Chapter 4 - Questions and Changes

"Xander and Anya went off to bed," Tara said. Her hair was neat, but damp.

Ann nodded. "We'll tell them about this before they go off to work in the morning."

"Where's Buffy?"

"Getting dressed; we swam a bit."

"When she comes in, I have a theory I want to put before her."

"About what?" Buffy asked from the doorway. Her hair was also damp, but curlier.

"Tonight," Ann said. She unfroze Harmony. "Now, I want you two to listen, and not interrupt."

"Why do I think I'm not going to like this?" Buffy said.

"Suppose this: You're a hired killer. You're assigned to kill someone, but there are no photographs and there may not even be a name. There's only a description," Ann said. "Twenty year old white female, graduate of Sunnydale High School, longish blonde hair, 5'3", about 107 pounds, very strong; frequently found in graveyards or in the company of vampires."

"Oh, hell," Spike said.

"Oh," Willow said.

"Now, in the absence of any photographs, if there happened to be two blondes, both very strong and so forth, in two different cemeteries tonight, some confusion could occur."

"No," Buffy declared.

"Absolutely not," Harmony stated.

"What we found at the Bronze," Ann said, "was a vampire hunter with a clove of garlic and a nine millimeter automatic. He also had a .22 strapped to one ankle and a knife he can get past metal detectors on the other."

"I don't look anything like Harmony."

"My hair is amber," Harmony said. "A rich, beautiful amber and she has no dress sense whatsoever."

"Spike called the body an amateur vampire hunter, and I rather agree. However, he was also attempting to be a professional assassin. I think what we may have is a mercenary who has been hired to kill a vampire."

"The solution's simple, then," Buffy said. "Turn Harmony loose. They kill her, they leave, we're fine."

"But I could be wrong," Ann said without any hesitation. "He may have been hired to kill the Slayer and thought he needed defenses against vampires, since you are frequently in the company of vampires. We could turn you both loose, and see which one of you they kill."

Everyone stared at Ann. Spike recovered in time to not say anything, but Willow said, "Hey!"

Buffy and Harmony both said, "What?" then glared at each other. Tara was silent, just looking at Ann with huge eyes.

"Then, they would leave, and we'd be fine," Ann finished.

"Very funny," Buffy said.

"After all, Buffy, I don't see much difference between you and Harmony."

"She's a vampire, she doesn't have a soul. I'm a human, I do."

"How do you know?"

There was a confused babble and much movement. Willow bounced up out of her seat. Buffy paced, one hand playing with her necklace. Harmony couldn't get up, since Ann had told her to sit, but she stamped her feet noisily.

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Spike picked up his glass, which had been refilled while he and Ann were gone, and sat down close to Tara. "What's she up to?" he asked the girl softly.

"I think it's something to do with the project Claire is working on. Those tests she ran on you, remember?"

"Oh, yes."

"Well, Claire has been testing other vampires. She says she's about ready to assemble a vocabulary, maybe formulate a theory, and then work on some experimental tests."

"Claire's been going after other vampires? That's not safe."

"Ann goes with her, or one of Claire's other friends. And Claire is very powerful herself."

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"It sounds to me like folk tales," Ann said. "Or maybe just plain black propaganda."

"It's not just the Council, all the vampires say so, too," Buffy retorted.

"I'm sure they all believe it. That doesn't make them any more right than you are. You and Faith are more experienced in the nature of the soul than any human or vampire in this room, Buffy. You might find it enlightening to put aside your dislike of her and consider what happened the last time you met."

As often happened when Faith was mentioned, Buffy stiffened. She wrapped her arms around her chest and turned away from Ann.

"But, ah, Angel," Willow said, covering the silence. "I brought back his soul, so at one point, he didn't have it."

Ann nodded. "I think you should talk to Claire about what you actually did, Willow. And I think you should go with her, Buffy."

"I haven't got time."

"At some point you will not be facing Glory or finals. I can bring Claire to you, remember."

"All right. I'll talk to Claire when I'm free."

"Excellent. Now, Harmony, tell us what you've been doing that might get people annoyed with you."

"Nothing," the vampire said.

"All right," Ann said. "Just tell us what you've been doing recently."

"Like what?"

