in Sunnydale."

"No, that’s the Vampire-Layer," Faith corrected as she pulled her knees up into her chest before powering her legs forward. The moment her feet smashed into the towering demon’s chest, she pulled herself into a ball and flipped backwards, landing gracefully. "Low rates and group specials every Saturday night at the old ruined High School. I’m the Slayer!"

"That I see," El Dolor staggered back a step before straightening. "I’ve killed one before you know."

"Yeah?" Faith forced a smirk. "Wasn’t me."

"No," El Dolor smiled. "She wasn’t close to as pretty. She begged just the same though."

Faith didn’t bother with an answer, the ball of fear in her throat choking her. Instead she grabbed a bottle of spirits from a near-by table, threw it at the demon, lit her lighter and threw it into the bottle. The bottle shattered with the impact, the alcohol within instantly bursting into flame. Eyes wide, EL Dolor reached out a long arm, grabbed a near-by vampire, and shoved him front of him.

"Ahhh!" the demon screamed as the fiery missile hit him, combusting a second later.

El Dolor stepped through the dust. "Impressive trick."

"I got others."

"I’ll look forward to you showing me them." The demon swung a long left haymaker, Faith ducked under it and came in on the inside, only to catch a stunning uppercut to the jaw. Her feet left the ground and she flew backwards, crashing back-first into the bar, only her hands reaching up to grip the counter behind preventing her from sliding to the ground.

El Dolor came in fast, hands and feet blurring. Faith caught a bruising left heel kick to the ribs but managed to duck a straight right to the face. The demon lunged in with a left hand intent on grabbing her around the neck, but she grabbed it scant inches from the target, stepped back into her opponent and drove a knee up at his crotch.

The demon grunted as he blocked her attack on his left thigh before smashing a right chop into her shoulder. "Ahhh!" Faith was unable to prevent a groan as agony erupted through her shoulder and down her arm, the force of the blow driving her to her knees.

"I see you’re learning your new position, Slayer." The vampire raised a fist. Thinking quickly, Faith released her grip on his left wrist to grab her attacker’s foot behind the ankle and pull. "Uhhhh!" the demon stumbled backwards, knocking a table over before managing to straighten himself.

Faith leapt upright, groaning slightly as she attempted to shake the numbness out of her left arm. Seeing the demon coming at her again, Faith sidestepped, thrusting her stake at his chest. Her opponent however was ready and waiting, catching her with a stunning backhand that sent her crashing over one of the few still standing chairs.

By the time Faith had got to her feet, the vampire was there. Snatching her by the hair, he threw her towards the far wall. Thinking quickly, Faith curled up into a ball, and somersaulted so that she hit the wall feet-first. Kicking off, she flew back towards the stunned African-American demon, catching him with a clothesline that took him crashing to the floor.

Faith grinned down at the stunned vampire, her knees pressing into his chest. Whatever happened this bastard was going down. "Who’s the bitch now, bitch?" She raised her stake. "Shit!" She ducked when another vampire attempted a heel-kick at her head, twisting at the waist, she threw a stake through his heart.

Even as the demon exploded into dust, she reached inside her jacket for back-up. And gasped when the demon grabbed her around the throat, steel-hard fingers crushing her larynx. A mocking look on his face, El Dolor, smashed her repeatedly across the face, bludgeoning her features into a crimson mask. Dazed, she barely felt him stand and raise her limp body above his head. But she felt the shuddering pain when he threw her into the drinks cabinet behind the bar, dozens of glass shards lacerating her as she fell to the ground behind the bar.

Body aching, she rolled onto her back, and attempted a feeble kick at the demon as he leapt over the bar, a chilling gleam in his eyes. "Ahhh!" Pain tore through her body when the demon grabbed her ankle and twisted, dislocating the bone.

"And now you’re nicely tamed," the demon leaned over her. "I’ll taste that sweetest of vintage." She groaned as his fangs sunk into her neck, ripping through milky-white flesh.

* * *

"Fuck!" Crow kicked the door open, his shotgun blasting the two vamps nearest the door into dust. The scene looked like something from a John Wayne movie, bottles, chairs, and tables lying everywhere. Blood also stained the floor, three of Gecko’s men were down for something that looked like nine vamps, but he guessed the Slayer had take-. "Shit," he looked around. Where was the babe?

Hurrying across the wrecked bar, he helped a dazed-looking Seth to his feet, conscious of the three dustpiles surrounding the man. "Crow, how did you get here?"

"Yeah," Crow looked left and right, searching for the sexy brunette. "I got lucky. A tip I got told me there was an ambush planned here. I hurried here as fast as I could. Tried phoning you but you must need a charge or something. Where’s the Slayer?"

