Everyone was silent for a moment after Willow’s seething outburst until Xander walked over to his friends and carefully pried her fingers loose from the queen’s clothing. He pulled her back, and Willow let him, though she did not break eye contact with her enemy. She was furious, breathing short, angry breaths through her nose, her nostrils round and large, her eyes narrowed in contrast.
“Wh-what happened?” Fred gasped, wide-eyed as she clutched Connor closer to her chest.
Xander looked back at her. “Slayer strength’s no match for that Summer’s temperament,” he told her.
Buffy’s eyes flashed. “Let me go. This is my fight. She hurt me.
“And she may be the only way we can make you right again, so just back off,” Cordelia snapped.
The phone rang at that moment and Anya looked around, unsure what to do, then finally ducked out of the room to answer it. Xander watched her go, then returned his gaze to the Queen. “I think you’d better start talking,” he told her.
She swallowed, nodding wearily. “My people, the Teplir. They wouldn’t leave me here. They’re on their way now.”
“Takin’ ‘em long enough to find you,” Gunn pointed out.
“You knew where you were going when you opened the portal. You had the exact location in mind. They do not. They know only the larger community, and are, as we speak, searching me out. They will be here.”
“Great,” Buffy hissed. “In the meantime, talk. Now.” She glared at Tara. “And let me go.”
Tara gave a hesitant look to Willow and the others before murmuring, “Flex.” Instantly Buffy’s body sagged and she stumbled forward. Angelus laughed from the back. Looking up from her spot on the floor her eyes shot daggers.
“Woah woah woah,” Gunn called, moving between the Slayer and the vampire. “None of that. You can forget the chains, but you can also forget the staking. He stays. That’s the deal.”
Buffy looked up at him and rolled her eyes, moving slowly to her feet. “Fine. Whatever. Right now I’d rather pummel her anyway,” her head ticked to Saria.
“I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
Everyone stopped to stare at the dejected looking queen.
Xander nodded slowly. “All right then.”
“But it will do you no good. The materials you need are not available to you. Only my people can perform the ritual,” she smirked.
“The same people you just told us are looking for you now?” Willow asked snidely, folding her arms over her chest. “The same people who will be here shortly and who, not too long ago, witnessed a major kicking of their collective ass?”
Saria stared at her for a moment, not knowing what to say, when Anya came back in from the front. “That was Giles,” she informed them. “He thinks he’s got it. The cure.”
*~*~*
“Fascinating!” Wesley breathed as he looked over the sheets of paper Giles had faxed him from the Council Headquarters. “It’s been so long since I’ve had access to the Council’s libraries, I’ve forgotten how thorough they are…how quickly you can access information.”
“What’ve we got, English?” Gunn asked, jumping up to sit on the counter. The group had moved to the front room again and were now gathered around the main table as Wesley went over the documents.
“The soul restoration procedure. It’s complicated, however…very old magic. And it’s…”
“Let me guess,” Cordelia said wryly. “Another prophecy?”
He shook his head. “For once, no, it seems what we have here is…” he gasped suddenly.
“Failure to communicate?” Xander quipped and received a smack to the back of his head, courtesy his ex-girlfriend.
“What?” Cordelia asked, gliding past Xander and looking over Wesley’s shoulder. She scanned the pages for a second, then put a hand over her mouth in shock. “Oh my god…well…that’s good, right? It’s good?”
“What’s good?” Tara asked.
Watcher and ex-cheerleader looked up simultaneously. “The key to getting back their souls…it’s Connor,” Cordelia informed them softly.
“Connor?” Fred asked meekly. “His son?”
Wesley continued, reading from the papers. “He must have taken this directly from the text,” he told them, indicating the pages “It’s still in the native tongue. But the translation Mr. Giles provided me says, ‘the key, the child, is the foundation…the anchor…with the essence all will be restored.’ Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? Connor is a part of Angel.”
“But a part of his soul?” Willow asked. “And he’s not a part of Buffy.”
Wesley looked up from the papers in his hands. “There are some theories that when a child is born they take on not only physical qualities of their parents, but also their emotions and their…spirit, so to speak.”
“But what does this have to do with Buffy?” Tara asked.
