After the girls left the shop, Gunn, Wesley and Xander headed to the back. “I vote we put all prisoners in one room,” Xander suggested. “It’s just tidier.”

“I got no problem with that,” Gunn agreed, and they moved to the Queen. Picking up either side of her chair, they carried Saria into the back, still bound. The Teplir followed. Buffy and Angel were both struggling against their chains.

“Come on, you two. Play nice. I’m sure we can muster up more restraints if we look hard enough,” Xander told them.

They ignored him and continued to work.

“What’s the chances of them getting those undone?” Gunn muttered under his breath.

“Oh…pretty good, probably. They’ve both got superpowers and they’re both pretty ticked at the likes of us right now. And at each other.”

“Can we do anything about that?”

“Don’t know. I guess we can look in the basement, see if there really are more chains down there. I know there’s some at Buffy’s. And at the mansion.”

Gunn raised an eyebrow. “With anyone else, this conversation would have very different undertones.”

“We’re brothers in arms,” Xander agreed. “I’ll go check the basement.” He handed Gunn the tranquilizer gun. “You know how to use this?”

“Aim, squeeze?”

“That’s about it. Oz usually only took one shot, but if he was really riled up, sometimes two.” He threw a glance at Buffy and Angel. “Be prepared for maybe a dozen.”

“Sure. Question: who’s Oz? And why were you guys always shooting him up?”

“Oz. Werewolf. Willow’s ex. He went Call of the Wild three nights a month, we locked him in a cage, sometimes he got out. Ergo, gun.”

Gunn gave him an appreciative glance. “Werewolf? Really? Neat.”

“Oz was a cool guy. The werewolf was less so.” Xander turned and headed to the basement.

Gunn made himself comfortable on the couch and turned back to Buffy and Angel. “Look, you two. Just chill out. You’re not getting out of those, and even if you think you can? We’re going to get more chains. Might as well settle in for the long haul.”

“If you were smart you’d let me out of these things. If he gets out first, you’re in a world of trouble,” Buffy shot back.

Angel smirked. “I’ve been waiting a long time to shut your smart-mouth,” he told Gunn.

Gunn cocked an eyebrow. “We’ll see, we’ll see.”

“I don’t know why you and your friends even attempt any of this,” Saria broke in suddenly, bitterness in her tone. “It’s useless. A soul is nothing but a hindrance.”

“Amen,” Angelus growled as he tried to turn his body and push off from the wall.

Gunn began to look nervous. “Ain’t no one talkin’ to you,” he snapped.

“What are you going to do? Kill me?” Saria shot back, frustrated.

“Seeing as how you don’t feel much like sharing, I think eventually that may be one of our options…yeah,” Gunn told her.

The Queen rolled her eyes. “The cure, the cure,” she spat. “They’re better off this way. Emotions are what hurt us most. You don’t understand. You’ll never understand.”

He shrugged. “Ain’t that a shame.” Suddenly Angel jerked away from the wall and Gunn jumped to his feet, gun at the ready. “I’d rethink that.”

The vampire smirked and held up his still-bound hands. “It’s only a matter of time.”

Gunn’s eyes remained steady on the vampire’s before he turned and sank back down onto the couch. “Come on, Xander,” he muttered.

*~*~*

Dawn walked inside her house, exhausted, Willow on her heels, and they immediately headed upstairs, veering off to their rooms. Mr. Summers had taken the couch in the living room, and with the early hour, had yet to rise.

Hours later the smell of something cooking woke Dawn, the aroma wafting up the stairs. She blearily opened her eyes and blinked heavily. Despite her expectations she had fallen asleep rather quickly, still in her street clothes, and on top of her covers. When she opened the door to her room, Willow was standing in hers, looking just as out of it.

“Get some sleep?” Dawn asked.

Willow nodded slowly. “A little. What’s that smell?”

“Dunno. Pancakes maybe? What time is it?”

“Ten. We got four hours of sleep,” Willow grumbled.