Seth looked around. "I don’t know-."

"She’s behind here!" Both he and the former bank robber turned to one of them he’d brought with him stood behind the bar. "She’s had a huge chunk torn out of her throat and she’s fading fast!"

"Shit," Crow growled as he leapt over the glass-strewn bar, wincing at the damage done to both the girl’s neck and face. Whoever had done that to her had really gone to town. "Gecko call Harris," he picked up the Slayer with a tenderness that would have surprised any of his team, but then if this girl died, god help the rest of them, "and tell him we’re going to the nearest hospital. You’ll drive," he looked towards the man who’d found the Slayer, "you, get your shirt off and hold it to her throat wound."

* * *

Phoenix Hospital

"Where is she!" Xander crashed into the emergency ward, the fires of hell burning behind.

Seth straightened. "Through here," he pointed towards the emergency room. "I’ve contacted Tara, she’ll be here in ten minutes."

"Thanks," the youth nodded brusquely before striding into the room.

"Who are you?" demanded the grey-haired doctor in scrubs.

"Her boyfriend," the young man stared at the tiny girl surrounded by beeping equipment. "Is she going to be okay?"

The surgeon hesitated before nodding. "It was touch and go when she got here, your friend,” the doctor looked towards Crow slouched against the window, "did the right thing not waiting for an ambulance. Her injuries are severe, but she seems to be a remarkably fast healer. She’ll be fine."

Xander nodded. "Thanks. You’ll give her the best care you can?"

"Young man, I assure you that all our patients get the same high standard of care," the medical professional sniffed.

Xander stared stonily at the man. "Like she was the president of the united states," Xander said. "Repeat after me."

The doctor gulped. "Like she was the president of the united states."

"Thanks," Xander continued to stare at the unconscious Slayer. The doctor scurried out. "And thanks," Xander glanced towards Crow, "for getting her here."

Crow inclined his head slightly. "No problem kid."

"She looks so small," Xander whispered before turning his gaze towards him. "Where’s Whispers?" the young man grated.

Seth shook his head. "Xander I don’t think-."

"I don’t care what you think." His stomach twisted at the unholy glint in the youth’s eyes. "That treacherous bastard almost got my girl killed. You can either co-operate or you can see how many of your men I snap in half before you give me the information I want. Where’s Whispers?"

FIC: MC 30 Sept ’00 A Call To Arms (6/?)

Crow rose as the hospital room door swung open, hand dropping to the gun secreted inside his jacket. He relaxed slightly as he recognised Tara and nodded. "Ma’am," he greeted.

"H…hello Jack," the witch’s face was pale as she stared fixedly at the tiny girl tucked up in the bed. Jack couldn’t believe both how vulnerable and how innocent the tough-ass Slayer looked, devoid of her usual make-up and bravado. "H…how is she?"

"Doc says she’ll be fine in two or three days."

"Why didn’t Xander get Leo to heal her?" Tara queried.

Leo? Jack nodded as he remembered mention of a Leo in the Vatican’s intel reports on the Brotherhood. "The angel?" Tara nodded. "Yeah, by time Xander got here, Faith was under the care of a doctor, and the doc said she’d be okay. So Xander figured that Faith’s Slayer healing would raise enough questions without risking an angel drawing even more attention to her."

"Okay," the witch nodded slowly. "And where’s Xander?"

"Um," Jack shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "Faith and the others walked into a trap set up by a local snitch name of Whispers. Xander’s gone to find him."

"And you didn’t try and stop him?" the witch snapped with uncustomary venom.

Jack blinked. That was a little unfair. Trying to stop the kid the mood he’d been in would be akin to a five year old trying to drag a grizzly off a kill. And would have ended just as messy. "He just sort of went, ma’am." Be respectful, he decided, this wasn’t time for surliness or wisecracks. He did not want to be turned into a toad.

Tara glared suspiciously at him, as if weighing up his complicity, before nodding. "I’d like some time alone with Faith. Please step outside."

"I’m not supposed to do that, ma’am."

"I’m not going to hurt her, and nobody’s going to get past me to her." Tara looked towards the door.

"I know, but that’s not the point." Jack licked his lips, arguing with women was always a risky business, but when one of them was as powerful as the witch, it added a whole new element. "Xander said -."

"As you’ve told me, Xander isn’t here. Wait outside."

An experienced card-player, Jack knew when to fold. "Yes, ma’am," he scooted out of the room, sweat beading down his forehead as he wondered if the Vatican’s line on witches wasn’t right after all.

