TITLE: The Watcher: Ministers of Grace 3/3
AUTHOR: vatwoman
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN etc own Giles and anyone else in the Buffyverse, Anna and everyone I invent are mine.
FEEDBACK: Will be gratefully received on list, or at: vatwoman@yahoo.co.uk

The front door of the gallery was closed, but not locked, and Giles pulled it open cautiously. The main space was in almost complete darkness, the only light coming into it from the corridor that led away to the office and storage areas. He took a deep breath, held it, and then slowly let it out again.

"I can't smell anything." His whisper was just loud enough for Anna to hear.

"That's good, isn't it?"

"It certainly suggests that there aren't rivers of blood anywhere in the building." He turned around and stepped back out of the doorway onto the pavement. He caught her shoulders, awkward because of the stake he carried in his left hand. "Alright, I want you to go now. Go back to your house, get in and lock the doors." He let go of her long enough to fish his mobile phone out of his pocket, "Take this. When you get home call the Council; press button number three and it'll ring right through. Ask to speak to Robert Caldwell, he's head of special ops, tell him I need a clean up crew. Give them the address of the gallery. Tell him it's urgent. They have to get here and get the job done before the police turn up."

"Why not just call the police?"

"Because there are cameras all over this area of the city, and you and I are probably being filmed right now, standing outside a business premises that may very well have a number of dead bodies in it. So I don't really want to have to try and explain to the police what I'm doing here. Do you?"

Anna frowned, "But the tapes?"

"Will be erased. It's part of what Robert's team does."

Giles glanced back over his shoulder. Still no movement inside. "Go."

"I can call the Council from inside."

"No!" It didn't matter that he'd had to hiss out his response in an undertone, the anger in his voice was still evident.

"I'm coming with you."

"No!"

"Do you think I can just leave you here to get on with it?"

"You have to. This is what I do. This is my fight."

"And what if you're killed? Who's going to fight her then?"

"Not you."

"I hadn't exactly pencilled myself in for that role. I saw myself more as the distraction." Giles opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped when Anna took his arm squeezed tightly. "I can help. I know her, Giles. I know her vanities. I know her moves. I know what she thinks."

"No, you don't. You can't. She isn't the person you know. She isn't a person at all."

"I resent that!" The door behind them sprung open and in a blur of yellow that left its afterimage on Giles's vision, Philippa West, or the thing that Philippa West had become, punched him to the ground, flew past him, grabbed two handfuls of Anna's dress and bodily threw her into the gallery. The vampire leaned over Giles and patted his cheek, "We'll be inside catching up on gossip if you want to come and join us." The door silently swung shut behind her.

Dazed, Giles staggered to his feet, caught the door handles and pulled. The door opened. Philippa West clearly wanted him in the building; wanted her audience. In this, Anna had been absolutely correct.

He stopped just inside the door and scanned the room. Anna was twenty feet away, slumped against the wall on the opposite side of the gallery. The floor to ceiling decorations and blow-ups of some of Anna's photographs were still in place. He couldn't see the vampire.

"Anna?" There was no point in whispering, not when your adversary knows you're there. "Anna?" She wasn't moving. He couldn't see her moving. Didn't see her move, but then he heard her cough. "Anna? Are you alright? Talk to me!"

"Yes, Anna, talk to him. Whisper sweet nothings in his ear."

Giles tightened his grip on his stake. The bottle of holy water was a solid weight in his jacket pocket. He took a step to his left, glanced at the door saw the lock and turned it.

"That won't hold me in here."

The voice seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere. An old trick, all smoke and mirrors, and he ignored it. Anna was struggling to sit up. He watched her touch the back of her head and saw the blood on her hand as she brought it back around in front of her. "Anna, can you stand?"

From the other side of the room he watched as her eyes sought him out and found him. Using the wall as support, she pushed herself to her feet and stood with her back to it. They stared at each other across the gaping chasm of the room.

"Where is she?"

"Close enough to smell the blood, darling."

It was Anna's question, but Philippa's reply. Giles held his gaze steady on Anna, and nodded at her when she straightened and braced herself against the wall. "I'm coming over there." The laughter that followed his words scraped his nerves raw.

"You're very brave, little man."

She hit him when he was barely halfway across the room. The force of it lifted him off his feet and drove him into the wall beside Anna. The crack of a rib snapping was audible even over Giles's gasp, Anna's muted scream, and Philippa's continuing laughter.

Giles struggled to free his arms from the bear hug that Philippa had him in. She let him writhe in her arms for long, futile moments, suddenly released him, stepped back, and landed two vicious punches in his midriff. Pain lanced through his side and forced him down onto one knee.

Anna lunged at Philippa, weaponless, ignoring Giles's warning shout to leave the vampire alone, but Philippa had dodged away, her movements a blur once more.

"Giles!" Anna bent down and looked into his face. His brow was knotted in agony, and he was panting, trying to get the pain under control.

