\u201cThey\u2019re here,\u201d Angel\u2019s words caught Giles\u2019 attention as he neared the end of his report to the 911 Operator.<\/p>\n
Giles glanced toward the front door where it hung open to the night air, the outer screen door dangling from broken hinges. He presumed that the vampire\u2019s acute hearing detected the approach of Buffy and her friends. With their arrival, he saw Angel move for the first time in the last few minutes.<\/p>\n
He had been standing watch over Faith when they arrived; her bruised and bloodied body unmoving, unconscious. From the looks of the place, she had put up a hell of a fight\u2014 and lost. Angel had not said much, letting the evidence before them speak for itself.<\/p>\n
From the dark determination on his face, it was certain Angel was not going to let those responsible go unpunished. Considering what the vampire was capable of doing to his enemies, Giles counted himself lucky not to be among them. There was a visible tension in his shoulders, he observed, no doubt caused by waiting around here when he needed to be out there searching for\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Cordelia?\u201d demanded Xander as he pushed past Buffy who had stopped short upon catching sight of the pooling blood on the hall floor.<\/p>\n
Buffy reached for Angel, wrapping her arms around his waist. He did not react for the first few moments, then put an arm around her shoulder as they stared down at the pale corpse that was once Cordelia\u2019s grandmother, Beverly Quinn, her pale skin mottled blue, the hilt of an ornate dagger deeply lodged in her chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Grandma Bev,\u201d Willow squeaked in horror as she stumbled into the hall, wide-eyed with shock. \u201cBut she was so nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giles cleared his throat, stepping forward. \u201cI\u2019m afraid that bad things happen to nice people, Willow. Mrs. Quinn evidently got involved with whatever happened here tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Faith gonna be okay?\u201d asked Buffy as she moved out of Angel\u2019s loose embrace and approached the unconscious Slayer. Then, glancing at the stranger in the room, \u201cWho\u2019s that guy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Squeezing away the tension building up behind his eyes, Giles touched his fingers to the bridge of his nose, his glasses lifting and then falling back into place. \u201cThis is Faith\u2019s new Watcher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crouched next to Faith, the young man looked quite starched in his suit and bow tie. Giles could see that Buffy was sizing him up. From the moment they stepped into the house, Giles could tell that Wesley had never seen anything like this up close. Perhaps in pictures or slides, studied, but not experienced.<\/p>\n
Standing up straight, he introduced himself with a noticeable stutter, \u201cW-Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. I arrived just yesterday. We have not had the opportunity to meet. I wish the circumstances had been more,\u201d he glanced down at his new charge, \u201cpleasant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t you go outside and direct the ambulance when it arrives,\u201d Giles said when Wesley started to look a bit green about the gills. It would not do to have the man lose his supper in front of the others.<\/p>\n
Wesley looked startled by the suggestion, but nodded. Carefully, he stepped over Faith\u2019s sprawled form in order to find a clear path out the front door. He paused at the threshold, looking puzzled for a moment and then, realizing why, met Giles\u2019 gaze with a concerned frown before heading out of the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d Buffy asked him as she knelt next to Faith. Coming up with her own conclusions, said, \u201cThe demon did this. He came after Cordelia, killed her grandma, and Faith couldn\u2019t stop him.\u201d<\/p>\n
A hoarse sound came from the girl lying on the floor, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a hand on her shoulder, Buffy called out, \u201cFaith!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDear God, you\u2019re awake,\u201d Giles instantly focused on her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Cordelia?\u201d Xander moved down to join Buffy at her side and Giles joined them while also noting that Willow stood statue-like near Bev Quinn\u2019s body, apparently too caught up in staring at the congealing blood to move.<\/p>\n
Exposing these children to such a ghastly scene was something he would have to think about later. Right now, his priority was discovering what Faith could tell them. It might provide the means to Cordelia\u2019s rescue, assuming that the demon had not already made her a sacrifice.<\/p>\n
Faith groaned in pain, barely conscious, but coming around fast. It was almost too much to try to speak. When her eyes opened, through the gaps between the huddled forms around her, she saw Bev. Her own horrified scream echoed in her ears, but she did not recognize its sound as her hand stretched outward.<\/p>\n
Someone caught it, held Faith\u2019s hand while muttering words that did nothing to sooth or calm her. \u201cNo, no!\u201d Denial rang out, but the sight of Cordelia\u2019s beloved grandmother stretched out on the floor did not change.<\/p>\n
\u201cFaith,\u201d she heard Giles\u2019 voice as if from a distance, \u201cyou must try not to move. Save your energy. We must know what happened here.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a grunt, she turned over, shaking off the hands trying to provide comfort she did not deserve. Faith scooted past them to reach Bev, ignoring the blood. She grasped onto the hilt of the dagger ignoring the, \u201cPerhaps you shouldn\u2019t\u2026,\u201d advice coming from Giles\u2019 direction and with her remaining strength pulled it from Bev\u2019s body.<\/p>\n
She dropped it and the dagger clanked making a circle on the tile floor next to Willow\u2019s feet. Faith\u2019s head lay on Bev\u2019s stomach as she collapsed against her. In the distance, the sound of sirens began to wail.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat now?\u201d asked Buffy as she helped to move Faith over to the couch. \u201cFaith isn\u2019t going to be much help finding Cordelia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faith\u2019s eyelids fluttered as she struggled to open them. She swallowed thickly, bruised lips crusted with blood. When she opened her mouth to speak, it was only a whisper, \u201cAngel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Dead Boy,\u201d Xander turned around after hearing Faith ask for the vampire. \u201cShe wants to say someth\u2014\u00a0 hey, where\u2019d he go?\u201d<\/p>\n
Buffy whirled around. \u201cAngel?\u201d He was gone. She darted over to the door thinking he might be waiting with whatsisname, but there was no sight of him.<\/p>\n
Clearing his throat, Giles spoke up, \u201cAngel only agreed to stay until you got here. He\u2019s got a lead to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irked that he left without her, Buffy asked, \u201cWhat lead?\u201d<\/p>\n
It was Faith who answered them, her voice a little stronger, \u201cDrusilla.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut\u2014,\u201d doubt clouded Buffy\u2019s feature. She glanced at the evidence around the room. This was not the work of a vampire. \u201cDrusilla was here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Giles confirmed. \u201cAngel told us that he could still scent her here. Though it is unknown whether she arrived before or after Cordelia was taken. For that, we must turn to Faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone literally turned staring expectantly as Faith struggled to sit up, her hair and clothes matted with blood, most of it not her own. Wiping a hand across an oozing cut on her chin, she only managed to smear the blood further. She did not notice, nor seem to feel the weight of their stares as she continued to look toward Bev Quinn.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cC-Cordelia?\u201d asked Xander his voice going up an octave.<\/p>\n
Faith\u2019s dark brown eyes lifted slowly bypassing Xander for Giles. \u201cThis is all my fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think she\u2019s in shock,\u201d Giles muttered to the others. Then more loudly as if Faith had not been able to hear him before, \u201cThe demon is responsible. You tried to stop him, a valiant attempt against such a strong adversary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faith pressed her swollen lips closed, her gaze sliding over to Buffy who watched her with a growing sense of suspicion. The look on her face proved that much and Faith knew it was well deserved. She had kept things from Buffy and now Bev Quinn had paid the price.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t understand,\u201d Faith unsteadily found her way to her feet. Pointing at it, told them, \u201cThat\u2019s my dagger. She\u2019s dead because of me.\u201d<\/p>\n