Wesley furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure. It’s no secret that the circumstances surrounding Connor’s birth as somewhat of a mystery, even to this day. We know very little about why two vampires were allowed to breed…and to give life to a human child at that. It would not surprise me at all to find out that Connor has a quite important and mystical future.”
“So saving the world’s Champion and the greatest Slayer that ever lived might not be too far fetched,” Fred ventured.
Wesley removed his glasses. “I’d say it’s distinctly possible.”
Buffy, seated in a corner of the room, watched them all, fascinated. Slowly she rose from her chair and walked to the baby, peering over the edges of his punkin-seat and gazing down at him. He looked back at her with wide, innocent eyes that had yet to even change from the blue with which he’d been born. The fleeting thought of whether his eyes would remain blue, or turn deep coffee brown, like his father’s, floated in and out of her mind before she noticed that her friends were watching her warily. “I’m not going to hurt him,” she said, slightly offended.
Cordelia crossed anyway and picked up Connor, cradling him to her chest.
“What about the blood?” Buffy asked.
Wesley looked up. “The blood?”
“My blood. It’s in Angel. He fed off me. Giles told me that with vampires, it’s different. Angel sired Drusilla, so her blood and his blood will always be mixed. Darla sired Angel, so their blood is always mixed. My blood’s in Angel.”
The ex-Watcher considered. “That’s very possible…yes, Buffy. It could have something to do with why Connor would be able to summon your soul as well.”
“Connor has some of your blood in him?” Fred asked.
Buffy ignored her and walked back to her chair.
“This is good news,” Cordelia concluded. “What does it say we need to do to restore their souls?”
Wesley cleared his throat. “Form a circle, placing Connor in the center and Buffy and Angel on the East and West. We’ll also need a prick of their blood, from each of them, to be placed on Connor’s forehead in a certain design, as designated here.”
“That’s it?” Xander asked.
“I’m afraid not. Once that is completed we need to crack a Degorian Crystal and allow the power to flow out of it. That will start the chain-reaction to summon their souls from the ether. That, and some chanting.”
“We can chant,” Cordelia confirmed. “Let’s do it now.”
Wesley turned to her. “We don’t have a Degorian Crystal,” he admitted.
She sagged, then brightened and turned to Anya, hopefully, but Anya shook her head. “You think those things are just run-of-the mill? I can special order it…probably,” she told them, crossing behind the counter and beginning to stack heavy catalogs on the counter top.
“We don’t have time for special order,” Willow complained. “Can we summon one of these things?”
Wesley shook his head as he feverishly scanned the rest of Giles’ instructions. “No..no..but wait…I think we may not have to. Yes…yes. Mr. Giles goes on to say that the Degorians had a small sect in this area, hundreds of years ago. They left behind tombs and catacombs that have yet to be discovered or emptied as it is believed an earthquake made them inaccessible. He believes we may be able to locate one of the crystals in the ruins.”
“So we get to go scavenging,” Xander concluded. “What we do best.”
“Us and the sewers. Just like being back in LA,” Gunn agreed.
“Who goes, who stays?”
“Well…someone has to stay with-” Cordelia began when the bell over the shop door opened.
“Hey guys,” Dawn called out nervously. “Buffy…you’re…uh…back!” she stammered, throwing quizzical glances around the room.
“Hello, Buffy,” Hank Summers said to his oldest.
Buffy froze for a split second. “Uh…hi…Dad. What are you doing here?” she said when she recovered, struggling to sound normal.
Hank walked down the few steps to the main room, gazing around at the wares of the magic shop. “I’ve been here since last night, you were supposed to come home. I told your sister to let you know that.”
Buffy glanced at Dawn, who was standing behind their father and gesturing fervently at her sister. Buffy played along. “Uh…right. But I’ve just been so…busy.”
Hank sighed. “I can’t say I expected you to be grown-up about this. Glad to see I wasn’t wrong.” He looked around at the group of twenty-somethings staring at him. “I suppose introductions should be made. Hi. I’m Hank Summers, Buffy and Dawn’s dad,” he told them, his tone only semi-friendly. “I believe I met some of you last night.”
Mumbled hellos were said and Dawn walked around her father to face him. “Dad…this is where the book club meets sometimes. We get loud...you know…and well, Anya here own the shop, so we can run all over.”