"Get me up!" He pushed up, Anna helping him, holding him by jacket and shirt, and pulling him upwards. Giles saw her, Anna couldn't with her back to the room, his warning shout was a desperate one, "Watch out!"

As if they'd choreographed it, Anna and Giles both spun around, each with a foot raised high to fend off the attack. Anna's connected, the stiletto heel of her shoe plunging into Philippa West's heart. Anna felt the impact through her entire body. The shrieking glee of the vampire's attack ceased abruptly and she staggered backwards, clutching at her chest with the shoe still in it, and came to a swaying halt in the middle of the floor a dozen yards away.

Anna kicked off her remaining shoe, and after a few seconds of silence asked, "Is that it? Is she dead?"

Giles leaned back on the wall and fixed his gaze on Philippa West. "There are a few tried and tested ways of killing a vampire: beheading; setting it alight; exposing it to direct sunlight; and, of course, the classic wooden stake to the heart." He coughed and held his side, "Unfortunately, death by stiletto heel isn't one of them."

"Then why isn't she moving?"

"You were saying?" He pointed across the room with his free hand.

They watched as the hand Philippa still had around the shoe tightened and pulled it out of her chest. There was a soft, sucking, squishing sound as she did so. A tiny trickle of blood bloomed on her dress, turning yellow to lurid orange.

Philippa looked down at the hole in her clothes, the blood, the shoe in her hand, and fell into her `game' face. When she looked up, she had the pleasure of seeing Anna Freer, the ice maiden, take a step back in shock. She smiled.

"Nice shoes, Anna. Prada?" There was no reply and Philippa took a half step forward, threatening again, forcing Anna to respond.

"Yes."

"Thought so," the smile was back again. "Of course, it's ruined now, " she tossed the shoe over her shoulder. "Shame really, it must have been a bitch trying to find a match for that dress." She rubbed her chest, and winced, "Still, I can't sympathise too much because you know you really shouldn't have done that. It hurt."

"Forgive us for not giving a damn," Giles coughed out. He bent slightly at the waist to ease the pain in his side, and when he straightened he felt his shirt damp under his hand.

"Hmm, Watcher blood. Nice." Philippa saw the frown that flashed across Giles's face. "Oh come on, Rupert," she laughed. "Did you really think that you could just slink back into town and we wouldn't know about it?" The laugh turned into a sneer, "Prodigal son and all that jazz. Oh, except you were never that, were you?"

"And you've never learned the art of shutting up and just getting on with things, have you."

Philippa's attention shifted from Giles to Anna, "My, my, `Feared-y Freer' finds her voice. Second time this evening. I suppose that's what comes of hanging around with a watcher; makes a person think that they matter to this world. Do you know what I'm going to do to you, my darling Anna?"

Anna stepped away from the wall. She felt Giles touch her back, a warning, she was sure, that she shouldn't go too far. Pity she had no idea whether he meant too far away from him, or too far into this confrontation.

"Do you really think that scares me?"

Philippa hissed out an angry breath, "Be very careful. I can end your life right here."

"I'm sure you can. So why haven't you?" Anna continued walking towards the vampire. "Oh yes, I remember; because fundamentally you're a coward. You always have been."

Philippa spun around on her toes, arms spread as if entreating the crowds, and laughing. "A coward? That's priceless! You've spent your whole life running away from fights …"

" … avoiding fights …"

"…and you call me a coward!"

"If the cap fits."

They were barely an arm's length apart. Anna could smell the vampire's foetid breath, all dead air and stale blood. Anna looked down into the gleaming yellow eyes, saw the excitement there, the madness of power, and wondered if she was seeing something that had been in Philippa West all along, waiting for its chance to escape.

"Where are they?"

"Who?"

"The people who were still here after we left."

"Ah, *those* people." Philippa wagged her finger at Anna, "Not going to answer that; off topic."

"Alright," Anna nodded. "Let's stick with cowardice, then." She let her face take on a dreamy quality, "First year of high school, we passed in the corridor and banged into each other accidentally. You decided to make a scene out of it. You slapped me. I slapped you back. You slapped me again." Anna smiled, "So that would make it my turn." She lashed out, quick as a snake strike and connected solidly with Philippa's left cheek.

"Anna!"

The stake Giles had thrown was almost to her when she turned around. She caught it out of the air, and in one movement plunged it into Philippa's chest. The shriek of anger from the vampire tore into her head. She felt hands on her arms, lifting her, throwing her backwards to the floor. And Philippa was on her, snarling, biting at her neck. Anna drove the stake into the thing that pinned her to the floor; drove it in again and again.

Then there was more weight, more noise, and Philippa was struggling, struggling to escape. A scream of pain. A fist connected with Anna's jaw, driving her head back, dizzying her. A cry of agony from above her, and the weight disappeared.

Silence. A profound silence, released out of the cacophony of battle.

Anna forced her eyes to focus. Philippa was gone, and Giles was lying on the floor beside her. She rolled over and pushed at him, "Get up!" She got to her knees, "Come on, Giles, we've got to get up."