“I don’t think I can go back to bed,” Dawn admitted, and Willow nodded.

“We’re up,” the witch agreed, and stumbled back into her room. “Shower. Water. Hot.”

Dawn giggled. “You get ready, I’ll go see what dad’s up to. We should probably head back to the shop as soon as possible.”

“Mrrmph,” was the only reply she heard from the exhausted witch. Smiling to herself, Dawn put on her slippers and padded down the stairs.

“Sweetie!” a beaming Hank Summers greeted his daughter.

“Hi dad,” Dawn replied, giving him a small wave from her spot in the doorway.

“How do waffles sound? We’ve got butter and maple syrup,” he tempted with a wink.

Dawn nodded. “Uh, sure. Sounds good,” she told him, slipping onto a kitchen chair. “What’s all this for?”

“For you, of course. I thought we could have a bonding breakfast. Then I wasn’t sure you were getting up at all today,” he winked again, “so I thought if the smell didn’t wake you we’d have bonding lunch.”

“Yeah…we were up late with the book club,” Dawn said delicately.

The shower came on overhead and Mr. Summers looked up. “What’s that?”

“Willow. In the shower.” Mr. Summers continued to look confused. “Buffy’s best friend? She lives in mom’s old room now.”

“Ahh! The boarder she mentioned. Right. Oh, well, no problem. There are plenty of pancakes.”

“That’ll be nice.”

“And plenty for your sister too. Is she up?”

Dawn’s eyes flew wide. “Buffy?” she squeaked. “She’s ah…she’s at that retreat, remember? Not back yet. Willow came home with me this morning.”

Mr. Summers sat down the spatula he’d been holding. “Your sister didn’t come home? I thought I asked you to tell her I was here, and that I needed her to come home.”

“She couldn’t dad…she knows you’re here…she’ll be back really soon, I promise.” Dawn rose to her feet, panicking.

Hank didn’t look any more at ease. “Dawn, I know this is important to the both of you, but I’m talking about your future. Our futures. I think it’s more serious than a book club retreat.”

“Well…yeah…but, I mean. She’s just so involved, dad…and last night went well…it shouldn’t be much longer. Give her another day?” Dawn stammered.

Hank looked unconvinced. “Honey, I’m worried about your sister. She’s awfully stressed out. And frankly, this book club thing seems just a little…odd for Buffy. She’s shirking her responsibilities. Now, I appreciate a good literary group as much as the next person, but when she’s got all this other stuff on her plate, and her father’s in town, I would think those things would take the back burner. I don’t know about you, but I tend to believe we’re more important than some books.” He gave her a knowing grin.

Dawn swallowed again. “Uh…yeah. I know. But it’s…really important to her. To us. We’re all deeply involved in this…book club. I know that if you give her one more day, she’ll be focused-Buffy. Focused on us,” she amended.

Hank watched his youngest carefully, then shrugged. “I suppose one more day isn’t a problem. But I would like to at least see her, please. We’ll go over there after breakfast, okay sweetie? Maybe do some dad-sponsored shopping in town?”

“Go? There?” Dawn squeaked. “Uh…I don’t know, dad. It’s really, um, far.”

“How far can it be? The car’s here.” Hank smiled and nodded at the Jeep parked in the driveway.

Dawn’s eyes ticked to the car. “Ah, yeah. But she didn’t drive herself. Xander picked her up. So…and it’s in the woods. We might not be able to find her.”

“A book club in the woods?”

“A book club retreat.”

“In the woods,” Hank asked dubiously.

Dawn beamed. “Uh huh?”

“Ookay, well, we’ll still do that shopping thing, how about?”

The shower water stopped abruptly and Dawn looked up. “Willow’s out of the shower! I’d better jump in,” she called, and dashed back down the hall.

“What about the…waffles?” Hank called after his daughter.

*~*~*

Dawn burst into the bathroom and Willow let out a shriek, clutching the towel around her dripping body. “We’ve got to do something!” Dawn cried.