"Where were you last month, Harm, for starters?"

Ann glanced over at Spike. "Thanks." He nodded.

"Oh, I've been in Palo Alto, around the campus there."

"And what did you do there?"

"Parties and stuff."

"Did you do anything else?" Ann demanded "Steal the wrong notebook? Break into the wrong laboratory? Catch the wrong teacher with the wrong student?"

"Why would I break into a lab?"

"Listen, you idiot girl! I'm trying to discover why, beyond terminal aggravation, someone may want you dead. Have you done or seen or overheard or taken anything worth killing you over? Think!"

"No, I haven't done anything like that," Harmony said.

"Notebook?" Spike asked

"From the Brookings Institute or SSRL or some proprietary research lab? Money or secrets," Ann said, "can make humans very nasty."

"No, I'm not interested in anything that dull," Harmony insisted. "I just do normal vampire stuff."

"Eating people," Willow said

"I'm a vampire, it's what I do."

"Bite anyone?" Ann asked.

"Well, yes."

"Kill anyone?" Buffy asked coldly.

"Not really."

"You turned them, didn't you?" Spike asked.

"What?" Ann asked him.

"She sired them. She changed them into vampires. She gets off on it."

"How many?" Buffy asked.

"Parties?"

"How many vampires did you create?"

"Zac, Eric, Marty, Carlo, Freddie, Andy, Jake, Max, Pedro, Ian, Jack, Tonio, Sam, and Denis."

"Stop, stop! Over a dozen? You created and released, into the screwy, precariously balanced, potentially explosive, social ecology of California, over a dozen climax predators? Are you crazy?" Ann was furious.

"She's stupid and she doesn't know what ecology means," Spike said.

"I do, too. It's about oil spills and sea gulls."

"How about lynch mob? Ethnic cleansing? Genocide? Spike, didn't you tell her anything?"

"She doesn't listen."

"That does not relieve you of all responsibility," Ann snapped. "Remember witch hunt?"

"That was before my time," Spike protested.

"The Salem ones, yes, but there were others," Ann said.

"How did you know?" Willow asked Spike.

"What?"

"How did you know she likes creating vampires? You were here, she's been doing it in Palo Alto."

"She did it in Los Angeles, too."

"How many there?" Ann asked.

"Probably three dozen in LA, maybe more."

"Harmony, I don't interfere with anyone's free will lightly, but enough is enough. You may panic the human population, with disastrous results for yourself and every other vampire, if not every other non-human, in California." Ann stood in front of the young vampire and said, in her voice of command: "You will not create any more vampires, unless an adult human specifically asks you to turn her into one. Do you understand?"

"Yes. But I like it."

"Too bad," Buffy snarled. She turned on Ann: "That's not harsh enough. She's killed over forty people and you're talking about climax predators and not letting her do it again!"

"This is all I am willing to do. After all, the people you say she killed are in fact going to and fro in the earth, Buffy. They're just alive by magic and not their original biochemistry."

"Except maybe Eric, Slayer," Spike said. "You killed him earlier this evening."

"Who?"

"Eric, out in Sylvandale, who was just back from Stanford. Gang Long and I were at the casino out there, and one of the gamblers told me."

"Harmony, remember your Eric? Was he from Sylvandale?" Ann asked.

"Yes, we laughed about that, having to go all the way to Stanford to meet each other, when we went to school down here. He's a junior..."

"Hold it," Buffy said. "I wasn't out in Sylvandale. Why would I go all the way out there?"

Ann frowned at the Slayer, then turned to Spike: "Your informant, trustworthy?"

"I would guess so. He was just talking, not trying to impress me or fool me," Spike said.

"Can you talk to him again?"

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"Unusual happenings are interesting," Ann said mildly. "Especially when they happen simultaneously with other interesting events."

"What time is it?" Spike asked.

"Nearly a quarter to eleven," Ann said.

"He was settling in at a slot machine. He may still be there."

"I'll go with you," Buffy said.

"No. He's a vampire, you'll scare him speechless. Shall I bring him here?" he asked Ann.

"If you think you need to," Ann said.

"Will he be safe if I do?"

"I promise that he will be."

"Right," Spike said, and went out to his car.

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(Chapter 5)

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