Chapter 1

Normally, when in Giles' place, Buffy would be cracking jokes on how British Giles acted. However, today she just wasn't in the mood. In fact, her British father figure was the last thing on her mind was at this point. No, her mind was definitely somewhere else as she paced back and forth. She didn't even notice that her hands were caked with blood still, from the bloody fight with the Mayor and his enforcements.

She was numb from many things, and Angel leaving was one of them. He was off to L.A. to seek his redemption and she could understand that, but it still hurt like hell. He wouldn't even give her an address of where he would be. It was like he wanted to break all ties.

That was just some of her thoughts.

Her other thoughts were purely about Xander.

The adrenalin of the fight against the Mayer was still flowing through her veins. For what seemed like the millionth time she looked to the boy that was clouding her mind completely as he lay on Giles' couch. The knock to his head wasn't hard enough to crack his skull or even draw much blood. However, it did knock him out of the land of consciousness.

It was all so senseless. They beat the Mayor.

However, Xander got hurt after the battle.

That is just his luck, Buffy thought with wry amusement.

It was senseless. It was a demon called the Do'Kra. It was a nine foot tall humanoid demon with very immense strength and huge club like hands. With one swipe of his massive hand, he had laid Xander out quicker than you please. Then the bastard had the nerve to laugh. What happened next would be burned into Buffy's brain forever. That demon's laugh pissed off the wrong slayer, and it wasn't Buffy.

Buffy watched as Faith picked up a sword off the ground from one of the dead students cold hand. She didn't even scream, she didn't have to. There was a fire and darkness that she had never seen in a demon or human radiating from Faith's eyes. Then with quickness Buffy didn't know Faith had, she went to work.

At first the demon thought it was funny, that this mere human would dare challenge him. He stopped that line of thinking as soon as he lost his arm. He let out a high pitched scream when his left leg was cut off just above the knee. Then she chopped off the other arm jut above the elbow. Then when he started to tip over, she did a spin around move and took the demon's head in one swift blow.

Faith could have killed him immediately, but she wanted him to suffer. By the look in her eyes she was enjoying inflicting pain on the demon. The more it screamed the more the maniacal gleam in Faith's eyes grew. Faith wanted to hurt the demon that had hurt her Xander badly.

After that, Buffy thought that it was over, but she was wrong. She had looked to see her best friend Willow floating about five feet off the ground and had solid black eyes, with no whites or color, from the magic she was channeling. It had happened when she saw Xander fall.

With a raise of her hand, she first skinned the body with a quick efficiency that spooked even Buffy a little, and then incinerated the corpse with one magical blast before she calmed down and floated back down to her feet-eyes a normal color again. At that moment, Buffy realized that even though her Willow-Shaped friend was usually sweet, nice and kind-she could be a cold hearted killer with a thirst for vengeance when the mood struck her, like when someone hurt her Xander.

Sometimes in the heat of the battle, or after the battle, Buffy noticed that the strangest thoughts seem to seep into one's head at the oddest moments. The thought that Buffy was thinking of was the fact that over the last few months Willow, Faith and Xander seemed to grow very close. They were almost like the closest of siblings.

What she, or they, did not know was that they were soul mates.

Faith walked over to where Giles was kneeling over Xander's body and her face was showing open dread and fear. "I-Is he going to be all right, G-Man?" Her voice cracked in the silence.

Giles looked up at his second Slayer-and she was his, since Wesley died in the battle-and gave her a compassionate look. She and he had grown close over the last couple of months. "It doesn't look like he has a concussion, but I think we should move him to my place for him to rest for a while. His parents would be of no help," he replied bitterly as he thought of the young man's parents. They were nothing but abusive drunks.

He and Willow were the only ones that knew how his parents treated him.

Without a word, Faith went over and picked up Xander as if he weighed no more than a mere babe. Willow was crying, but following closely behind them. She was holding it together quite well because she was leaning on her boyfriend Oz, and he gave her the silent support she needed. He was always good to her.

So now here they were in Giles' apartment, waiting for the boy to wake up. Xander's head was resting on Faith's lap and his feet were resting in Willow's lap, much to Oz's dismay. This was all odd to Buffy, because she knew that none of them were dating, so it had to be different. They were acting almost like very close sisters and brothers would.

Buffy must have paced an hour and Giles was drinking his tea (with a dash of whisky) just as long as well. Xander was finally waking up, and he sat up with a little blush when he noticed where his head was. Faith smirked at the blush.

"So, did we win?" he asked innocently.