Willow clutched at the blue terrycloth. “Like learn to knock?” she asked, more surprised than angry.

Dawn looked apologetic. “Sorry. But, it’s bad. My dad wants to go shopping this afternoon, with me, and he wants to see Buffy. I think I bought us maybe a day before he’s going to get all-superstitious. And the book club thing? It’s getting flimsier by the second.”

Willow nodded, one hand on her body-towel, one holding the mass of towel on her wet head. “Oh…okay. Well…how about we get me all dried off and, you know, clothed, and we’ll figure it out.”

Dawn nodded and left the room, plopping herself down on Willow’s bed. A minute later Willow entered her room, fully dressed, and closed the door. “A day, huh?

“Yeah. I know, I’m sorry. I mean, what am I supposed to tell him? We can’t let him see her like this, she’s…sorta mean. And he’ll never understand the chains. Just never,” Dawn lamented.

Willow was thinking quickly. “Okay. You, get ready. I’ll call the Magic Box and see what’s going on. Maybe they’ve figured out something.”

Dawn nodded and jumped off the bed. “I'm sorry I can't go with you, I'll rush dad along as much as possible,” she called as she dashed out of the room.

Crossing to the phone, Willow dialed the Magic Box number quickly. Xander answered.

“Hey, it’s me,” she told him. “What’s going on?”

“You know how tired we are? Our captives are the opposite. It’s like they’re more energized now. They’ve been trying to get out of the chains all night. The shop had more, but I still have my doubts.”

“Did Giles call yet?”

“Nope. He’ll come through, I mean…he’s in his element right now. Got a project to work on.” The rattling of chains and some shouting sounded from the back.

“What was that?” Willow asked, worriedly.

“Two guesses,” Xander told her, running a hand through his hair. “You guys coming down here soon? Gunn and I are wiped…and things have been crazy all night.”

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, the usual. You know how our friends don’t like being cooped up,” he said, the humor only half-hearted. “And we moved the Queen and her demon back there…which may not have been the smartest of our ideas. She and Buffy have been bitching at each other all night.”

She glanced at the clock on her bedside table. “I should be there in a half hour. Dawn’s gotta stay here with her dad though, he’s insisting. And…he expects to see Buffy by tomorrow. We’ve gotta figure this out, now. Has anyone talked to Cordy or Anya this morning?”

Xander closed his eyes and sighed at her news. “Gunn’s going to try calling Cordy and Fred in a minute. I talked to Anya a while back. Can you call Tara, get her down here, too?”

“Sure. See you soon.”

Willow replaced the phone receiver and sat on the edge of her bed, worrying her lip.

*~*~*

Willow met Tara outside the shop and they headed inside together. Wesley, looking ragged, was half-asleep on a pile of books, Gunn next to him.

“Are we the first ones here?” Willow asked with fake-brightness.

Gunn shook his head, his eyes not opening, and motioned to the back. The girls exchanged a glance and headed there. In the training room they found all four captives, Buffy and Angel now secured with double the amount of chains they had been the previous night, as well as Xander and Anya.

“Where’s Dawn?” Anya asked in greeting.

“Her dad was a no go. They’re doing the bonding thing today, for a little while anyhow. I think she’ll be back this afternoon sometime,” Willow answered, and turned to look at Buffy. “How are they doing?”

He sighed. “Cranky, that’s for sure.”

“And hungry!” Buffy told them.

“And hungry. Cordelia’s picking us up some breakfast on her way in.”

“Did Wesley find anything?” Tara asked as they left the training room and entered the shop again.

“Nothing useful,” Anya told her blandly. “And now he’s just sleeping, drooling on a 14th Century edition of Marcaine’s Demonology Reference.” She picked up the book and unceremoniously let Wesley’s cheek hit the table.

He groaned and opened his eyes. “I’m up.”

“What about Giles?” Tara asked, turning back to Xander.

He shook his head. “He’ll call soon, I know it.”