* * *

Seth stared nervously at the younger man as they drove through downturn Phoenix, not liking at all the insane glint in the young man’s eyes. "Xander-."

"You’re sure about the hotel?" the youth interrupted.

"Yeah," he nodded. "But what are you going to do about state authorities?"

"I’ve got contacts," Seth stared at the youth. "You think I set up the dummy corp you get your money through? It’s my money, but not my expertise. The locals will do what they’re told."

"Okay," Seth sat back in his seat, more unnerved than ever by the power wielded by the young man tottering on the brink of insane rage.

"This Whispers, does he have security or anything?" Xander broke the silence as they pulled up outside a flophouse in one of Phoenix’s most crime-ridden neighbourhoods.

"No, he’s small time, nickel and dime stuff. That 10k he got for ratting me out is the biggest score he’s ever made." Seth crouched down as a battered Chevy rattled by. "That’s him."

"Small weasely guy with a belly and handlebar moustache?" Seth nodded. "Okay," Xander continued. "You know what to do."

* * *

Tara stared at her best friend lying in the hospital bed, the taut silence only broken by the machines’ annoyingly incessant beeping. "You’ve got to be okay," Tara gently brushed an errant hair off her friend’s face even as she squeezed her hand. "Not just for the world. But for Xander. And for me." Reaching up she kissed her friend on the forehead. "He needs you to keep him centred. I don’t know what he’d-," a tear fell, trickling down her cheek, "we’d do without you."

* * *

Whispers whistled to himself as he opened his boot, grinning slightly when he saw his sports bag filled with money. This was the break that would make him. He had info on a treble at the track that would turn his ten K into one hundred and thirty, and then he’d invest it, and live off the interest. Easy street.

"Hey, Whispers."

His head shot up, banging on the underside of the trunk. Even as he rubbed the back of his head, he stared with horrified recognition at the speaker stood to his left, hands in pockets, and a forbidding look on his face. "G…Gecko?" he stuttered. "B…but y…you’re -." His voice trailed off as he realised what he’d been about to say.

"Dead?" Seth shook his head. "No, El Dolor’s plan failed. But plenty of my men are. You might wanna start running now."

"I…I don’t know what -."

"RUN!" Seth took a step towards him.

Dropping his sports bag back into the trunk, he turned on his heel, and charged down the alley to his right, heart pounding and lungs heaving. This was bad, this was very bad.

"Home run!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as a baseball bat swung out of the darkness to smash into his outer left knee. His shattered leg buckling under him, he crumpled to the ground, splashing into a puddle. His heart stilled as a young man maybe twenty years his junior stepped out of the shadows, bat in hand and face like stone. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he tried to drag himself up, only for the youth to set his heel on his neck.

"Hi," the youth’s tone was friendly, but the look in his eyes anything but, "you’re probably wondering why I’m so free with this baseball bat." Whispers would have screamed when the youth swung the bat into his right knee, snapping it like a twig, but for the foot across his neck making it difficult for him to even breathe, much less speak. "Well because I’m a friendly guy who doesn’t like keeping people in the dark, I’ll tell you. When you arranged for Seth to get ambushed," he opened his mouth to gasp a denial, "don’t bother. My girl-friend got a lump chomped out of her neck by El Dolor. Now, if it was the other way around, she’d just kill you. But me, I’m the merciful type; I’m going to give you a chance to earn your redemption." The young man moved his foot off Whispers’ neck. And delivered a rib-snapping kick to the ribs. Even as Whispers lay in the puddle, doubled up and wheezing for his breath, the youth crouched over him, the muscular youth’s breath hot on his neck as he whispered in his ear. "You should bear in mind there are far scarier things out there than vampires, and I’m one of them. I’ve a mind to take you apart, inch by inch. The only way you can stop this from happening is do everything I tell you. Are we understanding each other?"

"S..sure," he gasped at the third attempt.

"Good," the boy grabbed his collar and pulled him up. Pain roared through his body as the youth pushed him into the wet-slicked wall. "Hey Seth," the young man greeted the older man as he strode up to them, "Whispers said he’d help us."

"I’m not surprised," Seth looked from him to the boy, eyes widening. "What did you do to him?"

"Let’s call it the gentle art of persuasion," the teen replied. "You’ll have to help me with him to the car, it doesn’t look like he’s fit to walk."

"That’s what happens when you use a baseball bat on someone’s legs," Seth commented before dragging his right arm over the demon hunter’s shoulders. "Let’s go."

Whispers passed out twice during the brief walk back to his car, his legs jarring every step of the way as his two captors dragged him down the alley.