"Xander how can you be so--" but she was cut off when a bright white light flashed and Faith, Willow and Xander just completely disappeared from the room.

Giles, who rarely cursed, did at that moment. "What the bloody hell?!" he nearly screamed at the empty space.

"What the hell was that?!" Buffy shouted.

"Ok, this is new. If any of you kids have heard of this, please raise your hand," Xander quipped as he looked around in what a person could call a white void.

"Nope. This is definitely new, X."

"It could be a void that is in between dimensions," Willow speculated.

"Do you think we are in serious need of therapy if we are staying this calm when we are probably stuck between dimensions, one of which could be hell, like Wills said?" Xander asked in an overly mocking thoughtful voice.

"Nah, just think about it, X. We've been through worse." Faith said.

"You just HAD to ruin it and jinx us, didn't you?" This was said with a mock stern voice. In actuality, Xander wasn't that worried. It was like this place just made you want to be calm-almost like a spell. Moreover, it was like the room made them not even worry it could be a spell that promotes trust and calmness.

It was then that Xander really took in his surroundings. It was nothing but a very large square room-30-30-that had walls and floors that was literally glowing white-so much so, that it almost blinded a person by it.

"You need not fear this room or us, mortals," A base voice sounded out.

The voice seemed to echo out through the room, right before three light-blue robed figures appeared out of thin air, about ten feet from them. They were all identical, like identical triplets. All of them had very neutral faces and platinum blonde hair. The one on the far left spoke first. Faith stepped into a fighting stance, just in case.

"I suppose you wish to know why you are here."

"That would be a BIG yes. And we'd like to know who the hell you are, too." This was usually her blunt way of doing things-show she was capable of force and demand answers. Faith wouldn't admit it, though, but these guys were starting to spook her. Her slayer senses were screaming that they were very powerful.

The middle one spoke this time. "We are what you mortals call the Powers That Be. We control the Balance between Good and Evil. Because without Evil, there can be no Good. And without Good, there could be no Evil. The world would be thrown into Chaos and what you call Hell."

Xander had to admit that not much could shut Faith up when she got going, but that speech surely did. He looked over at Willow and noticed that she had a very thoughtful look on her face. Faith just had a bored look on her face. However, he had been studying her body posture for a year and he could tell she was nervous.

Xander thought that it was his turn to speak. "So why bring us here. You have everything under control. Why do you need us?"

The one on the far right answered this time. "Because there will be a very, very large increase of vampires and true demons in the future, particularly in Boston, New York and Cleveland-and that's just the one's in the United States. There are seven others around the world. It's a new development that the Hellmouths there have become active in giving off energy. In those cities, even though they are dormant, they are still very active gathering places for demons, for they are drawn to the mystical energy of the Hellmouths.

"Where usually there is only the one Hellmouth in Sunnydale, there will be ten more in the world now. As it is, we have two champions, Slayers, three counting Angel. It would be better if we have five. That is where you and Willow come in."

"We wish each of you to go together to the cities with the Hellmouth and protect it. However, we do not wish you to do it alone. We will give you gifts if you allow it. But the gifts come with a pretty hefty price."

Xander was about to interrupt and tell them he was just a normal guy, when the one that was speaking held up a hand to stop him before he started. "Alexander Harris, we have looked into your heart and it is one of the purest there is. However, there is a place in your heart that is so dark that it would put a demon to shame. Humanity should be grateful that you were never turned," The Being stopped at Xander's down cast expression.

He began to speak again. "Do not be ashamed, Xander. Everyone has a dark side. It depends on how you use it that counts. If you use your darkness to fight the darkness and demons, then you are doing the right thing. You will be doing humanity a great favor."

The one in the middle started talking at the moment the last one left off. "When we call you our Champion, The Dark Knight, we truly mean it. We are prepared to help you out in a few small ways as well. The first gift that we will give you is just a little more than the strength, speed and healing of a Slayer. However, your physical senses will be five times stronger than normal.

"The second is we will release your memories of Army Ranger John Jackson from that Halloween fiasco-in case you didn't know, he had a fifth degree black belt in Aikido, Kenpo and was a master at almost every firearm. The third gift is that you will be bonded with Willow and Faith in a special way-only not romantically. You three are already soul mates; we are just going to intensify it. You will feel their emotions and feelings, fears and pain; so that you will all know when one of you is in trouble."

"However, there are other aspects to the soul-binding that we will give you three. For the first year, you will have to stay in close contact. You will also feel the need to touch each other casually, almost to make sure that the other person is still there, without even realizing it. Think of it as being the closest brothers and sisters that you can think of. This is the way of soul bonds. In other words, you will have to live with one another."

