“Bloody hell!” shouted Spike as he stepped back. There were at least ten vampires attacking him at once. “Shouldn’t have let the bloody witches go without me,” he muttered to himself, just before a foot caught him in the face and he went crashing down to the stone floor.
Vampires swarmed around him, some laughing, some just glaring, as they readied themselves to finish him off. Spike tried in vain to fight them off, but they wouldn’t let him get his bearings. None of these vampires, alone, would have been any match for him, but there were ten or so. Spike was outnumbered.
But he wasn’t going to give up. He continued to kick up and trip his adversaries. Spike knew that he wasn’t going to survive this fight, but he had to keep the vamps of the witches’ tails.
A boot connected with his face, and he nearly blacked out from the force. He was prepared to fight to the death, but if these buggers didn’t quit kicking him in the bloody face…
Then it stopped. Spike was sure he was just about to die, but the stake was never plunged into his chest. He weakly lifted his head, to stare into concerned brown eyes.
“Having fun?” asked the familiar voice.
“Who’s asking?” he muttered. The dark eyes turned darker, with concern.
“You don’t recognize me? How hard did you hit your head, Spike?”
“I know who you are. All bloody four of you. I meant, which one’s asking.”
Faith whapped him lightly on the arm, then reached down to help pull him up. He stood, swaying slightly, and rubbed at his head.
“Where are they?” Buffy cried, coming into the corridor. Spike waved in the direction Willow and Tara had headed.
“They went ahead. Figured I should stay here and keep the baddies off their tail.”
“Crap. Okay, let’s go. We’ve got to get to them.”
The group followed Buffy through the tunnel, Faith making sure to keep a hand on Spike’s back, steadying him.
“You okay?” she asked him, all mocking absent from her tone.
“I will be, luv,” he replied. “I think I like having you worry about me. Makes me feel all warm and squooshy.”
“Makes me want to heave,” Dawn piped up from behind them.
“Shut it,” Faith and Spike replied in unison, not even turning around.
“Yup. Totally over each other,” Dawn muttered sarcastically to herself, rolling her eyes.
*~*~*
“What are you talking about?” Willow demanded of Kellan.
“You are the Power,” he replied simply, crooking his finger. Willow’s feet stepped forward of their own accord. The power? The power… Willow remembered something from a dream she didn’t really remember. Tara saying…that she was the Power. As soon as the memory surfaced, it was gone again.
“What does that mean?”
“Does it really matter, little girl? You aren’t going to live long enough to find out, anyway.”
“I’m not going to let you use me,” Willow said, her voice sounding strong in her own ears, despite her own mind-numbing fear.
Kellan laughed. “Oh, that’s rich. I like that. You aren’t going to let me? You don’t have a choice, my dear girl.”
“I think we might have something to say about that,” Buffy’s voice rang out in the echoing cave, and suddenly their group was assembled behind her, looking fierce and unbeatable.
“Oh, look at this! It really IS my lucky day. The Chosen. Oh, and the Key, the Champion, the Twice Called. How wonderful!”
“Perky people piss me off,” Faith growled, stepping forward.
“M’not too fond of ‘em, m’self,” Spike drawled, swaggering a step forward.
“Oh, this is entertaining,” Kellan laughed, before smiling evilly. He raised a hand, and suddenly Faith was swept back into the stone wall with enough force to knock her out immediately. Spike went to rush to her side, but found that his feet wouldn’t move.
“You bloody bastard!” he growled, struggling against his invisible bonds. “I’ll bloody kill you!”
“Yes, yes. Now, as wonderful as this little gathering is,” Kellan said, smirking, “I think it’s time the redhead and I had a little private party.” He raised another hand, and his eyes glowed red before Willow suddenly levitated up to stand beside him on the rock platform he was on, and they were surrounded by a pale, blue bubble, unmoving.
“What the hell?” Gunn said, stepping forward.
“Willow!” cried Tara. “It’s a force-field,” she said. “We can’t get to them!”
Spike suddenly found that he could move again, and rushed to Faith’s side, listening carefully for a heartbeat. Cordelia joined him at her side, and they carefully began to try and wake her up.
“What’s he doing to her?” Xander asked.
“I don’t know. But we have to stop it,” Buffy replied.
*~*~*
“Where are we?” Willow demanded, noticing that she was floating in an endless black space. Kellan was floating in front of her, a gruesome smile on his face.
“Ah. Alone at last,” he sighed, still smiling. “I don’t suppose anything here looks familiar?”
The dream. Willow remembered. This was the point, in the dreams she’d been having, where she would explode.