Wesley rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “I found a few things that might be of interest to us, but nothing concrete. I need to speak to Mr. Giles again. If we don’t hear from him in the next few hours I’ll contact the Council and try to locate him.”

“What did you find?” Tara asked, taking a seat.

He yawned before answering. “I’ve been exploring some of the more unethical methods of soul extraction and their reversals. There are a few methods that I think we might look further into, but many of them require dark power, power that I’ve never evoked, and mystical elements that we don’t currently have access to.”

“Like what?” Willow asked, interested, as she took a seat next to Tara.

The bell over the front door rang and Cordelia and Fred walked in with Connor and lots of bags. “Breakfast!” Fred cried merrily.

“What’s with the grim?” Cordy asked, shuffling into the room and unloading her arms. Her expression changed to one of worry. “Did something happen?”

“No, no,” Wesley assured her. “We’re just going over some of the things I found in my research.”

“None of them apparently good,” Xander informed them, leaning on the table. “Hit us with the bad stuff, English-boy.”

Wesley rolled his eyes at the nickname. “Ah, yes…I have so dearly missed Sunnydale. Perhaps if I could just get knocked unconscious, my trip would be complete.”

*~*~*

Buffy gave up. The chains were holding her, and more importantly, they were holding Angelus. Other than the cramp in her wrists, and a nagging pain in her back, she wasn’t uncomfortable. She was, however, extremely irritated and more than a little bored.

“Perhaps now that you are finished with what is clearly a fruitless attempt at freedom you will listen to me?” Saria asked her.

Buffy barely looked up but shot her a mean glare from beneath her lashes. She turned to Angelus. “Her you can eat.”

Uncharacteristically, he agreed with her. “When one of them come back in, we’re getting her gagged.”

“Why do you ignore me? I speak the truth, and you refuse to listen. You’re better off this way. Perhaps he is not,” she said, looking tempestuously at Angelus, “but you are. You’re the Slayer. Freedom from emotion and the burden of sentiment can only aide you in your journey.”

Buffy ignored her.

Saria took the silence as more opportunity to speak. “Tell me, Slayer, don’t you feel better now, aside from your captivity? Lighter? I know nothing of your life before now, but Slayer’s are not unknown in our dimension. You are legend, lore. And you are supposed to fight alone. I can only imagine what it must like for you, to worry about friends and family, loved ones, when out fighting for the world you live in.”

“They do have a tendency to interfere, Buff,” Angelus pointed out. “Always in the way, getting hurt, distracting you. Seems like I used that to my benefit once or twice. Remember?”

“I don’t know why I’m not alone. Guess I like to do stuff my way,” Buffy shot back at the both of them.

“What will you do now, Slayer?” Saria needled. “How do you feel now? If you continue as you are, without most of your soul…the warrior instinct in you will take over. Warriors are meant to be alone. This will not last. Better to accept that now than to hurt them even more, later. This is the perfect opportunity for you.” Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but Saria plunged ahead. “Think of it. You and the fight nothing else. I know the Slayer in you is reacting to that. It calls to you, churns your blood, pricks on your skin. Feel it?”

Buffy looked away guiltily.

“You do. As I thought,” Saria continued. “It’s there. Primal. The urge to hunt and to kill, as you were always meant to. Human emotion is overrated. It hurts, and it’s hard. It takes time to heal and then time just brings more. Aren’t you tired of it?”

Buffy stared at the floor.

“I can only imagine your life…attempting to be human during the day and then freeing yourself to the night for only a few short hours. Dancing in the dark, pushing yourself to the limit to do what you are destined to do. To hunt, to kill. It must be exhausting to have to be two people. Why do that to yourself, when you can just be one? The stronger one?”

“You know, it could be the blood-deprivation talking here,” Angelus spoke up, “but I think you’re a quack.”

Saria ignored him. “He will tell you that because he knows—knows your supremacy. You as you are, right this minute, are much more dangerous than before. I know you feel it. The strength. The power. The surge of life, the rush of energy in you. You have been freed of your soul, your mortal soul, and made room for the Slayer to encompass you. You will be indestructible.”

