I know, I know… Super long wait. But I’ve been caught up working on my original fiction project. My apologies for all those who read and review, but hopefully this chapter satisfies you until the next update (which should be sooner than the last one!).

AS THEY WERE

FOUR

Faith sauntered into the library and stretched her arms above her head. Her top rose up, revealing her taut stomach. “I’m getting a bit itchy, B. You wanna patrol?”

Buffy sighed and pointed out the window. “Daytime, Faith, remember?”

“So? We can crash a few nests—take ‘em out when they’re not expecting it.”

“And leave school early and get expelled? No thanks.”

Faith shrugged and moved to the weapons cabinet, extracting a cross bow. She started to practice a back flip with the cross bow in her hand, firing the weapon at the target on the wall before she even straightened. It flew wildly every time.

Giles strode in with a book open in his hands. “Balance your centre of gravity, Faith.”

“Yeah, boss.”

Buffy glanced up in surprise when Cordelia burst into the library again, followed by a short man wearing an outfit so loud it made Xander look like something out of a magazine. They were still sitting in the library talking about Dru and what her plan of action might be now that Cruor was demon-pulp, although Willow had moved on to helping Xander with his trig homework. Cordelia’s face was red and her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, as though she had been…

“Since when do you jog?” Buffy asked, taking in Cordelia’s sweat pants and singlet.

“Since when do you care?” she shot back. “This isn’t a social visit. Doyle here bumped into me and told me he had a really painful vision about all of us and Drusilla and the end of the world.”

Giles shot up from his chair. “Vision?”

Doyle stepped forward and held out his hand. “Doyle."

“Rupert Giles,’ he said, flustered. “I’m…the librarian.”

“Librarian, eh?” Doyle smiled. “That’s a handy cover for a Watcher.”

Buffy rose from behind the table. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Cordelia couldn’t just bring in random people who claimed to have visions and tell them about her, or Giles. She studied the newcomer and felt an uncomfortable tingle on the back of her neck. There was something about him that felt wrong, and her instincts told her not to trust him until she found out what his deal was.

Giles had the exact same thoughts and shot Cordelia an annoyed look. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re…”

“Let’s skip the bullshit, alright?” Doyle said. “I already know about the Slayer and the whole she-bang that goes with it. I happen to receive visions from the bosses, the Big Men, the Powers That Be or whatever else you want to call them. I see, along with excruciatingly painful migraines, things that have already happened, that are happening or things that are going to happen in the future. And I had a nice little bop on the head yesterday that showed me a little town called Sunnydale and the not-so-nice future mapped out for it.”

“So you’re like a seer?” Willow said, becoming excited.

“I’m whatever you want me to be, hon.”

Buffy put her hands on her hips. “What exactly did you see?

Doyle rested against the counter. “I saw a crescent moon, and a crazed brunette vampire in a white dress covered in blood. There was a massive demon behind her—he was crusty-looking, with red eyes and a spiky head. I saw Buffy and Angel and a few other humans fighting vampires that just seemed to keep on coming. And Cordy here is standing in front of this vampire looking a little worse for wear, but it’s the vampire whose screaming like she’s lost her mother.”

“Is that it?” Faith asked. “What about me? You see me anywhere, Obi-wan?”

“Can’t say I did, but no one except Buffy, Angel and Cordy had faces so you could be one of them.” Buffy heard the hesitation in his voice, and saw the way his gaze slide away from Faith before answering. Faith shrugged and scooted backwards onto the table so she obviously hadn’t picked up on his subtle lie. But his reticence just made her more wary of him.

Giles nodded. “The vampire must be Dru, and the demon is obviously Cruor.”

“But we killed him last night!”

Doyle shrugged. “I just relay the message.”

“Giles?” Buffy turned to the Watcher. “What does this mean?”

“It means we have missed something vital about this Cruor, because otherwise the vision Doyle had would already be altered.”

Faith stepped forward again. “Hang on. How do we know this guy is even legit? I mean, just because he knows who we are and claims he has visions doesn’t mean he’s who he says he is.”

Xander held up his hand. “He could be one of Dru’s laymen trying to lead us off.”

Doyle held up his hands. “Look, let me finish and then decide if you’re gonna believe me or quarter me.”

Buffy nodded. “Keep going then. And if I find out you’re lying to me you’re going to wish I was only quartering you.”

“Good to hear. There was more to the vision. In it, while all you guys are fighting the vampires, this Dru starts battling someone.”

“Who?”

“Cordelia.”

Cordelia’s head shot up. “What? Me? I don’t think so.”

Doyle shrugged. “It’s what I saw.”

Buffy stared at the brunette cheerleader, trying to imagine the girl in a fight without worrying about the state of her nails. But that wasn’t fair. Cordelia was anything but meek; she wouldn’t just roll over and die. If anything, she thought Cordelia would be a damn-hard opponent to beat and she had witnessed it first hand in their battle for Spring Queen. But against Dru? She would have little chance against the mad vampire.

“So the cheerleader goes one-on-one with the insane vampire,” Faith said, nodding. “That’s hot.”