"I’ll take his car," the kid announced as he unceremonially threw Whispers into his trunk, having already taken his mobile and knife off him. "You lead the way."

"You can’t-." The youth slammed the truck shut on his protest. The drive an exercise in screaming pain, every turn, bump, and stop sending new agony through his body. After what seemed a hellish lifetime, the car came to a stop, and he heard the door opened.

A second later and the trunk opened. Whispers blinked foolishly up at the two blurred figures above him, taking a second to get re-accustomed to the better light. "Here’s what I want you to do," the youth talked for a minute.

"I can’t do that," Whispers gasped as he stared up in horror at the stranger. "He’ll kill-." His words disappeared in a gurgle when the youth grabbed his nose and squeezed, his other hand over his throat, crushing his windpipe. His hands reached up and pushed at the youth’s arms, but leverage and the younger man’s greater strength meant it was like pushing concrete.

"I told you before," the boy’s voice was like silky death, "forget about El Dolor. You should worry about me." The teen released his grip, Whispers gulped in air. "Are you going to make the phone call?" Once he’d regained his breath, he nodded. "Well done. Remember, every word you get wrong earns you a broken bone. But no pressure." The man passed him the phone. "Make the call." Five minutes later he’d finished and hung up, Seth taking the phone back. "Well?"

"H…he said he’d hit the motel tomorrow night."

"Good," the kid stepped back. "I’ll come back and let you out of the trunk tomorrow night."

"I…I need hospital treatment," Whispers looked from Seth to the stone-faced teen.

* * *

"Then tomorrow night, if we live, you’ll get it," Xander replied before slamming the trunk shut. Xander looked towards Seth. "Let’s get a move on, we’ve got plenty to set up before tomorrow night."

Seth glanced towards the trunk. "He might die."

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "Wouldn’t that be a shame?"

FIC: MC 30 Sept ’00 A Call To Arms (7/?)

"I’ll see to that little girl, tomorrow," El Dolor said. "Yes," he lied. "The information is worth another ten thousand. Thank you." He hung up his cell.

"What’s up, Master?"

A smile on his face, he turned to his newest, but most promising, childe. "Ah, Derek. It seems my plan went slightly awry. The Slayer isn’t dead, she’s wounded and currently being cared for by her boyfriend at a local hotel. They probably daren’t take her to a hospital for fear of the questions such an injury would bring."

"I’m sorry, sir."

"Don’t be, I see this not as a setback, but as an opportunity. "This time I don’t get to just kill the girl, I get to hurt her first." He shivered. "Ah, a Slayer’s blood. The finest vintage." Sobering, he turned to his waiting hordes. "Ready yourselves, tomorrow, a Slayer dies by," he raised his arms, "these hands!"

* * *

New York

"We’ll increase the budget by -," Tony grimaced as his Executive phone rang. "Sorry, I’ll have an email to you by the end of day. Gotta go." Hanging up, he picked up the other phone, the one with encryption on it three generations ahead of anything any military or intelligence agency had. "Hello?"

"Mr. Stark, I need some help."

Tony blinked at the coldness in the almost unrecognisable voice. Almost but not quite. "Xander?"

"Yeah," the boy grated, "I need some help. Have you got any influence in Arizona?"

"Whoa," Tony tried for a calming tone. "Slow down. What’s wrong?"

"A Master Vampire got a snitch that led Faith and some of my people into a trap. I want to repay the favour."

"Whoa," Tony’s heart thumped. "Faith’s okay isn’t she?"

"She’ll live," Harris replied. "No long-term damage. Will you help?"

"Like you even have to ask," he scolded as he tapped on his laptop. "Arizona. Yeah, here we are. I know the Deputy Governor, the Mayor of Phoenix, and the State Attorney General. What do you need?"

He listened intently as the boy talked. "It’ll be tight, but I’ll start making calls now," he promised. "And be careful, you hear?"

* * *

"Thanks. I will," Xander promised as he hung up.

Seth stared at him as they pulled up outside the hospital. "Mr. Stark, you know Tony-," the reformed bank robber shook his head as he climbed out of his car, "oh boy."

Xander ignored the bank robber as he started towards the ward his girl was on, only to spin around and start back to the foyer. "Whoa! Where are you going?"

Again ignoring the bank robber, he walked into the brightly lit open plan shop, grabbed the entire stock of twenty brightly coloured balloons with ‘GET-WELL’ embossed on them, a three foot black teddy bear with a red t-shirt with the words ‘I’M YOURS’ in white on it, and the biggest bunch of roses he could find. He dumped the goods in the open-mouthed reformed criminal’s arms before striding over to the magazine rack. He quickly rifled through it to select two Martial Arts, one Heavy Metal, and one biker magazine. That accomplished, he strode over to the counter and picked up three boxes of the most expensive chocolates. "How much?"