There was movement at the doorway as Xander and Willow walked back into the training room.

“What’s going on?” Willow asked worriedly, looking from Buffy to the Queen. Angel looked bored.

Saria glanced at them, then returned her concentration to Buffy. “You don’t need it, Slayer. It holds you back!” she hissed.

Buffy looked up suddenly, her blank eyes finding Saria’s. “Keeping me from my true potential.”

“Unnecessary burdens.”

“All this stuff I remember from before…the pain, the hurt…the duty to my friends, to my sister, to my family. Pulling at me.”

“Distractions from your true self.”

“Hey!” Xander cried, taking a step towards them.

“It doesn’t have to be like that. I don’t have to feel…anything,” Buffy continued slowly.

“No pain, no hurt, no responsibility other than your true calling!” Saria cried.

“Never feeling…anything.”

The room was silent for a moment.

“Oh. My. God!” Angelus moaned. “Enough already! You’re making me depressed, and I don’t even care about any of this!”

Buffy looked around wildly, the room spinning, then shut her eyes at the voices in her head.

You’re my hero.

Vague, distant memories.

You did... what was necessary. What I've always admired. Being able to place your heart above all else. I'm so proud of you. How far you've come. You're everything a Watcher - everything I could have hoped for.

Times in her life that now stirred no emotion.

You were my best friend, I didn't have anyone to talk to about all this scary-life stuff.

Even pain might be nice right now.

In 243 years I've loved exactly one person.

Not just this dead feeling inside.

We’re Slayers, girlfriend. The Chosen Two.

Anything.

You…You’re really here. You’re alive and you’re home…

She had a sister who needed her…and right now Buffy couldn’t even muster up the notion of what that felt like.

Buffy, you can shut me out of your life, I'm pretty much used to that, but don't expect me to stop caring about you 'cause it's never gonna happen. I love you more than anything in the world.

And a mom who’d left this world, trusting that she would be there to make things okay again.

Buffy blinked and stared at Willow. Looking past her she felt one emotion that hadn’t yet escaped her. Rage.

“You took them!” she shrieked, yanking on her chains with a burst of strength that had come from deep inside her. “You took them! You took them!” With a final pull she freed one arm, then the other, then her legs. Tossing the chains aside she lunged at Saria, ripping the ropes that had bound the queen to the chair and dragging her to her feet.

“You took my feelings, my emotions, my everything! I’m nothing without them! I’m nothing!” the Slayer screeched, shaking the queen violently.

“Buffy!” Willow shouted, panicked. Her call was heard at the front of the shop and in a moment the rest of the gang had congregated in the training room. Willow and Xander were trying to pull Buffy off the queen while Angelus strained against his own restraints.

“What…what happened?!” Fred cried, holding the baby back from the fray.

Gunn jumped into the mix and pulled the queen back. Buffy lunged again and Tara shouted “Still!” The Slayer stopped in mid-movement.

“No! No! Let me go! She took them! She took it all!”

“She missed lunacy, then,” Gunn told Buffy, and sat the Queen on her chair again. “Explain. Now. In detail.”

“Fools!” Saria shouted. “She’s better this way! Powerful! So much more so than before. Focused!”

“She’s a mess!” Willow corrected hysterically, advancing on the queen. “Look what you’ve done to her! To them! They’re not the same, they’re not better! He’s a murdering fiend and she’s a basketcase! How is this better?” She stopped her rant and grabbed the queen’s collar, hauling her up. “I swear to God, if you don’t tell us how to fix them right now I will not hold back. You’ve seen my power. Our power,” she said, ticking her head towards Tara. “We will destroy you.” The witch was seething at this point, her breath coming quickly, her eyes narrowed. “If we don’t let Buffy kill you first.”

Tara put a hand on her shoulder and after a moment Willow relaxed, letting the queen fall back onto her chair. Saria had the good graces to tremble.

Chapter Eighteen: Father Knows Best
Back
Home