Disclaimer: Joss is God, he owns everything...... I am merely a small bacteria in this world! Inspiration: As before plus 'A Toute Le Monde' and 'Holy Wars' by Megadeth, 'Pax Diorum' by Enya and 'Dying' by VAST! Recap: Buffy and Willow are in England answering a call for help from another slayer who has a secret.
"Here we are." said Joe as he pulled into the carpark underneath the building that housed his and Torr's apartment. Buffy had spent the journey making note of how dark and grey the city looked, and how she swap this place for somewhere on a hellmouth anyday. Whereas Willow had just woken up, having spent the majority of the short journey snoozing on Buffy's shoulder wondering why she hadn't done this more often and how come Buffy was letting her now. Joe parked next to the door to the entrance foyer and started unloading the luggage from the car, thankfully they'd both travelled light as not much luggage could have been fitted in the car. He led them through the foyer to the lifts and pressed the button for the 5th floor. "I hope you don't mind sharing Torr's room, there's a big double bed in there. We've only got the two bedrooms and Torr's rarely in anyway." Joe said as the lift reached their floor. "That's OK, we don't mind." Willow replied not noticing the 'I get to share a bed with Willow' open-jaw look on Buffy's face, and wondering why this idea was stirring up so many thoughts in her own head. "Well I suppose I ought to give you the tour." commented Joe as he opened the door to their rather spacious apartment. * Over in Sunnydale.... "Get the stake." yelled Giles as one of the vampires held him against the wall. Xander picked himself up off the ground and grabbed the stake that had landed next to him. With a quick blow the vamp was dusted. "I wonder how they're doing?" Xander asked "Oh I'm sure they'll be fine, even with Spike helping them." Giles replied coughing slightly. "Not them, Buffy and Willow?" "I'm sure they'll ring if there's anything wrong." * Back in Manchester.... "This is a nice apartment." Willow commented as they returned to the main room (kind of like a living room only open plan!). "Thank you." Joe replied as he brought over their drinks. As Buffy and Willow sat down on the sofa, Buffy decided now was a good time to ask the question that had been bugging her since the letter had originally arrived, "So when was Torr called?" "Sometime around the summer of 1999, we're not sure exactly when." replied Joe sitting down in the chair opposite. "Faith." Buffy thought out aloud "Faith? Another slayer?" he asked "Long story..." she replied not wanting to have to explain it all. "Buffy died, Kendra was called. Kendra died, Faith was called." Willow summarised, ignoring the glare from Buffy "You died?" Joe asked rather perplexed. "Only for a minute or so, I was revived." Buffy replied hoping that she wouldn't have to go into too much detail. Willow turned to face Buffy, "So you did kill Faith, but they must have revived her into the coma" "This is far too confusing." commented Joe trying to fathom why Buffy would have wanted to kill another slayer. "Buffy almost gutted Faith." replied Willow turning back to face Joe. "There were circumstances." Buffy interrupted noticing Joe looking even more confused and worried now, "She'd switched sides, killed a few people, and tried to kill the people I love most." Willow continued, "We never even considered whether Faith had died and then been revived." "So this Faith person is still alive? Three slayers?" asked Joe "Basically. Although Faith's in jail now." Buffy replied. "Where she belongs." added Willow. Joe noticed the venom in the tone of Willow's voice and wondered what this Faith character had done but decided now wasn't the time to ask. They were all relieved when the phone rang breaking the uneasy silence that had ensued. As Joe went to answer it, the jetlag began to catch up with Willow again and she decided that it might be a good time to go and have a lie down, Buffy decided to stay as the jetlag wasn't affecting her as much, she also had more questions she wanted to ask. * "If the weather report's right, I'll see you tomorrow." Torr placed her phone back in her pocket and headed off towards the city centre. The rain continued to pour down blocking the sun's direct light. 'Could this get any worse?' she thought as she turned the corner and walked through the passageway under the railway station. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that its not safe to walk in these passageways?" a voice came from the shadows up ahead. 