The doughy-faced, white-haired woman behind the counter stared at his purchases for a moment. "Everything?"

"No, he’s holding them because I think he looks good modelling them," Xander replied. "How much?"

The woman glowered at his smart-ass answer, but either mindful losing his business or the look on his face, she replied. "Two hundred and sixty-seven dollars."

"Make it three hundred," he dropped three c-notes on the shiny counter and walked out, Seth hurrying behind.

"Xander-."

"Faith likes chocolate," he said through gritted teeth. "She’s gonna need something to eat when she wakes up. And she’ll need something to do," his breath caught and his eyes teared, "when she wakes-."

"Okay, kid," the older man reached out and squeezed his shoulder while somehow managing to balance the goods in his arms. "She’ll be okay."

"Yeah," Xander nodded. His eyes narrowed as he turned the corner into the wall to see Crow slouched against the wall by the door to his girl-friend’s room. "I thought I told you to stick to Faith like glue."

Crow shrugged. "The witch turned up, insisted she be alone with Faith."

"Didn’t you argue?" he demanded.

"Kid," Crow’s face twisted into a rough approximation of a smile, "you ever tried arguing with that witch of yours when she’s on a tear?"

Xander smiled his first smile in hours. "Point." Pushing the door open, he walked into the room. His smile widened as he saw Faith sat up in bed, talking to Tara, her face battered and pale, but her eyes gleaming with life. "You’re awake!"

"Hey, X!" Faith beamed back at him. "See, I was just tellin’ sis you should be a doctor with that medical insight."

"I brought gifts," he decided to ignore the snarkiness in favour of putting Faith’s presents on her bed to her right.

"What?" Faith grinned after a second purveying what he’d got her. "No card?"

Xander threw his head back and laughed. "You’re impossible."

"Good to see you’re okay, Faith," Seth offered as he placed the rest of Xander’s purchases on the brunette’s left side.

There was a tense moment where Xander was holding his breath against the Slayer’s explosion. Then she nodded. "Thanks." There was a pause. "You too, Seth."

Seth smiled slightly. Xander looked at the demon hunter and the witch. "Can you give us a minute?"

"Sure," Tara rose. Gave Faith a kiss on her bruised forehead, and turned to him. "Don’t wear her out," she warned.

"Shit, Tar, we weren’t thinking of competing for the bedroom olymp-," Faith gulped when Tara glared at her. "I’ll be good," the brunette promised with rare meekness.

"Huh," Tara shook her head as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. "That’ll be the day."

Xander took Faith’s hand in his and squeezed it tenderly. After a moment staring into the brunette beauty’s chocolate-brown eyes, he spoke. "You’ve been through a hell of ordeal."

"It was wicked scary, X." Faith shrugged then winced. "One on one, the asshole was going down, but there were so many of them." His girl-friend shuddered, her shoulders shaking. "God I was-."

"Hey, hey. It’s okay," sitting down on the bed, he put his arms around his girl and pulled her into a hug. "It’s okay."

After a minute, Faith pulled away, a shamed look on her face. "Tar says you’ve got some sort of plan?"

"Yeah," Xander shook his head. "But don’t you worry about. Concentrate on -."

"Don’t bullshit me, X," Faith raised an eyebrow. "Talk."

"Okay," Xander sighed before running his girl-friend through the outline of his plan.

"Don’t be doing nothing dumb," Faith stared sternly at him.

"I won’t," he replied. "That’s your department."

"Asshole," Faith reproved before throwing her arms around his shoulders and holding him close to him. "I’m sorry we fought," she whispered. "If ya want Gecko in, he’s in. I promise you I’ll never argue with you again. Deal?"

He thought it unlikely that his combustible girl-friend could keep that promise for more than a few hours, but for the sake of keeping both the peace and her happy, he looked into her eyes and nodded. "Deal."

FIC: MC 30 Sept ’00 A Call To Arms (8/9)

"Kid," Xander looked up from his chair beside Faith’s bed, their hands clasped together the whole night through, to see Crow stood in the doorway, a purposeful look on the weathered demon hunter’s face, "Gecko’s men from Tucson are here to guard the honey," Crow winked unrepentantly at the Slayer’s glower before sobering. "We’ve gotta go."