“No running,” Anya said sternly.
Hank took in the rest of the shop, noting the strangeness of its wares, and turned back to his eldest daughter. “I can see that you’re much further into this than I’d expected.”
Buffy glanced at Dawn but had nothing to say to her father.
“I’d like you to come home right now, please,” he murmured. “We have a lot to talk about, whether you want to or not.”
“Dad, I really can’t right now. I know it’s hard to understand, but I’m sorta in the middle of something here--”
“Buffy, I don’t care about your book club, or this retreat you’ve been on. You’ve shirked your responsibilities long enough. And I think you owe your father just a small fraction of your time,” he said, sternly, then looked up and smiled at her friends. “I’m sure your friends understand that.”
“Really, dad, right now’s not good,” Buffy tried again and Dawn chimed in to help out her sister.
“The retreat’s over tonight dad…right guys?” she asked them. Several people nodded hesitantly. “And then…she’ll be home, won’t you Buffy?”
Buffy stared at her sister before nodding slowly. “Right. Tomorrow. I’ll be done here tomorrow, dad. Then we can chat.”
“I’m afraid I can’t agree to that, Buffy. This is far more serious than reading…” he crossed to the counter and Tara jumped out his way, “…Lessons in Demonic Passageways,” he said bitterly. “What is this Buffy?”
“We’re a full service book club Mr. Summers,” Tara tried to explain. “We cover lots of ground, anything that might be interesting.”
“Right!” Xander chimed in. “We like the learning.”
Hank glanced from one Scooby to the other before his eyes lit back onto those of his oldest child. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. “Dad…now’s not a good time. And it has everything to do with the stuff I was talking about in LA. Things you’re not going to understand. And talking to you right now…it’s wasting time. If you want to talk to me…to me, you’re going to have to wait until tomorrow.” Her tone was firm, her eyes unwavering, and Hank’s jaw set.
The Scoobies began shuffling towards the back of the shop.
“What’s this really about, Buffy? Vampires?” he grinned, but the smile didn’t reached his eyes. “Monsters? You being this…what did you call it?”
“A Slayer.”
He nodded. “Right…a Slayer. Is this a Slayers club? Are they all Slayers too? You guys run around pretending to be superheroes and endangering your lives and the lives of others? Like your sister’s?”
Buffy cocked her head to one side. “Yes, that’s it exactly. You’ve got it now dad. Way to go.”
Hank’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t mock me, Buffy. I’m your father, and you will have some respect for me. I know I haven’t been here for some important stuff…but I’m here now, and you are going to finally begin acting like an adult.”
“You mean…the way you have dad? Wow…let me get some pen and paper, jot down on those insightful parenting tips I’m sure you’ve got,” Buffy snapped.
Dawn glanced from her father to her sister and back again. “Woah…okay. Look…we can all just sit down and talk about this stuff…but, tomorrow, okay, dad?”
“No, Dawn, it’s not okay. Your sister is…well, Buffy, I think it’s fair to say you’ve got some problems. This…” he glanced around the room, “environment is not helping. It’s only promoting your delusions of grandeur. And it’s not good for Dawn. I may not be able to help you at this point…but I’m not letting you take Dawn down with you.”
“What?!” Dawn gasped, eyes widening. “What are you talking about? I love it here!”
Hank turned to her. “I know you do, sweetie. But look at this! You run around for your so-called book club, in a magic shop, your sister keeps odd hours and leaves your care in the hands of her friends. Not to mention the emotional outbursts and the fighting.”
“They’re my friends, too, dad,” Dawn pointed out. “I like it here. This is my home. I want to stay here…with Buffy…and Willow…and Xander and the others. I don’t want to go to LA.”
“Honey,” Hank said softly, walking to his youngest and placing his hands on her shoulders. “I know you do. But…I have to do what’s best for you. And obviously…your sister is unable to provide for you as you need to be.”
“I’ve got everything I want!” Dawn told him. “I have a house and food and books and school…Buffy’s great with me…we hang out and have fun. And she never ever, ever lets me go out and do the dangerous stuff with her,” she said, throwing a quick, pointed glare at her sister.
“Dangerous stuff…like street fights and fighting monsters? Killing vampires?” he teased lightly.