“Faith,” Giles snapped and turned back to Doyle. “Are you sure it was Cordelia you saw?”

“I’m sure,” he replied. “That’s why I’m here. I came down here to tell you about the vision but the boss-man sent me down here to protect the lovely Cordelia.”

Cordelia laughed. “I honestly don’t know what you’re taking, but I am not standing here discussing how I’m going to be killed by psycho-vamp.”

“I never said you died—“

“But that’s what you’re all thinking,” she said, and Buffy felt a flash of guilt. “There’s no way I could beat Drusilla. So I’m going to die, aren’t I? Well feel free to talk about this as long as you want but I won’t stay here and listen.”

“Cordelia,” Buffy began.

“No! I’m going.”

She turned and was almost at the door when Doyle called out. “I wouldn’t leave if I was you.”

Cordelia spun around angrily. “Why not?”

“Because Dru’s had the same vision as me,” he said. “She knows you’re what stands between her and the end of the world. So, she’s going to try and kill you as quickly as possible.”

The smile that crossed her lips was one of defeated humour. “Of course. Why didn’t I realize I was on her hit-list?” And with a rigid back she fled the room.

Buffy knew she was probably the only one there who knew exactly how Cordelia felt. To find out suddenly that you were part of a set of preordained events that would ultimately lead to your death—well, it was something she was well versed in. And if this Doyle’s vision turned out to be true, then Cordelia had a difficult few weeks in front of her. Buffy realized she would have to be taught how to fight, and that she would need someone with her at all times if Drusilla was really out to kill her. She leapt into action.

“Giles, Willow, get researching on Cruor again. We need to know why Doyle saw him in his vision if we killed him. Faith and Xander, you two go get Angel and update him on everything.”

“What will you do?” Giles asked.

“I’ve got to make sure Cordelia doesn’t get herself killed. If she’s really as important as Doyle claims then I’m going to do everything I can to keep her alive.”

“And me?” Doyle said.

“You,” Buffy replied, “are with me.”

“Because you like my company?”

“Because I don’t trust you as far as I could throw you—actually, not even that far.”

Two hours later they had almost circled the entire town, and Buffy was certain something about Doyle wasn’t right. She could feel something simmering beneath his surface, like a pent-up fury. But he was chatty and relaxed, talking about his life in LA warning and protecting the people in his visions. He just didn’t suit the off-feeling he was radiating. She glanced up at the sky and noticed that it was growing dark—another half hour and night would fall. They hadn’t yet found trace of Cordy, but Buffy was growing worried. Her house had been pretty much bare; food was still on the table but all the wardrobes had been emptied, and Buffy knew there was more going on in her life than Cordy had let on. Why would her parents flee town? And had Cordy gone with them?

She was about to suggest they return to the library when she heard the sounds of fighting up ahead. Doyle fell silent and they exchanged a glance before breaking into a run. Rounding the corner they found a vampire struggling against a dark-haired girl, just outside the gates of a cemetery. Buffy was about to call out Faith’s name, when all of a sudden she realized that it wasn’t Faith at all.

It was Cordy.

“Cordy!” she called out, and the brunette girl’s head swiveled around. The momentary loss of focus worked in the vampire’s favour and he got in a quick punch, but he hadn’t had much room to swing and it was a weak one. Cordy rolled with the momentum though, falling to the ground. The vampire leapt to his feet and fell upon her, lowering his head to her neck…

Buffy whispered, “No…” and sprinted towards them, already seeing that she was going to be too late. And then the vampire froze, and exploded into dust. Buffy pulled up short, stunned, as Cordy coughed and rose to her feet, brushing off her clothes.

“Buffy,” she said, striding past and handing her the stick she’d used as a stake. Buffy stared after her, turning back to Doyle with a confused look.

He shrugged. “She’s pretty messed up, isn’t she?” he said. Buffy rolled her eyes and the two of them ran to catch up with the brunette.

“What the hell was that?” Buffy asked.

“What?”

“You’re hunting vampires by yourself?”

Cordelia shrugged, indifferent. “I wasn’t hunting them. I just went for a walk and he found me so I decided to get rid of him.”

Buffy struggled to come to terms with what she was hearing. Cordelia, queen of high school, who rated nails and hairstyles as number one on her priority list, fought a vampire alone and won. Buffy recalled the easy way she’d taken the punch and rolled with the pain, using her vulnerability to her advantage to give the vampire false feelings of victory. Cordelia had been good. Really good. She knew she should be angrier with the brunette for needlessly risking her own life, but she’d never seen another human fight like Cordelia had. Like pain was a friend.

“Have you been doing this for long?” she asked, ignoring the surprise that flickered through Cordelia’s eyes. Buffy knew she’d expected Buffy to lecture her about responsibility and leaving all the dirty work to the Slayer.

“A few weeks, maybe,” she said.

An idea started to form as Buffy watched the girl out of the corner of her eye. If Cordelia really was to face Dru in the coming apocalypse, she’d need all the help she could get. Buffy could already hear Giles ranting against it in her mind, but Buffy seriously thought this would be best.

She would train Cordelia to fight.