"Give me a minute." Xander instructed. The demon hunter nodded before shutting the door behind him. Xander turned to Faith and pressed his lips to hers. After a long, passionate kiss, he pulled away reluctantly. "I’ll see you tonight, okay?"

"Damn you, X," Faith whispered. "I hate ya going off to fight without me. Just make sure you and Tar are okay, k?"

* * *

"You all understand what I want?" Tara looked around her fellow gathered mages, all of them older but none of them as powerful as her. They all nodded in turn. "Good, then conserve your energy, meditate, and wait." Tara looked towards the hotel, teeth bared in an uncustomary grimace. "This had better work, Xander."

* * *

"You can’t do this!" The hotel manager’s eyes bulged, and his flabby neck threatened to burst free of his shirt. "This is America! We have rights!"

"News to me," Crow drawled, he had to admit that any misgivings he had about the kid’s plans were currently submerged under the enjoyment he felt watching this self-important jackass work himself up into a heart attack. "Tell you what," he presented the manager with a phone. "Why don’t you call the Governor or State Attorney’s office with your complaint?"

The fat man’s eyes bulged. "You can’t be serious?"

"Deadly," Crow shoved aside his leather jacket to reveal the hand-cannon he kept stuffed in his jeans. "Now," he slammed a stuffed envelope on the desk. "There’s five grand in there. Take it and join your guests and fellow staff members on the bus my colleagues will be keeping you in for today."

"This is kidnap!" the hotel manager protested. Crow said nothing, just raised an eyebrow, and drew his gun. The man gulped. "There’s no need for that. I’ll have to call my -."

"The governor or the state attorney," Crow nodded to the door, "my colleagues are waiting outside, they’ll take your phone from you."

"Outrageous!" the man huffed before snatching up the envelope and rushing out.

Crow chuckled.

* * *

Xander looked left and right, eyes assessing the landscape around him. The motel was a simple, single-storey building that looked to have been converted from a large ranch to the fourteen room guesthouse it now was. The brown-bricked building was some twenty minutes from the nearest town, so it was unlikely passer-bys would get caught up in the trouble. The only way to ‘The Oasis Motel’ was through a canyon that spilled out onto the car lot before the single storey hotel, the only entrance into the hotel through the lobby’s gleaming double-doors. Already Gecko’s men were positioning their cars to either side of the parking lot for them to hide behind when the vampires came. With the assistance of the mages catching illusion spells, they’d be completely hidden for the brief seconds before the vampires entered the motel, and then it would be down to him.

"Father Peterson’s here, Xander."

Xander turned to see Crow stood behind him with a tall, thin man with a shock of wild white hair and a beaked nose wearing a dog collar and a ragged denim jacket. "Thank you for coming, Father."

"God bless you, son," the priest bowed his head respectfully. "Jack has told me about you doing god’s work." Xander raised an eyebrow, he did humanity’s work, not god’s, if god was on the job there wouldn’t be any need for people like him. "I would be honoured if you allowed me to bless you?"

"Sure, father," Xander nodded. He believed there was a god, he had seen too many demons to think otherwise, but he had no respect for any sort of deity that allowed madmen to gain power, children to be abused, and for famine and epidemics to occur. But if it made the priest feel good about himself, he didn’t see the harm. Besides, the priest was doing him a favour. He bowed his head and allowed the priest to say some words in Latin over him before straightening. "You’ll do as I asked, Father?"

"Of course, son," the priest smiled, "it will be an honour."

Xander watched for a moment as the priest and Crow hurried towards the hotel. He scowled as something occurred. Turning, he looked around for the person he needed. " Seth!" he yelled as he caught sight of the reformed criminal, "when do the builders get here?"

The Arizona chief turned from organising his vehicular camouflage, glanced at his watch, and replied. "About another hour!"

"That’s cutting it fine," Xander complained.

"They’ll be plenty of time," the bank robber ran over to him, boots slapping on the hard tarmac and a worried expression on his face. "Are you really sure you want to do this? Being locked up with him could be risky."

Xander flashed back to his first sight of Faith in the hospital bed, tubes coming out of her. "I’m sure."

* * *

"Remember," El Dolor repeated as he climbed out of his car, turning his head to ensure his gaze encompassed each and every of his eight subordinates he’d brought with him. He’d liked to have brought more, but the Slayer and the others had cost him close to a dozen last night, and he needed his others to keep his operations across the state running. "The Slayer’s mine and mine alone. But anyone with her you deal with as you wish."

"What about passer-bys, boss?"