Dawn nodded. “Yeah! You saw it, in LA! Why don’t you believe her?”
“Because…honey…I don’t know what I saw in LA. It happened pretty fast…but I know what your sister believes…and I know that her beliefs are dangerous. That’s not how I want you to grow up.”
“What…knowing what’s really out there in the world?” Dawn cried. “Knowing that my sister is the strongest, bravest person? Knowing how much she loves me…that she died to save me? To save the world? Twice?!”
Hank’s eyes widened. “This is exactly what I’m talking about, Dawn! God knows what’s been going on here in the year since your mother’s been gone. It’s time to come back to reality. Listen to yourself, honey.”
“Vampires!” Dawn shouted suddenly. “There’s a vampire in the back room, dad. Buffy’ll show you!”
“I’ll even stake him for you,” Buffy offered casually, but Dawn shot her a mean glare.
“I don’t…uh…that’s not such a good idea, guys,” Willow told them. “I mean…ha ha ha…vampires…whooo…don’t really need to be messing with him…them! Them.”
Luckily, Hank was still paying them no more attention than he had been previously. “Dawn…honey, let’s go. Home. We can still enjoy some of our day together.” He turned to Buffy. “And…we’re still going to talk, honey. But I think it’s going to be rather short, now. Dawn and I will be leaving at the end of the weekend. And that’s final.”
Dawn threw her sister a desperate glance and Buffy moved to stop her father as he led Dawn to the front door, but Xander placed a hand on her arm. “Let her go. When you’re yourself again…we’ll work it out, together.”
Buffy watched them go. When they had left the shop she turned to the group again.
Willow approached her sympathetically. “It’s better this way. He’ll keep Dawn out of danger while we go play Indiana Jones. Wesley, you stay here with Anya and work on the restoration spell. Fred, you can stay and help them, and watch Connor. Everyone else goes.”
They nodded wearily and began to collect themselves.
“How you doin’?” Willow asked Buffy gently.
Buffy’s eyes moved to her friend’s. “Okay,” she shrugged. “There’s nothing there…Just the…itch to get out there, to move, to hunt.”
“I know, but we’ll get you back…good as new Buffy. And now…well, we know, right? All this time…there has been something wrong with you…We’ll fix you and you’ll be better than ever…happy.”
Buffy looked doubtful. “It’s hard to maintain focus, Willow. I mean, I had the big angry outburst, and I still want to kill her…but that’s it…A couple minutes later I’m still raging mad with the urge to hurt but I’m not upset about my condition.”
“You—you don’t want us to fix you?” Willow stammered.
Buffy jerked a shoulder and shrugged. “Part of me does…’cause I have all these memories. It’s like I can watch them play out in my mind, I see myself crying, or laughing, or whatever…but I can’t summon up that feeling in my heart…you know what I mean? It’s like I’m watching someone else’s life…those things mean nothing to me like this. And I don’t like that.”
“But…”
“But then I think that I’m more powerful now than I ever was,” the Slayer admitted. “And that maybe I’m better this way. How a Slayer’s supposed to be.”
“Buffy…no…”
The Slayer gave her a small smile. “Don’t worry. I’m on board here. Let’s just get this done with okay?” She walked away, leaving Willow watching her, doubtfully.
“Where are we going?” Xander asked as they gathered around.
Wesley spread out some pieces of paper on the table and bent over them. It was a map that Giles had faxed in several pieces. “Here,” he told them, pointing to a marked spot on the map. “By the docks, in the catacombs.”
“Any idea what kind of funky stuff we can expect down there?” Gunn asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine. I, myself, never explored those areas while I lived in Sunnydale. I don’t suppose any of you…?”
“Vampires, last time I was down there,” Buffy informed them. “Nests. Run of the mill.”
“For you,” Gunn agreed, and added an extra stake to his waistband. “Could be new stuff’s moved in there now.”
“What does the crystal look like?” Fred asked, peering over Wesley’s shoulder.
He shifted some paper around until he found the sketch he needed. “It’s a rather rugged looking object, something you might not really notice unless you were looking for it. Generally yellow or orange in color, it’s an unrefined gem. But they’re extremely powerful, and would have been of great importance to the owners…they may have hidden them quite well.”
“Then we know to plan for a long night,” Xander nodded.