<Get up! You fight on your feet> The voice in her head was so loud that it must have been a memory, although Anna couldn't remember when those words had been spoken to her.

They made it back to the wall.

With their shoulders touching they could feel each other shaking. Anna looked across at Giles. "You're bleeding."

"News for you …"

Anna touched the back of her head. Followed the trail of blood down the back of her neck. As before, her hand came away stained a deep red.

"No," Giles frowned. "Here." He rested his fingertips on the pulse point on her neck, and she shivered under his touch.

"I thought she'd punched me."

"She did. Then bit you."

"Oh God." She pressed her hand on top of his, as if the very weight of their flesh could knit the wound together. "Does that mean that she's …"

"… turned you?" The voice was back again, back to haunt nerves and chase sanity. "No, it doesn't, but then I don't have any intention of turning you. Drinking you dry will be quite satisfactory. You taste quite sweet, by the way. Have you tasted her, Rupert? Are you a biter?"

"Ignore her," Giles breathed out in an undertone. "Let me see your head." He pushed on her shoulder. She turned her back to him and he reached up to probe the wound on the back of her head. "It's almost stopped bleeding. It's ok, it's not deep. Do you feel alright? Nausea? Blurred vision?"

"No, I'm ok." Anna faced the room again, "What about your side?"

Giles cast his eyes around the gallery then looked down at his torso. "I've cracked a rib."

"What's bleeding?"

He peeled the shirt away from his body, wincing as he did so. "A wound I picked up a few months ago. I was speared. It healed, but the new skin's wafer thin. The wound's opened up again. It'll need stitching."

Anna nodded, "When we get out."

"The optimist of the team." Giles commented wryly.

"Where is she?"

"Regrouping, I would imagine."

"I can't see her," Anna's head turned this way and that, looking for Philippa.

"Too many shadows in here. She's in one of them."

"Yes, she is, and she's listening to everything you're saying." Philippa walked out of a deep pool of inky blackness by the door recess. "You still haven't answered my question, Rupert. Are you a biter?"

Giles rested his head back against the wall and studied the vampire. Regardless of the fact that she'd missed her ultimate target, Anna had done some significant damage with the stake. Philippa's body was punctured by six or seven deep wounds, all of which were leaking blood. The heightened healing ability that vampires possessed had yet to kick in, and as a result Philippa was bent over with pain.

"I've been known to bite."

"Ahh," Philippa laughed out loud against a gasp of agony. "I'm sure you have. So tell me something about Anna." Her voice sounded slurred, "Something I've always wanted to know. Is her hair white … you know … `downstairs'?"

Anna lunged forward. Giles grabbed her, and fought to stifle a cry as his damaged body protested the sudden, stretching movement. Anna shook off his restraining hand, but went no further away from him. "You're disgusting!"

"I'm a vampire." Again Philippa laughed, and it sounded stronger this time to Giles's ears, "It comes with the territory."

"No, that wasn't a vampire speaking, that was Philippa West. You've always been disgusting."

Philippa raised a bloody hand, smoothed down her hair and preened, "That's true." The laughter was stronger still, and she straightened up, flexing as she did so, "So, are either of you going to give me an answer? Is the hair in Anna's muff as white as the hair on her sainted head? Inquisitive minds want to know."

Anna stepped forward again. Behind her, Giles reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a bottle of water. Aware that his movement had caught Philippa's attention, he carefully removed the cap and took a long drink, rubbing his mouth when he brought the bottle away from his lips.

"You've always hated me. Why?"

"Because she got Neil?" Giles speculated. He took another drink.

Philippa smiled at him, and then turned to look once more at Anna, "I like this man. He's wrong, but only because he didn't get the pairing right." She wandered over to Giles, morphing into her game face as she reached him. Giles froze. She ran a hand down his chest, pushing at the wound in his side and causing him to groan. She gripped his shoulder, squeezing so hard that it seemed he could feel the bone bending. "It was more a case of Neil getting her. I wanted her. I wanted her all for myself. Why did I hate you? Because I could!"

End game.

Philippa spun Giles around to face her, mouth open, her fangs seeking his neck. With a violent shove Giles got her a foot away from him, and spat water into her face.

Time stopped.

All three stood as still as statues. Then there was smoke. A tiny wisp, at first, curling across Philippa's cheek, then more and more until her whole face was alive with writhing greyness, and her scream of agony was a terrible thing. Giles walked calmly across the room, picked up the stake that Anna had dropped, turned, and plunged it into the vampire's heart.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head as the cloud of dust showered down on him.

"Oh God."

Giles faced Anna and, as he'd done outside, took hold of her shoulders, "Don't. Don't you *dare* take on any blame for the way she was."

He held her eyes until she nodded. Then, because he needed to, he gently pulled her into his arms and hugged her to him, her scent driving away the foul smell of blood and death around them.

Eventually Anna pulled away, "We have to find the others."

"Yes, we do." He held out his hand to her. "Let's go."

>>>>>>

END
8th May 2003.

ABSOLUTION pt.1 - `TIL YOU LOVED ME