"Any witnesses or any one who tries and interferes kill them," he ordered. "But be low-key, no unnecessary killing. The Slayer’s Watcher probably picked this place because it’s discreet, out of town, so the police won’t notice anything going on. But that’s to our advantage too, by the time the police respond, we’ll be long gone. We don’t have to bother with reception, I have the room number, but if the receptionist tries to interfere-."

"I’ll kill him."

El Dolor smiled. "But of course you will, Derek. Luis, Jose, stay with the cars, the rest of you, with me."

After pushing aside the lobby’s double-doors, he strode in, three minions flanking him on either side. His eyes narrowed as he looked around, the lobby decorated in matching beige wallpaper and furniture seemed strangely empty, with not even a receptionist in sight behind the wooden counter to his left. "Can you hear anything?"

Derek shook his head. "Nothing."

No human sound at all, that wasn’t natural. "Get out!" he roared. "It’s a tr-."

Suddenly the sprinklers came on, drenching him, his minions, and the entire lobby in water. Holy water.

It took a stunned half-second for the pain to sink in. A score of burns scalding his face and body, he joined his routed underlings in charging towards the lobby’s door. El Dolor reared back when the doors slammed shut the moment the last of his men charged through them, almost beheading him, trapped in the scalding hell, the water still falling, he raised his hand to punch his way through the glass.

And jumped back when a grille slid down from the ceiling between the lobby and the doors, further cutting off his escape. He heaved a sigh of relief when the holy water sprinklers suddenly cut out. "What’s happening?" he slammed a fist into the iron grille but although it wobbled and shook, it didn’t break. It would take some time to get out of here.

"El Dolor, this is your death."

His ears filling with the sound of gunfire and his minions’ screaming deaths El Dolor spun around and stared at the man stood at the opposite end of the lobby. He was only young, perhaps twenty, but big, with the broad shoulders and thick limbs of an athlete, accentuated by his outfit of black jeans and t-shirt. And appeared undisturbed by seeing him in game-face. "Who are you?"

The young man smiled. "My friends call me Xander," the man’s smile disappeared. "The world’s governments know me as Mithras." The youth paused, his eyes turning stony. "But as we’re enemies, you can call me death. And you’re going to die by inches."

FIC: MC 30 Sept A Call To Arms (9/9)

El Dolor felt like he’d been punched in the gut when the human announced his name. Mithras. He’d been hearing that name a lot lately. Not only had the mysterious warrior set up Gecko and his vermin, but he’d heard rumours of the paladin being involved in anti-demon activity across the globe, including the destruction of the dreaded assassin order.

Forcing his worry under control, Dolor bared his fangs as he stared at the youth opposite. "I’ve heard of you, you’re younger than I expected."

"Yeah," the self proclaimed warrior-god nodded. "I get that a lot. Happen I’ll grow out of it."

"Not if I have anything to do with it." He smiled as an idea occurred. "But you’re

obviously a young man of resource. You’ll make quite the vampire. I’ll turn you and then we can share that Slayer of yours between us."

All at once the man’s eyes hardened. "Not going to happen," he grated. "Even if you beat me, and I emphasise the if, my men have orders to blow this hotel. You’re dead either way." The man grinned at his growl. "That get your attention did it?" the youth tilted his head to one side, exposing his neck. "But why not go out with a blast? Be the vampire who killed the scourge of the underworld, Mithras." El Dolor stared impotently at the youth. "Ah, are you scared?" the young demon-hunter mocked. "What are you frightened of? Little ol’ me? But you could take on my girl-friend? But maybe," the man laughed. "Maybe it’s your childes that give you your spine. Maybe without them you’re nothing." El Dolor clenched his fist together as he growled. "Here," the man dropped to his knees. "I’ll make it easy for you. After all," the legendary demon-hunter dropped to his knees and raised his hands to the side, "I’m unarmed. Come get me."

El Dolor realised that the boy wanted him to end it. He must have killed the Slayer in his original attack, and now the boy wanted him to kill him too. "Be glad to," he growled.

* * *

The moment the vampire master started to move, Xander drew a pair of Desert Eagles from the Always Pocket. He allowed himself a split-second to enjoy the panic in the demon’s eyes and then pulled the triggers. The guns bucked in his hands, fire spitting from their muzzles, arid smoke filling the air.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Two slugs simultaneously smashed into the demon’s knees, shattering bone and muscle, and sending blood shooting out to splatter the carpet and wall. Still wailing, the demon crashed down onto his side and immediately began crawling towards a near-by coffee table strewn with the day’s papers.