Xander took a quick look at his friends. He figured the last gift would have made them pissed, but he was wrong. Both of them were smiling at him. He gave them his trade mark Xander-Smile and turned back to the platinum blonde, all powerful triplets.

"As for you, young Willow, you will be just like a normal Slayer. However, because of your magic you will heal faster and have a little more speed. Moreover, your magical capacity will double in its power, making you one of the most powerful witches in the world. Remember though, you are not the best. In order to be the best you must practice, and don't abuse it. You have to learn it the hard way just like all other witches. It can be taken away just as easily. That means do not try to destroy the world," he finished with a small teasing smile.

Willow looked ecstatic.

Then the middle one turned to Faith. "Faith, you will be three times as strong as you were, but you will also be three times as fast in speed, healing, and physical senses like Xander. The one other gift we are giving you is the ability to be telepathic as well as telekinetic, meaning you can move things with your mind. However, the telepathic ability will not work on witches and warlocks or anything mystical or demonic, though you can still communicate with them if you choose-you just won't be able to read their mind. In an emergency, you could control a normal human with mind control. In fact, I think we will give you all that ability. Not the Telekinesis, which is Faith's alone, but the telepathy. I believe that it will come in very handy in Slaying."

The one in the middle spoke again before anyone could speak. "We are offering all you these gifts, but there is a catch."

"I knew it," Xander muttered. There was always a catch.

"I know that you remember how we talked about The Balance? Well, there has to be some type of Master Vampire in Los Angeles. If there is, other vampires will stay away or listen to what that Master says. Either way, the death toll drops. It would be better if there was a Master and a Mistress, in the town, it would keep the worst of the demons away. Just remember that it is for the Balance.

"If the three of you agree then all of you will go to L.A. and would fight much stronger demons than are in Sunnydale. Moreover, if you go, we will expect you to take over the Vampire Nations there and set up your own rules. Like I said it's about balance.

"Moreover, if you agree you will all become Vampires. But not normal vampires. Stakes, holy water, crosses... none of them will affect you. Fire sunlight and decapitation will kill you, though. I should also tell you that you will have to kill humans if you want to gain standing in Vampire politics. Moreover, the soul is forever. The demon will meld and blend with the soul-making it a shade darker, so you will not feel as much guilt as normal; this will help immensely when you have to kill people."

"I should tell you, that if you do not do this, the demons will get the upper hand in the war against the light. Once there are enough of them, thy will be able to open the Hellmouth and release hell on earth. But the choice is yours. That is what is great about being human, freedom of choice."

Xander knew that both of his girls would do this for the good of the world so he thought that he better step up and be a man so that he could stand by them through hell and high water.

"I'll do it."

It didn't surprise him that he spoke, but it did surprise him that Faith and Willow spoke the same words in exact unison. They shot each other a smirk as they turned to look at Willow, who grinned back at them.

The strange thing was that Willow ran to Faith and hugged her as tight as she could. "I'm so proud of you," those were the only words she said.

Xander didn't think that Faith's grin could get any wider without her face cracking when she heard that. Xander knew that she always thought that Willow didn't like her very much-mainly for taking his virginity. Now, here they were, hugging like long lost sisters. They didn't know it, but they just started a very strong friendship.

Apparently the platinum blonde Being was not quite done yet.

"I know all of you are very close, so this will come as a shock to you. As we said before, we need to send all of you to L.A., but after that you will have your own Hellmouths to protect. It should take about a year at each Hellmouth. L.A. has one of the largest Vampire Nations in the United States. We will need you to enter in the nation and make a name for yourselves. And believe me when I tell you, some of the things you will have to do will be pretty gruesome to both vampires and humans.

"You will not have to worry about Angel; an agent of ours named Whistler informed him that Three Masters are going to change the Vampire ways from the inside with bloodshed and politics. Angel said that he would help all he could."

The PTB noticed the nauseas looks on Xander, Willow and Faith's face when they mentioned killing humans. "You will understand better once you receive your gifts. Speaking of gifts..."

"You didn't tell him it was me?" The Being shook his head no. "Deadboy is going to have a wicked Shock."

He trailed off as two briefcases appeared with a flash in front of Xander and Faith, The two teens looked at the PTB quizzically. The middle one sighed. "Each brief case holds 10,000 dollars and there are also checkbooks and debit cards in there as well. They also have id's that say that you are all twenty-one. All three of you have bank accounts that have around five billion dollars in them. Do not worry about setting anything up. You all have bank accounts already set up in Los Angeles."