“I want to secure Angel better…” Willow mentioned tentatively, glancing at Tara.
The blonde nodded. “I can bind him for a little while, keep him here and you guys safe, until we get back.” She headed to the back and when she returned, Xander picked up a giant battle-ax, then almost fell over from its weight. Choosing instead to arm himself with some stakes and a smaller version of his favored ax, he grinned.
“Mount up.”
*~*~*
The group headed out and then split up when they reached the catacombs. It was still daylight, making the chance of running into demons higher than normal in the dark, dank caves. It took several of them, even with Slayer-strength, to unblock the entrances to the catacombs where the ceilings had collapsed, and once through, the paths were somewhat rocky and treacherous.
They walked for a few minutes in silence, the beams of their flashlights and the one lantern that Xander found in the back of the shop, piercing the otherwise pitch-black hollows, when the came to a smoothed out wall.
“This isn’t natural,” Cordelia observed, running a hand over the flat rock.
“It’s a door,” Buffy noted and glanced back to her friends. “Who had the crow-bar?” she asked. Gunn produced it and handed it over. In a moment she’d pried the rock slab open far enough for them to slide through. Inside was nothing like they’d been prepared for.
“It’s like The Mummy,” Xander whispered.
Torches lit the walls, making their flashlights unnecessary. The room was fairly small, width-wise, but very tall, with several tunnels breaking off on both sides. The walls were decorated with huge hand-painted murals of death and destruction, scenes of war and battle and domination. Natural cave formations made the perfect alter, which the room had been centered around. On the alter lay a pile of bones.
“Degor, I’m guessing,” Buffy said, motioning to the alter.
“Get a load of this place,” Gunn whispered, his eyes wide with fear and amazement.
“Someone’s obviously still praying nightly,” Cordy whispered back.
“So we make it quick,” Xander commented and they moved to different sections of the room, beginning the search.
“What’s back here?” Willow asked in a hushed voice as she and Tara approached a fabric-covered wall. She reached up and lifted the shroud to reveal a hollowed out cavern about three feet high and about seven feet long. The entire wall was covered with them.
“What…?” Tara asked as they stared into the darkness when a hand reached out and snatched hers, yanking her up and into the hole.
“Tara!” Willow shrieked, grabbing the girls’ legs and tugging back. There was movement above and she glanced up for a moment, horrified at what she saw. From above her appeared faces…one after the other popped out of the holes that lined the wall from floor to ceiling. She watched as the faces changed from human to demon with smiles still intact.
“Buffy! Xander!” Willow shrieked as she held on to Tara, who was screaming right along with her.
The group rushed to her and Xander and Gunn helped pull Tara back out. The three of them tumbled back and fell to the ground as Buffy realized what the hollows held. Whirling she jumped up and lifted out a flaming torch off the wall, touching it to the fabric. Instantly the flames climbed and the sound of crackling fire was soon joined with the screams, then sounds of dusting, of some of the unluckier inhabitants.
“Vamp bunk beds,” Gunn noted.
“Buffy! What if the crystals are in there?” Willow shouted. Buffy glanced to her, then upwards, then bolted for her friend, shoving the witch out of the way as a vampire jumped from the ledge, headed straight for them.
The Slayer sprang to her feet and spun, jumping into the air and coming down hard on the vampire’s chest. She whipped out a stake from her waistband and brought it down at the same time. But more were coming.
The vampires that survived the fire, now burning out quickly on the dry fabric, were springing into the battle. Perhaps ten of them were climbing down, all of them furious.
“Weapons!” Buffy called. They regrouped and came together again in a circle, facing the opposition together. Without waiting for her friends, Buffy plunged in. Kicking out she knocked back one vamp, spinning and dusting another immediately after. Ducking then she kicked out from ground level and took out the knees of another demon, staking him as he fell to the ground next to her. From above came the furious cry of yet another and she looked up just in time to put her arm up, stopping his descending fist. Pushing back she threw him several feet away then turned to take on the next.
“Think we can get some?” Gunn muttered and joined the fray. The numbers had been evened, however, and the fight was over before it had really begun.
“Crystal,” Buffy ordered, causing several of her friends to exchange annoyed glances.
“Orders much?” Cordelia grumbled, and went to start searching.