'Why do I always tempt fate?' she thought, "No I've not heard that one." she replied as three vampires appeared from the shadows around her. "Well why don't we show you. Go get her boys." said the lead vampire has he emerged from the shadows. "You don't want to do this, I'm very tired and I'm getting a little cranky." Torr pulled two stakes from her pockets as the first three vampires charged towards her. The first two vampires that reached her were quickly dusted but the third managed to hit her knocking the stakes from her hands. As he lent over her ready to plunge his fangs in her neck she kicked out sending him flying into the air towards where the lead vamp was watching. "I said you didn't want to do this!" The third vamp charged again but this time Torr was ready and before he got near her, he found a stake lodged in him. "Nice throw." the lead vamp commented as he disappeared into the shadows, "This isn't finished yet!" "I look forward to it." she shouted back. * Joe headed back from the kitchen with more coffee, it seemed to be helping Buffy resist the jetlag that she should have been suffering thing, he wondered if this was a slayer thing, Torr had never travelled so he had no comparison. "Just wondering. How come we've not met Torr's watcher?" Buffy asked as Joe joined her on the sofa. She wondered if he minded all these questions but he seemed so eager to answer them that she thought she might as well get it over and done with now. "Torr had a watcher, for all of about a fortnight." Joe replied. "What happened to him?" "Torr's a little bit different to the rest of us. I'm technically only her half-brother - same mother, different fathers. My dad was a nice enough person until he ran off with his personal trainer," Joe stopped to calm himself down, "Sorry personal angst. Torr's father he was a completely different kettle of fish" "Did he...?" Buffy asked not wanting to complete the sentence as it was a thought she didn't want to entertain. "Abuse either of us? No. He just kept a major secret from our mother until it was too late." "Now I'm confused." "Torr's father was a were-wolf, making Torr part were-wolf. She can control it though and never actually turns completely." Joe continued wondering what Buffy's opinion of were-wolves was. "Oh. Well Willow used to date a were-wolf so we're pretty used to them." Buffy replied hoping that this revelation would stop Joe's worried look, "So what happened to the watcher?" "He came to find us, told Torr that she was the Chosen One, that the previous Slayer had died and that he was here to train her." "He didn't know about the wolf-side, did he?" "No. We weren't sure what the calling would do in terms of the wolf. They were sparing one day and there was a slight accident." "Slight accident?" "Torr didn't realise that her strength was greater than before and he sort of fell through the large window in the back room." "Fell?" "Well more like thrown, but accidentally. After that the Watcher's Council severed all contact we had with them and didn't even bother to tell us about you. It still affects Torr now she's never really coped with it." "Oh." replied Buffy noticing the sadness in Joe's voice, she couldn't fathom what that must have been like, even after a fortnight her and Giles were pretty close. It was something she really didn't want to think about and as the jetlag began to catch up with her she decided that maybe she should go and join Willow. Joe hoped that what he'd just explained to Buffy wouldn't freak her out too much, Torr had told him to answer any questions Buffy and Willow asked no matter what they were about, she wanted to be as open to them as possible, she wouldn't hide it again. * Torr continued her patrol of the dark back roads and alleyways behind the main nightlife area of the city. The assortment of music booming out from the nearby night-clubs hid the screams of the latest victims, "Idiots." she said talking to herself, "They go out, get hideously drunk and then walk through these alleyways alone. You'd think all these disappearances would have sent out some sort of warning sign, but no." The rubbish bins behind her clattered, "Slayer..." something called out from the shadows. Torr turned round just as the spiny yellow demon emerged from the shadows. "Not another one, I've already killed your buddy this morning." Torr remarked, "And what the hell are you anyway?" "I am part of the Weequay clan, and you are about to die." With that he launched a razor sharp blade from his arm, it whizzed past Torr catching her slightly on her arm causing her to immediately transform into her half-wolf half-human form. She ran towards the demon just as he launched a second blade, however this one was easily caught by the furious were-slayer and thrown straight back lodging itself in the demon's shoulder. As the demon was removing the blade and preparing to throw it again Torr floored him with a shoulder barge. She picked up his blade and drove it into his chest. The demon screamed out in pain as Torr twisted the blade, making sure that it would kill him. * Down in the tunnels below the city... "How did our assassin do this time?" asked the older man "Another failure, this bitch is strong." Graham replied "And the rumour, any truth in that. Are there two slayers?" "We're still checking it out, hopefully I'll have some answers for you tomorrow." With that Graham headed off towards the surface. * As the sun rose over the city a flock of birds circled above the abandoned market, a solitary figure was walking towards a black van parked between the stalls hidden out of view. 'At last a day off' Torr thought as she climbed into the driver's seat, started the engine and headed home. Meanwhile across town.... The sun shone in through the thin curtains, just catching Willow's face causing her to stir slightly. Buffy lay there watching her friend thinking how cute she looked all curled up next to her and wondered how come she hadn't noticed this while they were sharing the dorm room, 'Oh why can't I just tell her.' she thought.