It was Faith who found the first victims, a group of men found naked from the waist down in one of the bushy areas of the UCS campus. They would not have been visible to anyone passing by on the footpath. They also looked like they had died "with a serious happy."
"The police autopsy shows they had all had recent sexual activity, but, ah, not with each other." Giles looked uncomfortable, as always when discussing sex. "They were all law students, apparently friends, who were seen by multiple witnesses leaving a party with a girl who was actually in Sunnydale Hospital Intensive Care unit at the time."
No-one spoke for a moment, this was a review of known facts, not a revelation. The Watcher was trying to trigger new thinking by laying out the case, which appeared to require a shape-shifting demon of some sort.
"They died during sex, each separately, and without apparently noticing the death of the previous victim only feet away. There is no known cause of death. Not for them, and not for the second and third groups of victims either, all of whom fit the same pattern."
Faith and Amanda sat together, holding hands and cuddling. Amanda had had a very positive affect on Faith, and had been accepted into the Scoob's with amazing speed. Initially her health had been poor, but had improved recently, the only bright spot since these puzzling deaths had started.
"I'll patrol the Campus tonight Giles, with Xander if he'll have me." Amanda had described Xander as "...totally loyal to his friends, protective to a fault" and Faith, having betrayed his trust during the whole Ascension thing was not going to get it back anytime soon. But she was working on it, partly at her beloved's insistence.
Xander looked at her, nodded, and said nothing. Well at least it wasn't a rejection. Buffy had taken her post-Prison sexual orientation as evidence she wasn't the same person who betrayed them. Willow had her own recent experience with addiction to the dark side mellowing her, and Giles was willing to observe results before judging.
The group talked for a while longer, but had no new ideas and headed off in their different directions, Buffy to patrol Sunnydale itself with Giles, Faith and Xander off to the University, after a word with Anya.
The ex-demon had been wary of the dark slayers lover at first, and continued to give her odd, knowing looks occasionally. But her insistence on everyone having a thorough medical and health insurance had paid off, and Faith had a job and money in the bank for the first time in her life due to letting the budding businesswoman handle her finances. So she didn't question the motives of Xander's wife.
"God no, please stop, please..." and the sound of panting could be heard faintly by the Slayer. She took off at top speed towards the bushy group of trees ahead, clearing some bushes like hurdles. She saw a gang rape in progess, if the two dead men were ignored, as the remaining rapists certainly were. She ripped the dieing man off his "victim" and threw him into a tree.
The woman on the ground jumped up, changed height, weight, hair and eye colour, and took off while clothes appeared on her till then naked body. Faith chased but could not keep up, and lost her in a crowd of students getting out of a night class.
Xander was in the clearing when she got back. He looked at the corpses, and the stunned looking survivors with disgust. He had been just behind her, and seen the apparent rape. "If the demon is killing rapists why are we trying to stop it? To hell with them."
"At the risk of repeating myself, TO HELL WITH THEM. The 'poor little victims' are being drawn in by an apparent chance at a gang rape. The police interviews confirm it. We should offer the demon our help, not hunt it."
The group had divided into Xander versus everyone else, and the young man was speaking in a calm, measured tone. There was no compromise in him, as Amanda had predicted to Faith. "He'll never support protecting anyone victimising the weak, and rapists victimise the weak, end of discussion."
As the argument continued Anya smiled at her husband occasionally, and opened the mail. One letter had been delivered by bonded courier, addressed to her personally at the shop. She read it, muttered something to herself, and walked over to the discussion table.
"I had DNA testing done as part of the medicals. Congratulations Giles, you're Faiths father."
Amanda, Tara and Anya helped revive the others, as the only concious members of the gang they had no choice.
"Well at least I stopped the argument."
Everyone was reacting differently to the bombshell so casually dropped by Anya earlier. Willow and Buffy were at different levels of disbelief and shock. Giles was guilt stricken, at his having brought a child into the world and failing it so totally. Amanda was calm and absolutley unflappable, quietly telling her girlfriend that "...now you have a father you already respect..."
Faith was withdrawn, and Giles was convinced she hated him. She had explained little of her background, but from her watcher file he knew her mother had been a prostitute. He had visited Boston on British Museum business a few times, it was his job before the council sent him to Sunnydale,and his Ripper habits had come out after a few drinks.
Giles attempt to appologise to the dark slayer "...for taking advantage of your mother and failing you so miserably as a watcher and father..." defused the situation in an unexpected way. She had always known her father had been a client of her mother, and assumed he would be disgusted or ashamed of her. That he was ashamed of himself and wanted to be accepted by HER, brought her to tears, matching his as he still tried to appologise. She hugged him as he cried, and told him it was alright, the comforting role not one she was used to.
Anya eventually sent Buffy, Tara and Willow home by taxi, they were in no state to drive. Xander, Amanda, Faith and herself went to Xander appartment. Faith made Giles promise to go home and call her in the morning, before leaving.
Faith and Xander were sitting on the couch, wondering what their respectives women had planned. The construction worker was still getting used to the idea that this was his father figures daughter.
"Does that mean when we had sex that time it was incest?" He said to her quietly.
"It doesn't matter, you will have orgasms with her if I tell you to, and I will tell you to." Anya was looking at the pair on the couch, but holding Amanda's hand.
"Don't I get a say in this?" Faith asked.
"NO!" Amanda and Anya said in unison. Amanda looked nervous, even for a woman who had just told her girlfriend she had NO CHOICE who she had sex with.
"That is not the major news though. We have to tell you who the killer is." Anya began, as Amanda was too scared to talk. "She is a Succubus, and is sorry for the trouble she has put us through."
"As opposed to being sorry for all the dead guys, you mean." Faith said.
"Yes exactly, as opposed to that." The ex-demon continued on "I knew her when she was starting out a few centuries ago. Succubi can read male minds particularly their deepest, darkest, fantasies, and adapt their appearance to suit. She always targeted predators, you know rapists, child molesters that sort of thing."
It was then that Faith noticed her girlfriend had changed hair colour. When Amanda noticed her lovers attention she became more nervous, and her control of her species chameleon ability slipped even more. Her various factors started changing randomly.
"Succubi need male sexual energy to be healthy, the way humans need certain vitamins and minerals to avoid deficiencies. I had not fed in a while when I met you, Faith, so I was sick. That first group of men really did try to rape me, so I ate them."
She was regaining control as she talked, seeing her lover and lovers to be accepting her explanation. This had to work, she NEEDED them, and above all Faith's love. It had been so long since she had been loved.
The reaction of the two people who had been out of 'the know' was as predicted. Xander trusted his wife to know about demons she had encountered, if Anya said Amanda was safe then so be it. Faith was too desperately in love to care about anything except her girlfriends happieness. Neither would shed a tear over dead rapists.
"The big news is that I need more sex than I can get from one woman. It is not healthy for me in the long run to just eat the occasional group of rapists. I HAVE TO HAVE A GROUP, with at least one male for background male energy."
"I have to share you, you need a harem. I, I don't know..." Faith was surprised. But then again, regular orgies sounded fantastic, as long as her beloved continued to love her.
"Anya if you want me out of the way a divorce is possible, feeding me to Amanda ..." Though other than that the idea had its merits.
"It is not like that. I love you Faith but I am not human, I have non-human needs. I need your love, and sexual pleasure from a mate group." Humans could be so obutuse some times. "On the plus side, as my mate group, you will all be immortal and ageless, like me. Faith, stick with me and you can't be killed without thermonuclear weapons, we can have eternity together. You too Xander and Anya, of course."
No one felt like refusing, and the orgy began.