Buffy smiled as she thought about her new friends. They were such an unlikely trio, yet Buffy had never felt happier. Xander was such a clown, but he could always be counted on to lighten things up, especially when the Slayer's burden weighed too heavy on her young shoulders. Willow was such a help in school and in Slayage. She was a total whiz in the knowledge department. And she was the best friend Buffy ever had. Not fake or pretentious like the girls in her old school. There was nothing plastic about Willow. And then there was Giles. He was sort of stuffy, and way too into his dusty old books, but he seemed to be loosening up a bit lately. Although he was in desperate need of a wardrobe exorcism! That man positively lived in tweed! There must have been a big sale on it in England, and Giles must have went mad and bought it all up. There was no other explanation.
Buffy patrolled the graveyard, all the while pondering the unholy being responsible for introducing tweed into this world. And polyester. And teen bubblegum bands. And...
"Ahh! What the...?"
"Buffy."
"A...Angel."
"I'm sorry. Did I startle you?"
"No. Of course not. I always scream in cemeteries. For the fun of it, you know?" the Slayer snapped. "So, exactly what is it that you want? Here to deliver another one of your cryptic 'Buffy you're in danger' messages?" Even as she spit out the words, Buffy felt remorse for saying them. Angel brought out the worst in her sometimes. And yet there was something about him.....
"Actually I was out for a walk and I happened to spot you. Thought you might like some company," the handsome vampire said.
"Well, I'm about done with patrol. I was gonna swing through the park on the way home and then call it a night. Have to get up early tomorrow. Gotta go do the 'school' thing, followed by the 'homework' thing. For the finale, I plan to top it all off with the 'Slayer' thing. But I guess you wouldn't know much about that?"
Angel let the remark pass. Buffy was so young; being a Slayer wasn't easy. Especially this particular Slayer. Buffy had it rougher than most. Angel understood her frustration, her loneliness. The two had more in common than Buffy could ever guess.
The unlikely pair walked on in silence. As they reached the most heavily wooded section of the park Buffy froze. Her finely tuned Slayer senses kicked in.
"What?" Angel questioned.
"Shush! Look. Over there. In the trees." she said pointing to her right. "There's some sort of light. We'd better go check it out."
Cautiously they crept closer to the light. As they drew near, they spied a group of cloaked figures gathered around a fire. They were chanting in a language foreign to Buffy's ears, but one which was familiar to the vampire. It was Latin.
"They are performing some sort of ritual...a sacrifice....to Siriat..." the vampire breathed in deeply.
Hearing the note of worry in his voice, the Slayer asked "OK, who is this Siriat person?"
"Only one of the deadliest vampires ever" was his reply. "But she's dead. Must be 20 years at least by now."
"Well that's good. So no biggie then. But I guess I better mention this to Giles in the morning. He'll probably want to know."
"Probably.." he agreed.
A short while later Buffy whispered "Looks like this party is packing up, and I'm beat. I'm gonna go home and hit the sack." the Slayer said with a yawn.
"I'll walk you home."
"Sure. Whatever."
The next morning a perky Buffy bounced into the library and flopped into one of the chairs.
"Morning tweed guy!" she chirped.
"Would you please refrain from calling me that Buffy." Giles said sternly. "I'm your Watcher, and I rather think I deserve a bit more respect than that."
"Sure Giles, whatever you say."
Realizing that he was getting nowhere, Giles decided to change the subject. "So how did your patrol go last night?"
"Well, nothing in the vamp and demon department, but Angel and I came across something a bit weird."
"You and Angel? Really? Do tell."
"Well....I was on my way home and doing a last sweep of the park, and there were these guys in these hooded robe things....Totally tacky outfits, I might add. Who wears something like that nowadays anyway? Wake up and smell the 90's...."
"Buffy, could you stick to the topic here?" Giles said, rolling his eyeballs skyward.
"Oh yeah. Right. So anyway, they were chanting in some other language, and Angel said they were doing some sort of sacrifice."
"Do you know who the sacrifice was for?"
"Some person....Serious...Syria....No...wait.....Siriat! That's it!"
"Oh dear!" Giles muttered, feeling a bit faint. Hearing that name from his past was a bit unexpected. "Are you sure Buffy?"
"Sure, I'm sure." she replied. "The name was Siriat. Angel said she was one of the baddest vamps ever, but she's dead now."
"Yes, yes indeed...Quite dead." he mumbled absentmindedly. "Well, thank you for bringing this to my attention Buffy. I'll look into it, of course. Probably nothing....
Giles was interrupted by the telephone ringing in his office. "Excuse me please Buffy."
"Sure Giles. I have to get to class anyway. Later!"
"Um...Yes, see you later Buffy. Remember, you have training after school today." he called after her.
Giles quickly moved to his office and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Rupert! It's Teresa. I'm in town on business. How's that for coincidence? I was wondering if we could get together for dinner..."