Chapter 16

Eye of the Tiger

A/N: Chapter sixteen of the series.

Disclaimer: All belongs to Joss Whedon and those who publish the shows. Original characters are mine.

Feedback: Sure, whatever.

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Cleveland USA

December 2017

Kennedy had always been a spoiled brat.

She'd been taught to be a spoiled kid, as such; she'd grown to become a spoiled woman. The power of the slayer in her only increased her arrogance and cockiness, giving her the power she always wanted. She'd grown within the Council's ranks and had wormed her way to becoming a pack leader, assigned to the only hellmouth open in the world.

She was proud of herself and of her slayers. She'd been overconfident in their abilities and prowess when a failed raid instantly became a revealed secret.

Everything had been going according to plan. Agent Parker had been given a heads up and was on his way to secure the scene. Things went downhill when he didn't show up in time and her pack was caught in film fighting vampires and killing a Fyarl demon.

'On national television, no less!' She thought, and grinned as she imagined all sorts of trouble she'd get Parker for screwing up.

He had taken her and her slayers into custody and ordered them to report to the Council as soon as possible.

True to herself, she had dismissed his ideas and found it offensive that a simple watcher tried to boss her around. She'd sent her pack to London and ordered them to stay there until she came for them. Till that day, she'd stay behind and fight alone.

In the following days, she'd received numerous phone calls and endless e-mails ordering her to report back to the Council. She'd dismissed them all, knowing she'd be reprimanded for not waiting for their cover to arrive or her way of handling dangerous situations. Such things had already happened before, and it had meant the end of her relationship with Willow.

Kennedy never understood why someone with so much power could submit herself to the Council's rules. She felt the Council should be a tool for the slayers to use, and not the other way around.

She'd continue to ignore all attempts to contact her made by the Council. She would report back whenever she felt like it, or as soon as the hype about supergirls living in Cleveland cooled off.

Furthermore, she always felt more comfortable patrolling alone. She felt rookie slayers merely slowed her down and she never stood working under Faith's orders. She couldn't believe how Faith was the second in command, even after all her screw-ups.

Working on her own, she'd managed to kill more vampires than on a night with her pack. She kept smiling, knowing she was one of the best slayers ever.

Time went by, and she grew bored and decided to call it a night when she felt the distinctive tingling in the base of her skull, meaning a vampire was close. She'd been patrolling the cemetery for the past two hours and she was sure there were no more vampires.

'Probably a rising fledgling.' She thought, smiling and deciding a last kill would help her sleep better. She began hunting, following the tingling on her neck.

As she approached her prey, she felt something wasn't right. Usually she could tell whether her foe was new or an experienced vampire, but her senses were screaming something else entirely. She could only feel danger and the unexplained sensation felt when staring at a caged tiger's eyes. Kennedy shook her head, feeling stupid and angry for freaking out after fourteen years of being a slayer. She began closing on her prey, sensing how the vampire had not moved and was proving to be an easy target. She smiled, thinking about a fast can clean kill.

All thoughts vanished as she saw her target. Deciding she'd toy around with the vampire for a while, she launched a full frontal attack, thinking her pray would go down easy.

She had never been more wrong in her life.

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Wesley could feel something had gone horribly wrong.

The thing inside had woken up and was growing impatient. Illyria's constant complaints and harsh words were beginning to annoy him. He shut out all the words coming out of her mouth and focused on the strange feeling the thing was broadcasting all through his body. He felt power, but that was expected, since the tracking spell had led them close to Kennedy, a constant source of power. But the thing, always threatened by the power of a slayer, was feeling some sort of familiarity with the strange source. Uncomfortable in the Council, the thing reacted differently to the powered individuals around him. It respected Illyria's power and constantly lusted for her, which wasn't a bad thing, considering the body she inhabited was the love of his life.

The power it felt now was ancient strength mixed with something dangerous. The thing didn't feel threatened, as much as it was following the power, like a beacon for darkness.

Wesley frowned; feeling eager to identify what could give off such power, confused and unaware if it was he or the thing feeling anxious. He took off running, guided only by instinct, trailed behind by a confused Illyria who ordered him to stop or be harmed in different and painful ways. Wesley ignored her and focused solely on finding what was making him twitch.

Suddenly, the power diminished and practically vanished, but it wasn't long until Wesley found why the thing had been so shaken up. He slowed his pace at the entrance of an old cemetery, but the thing was already whispering about what he'd find. Illyria soon caught up with him but remained silent as they walked inside the cemetery. They looked around for few minutes until they found what Wesley already knew they'd see.

Illyria slowly returned to her normal form, leaving behind the Fred impersonation and looked sideways at the spectacle displayed in front of her.

Tombstones had been shattered and a few trees had been torn apart in what seemed to have been a brutal fight. Wesley's eyes trailed down and sighed when they saw what the thing inside had described before.

"Call Giles." He softly said, turning to look at Illyria.

"Tell him we found her."

Illyria nodded, as Wesley slowly knelt down and stared at Kennedy's dead body.