"Wow," Xander commented as he walked over and planted another slug into the master vampire’s back. The screaming monster dropped onto the rapidly reddening carpet. "You really aren’t that tough without your childes are you? Has anyone ever told you scream like a girl?" Grabbing the demon’s collar, he flipped him onto his front. The vampire attempted to lunge at him, fangs bared, but Xander sidestepped the clumsy lunge and crashed the butt of one of his Desert Eagles into the side of the vampire’s head, knocking it back down. "Now don’t worry, that spinal damage will heal eventually. Your only problem is eventually is way longer than you have." Xander stepped on the vampire’s right wrist, drew a pointed crucifix he’d spent the afternoon filing down, and drove it through the demon’s palm

"Ahhh!" the demon’s back arched off the carpet, smoke rising out of the wounded hand, eyes filling with disbelief as he stared at the wound. "My motherfuckin’ hand!"

"Yeah," Xander nodded as he stepped over the writhing demon and did the same to the left hand, "that has gotta hurt. You’d totally have my sympathy." He glowered down at the screeching vampire. "Except you hurt my girl And an example has to be made. Speaking of which…" Xander pulled out his cell and called up a number. "Yeah, Seth. We win? Good, now leave the injured in the care as many as you need, and bring the rest inside. Yeah," he looked at the grille and then in puzzlement the remote-control he’d been given to operate it, "I’ll work out how to unlock the door. Just give me time."

* * *

Seth heaved a relieved sigh when the bulletproof doors slid open and the grille slid upwards. He turned to Crow and the ten uninjured team members. "Come on."

He stopped as he stepped into the lobby, eyes widening at what he saw. El Dolor, the state’s most feared vampire, was laid in a pool of his own viscera, his knees smashed beyond all seeming repair, and silver crucifixes jammed through both his palms. And squealing like a baby as the Mithras Brotherhood founder splashed holy water on him, the sanctified liquid burning like acid. Xander chuckled. "Hey, can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs."

"Damn, kid," he heard Crow whisper beside him.

Seth stepped towards the youth. "Xander-." He stopped when the teen turned towards him, shocked by the hardness in his eyes.

"He hurt my girl and he has to pay the price. Anyone guess what lesson I’m teaching here?"

It was Jacob who spoke. "That any vampire can be taken down?"

"Good guess but no-."

"Ahhhhh!" El Dolor screamed and writhed when Xander splashed his forehead with holy water.

"The lesson is about consequences. When Mithras ruled the earth, demons were still rife. Demons that would use the likes of El Dolor as butt-monkeys. He won the war with them by waging a war of consequences. A demon killed a human. It would be hunted down relentlessly until captured and dealt with. We haven’t the resources to do that today. But if a demon hurts one of the Brotherhood, I want there to be no escape, I want the demon to not know a second’s peace between then and its death. I want the demons to quake when we walk past, not the other way around. It’s our world, they should be the ones who live in fear, not us. Here endeth the lesson." Xander pulled out a stake and threw it to Seth. "Stake him." Seth stared at the young man. Xander shrugged. "This is your territory not mine. He’s your responsibility." The youth looked down at El Dolor. "Bye. I’d like to say it had been a pleasure, but it wasn’t."

* * *

Xander stared out into the darkness as he slouched against the outside hotel wall, sweat staining his body from his confrontation with El Dolor and what he’d done. But he’d needed to do it and for Seth to see it. To realise that it wasn’t enough to kill vampires, they had to hunt them down, to cause the demon population the same sort of terror they’d caused mankind for the past few thousand years. That was the only way to win the upcoming war, to make his people the most battle-hardened he could make them.

"That was intense."

Xander paused, drawing breath before turning to Crow, a wry smile stretching his face. "Had to be done. He hurt my girl."

The veteran demon-hunter chuckled. "Does your Slayer know about your ‘you girl, me protector man’ gene?"

"I’ve still got all my limbs haven’t I?"

Crow chuckled. "Guess that answers that." A long moment of companionable silence followed.

"Sorry we didn’t find Bliss-," Xander’s voice trailed off as he heard his companion suck one in. "Oh hell, I’m sorry."

Crow slowly straightened, as if carrying the world’s weight. "I had to stake him myself."

"I’m sorry, Jack," Xander decided to take the plunge. "If you want a place in the Brotherhood-."

He was disappointed when Crow shook his head. "Sorry kid. The offer’s mighty tempting and I am not happy with the Church right now, but there’s a guy at the Vatican who I owe a hell of a lot too. He took me and made sure I was okay after my family was killed. He runs the demon-hunting department now and my first loyalty’s to him."

Xander nodded. "I guess I can understand that. Well if you ever need any help again, don’t hesitate to get in touch."

"Thanks kid, I will," Crow grinned briefly. "I like the way you do business." 

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