Two more new vampires had been missing the next the next time she went there, and the others kept their distance.

and I shouldn't get long-winded with commentary

Not sure, but wasn't a name in blue killed by a cop?

Oh, presents!

Erika, yummy. That was neat. I could definitely see it.

Kat, that was so fun. Thank you for sharing it. I really, really loved it.

Connie, neat. Giles is building vampire town?

I feel bad about leaving Vamp!Munchkin behind, but I don't know where he's going yet. But if anyone would understand a little something on the side...

Don't feel bad, erika. Tim & Dru & Angelus & Spike are wonderful.

I'll get back to it...

More Willow and V!Giles

Willow took a deep, appreciative breath when she entered Giles' workroom. There were always interesting smells there, old books, exotic spices. Granted, some of the smells were interesting but less pleasant, like blood and other organic things.

She checked his desk for anything new he might be working on. A gnarled hand and arm lay in the middle of some wrapping paper and string.

"What's that?" she asked.

Giles went over and picked the piece up carefully. "The hand and arm of a lesser Tyrenian imp from Madagascar."

"Oh." She looked at it for a couple of seconds. "Why?"

He chuckled and gave in. "For some reason, the hands of the lesser imp are the second favorite choice in the creation of Hands of Glory. I was curious as to why?"

"What's the first choice?"

He gave her one of those "your worldview will not be enhanced by this answer" looks. "Human."

"Oh. I should have guessed. I wonder why. Humans aren't inherently magical, unless they have the knack for magic."

"I think it's a matter of ease of availability. To be honest, a great many Hands of Glory were constructed by people who had no idea of the true nature of things but who thought that the blasphemous aspects of dismembering a corpse would provide the extra power. The hands of criminals, particularly murderers, were quite sought after."

Willow grimaced. "Do they work?"

"Inasmuch as the intent of the item is evil and therefore leads the focus of the magician into darker areas, then it works. If the hand is prepared with the proper rituals, it can be an authentic artifact, but most mages don't bother."

"What are the proper rituals?"

Giles studied for a long moment. "Are you needing an artifact of evil for something?"

"Oh, gosh, no! No evil artifacts, not at all. I was just wondering."

"We'll leave it to academia, then." He put the arm back on the desk. "Now, then." He considered a moment, his hands in his trouser pockets, then, with vampiric speed, he tossed a small marble at her.

It bounced off the point of Willow's chin. "Ow!" She gave him a look of betrayal and rubbed the budding red spot.

Her look was more than matched with a perturbed look of Giles' own. "Willow, what were you supposed to be practicing?" he asked sternly.

She managed not to go "eep!" "Blocking things, stopping them and holding them. And I did! I have! Last night I caught Buffy's frappachino and held it in midair for her. I went to the batting cages a few days ago and practiced with the pitching machine."

He glanced pointedly at the marble, lying in the corner.

"I wasn't expecting that--and don't give me that look, I know the bad guys don't give warning." She began to wonder if even the resolve face would be able to stand up to the stern vampire look.

He gave her a very old-fashioned "Giles is disappointed" sigh. "One of these days it might not be a marble. I'm glad you feel safe enough to relax here, but you shouldn't drop all your defenses. Not everyone here is your friend. All right?"

Willow nodded quickly. Giles went over to pick up the marble--and he flicked it towards her while still crouched. The marble stopped dead six inches in front of Willow's face, and she smiled serenely at him.

"Very good," he laughed. "Now we'll try it in multiples."

He gave her one of those "your worldview will not be enhanced by this answer" looks.

I can so totally see this!

Connie, I've probably been remiss on the feedback for this series, but I really like the direction you've taken this storyline. You've developed the characters in ways that seem quite true to how your plotlines would affect them. I look forward to every installment.

You've developed the characters in ways that seem quite true to how your plotlines would affect them

That's been the trickiest thing, because I kept the events of S5 fairly intact, except for the obvious departures. So much of S6 was so dependent on Buffy dying--which, you know, is a rather major event--that I have to keep reminding myself that it's OK to go in wildly new directions.

Of course, when the really bizarre plot twists show up, then we'll see how authentic everything remains.

Connie, I'm having the same problem in finishing "The Fledgling" I think...plus juggling two canons.