Xander looked over to Willow and sure enough she was staring in shock at their cases. "I can by a LOT of Twinkies with this!" Xander quipped, even though he was shocked.

He was pretty shocked the middle PTB chuckled. He was beginning to think the man had no sense of humor. "So, is there any thing else that you would like us to know about, oh wise one?

The first one spoke again. "Yes, there is. One of our associates has informed the Watcher of what is going on. Oh, you might want to know that in honor of standing up to the Watchers Council for his Slayer, we regressed Giles' age ten years, fixed his eyesight and made him about half as strong as a slayer. He also got the same payment you three did."

"Yes," Faith let out a show of enthusiasm "You know, I used to think that you guys were real ass-er, mean men, who didn't care about us Slayers. I'm glad you proved me wrong today." She had to stop herself from accidentally saying assholes.

The PTB actually chuckled again.

The third Being held up his hand for silence, then spoke. "After we send you back the changes and gifts we gave you will take place." He looked directly at Faith, Xander and Willow. "That means you three will be dead for a day. When you awake, you will be in your new home-as will Angel-and you will have an aura of three vampires that are well over one thousand years old-that's older than the Master that Buffy killed-with the strength and speed that goes with it, along with the slayer strength and speed as well. Other demons will be frightened of you, but some will want to prove themselves to others by killing you.

"If I were you, I would ask Angel how to tone down your aura. You do not want people to know just how strong and powerful you are until your ready. But as powerful as you are, I imagine you will only be able to tone it down to what Angel's aura is."

"If I was you, I would lay low at Angel's place and train-get to know your strengths, weaknesses and natural senses, not to mention controlling the demon within-and that's difficult for some people. There will be plenty of fights there that you can test your skills in, especially in some of the low key bars. And, oh yeah, your new arsenal is in Angel's basement at the Hyperian Hotel, where he lives. Angel spared now expense on the security for it-since we gave him the same amount as you three, I have to say that we did a damn good job putting it together. We worked with your personality, and your alter ego, Army Ranger John Jackson."

"There is one other thing. Since all of you either have a lot of Slayer essence in you, or a little, it will attract trouble. For some reason vampires are always drawn subconsciously to a Slayer or Master Vampires. Although, they will be confused by you three."

"Yes, when you awake you will have some minor and some major personality changes, but nothing that should be dangerous to your friends. You will get annoyed fairly easy with people that are not in your Clan, though. And when I say annoyed I mean violent."

"Clan?" Faith asked.

"You will be Clan to Xander and Willow-in truth though, it takes at least five vampires to be a Clan and we want you to be a Clan. So you will have to Turn two more people. I have one person in mind that I would like for you to turn personally, Xander, but I have to get her permission first. You should expect her tomorrow night, after you wake, because if I know her she will jump at the chance. Don't worry, she will keep her soul. Anyone your clan Turns will keep their soul."

"And incase you three were wondering, Xander will be Clan leader. It will be he who will make the laws of the Clan and have the final choice on who will be turned. This will not be democratic; his word will be law in his Clan and discipline will be at his discretion."

Xander expected them to object, but all they did was smile at him. It hit him just then and made him a little sad that he knew that Buffy would have objected. To her, he was just the Zeppo. It also hit him that he had the two best friends in the world... Suddenly Buffy's opinion didn't matter as much.

The PTB in the middle asked, "Are there anymore questions?"

"Yeah, I have two questions. Do you mind?"

"Go ahead."

"The first is a favor for a semi-friend. It's Angel. Could you make his soul stick so he wouldn't lose it again, no matter what?"

"Easily, and consider it done. Next question?"

If I make this childe you want me to, could you tell me about her. Because I have a feeling I'm going to be spending years with her."

"Ah, I could tell you her age first, but then you will flatly refuse. I will say that she will die within two months because of a massive brain tumor if you do not turn her. Her name is Kristi Stone-but she prefers to be called Stone instead of Kristi-and she is fourteen years old. I know she is young, but she is a street kid and a survivor."

"Believe me when I say that she knows what she is getting into. In fact, three weeks ago she slit two men's throats when they tried to rape her, and she didn't feel a lick of guilt about doing it, not even after she poured gas on there bodies and burned their corpses. She's a brown belt in Aikido. But believe me when I say, she's a sweet little firecracker, as long as you do not piss her off in a royal way. But if she's your childe, she will be completely loyal to you, almost to a fault."